Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 97

Revenge Comes with Interest 97. Stop the Corn (97/200)

Stop the Corn

2023.11.05.

Allen offered a lengthy excuse. Before Theresa arrived, he had slipped money to the officer.

He needed time to align the situation with Tuazo because being swept up with Tuazo would be the end of him.

[If I am acquitted, I can save the Commissioner.]

[President McDowell, don’t forget me. Please get me out of here.]

[Don’t worry, just remember that I must not be involved.]

Despite Allen’s elaborate excuses, Theresa’s doubts did not easily dissipate.

“Your Majesty, I am a nobleman, but also a merchant. I try not to issue promissory notes [a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on a specific date] for personal expenses, as it can lead to misunderstandings. The Commissioner needed cash urgently, so I simply provided it, with no other intentions.”

“I can only hope that your words are true.”

Theresa waited for the officer she had sent to investigate Allen to arrive.

Finally, the officer appeared in the interrogation room. He exchanged glances with Allen across the room and then whispered in Theresa’s ear for quite some time.

“Release President McDowell.”

At Theresa’s command, the officers released Allen’s handcuffs.

“Eric Tuazo is hereby stripped of his position as Commissioner and sentenced to life imprisonment.”

Tuazo strongly protested her verdict.

“Your Majesty, life imprisonment without a trial? This is unjust.”

“Unjust? You were caught red-handed smuggling.”

Moreover, the evidence proving his guilt was overwhelming, and a trial would not change anything. However, Tuazo argued, citing the rights of a criminal to a trial.

“Selling imperial weapons is an act of treason. You should be grateful you are not being sentenced to death.”

“But…!”

“If you insist, I will grant you a trial. The assembly will likely sentence you to death.”

Tuazo could not argue further at Theresa’s cold words.

Theresa left the interrogation room and saw Terran and Salame standing in the hallway.

“You two have done a great service.”

“Please exclude me. This is all due to Sir Salame Roberto’s efforts.”

“How did you find out that Tuazo was smuggling weapons?”

“Our clever Chener and Pauline overheard their conversation and told me. I knew it couldn’t be ignored, so I informed Sir Roberto.”

“Hahaha. Clever Pauline and Chener.”

Theresa laughed, thinking of Chener.

Looking at her, she seemed like a genius who was both lacking and not lacking, yet as innocent and cute as a child.

“Salame, you’ve finally earned your keep as a member of the imperial family. I’m proud of you.”

“I am honored, Mother.”

Heartwarming praise was exchanged, but Theresa seemed deeply troubled.

The betrayal of the Commissioner, whom she had trusted implicitly, was a great shock.

Terran decided to do his last task.

“I have a suitable candidate for Commissioner. Someone who, despite his elevated status, has no desire for territorial expansion or titles.”

“Who is it?”

“Count Arthur Wellington, the Crown Princess’s brother.”

Theresa nodded in agreement at Terran’s words.

Although the Wellington family was poor, the heads of the household were known for their good character.

“I’ll consider it.”

Theresa patted Salame’s shoulder and left.

“Ha! I didn’t know there was anything more fun than dating, Duke.”

“Then stop flirting with my fiancée.”

“How can I, when I haven’t found a woman more lovely than Grace?”

Terran shook his head at Salame’s nonchalance and left.

He no longer wanted to have a pointless conversation with him.

* * *

Terran returned to the mansion only in the morning, and Leah was furious with him.

She had been urging James, Luke, and Louis all night to find out where he was. She was even prepared to visit Count Wellington or Salame if necessary.

“Grace, I’m home.”

Having been forewarned by James, Terran remained calm, but there was no response.

She was lying with her back turned, covered in blankets, not moving at all.

“Someone urgently needed my help, so I couldn’t tell you, you know?”

At his words, Leah jumped up and glared fiercely at Terran.

“!?”

Terran felt a chill down his spine.

The woman as sweet as syrup was gone.

In her place was a woman with eyes as cold as ice, glaring sharply. From that moment on, her storm of nagging began.

“Are you done?”

Terran had to endure Leah’s scolding for nearly thirty minutes without moving.

Yet, Terran was puzzled by his own lack of desire to argue or make excuses.

Her concern for him felt so natural. Rather than nagging, it felt like the care of a woman worried about her man, which made him feel good.

“No! I’m not done.”

Leah got out of bed and ran to the desk, starting to look for something, and the quick-witted Terran desperately tried to stop her.

“Let go of me! I’m going to draw corn with five hundred kernels.”

“I was wrong. Please, anything but that!”

For him, grapes or corn were like a death sentence. The moment Grace presented that paper, he would become a monk consumed by unfulfilled desires.

“I can bear being hungry, but I absolutely cannot bear being without you!”

“Knowing full well how much I would worry…!”

A woman trying to punish and a man trying to stop her.

The two struggled fiercely in front of the desk. Only then did Terran realize that she was truly angry.

‘She’s really angry.’

Terran endlessly racked his brain, wondering what he should say to appease her.

But he was defeated before he could even use his cunning.

Leah, who had been struggling to stop him, put her hands on the desk and burst into tears, her shoulders shaking.

“G…Grace.”

“I still can’t get over it. Whenever Terran has something urgent to do, my heart drops.”

Leah sobbed sorrowfully. And she decided to admit it to herself. She was still struggling because of Terran’s memory loss.

“I thought I was getting better, but the memories of that time still torment me.”

Terran’s heart ached at Leah’s tearful confession.

He had only thought about how fortunate he was to have regained his memories, but he had overlooked the fact that Grace had been deeply hurt.

It was difficult to even utter the words “I’m sorry.”

“It wouldn’t be so hard if you would at least honestly tell me that something came up and you had to go somewhere.”

“Grace, that’s…”

There was a reason why he hadn’t told her the reason.

It wasn’t his country’s affair, and it wasn’t easy to disclose something that the Galdenia Empire had kept secret.

Of course, now that he had finished the job well, he was about to tell her.

“It feels like I’m not being respected!”

Leah, who had been sobbing with her back turned, suddenly turned around and shouted, looking up at Terran.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault…!”

He was about to apologize unconditionally and comfort her in his arms, but she pushed him away with all her might.

In that moment, only one thought ran through Terran’s mind.

‘What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?’

He realized that this was when the expression “overwhelmed” was used.

‘Let’s imagine this is a battlefield.’

If he imagined being surrounded by the enemy and unable to move an inch, he might find an answer.

Terran brought out every battle method he knew in an instant.

‘Surrender or fight.’

Even if it was cowardly, he would be forgiven if he surrendered, but there would be a heavy price to pay.

For example, she might draw corn with five hundred kernels… On the other hand, if he chose to fight?

‘A complete defeat.’

The result would be the same: corn.

‘I don’t care about the secrets of another country. My woman is more important.’

Terran decided. In this situation, it was wise to reveal everything without hiding anything.

“I helped Salame.”

Without rhyme or reason, he said he helped Salame. Leah looked at Terran with a bewildered expression.

“Commissioner Tuazo was gambling with public funds and, struggling with debt, he smuggled weapons. Afraid that the secret might be leaked, he entrusted the job to someone no one would expect. To raid the scene. That was me.”

Terran told Grace the whole story in as calm a tone as possible.

He also told her without hiding that Tuazo had borrowed money from Allen.

On the other hand, he didn’t forget to mention that Allen had been released without charges due to providing cash and a lack of evidence.

Terran did his best to make her understand. Thanks to that, Leah became perfectly fine, as if she had never cried.

“I see.”

“Y…You see?”

The woman who had been scolding him while crying a moment ago had disappeared without a trace, and Leah’s eyes sparkled as if she had heard amazing news.

That wasn’t all. She grabbed Terran’s hands and took him to the bed.

“Tell me more details.”

“Huh?”

Her eyes only sparkled like that when she came up with a new invention. Why was she interested in the corruption of another country’s commissioner?

‘Ah! Tuazo, didn’t he say he flirted with Grace, probably?’

So the good news was natural.

Terran repeated the story in more detail.

What was even more surprising was that she listened to his story with a fascinating expression, serious as if she didn’t want to miss a single detail.

“Our Terran did a great job.”

Eventually, Leah crossed her arms and nodded, praising Terran.

‘What? This is confusing. What am I supposed to do if you suddenly become a different person?’

It was a relief that she wasn’t angry and crying anymore, but he felt strange.

No, it was enough if he could lie next to her, no matter how it went.

“You’re amazing, Terran.”

“Sud…Suddenly?”

Scolding him one moment and praising him the next.

“Are you not angry anymore?”

“Huh? Oh, was I angry?”

Leah looked confused and then said seriously.

“Anyway, don’t make me worry anymore.”

‘Phew! That’s a relief.’

What did it matter if it was strange? He had succeeded if he had avoided the crisis. Just as Terran was about to lean in to kiss Leah, she moved her body back and said.

“It’s already morning. Go to sleep. I have to go to the palace.”

“!?”

Terran resentfully watched her leave the bedroom, leaving him behind.