Interest Compounds on Revenge - Chapter 25

Terran remained silent even after bringing Grace to the duke’s mansion. Of course, she didn’t say anything either.

It wasn’t the right time to ask him about the circumstances.

During their horseback ride together, she could clearly feel his rough breathing and pounding heartbeat.

Terran took Grace’s hand and headed towards her room.

The moment the door slammed shut, Terran pulled her into his arms. His body trembled anxiously as if an earthquake had struck.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Lea felt she should apologize to him. Although it wasn’t her intention, she was the reason he had been startled.

“Shh!”

Terran silently buried his face in her lush golden hair.

Because of this small woman, he had gone through heaven and hell countless times today. When had she become such an important existence to him?

When Pauline returned alone after losing Grace, he was overwhelmed by the fear that he might never see her again. It was the first time he had felt such terror since the war.

“I’ve been unhappy since childhood.”

Still holding Grace in his arms, he began to tell his story.

It was a story he had never wanted to share with anyone until now. But with her, with Grace, it felt okay.

“I had two older brothers, but they both died before reaching 100 days old. My mother barely managed to give birth to me, and when I passed 100 days, she thought our misfortune had ended. But then my mother passed away.”

Lea had never heard his voice sound so sad before.

“My father died in battle when I was ten years old.”

Lea unconsciously burst into tears. Just hearing the story evoked such sorrowful emotions.

Ten years old – how did that young boy endure? How lonely must he have been?

“Everyone left me. Thrown into the world all alone.”

What could be more unfortunate than having no one around who loves you?

“I’ve never been loved, so I didn’t know how to love others, or rather, how to love you.”

Watching Grace, who whined like a child demanding affection, Terran saw himself in her.

When he saw his own fragile inner self overlapping with Grace, he just wanted to avoid it. It was difficult for him to fully accept her.

But one day, Grace changed, becoming a woman who could embrace anything, comforting his childlike soul.

He felt warmth, consolation, and careful nurturing from her for the first time – things that were absent around him.

“I’m sorry for making you anxious.”

Lea had nothing else to say.

“It’s alright, because I found you again.”

No one would know how terrified he had been of losing her so futilely.

“Even if you disappear a hundred times, no, even if you run away because you hate me, I will chase you anywhere and bring you back.”

‘Thank you for not letting go of my hand.’

Terran wouldn’t know either. That a woman whose life had been shattered in an instant had fallen before him, receiving care and comfort beyond what she deserved.

With him firmly guarding her back, Lea could dream of the future.

Lea decided not to press him with any words today.

She gently smoothed his disheveled hair. Just as his lips came down to kiss her, Lea quickly turned her head away.

“How unkind, Grace.”

This was surely a precursor to that. If she kissed Terran, it was obvious she would fall into that swamp of poisonous emotions and be unable to escape.

‘I must not love Terran.’

She vowed desperately. That she would never love any man again. But Terran was trying to pry open her wounds.

‘Just liking him is enough…’

Don’t give any more feelings than that. She already knew too well. If she fell in love, she would either lose her way again or become complacent in reality and forget what she needed to do in the future.

‘Only up to here, don’t cross the line, Lea.’

* * *

Terran sat with his legs crossed on an iron chair, and in front of him stood about a hundred members of Rapha’s organization. They were all dressed in prison uniforms and were about to be executed.

“My kind fiancée asked me not to kill thugs like you.”

Terran’s hand, clad in a black leather glove, held a gun.

All day long, he had listened to Grace talk about Rapha and Chainer until his ears were sore.

She said even that alluring dress she wore to the imperial banquet was made by Rapha’s granddaughter, and that everything must have been a misunderstanding.

But that was just the kind Grace’s thinking; how could one trust such vicious thugs?

“From now on, you’ll have to impress me. That’s the only way you can live.”

Next to Terran stood soldiers in a line, all holding guns.

If Terran just waved his hand, the members of Rapha’s organization would be shot on the spot. It was a critical moment.

“P-please spare us, Your Grace.”

Even cruel thugs became weak in the face of death. They begged and clung to him, pleading for their lives.

“There’s no justification for you to live. How dare you kidnap the fiancée of Duke Courtois.”

“We didn’t do it because we wanted to.”

“Cut the cowardly excuses.”

At that moment, Maddox glared at Terran and spoke.

“Even if we’re going to die, let’s at least ask how he knew it was us.”

Maddox felt wronged. The kidnapping had been carried out without a single error. They had disguised their carriage to look exactly like the one from the duke’s mansion, as per his subordinate’s clever plan.

But he was curious how Terran had known and raided the organization.

It wasn’t just the carriage. They had matched everything – the coachman’s height, voice, and even clothes. He began to suspect if there might be an internal informant.

“A mongrel doesn’t know that it reeks of its own stench.”

“!?”

“How stupid.”

“Smell?”

“I’m talking about that foul underground smell that emanates from you.”

Only then did Maddox bury his nose in his clothes and sniff, realizing his mistake.

They had become so accustomed to the musk scent that they hadn’t thought about how it had permeated their body odor.

Moreover, Terran’s ability to remember and deduce from a scent he had smelled once was impressive.

“Don’t you want to live?”

After Maddox, no one spoke.

“Soldiers, present arms!”

At Terran’s command, the soldiers loaded their guns in unison and aimed at the criminals. Only then did they begin to waver.

Some started wailing and shouting to be spared, while others struggled to break free from their bindings.

At that moment, Terran’s eyes met directly with Rapha’s.

Unlike the others, the leader of the organization seemed like he might have something to say.

“Hey! Old man, leave some last words. I’m not such an unkind person, so even when I cut off heads, I don’t forget to show… consideration.”

“It was because of Hamilton’s General Store.”

“What?”

Terran’s brow furrowed at the unexpected statement. He had a feeling he was about to uncover some tremendous inside information from Rapha.

“Bring Rapha to the reception room.”

“Yes, sir.”

Terran left the prison immediately.

* * *

Terran and Rapha sat face to face in the reception room. As prisoner and interrogator.

“We didn’t know that Miss Grace was Your Grace’s fiancée. You may not believe it, but it’s the truth.”

“And?”

“Thanks to the young lady, even a lowly life like mine found a dream. She recognized my granddaughter’s inadequate handiwork and became her friend. So when Hamilton’s General Store came up for sale, I wanted to buy it. I wanted to do honest business, not smuggling anymore.”

“That doesn’t make sense? How does that justify kidnapping Grace? Unless…”

There was only one current owner of Hamilton’s General Store.

“Yes, Allen MacDowell initially said he would sell the entire store at a low price if we killed Your Grace. So I refused.”

“Ha!”

Terran let out a hollow laugh. This was truly an unexpected development.

“Then, was Grace the alternative he proposed?”

“Yes, he said we just needed to put her in a carriage and send her to Galdensia. If we had known Miss Grace was Your Grace’s fiancée, we would never have accepted.”

Terran clenched his fist.

‘Allen MacDowell.’

He was even more vicious than expected. Did he think he could do anything because he had money, or was he so blinded by ambition that he couldn’t think straight?

It would have been wise to avoid someone who was clearly not his match, but his tenacious determination to keep pushing and try to win was… truly disgusting. You only engage with someone who’s a worthy opponent.

‘Now that he has Hamilton Trading in his grasp, he’s lost all perspective.’

Terran could only laugh.

If everything could be solved with money, Richard Hamilton wouldn’t have been imprisoned on Leaf Island in the first place.

That was the limit of merchants in this era. No matter how much money they had, they were powerless in the face of absolute authority.

“Rapha, do you still feel the same way?”

“Pardon?”

“About giving up smuggling and wanting to live doing honest business.”

“At my age, you have many regrets in life. I may have lived that way, but I can’t let my granddaughter live in the gutter like me, can I?”

“Is that so? I think I might be able to find a reasonable compromise.”

Terran’s fingers tapped on the table as if playing piano keys. He even hummed a tune, clearly enjoying himself.

“Will you accept any proposal I make?”

“If you spare my life, I’d be happy to be Your Grace’s dog.”

“I don’t keep dogs.”

“But you might need one for someone else. A very loyal puppy, that is.”

* * *

Allen was in the middle of signing approval documents when his secretary rushed in urgently. He frowned as he looked up.

“It’s here, sir. The carriage from Rubeck has arrived.”

“Is that so?”

His frowning face brightened.

It seemed the matter had progressed faster than expected. Finally, they had managed to snatch Grace from Terran’s grasp.

His whole body tingled with excitement. He hurried to where the carriage was.

‘They say those Rapha guys will do anything for money, and it’s true.’

If that was the case, their claim that they couldn’t kill Terran must have been an exaggeration. It might be worth entrusting them with that task again next time.

Allen smiled contentedly as he looked at the carriage covered with a black curtain. He approached the door. He should welcome her gladly.

Allen smoothed his hair with his hand and adjusted his tie. Then he opened the carriage door.

“Huh?”

When he opened the door, there was no one inside. Only a large wooden box placed on the floor.

Judging by the ice covering it, it seemed to be a box of meat or vegetables. But the company name on the box caught his eye.

Even though they had agreed not to use that name.