Interest Compounds on Revenge - Chapter 65

Lea was furious. She resented the women who casually made such unreasonable statements.

‘I need to see who they are.’

Without hesitation, Lea entered the lounge. She needed to see with her own eyes if they could say the same things to her face.

“Oh my! Isn’t this the daughter of Viscount Bizac?”

As she walked into the lounge, two young ladies sitting on the sofa stood up.

They were young, beautiful, and elaborately dressed. However, there was something bothersome about them.

‘They came prepared from the start.’

Both had their chests exposed by more than half, to the point where even another woman would involuntarily frown.

“Hello? I’m Grace Bizac. I’m the fiancée of Duke Courtois.”

There was no need to stoop to their level of immaturity, but for some reason, she wanted to imprint her presence on them.

“I’m Emily, and this is my friend Lois.”

Lea carefully observed the woman who had stepped forward to introduce herself.

It was a case where excessive makeup and adornments ruined the face instead. Lea also discerned that the woman called ‘Emily’ had sent a love letter to Terran.

‘It was that voice.’

Not only was it the same voice she had heard outside, but the woman also showed subtle wariness upon seeing her.

‘You’re not Terran’s type.’

Knowing his personality better than anyone, she could be certain. Terran disliked anything artificial and exaggerated.

“Please, sit down. Don’t mind me.”

Lea spoke in a kind tone towards Emily and Lois. However, their eyes kept scanning her from head to toe.

‘I won’t need to worry about them.’

Lea sat on a nearby sofa and drank her tea.

She had been greatly confused after hearing Teresa’s words and then overhearing Emily and Lois’s conversation. But upon actually seeing the two, she felt at ease.

Not because she dismissed them, but because of their attitude of not being able to say a word in front of the person in question.

‘If you can’t openly reveal it, then why bother?’

If it were truly something they were confident about and tacitly accepted in high society, they wouldn’t be biting their lips and staying silent like that.

‘Still, I wonder what she wrote in that letter.’

Not because she didn’t trust Terran, but… It was more like learning about a kind of social culture.

Still, she tried to forcefully imagine it. The scene of Terran loving another woman, keeping her as a mistress instead of Lea.

‘No!’

Lea shook her head violently.

Just imagining it made her feel as if a rock was pressing down on her chest.

Lea tried her best to calm her excitement. Emily and Lois were still glancing at her nervously.

Just then, a woman rushed into the lounge in a hurry. She had black hair, an ordinary appearance, and was dressed plainly.

She quickly scanned the lounge and then shouted towards Emily.

“You! I’m glad I found you, Emily Lant.”

The woman shouted as she ran towards Emily and grabbed her hair violently.

“Kyaa! What are you doing?”

Emily screamed and resisted. Lois tried desperately to stop the woman, but it was no use.

The woman, consumed by fury, was shamelessly engaging in behavior forbidden for a lady.

‘She’s lost her reason.’

In an instant, the lounge was filled with women’s screams and the noise of furniture being overturned and broken.

Lea was shocked by the incredible scene unfolding before her eyes.

“You vulgar thing! You bad woman who only goes after taken men!”

Lea watched blankly at the farce unfolding right before her eyes, teacup still in hand.

“Madame Armand! Mind your manners! What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? You flirted with my husband because I can’t have children!”

“Please refrain from such vulgar words! I never flirted. The Count was the one who sent signals to me first.”

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh. Is your dream to become a mistress by stealing other women’s husbands? Even if you do, you’re nothing more than a hidden cigarette pack. Even if you have a child, it’ll be illegitimate!”

The voice of Madame Armand, venting her resentment, was tinged with indignation.

The situation worsened, blazing like an uncontrollable fire. Lois tried to stop Madame Armand again.

“In noble society, it’s considered proper etiquette to accept a husband having a mistress. Don’t you have any pride? This is not something to resort to pulling hair over.”

Lois criticized Madame Armand.

“Fine, I have no pride. And I can’t stand the sight of my husband having a mistress!”

But with Lois’s help, the situation reversed. Instead, Madame Armand was thrown onto the sofa.

“Emily Lant, your games have ruined our family.”

Madame Armand lay on the sofa, crying bitterly and lamenting her fate.

She said that she and her husband had been getting along so well that others envied them, and there had been no problems.

But when they were late in having a child, her husband started to get impatient, and Emily seized that opportunity to seduce him – a story no different from a common tale of infidelity.

‘There’s nothing more entertaining than watching a fight. But 2 against 1 is unfair.’

Lea decided to join the fight between the three women and walked towards them with a solemn face.

“Madame Armand, save your tears. They’re not worth it.”

At Lea’s words, Emily looked perplexed, but Madame Armand stopped crying. Lea handed her handkerchief to Madame Armand.

“Originally, one shouldn’t even speak with mistresses.”

“What? But…”

At Lea’s gentle voice, the woman burst into tears, her chin trembling. On the other hand, Emily grumbled at Lea’s statement belittling her.

“I am Grace Bizac.”

“I’m Marie Armand.”

As Madame Armand wiped her tears and nose with the handkerchief, Lea sighed deeply and said,

“A mistress can never be a man’s first priority. You’ll live your whole life like a hyena, always eyeing other women’s husbands.”

“My lady! Your words are too harsh!”

Emily, who had been listening, angrily confronted Lea.

“If you feel my words are excessive, does that mean you admit to deliberately seducing only married men, Emily?”

“When did I? That’s not…”

Emily mumbled, her face turning bright red.

“Still, we’ve just met. This isn’t polite.”

Lois also joined in, criticizing Lea.

Now that the sides were evenly matched at 2 vs 2, they were ready to fight in earnest.

“Politeness isn’t something you show to just anyone. For people who send love letters to this man and that man…”

“!?”

“Even a passing mutt… Oops! I mean, even a passing puppy would laugh.”

“What did you say?”

The two women were shocked by Lea’s unrestrained words. She looked pretty, but unexpectedly had a sharp tongue.

Lea was also determined not to lose to the two women. Especially Emily, who had even given a love letter to Terran, didn’t look good in her eyes.

At that moment, Armand approached Lea.

“Do you know what their ulterior motive is? They’re noblewomen, but they have no dowry and have missed their chance to marry. So they’re desperate to become mistresses of high-ranking nobles. They do this knowing full well that it destroys other people’s families. They’re vulgar creatures who exploit others’ wounds as weaknesses.”

“Countess! I’m going to tell Count Armand everything you just said!”

Emily, having decided to go all out, blurted out whatever came to her mind.

Lea thought it was time to wrap this up. Going any further would only result in all of them rolling in the mud together.

There was no reason to continue this messy fight entangled with them. Still, she felt she should give some harsh but necessary advice to these aspiring mistresses.

“I’ll warn you this once, and it’ll be the last time.”

Lea approached Emily’s face and spoke seriously.

“If you like other people’s men, send love letters, a hundred or a thousand of them. Then you’ll suffer from unanswered replies and social rumors, and you’ll realize painfully how foolish you are.”

“You crazy-!”

As Emily raised her hand towards Lea, Madame Armand blocked it instead.

* * *

After leaving the lounge, Lea had a long conversation with Madame Armand. After hearing her circumstances, she felt both angry and sorry for her.

‘A man who brings both his wife and mistress to a party? And he danced only with the mistress, ignoring his wife?’

Yet that man doesn’t know that his mistress is sending love letters to other men.

“We’ve been married for five years. Until last year, my husband and I got along well, but we grew apart when we couldn’t have a child. Then Emily appeared, and everything went downhill.”

“If you try, you can go back to how things were before.”

“No. It’s impossible. Look at me. Those women are beautiful, but I…”

Madame Armand couldn’t finish her sentence and showed tears.

Lea carefully observed the weeping lady. Unlike the elaborately dressed women, she didn’t seem to pay much attention to her appearance.

“You’re beautiful too, Madame… You’ll probably think this is just empty words?”

“Yes? Of course. I know what I look like.”

“It’s because you don’t pay attention to your appearance. They only look that way because of heavy makeup and fancy dressing.”

“Do you think my husband would come back if I dressed like those women?”

“You don’t need to dress exactly like them. But if you find some peace of mind and regain your inherent beauty, I’m sure your husband will definitely come back.”

“Is such a thing really possible?”

“If the Count was captivated by that woman’s appearance, it might actually be easier to turn his heart back.”

The real question was whether his heart had truly turned away.

Lea told Madame Armand that she could visit the Courtois mansion if she ever had any troubles. She would be glad to help if there was anything she could do.

She couldn’t just ignore this, as she vividly remembered the betrayal of the man she loved.

“Grace!”

Just then, Terran approached with a flushed face.

He must have been searching for her all over the ballroom. Lea said goodbye to Madame Armand and left the ballroom with Terran.