Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 66

Revenge Comes with Interest 66. I’ll Crush You (66/200)

66. I’ll Crush You

2023.10.05.

Leah considered looking for the love letter once she returned to the Duke’s mansion.

It wasn’t just out of jealousy or curiosity, but because she was in the business of catering to women and wanted to understand the psychology of various people.

‘What will change if I find it?’

As soon as she held Terrence’s hand and felt his warm touch, she felt it was all meaningless.

‘It’s a pointless suspicion.’

Did she ever expect Allen to betray her like that? She hadn’t even noticed his relationship with Sarah.

‘Our relationship shouldn’t be shaken by a single love letter.’

If a bond is meant to break, it can’t be salvaged no matter how hard you try. But on the other hand, she agreed with Theresa’s words.

[My lady, love has an expiration date, and men are bound to change. So, there’s no need to give your whole heart.]

It wasn’t wrong, really. But Theresa overlooked the fact that people’s emotions can’t be controlled at will. If you could give more or less as you pleased, no one would be hurt by love.

‘I was fooled by a false love, after all.’

To Theresa, Leah probably seemed naive, but in reality, she was the one who knew the truth and falsehood of love better than anyone else.

‘Even after being hurt like that, humans still crave love.’

Leah looked up at Terrence and smiled faintly. A man who showered her with unconditional, blind love.

‘I don’t want to go through that again.’

Terrence was clearly a different man from Allen.

‘I will trust Terrence.’

It wasn’t an easy decision for her, so she wouldn’t torment herself with unnecessary doubts. Still, she felt like teasing him.

“Terrence, you’ll change too, right? What if you get tired of me someday?”

“Are you bored?”

“Huh?”

“That’s a pointless question.”

She briefly forgot that he was a man who didn’t understand jokes at all.

Leah laughed it off, feeling deflated. She only embarrassed herself by saying unnecessary things.

“I’ve been looking for you a lot.”

His indifferent tone conveyed a hint of wanting her to understand his feelings.

“Oh, I was resting in the women’s lounge. I was tired.”

“The lounge!”

Terrence seemed very surprised and hit his forehead with his hand. He should have come to banquets more often.

Men usually went outside to smoke when they were tired of partying, but they didn’t go to the lounge. Even if they did, it was usually occupied by older nobles with leg or back problems.

“How was the banquet today?”

“Well, I didn’t expect much, but it was quite enjoyable.”

“Anything else?”

“I realized something new.”

“What did you realize?”

“Even when I’m with Grace, I’m always looking for you.”

“!?”

Leah was speechless. She didn’t hide on purpose, but she felt sorry for Terrence for some reason. Instead, she took his hand and kissed the back of it.

“It was worth whining about.”

Terrence seemed quite satisfied and smiled, revealing his white teeth.

Meanwhile, Leah wanted to ask him something more while the topic was out.

“Terrence, what do you think if I can’t have children?”

“Why are you asking such a sudden question? That’s not going to happen.”

“I’m not healthy. I might not be able to have children.”

She ended up saying what Emily and Lois had said to Terrence.

“I don’t want to imagine misfortunes that haven’t happened yet. I’ve done it enough in the past.”

Leah realized her mistake at Terrence’s answer. Until recently, Terrence had been struggling with guilt towards Aiden and the scars of war.

‘I shouldn’t stir up his wounds.’

“I’m sorry. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Leah laughed it off on purpose, as if it was nothing. But there was one thing she wanted to tell him.

“I hope your feelings for me don’t fade. That way, I can stay by your side for a long time.”

Terrence stopped walking and looked at Leah. He raised a hand and caressed her face.

“You need to be precise with your words. Say ‘forever,’ not ‘a long time.'”

“I want to be by your side forever. Do you feel the same way?”

Terrence was bothered by the anxiety flickering in her eyes today.

Did something happen that he didn’t know about? But human emotions were truly fickle. He was worried about her, but on the other hand, he felt good.

‘Your cute wish isn’t bad.’

* * *

After returning to the Duke’s mansion, Terrence contacted many people. He had many thoughts after seeing Allen and the Foreign Minister interacting at the Velis banquet.

‘How should I crush you so you don’t have any foolish thoughts about Grace?’

He pondered deeply for several days. Bertan, across the sea in the Eastern Continent, was indeed a place with slower cultural development.

However, he had heard that it had a long history and culture and was rich in resources.

Knock, knock. Terrence immediately stopped thinking at the sound of the knock.

“Your Grace, Viscount Martin Polo has arrived.”

James escorted the guest Terrence had been eagerly waiting for into the drawing room.

“Duke Courtois, it’s been years, hasn’t it?”

Viscount Martin Polo, who was now middle-aged, greeted him warmly, and Terrence immediately offered a handshake.

The two were busy asking about each other’s well-being for a while.

Soon, a friendly and pleasant conversation followed. Terrence said to James, who had brought in tea at the right moment,

“James, join the conversation with Luke. I can’t be the only one to hear the Viscount’s adventure stories.”

“Understood, Your Grace.”

James happily went to get Luke.

Terrence met with several people to find out about the situation in Bertan, on the Eastern Continent. But he thought there was no one who knew more about the unknown world than an explorer.

Foreign ministers or trading company people might have a lot of information, but they don’t travel all over the continent like explorers.

He had heard that Martin Polo explored even the remote areas of Bertan.

“Now that everyone’s here, shall we begin the story?”

Martin Polo cleared his throat as James and Luke took their seats. He began to tell the story of his experiences in Bertan as if he were unfolding a grand heroic tale.

Terrence, James, and Luke listened to his exploration stories with great interest.

“Viscount, is it true that the Emperor of Bertan wants to build a railroad?”

Terrence asked the question he was really curious about.

“That’s right. But it’s not an easy task.”

“Why? The Imperial Family has so much money that people here think Bertan is a goose that lays golden eggs.”

He asked exactly what Allen and the Foreign Minister had said.

“Hmm, I wouldn’t invest if I were you. There are ideological conflicts in Bertan, so the imperial power will soon collapse and a civil war will break out.”

“Oh ho! A civil war… Is that official information?”

“No. What do those guys in the Bertan capital know? Besides, the merchants who only buy what they want don’t know either.”

Martin Polo refuted that Bertan was not a goose that lays golden eggs. He even asked who they would get the money from if the imperial power collapsed after building the railroad.

“James, bring it.”

“Yes.”

At Terrence’s instruction, James took a piece of paper from his desk drawer.

“Give it to the Viscount.”

“What is this?”

The Viscount was startled when he saw the note James handed him.

“You need money to explore, don’t you? I want to actively support Viscount Martin Polo’s exploration.”

“Still, such a large sum… !”

He knew that Duke Courtois possessed an astronomical fortune. Still, it was too much money to receive as a sponsorship.

“You just need to grant me a few favors.”

Terrence laughed heartily, trying to ease the Viscount’s burden. Soon, Terrence and Martin Polo put their heads together and had a close conversation.

“Your Grace, what should we do now?”

After Viscount Martin Polo left, James and Luke asked Terrence.

“First, you two have a conversation and leak information. To the employees who are likely to be spies.”

“Are you saying that we should say that Your Grace is contacting Imperial Family officials to invest in the Bertan railroad project?”

Luke summarized it neatly.

“That’s right. And spread rumors that the nth prince of Bertan will soon ascend to the throne.”

“Good idea. That way, we can find out who is acting as a spy in the Duke’s mansion.”

James also agreed. It was already difficult to manage so many employees.

“But we won’t be able to completely stop the spies.”

Since job changes and employment were repeated every month, there was a limit to investigating them all.

Besides, what Terrence wanted was not for the spies to disappear.

“They need to experience firsthand that high-level information can sometimes be poison.”

Allen needed to realize that Richard Hamilton didn’t build his great merchant group by luck.

He might have succeeded in taking other people’s property, but maintaining and increasing it was by no means an easy task.

‘I need to crush you so you don’t do anything foolish.’

* * *

Leah enjoyed tea time with Pauline and Chenelle for the first time in a while. It seemed like it was the first time since she had been to Velis [the capital city].

As a result, Vivian was a great success and enhanced the prestige of the Empire. Advertisements were attached to the daily newspapers for the riding clothes, and orders poured in from all over Rubek [the empire’s name].

Of course, there were many customers who ordered by mail from foreign countries, but they were put on hold for the time being.

“How’s the workshop going, Pauline?”

“Yes… It’s going very well.”

She just asked about the workshop, but Pauline’s face turned as red as a carrot.

“Pauline unnie [older sister], you’re lovey-dovey with Tom.”

“Hey! Chenelle! I told you it was a secret for now?”

While she was away, several things seemed to have happened in the workshop.

Chenelle and Pauline were bickering, and Leah was sweating trying to stop them. At that time, a maid came in urgently.

“Miss, you have a visitor. She said you would know if she said she was Countess Armand.”

“Countess Armand is here?”

As Leah stood up, Chenelle and Pauline automatically followed her.

Leah hurried to the first-floor lobby.

‘It’s true.’

Countess Armand was standing in the lobby with a large trunk. When she saw Leah, she ran over and hugged her, crying.

“Lady Vizak, what do I do now?”

Countess Armand hugged Leah and cried sadly.

Even when Leah repeatedly asked what was wrong, she couldn’t even answer properly because she was crying.

“Ah! That auntie is in big trouble.”

Chenelle said something strange when she saw Countess Armand. Of course, Pauline immediately covered Chenelle’s mouth, avoiding the difficult situation.

“I… I got divorced.”

The words Countess Armand managed to utter while crying were a great shock.