Cain was dumbfounded. It was the first emotion he felt, even before relief.

“Yes, it’s Jane. Could you please put that gun away?”

Jane’s voice trembled faintly.

“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

Cain put the revolver back in his pocket. His voice was thick with fatigue and bewilderment.

Jane gripped the stair railing tightly. But she collapsed like a newborn fawn.

The chill of the gun barrel that had touched the back of her head had shocked her so much that all strength had left her body.

Cain just watched with his arms crossed as Jane struggled to get up.

Jane had no choice but to sigh. Then she hesitantly held out her thin white hand.

“Please help me.”

He had been waiting to see when she would ask for help, but she gave in unexpectedly quickly.

Cain’s large hand wrapped around her wrist. Jane clung to his wrist, which was too big to fit in one of her hands, like a lifeline.

He exerted force.

Jane’s body was pulled up in an instant, then tilted again.

Jane squeezed her eyes shut, certain she was about to tumble down the stairs.

But instead of rolling on the floor, she found her face buried in Cain’s chest.

“Oof.”

Jane’s cheek was pressed against Cain’s chest. Her small body was enveloped in his broad embrace.

He felt as massive and solid as a fortress wall, as if he could shield her from any storm.

It was understandable why women were so drawn to him.

Jane realized that Cain had become a complete man.

“Sorry…”

Jane squirmed and then froze completely.

The muscles hidden beneath his proper attire felt strangely distinct.

He was hot, and Jane found his heat overwhelming.

Cain smelled of women’s perfume. The strong scent stung Jane’s nose, as if to announce they had been in close contact.

How many women had melted in this heat?

“How long are you going to stay in my arms? Oh, is this perhaps the answer I didn’t hear in the office?”

“I’m sorry. I lost my balance.”

Jane hurriedly pulled away. She barely managed to stand upright.

Cain looked Jane up and down with a chilling gaze that could freeze everything.

The clouds obscuring the moon drifted away, brightening the view slightly. Only then could Cain see Jane properly.

She was wearing only a thin negligee with a shawl draped over it. Every time Jane moved, her voluptuous figure was clearly revealed.

So the sensation of her body clinging to his hadn’t been an illusion, but reality.

Slender, soft, and full of elasticity…

Some part of Cain’s body that hadn’t reacted all evening at the gentlemen’s club now sent a subtle signal.

Cain’s mood soured rapidly.

“What are you doing here dressed like that?”

Jane looked down at herself. Her attire wasn’t inappropriate enough to warrant Cain’s scathing criticism, given the situation.

It was late at night, when all the servants would have retired to their rooms.

Feeling a bit wronged, Jane replied.

“I was going to the dining room.”

“The dining room?”

“I skipped dinner. I was hungry.”

“So you’re saying you were sneaking around the house in the middle of the night, half-naked like a stray cat, just for a piece of bread?”

From Jane’s perspective, there was much to refute in Cain’s words.

The fact that though it was just a piece of bread, without it Jane would have gone all day without eating.

The fact that this would negatively impact Mrs. Themis’s lessons, which would start in the morning.

Lastly, there was the matter of her attire.

Far from being half-naked, she was wearing an expensive negligee that would cost a year’s salary as a governess, and even had a shawl over it.

Wasn’t this bundled up enough for the middle of the night?

But instead of refuting each point, Jane lowered her head. Whatever she said would only make her situation more pitiful.

Above all, she couldn’t stand the smell of perfume coming from him.

“I’ll be more careful in the future.”

She just needed to be careful herself.

Jane lifted her foot to step on the stairs. It had been difficult coming down, but going up felt like torture. She clung to the railing and climbed the steps with great effort.

She could feel Cain’s gaze on her back, but she was determined not to look back unless he spoke to her.

In fact, she hoped he wouldn’t speak to her at all.

Every word exchanged with him grated on her nerves. He was no longer the Cain of the past.

The one who had smiled so brightly it could put the sun to shame was dead.

Knowing this, she was disgusted with herself for desperately trying to find traces of the past in Cain.

“Weren’t you hungry? Where are you going? Come with me. I don’t want to hear about a starvation death in the Hastings household.”

Cain descended the stairs without hesitation.

Is he talking to me?

Jane stopped and turned her head. Cain, who had already gone far down, was looking at her. Though the surroundings were dark, his shining eyes were clear.

A look that said she was pathetic.

“No, thank you. I’ll just go up.”

“Another whim? I heard you were fussy about the dinner menu. Take it easy, Jane. There’s no one in the Hastings household with time to indulge your tantrums.”

If it had been daytime, or if she hadn’t been hungry, or if Cain’s body hadn’t been reeking of perfume, Jane might have let his sarcasm slide.

Ignoring was one of the best ways to avoid a fight, after all.

But it was night, and she was very hungry which made her nerves raw, and the smell of perfume on Cain’s body still lingered in the air.

And he knew. About Jane and Michelle’s power struggle. He knew but pretended not to.

A surge of hurt welled up.

“Was I ever the type to be fussy? You know me, don’t you?”

“I know you? Who am I talking to here? Jane Whitney, is that right?”

“…”

“I don’t know anything about you.”

“Maybe not now. But in the past…”

“No, Jane. I never knew anything about you in the past or now. And I have no intention of knowing in the future.”

The past was denied.

The time when Jane prided herself on being loved by God, the most brilliantly shining period of her life.

Jane’s body, which had been barely holding up, swayed.

“Looks like you’re in a capricious mood, so I’ll head up now.”

The capricious one was Cain. He left Jane alone in the dark hallway and returned to his room.

Jane, left behind, slid down the railing and slumped onto the stairs.

Their brief encounter had left a deep scar on her.

Jane looked up at the ceiling. She had vowed not to cry during her time here.

But embarrassingly, after just one day, she felt like she might cry. She bit the inside of her mouth hard.

* * *

Returning to his room, Cain loosened his cravat. His movements were full of irritation.

Jane, who had wandered the darkened mansion hungry, was the worst in many ways.

With dozens of people to order around and a warehouse overflowing with ingredients, how could she have starved until now? He couldn’t understand at all.

It felt exactly like she was rebelling against him. And he didn’t like her method of rebellion either.

She was the future duchess. If she suddenly went on a hunger strike and something happened to her body, it would be troublesome for Cain.

Why on earth was she starving herself?

Cain roughly mussed his hair and then rang the bell.

“You called, My Lord.”

“Draw a bath.”

The servant quietly answered so as not to upset his mood and headed for the bathroom. Seeing this, Cain squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them.

“Wait.”

Cain called him back.

“I’m hungry. I need a snack.”

“Shall I bring some alcohol?”

“Skip the alcohol and bring something that won’t be too heavy in the morning.”

“I’ll prepare it right away.”

The servant left the water running in the tub and went down to the kitchen. He returned with soft bread and a bottle of warm milk.

“I don’t need assistance with the bath, so you can go.”

Cain dismissed the servant and stared at the table with the bread and milk for a long time. It was a sharp gaze, as if they were his enemies.

Lately, he’d been having strange thoughts.

A feeling like there was another person inside him. He felt it now too.

He wasn’t even hungry, yet he had ordered food and was now thinking of taking it to Jane.

Cain gritted his teeth. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he gathered the bread and milk and stepped out of the room.

‘The Hastings are not unkind. Father would offer a meal even to a beggar he met on the street.’

He was simply acting in accordance with the Hastings family tradition.

Cain placed the bread and milk bottle in front of Jane’s room door and turned away. Before turning, he didn’t forget to knock on her door a couple of times.

* * *

Jane had returned to her bedroom last night, practically crawling. And she greeted the morning at the crack of dawn.

“You’re awake, Miss.”

Michelle greeted her with a polite attitude.

‘What did she say to Cain?’

Jane stared blankly at Michelle. Michelle’s under-eyes twitched under that steady gaze.

Despite having nothing, Jane carried an air of old-world elegance about her entire being.

It was an aura that Michelle couldn’t achieve no matter how expensive earrings she wore or how fine a perfume she applied.

She couldn’t understand why Jane, who supposedly worked as a governess in someone else’s home, still exuded an aura that could only be felt from noble ladies, and high-ranking ones at that.

‘Did she have a good time with the master of that house while pretending to be a governess?’

It was something that happened occasionally in high society. Affairs between governesses and their employers.

As she looked at Jane, who showed no signs of having struggled, Michelle’s imagination ran wild.

The more she thought about it, the greater her hostility towards Jane grew.

“Michelle.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Despite trying to speak in the most polite tone possible, her animosity showed through.

Jane looked at her sharply. However, unlike yesterday, she wasn’t trapped in the hell of ‘again’.

Whether there had been a change of heart overnight, or whether she had realized that she wouldn’t even be able to eat dinner if Jane didn’t care for her, Jane let it slide with a powerless voice, saying, “Answer properly.”

‘Has she finally realized her place?’

Michelle was pleased with Jane’s dejected face and listless appearance.

“I’ll have my meal downstairs. Go down and let them know.”

Michelle believed that Jane had conceded to her, but Jane had simply changed her tactics to survive.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.