Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 81

Revenge Has Interest 81 (81/200)

81 Like a Mad Dog

2023.10.20.

After regaining his memories, Terun raged, trying to make up for lost time. Above all, the fact that he had hurt Grace with his own sword was unforgivable.

“Tell me right now! How did I end up stabbing Grace?!”

Like a cruel twist of fate, almost all of his memories returned in an instant, but the memory of him stabbing Grace with his sword remained a blur. He needed to know so he could either beat his head against the floor in self-punishment or beg for her forgiveness.

Terun grabbed James by the collar, half out of his mind with anguish.

“I… I don’t know. I just need to know.”

“Then who the hell does know?”

“Luke, he knows.”

“What?”

Terun started searching for his clothes, ready to storm down to Luke’s territory. But James desperately blocked his path.

“It’s past midnight. Please, you need to calm down.”

“Calm down after I did something so inhuman to Grace?”

He screamed like a madman. If she didn’t forgive him, he felt he had no reason to live.

*How shameless*, he thought. He couldn’t clearly recall the moment he stabbed Grace, but her words to him were etched in his mind.

[I… love you, enough to die.]

Grace’s words pierced his heart like an ice pick.

Terun collapsed on the spot and screamed, pounding the floor and writhing like a wounded beast, consumed by agony.

“Duke, Elder Rapa also went to the forest; he must have seen everything.”

At James’s words, Terun snapped back to attention. Of course, Rapa would have followed Channer to the battlefield.

Terun threw on some clothes and bolted out of the mansion.

*You crazy bastard! How could you do that to Grace!* he thought.

Even while riding his horse, he endlessly blamed himself. He couldn’t forgive himself for losing his mind, not even for a moment.

Even while fighting the bandits, Grace was all that occupied his thoughts. He fought to the death to keep his promise to her.

*She must resent me so much, right?*

If Grace didn’t forgive him, he would cut out his own heart with the very sword that had wounded her.

*How painful it must have been for her.* he thought.

It was hard to imagine. A woman who ran towards him, willing to die, instead of fleeing from a man who didn’t even recognize her.

[I will wait until Terun remembers me.]

[Isn’t a fiancée a precious person? But the fact that you don’t remember means we weren’t that close, right?]

To utter such words even after they reunited at the palace… He had not only hurt her with a sword but also shattered her heart.

Terun sliced through the cold wind, urging his horse towards the Gypsy village.

*Was Rapa’s house always this far?* He knocked on the door without hesitation.

After a moment, the hunched-over figure of Rapa appeared.

“Duke?”

“How did I end up stabbing Grace?”

Terun asked, panting heavily. But Rapa hesitated to answer.

“Elder Rapa! Tell me quickly! I was definitely conscious. So why did I swing my sword at Grace?”

“Well, it must be because you were driven mad.”

Terun couldn’t readily accept Rapa’s explanation.

“You remember everything, but that part is blurry?”

“That’s right; that’s why I’m going crazy.”

“That’s how the poison herb smoke works. Even if you are conscious, you are trapped in a hallucination, and even after detoxification, your memory remains fragmented.”

At those words, Terun’s strength deserted him, and he staggered.

Could it really be because of the poison herb smoke? Or was his guilt towards Grace so profound that it was forcibly suppressing the memory?

“I don’t know what is real anymore.”

“You know the truth. It’s not your fault, Duke. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have forgotten Grace.”

“You are not a god, Duke. You did your best.”

Rapa felt a pang of sympathy for Terun. He had been forced to struggle desperately to survive, and Grace was simply trying to save the man she loved. Ultimately, it was no one’s fault.

“I will tell you everything.”

Since the subject had arisen, Rapa decided to recount the entire situation to Terun. There had to be a reason why Terun had sought him out before going to the Imperial Palace.

“Tell me.”

“The young lady was trying to die with you.”

“!?”

Rapa narrated the desperate events of that time, from the conversation between Terun and Grace to the moment Grace placed the antidote in her own mouth and then transferred it to Terun.

“Really, you were like a mad dog. Anyone who came near you would be met with your sword. But the young lady didn’t even flinch; she simply embraced you. It was as if she felt no fear at all. Even if you didn’t remember, you were still the man she loved.”

Terun’s heart ached so intensely that he felt it would shatter. Her actions were born of genuine, unwavering love.

“But why didn’t you lose consciousness, even in the poison herb smoke?”

That was what Rapa found most perplexing. It was astonishing that a person could endure for days after inhaling such potent poison.

“I was afraid of forgetting…”

“Who? The young lady?”

Terun nodded instead of answering. But in the end, he had forgotten completely.

Rapa marveled at Terun’s ability to withstand the poison for a week without succumbing to unconsciousness. The poison herb smoke, intended to kill, was something that defied human will.

“The young lady will be waiting for you to come and get her.”

“Do you think so?”

“It’s rare to find a man you can love with your whole life, isn’t it?”

Terun leaped to his feet. He had to go to the Imperial Palace immediately.

Terun understood Vivian’s true intentions. She aimed to correct the Duke’s habit of defying the Empress’s wishes in every matter.

“It’s late at night, so be careful on your way back.”

Terun, already leaving the house at Rapa’s farewell, turned back and said,

“Thank you, Elder.”

At Terun’s words of gratitude, Elder Rapa smiled awkwardly and retreated into his house.

*Why is it so creepy when he’s kind?* He shuddered with a smile.

* * *

Leah had the stitches removed from her side wound today. The doctors at the Imperial Palace were quite extraordinary.

They were completely different from any doctors she had encountered before. It was as if they belonged to another world. The medicinal odors, stronger than alcohol, and the peculiar pills were equally fascinating.

“Your Majesty, is the red liquid you put on my wound medicine?”

“Ah, that’s disinfectant.”

“Disinfectant? Ah, something that eliminates germs…?”

“That’s right.”

Leah had another question. Typically, sword wounds were slow to heal, often becoming inflamed or causing tissue death [necrosis].

But after taking the medicine prescribed by the Imperial Palace doctors, her wound healed miraculously, and she felt no pain.

She wanted to inquire about the entire process but didn’t know where to begin.

“The doctors at the Imperial Palace seem a little different.”

“How so?”

“Well, the medicine and treatment methods seem to be several levels above the current hospital standards.”

At her words, the Empress smiled and nodded.

In truth, Vivian had gone to Basel to assist in suppressing the bandits, but she never anticipated meeting Grace there.

However, Vivian was deeply impressed by Grace, who bravely followed her man into such a dangerous situation to save him.

Vivian recognized that Grace’s stab wound was more serious than it appeared and realized she could die without prompt treatment.

What seemed like a minor scratch to others was potentially fatal to Grace, who was already weakened.

“Just as Young Lady Bizark doesn’t settle for the status quo, neither do Your Majesty and I. We must constantly develop and innovate. We haven’t reached a point where we can easily make it widely available yet, but we are actively engaged in medical research.”

“I see. Soon, the people of Lubeck will have access to advanced treatment like I did when they are sick.”

“That’s right. That’s why we invest in medicine and science.”

Looking at Vivian, Leah felt a strong connection. She, too, preferred innovation over adhering to existing norms.

She enjoyed being with Vivian because they shared similar perspectives and communicated effortlessly, like kindred spirits.

Just as their conversation was reaching a comfortable point, Channer, with a lollipop in her mouth, ran up and scrutinized Vivian from head to toe.

“Empress, do you have twin boys in your belly?”

“Yes?”

Not only Vivian but also Grace was taken aback.

In fact, Vivian presented a perfect image to the outside world, but it was rumored that she was suffering because she had been married for a long time without conceiving.

“Are you… kidding?”

Vivian looked at Leah, seeking reassurance. It was as if she was asking if she could trust Channer’s words. Her expression already betrayed her desire to believe it wholeheartedly.

“Check it out. Channer has never been wrong when she blurts out things like a joke.”

“Oh my god!”

Vivian clasped her hands together and began to sob.

“Go get a medical examination from a doctor.”

At Leah’s suggestion, Vivian rose from her seat and hurried outside, eager to hear the news that would follow her departure.

“Sister! I want to go home!”

Once Vivian was completely out of sight, Channer began to pester Leah, as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“I’ll go after seeing your wound heal. Let’s be patient for a little bit, okay?”

“I don’t want to. I want to see Luke *oppa* [older brother/male friend].”

Channer pouted and burst into tears.

Leah didn’t feel like comforting Channer because her own feelings were no different.

“I miss Terun so much too. I hope his memory returns quickly, and he comes to find me.”