“The gift was delivered well, right?”

As soon as Augustus returned from his outing, Jexy asked before he even took off his hat.

“I’m not someone who does things carelessly.”

Jexy grinned at the reply that it was delivered well.

“But why did you say to send it to the duchess instead of that duke bastard?”

The second threatening message to be sent to the Hastings family was originally planned to be sent to Cain.

However, after packaging the box, Jexy suggested sending it to Jane.

Augustus opposed.

He judged that Cain would be better for extorting a large sum of money.

But Jexy insisted. Augustus delivered the box after receiving permission that he could do as he pleased next time if there was no response this time.

Jexy poured some alcohol and handed it to Augustus.

“She looked kind. I didn’t think she would just abandon poor me. But that cold-blooded duke would likely ignore it.”

Jexy might be foolish, but she had a keen eye for men. Thanks to that, she was able to catch a man like Arthur even in her harsh life.

Cain wouldn’t kill her to keep his loyalty to Arthur, but he wasn’t the type of man who would prevent her from dying in an accident.

“Even so, the Duchess Hastings can’t pay a large sum. In the end, we’ll have to move the Duke Hastings…”

Augustus drank the alcohol Jexy gave him. The lukewarm alcohol tasted worse than cold alcohol. He frowned.

While he was drinking lukewarm alcohol, the nobles would be drinking alcohol full of ice, wouldn’t they?

Every time he felt dissatisfied, his anger towards the nobles grew.

Augustus’s face twisted unpleasantly.

Jexy recognized his inferiority complex and petty insecurities at a glance.

Augustus was a man with some brains and physical capability, but not someone to keep around for long.

Jexy actually valued Scarlett more.

‘I wonder if that lady is looking for me.’

While thinking about Scarlett, Jexy snapped back to reality at the intense gaze.

“What will you do if they contact us?”

“We’ll have to call them out.”

“Who?”

“The duchess. Speaking of which, try to recruit some good actors. Those who can keep their mouths shut and will do anything for money. And when they contact us, hit me once. Not too hard, just enough to split my lip.”

Jexy tapped her cheek.

“What?”

There were supposedly crazy people who liked being hit, was Jexy one of them?

“Aren’t I in a kidnapped situation right now? Of course, I need to look like I’ve been roughed up. Geez, do I have to teach you everything?”

Jexy thumped her chest as if exasperated. Augustus, whose mood had soured, threw the wine glass. Jexy’s shoulders jerked violently.

“If you want, I can beat you right now. For running your mouth.”

Augustus shoved Jexy hard and went outside.

Augustus hated everything that ordered him around. Whether nobles, Cedric, or Jexy.

May they all die.

Augustus’s eyes turned red.

* * *

“My lady, what was that gift from earlier?”

“It was nothing.”

Jane, who had finished washing up, sat in front of the dressing table. Haley, while drying her hair, glanced at Jane’s face in the mirror.

‘It wasn’t nothing.’

Jane in the mirror looked extremely tired. It didn’t seem to be due to fatigue from the boat trip.

She hadn’t been this deflated until before opening the box.

‘There must have been something in that box…’

While vigorously drying her hair with a towel, Haley looked around the room. Whether Jane had cleaned up, there was no trace of the box to be seen.

That was strange too. If it was nothing, there was no reason to hide the box so completely.

‘Does our lady have a secret she can’t tell me?’

Haley wanted to serve Jane for a long time. In that sense, if there was something troubling her, she wanted to step up and help.

But Jane didn’t easily reveal her inner thoughts. Even reading the expressions on her face was possible because Haley was inherently perceptive and observant, while other maids often missed them.

‘You can rely on me. Do you still not trust me? What should I do to make you trust me?’

Haley became glum. Then suddenly she remembered the task Jane had asked of her. And the conversation between Cain and Nathan she had heard in the morning.

“My lady, about the task you commanded me before.”

“Before? Me?”

“The day you went out and came back through the back gate.”

Jane nodded, indicating she understood.

“What did you hear?”

Jane took Haley’s hand. And removed the towel.

“Your hair still needs more drying…”

Haley looked at the towel on Jane’s lap, but Jane shook her head and said,

“I want to hear your story first.”

“Well…”

When Haley actually tried to speak, her mouth wouldn’t open easily. She felt like a spy.

‘But if it’s for the lady…’

Haley made up her mind and spilled what she had heard in the morning.

It was a brief account that Jexy had been kidnapped and Cain had been contacted but ignored it.

“I see. You must have felt uneasy all day.”

Jane wasn’t surprised. Haley blinked her eyes.

“I know too. The master and I will take care of that issue, so you should forget about it.”

“Did the master tell you?”

Jane just smiled. It was unclear whether she meant she had heard from Cain or not.

“Haley, I’ll dry my hair roughly, so go down early and rest today.”

“No way. If you don’t dry your hair properly, you’ll catch a cold. I’ll dry it well for you. And what I heard in the morning, I’ve already forgotten.”

At first, when she learned about someone being kidnapped, her heart sank. It also pricked her conscience to pretend not to know about someone’s crisis.

However, she couldn’t step forward with information she had secretly overheard, and since the kidnapped person was Jexy, she erased the thought completely.

So unlike Jane’s worry, Haley’s heart wasn’t that uncomfortable.

“I’m not at ease, that’s why.”

When Jane urged her twice, Haley reluctantly left with the wet towel.

Jane skillfully dried her hair and prepared for bed by herself.

A little later, the maid who brought a light dinner was surprised to see Jane alone.

“I’ll attend to your meal.”

“I want to eat quietly today.”

Jane sent that maid away too. And she forced herself to eat.

The bird in the box came to mind and nausea rose, but if she didn’t eat and put out the plate, it was obvious that people including Pudica would worry.

She ate exactly one-third each of the salad, bread, and soup. However, she couldn’t eat the meat at all and left it as it was.

She poured all the alcohol, meant to relieve fatigue and aid sleep, into the toilet. And she applied lipstick and left traces on the cup as if she had drunk it.

Jane personally tidied up the dinner plates, put them outside the door, and attached a simple note.

I plan to sleep deeply, so please do not wake me up under any circumstances.

A moment later, the sound of clearing the tray was heard.

Jane, who had been listening quietly, headed to the dressing room after the corridor became completely silent.

She took off the indoor dress that Haley had put on her and put on the riding pants and shirt that Cain had recently bought her.

And Jane sat by the window instead of the bed and looked outside.

The sunset had long passed. It was already dark outside, but the garden of the Hastings mansion, lit up, was only bright.

It would be midnight before all those lights went out. It was the time Jane was waiting for.

In the heavy silence, Jane recalled the message in the box.

If you want to save JS, put 100,000 francs in the trash can on 189th Street. If you don’t put it in by dawn tomorrow, next time I’ll send Jexy’s finger instead of a bird.

A drawing of a trash can at the end of the cruel content.

The trash can was an ordinary cylindrical shape. Only on the lid was a drawing of what might be a duck or a sparrow.

189th Street wasn’t far from Somnium House. It was a distance Jane could easily go alone.

Jane was lost in thought, fiddling with a check for 10,000 francs.

Even 100,000 francs was burdensome for Jane. And it took great effort to bring actual money.

But not putting anything in seemed to treat Jexy’s life too lightly, so she had prepared a check for 10,000 francs.

If they showed movement that they wouldn’t just abandon Jexy, the other side would prepare for the next step too.

And she planned to go to the bank tomorrow morning to report the check as lost.

Jane hoped the kidnappers were a bit stupid. If they exchanged the check for cash without any suspicion, things would flow smoothly.

Time passed steadily. Finally, the awaited midnight came.

The lights in the garden went out one by one. Jane only got up from her chair after spending about ten minutes after the last light went out.

Her body was stiff from sitting in the same position for so long.

She stretched long and then snuck out of Somnium House quietly.