Interest Compounds on Revenge (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 13
Terren was engulfed in confusion as he watched Grace sleep. Honestly, he was pretending to be asleep—so she could rest assured and sleep peacefully.
But he vividly felt her gaze.
Her violet eyes staring at his face, her pink lips, and her golden hair tickling his skin relentlessly.
Especially her childlike breathing made his heart flutter wildly like a pigeon’s wings.
‘I should salute my own patience.’
After all, he hadn’t revealed himself as a beast hiding behind a gentleman’s mask.
If he kept his eyes open any longer, he feared he might swallow the small, delicate rabbit in one gulp—so he pretended to sleep.
When was the last time he’d felt desire for a woman?
It had been since his boyhood, when he secretly read magazines filled only with pictures of Aiden and adult men.
No, this desire was different in nature. Back then, it had merely been instinctive eye candy.
Now, watching a woman sleep so comfortably pressed against him, he felt a burning sensation in his chest.
For a moment, he imagined a world without Grace by his side. Shaking his head roughly, Terren stared at her sleeping form.
‘Do I desire you?’
He could no longer imagine the ducal mansion without Grace. Just the thought left his lungs feeling hollow, as if pierced by a gaping hole.
He raised a finger and gently brushed Grace’s lips.
‘Since when did my heart become filled entirely with you?’
It was time to be honest with his feelings. He was tired of crouching in darkness like a wounded beast, wary of others and drowning in self-pity.
He hadn’t even realized he’d already climbed out of that gloomy abyss.
‘You were the one who pulled me out of that mire.’
Terren carefully rose from his place and gazed intently at the sleeping Grace.
He used to believe that dark abyss was where he belonged. But now, he loathed it utterly.
Just then, he recalled Grace walking toward him across the distant meadow, her face innocently smiling as she said she’d come to find a horse. In truth, he’d been saved long ago.
‘I like you, Grace.’
He wasn’t sure if it had yet become love, but his heart was undeniably overflowing with her. Death itself had never frightened him—but now, he dreaded an empty space beside him.
Terren lay down facing Grace.
Her breathing brought him relief, and his racing heartbeat gradually calmed. He decided to fall asleep breathing in sync with her rhythm.
Terren’s arm wrapped around Grace’s body.
‘You’d be in trouble if you fell off the bed.’
Terren gently closed his eyes. Knowing how precious this peace was, he didn’t want to waste a single moment of it.
And for the first time in a very long while, he sank into a deep slumber. It felt as though tranquility would last forever.
[This is the timeline separator]“Ugh…! Don’t kill me!”
Lea had returned to her wedding day. Inside the empty church, the wedding aisle was stained crimson with her father’s blood.
“Father!”
‘Once you’re gone, the Hamilton Trading Company will be mine!’
Allen’s large hands mercilessly choked Lea’s neck. The blond, handsome man, now wearing the face of a demon, tried to snap her slender neck.
“P-please… spare me!”
How deeply she had loved him—she’d even been ready to give up everything for Allen.
Yet he had shot her father dead and now lunged to kill her too, clad in her white wedding dress.
“I don’t want to… die!”
Not only had she been toyed with by false love, but she’d lost everything.
Allen, consumed by greed, reflected in Lea’s eyes.
“You’re a… demon!”
She refused to die obediently according to his wishes. Lea mustered all her strength and grabbed his hands choking her neck.
“I’ll… never forgive you!”
With her last ounce of strength, Lea shoved him away—and Allen vanished into wisps of smoke. Yet her suffering remained.
Just then, a man’s voice echoed from afar.
“Grace, wake up!”
Terren awoke at dawn. Opening his eyes, he saw Grace strangling herself with her own hands.
She was screaming in agony toward someone unseen. He quickly pulled her hands away from her throat.
“Open your eyes! Grace!”
Terren pulled Grace into his arms and sat her upright. She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.
He couldn’t tell if she was still half-asleep, but she clearly wasn’t fully conscious. Tap, tap—he lightly slapped her cheek with the back of his hand. Only then did her hazy pupils return to normal.
“Duke Courtois.”
Grace’s voice was weak.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Lea felt relieved knowing someone was beside her. She burst into tears and tightly embraced Terren.
“I… was so scared.”
“It’s alright now—it was all just a dream.”
Terren kept stroking Grace’s back, continuously comforting her.
Lea was truly grateful to Terren.
She couldn’t begin to describe how terrified she’d been when that damned Allen appeared even in her dreams to kill her. But that was a secret she could never reveal to him.
Still, in this moment, she desperately needed the warmth of Terren’s embrace—because she had nowhere else to run.
[This is the timeline separator]Allen removed the “Hamilton Trading Company” sign and replaced it with “MacDowell Trading Company.”
He hadn’t yet erased all traces of Richard Hamilton.
But soon, this trading company would be reborn as MacDowell Trading Company, and people would forget the old Hamilton Trading Company altogether.
“Sir, the sale documents are ready.”
Allen’s secretary arrived carrying a stack of papers—a sign that many documents awaited his signature.
“Are you really going to sell all the Hamilton general stores nationwide?”
The secretary asked Allen with a hint of concern in his voice.
“I’ll sell them. Those little general stores don’t make real money anymore. Times have changed—you need to invest in ships, weapons, and railways to earn big.”
“But the Hamilton general stores…”
The secretary tried to dissuade him, but stopped speaking when he saw Allen’s furrowed brow.
In truth, the Hamilton general stores formed the foundation of the company.
Even during wars in other countries, the stores scattered across Galdensia steadily brought in modest but reliable profits.
People from neighboring nations even came to buy food and daily necessities.
Why sell a business that made money effortlessly?
“Haven’t we received any letters from Rubec?”
For several days now, Allen had asked his secretary the same question.
“No, sir.”
“I see. You may go.”
Once the secretary left, Allen rose from his seat and walked toward the window. He’d sent a letter to Grace Bizac, whom he’d met in Rubec, saying he wished to see her again.
‘She’d be perfect as my partner at the autumn court banquet.’
He hadn’t ignored the noble young ladies of Galdensia.
But given the unpleasant incident with Lea, bringing a local woman as his partner to the imperial banquet would be unwise for now.
Of course, that might just be an excuse.
‘Grace Bizac—daughter of a baronial family with a long, distinguished history, though not particularly wealthy, and from a lineage of war heroes.’
Moreover, Grace was beautiful and intelligent. He’d only seen her once—at Lea’s funeral—but she hadn’t left his thoughts since.
‘I heard her engagement to Duke Terren Courtois is nearly broken off due to their poor relationship… I suppose I’ll have to visit Rubec myself.’
There were also rumors that Terren despised women.
If that were true, then he—Allen—was the only man worthy of possessing her. His nature demanded that whatever he wanted, he would obtain by any means necessary—and he simply couldn’t let her go.
[This is the timeline separator]Several days had passed since returning from Bern. Terren was busy catching up on overdue work, while Lea carried on with her usual routine.
“Miss, His Grace wishes to see you in the garden.”
Lea, who had been cutting out an article about Allen from the newspaper, hurried toward the garden.
Since returning from Bern, they hadn’t had a chance to speak privately. Yet her heart fluttered strangely at his summons.
‘Don’t get excited. You mustn’t.’
Lea steadied her foolishly trembling heart. Finally reaching the garden, she spotted Terren reading a newspaper beneath a white canopy.
“I’ll come back later, Miss.”
“Alright, Pauline.”
Lea remembered that night when she’d suffered from nightmares.
Of all people, she’d been caught showing the wound she most wanted to hide from Terren. Yet his comfort and warmth still lingered within her.
Just recalling how she’d spent the night safely in his arms made her cheeks flush.
“Duke Courtois.”
“You’re here?”
“I see you were reading the newspaper.”
“Grace, just call me by my name as you used to.”
“Oh…? Alright, I will.”
“I’ve finished reading—take it with you later.”
“Thank you.”
When Lea gave a shy smile, Terren also smiled back at her.
“Why did you want to see me?”
Why, indeed? It wasn’t that he had any specific business—rather, he simply missed seeing Grace.
Now that he’d acknowledged the feelings sprouting and rapidly growing inside him, his heart felt lighter. Yet he still felt awkward about confessing openly.
“Oh, well… um. I realized I never properly thanked you for writing that letter to the Sultan of Turki.”
‘Only now?’
“It was nothing. Um… I also wanted to thank you.”
“For what…?”
“For helping me, even though you don’t know what nightmare I had.”
But Terren’s expression grew ambiguous—as if he didn’t particularly want her thanks.
‘Was my comfort as meaningful to you as yours was to me?’
Just then, Terren’s whole body shuddered, and his eyes snapped wide open.
He’d spent years with Grace—so why had he only just realized it now? She herself was his sole source of healing.
Terren stopped breathing. He couldn’t move even an inch, utterly transfixed by the sensation of Grace imprinting herself onto his eyes and heart.
Lately, even while working, he’d found himself thinking of Grace. He’d glance at the clock, eagerly awaiting the moment he’d see her again—and his heart would naturally respond.
Whenever melancholy clung to his wounds like a leech, sucking his blood dry, he’d think of Grace.
Then, as if by magic, he’d instantly escape those dark emotions and feel as though he’d teleported to a place filled with light.
‘I’ve come to want you completely.’
His awakening arrived in the most ordinary of moments.
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
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I don’t understand, if she is trying to save the twins, why is she putting a gun to her head? She needs to be alive for the twins to survive.
This is sounding less like a punishment and more like a privilege.
Sometimes this novel’s inability to reflect anything close to realism frustrates me. Let’s reward arson and attempted murder! (Can’t help but point out the lack of creativity with Mr. Baker’s name.)