Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 83

Revenge Has Interest 83 (83/200)

83

2023.10.22.

Terran had to wait not only all of the previous night but also two more hours that morning to see Vivian.

He was furious but managed to bear it by talking with Emperor Carl about various matters.

He mentioned that he had become a teacher to young nobles, instructing them in academics. Then, as if recalling something important, he said,

“Oh, right! Vivian is pregnant!”

“Is she? Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“Do you know who was the first to tell Vivian that she was pregnant?”

“Could it be Channer?”

“Oh? How did you know that?”

‘How would I not know? We live together, so I know.’

Terran was smiling, but he was barely holding back his impatience, to the point where his lips were twitching. After that, Carl asked if Channer possessed some kind of mysterious ability.

Terran cut off the conversation, saying that she only got a few things right out of ten. If he hadn’t, the conversation would have dragged on.

Finally, Vivian, having finished her preparations, appeared with her maids.

“Greetings to the Empress. I heard you are with child. Congratulations.”

Terran resented Vivian for making him wait, but he showed all due respect.

“Thank you. But Duke, how are you? You didn’t seem to be in your right mind back then. You couldn’t even recognize your fiancée. Tsk, tsk.”

‘Are you happy that you have something to tease me about for the rest of your life? Vivian.’

There was no need to go out of his way to witness the spectacle of him not recognizing his own woman and acting like a mad dog.

“Thanks to me calling the best doctor, Miss Bizac has become very healthy.”

“I am overwhelmed by the Empress’s grace. But now, I will take Grace and protect her.”

“I hope so too. But… something happened, you know?”

“Something?”

Vivian approached Terran with a smile and whispered softly in his ear. She lowered her voice as much as possible so that Carl couldn’t hear her.

“Your fiancée ran away this morning.”

“What?”

“She left a letter saying she couldn’t stand missing you so much and ran away. You mutt who couldn’t even recognize the woman you love!”

Unlike the shocked Terran, Vivian smiled gracefully and turned away from him. Soon, Emperor Carl began to lecture Terran at length.

“Duke Courtois is an important asset to the Lubec Empire, so don’t refuse my proposals in the future. It’s not just a matter of the Duke’s safety, so don’t be stubborn.”

“Your Majesty…”

Terran quietly called out to the Emperor, but he didn’t hear him and continued to say what he wanted.

“How much will the morale of our empire’s soldiers drop if something happens to the Duke?”

“Your Majesty!”

“Ah! You startled me!”

Carl was so surprised that he shouted as if he was having a seizure.

“I apologize. I think I should return now. I have urgent business to attend to. I will visit again soon.”

“V…ery well.”

Terran hurriedly finished his greetings and left the main palace.

‘Damn it! We missed each other. That damn Vivian, she should have told me sooner.’

He decided to take revenge later and focused on finding Grace and Channer right away. If they left the palace in the morning, they should have arrived at the Duke’s mansion by now.

Terran became anxious again. It was even more painful because he couldn’t see them, even though they were so close.

Terran quickly walked towards the main gate.

Because no one except the Emperor and Empress could ride horses inside the palace. Of course, the same went for carriages. But he ran into a group of young men in front of him.

“That Grace Bizac, she’s really pretty up close, isn’t she?”

“Hey! Don’t even dream about it. Do you even know who her fiancé is?”

“She’s engaged, not married.”

“So, there’s still a chance, right? For all of us.”

“But isn’t that dim-witted young lady from a Gypsy [Romani] background?”

“That’s right. She’s quite pretty, though.”

Terran stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to look at the men who were chattering among themselves and shouted.

“Stop there.”

At his voice, the men stopped walking and turned around. Some of them recognized Terran, and their faces changed.

“When, where, and how did you meet her?”

“Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

“My fiancée.”

Louis quickly recognized the Duke and understood his words.

“Well, that is to say…”

As Louis Vallier answered, Terran grabbed him by the collar.

“Should I make you understand with words? Or with fists?”

Terran’s temple throbbed as he grabbed his collar.

* * *

Allen handed Sarah a promissory note.

“With this money, you can live comfortably wherever you go.”

Sarah accepted it without refusal. After all, she was just a discarded pawn whose usefulness to Allen had expired.

However, her love for him had not changed. She wished she could have fallen out of love and been filled with resentment.

“I’ll stay for a few more days. I need to pack my things.”

“Do as you please.”

A dirty love for a vile man. If she couldn’t end it, she had no choice but to go to hell with him.

“Is that woman your new mistress?”

“That’s right. A noble, no less.”

Allen said proudly, as if to remind Sarah of her position.

‘Why was I so foolish? To believe a man who slept with me even though he was engaged to the young lady.’

“Sarah, just in case, you better not do anything foolish.”

“Foolish? For example, the fact that you conspired with Chief of Police Touazo and the cargo ship captain to frame Richard Hamilton? Is that all? You’re also the one who ordered Leah Hamilton to be killed.”

“Shut up! Don’t say that out loud. No one in the world will believe your words, but still.”

Allen hated Sarah’s bad habit of bringing up his dirty laundry. It made him so tired of her that he lost all affection for her.

“Why do you think everyone in the world will believe you? Anyway, I’m not going to reveal your shady schemes.”

“What?”

“I mean, don’t do anything foolish like trying to kill you or me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m not stupid. I won’t just be taken advantage of without any countermeasures.”

Sarah made a final desperate attempt. She had a habit that she had developed while living in the poorhouse. Whether it was food or clothing, she would collect anything that came into her hands.

For example, letters that Allen had exchanged with Touazo and the cargo ship captain. He thought they were gone, but she had picked them all up and collected them.

That wasn’t all. She had gone to Leah Hamilton’s villa to gain Allen’s favor one last time.

It was a villa where they used to go together every summer when they were young, but now it was abandoned.

‘You’d be surprised if you knew what I found there.’

Leah and she used to enjoy playing with clay at the villa.

It was an extension of playing house, but they would secretly steal cookie cutters from the kitchen and pretend to bake cookies by stamping them into the clay.

There were various shapes, including stars, hearts, houses, butterflies, and people.

Even after a long time, the hardened clay was still there. But among them, there was one very strange shape.

[Daddy, give me your necklace. I’m going to stamp it into the clay here. I’m going to make a key-shaped cookie.]

Leah whined for Richard’s necklace, and he laughed and gave it to her.

‘There was clay left with Richard Hamilton’s necklace stamped on it. It’s a miracle.’

She took it to the capital and made a necklace. Now, all she had to do was find a place in this house where the memoir might be.

‘I’m going to find that memoir and use it to destroy you.’

Sarah savored her anger towards Allen.

* * *

Thanks to Louis lending them a carriage, Leah and Channer returned to the Duke’s mansion safely.

James, who was always gentle, was in tears when he saw her and Channer return, which surprised her greatly.

Pauline, Marie, and Sonia also burst into tears, as they had been very worried. But Terran was not at the Duke’s mansion.

[The Duke went to the Imperial Palace last night. Didn’t you meet him?]

James was rather sorry. It seemed that paths could cross like this when one was anxious.

After everything had settled down, Leah went for a walk alone in the spruce forest. It was still chilly, so she had to wear a thick shawl.

[Miss, shall I go with you?]

Pauline offered to go with her, but she refused because she wanted to be alone today for some reason.

[Comfort the crying Channer. I never thought Luke would have gone down to the territory.]

Leah looked at the snow-melted, damp ground in amazement.

Could it be that winter had already passed? It seemed like only yesterday that she was crying in the rain in the Duke’s garden for the first time… Time had changed a lot.

Now, this spruce forest was no longer unfamiliar.

Leah looked in wonder at the new sprouts emerging from the frozen ground. Then, his voice was heard on the cold air.

“Grace!”

It was Terran’s voice. Had his memory returned? Leah reflexively turned around to find him.

And finally, she saw Terran standing far away.

“Terran.”

Leah ran towards him. Then Terran also ran towards her.

She didn’t care that her shawl was flying away in the wind, her hair was disheveled, and her shoes were sinking deep into the mud.

Tears welled up as she ran towards him, making it difficult to see, but her feet knew better where Terran was. Her heart was pounding as if it would burst, but it wasn’t hard at all.

Just being able to see Terran again and have him call her name made everything okay.

The two ran towards each other without stopping. Soon, Leah jumped into Terran’s arms.

She thought she would have a lot to say when she met him, but only tears came out.

“I’m sorry. I…!”

Terran buried his face in her hair and sighed.

“Don’t forgive the madman who didn’t recognize you, who came to save me.”

“No, I’m just grateful that you came back.”

At Leah’s words, Terran showered her face with kisses. How could he have done such a thing to such a precious and valuable being without being crazy?

Terran was desperate to feel her scent, touch, and voice, as if trying to be forgiven for his sins. Now, instead of saying he was sorry, he wanted to say what he really wanted to say to her.

“I love you. I love you so much that I can’t stand a single day without you.”

“I love you too, Terran.”

Heartfelt tears endlessly permeated between their overlapping lips.