Revenge Comes with Interest - Chapter 78

Leah felt that the time she spent with Vitello was utterly meaningless.

Eventually, she apologized to him and went to find Terran. However, he was still enjoying himself, playing croquet with Mary.

There is no need to hesitate. Terran is my man. He is my fiancé.

She strode toward the two of them. Terran and Mary both looked up as Leah approached.

“Terran, we need to talk.”

At that, Mary snapped at Leah with an unpleasant expression.

“Young Lady, you are being quite rude. This is time set aside for the Duke and me. You should learn how to wait your turn.”

“You know this isn’t your business to interfere in, don’t you?”

Leah’s voice was beyond firm; it was chilling.

“Hm. Let us go.”

Terran asked for Mary’s understanding and followed Leah. The gazes of those left behind felt like sharp arrows piercing the back of her head.

“I will wait for you.”

Those were the first words Leah spoke to Terran once they reached a secluded spot.

“Wait for what?”

“I will wait until you remember me, Terran.”

“Isn’t a fiancée supposed to be someone precious? The fact that I don’t remember you feels like proof that we weren’t actually much of anything.”

His tone was sharp, sounding just like the Terran of long ago who used to tell Grace not to throw tantrums.

“Do you not want to remember me, Terran?”

If he had no will to try, then it was truly a desperate situation.

“Should I bother?”

“Are you serious?”

“I have received the antidote injections, yet the only person I can’t remember is Grace. Perhaps it is because you were an insignificant existence?”

Leah’s legs buckled again, and Terran reflexively caught her by the arm. His body remembered her like this, yet his mind remained buried in pitch-black darkness.

Leah shook off his arm.

“If you had said you would try, I was prepared to wait no matter how long it took. But if you have no intention of doing so, then our relationship is no longer meaningful.”

Though she was heartbroken, she struggled not to shed tears, her chin trembling slightly. She closed her eyes tightly to calm her agitation.

I should not torment Terran. Pressuring him like this only makes things harder for him.

Leah felt pathetic for resenting him. She regretted starting an argument when she clearly knew he was not in his right mind.

“Fine. I will do as you wish, Terran. If you want to break the engagement, I will do so. However…”

Terran was taken aback. This was because he suddenly recalled the image of clear tears shimmering in those bluish-purple eyes. He hadn’t fully regained his memory of the woman before him, but he remembered those jewel-like eyes vividly.

“Do not let it be hard for you, and do not suffer. Do not blame yourself under any circumstances. It is not your fault. I wanted to tell you that.”

Even at the end, Leah offered words of concern for him. Terran was confused by her attitude. Suddenly, a headache surged. His vision blurred, and he saw a forest filled with thick smoke. A scene of a woman with bluish-purple eyes full of tears, screaming something at him.

“Ugh…!”

Terran clutched his head with one hand. The memory was on the verge of returning. It felt as if someone was clutching the passage of his memory, teasingly opening the floodgates just a tiny crack. He remembered the bluish-purple eyes, but he still couldn’t recall who she was.

“Terran.”

The person who called his name from behind after Leah left was Vivian.

“Empress.”

“Call me Vivian. I am here as a friend right now.”

Vivian circled around Terran, choosing her words carefully.

“What are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“About Grace. Are you going to wait until you remember? Or are you just going to leave it buried?”

“Why is that important to you, Vivian?”

“I’ll tell you why.”

Vivian took her time, letting Terran grow impatient.

“I want you to value yourself, Terran. I also want you to learn how to attach your heart to things—whether people or objects. But you have a bad habit of exhausting all your strength alone until you hit rock bottom. If you had accepted the reinforcements I sent this time, things wouldn’t have come to this.”

Vivian was frustrated by the stubborn Terran. She understood his intentions, but in her view, it was nothing more than an unproductive sense of heroism. Terran was the type of fool who couldn’t escape a barrier he created himself unless someone pulled him out. Even now, he should be desperately trying to remember his woman…

Of course, she knew Terran was suffering in his own way. Perhaps Vivian was angry out of pity for her friend.

“I simply didn’t want to sacrifice many soldiers just to wipe out some bandits.”

“Fine, let’s leave it at that.”

“Vivian, why don’t you say what you really want to say?”

Having known each other since childhood, even the usual probing was impossible between them.

“If you don’t want to remember Grace… can I have her?”

“What?”

“I’ll be honest. I want Grace very much. I want to marry her off to my brother, Vitello. Of course, that’s only if you are willing to break your engagement with her.”

Terran felt a stinging sensation in his gut at Vivian’s blunt words. It felt as if someone were raking his insides. Even though he couldn’t remember his fiancée, his body was aching with immense pain.

Break the engagement.

As he chewed on those words, a bitter taste filled his mouth.

“I don’t think this is a decision to be made hastily. I cannot give you a definitive answer right now, Vivian.”

“That is a very un-Terran-like answer.”

Terran was a man who judged and handled everything according to his own will. Was his body remembering Grace?

“I respect that. I hope you escape this on your own this time. You are infinitely strong, but you are also more fragile than anyone.”

“You’re mocking me right now, aren’t you?” Terran said in a displeased tone.

“Yes, exactly. I’m mocking you. You deserve it. You’re a blind man who can’t even recognize the precious jewel right in front of your eyes.”

“I wonder if people know? That the cultured, elegant, and benevolent Empress of Lubeck is actually a sharp-tongued woman.”

“Who knows?”

Vivian shrugged her shoulders and disappeared with a laugh. After the Empress left, Terran walked through the palace gardens alone. No matter how hard he tried, his memories of Grace remained consumed by darkness.

Then, in the distance, he saw Grace walking affectionately with Vitello.

Thump, thump—

The moment his eyes saw her, his heart raced.

This is unpleasant.

Terran pressed his hand firmly against his heart. His body and mind were moving separately. His body remembered her, but his brain felt frustrated, as if buried in sand. Did she feel his gaze even from afar? Grace turned her head.

Terran did not avoid her eyes. Then, Chenera’s words came back to him.

[Mister, you are an idiot! It hurts because you stabbed the Sister with a sword!] [What are you talking about? Who stabbed whom?] [You were acting all loopy, so the Sister tried to give you the antidote, but you stabbed her with a sword!]

If all of that was true…

You aren’t even human, Terran.

Just then, James came to find him.

“Duke, it is time to return.”

“We should go.”

“Are you going to leave Lady Grace behind?”

“Is there any meaning in taking a woman I don’t even remember?”

Terran turned away after saying his piece. No matter what she had been to him, the fact was that he was currently irritated and angry. Honestly, he felt like running far away from her.

There’s nothing I can do if I can’t remember.

After all, it was impossible to go against fate.

Sarah stood in front of the McDowell mansion, lost in thought. She had promised him she would find the key or whatever it was.

What will Allen say if I tell him I found nothing?

Though it was a dark path, they had been together with a sense of comradeship until now. If he took her back unconditionally, she would live the rest of her life forgetting the sins she committed against Leah and Richard. She would love only Allen and give him everything.

Sarah prayed desperately that Allen would not discard her now that she had become useless.

Allen, I have nowhere else to go.

She was in a situation where she had to hold his hand and only look forward. But if even he let go of her hand, her life would be left thoroughly twisted. Then, she suddenly imagined something else.

What would it have been like if I hadn’t betrayed Lady Leah?

By now, their laughter would have been heard over those high walls. The two people who first treated a girl abused in an orphanage like a human being. The person who drove them to their deaths—herself—was no longer human.

So, Allen, give me one last chance.

Even if it wasn’t sincere, she wanted to live out the rest of her life clinging to her love for him. Hope and despair crossed in Sarah’s heart. She was confused by a shred of expectation toward Allen and the worry that she might be abandoned even by him.

This is the end.

The time to make a decision had come. Her path would be decided one way or another. But she was afraid to face reality. Sarah closed her eyes tightly and took rough breaths before eventually calming her breathing. She opened her eyes with a look of grim determination.

Whether it is hope or despair, let us not avoid it.

Sarah entered the McDowell mansion.

In Lubeck, rumors were rife that Terran and Grace were soon to break their engagement. Perhaps because of this, flowers were delivered to the mansion every day.

“Are these for me?” Terran asked, watching the servants carry in rows of flowers.

“These are flowers sent to Lady Grace by the unmarried noblemen of the capital. It seems the rumor that the Duke and the Young Lady are breaking up has become an established fact.”

“I haven’t decided to break the engagement yet?”

“Here, there are also many love letters for you, Duke. They were sent by noble young ladies.”

“Burn them.”

“What should we do with the flowers? It’s a waste to burn them.”

“Do as you see fit.”

Terran replied bluntly and left the room. It was truly amusing. To think so many hyenas would swarm to target Grace the moment the rumor of a breakup spread. Well, even Vivian had openly said she wanted Grace for herself.

I’m too tired and annoyed to deal with this. If I just break the engagement as they want, these uncomfortable feelings will probably disappear.

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