Episode 108. Method of Revenge
Doana's reason snapped as she listened to Rose.
"Are you done talking?"
She trembled, unable to hide her excitement. Her raspy voice could be heard, tinged with anger directed at Rose.
She placed a hand on Rose's shoulder and whispered softly,
"Is this really funny? Do you think we're on the same level just because I hung out with you?"
Perhaps conscious of the gazes of those around her, her voice towards Rose was extremely quiet.
Doana mumbled, as if practicing ventriloquism.
"You pathetic little thing, where did you crawl up from? I've been coddling you, and now you've got the nerve to run wild without a care."
Doana's reason snapped as she listened to Rose.
"Are you done talking?"
She trembled, unable to hide her excitement. Her raspy voice could be heard, tinged with anger directed at Rose.
She placed a hand on Rose's shoulder and whispered softly,
"Is this really funny? Do you think we're on the same level just because I hung out with you?"
Perhaps conscious of the gazes of those around her, her voice towards Rose was extremely quiet.
Doana mumbled, as if practicing ventriloquism.
"You pathetic little thing, where did you crawl up from? I've been coddling you, and now you've got the nerve to run wild without a care."
She repeated to Rose the same habit she had of bullying her friends in school.
"If it were Korea, you wouldn't even look me in the eye. You'd crawl under my feet."
Although it was a menacing, pretend-to-be-scary sight, it actually felt funny. She was whispering, worried that others might hear her words.
“That shit. How many times do I have to hang out with you to really think I’m your friend?”
“How old are you to still be a bully? And how can you be my friend? You stole my husband.”
“You talk back to me every time?”
“Don’t talk back. You’re the one who should tell me. Can you still be friends with a man who stole your husband?”
“You’re crazy.”
Doana let out a laugh at Rose’s words.
“Hey, do you think I’m you? I wouldn’t be a retard like you to lose a man.”
Doana stared at Rose with pity.
“I’m only losing it because I deserve it. What man likes a woman who acts so recklessly like you? He just keeps them around for a little while to play with.”
She seemed to have no guilt about her own actions and instead blamed Rose.
“Men eventually like women like me. And if you didn’t want him stolen, why didn’t you take care of him properly? Don’t be so stupid and come complaining now.”
Rose gave Doana a faint smile.
“Really? Did I do a bad job of taking care of my husband? But what should I do? It seems like you’re not doing a good job of taking care of your husband either.”
Rose blurted out something meaningful and then giggled.
Doana’s expression froze for a moment.
Rose kept her eyes fixed on Doana and continued.
“Oh, I misspoke. It would be more accurate to say your mistress, not your husband.”
“What are you saying, you bitch?”
“Eric asked me to come back.”
Doana glared at Rose with wide eyes. She had seen that Eric missed Rose, so it wasn’t all that shocking.
However, hearing that directly from Rose was incredibly hurtful.
“You don’t know how much he clung to me. He begged me to come back. He said he had no one but me.”
Doana’s clenched fists shook.
“Hah, you really thought I’d believe your lies?”
She knew, but she wasn’t going to admit it outright. She reacted to Rose’s words with a knowing look.
“He asked me to raise the child you gave birth to. Did you know that?”
“!”
My child... He’s going to take it away?
Doana couldn’t contain her shock.
She felt like she had become a child-birthing machine.
Rose spoke to Doana, who had lost focus, in a blunt voice.
“Your lover, guard him better. Don’t let him say things like that to me.”
With those words, Rose stood up. She then spoke calmly to Jane and Neruan.
“Let’s go.”
Rose left, leaving behind the gazes directed at her.
Doana’s voice, unable to contain her anger, could be heard even outside the store.
Even after Jane came outside, she stealthily checked Rose’s expression.
“Um, Miss Rose... are you okay?”
“Yeah, what?”
“Doana was spewing out some mean words.”
Jane was close to Rose, so she could hear everything they were saying.
There were a few things she didn’t understand, but she could clearly tell that they were having a heated conversation.
Jane, who had been rolling her eyes, suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“Huh...”
Rose tilted her head at Jane’s gloomy appearance.
“Miss Rose...”
Jane carefully called out to Rose.
“Yes?”
“I... there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
She hesitated, struggling to speak.
It must have been a difficult question. She kept opening and closing her mouth, racking her brain.
Rose waited patiently for Jane to speak.
After observing Rose for a while, Jane finally spoke.
With her eyes tightly shut, she sputtered out rapidly.
“Why do you keep leaving Doana alone? Even if Doana is the Count’s mistress, Miss Rose’s status is far higher. You were like that before, and now you're about to become the Grand Duchess! I really don’t understand why you allow such an arrogant and presumptuous Doana to keep rising. Of course, Miss Rose’s occasional sharp remarks to Doana, that child, give her some breathing room, but I still don’t understand!”
The words were spoken in rapid succession, without pause for breath.
As expected, Jane was panting heavily.
Rose looked at Jane with wide eyes.
“You must have been really frustrated.”
“I was so frustrated. I thought I was going to explode.”
Rose burst out laughing at Jane’s chest-pounding words.
“Don’t just laugh, tell me. You... you have something in mind, right?”
Jane gave Rose a pleading look.
Please, I hope that it held some special meaning for Rose.
“Jane.”
“Yes, Miss Rose.”
“What do you think revenge is?”
“Yes?”
Jane tilted her head at Rose’s unexpectedly philosophical question.
“Don’t overthink it, just think about it. If you were in my shoes, how would you get revenge?”
“Ah, um... if I were...”
Jane placed her fingers on her temples, lost in thought.
If she were in her place, how would she have acted toward Doana?
Jane, who had been quite cautious, opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.
“I would torture the person who stole my man!”
“T-That’s right?”
Rose stuttered at the unexpectedly strong answer.
“Yes! I’m higher in status, and I’m just pissed. She didn’t do what she was told and just seduced men! I’m going to demand all the money she earned from you.”
Jane’s eyes blazed with anger.
“I thought you’d say something like kick her out, but people in this world really think differently than I do.”
Torture, something a normal Korean would never experience in their lifetime, was a daily occurrence in this world.
“So that’s what Jane thinks.”
Rose nodded instead of accusing her of cruelty or inhumanity.
“Do you think that would make you feel any better?”
“Yes, I’m all for it. I think I’d feel a lot better if I beat her up than if I just left her alone.”
“Then what?”
“Yes?”
“What do you want to do next?”
“Um, that...”
Jane was momentarily speechless at Rose’s words. She hadn’t really thought about what to do next.
“Do you want to lock her up for the rest of her life and subject her to constant torture?”
“No, well. To that extent...”
Some might want that kind of punishment, but Jane wasn't that sadistic.
"Well, I guess I'll just torment her for a bit and then kick her out."
Rose closed her eyes and smiled at Jane's words.
"I see. Then how do you think you'll feel after that?"
Jane pondered deeply at Rose's constant questioning.
"Ummm... I think I'll still think about that incident from time to time. It's painful enough to have your husband cheat on you, but it's even more horrifying to have your husband stolen by someone you knew. It's a scar that will never go away, so I think I'll regret kicking out the mistress back then."
Jane ground her teeth, insisting on revenge every time she remembered it.
"But why are you suddenly asking this?"
"I'm just curious about what Jane thinks."
"I've said everything, so now, Rose, tell me. Why have you been quiet until now?"
Jane looked at Rose with a serious expression.
"Jane. I think everyone has a different approach to life."
Rose continued in a calm voice.
"I, too, once hated the child who stole my husband to death."
It was a story from a past life. It was the first time her husband had been stolen from her.
"At first, I was so flustered that I couldn't do anything but run away, but it was so incredibly unfair. In my head, I killed that child hundreds, no, thousands of times."
It was a thing of the past, but bringing it up again made her heart ache.
“Actually, this is the first time I’m telling you this... I... really had bad thoughts. Like I imagined, I thought about killing that child and my husband.”
Rose’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Jane swallowed hard, perhaps sensing her sincerity.
“But... the more it happened, the more it hurt me.”
Rose lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly.
“I was dying every day, but they weren’t. They lived happily ever after. As if nothing had happened.”
“Let’s go.”
Rose left, leaving behind the gazes directed at her.
Doana’s voice, unable to contain her anger, could be heard even outside the store.
Even after Jane came outside, she stealthily checked Rose’s expression.
“Um, Miss Rose... are you okay?”
“Yeah, what?”
“Doana was spewing out some mean words.”
Jane was close to Rose, so she could hear everything they were saying.
There were a few things she didn’t understand, but she could clearly tell that they were having a heated conversation.
Jane, who had been rolling her eyes, suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“Huh...”
Rose tilted her head at Jane’s gloomy appearance.
“Miss Rose...”
Jane carefully called out to Rose.
“Yes?”
“I... there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
She hesitated, struggling to speak.
It must have been a difficult question. She kept opening and closing her mouth, racking her brain.
Rose waited patiently for Jane to speak.
After observing Rose for a while, Jane finally spoke.
With her eyes tightly shut, she sputtered out rapidly.
“Why do you keep leaving Doana alone? Even if Doana is the Count’s mistress, Miss Rose’s status is far higher. You were like that before, and now you're about to become the Grand Duchess! I really don’t understand why you allow such an arrogant and presumptuous Doana to keep rising. Of course, Miss Rose’s occasional sharp remarks to Doana, that child, give her some breathing room, but I still don’t understand!”
The words were spoken in rapid succession, without pause for breath.
As expected, Jane was panting heavily.
Rose looked at Jane with wide eyes.
“You must have been really frustrated.”
“I was so frustrated. I thought I was going to explode.”
Rose burst out laughing at Jane’s chest-pounding words.
“Don’t just laugh, tell me. You... you have something in mind, right?”
Jane gave Rose a pleading look.
Please, I hope that it held some special meaning for Rose.
“Jane.”
“Yes, Miss Rose.”
“What do you think revenge is?”
“Yes?”
Jane tilted her head at Rose’s unexpectedly philosophical question.
“Don’t overthink it, just think about it. If you were in my shoes, how would you get revenge?”
“Ah, um... if I were...”
Jane placed her fingers on her temples, lost in thought.
If she were in her place, how would she have acted toward Doana?
Jane, who had been quite cautious, opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.
“I would torture the person who stole my man!”
“T-That’s right?”
Rose stuttered at the unexpectedly strong answer.
“Yes! I’m higher in status, and I’m just pissed. She didn’t do what she was told and just seduced men! I’m going to demand all the money she earned from you.”
Jane’s eyes blazed with anger.
“I thought you’d say something like kick her out, but people in this world really think differently than I do.”
Torture, something a normal Korean would never experience in their lifetime, was a daily occurrence in this world.
“So that’s what Jane thinks.”
Rose nodded instead of accusing her of cruelty or inhumanity.
“Do you think that would make you feel any better?”
“Yes, I’m all for it. I think I’d feel a lot better if I beat her up than if I just left her alone.”
“Then what?”
“Yes?”
“What do you want to do next?”
“Um, that...”
Jane was momentarily speechless at Rose’s words. She hadn’t really thought about what to do next.
“Do you want to lock her up for the rest of her life and subject her to constant torture?”
“No, well. To that extent...”
Some might want that kind of punishment, but Jane wasn't that sadistic.
"Well, I guess I'll just torment her for a bit and then kick her out."
Rose closed her eyes and smiled at Jane's words.
"I see. Then how do you think you'll feel after that?"
Jane pondered deeply at Rose's constant questioning.
"Ummm... I think I'll still think about that incident from time to time. It's painful enough to have your husband cheat on you, but it's even more horrifying to have your husband stolen by someone you knew. It's a scar that will never go away, so I think I'll regret kicking out the mistress back then."
Jane ground her teeth, insisting on revenge every time she remembered it.
"But why are you suddenly asking this?"
"I'm just curious about what Jane thinks."
"I've said everything, so now, Rose, tell me. Why have you been quiet until now?"
Jane looked at Rose with a serious expression.
"Jane. I think everyone has a different approach to life."
Rose continued in a calm voice.
"I, too, once hated the child who stole my husband to death."
It was a story from a past life. It was the first time her husband had been stolen from her.
"At first, I was so flustered that I couldn't do anything but run away, but it was so incredibly unfair. In my head, I killed that child hundreds, no, thousands of times."
It was a thing of the past, but bringing it up again made her heart ache.
“Actually, this is the first time I’m telling you this... I... really had bad thoughts. Like I imagined, I thought about killing that child and my husband.”
Rose’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Jane swallowed hard, perhaps sensing her sincerity.
“But... the more it happened, the more it hurt me.”
Rose lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly.
“I was dying every day, but they weren’t. They lived happily ever after. As if nothing had happened.”
Rose took a deep breath, her chest tightening.
“The more I struggled with revenge, the more I was broken. It was so miserable. I was so filled with self-pity that I just wanted to die.”
“The more I struggled with revenge, the more I was broken. It was so miserable. I was so filled with self-pity that I just wanted to die.”
She was in so much pain, she wanted to let everything go.
She wanted them to be miserably distorted, just like her own life had been ruined.
“But one day, this thought occurred to me. If I take revenge like that, what will happen to my heart? Will I ever be able to completely escape these bitter memories? What will remain of me after I’ve lashed out and taken revenge?”
Rose slowly raised her gaze to Jane.
“I felt like I’d have nothing left. I don’t want to waste my life in vain, Jane. I’m tired of complaining about injustice and anger. I don’t want to ruin my life anymore.”
Jane vaguely understood what Rose was saying.
“I see. I really didn’t know you were so deeply troubled.”
Jane sympathized with Rose’s words and continued.
“So, Miss Rose, you’re going to put revenge aside and focus only on the future!”
Rose shook her head at Jane’s forced, bright words. She smiled softly, her voice soft.
“No, I’m going to get revenge. And I’m going to get it right.”
“Yes?”
Rose, who had been lecturing on how revenge was futile, now spoke of her revenge. Jane's eyes widened in bewilderment when she announced her intention.
"Just now... You said you weren't going to get revenge?"
Jane blinked, unsure of what to say, and Rose continued.
"The best revenge is success, Jane. I'm going to succeed, and I'm going to succeed."
She chose a different form of revenge than in her previous life.
Living well is the best revenge.
She would definitely succeed and show off her good life. It was a shame she couldn't show that to Lee Do-hyun, that bastard.
Resentment only breeds greater resentment.
The desire for revenge gnawed at her body.
She no longer wanted to waste her emotions on futile pursuits.
She would live solely for her own sake.
'Gyeo-ru... At first, I resented the god who possessed you and me. I thought He was trying to inflict hellish pain on me again. But now, I'm so grateful.'
Because she had seized the opportunity to properly take revenge on her.
It wasn't that she hadn't done anything to Doana.
It wasn't that she was stupid enough to abandon her. She abandoned her because she wasn't worth caring about.
She was repeating her mistakes and walking the path to her own downfall, and it wasn't worth the trouble of seeking revenge.
In fact, there were more than a few times when she wanted to tell her that she was "Byeol-ha."
But she didn't.
Everything has its time.
She would tease Doana's final moments, when she had voluntarily fallen into a swamp from which she couldn't escape.
At Doana's lowest moment, and on the day Rose shines brightest, she would reveal everything.
That she was "Byeol-ha."
She would live this life entirely for herself. Revenge was the foundation for success.
'So I'll step on you and rise above you, Gyeo-ru.'
She wanted them to be miserably distorted, just like her own life had been ruined.
“But one day, this thought occurred to me. If I take revenge like that, what will happen to my heart? Will I ever be able to completely escape these bitter memories? What will remain of me after I’ve lashed out and taken revenge?”
Rose slowly raised her gaze to Jane.
“I felt like I’d have nothing left. I don’t want to waste my life in vain, Jane. I’m tired of complaining about injustice and anger. I don’t want to ruin my life anymore.”
Jane vaguely understood what Rose was saying.
“I see. I really didn’t know you were so deeply troubled.”
Jane sympathized with Rose’s words and continued.
“So, Miss Rose, you’re going to put revenge aside and focus only on the future!”
Rose shook her head at Jane’s forced, bright words. She smiled softly, her voice soft.
“No, I’m going to get revenge. And I’m going to get it right.”
“Yes?”
Rose, who had been lecturing on how revenge was futile, now spoke of her revenge. Jane's eyes widened in bewilderment when she announced her intention.
"Just now... You said you weren't going to get revenge?"
Jane blinked, unsure of what to say, and Rose continued.
"The best revenge is success, Jane. I'm going to succeed, and I'm going to succeed."
She chose a different form of revenge than in her previous life.
Living well is the best revenge.
She would definitely succeed and show off her good life. It was a shame she couldn't show that to Lee Do-hyun, that bastard.
Resentment only breeds greater resentment.
The desire for revenge gnawed at her body.
She no longer wanted to waste her emotions on futile pursuits.
She would live solely for her own sake.
'Gyeo-ru... At first, I resented the god who possessed you and me. I thought He was trying to inflict hellish pain on me again. But now, I'm so grateful.'
Because she had seized the opportunity to properly take revenge on her.
It wasn't that she hadn't done anything to Doana.
It wasn't that she was stupid enough to abandon her. She abandoned her because she wasn't worth caring about.
She was repeating her mistakes and walking the path to her own downfall, and it wasn't worth the trouble of seeking revenge.
In fact, there were more than a few times when she wanted to tell her that she was "Byeol-ha."
But she didn't.
Everything has its time.
She would tease Doana's final moments, when she had voluntarily fallen into a swamp from which she couldn't escape.
At Doana's lowest moment, and on the day Rose shines brightest, she would reveal everything.
That she was "Byeol-ha."
She would live this life entirely for herself. Revenge was the foundation for success.
'So I'll step on you and rise above you, Gyeo-ru.'
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