Interest Compounds on Revenge - Chapter 62
Lea pushed Salame away. It wasn’t a situation to be comforted in his arms.
“Tell me. I’ll listen to everything.”
Salame spoke gently. At first, Lea didn’t think there was a need to say anything, but since it involved his mother, she wanted to hear any response.
So she talked in detail about the incident at the riding grounds, and Salame listened attentively to Lea’s words.
However, Salame’s expression changed moment by moment.
“Well, for my mother, the scar on her face is like a bomb trigger. Usually, she’s a benevolent and merciful empress, but she lacks patience only when it comes to her face.”
Salame was quite serious when talking about his mother. He didn’t joke around or say anything out of place.
Among that, the impression that her personality became as violent as it is now after suffering from smallpox was striking.
Lea sympathized with that part as a woman. No, even for a man, those scars would be difficult to bear.
“Didn’t she try to make any efforts?”
While it’s true that scars are difficult to recover from once they form, she was curious if they had tried anything other than covering it with a veil.
“Why wouldn’t she have? She tried makeup, wore masks, and even sought people who claimed they could fix her face with magic. All failed, though.”
Lea carefully recalled Teresa’s face.
It was terrifying to even think about going back to that moment, but somehow it felt like something she needed to address.
‘Her face wasn’t distorted or deformed. Just prominent scars on the skin.’
If that was the case, it could have been sufficiently covered with makeup techniques.
“Your Highness, aren’t there many skilled makeup artists in the imperial palace?”
“As I said, she tried makeup. But the problem was that in trying to cover the scars, she ended up using harsh cosmetics, and her skin got worse and worse. Later, her face turned blue due to cosmetic poisoning. Now she’s fine after consistently taking detoxification medicine.”
Lea somehow felt that Teresa hadn’t tried her best.
There are countless people on the continent. As society develops day by day, new inventions emerge.
The early giving up was disappointing compared to her desperation. As an empress, she should have had more opportunities to find solutions than ordinary people.
If there was no solution, she should have at least attempted to create one.
For example, if she had selected chemists and consistently supported research for several years, there might have been significant results by now.
‘The emotional wound was bigger, so she got tired quickly.’
Or maybe her desire to return to her former self was greater than covering the scars, so she wasn’t satisfied.
Lea suddenly found herself in deep thought. As a fellow woman, she understood, but kept thinking if there might be a solution.
However, Salame seemed more interested in something else.
“Lady Bizac, won’t you consider dating me?”
“Pardon?”
Lea, who had been lost in deep contemplation, snapped back to reality at Salame’s words.
“That won’t be possible.”
Before Lea could answer, Terran walked in from the corridor and refused on her behalf.
Lea’s gaze immediately went to his hand. Fortunately, Dr. Wilson had bandaged it well, so she felt relieved.
“Are you alright, Terran?”
She immediately approached him and gently took his hand.
“It’s nothing.”
His voice was infinitely gentle towards Lea, but looking at Salame, he sighed softly.
“Lord Salame Roberto, you appear when we least expect it.”
Terran sneered at Salame.
“I’m hurt. It’s not a pleasant feeling to be forgotten by anyone. Especially, I’d like to never be forgotten in Lady Bizac’s mind.”
“Hmm, you won’t be forgotten. If she learns about Lord Roberto in the future… Hahaha!”
Salame’s upturned corners of the mouth stiffened at Terran’s response.
“Duke Courtois, I have affection for Lady Bizac. Moreover, I hope it develops into friendship.”
As Terran laughed loudly again, Salame’s face turned pale.
“Dreaming of friendship isn’t a crime, but when you laugh like that…”
“Friendship?”
The person who had been calmly responding well all along was shaken by his laughter.
Salame approached Terran closely and glared at him fiercely.
“No one has the right to mock another’s emotions. Friendship doesn’t only exist between the same sex…”
“Enough…!”
Terran raised his hand to cut off Salame’s words.
“I have no interest in Lord Roberto’s theory of friendship. I just hope you don’t dream of friendship with just anyone.”
“Lady Bizac is not your possession, Duke.”
“That’s right, Grace is not my possession but my precious fiancée. So I hope Lord Roberto doesn’t forget that point. There’s such a thing as moral ethics in this world.”
The implication was not to include flirting with another’s fiancée under the guise of pure friendship.
As Terran spoke seriously, Salame raised both hands to calm him down, indicating he was done.
Salame didn’t want to argue with Terran any further.
“My lady, I’ll see you at the banquet tonight.”
Salame awkwardly said goodbye and left.
Terran and Lea watched Salame’s retreating back. Soon, Terran approached the terrace and cursed.
“Damn, we need to have the wedding as soon as possible. All sorts of things are getting tangled up.”
Terran, who had been calm throughout the conversation with Salame, suddenly got irritated, and Lea hugged his waist tightly from behind.
“!?”
“I’m sorry. Because of me, Terran…”
Lea sobbed. She felt too overwhelmed to even dare say sorry to him. She felt like opening up her true feelings for the first time.
“Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m a woman who’s helpful to you.”
“Grace.”
As he tried to turn around, Lea firmly stopped him. It was a plea to just listen to her words in this state for a moment.
“Because of me, you get hurt, suffer, and end up in trouble. Is it right for me to be by your side despite all that?”
“So, do you want to leave me?”
Terran asked straightforwardly. There was no point in trying to persuade or beat around the bush; this stubborn woman wouldn’t understand. She’d just end up blaming herself unnecessarily.
“No.”
“Then that’s fine. Because I want you more.”
“Still, tell me if it gets hard.”
“That will never happen in my lifetime.”
Terran turned around and caressed Lea’s cheek, speaking in a deep voice.
“Are you perhaps sorry to me?”
Lea nodded at his question.
“There’s no need for that at all… This is my rational stance. But…”
“But?”
Lea swallowed hard.
What if Terran said that while rationally he didn’t care about the self-blame she felt, his actual feeling was ‘I’m not too happy about getting hurt because of you’?
Lea felt anxious.
At that moment, Terran pulled out a paper and a portable pen from his pocket.
“Reason and emotion are distinctly different entities.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sign it.”
A paper with a grape cluster drawn on it was unfolded before her eyes, and Terran placed the pen in Lea’s hand.
“My reason feels nothing, but this emotion thing is telling me to get a reward from Grace.”
“What!?”
As the taut string of tension loosened, Lea burst into anger.
She hit Terran’s chest with her small fist. Terran added one more word with a serious face.
“Each hit adds one more signature.”
But this time, she couldn’t help but give him a reward. However, Lea was planning a small revenge because she was annoyed that Terran had teased her.
‘By the way, when did so many signatures fill up?’
Lea’s hand hovered as if about to sign right away, and Terran stared intently at the paper.
As she signed one by one, he swallowed hard enough to make his Adam’s apple bob.
Lea found it amusing to see him anxiously waiting to see how many signatures she would give, so she deliberately took her time.
‘One, two, three… just five more to fill.’
Terran only looked at Lea’s hand.
Now only five grape seeds remained. The day of conquering the goal was not far off.
But Lea wasn’t one to give in easily. She carefully folded the paper after leaving exactly five and handed it to Terran.
“Congratulations. Not many left.”
‘She should have finished it while she was at it. Even with an injured hand.’
He felt a bit upset with her, but he wanted to feel this exquisite moment again next time.
Instead, he had to do this; he couldn’t bear it any longer.
Terran pulled Lea’s waist with one hand and kissed her right there. As the wound on her lips opened, he tasted a metallic flavor in his mouth.
If someone saw, the sight of two people kissing while covered in blood might look grotesque, but to Terran, this blood-soaked kiss was sweeter than any fruit juice.
As the kiss deepened, the hand on Lea’s waist gradually lifted her into the air. As the two became more closely pressed together, their breaths intertwined as one.
‘I like you, Terran Courtois.’
* * *
As night fell, a grand banquet was held at the Bellis Palace.
Although the original purpose was to celebrate the winners of the safely concluded ‘Royal Equestrian Competition’, it was essentially a social gathering of royals from various countries.
Still, the most attention at the banquet was undoubtedly on Vivian and her maids.
They thoroughly enjoyed the praise from the royalty. But Lea still felt heavy-hearted.
It was a banquet meant to be enjoyed, yet her heart was so heavy.
‘I need to meet Empress Teresa.’
She shouldn’t be on bad terms with her like this. With how many Hamilton General Stores were in Galdensia, it was the worst situation business-wise.
Lea confided her thoughts to Terran.
“That makes sense. It’s not something to just let go with Empress Teresa. But it’s dangerous for Grace to go alone. Let’s go together.”
In fact, Terran was still not over his anger. Just remembering how Teresa had tried to harm her made his chest burn.
“Thank you for understanding. But please give me a moment to talk to her alone.”
“Then, I’ll wait outside the door. This is non-negotiable.”
“Alright.”
Lea searched for Teresa with Terran.
The banquet hall floor was bustling with men and women dancing together.
‘She doesn’t seem to be dancing, she’s not here.’
After wandering around, Lea fortunately met Salame and headed to where Teresa was with him, while Terran waited outside the door as promised.
“I’ll be back.”
“If it seems dangerous, shout. No, if you take too long, I’m barging in right away.”
Terran couldn’t take his anxious eyes off Lea until the last moment she went to meet Teresa.
Lea knocked on the door of the reception room outside the banquet hall with Salame and entered. Teresa, dressed in uniform, sat on a large sofa in the reception room with her legs crossed.
As she swirled the crystal glass, the caramel-colored whiskey sloshed around.
“Your Highness, could you please leave us for a moment?”
“Of course.”
The quick-witted Salame also dismissed all the attendants who were with Teresa. Finally, only Lea and Teresa remained in the reception room.
“Do you have a death wish to come here?”
Her voice was less angry than during the day, but it was still cold.
“I came because I have something I must say to Your Majesty.”
Lea clasped her trembling hands together and struggled to open her mouth.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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