Revenge Comes with Interest - Chapter 65

Lea was seething. She found it contemptible that these women could speak so casually about such irrational things.

‘I need to see their faces for myself.’

Lea did not hesitate to enter the lounge. She wanted to see with her own eyes if they could say the same things to her face.

“Oh my! Aren’t you the daughter of Baron Vizak?”

As she stepped further into the lounge, the two young ladies sitting on the sofa stood up. They were young, beautiful, and heavily adorned. However, there was something about them that was quite bothersome.

‘They came here with a specific intention.’

Both were dressed in outfits that exposed more than half of their chests—the kind of attire that would make even another woman frown instinctively.

“Hello. I am Grace Vizak, the fiancée of the Duke of Courtois.”

She knew there was no need to sink to their level of pettiness, but for some reason, she wanted to firmly etch her presence into their minds.

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

Lea looked closely at the woman who had stepped forward to introduce herself first. It was a case where excessive makeup and ornamentation actually ruined her face. Lea quickly deduced that “Emily” was the one who had sent the love letter to Terran.

‘That was the voice.’

Not only was it the same voice she had heard from outside, but the woman also displayed a subtle defensiveness upon seeing her.

‘You aren’t Terran’s type.’

Knowing his personality better than anyone, Lea was certain of this. Terran loathed everything artificial and exaggerated.

“Please, sit. Don’t mind me,” Lea said to Emily and Lois in a pleasant tone. However, their gazes continued to scan her from head to toe.

‘I don’t need to worry about them.’

Lea sat on a sofa to one side and sipped her tea. After hearing Teresa’s words and then overhearing Emily and Lois’s conversation, she had been quite confused. But after seeing the two of them in person, her mind felt at ease. It wasn’t because she looked down on them, but because of their behavior—they couldn’t say a single word now that she was standing right in front of them.

‘To think they can’t even stand their ground.’

If they were truly as confident as they seemed, and if this were a culture implicitly accepted in high society, they wouldn’t be standing there with their lips pressed tight and silent.

‘Still, I am curious to know what she wrote.’

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Terran… Call it a lesson in understanding the culture of high society. Still, she tried to force herself to imagine it: Terran keeping a woman other than her as a mistress and loving her.

‘I hate it!’

Lea shook her head violently. Just imagining it felt like a heavy stone had been placed on her chest. She tried her best to calm her excitement, as Emily and Lois were still stealing glances at her, clearly preoccupied.

Just then, a woman rushed into the lounge. She had black hair, an ordinary face, and was dressed modestly. She scanned the room quickly before shouting at Emily.

“You! I’ve finally found you, Emily Lant.”

The woman screamed and lunged at Emily, grabbing her by the hair.

“Ah! What are you doing?”

Emily screamed and resisted. Lois tried desperately to pull the woman off, but it was no use. The woman seemed possessed by madness, unhesitatingly engaging in behavior considered taboo for a noblewoman.

‘She’s lost her mind.’

In an instant, the lounge was filled with the screams of women and the crashing sounds of furniture being overturned and broken. Lea stared in shock at the spectacular scene unfolding before her.

“You vulgar thing! You’re a wicked woman who only goes after men who are already taken!”

Still holding her teacup, Lea watched the farce unfolding inches away.

“Lady Armand! Maintain your dignity! What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? You’ve been hitting on my husband because I can’t have children!”

“Refrain from such vulgar language! I never hit on him. The Count was the one who signaled me first.”

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh. Is your dream to steal someone else’s man and become a mistress? Even then, you’re nothing but a hidden pack of cigarettes. Even if you have children, they’ll be bastards!”

The voice of Lady Armand, pouring out her resentment, was laced with deep sorrow. The situation worsened, spreading like an uncontrollable fire. Lois tried to stop Lady Armand again.

“In noble society, it is a matter of etiquette to acknowledge a husband having a mistress. Do you have no pride? Grabbing someone by the hair is so uncouth.”

Lois rebuked Lady Armand.

“Fine, I have no pride. And I won’t stand by while my husband keeps a mistress!”

However, because Lois intervened, the situation reversed. Lady Armand was the one thrown onto the sofa.

“Emily Lant, our home has been ruined because of your games.”

Lady Armand collapsed on the sofa, weeping sorrowfully and lamenting her fate. She said that she and her husband used to get along so well that others were envious, and that they had no problems. But when children didn’t come, her husband began to grow impatient, and Emily had wedged herself into that gap to seduce him—a story no different from any common melodrama.

‘They say there’s nothing as entertaining as watching a fight. But two against one is unfair.’

Lea decided to join the fray of the three women and walked toward them with a grim expression.

“Lady Armand, save your tears. They are tears of no value.”

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

“Normally, one doesn’t even exchange words with mistresses.”

“Pardon? But…”

At Lea’s soft voice, the woman’s sorrow seemed to explode, and she wept with a trembling chin. Emily, on the other hand, grumbled at Lea’s disparaging remark.

“I am Grace Vizak.”

“I am Marie Armand.”

As Lady Armand wiped her tears and nose with the handkerchief, Lea let out a long sigh and spoke.

“A mistress can never be a man’s first priority. You will spend your whole life living like a hyena scouting for other women’s men.”

“My Lady! Your words are quite excessive!”

Emily, who had been listening, snapped at Lea in anger.

“If you feel my words are excessive, Emily, are you admitting that you specifically choose and seduce married men?”

“When did I ever? It’s not that…”

Emily’s face turned beet-red as she stammered.

“Even if it’s our first meeting, this is quite rude,” Lois added, joining the criticism against Lea.

Now that the sides were evenly matched at two against two, Lea was ready for a full-scale battle.

“Etiquette isn’t something one shows to just anyone. For people who go around spreading love letters to this man and that man to discuss etiquette…”

“!?”

“A passing stray dog… Oops! My mistake. A puppy would laugh at that.”

“What did you say?”

The two women were appalled by Lea’s blunt remarks. She looked like an easy target with her pretty face, but she had a surprisingly sharp tongue. Lea was determined not to lose to them. Especially since Emily had openly sent a love letter to Terran, she couldn’t view her kindly.

Just then, Marie Armand approached Lea.

“Do you know what their scheme is? They are nobles, but they have no dowries and have missed their marriageable age. So they struggle desperately to become even a mistress to a high-ranking noble. They do this knowing full well it will tear someone’s family apart. They are lowly things who use others’ pain as a weakness.”

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

Emily, seemingly decided to go all out as well, babbled whatever came to her mind. Lea thought it was time to wrap things up. If she went any further, she would just end up rolling in the mud with them. There was no reason to continue a messy fight with such people. Still, she felt she should offer some bitter but necessary advice to this “aspiring mistress.”

“I am going to warn you once, and for the last time.”

Lea stepped right up to Emily’s face and spoke solemnly.

“If you like another woman’s man, send a love letter. Send a hundred, or a thousand. Eventually, you will realize how pathetically foolish you are, suffering through unreturned replies and the rumors of high society.”

“You crazy—!”

As Emily raised her hand toward Lea, Lady Armand blocked her.

Lea left the lounge and had a long conversation with Lady Armand. After hearing her circumstances, Lea felt angry but also pitiful.

‘To think a man would bring both his wife and his mistress to a banquet. And to ignore his wife to dance only with the mistress?’

Yet that man had no idea that his mistress was spreading love letters to other men.

“We’ve been married for five years. Until last year, my husband and I were on good terms, but we grew distant when no children came. Then Emily appeared, and everything turned for the worse.”

“If you try, you can return to how things were.”

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

Lady Armand couldn’t finish her sentence and broke into tears. Lea observed the sorrowful woman carefully. Unlike the flashily dressed women, she didn’t seem to pay much attention to her appearance.

“You are also beautiful, My Lady… If I say this, you’ll think it’s just empty talk, won’t you?”

“Pardon? Yes, of course. I know what I look like.”

“It’s only because you don’t pay attention to your appearance. They only look like that because they wear heavy makeup and dress flashily.”

“If I dress like those women, will my husband come back?”

“You don’t need to dress exactly like them. But if you find some peace of mind and reclaim your natural beauty, I’m sure your husband will return.”

“Is such a thing really possible?”

“If the Count was merely captivated by that woman’s appearance, it’s actually easier to change his mind.”

The real question was whether his heart had turned away as well. Lea told Lady Armand that she was welcome to visit the Courtois mansion if she ever faced difficulties. If there was anything she could do to help, she would gladly do so. She too remembered the betrayal of a loved one vividly, so she couldn’t just walk away.

“Grace!”

Just then, Terran approached with a flushed face. He had clearly been searching everywhere in the ballroom for her. Lea shared a farewell with Lady Armand and left the ballroom with Terran.

Support Revenge Comes with Interest