Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 62

Revenge Has Interest 62. Leah and Theresa’s Agony (62/200)

Leah and Theresa’s Agony

October 1, 2023

Leah pushed Salamé away, not wanting to be comforted in his arms.

“Tell me. I’ll listen to everything,” Salamé said gently. Leah initially hesitated, wondering if it was even necessary to bring it up. But since it involved his mother, she wanted to gauge his reaction.

So, she recounted the incident at the riding grounds in detail, and Salamé listened attentively.

However, Salamé’s expression shifted with each detail.

“Well, the scar on our mother’s face is like the detonator of a bomb. She is usually a kind and benevolent empress, but she has zero patience when it comes to her face.”

Salamé was quite serious when he spoke about his mother, not acting flippant or saying anything out of the blue.

Among the things he said, it was particularly striking that her personality had become so volatile after suffering from smallpox.

Leah sympathized with that, as a woman. No, even as a man, that scar would be difficult to bear.

“Didn’t she try to do anything about it?”

It was true that scars were difficult to heal once they formed, but she wondered if Theresa had looked for other solutions besides covering it with a veil.

“Why wouldn’t she? She tried makeup, wore masks, and even sought out people who claimed they could heal her face with magic. All failed, though.”

Leah thoughtfully recalled Theresa’s face.

Even revisiting that moment was terrifying, but she felt she needed to address it.

‘Her face wasn’t distorted or deformed. It’s just that the scar was prominent on her skin.’

If so, it could have been sufficiently covered with makeup.

“Your Highness, aren’t there many people in the Imperial Palace who are skilled at makeup?”

“As I said, she did try makeup. But the problem was that she ended up using harsh cosmetics to cover the scar, and her skin got worse and worse. Eventually, her face turned blue due to makeup poisoning. She’s fine now because she takes detoxifying medicine regularly.”

Leah felt that Theresa hadn’t exhausted all options.

There were countless people on the continent. Society was developing day by day, and new inventions were being created.

The quick surrender, compared to the desperation, was regrettable. As an empress, she would have had more opportunities to find a solution than ordinary people.

If there was no existing solution, she should have tried to create one.

For example, if she had selected chemists and consistently supported their research for several years, they would have made significant progress by now.

‘Her emotional wounds were too deep, and she gave up too easily.’

Or perhaps her desire to return to her former self was greater than her desire to cover the scar, and she was never truly satisfied.

Leah suddenly fell into deep thought. As a woman, she understood and kept pondering whether there was a solution.

However, Salamé seemed more interested in other things.

“Miss Vizak, won’t you go out with me?”

“Pardon?”

Leah, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality at Salamé’s words.

“That won’t happen.”

Before Leah could answer, Terrence walked over from the hallway and refused on her behalf.

Leah’s gaze immediately went to his hand. Fortunately, Doctor Wilson had applied the bandage well, so she felt relieved.

“Are you okay, Terrence?”

She immediately approached him and gently took his hand.

“I’m fine.”

His voice was endlessly gentle to Leah, but he sighed softly when he looked at Salamé.

“Sir Salamé Roberto, you appear just when I’m about to forget you.”

Terrence wore a sneer as he spoke to Salamé.

“I’m disappointed. It’s never a pleasant thing for anyone to forget me. Especially, I hope I’m never forgotten from Miss Vizak’s mind.”

“Well, you won’t be forgotten. If I ever find out about Sir Roberto in the future… Hahaha!”

Salamé’s lips, which had been raised high at Terrence’s answer, straightened into a line.

“Duke Courtois, I have feelings for Miss Vizak. Furthermore, I hope it develops into friendship.”

Salamé’s face turned pale as Terrence laughed loudly again.

“It’s not a sin to dream of friendship, but if you laugh like that…”

“Friendship?”

The man, who had been responding calmly all along, faltered at his laughter.

Salamé approached Terrence and glared at him fiercely.

“No one has the right to laugh at someone else’s feelings. Friendship doesn’t only exist between people of the same gender…”

“Stop it…!”

Terrence raised his hand and cut off Salamé’s words.

“I have no interest in Sir Roberto’s theory of friendship. However, I just hope you don’t dream of friendship with just anyone.”

“Miss Vizak is not the Duke’s property.”

“That’s right, Grace is not my property but my precious fiancée. So, I hope Sir Roberto doesn’t forget that point either. There is such a thing as moral ethics in the world.”

He meant that even flirting with someone else’s fiancée shouldn’t be considered pure friendship.

When Terrence spoke sternly, Salamé raised both hands to calm him down, signaling him to stop.

Salamé didn’t want to argue with Terrence any longer.

“Miss, I’ll see you at the banquet tonight.”

Salamé awkwardly greeted them and left.

Terrence and Leah watched Salamé’s retreating figure. Soon, Terrence went to the terrace and cursed.

“Damn it, I need to have the wedding as soon as possible. Everything is getting tangled up.”

Terrence, who had been calm throughout the conversation with Salamé, suddenly became annoyed, and Leah hugged him tightly from behind.

“!?”

“I’m sorry. Because of me, Terrence…”

Leah sobbed. It was so hard for her that she couldn’t even dare to say sorry to him. She decided to reveal her true feelings for the first time.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I’m a helpful woman to you.”

“Grace.”

As he tried to turn around, Leah forcefully stopped him. She asked him to just listen to her in this state for a moment.

“Terrence gets hurt, sick, and in trouble because of me. Is it right for me to be by your side even so?”

“So, do you want to leave me?”

Terrence asked directly. No matter how much he tried to coax or beat around the bush, this stubborn woman wouldn’t understand. She would just blame herself unnecessarily.

“No.”

“Then that’s enough. Because I want you more.”

“Still, tell me if it gets hard.”

“That will never happen in my life.”

Terrence turned around, caressed Leah’s cheek, and said in a deep voice.

“Are you perhaps feeling sorry for me?”

Leah nodded at his question.

“There’s no need to be sorry at all… This is my reason’s position. But…”

“But?”

Leah swallowed hard.

What if Terrence said that his reason didn’t care about the self-blame she felt, but his actual feeling was that ‘I’m not feeling so good about being hurt because of you’?

Leah’s heart was anxious.

Then Terrence took out paper and a portable pen from his pocket with one hand.

“Reason and emotion are clearly different entities.”

“What are you talking about?”

A paper with a bunch of grapes drawn on it was unfolded before her eyes, and Terrence put the pen in Leah’s hand.

“My reason is fine, but the emotion is telling me to get a reward from Grace.”

“What!”

As the tightly stretched string of tension was released, Leah became furious.

She hit Terrence’s chest with her small fist. Then Terrence said one more word with a straight face.

“The signature increases every time you hit me.”

But this time, there was no way she couldn’t give him a reward. However, Leah was determined to take small revenge on Terrence for teasing her.

‘By the way, when did so many signatures fill up like this?’

Leah’s hand hovered as if she was about to sign at any moment, and Terrence stared intently at the paper.

Then, every time she signed one, he swallowed hard enough to make his Adam’s apple bob.

Leah took her time even more because she found it funny to see him anxiously watching how many signatures she would give him.

‘One, two, three… only five more to fill.’

Terrence only looked at Leah’s hand.

Now there were five grapes left. The day to conquer the summit was near.

However, Leah was not so easy to deal with. She folded the paper neatly, leaving exactly five, and handed it to Terrence.

“Congratulations. There are only a few left.”

‘I should have done it all while I was at it. Your hand is hurt.’

She was slightly resentful, but she wanted to feel the fun of this moment again next time.

Instead, she had to do this, she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Terrence pulled Leah’s waist with one hand and kissed her as it was. The wound on her lips opened, and a bitter taste was felt in his mouth.

To anyone who saw it, the sight of two men and women kissing covered in blood would be bizarre, but the blood-soaked kiss was sweeter than any juice to Terrence.

As the kiss grew longer, the hand holding Leah’s waist gradually lifted her into the air. As the two became more intimate, their breaths intertwined as one.

‘I like you, Terrence Courtois.’

* * *

As night fell, a grand banquet was held at the Bellis Palace.

The initial purpose was to celebrate the winners of the ‘Royal Equestrian Competition’ that had ended successfully, but in the end, it was nothing more than a social gathering for the royalty of various countries.

Still, the ones who received the most attention at the banquet were undoubtedly Vivian and her maids.

They enjoyed the praise of the royalty to their heart’s content. But Leah’s heart was still heavy.

It was a banquet held for enjoyment, but her heart was so heavy.

‘I have to meet Empress Theresa.’

She shouldn’t be at odds with her like this. Hamilton Haberdashery had several stores in Galdenia, so it was the worst situation in terms of business.

Leah confided her feelings to Terrence.

“That’s a valid point. It’s not something to just gloss over with Empress Theresa. But it’s dangerous for Grace to go alone. I’ll go with you.”

In fact, Terrence was still not relieved of his anger. Just thinking about the memory of Theresa trying to harm her made his chest feel hot.

“Thank you for understanding. But please give me some time to talk to her alone.”

“Then, I’ll wait outside. I can’t compromise on this.”

“Okay.”

Leah looked for Theresa with Terrence.

The floor of the banquet hall was chaotic with men and women mingling and dancing.

‘I guess she’s not dancing, she’s not here.’

Fortunately, Leah met Salamé while wandering around, and went with him to where Theresa was, and Terrence waited outside as promised.

“I’ll be back.”

“Shout if you think it’s dangerous. No, I’ll barge in right away if it takes too long.”

Terrence couldn’t take his anxious eyes off Leah until the last moment she went to meet Theresa.

Leah knocked on the door of the reception room outside the banquet hall with Salamé and went inside. Theresa, wearing a uniform, was sitting on the large sofa in the reception room with her legs crossed.

The caramel-colored whiskey sloshed as she swirled the crystal glass around.

“Your Highness, please excuse us for a moment.”

“I will.”

The quick-witted Salamé dismissed all the attendants beside Theresa as well. Finally, only Leah and Theresa were left in the reception room.

“Did you come here wanting to die?”

Her voice was less angry than it had been during the day, but it was still cold.

“I came because I have something I must say to Your Majesty.”

Leah clasped her trembling hands together and managed to open her mouth.