A compliment from Cain?

Jane thought she had misheard. But the words that floated on the breeze like dandelion seeds were clearly “Well done.”

Jane pondered for a long time what those words meant.

After piecing together the things he had said to her since their reunion, Jane could somewhat guess the meaning of Cain’s compliment.

It must be praise for Hastings reprimanding the thug as a person.

Jane’s judgment that the real Hastings wouldn’t have tolerated it if he were human was correct.

She received recognition from Cain.

It was the first time since meeting him. Her face brightened a little.

“Young lady, aren’t you getting out?”

Norbert observed Jane’s complexion as she sat in the carriage for a while after it had stopped.

“I should.”

Jane gave a perfunctory smile. Norbert waited, holding the door until Jane got out.

“Young lady, you came with the Duke?”

Mary approached with a beaming smile as Jane got out of the carriage.

“It just happened that way. More importantly, how’s Joseph?”

The carriage carrying Joseph had departed first while Jane was saying goodbye to Mrs. Merche.

“The young master is reading a book in his room. A bookstore employee came by earlier.”

“Something happened in the square. Keep a close eye on him.”

“Something happened? Are you alright, young lady?”

Mary grew very worried at Jane’s poor tone of voice.

Come to think of it, Jane realized she was quite fine for someone who had been through a major incident.

Even though she had even slapped the thug’s cheek. That was the first act of violence Jane had ever inflicted on another person.

At that time, her whole body was trembling. Though she had bravely confronted the thug, in reality Jane had been terrified.

Memories of the violence inflicted by Victor and Hamberton resurfaced. For a moment, she even had the illusion that her body was not in the square but in her house on the hill.

Her heart was racing frighteningly fast, and her breathing became rough.

But when did she become so comfortable?

Her heartbeat had returned to normal and her pale face had regained its usual color.

It was easy to find that ‘when’.

When Cain appeared.

At his appearance, Jane worried he might have seen her harsh side, but in reality relief came first.

She believed Cain would save her.

Before she knew it, Jane was relying on and depending on Cain. On top of that, with his praise she even thought that today’s misfortune wasn’t so bad.

It was not a good sign.

Jane’s efforts to forget Cain were so powerless.

They crumbled at one of his acts, one word of praise.

* * *

As soon as Cain entered the office, he took out a cigar. Nathan, who had hurriedly followed him in, lit it for him.

With the lit cigar in his mouth, Cain opened the window wide as if feeling stuffy, then paused.

Jane was just now getting out of the carriage. He could see her smiling as she talked with Mary.

That smile was displeasing.

When she saw him in the square, she had turned pale as if she’d seen a ghost.

“How did you handle that thug?”

“There wasn’t much to handle. We handed him over to the security forces.”

“The security in Hausten Street is a mess.”

“I’ll contact the head of security.”

That wasn’t enough. Jane and Joseph had almost been in danger in the middle of that crowded square.

If that happened, tourists to Hausten Street would decrease, and the various branches operated by Haste Company would also be affected.

That had to be prevented.

Another reason for issuing the order to strengthen security came to mind, but Cain ignored it and exhaled cigar smoke.

“Set up a dinner meeting with the head of security.”

“You’ll meet him directly?”

Cain just puffed on his cigar as if to say don’t ask such obvious questions.

“Understood. By the way, Miss Jane was amazing. The way she slapped that guy’s cheek, that spirit was… my own cheek hurt just watching. Honestly, it was cool. You agree, don’t you, Your Excellency?”

Cain was silent. It was an implicit agreement.

Jane didn’t know, but Cain had been watching her since she got into the altercation with the thug.

At that time, he was having tea with Scarlett at an open-air cafe in the square.

Scarlett had been calling Cain out from time to time, saying she had information related to the Rose Faction.

The meeting place changed each time, but today, coincidentally, Jane was nearby.

So Cain clearly heard Jane’s voice crying out to the thug, asking what he was doing.

Cain tried to ignore it, but his ears kept turning in that direction. That’s why Scarlett noticed Jane. Because Cain couldn’t concentrate on her story.

He should have said no, but his head moved before his mouth.

She’ll handle it herself, Scarlett’s constant advice from the side was annoying. Cain watched Jane while giving vague responses.

Cain hoped Jane would spot him first and ask for help.

Scarlett expressed unnecessary worry.

If it were truly a dangerous moment, Sor, who would be watching Jane nearby, would step in.

Cain didn’t like Jane, but he didn’t want her to get hurt or troubled because of someone else.

Only he should be the one to hurt or trouble Jane.

Because he was the one hurt by Jane. It was only natural for the one who received to give back.

He couldn’t let a thug no better than a beggar hurt Jane.

So when he assigned Sor to watch Jane, he made sure to emphasize the ‘safety’ aspect as well.

Yet Jane slapped the thug’s cheek. She spat out harsh words quite refreshingly and mentioned the Hastings family.

A bell rang in Cain’s head.

Cain’s mouth went dry at Jane’s unexpected turn, when he thought she would just bow her head and shed tears.

To be honest, it felt satisfying.

So the praise he gave Jane as she got out of the carriage was sincere.

If she’s from the Hastings family, of course she should be able to do at least that much.

And then his eyes met Jane’s after she slapped the thug’s cheek. Jane’s face turned pale when she belatedly noticed him.

Seeing her complexion worsen more than when the thug had picked a fight, he felt extremely irritated.

He thought she would ask for help when she saw him, but that was his misunderstanding.

Rather, Jane seemed to want Cain to leave.

Cain had no intention whatsoever of moving according to Jane’s wishes. So he approached Jane and Joseph, and put on an act she could never have imagined, just as she had backstabbed him.

The kind father, the affectionate fiancé.

Seeing the dumbfounded Jane gave him a sense of satisfaction.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but what should we do about Miss Scarlett?”

“Scarlett?”

Cain removed the cigar from his lips as he snapped out of his reminiscence.

“You just left her on the street, didn’t you? She’ll probably understand given the circumstances, but she’s bound to feel hurt, don’t you think?”

“Ah, right.”

Cain had completely forgotten about Scarlett.

Scarlett Carelina, she liked him. She couldn’t even hide her own feelings in front of him. She showed it so plainly that even a blind person would know.

By Cain’s nature, he shouldn’t have met with her, but he needed information from the Carelina Count family to completely eradicate the Rose Faction.

He had officially requested information, but Count Carelina always gave only useless information.

It was to keep in check Cain, who had the Queen’s trust.

Just as Count Carelina had received his title for arresting the Rose Faction members 7 years ago, he wanted to receive a duke title in the process of rooting out the Rose Faction this time.

To do that, he needed to achieve more merits than Cain.

While information from the Carelina Count family wasn’t absolutely crucial, it was certainly desirable.

That’s when Scarlett approached. She would bring quite decent information in exchange for just having a cup of tea and conversation.

Cain dealt with her to the extent of not causing misunderstandings. In return, he didn’t commit any rudeness.

That was Cain’s principle in dealing with women who liked him.

But today he broke that principle. Because of none other than Jane.

“Should we send a gift?”

After pondering for a moment, Cain waved his hand.

“Leave it.”

Since he had broken the principle, he wanted to end the meetings with Scarlett as well.

The quality of information she was bringing had been declining anyway, so there was nothing to regret.

He put out the cigar that was barely half-smoked and sat down at his desk.

Before Jane came to mind again, Cain hurriedly started working.

* * *

The date day dawned.

Jane woke up early in the morning and hurried to get ready.

The unkind Cain had only notified her of the date without telling her the time and place, so Jane waited endlessly for him, not knowing when he would come.

“Are you ready?”

Cain stopped by the room around 10 AM. It was about 2 hours after Jane had started waiting for him.

He appeared wearing a wine-colored suit. It was a design that emphasized his tall height and broad shoulders.

It was a color difficult for ordinary people to pull off, but as usual, he wore it splendidly.

She never knew such a vivid wine color could feel so provocative.

Jane found herself holding her breath as she looked at him.

At Cain raising his wrist to check the time, at his wrist that exuded strength and his large hand.

Today is a date, so will he hold her hand with those steel-like hands like yesterday?

“Looks like you’re done. Come out.”

Cain tapped the door once and turned around.

He did not hold Jane’s hand until they reached their destination.