Interest Compounds on Revenge (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
An awkward tension was clearly evident between Terren and Lea. Still, it was fortunate that Terren didn’t ask why.
“Th… thank you.”
Lea felt utterly deflated by Terren’s easy acceptance.
Perhaps he’d even been waiting for this moment to arrive. She now looked like someone who’d shamelessly taken over the Duke’s residence as if it were her own home.
“I’ll go out for a bit.”
As Lea stood up and headed toward the door, Terren called her back.
“Grace, if you see Luke in the hallway, could you tell him I’m looking for him? There’s something I forgot to take care of.”
She’d briefly hoped he might try to hold her back one last time, but his tone was even more businesslike than usual.
Despite all their talks about breaking off the engagement and parting ways, he seemed completely unaffected.
“Y-yes? I… I will.”
She fled the room as if running away. His calm agreement stung a little… No, even expecting such a reaction was contradictory and greedy.
‘Actually, this is for the best.’
She was relieved she could leave so cleanly. Lea soon spotted Luke talking with James.
“Luke, His Grace is looking for you.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Luke hurried off toward the study.
Lea wanted to say goodbye to the butler James, but she didn’t want to ruin his cheerful mood while he was chatting happily with Luke.
“James, thank you.”
“Miss Grace, why so suddenly?”
“I just felt I had to say it once.”
“I see.”
James laughed heartily, bowed politely to Lea, and then disappeared.
Only then did Lea begin to feel a sense of clarity settling in.
‘I can always come back for the necklace later with Father.’
Upon reflection, Duke Courtois’s estate was the one place beyond Allen’s reach. If she stayed any longer in such safety, she’d drift aimlessly at sea like a ship that had lost its destination.
Lea returned to her room and stood by the window, gazing outside all day long. A storm of emotions churned within her soul, overwhelming her with anguish.
Her thoughts never ceased, not even as the crimson sunset painted the sky and darkness gradually fell.
“Young lady, is something troubling you? You’ve skipped meals.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Pauline brought food into the room.
Knowing she could delay no further, Lea took Pauline’s hand and led her to the sofa.
“Pauline, I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“What? What do you mean? Leaving for where?”
Pauline reacted exactly as Lea had anticipated.
“You know, Pauline—His Grace doesn’t love me.”
“That’s old news! He seems different now…”
In fact, Terren appeared to be growing fonder of Grace by the day.
“Where will you go without me?”
“You must stay here.”
“No! Take me with you. I’ve grown up with you since childhood. I came all the way here from the Baron’s estate trusting only you!”
Pauline’s resistance was fierce. Lea could only feel regret. If there were a path they could walk together, she’d gladly reach out—but she couldn’t drag Pauline into hell with her.
“Pauline, listen carefully.”
“!?”
“I won’t ever return here again.”
‘Because I must join hands with Allen and walk straight into hell.’
She couldn’t bring herself to say those words aloud. Lea struggled to soothe Pauline, who was sobbing and making a scene.
Since she refused to reveal the real reason, they kept repeating the same questions and answers.
After much difficulty, Lea finally persuaded Pauline—or rather, Pauline seemed too exhausted to insist on following anymore.
[This is the timeline separator]Lea left the Duke’s residence early in the morning. Yet a carriage stood waiting right at the front gate.
‘What’s this?’
Just then, the coachman stepped down and bowed to her.
“His Grace instructed me to take you safely to the train station.”
“R… really?”
Her throat tightened instantly. If only she’d known, she would’ve properly thanked him before leaving.
She felt guilty for having declared her intentions like a declaration of war without proper gratitude. Lea turned back for one last look at the Duke’s residence, then climbed into the carriage.
“I hope you all find happiness.”
She tried not to cry, but tears burst forth uncontrollably.
Finally, the carriage began to move. Only then did Lea resolve not to cry anymore, roughly wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“Don’t cry. It hasn’t even begun yet.”
Meanwhile, Terren stood by the window, watching Grace board the carriage and depart. He immediately turned and headed straight to her room.
Inside, he heard Pauline’s sobs. When he entered, Pauline jumped up in surprise.
“Your Grace, can’t you bring the young lady back?”
“What?”
“I have a bad feeling. She kept saying strange things, like someone going to their death.”
“Strange things?”
“She said she’d never return. And she didn’t take any of her belongings. It felt exactly like someone heading to die.”
While listening to Pauline, Terren’s gaze remained fixed on several notebooks neatly arranged on the dressing table.
He wondered why she’d been so diligently clipping and organizing newspaper articles. He needed to understand what had shaken her enough to leave the Duke’s estate.
He approached the dressing table and picked up the notebooks. She’d even numbered them.
‘Hah! How meticulous.’
He chuckled softly and opened the first one.
From the very first page, it was filled with articles about Allen MacDowell.
Terren turned to Pauline and spoke.
“Pauline, people don’t die that easily.”
“Huh?”
Pauline felt embarrassed by her own dramatic outburst compared to Terren’s calm tone. Truly, as Grace had said, the Duke seemed completely unaffected.
“I could use some tea.”
“Yes, I’ll bring some.”
After Pauline left, Terren began reading the notebooks in earnest.
Most articles concerned Allen MacDowell and the Hamilton Trading Company. There was also a report of Lea Hamilton’s death—the ink slightly smudged, as if tears had fallen upon it.
‘Allen MacDowell, Lea Hamilton, and Grace.’
He could accept the first two, but Grace had no apparent connection to them…
Just then, Pauline returned with tea and poured a steaming cup of black tea before Terren.
“Pauline, when did Grace start collecting these newspapers?”
“Right after she woke up from her first bout with influenza.”
That moment—when she’d suddenly rushed to the study demanding a week’s worth of newspapers—had marked the beginning of her change.
“Could it be that Grace liked this man?”
Terren showed Pauline a sketch of Allen from the newspaper article.
“I’m not sure.”
Pauline tilted her head thoughtfully.
At first, she’d assumed it was just a new hobby, but whenever Grace clipped newspaper articles, a fierce intensity seemed to flicker in her eyes.
“But Your Grace, Miss Grace has never been good at hiding her feelings, has she?”
That was true—but it applied only to Grace before her transformation began.
Terren took a sip of tea and continued reading. Gradually, his emotions twisted into a massive, suffocating anger. He was bewildered—it was a feeling entirely new to him.
The notebooks were densely filled with ‘Allen MacDowell.’ Why had Grace become so obsessed with this man? She’d only seen him once.
‘Was she infatuated?’
Admittedly, though Allen MacDowell’s actions were suspicious, his appearance was strikingly handsome—enough to captivate any woman.
Perhaps that explained why she’d underlined the train schedule to Galdensia.
‘Could she have read my letter?’
Terren stood up abruptly and headed to his study.
He wondered if Grace had read the letter addressed to him before leaving.
He quickly opened the drawer—the letter remained sealed. But something else was missing.
‘How reckless. To leave just to meet a man she’s only seen once.’
No—Allen would surely welcome Grace with open arms if she came to him.
Terren squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t name the storm of emotions crashing through his chest, but it was deeply unsettling—fueled by fury, betrayal, and a chilling sense of loss.
No matter how he tried to redirect his thoughts, the emotions swelling within him refused to subside.
[This is the timeline separator]As soon as Lea arrived at the train station, she bought a ticket bound for Galdensia. Her eyes locked onto the large clock mounted on the station wall.
Only about twenty minutes remained until the train’s scheduled arrival. Her heart pounded, and her palms grew sweaty. Yet station staff bustled about anxiously.
“The train will be delayed beyond its scheduled arrival time.”
The staff shouted toward the crowd. Most people didn’t seem concerned—minor train delays were common.
Lea waited patiently as well. But as noon passed and afternoon wore on, there was still no sign of the 11 o’clock train, and eventually, the crowd grew restless.
“Train service will be suspended for several days.”
At the staff’s sudden announcement, people grumbled their complaints and began leaving the station.
“We’ll have to take the stagecoach.”
“If that’s not possible, we’ll take the mail coach.”
Muttering discontentedly, people gathered their belongings.
Lea was just as flustered. If she couldn’t reach Galdensia by train, she’d have to take a carriage like everyone else—but another problem arose.
“We can’t leave Lebon City?”
“The Police Chief has placed the entire city under lockdown to catch smugglers.”
“Then we’ll have to take the mail coach.”
Lea hurried along with the crowd. But the mail coaches were already fully booked, and the last one had already departed the city.
Just then, the bell tower rang out five chimes, marking early evening.
“What should I do?”
Lea stood dazed by the roadside, staring blankly at the clock. Truly, she was trapped—unable to move forward or back.
Trains wouldn’t run for several days, and the entire city of Lebon was under lockdown. She hadn’t even brought money for a hotel.
‘Should I return to the Duke’s residence?’
The problem was, she didn’t have the nerve for that.
After loudly demanding Terren break off their engagement and declaring she’d leave, returning now was absolutely unthinkable. Lea’s vision went dark.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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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.)