Revenge Comes with Interest - Chapter 64

The moment Lea left the drawing room, she saw Terran standing by the door. Without hesitation, she threw herself into his arms. Her heart was still pounding, and she found it difficult to steady herself amidst the lingering excitement.

“If you had been any later, I was going to kick the door down,” Terran whispered, burying his face in Lea’s voluminous blonde hair.

“My talk with Her Majesty ended well.”

She didn’t explain the full details to Terran. If she did, he would undoubtedly shower her with a downpour of lectures.

‘For Terran’s sake, I must succeed.’

Lea looked up into his brilliant black eyes.

“What am I supposed to do when you look at me like that?”

“Hmm?”

“I want to eat you up.”

“Not a chance until every last grape on that paper is filled with my signature.”

Lea shook her head, shattering his delusions. Instead, she reached out to him and spoke in a soft, gentle tone.

“Let’s dance.”

“If we dance, will you give me a signature?”

“Goodness!”

“If you don’t sign, I’m not dancing.”

“Fine then. There are plenty of men who want to dance with me.”

Only then did Terran grip Lea’s hand tightly. He had briefly forgotten that there were those in this ballroom who coveted his fiancée. The two walked toward the floor, hand in hand.

Just then, the music changed. As Lea and Terran stepped onto the floor, the eyes of the crowd focused on them. It was a rare opportunity to see the Duke of Courtois, famous for almost never attending social gatherings, dancing with his beautiful fiancée.

“Terran, I need information regarding the Crown Prince of Galdensia.”

“We should enjoy this moment. Let’s talk about other people later.”

“Ah! I’m sorry.”

Terran knew all too well why Lea was asking about the Crown Prince.

“However, I don’t know much about him. I only know his name.”

He had simply never had any interest. On the other hand, the problem was that he knew far too much about Salame, who wasn’t even a major figure.

‘What should I do? I need to know everything about the Crown Prince.’

Suddenly, the person who came to Lea’s mind was Salame. Since they were brothers, he would know better than anyone. However, Terran loathed the idea of her being near him, so she didn’t dare bring it up.

‘What can I do? I can’t return empty-handed after coming all this way.’

Lea’s mind was complicated, but she tried to shake it off. As Terran said, their time together was more important. She moved like a leaf floating on the surface of a river, following the flow of the music. Rather than worrying about dancing perfectly, she preferred to savor this happiness with Terran.

Terran spun Lea around, making her bloom like a flower. Even though his hand was injured and likely uncomfortable, he led her expertly with one hand. It made her wonder if there was anything at all that he couldn’t do.

‘Well, he is a bit slow on the uptake.’

Aside from that, he was a perfect man. Whether she was wearing rose-colored glasses or not, she couldn’t find a single gentleman at the banquet as dashing as Terran.

Just then, as the music changed, an unexpected person asked Lea for a dance.

“Duke Courtois, may I have a dance with your fiancée?”

The crowd murmured as Teresa stepped onto the floor.

“Your Majesty, please forget the unpleasantness at the equestrian grounds earlier,” Terran said, showing proper gentlemanly etiquette.

“I shall.”

When she answered readily, Terran handed Lea over to Teresa. It was a rare sight for two women to dance together, so it was bound to be an interesting scene for the onlookers. However, since Teresa was wearing a uniform, she appeared male at a glance.

“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”

“The honor is mine, to be able to dance with such a beautiful lady.”

Lea was relieved by the brightness in Teresa’s voice. It seemed the Emperor’s anger had finally dissipated. Furthermore, Teresa played the male role quite well.

“You were the first. The first person to say such things to me.”

Teresa spoke as she led Lea fluidly across the floor.

“I hate the word ‘giving up’ more than anything. But you truly hit the mark.”

“I am sorry.”

“No, there is no need to be sorry. You just mustn’t disappoint me.”

“I will definitely succeed.”

Lea expressed her enthusiasm to Teresa. It was too cruel to live a whole life with one’s face hidden behind a black veil.

“Your Majesty, I don’t know if I may ask this, but…”

“What is it?”

“What is the Crown Prince’s taste in women?”

Teresa tilted her head at Lea’s question. It didn’t seem like she was asking because she was personally interested in her son.

“Prince Salame is so pleasant and bright, but I was curious about what the Crown Prince is like.”

Lea couldn’t explain the full internal situation. It felt like cheating to mention that she had been commissioned to create dresses for two of the ladies participating in the selection banquet.

“Prince Salame? You’d do better to call him Sir Roberto. I do not recognize him as a Prince. Naturally, I haven’t granted him a title either.”

“I shall do so.”

“Hmm, that fellow lives his life as he pleases. A free soul. On the contrary, our Crown Prince is quite rigid. It is rare for him to even be near women.”

‘She doesn’t really know.’

Lea was slightly disappointed. To think she couldn’t get an answer even by asking the Crown Prince’s mother directly.

“From what I know, he likes women who are intellectual, graceful, and wise.”

“I see.”

“And he added that it would be good if she also had a certain seductive charm.”

‘Intellectual, graceful, wise… and seductive?’

Lea let out a small laugh internally. It was best to ignore all the words men listed at the beginning.

‘So ultimately, he likes seductive women?’

It meant he liked women who were modest during the day but exuded sexual appeal at night. She had a rough idea of what kind of woman he wanted. This was quite useful information, so she was mostly satisfied.

“This is such an unfair era. It is frustrating that women must be judged by men until the day they die,” Teresa said, her tone suddenly becoming agitated. “Men expect their wives to remain beautiful even as they age, even when their own backs are bent and they can’t even perform in bed properly.”

She had only asked about the Crown Prince, but the conversation had veered in a strange direction. However, Lea intuitively understood that Teresa was speaking from her own experience. She wondered if Teresa had been shunned by her husband because of her ruined face. Even though her husband was long dead, the resentment seemed to remain in her heart.

“Look over there.”

Teresa redirected Lea’s attention while they danced. Lea followed Teresa’s gaze to where Terran was standing. He was surrounded by young ladies and noblewomen.

“Duke Courtois will receive a great many love letters tonight.”

“Pardon?”

Lea raised her voice before she could stop herself and froze in place. Teresa’s tendency to speak without context was exactly like Salame’s. The conversation didn’t follow a steady path but seemed to jump all over the place.

“Such an innocent young lady.”

Teresa teased the bewildered Lea.

“Do you know nothing of high society?”

“Pardon…? I suppose not.”

Before she became Grace, she had been so obsessed with Allen that she rarely attended even small social gatherings. Naturally, she hadn’t gone to large parties at all.

“Everyone must know that Terran is my fiancé.”

“And?”

“!?”

“My Lady, you must know both the light and dark sides of society to run a business targeted at women. This doesn’t apply only to the upper class.”

Lea began to feel a slow irritation at Teresa’s cryptic way of speaking. Seeing Lea’s gloomy face, Teresa explained more gently.

“Society looks glamorous, but it is the perfect place for corruption. Because ‘cross-dating’ is possible. Even married women have separate lovers, and young ladies desire to be the mistress of a nobleman they admire.”

Only then did Lea’s eyes widen in sudden understanding. She couldn’t take her eyes off the letter held in Terran’s hand.

“Are you saying it doesn’t matter even if he is another woman’s man?”

“Correct. Simply being the mistress of an Emperor or a high-ranking noble can make one a celebrity of high society. And sometimes, it’s because they truly like the person. So, the Duke of Courtois must have received countless love letters.”

“He never mentioned anything like that.”

“Then, be sure to check for yourself.”

Teresa whispered into Lea’s ear. Suddenly, Lea recalled the memory of James handing a bundle of letters to Terran every morning. Those letters couldn’t all have been about administrative affairs.

‘Am I being innocent, or just ignorant?’

It seemed Teresa wanted to tell her that there was no such thing as eternal love. Furthermore, it sounded like the way women worked so hard on their appearance and spent money on clothes, cosmetics, and jewelry was a desperate struggle to keep their men.

‘No, that’s wrong. A woman decorating herself is for her own satisfaction.’

Lea wanted to argue, but Teresa beat her to it.

“My Lady, love has an expiration date, and men are bound to change. So, there is no need to give your whole heart.”

Lea headed toward the lounge. Honestly, every single word out of Teresa’s mouth had been unpleasant. Terran like Allen? No, that man never loved her in the first place, so they couldn’t even be compared.

‘Other men might waver, but not Terran.’

Lea shook her head violently, trying to cast off the unpleasant emotions weighing on her chest. However, the moment she stepped into the lounge, she heard strange words from behind a partition.

“Isn’t the Duke of Courtois just too dashing?”

“Did you actually give him the love letter?”

“Yes. Actually, I’ve been sending him letters consistently for several years.”

“Didn’t you see the Duke’s fiancée? Do you think he’d look elsewhere with a woman like that by his side?”

Lea couldn’t believe her ears. The fact that such a conversation was actually possible felt surreal.

“Haven’t you heard the rumors about Lady Vizak? They say her health is as fragile as glass. No matter how beautiful she is, she’s useless if she can’t bear a son to inherit the family line.”

“I suppose so. What’s the use of being pretty as a flower? Men look elsewhere the moment they realize their wife is barren.”

Lea was speechless at the young ladies’ conversation. And she finally realized: there were always romantic rivals targeting her man everywhere.

Support Revenge Comes with Interest