Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 78

78. Only Recognizes the Heart

October 17, 2023

Leah felt her time with Vitello was ultimately meaningless.

So, she apologized to him and went to find Terrun, only to find him still happily playing croquet with Mary.

‘No need to hesitate. Terrun is my man. My fiancé.’

She strode towards them. Soon, Terrun and Mary noticed Leah.

“Terrun, let’s talk.”

Mary glared at Leah, her expression sour.

“Young lady, you have no manners. This is the Duke’s time with me. Surely you know how to wait?”

“You know this is none of your business, right?”

Leah’s voice was not just firm, but laced with a chilling edge.

“Hmm, I’ll go.”

Terrun excused himself to Mary and followed Leah, feeling everyone’s eyes burning into his back like arrows.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Once they reached a secluded spot, Leah spoke her first words to Terrun.

“I’ll wait until Terrun remembers me.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t a fiancée supposed to be someone precious? The fact that I can’t remember you must mean we weren’t that important to each other, right?”

His tone was sharp, reminiscent of the Terrun who had once told Grace not to whine.

“Does Terrun not *want* to remember me?”

If he had no desire to do so, it would be truly devastating.

“Why bother?”

“Are you serious?”

“Even after getting the antidote, the only person I can’t remember is Grace. Doesn’t that mean she wasn’t that important?”

Leah staggered, and Terrun reflexively grabbed her arm.

His body remembered her, but his mind remained shrouded in darkness.

Leah shook off his arm.

“If you said you would try, I was going to wait no matter how long it took. But if you have no intention of doing so, then our relationship is meaningless.”

Even though she was heartbroken, Leah fought back tears, her chin trembling.

She closed her eyes tightly, trying to regain her composure.

‘Don’t torment Terrun. Pressuring him like this is only making things harder for him.’

Leah felt pathetic for resenting him. She regretted starting an argument, knowing full well that he wasn’t himself.

“Okay. I’ll do as Terrun wants. If you want to break off the engagement, I will. But…”

Terrun was taken aback. He vividly remembered the clear tears welling up in her blue-violet eyes.

He didn’t fully know the woman in front of him, but he clearly remembered those jewel-like eyes.

“Don’t be sad or distressed. Don’t blame yourself in any situation. It’s not Terrun’s fault. I wanted to tell you that.”

Leah offered words of concern for Terrun until the very end.

Terrun was confused by her attitude. Suddenly, a headache struck.

His vision blurred, and he saw a forest shrouded in hazy smoke.

A woman with tears filling her blue-violet eyes, just like a moment ago, was crying and shouting something at him.

“Ugh…!”

Terrun clutched his head. He felt like he was on the verge of remembering. It was as if someone was teasingly opening the floodgates to his memories.

He remembered the blue-violet eyes, but he still couldn’t place the woman.

“Terrun.”

The person who called his name from behind as Leah left was Vivian.

“Your Majesty.”

“Call me Vivian, please. I’m here as a friend now.”

Vivian circled around Terrun, carefully choosing her words.

“What are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“Grace. Are you going to wait until you remember her? Or are you just going to bury it?”

“Why is that important to Vivian?”

“The reason it’s important…”

Vivian stalled, making Terrun anxious.

“I want Terrun to value himself. And I also want you to learn how to open your heart to people or things. But you have a bad habit of exhausting yourself alone until you hit rock bottom. If you had accepted the reinforcements I sent this time, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

Vivian was frustrated with the stubborn Terrun.

She understood his intentions, but in her opinion, it was nothing more than pointless heroism.

Terrun was a fool who couldn’t escape the self-imposed barriers unless someone pulled him out.

He should be desperately trying to remember his woman, but…

Of course, Vivian knew that Terrun was struggling in his own way. Perhaps Vivian’s anger stemmed from pity for her friend.

“I just didn’t want to sacrifice many soldiers to wipe out mere bandits.”

“Okay, well, let’s leave that aside.”

“Vivian, tell me what you really want to say.”

They had known each other since childhood, making subtle probing impossible.

“If Terrun doesn’t want to remember Grace… can I have Grace?”

“What?”

“I’ll be honest, I’m quite taken with Grace. So I want to marry her off to my brother, Vitello. Of course, only if Terrun is willing to break off the engagement with Grace.”

Terrun felt a pang in his heart at Vivian’s blunt words.

It felt like someone was scraping his insides with a rake. He couldn’t even remember his own fiancée, yet his body was aching with a deep, unfamiliar pain.

‘Break off the engagement, huh.’

As he repeated those words, a bitter taste filled his mouth.

“It doesn’t seem like something to decide hastily, so I can’t give you a definite answer right now, Vivian.”

“That’s not like Terrun.”

Terrun was someone who judged and handled everything according to his own will. Was his body remembering Grace?

“I respect that. I hope you can get out of this on your own this time. You are endlessly strong, but more fragile than anyone else.”

“Are you coddling me right now?”

Terrun asked in an unpleasant tone.

“Yeah, I am. I’m coddling you because you deserve it. Because you’re a blind man who can’t recognize the precious jewel right in front of your eyes.”

“Do people know that the elegant, graceful, and benevolent Empress of Lubeck is actually a venomous speaker?”

“Who knows?”

Vivian shrugged and disappeared with a smile.

After the Empress left, Terrun wandered alone in the Imperial Palace garden.

No matter how hard he tried, his memories of Grace remained submerged in darkness.

Then, in the distance, he saw Grace taking a friendly stroll with Vitello.

Thump, thump—

As soon as his eyes landed on her, his heart pounded.

‘Unpleasant.’

Terrun pressed his hand against his chest. His body and mind were operating independently. His body remembered her, but his brain felt as if it were buried in sand.

Perhaps she felt his gaze even from afar. Grace turned her head.

Terrun did not look away. Then, Channer’s words echoed in his mind.

[Uncle, you’re a dummy! You stabbed my sister with a knife, so it hurts.]

[What are you talking about? Who stabbed her with a knife?]

[You were staggering around, and my sister was trying to give you the antidote, but you stabbed her with a knife, right?]

If that was all true…

‘You’re not even human, Terrun.’

Just then, James came to find Terrun.

“Your Grace, it’s time to return.”

“I must go.”

“Are you just going to leave Miss Grace behind?”

“What’s the point of taking a woman I can’t even remember?”

Terrun said only what he had to say and turned away.

Whatever she was to him, the fact that his heart was unpleasantly agitated was undeniable.

Honestly, he wanted to run away from her.

‘It can’t be helped if I can’t remember.’

After all, it’s impossible to go against fate.

* * *

Sarah stood in front of the McDowell mansion, lost in thought. She had promised Allen that she would find the key, or whatever it was.

‘What will Allen say if I tell him I couldn’t find anything?’

Although it was a dark path, they had walked it together with camaraderie. If he accepted her back unconditionally, she would forget the sins she had committed against Leah and Richard for the rest of her life.

She would only love Allen and dedicate everything to him.

Sarah desperately hoped that Allen would not abandon her, now that she was essentially useless.

‘Allen, I have no way back.’

She had to hold his hand and only look forward.

But if even he let go of her hand, her life would be utterly ruined. Then, a different thought suddenly occurred to her.

‘What if I hadn’t betrayed Miss Leah?’

By now, their laughter would be echoing beyond those high walls.

The two people who, for the first time, treated a girl abused in an orphanage like a human being.

The human being, called her, who drove them to their deaths, was no longer human.

‘So Allen, give me one last chance.’

Even if it wasn’t genuine, she hoped to cling to her love for him and live out the rest of her life.

Hope and despair warred in Sarah’s heart. She was torn between a glimmer of expectation for Allen and the fear that she might be abandoned even by him.

‘This is the last time.’

The moment of decision had arrived. One way or another, her path would be determined.

But she was afraid to face reality.

Sarah closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and then calmed her breathing.

She opened her eyes and steeled her face.

‘Let’s not avoid hope or despair.’

Sarah entered the McDowell mansion.

* * *

There were widespread rumors in Lebon that Terrun and Grace were on the verge of breaking off their engagement.

Perhaps that was why flowers were delivered to the mansion every day.

“Are those for me?”

Terrun asked, watching the servants carrying the flowers in a steady stream.

“Those are flowers sent to Miss Grace by unmarried noblemen in the capital. It seems the rumor that you and Miss Grace are breaking off the engagement has become a foregone conclusion.”

“I haven’t decided to break off the engagement yet, though?”

“Here, there are also many love letters for you, Your Grace. They were sent by noble young ladies.”

“Burn them.”

“What should we do with the flowers? It’s a waste to burn them.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Terrun answered curtly and left the scene. It was truly amusing.

As soon as the rumor of their broken engagement spread, so many hyenas were rushing to prey on Grace.

Well, even Vivian openly admitted that she was interested in Grace.

‘I’m too tired and annoyed to deal with this. If I break off the engagement as they want, these uncomfortable feelings will disappear.’