After visiting the police station, Cain paced around the room, unable to sit still.

Jane’s words about coming to see him tonight felt ominous.

His heart beat irregularly.

Is this how a young bird feels when pushed out of the nest before its feathers have fully grown?

It felt like his unprepared self was being yelled at to fly.

The one yelling was, of course, Jane. She might feel wronged if she heard this. After all, she had only said she would fulfill her duty.

But those hollow eyes were clearly foretelling.

The end of Cain and Jane.

In the end, Cain would be left alone in this place filled with traces of Jane.

Just imagining it made it hard to breathe. Cain hurried to the window, gripped the window frame, and forcibly exhaled. He breathed forcibly.

What Jane wanted was clear.

To completely cut ties with the Hastings. And to forget about Cain.

The pain of his body shattering swept over him.

It was arrogant to think he could let her go as she wished. A life without Jane was filled with darkness even in his dreams.

‘I can’t let her go like this. I can’t do that.’

Cain grabbed his outer coat. The only option left for him was to avoid Jane.

Since Jane was not the type to leave without a final goodbye, he would postpone the final goodbye as much as possible.

Running away hurt his pride, but he had long ago abandoned his pride when it came to Jane.

He had to leave before Jane arrived.

Just as Cain was hurriedly tying his cravat.

Knock, knock.

The light knocking sounded like the laughter of the Grim Reaper.

“It’s me.”

He wanted to cover his ears at Jane’s voice, which he had always been happy to hear.

“I’m coming in.”

No, don’t come.

Contrary to his wishes, the door opened easily. Beyond the open door was Jane.

Jane was wearing the red dress that Cain had forcibly given her when she first had a dress made at the Hastings.

In the dress the same color as her hair, she was a single rose.

Fragrant and beautiful, but not to be touched rashly.

“Jane…”

“This is the gift you gave me, but I never showed you wearing it. I remembered and tried it on, is it strange?”

Jane fiddled with her earlobe upon seeing the frozen Cain. The long, dangling pearl earrings on her ears swayed.

“Different pearl earrings.”

Cain muttered softly. They weren’t the pearl earrings that were special to them, the ones she wore at the banquet.

What had she done with those earrings? Had she thrown them away after deciding to leave Somnium House?

Imagining the earrings thrown in the trash, Cain felt like he had been discarded.

Cain’s heart grew more urgent. He hastily wrapped the cravat around his neck.

“Jane, I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I have to go out now. Don’t wait for me and go to sleep.”

Cain spoke as if pouring out the words without even meeting Jane’s eyes, then tried to leave the room.

But Jane was much faster. She entered the room and locked the door. She stood guarding the door like a gatekeeper and looked up at Cain.

“Stay with me today. No, you have to stay.”

Jane smiled brightly. It was just a smile to her, but to Cain, it was a strong temptation, like the song of a siren bewitching a sailor.

“You’ll stay with me, right?”

Jane took a step closer to Cain. Her scent, intensified by the narrowed distance, was dizzying.

Cain stared at Jane, frozen in place.

Even knowing the knife Jane hid behind her dazzlingly beautiful smile, Cain couldn’t help but embrace her.

Cain took off the cravat he had draped around his neck and threw it away. The same went for his jacket. Soon his shirt was loose, and his desire swelled.

“I promise I won’t say anything.”

No, please tell me.

That this isn’t a farewell.

That today won’t be our last.

“I won’t say anything.”

Jane told Cain what he wanted to hear. It was a lie. Still, Cain pulled Jane into his arms. Naturally, as if it were meant to be, like iron sticking to a magnet, as if it were the law of nature.

Cain took Jane’s lower lip between his. Afraid that Jane might declare their farewell, Cain bit, licked, and chewed on her pretty lips.

His body trembled at the smallest sound, so Cain swallowed even her moans.

Jane actively responded to Cain’s movements.

Her slender hands swept down Cain’s back and slipped between his thin shirt.

“Don’t do this, Jane.”

Cain, already as excited as he could be, was worried he might not be able to hold Jane gently.

Cain’s nose went down Jane’s cheek. Cain buried his face in Jane’s neck and pleaded.

“Please don’t do this.”

But Jane didn’t stop. She slid her fingers into Cain’s hair and pulled. She lifted Cain’s head.

His eyes, heated like a furnace, shook Jane.

So she squeezed her eyes shut and clung to Cain.

Sincerity that couldn’t become words passed through saliva, gestures, and bodily movements.

Resentment, apology, and miserable begging scattered without touching each other’s hearts.

The long, continuous kiss paused for a moment as Cain took off his clothes.

He unbuttoned his shirt in a hurry as if someone were chasing after him, then crossed his arms and threw the shirt off upwards.

Jane watched him, panting. In the midst of the heated act, her eyes trembled finely.

“Jane…”

Cain reached out his hand as if seeking permission, uttering her name.

Jane and Cain’s gazes intertwined in midair. His eyes were burning red. For a moment, Jane froze.

She would let go of all lingering attachments and leave. That’s what she had resolved, so she leaped into his arms.

But seeing his furnace-like heated eyes, her resolution, which she believed to be an iron fortress, wavered.

So Jane decided not to look into Cain’s eyes.

“Hurry.”

Even knowing the consequences her urging would bring, Jane buried her face in his chest and urged.

Shake me so that I don’t even have the luxury to look at you, she meant.

* * *

Cain regained his senses at the rustling sound. Seeing no light between his closed eyelids, it was deep into the night. However, it was difficult to gauge the time.

On a moonless night, it was the perfect day for someone to quietly leave the house.

The rustling sound soon disappeared. Jane moved without hesitation, as if she had practiced it several times.

Cain could feel her even with his eyes closed.

Every time she moved, her scent wafted. At least until that scent disappeared, Jane would remember him.

Cain took small comfort in that fact.

Such a thought felt petty and miserable, but it was his honest feeling.

Jane wasn’t in a hurry. But she didn’t move leisurely either.

He gripped the blanket tightly to keep from grabbing Jane.

The sound gradually grew distant, and finally, the doorknob turned.

Only then did Cain open his eyes. He wanted to take in Jane’s final appearance.

She was wearing only a thin nightgown as she left the room.

The red dress he had bought her and the expensive pearl earrings were neatly placed on the table in the room.

Her intention to leave everything about the Hastings behind was clearly evident.

Cain’s heart was torn to shreds.

The door Jane opened was not a simple door. She had opened the door to Cain’s hell.

* * *

One month later.

“Her whereabouts are unknown.”

At Nathan’s report, Cain dropped the fork he was holding.

Nathan sighed and picked up the fallen fork, placing it on the table.

Soon, a servant brought a new fork, but the meal did not resume.

“Your Grace, let’s distribute flyers or something.”

“No need.”

Jane had deliberately hidden herself. If she knew he was chasing her, she would hide even more tightly.

Cain respected Jane’s wishes. Nevertheless, he searched for her because he wanted to confirm, even from afar, that she was safe.

Tsk, Cain inwardly scoffed.

Even with Jane gone, he was still not honest.

‘The reason I’m looking for Jane… is because I miss her.’

He missed her like crazy.

Cain staggered as he got up. Nathan, unsurprised, grasped his arm.

Cain closed his eyes for a moment and waited for the dizziness to subside.

These days, the time it took for the dizziness to subside was getting longer and longer.

It was a signal that his body was steadily deteriorating.

“You need to rest.”

After Jane left, Cain changed.

The first thing that changed was that he started living a day like two.

“No, I have someone to meet.”

And he met people without Nathan’s knowledge. Sometimes he disappeared for a day or two.

Nathan was on pins and needles, worried that he might collapse somewhere unfamiliar.

It wasn’t just Nathan who was worried. Although Cain pretended to be fine, the worsening changes in him as the days went by were not something that could be hidden no matter how much he tried.

There were also those who questioned Jane’s absence. The official position of the Hastings was that Jane had gone down to the countryside for recuperation, but as her absence grew longer, it lost credibility.

In the end, most people related to the family came to worry about the Hastings and Cain.

But Cain didn’t say a single thing clearly, making people frustrated.

The Hastings people couldn’t understand his actions.

“I must know today. Why didn’t you follow the lady when she left? Why aren’t you actively searching for her?”

Nathan asked in a sharp voice.

“Who says I’m not actively searching? I’m trying.”

There was no vitality in Cain’s voice.

“Honestly… you knew the lady would leave, right? That’s why you pulled out all the security guards the night she left, isn’t it? Did you want her to leave? Because of those Rose faction bastards, you fell out with the old fox, and you were afraid it would harm the Hastings!”

Cain’s jaw tightened firmly. He had a feeling there were people whispering behind his back these past few days, and this was the kind of thing they were saying.

That I wanted Jane to leave the Hastings family? Me?

‘Soon they’ll say I chased her out.’

Cain laughed a deflated laugh.

“No.”

Cain denied it briefly.

“Then why did you do that?”

Nathan clearly remembered the night Jane left.

Because the orders Cain gave that day were so unique that they were unforgettable.

The mansion was so well-known for its tight security that the chances of an incident occurring from leaving the security empty for a day were extremely low.

But since they had put a lot of effort into security after Joseph and Jane came to Somnium House, it was a questionable order.

The strange orders didn’t end there.

The Hastings had numerous carriages and coachmen ready to depart at any moment if Cain wanted to go out.

But to prepare a rented carriage.

The content to request from the rented carriage driver was also absurd.

All the orders were Cain’s arrangements for Jane to leave comfortably.

When Nathan learned of Cain’s intentions the next day, he thought he had gone crazy. He thought the aftereffects of getting shot had manifested late and driven him mad.

Otherwise, there was no way Cain would have quietly let Jane go.

Moreover, he flatly rejected Nathan’s request to chase after Jane.

Cain, who had visited the royal palace early in the morning, said with a tired face.

Nathan couldn’t help but ask why after 3 days.

Then, Cain said with a very exhausted face.