Jane went on a picnic to the park with Joseph.

Hailey, who had recently become Jane’s maid, followed along carrying the picnic basket packed by Pudica.

Originally hired as Joseph’s maid, Jane had appointed Hailey as her own maid since Nas and Letty were sufficient to care for the child.

This was also to save the trouble and time of hiring someone new.

“Joseph, tell me if you get tired while walking. I can carry you anytime.”

“B-but, m-mother, you’ll get tired too.”

“I won’t get tired at all. I’m your mom after all.”

Jane gently patted Joseph’s head, touched by his concern for her. Every time his small head tilted back and returned to place, their eyes met – his jewel-like brown eyes.

They were truly beautiful eyes.

‘His birth mother must have been extremely beautiful.’

Seeing how lovable Joseph was, his personality must be good too.

Jane became curious about Joseph’s birth mother. Especially since Joseph didn’t resemble Cain at all.

Despite not finding any resemblance to him, Joseph was so cute that his mother must have been a great beauty without a doubt.

“Young master Joseph, let’s play hide-and-seek!”

Nas, who had arrived at the lakeside first and spread out a mat in the shade, raised her hand high. Joseph’s face brightened momentarily before darkening again.

“Joseph, do you not like hide-and-seek?”

When Jane asked, Joseph squeezed his eyes shut.

When he had fallen after tripping on a rock outside, his birth mother had cared more about his clothes than his scraped knee.

She then scolded him, telling him to never dirty his clothes again, threatening to strip him naked and throw him out if he did.

Saying how difficult it was to earn enough money to buy clothes.

Those final words painfully clawed at Joseph’s heart.

That day, Joseph cried his eyes out. He kept sobbing that his knee hurt, but in truth, it was his heart that was in pain.

Now things were completely different.

The dressing room was full of clothes, and he had heard Jane ordering the servants to make new clothes for him every season.

Nevertheless, Joseph was still cautious.

Even if they were extremely wealthy, buying clothes frequently would become burdensome, so what if his father or mother came to dislike him because of it?

Tears welled up in Joseph’s large eyes.

Joseph wanted to live with Jane for a very long time. He wanted to be loved by her.

So it was okay if he didn’t play hide-and-seek.

Joseph nodded his head.

“I-I don’t want to play.”

Joseph very carefully walked over and sat on the mat. Before sitting, he even dusted the mat with his hands and blew on it to remove any dirt.

Jane observed this behavior closely.

‘He clearly liked the idea of hide-and-seek at first.’

What could be the reason for the child’s sudden change in attitude? As Jane pondered this, she called out to Nas, Letty, and Hailey.

“Would you three like to play hide-and-seek first?”

“Just the three of us?”

Jane looked at Joseph. He was sulking while looking at the lakeside.

“If he sees you having fun playing, Joseph might get excited too.”

Jane could have made Joseph join the game regardless of his opinion, but she refrained. She couldn’t always be the one to understand Joseph’s feelings and push him forward.

‘Unless I was going to be by his side forever.’

Jane was someone who would be leaving soon. So in a short time, she needed to make Joseph able to express what he wanted.

But in a situation where Joseph felt safe to say anything.

Now was just the right time.

A place with trustworthy maids who adored Joseph, and herself.

The child needed to realize on his own that here, it was okay to say or do anything.

Even if that process was a bit long, boring, and difficult for Joseph.

‘Breaking out of one’s shell is always painful.’

Jane looked at Nas, Letty, and Hailey. With an unspoken glance telling them to start, the three decided who would be “it”.

Jane sat down next to Joseph.

“What are you looking at, Joseph?”

“Th-the lake sp-sparkling.”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? That’s called ‘sunlight on water’.”

The maids who had started playing hide-and-seek burst out laughing.

Joseph’s ears perked up at the sound. Though his gaze remained fixed on the lake, his ears were tuned to where the game was happening.

His head kept turning slightly, but each time he would startle and look back at the lake, which was heartbreaking to see.

“You don’t want to play hide-and-seek, but watching is okay? Do you know how to play?”

“W-well…”

“Hmm, if you don’t know how to play, it might be uncomfortable when you play with friends later, so it’d be good to watch a bit now. It’s like studying in advance.”

“St-studying?”

“Yes. Studying how to play.”

“Do you h-have to study pl-playing too?”

“Of course. Even adults study to play games. Adults’ hunting, horseback riding, and card games – they all learn how to do them.”

The small head nodded up and down, seeming convinced.

“Alright, let’s study.”

Jane turned Joseph’s body around.

Perhaps because she called it studying, or maybe because he wanted to play, Joseph watched the maids engrossed in hide-and-seek without blinking.

Though Joseph’s body was on the mat, his heart was already with them playing hide-and-seek.

He sighed in disappointment when Letty was caught by the seeker, and flinched when Nas narrowly escaped the seeker’s hand.

‘Why did he say he didn’t want to play when he wants to so badly?’

Jane looked at Joseph’s small back of the head and hunched back.

Even Jane, with her long experience as a governess, didn’t know everything about children.

Children and adults were the same in that regard.

Just as their appearances differ, so do their thoughts. The roots of those thoughts were diverse experiences and reasoning unique to each person.

‘To truly understand Joseph, I need to know how he grew up.’

It would be best to ask Cain after all.

As she was calculating when he might return.

“…want to.”

Joseph’s sniffling made it hard for Jane to hear clearly.

“Yes, Joseph?”

“I-I want to pl-play hide-and-seek too!”

Tears welled up in Joseph’s eyes. With teardrops about to fall at any moment, Joseph bit his lip hard to keep from crying.

Jane’s chest tightened.

“Do you really want to play?”

Joseph burst into tears, clinging to Jane as if throwing himself into her arms.

“I w-want to play. I-I’ll be careful n-not to get my cl-clothes dirty. I w-want to play hide-and-seek.”

Why cry so sorrowfully over those words?

Joseph’s courage was admirable. On the other hand, Jane’s heart ached, feeling she had been too harsh in trying to teach the child that courage.

Jane stroked Joseph’s back.

“You can play, Joseph. Play to your heart’s content. Don’t worry about your clothes. It’s okay if you fall or roll around. We brought clothes to change into after playing like that.”

“R-really?”

Joseph looked up, swallowing his tears. Jane smiled brightly and wiped away Joseph’s tears. When she held a handkerchief to his nose, Joseph blinked.

“You need to blow your nose. Go on, sniff.”

“Sn-sniff.”

“Our Joseph, now you can blow your nose well too.”

Jane lavished praise for even the smallest things, then let Joseph down from her lap.

“Nas, Joseph is ready to play now.”

“Young master! Come quickly!”

Nas, Letty, and Hailey waved their hands as if they had been waiting.

Joseph hesitated for a moment, then ran towards the maids.

Jane watched the scene with a warm smile.

* * *

Scarlet woke up early in the morning and opened the balcony wide.

“I’d like to rest a bit. Everyone, please leave.”

After finishing her grooming, she sent all the maids out of the room.

A little while later, there was a shadow climbing over the balcony.

Scarlet elegantly sipped her tea and turned the pages of her book until the shadow approached very close.

The shadow was skilled at concealing its presence, but Scarlet’s lack of reaction was more to show her complete trust in him.

The shadow fell over Scarlet’s head. But Scarlet didn’t turn around until he called out to her.

The shadow, with slightly ragged breathing, carefully spoke.

“My lady.”

Scarlet turned around with a bright smile, as if she hadn’t noticed at all.

“Ken! Welcome.”

Scarlet placed her hand on the cheek of the masked man. The cheek hidden under the mask twitched, and his eyelashes trembled.

Ken was a man who would do anything Scarlet said.

“Ken, how have you been?”

Scarlet held Ken’s hand tightly and sat him in a chair. Then she personally poured him some tea.

“I have looked into the incident you mentioned in detail, my lady.”

“Ken, when you say it like that, it sounds like I only give you work. There’s no need to rush with that kind of talk.”

Though she was actually dying of curiosity, Scarlet spoke words she didn’t mean as she offered the teacup.

Ken just looked down at the teacup without taking it. To drink the tea, he would have to remove his mask, revealing his embarrassing face.

“Ken, it’s just me. I’m fine with it. Drink comfortably.”

Scarlet stroked the back of Ken’s hand. Ken’s heart pounded at her gentle gaze, seeming to understand everything.

Kind-hearted lady.

The only lady who accepts and acknowledges someone as unworthy as me.

Ken slowly pulled down his mask. This revealed a large burn scar on one of his cheeks.

Scarlet couldn’t help but frown at the unsightly appearance.

“Doesn’t it hurt these days?”

She disguised her reaction as concern.

“It’s fine. It’s a very old wound, you see.”

A smile spread across Ken’s lips at the memory that surfaced.

It was Scarlet who had reached out to Ken when he lost his job due to the scar. She not only paid for his medicine and found him work, but also personally embroidered the mask he now wore.

To Ken, Scarlet was a grateful benefactor who had helped him in every way.

“I’m glad.”

Scarlet waited until Ken took a sip of tea.

‘I’ve done enough for that guy.’

In contrast, to Scarlet, Ken was merely a tool.

Scarlet knew that Ken liked her and cleverly exploited this.

He was very useful. So she couldn’t let him give up on her. Scarlet’s kindness was carried out under meticulous calculation.

“About that incident.”

Ken immediately set down his teacup. What he had investigated was about the death of the previous Duke and Duchess of Hastings.

“It’s certain that those in the Rose Faction who were in contact with the Whitney family orchestrated the incident. According to my investigation, the previous Duke and Duchess of Hastings were already on the Rose Faction’s list for elimination 7 years ago. The late Count Whitney was also aware of this fact.”

“Is that so? What happened to those people?”

“They all committed suicide.”

“Ah…”

Scarlet let out a sigh. The regretful sigh contained the meaning of having lost a good weapon. However, Ken took it as mourning for the deceased.

“Thank you for looking into it. And the other thing I asked about?”

“Here it is, my lady.”

Ken handed over two pieces of paper.

One was a leaflet from the Rose Faction, and the other was confidential information from the Carelina County family.

Count Carelina didn’t share important information even with his only daughter.

The information Scarlet occasionally leaked to Cain was obtained through Ken’s hands like this.

In fact, there was no other way to know without him.

‘How troublesome.’

But she could endure it because the fruits gained from it were sweet.

Scarlet smiled brightly. She didn’t forget to subtly stroke Ken’s hand while receiving the papers.

“It must have been difficult to breach the security. You’ve worked hard.”

What she held in her hand was the Rose Faction’s next plan.

‘What should I do with this?’

Scarlet’s eyes curved gently like a bow.