“Please let me see him. Please!”

“He’s not in.”

“I’ll wait inside. Okay?”

“Go back.”

Jane had been arguing with the gatekeeper of the Hastings estate for several minutes. In her hand was a newspaper with the execution orders for the Earl and Countess Whitney.

“It’s important. It’s a matter of utmost urgency.”

Jane grabbed the hem of her dress and tried to force her way in.

“Please leave!”

The angry gatekeeper pushed Jane. As she fell, Jane shouted.

“What are you doing?!”

“What are you doing, miss? Do you really not know why we’re acting like this? Is it because you’ve lived such a sheltered life, or are you just pretending not to know? You cannot set foot in the Hastings household under any circumstances.”

Jane’s pupils trembled.

“What… do you mean?”

“It means the Duke has ordered us not to let you in.”

“That can’t be. The Duke told me to…”

She had done as she was told. She broke up when told to break up, and stayed at home quietly when told it could be disadvantageous for the verdict if she went around causing trouble.

Jane muttered in dismay. The gatekeepers clicked their tongues as they looked at her.

She had been such a pretty and kind young lady. A warm-hearted person who would open the carriage window to say a few words of encouragement whenever she passed by.

They had no doubt she would one day become the mistress of the Hastings household.

But now she was being turned away at the gate.

How fickle life can be.

“There must be some misunderstanding. Please. Let me in. I promise I won’t say you let me in. If you need money…”

Jane’s hand, which had been searching her pockets, fell limply. She didn’t have a penny to her name.

The day after the order came to forfeit her family’s assets to the state, all her allowances and property were seized by the treasury.

All she had left were a few changes of clothes and the jewelry she was wearing.

‘Right, the jewelry!’

Jane took off her earrings. They were ruby earrings the Earl Whitney had given her for her 17th birthday.

“It’s not much, but please take this.”

Jane held out the earrings.

“Please don’t do this.”

The gatekeepers were also reaching their limits.

They had been told to chase her away with swords if necessary, but they didn’t want to go that far.

However, if Jane persisted, they would have to draw their swords. The gatekeepers fingered their sword hilts.

“Stop.”

A deep voice sounded from behind the gatekeepers. They took their hands off their sword hilts.

“Wait.”

“Ah! Mr. Assistant!”

Jane’s eyes lit up. The owner of the voice was the Duke of Hastings’ assistant.

“It’s been a long time, Phil! I want to meet with the Duke, but there seems to be some misunderstanding and they won’t let me in. I’m so glad you came out. Is the Duke inside?”

Instead of answering, Phil looked Jane up and down. He frowned at her disheveled hair and dress, dirtied from sitting on the ground.

“You intend to meet the Duke looking like that?”

Jane’s eyebrows rose.

“I’m sorry, but the Duke is away.”

It was clearly a lie. The Duke of Hastings always traveled with his assistant. If Phil had come out of the house, it meant the Duke was home.

“Phil…”

“He did, however, give me something to deliver to you.”

Phil handed over a heavy pouch. Jane received it reflexively, her eyes questioning what it was. Phil replied in a tone dripping with annoyance.

“It means you shouldn’t stoop to begging, as someone who was almost connected to the Hastings family. What else could it be?”

Money, of course.

Jane’s hand trembled as she realized the contents of the pouch.

“Don’t say you won’t accept it, miss. Without that money, you’ll be on the streets immediately. You’ll need to arrange a carriage to leave the capital tomorrow.”

“To-tomorrow?”

“You didn’t know? I suppose that detail wasn’t in the newspaper. Your deportation date has been set. It’s tomorrow. You must leave the capital tomorrow.”

“If I appeal…”

Phil pushed up his glasses and moved closer to Jane. He lowered his eyebrows and put on a rather regretful expression.

“Who would take on your appeal? And do you have the money to hire someone? Don’t waste your time, miss. If I were you, I’d leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow. After all, no child would want to see their parents’ heads dangling from the city walls, no matter who they are.”

Jane’s body stiffened. It took her a moment to understand what she had just heard.

“The Duke said he would surely prevent that…”

“How naive you are, miss. To believe that.”

Phil laughed. Then he quickly left before Jane could grab him. In truth, Jane couldn’t even move a step to catch him.

Jane felt a cool sensation on the nape of her neck as she stood there in shock.

The guards had finally pointed their swords at Jane’s neck. Phil had told them to “deal with it quickly” as he passed by.

“Please leave, miss.”

Those utterly dispassionate words pushed Jane away once more. Everything went dark before her eyes.

* * *

The sun rose unfailingly once again. Jane, who had been sitting blankly on her bed, came to her senses with the sunlight streaming through the window.

She had spent all of yesterday afternoon trying to find a way to stop her parents’ execution, but she had only received wounds instead of results.

Fortunately, amidst the misfortune, she was able to hear her parents’ last words from a changing guard.

The moment she heard those words, Jane forgot about propriety and wept loudly. Her cries were so heartbreaking and sorrowful that even those who heard them were moved to tears.

Jane sat on the muddy ground in front of the detention center where her parents were held until late into the night. It was well past midnight when she returned home.

Then she stayed up all night packing her belongings.

Now it was time to leave the place she had grown fond of.

“Miss, I’m sorry we can’t serve you anymore.”

“I should be the one apologizing. You didn’t even receive this month’s wages. We’re parting ways after you’ve only seen me at my worst.”

El and a few other servants who had remained loyal to the Whitney family until the end wiped away their tears.

“We’ll manage somehow, but what will you do, miss?”

“I’ll figure something out. For now, I plan to go to a distant relative of my mother’s.”

She would probably be turned away, but it was the only option that came to mind.

“It’s not much, but please take this, miss.”

El took out a small pouch. It looked similar to the one she had received from the Hastings household yesterday, though much smaller in size.

It was money that the servants had pooled together, knowing that Jane was now penniless.

The amount was similar to what Jane used to give them occasionally as pocket money.

Jane clenched her fist tightly.

“I’ll accept your feelings, but I can’t take this. I couldn’t even pay your last month’s wages, so how could I shamelessly accept this?”

El’s lips trembled. Seeing Jane’s gaunt face, she found it hard to leave.

“You have to take this, or we won’t be able to go, miss.”

El placed the pouch on the bedside table. Jane’s gaze lingered on the pouch for quite a while.

“El, instead of money… could you do me one favor?”

“A favor? Of course! Anything!”

Jane took a letter out of her desk drawer.

“I’d like you to deliver this letter to Cain.”

Last night, after much hesitation, Jane had written a letter. It wasn’t a shameless request to meet again as the daughter of criminals.

It contained an apology for the hurtful words she had said, and her wishes for his future happiness.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to deliver it.”

El clasped the letter and Jane’s hand tightly. Finally, El bowed deeply to Jane one last time.

Jane was left alone.

The busy sounds of breakfast preparation, warm smiles, everything was gone, leaving only silence in the mansion.

But now she had to let go of even this silence.

Jane’s heart turned pitch black. This was the miserable end of a child once blessed by God.

* * *

Jane Whitney was a woman who had lost everything. No, let me correct that. She still had many things.

They were the shackles placed upon her, mired in the mud.

Parents executed for treason, astronomical debt, people’s contempt, the dishonor of a broken engagement.

Jane’s days were miserable.

She was kicked out after just a month from the relative’s house where she had asked for shelter.

Jane had no choice but to use the money that the Duke of Hastings had thrown at her, which she had been keeping intending to return someday.

Every time she spent the money, it felt like a knife was scraping her heart, but she had no choice if she wanted to survive.

With that money, Jane settled in Rouen, a small city with developed maritime trade.

Settling down wasn’t easy. Not long after Jane arrived there, rumors from the capital began to spread.

Daughter of traitors. Aristocrats’ rebel.

Because of the labels attached to Jane, it became difficult to find work. Even when she managed to find a job, there were numerous instances where she didn’t receive her wages.

If she spoke, she was cursed at, and if she kept her mouth shut, she was berated.

Nevertheless, Jane tried to live brightly and cheerfully.

Living as a woman from a fallen family, she came to understand her parents’ choices.

The world was not fair.

From then on, she regained her will to live. Jane struggled to live like a human being.

Seven years have passed since then.

Many things have changed from 7 years ago.

Jane, who was 18 then, is now 25, and with a special pardon lifting her deportation order, she returned to the capital.

Jane, who used to do only menial jobs, started working as a governess after the deportation order was lifted.

She has made quite a name for herself as a capable governess.

“The wind is nice.”

Jane was in the middle of a lesson in the garden where a cool spring breeze was blowing.

“Yes, teacher! You remember you promised to play chess with me today, right?”

The little gentleman sitting across from Jane, diligently solving problems, sparkled his eyes.