Revenge Comes with Interest - Chapter 41

“A liar?”

Terran froze at Grace’s sudden outburst. It felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs.

He never expected to hear that from her. He had never lied to her. He was certain of that.

“What lie are you talking about?”

“You didn’t fail to catch the Empress. You chose not to. Because of me. Because you were forced to take responsibility for a woman you didn’t even love.”

If that wasn’t true, then there was no reason for him to still hold such deep feelings for the Empress.

“That’s not true.”

Terran felt frustrated. Grace had clearly misunderstood everything.

“Do you think you know everything about my relationship with Vivian?”

“I think I know enough. You still call her Vivian. The Empress of Rubeck. You called her name with such a sad and longing expression on your face.”

Terran felt a headache coming on.

Was she upset just because he used Vivian’s name? Was Grace actually jealous?

And what did she mean by a sad, longing expression? He couldn’t remember ever looking at anyone like that.

“You were finally starting to change. I could feel it.”

“What?”

“You told me to try and love you. So I did. I tried my best. But in the end, all you wanted was someone who could compete with your first love. Someone good enough to stand beside her.”

Lea couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. It was hard enough to say this to the man she loved, let alone with a clear mind.

“Compete with your first love?”

Terran didn’t understand. Who was comparing who? When did this all get so tangled?

Grace had moved past misunderstanding and was now putting herself down.

“I won’t try anymore. Someone like me can never compare to the perfect Empress. So just let me go. Go find someone you can proudly show off in front of your first love.”

Lea shouted those words at Terran like a storm and then ran toward the Duke’s estate.

She had tried to keep her pride intact, but he had managed to tear even that away from her.

Tears blurred her vision so badly that she didn’t even notice someone approaching from the other direction.

“Milady.”

Luke saw Grace running past, sobbing uncontrollably. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. If his plan had worked, Grace and Terran would be returning together, walking side by side.

“Ha. You really overdid it this time.”

Luke let out a long sigh and turned to find Terran, who must have been left behind somewhere on the path.

“My Lord.”

Just as he expected. Terran was standing in the middle of the path, staring off into space like he had lost his soul.

“She was crying. A lot.”

“Crying? Damn it.”

Terran cursed under his breath and kicked a small stone on the ground. Then he turned and glared at Luke as if he was ready to strangle him.

“This is all your fault, you idiot.”

All Luke had done was follow Terran’s request to stir up a little jealousy. But instead, his advice had created an even deeper rift between them.

“Actually, I think it worked.”

Unlike the furious Terran, Luke remained calm.

“You call this a success?”

“If she didn’t care about you, she wouldn’t have cried. She wouldn’t have gotten angry and run away.”

Terran stopped himself from yelling another curse.

Luke had a point. If she didn’t feel anything, she wouldn’t have reacted that way. More than that, she had compared herself to the Empress and put herself down.

“Alright. Calm down and tell me everything that happened from the beginning.”

“Well… it went like this…”

Terran explained everything that happened as truthfully as he could.

As he spoke, Luke’s face grew paler. He put his hands on his hips and started pacing.

“Vivian? You said her head was smaller, her arms and legs were slimmer, and that Grace should just take the hint? My Lord, love is not a war. I told you to make her jealous, not crush her pride.”

“So, I was wrong?”

“Completely. And maybe even beyond repair. You called the Empress your first love. What woman wouldn’t compare herself to that? Especially when the Empress is basically an icon for every noble lady.”

“But Grace is more beautiful. More lovable.”

“And yet you made her feel like she was nothing. You’re trying to fix things now after breaking them.”

This is exactly what happens when someone who’s never dated tries to act like they know love.

Luke shook his head and sighed deeply. Terran had it all, looks, wealth, power. And yet, when it came to love, he was hopeless.

He should have offered a kind word. Something small to lift Grace’s confidence.

Instead, he had used Vivian’s name, brought up an old engagement, and poured out his feelings about someone else. No wonder things had gone wrong.

“I thought giving it my all would make it work.”

“Lady Grace is physically fragile. People who are weak in body often carry deeper insecurities. Because there are so many things they simply can’t do.”

The design was finally complete. Every detail had been decided. Now, all that remained was to meet with the duke’s personal tailor and finalize the arrangements.

But despite everything falling into place so smoothly, Lea didn’t feel even a hint of happiness.

“Milady, you should really make up with the Duke.”

“Make up? He hasn’t even tried to talk to me. He’s not looking for me at all.”

“That’s probably because he’s being cautious. You were really upset, weren’t you?”

Cautious? Terran Courtois? That didn’t sound like him at all.

He was not the kind of man to hesitate or act timid. Even if he had come to apologize right away that day, she might not have forgiven him. But instead, he had completely ignored her.

“It’s over between us.”

“It’s not over. You still like him so much.”

Chenera, who was sitting in a rocking chair, quietly working on Chainer lace, spoke as if to herself. But her words pierced right through Lea’s heart. Today, Chenera didn’t seem cute at all. She had hit the most painful truth.

Lea didn’t want to admit it, but she had already asked herself the same thing. Why was she feeling so consumed by jealousy?

“So, what if I do like him? He’s still the kind of man who can’t even say sorry.”

Lea let out a long sigh. Just then, there was a knock at the door. James entered.

“So now he’s coming to find me?”

She was sure of it. Terran must have sent James to ask her to join him for dinner, acting like nothing had happened. But the look on James’s face was not what she expected. His expression was serious, even grim.

“Milady, I have something important to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“The Duke is very ill. He hasn’t eaten in days, and his fever is very high.”

“Terran is sick?”

Lea shot up from her seat in alarm. She had not seen this coming at all.

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