“Where’s Cain?”

Jane asked Norbert, who was explaining the schedule.

“He’s away, madam.”

It had been a week since she last saw Cain. With a mountain of tasks needing his approval, and him not showing his face, Jane’s work naturally got pushed back.

“What’s his schedule?”

Norbert hesitated, not answering readily. Seeing his discomfort, Jane waved her hand.

“Never mind, Norbert.”

Jane gazed out the window, deep in thought.

Joseph was quickly regaining stability. His stuttering had noticeably decreased, and he was becoming more natural in greeting others.

So it was time to help him make friends and find a riding instructor.

‘But I need him to come home to discuss this.’

And he even hid his schedule.

‘As if something terrible would happen if I knew.’

Norbert seemed to know where he was and what he was doing, which made her feel oddly left out.

Even though she had no right to feel that way.

“Do you have any message for the Duke? If it’s urgent, I can relay it.”

Norbert, who had been quietly observing Jane, said.

“It’s not urgent…”

‘No, is it urgent?’

Jane hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind.

“Norbert, do you have some time?”

Norbert considered his upcoming schedule. He could certainly spare time to talk with Jane.

“Yes, my lady.”

“Then please have a seat.”

Norbert sat across from Jane.

“I want to ask about Lady Burnett.”

Jane’s gaze turned to the high stack of documents on one side of the table. They were materials she had recently received through the budget officer.

Norbert nodded readily, having expected Jane to bring up Lady Burnett at some point.

“For a while after the previous Duchess Hastings passed away, Lady Burnett used the Duchess’s dignity maintenance funds. Did Cain approve this?”

“As the Duke was living abroad at the time, I’m not sure if this matter was reported to him.”

Norbert had also taken a brief leave from work then, so he didn’t know for certain.

“Who would remember this accurately?”

“I believe the previous Duke’s assistant would know best, my lady.”

“You mean Phil, the previous Duke’s assistant?”

When Norbert briefly answered “Yes,” Jane’s cheeks tensed. The memory of Phil’s sneers and sarcasm towards her resurfaced.

“My lady?”

Jane snapped back to attention at Norbert’s call.

“Ah, and there’s one more strange thing. Hastings made a large investment in Baron Gillian’s business, but there are no related documents.”

There were only traces of funds flowing without specific details on what business was invested in or how the investment would be recovered.

And this was three years ago.

“It might be best to ask Nathan about that part.”

Jane agreed with Norbert, but Nathan was still difficult. He was closely related to Cain, and she wasn’t sure if he was favorable towards her.

Unlike Norbert, with whom she had a past connection.

“By the way, my lady, do you think Lady Burnett might have embezzled the duchy’s assets?”

That was correct.

Lady Burnett’s luxurious possessions unfit for a baroness’s circumstances, her insistence on staying at the duchy despite all odds, her desperate attempts to deny Joseph’s recognition.

‘It didn’t seem like she was just looking out for the Hastings family.’

So when she looked into it, she found indications of large sums of money flowing to Lady Burnett multiple times without clear justification for the expenses.

“If you think it’s a problem, make it public. If it’s difficult for you, shall I speak to the Duke?”

Norbert didn’t like Lady Burnett either. She had been interfering with the household of Somnium House with unreasonable meddling and nitpicking, solely because she was Cain’s aunt.

A maid had even quit because of her. She was a girl Norbert and Mary were particularly fond of.

“No.”

Surprised by Jane’s refusal, Norbert tilted his head. Jane lowered her eyes.

“She’s Cain’s aunt. His only blood relative.”

“What does that matter? If she harmed the duchy, she should be punished.”

In a normal situation, that would be correct. But from Cain’s perspective, how would he feel learning that his only remaining family had been deceiving him?

‘It would hurt him deeply.’

Cain trusted Lady Burnett enough to leave the funeral arrangements for the previous Duke and Duchess to her.

Moreover, there was a possibility that the circumstances Jane discovered might have been done with his tacit approval.

‘If Cain knew and chose to cover it up, me bringing it up would just be opening old wounds.’

Having organized her thoughts, Jane looked up.

“For now, could you pretend you don’t know about this? I’ll handle Lady Burnett myself.”

Seeing that she had already made her decision, Norbert didn’t add any more opinions.

“Understood. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

Seeing that Norbert had some time to spare, Jane shared a few more items.

“For that matter, you don’t need to meet with the Duke. He’s delegated all authority regarding young Joseph to you, my lady.”

“Is that so?”

Is it because he trusts her, or because he’s not interested in Joseph?

If it’s the former, that would be good, but if it’s the latter, she didn’t like it.

Every time it came to matters related to Cain, Jane felt mixed emotions. It confused her each time. It was even difficult to choose how she should act.

If it were just about herself, she could let it slide, but she couldn’t allow herself to waver when it came to Joseph.

‘I can’t compromise when it comes to the child.’

Jane bit the inside of her cheek.

Deciding to focus only on Joseph, Jane wrote a brief note and handed it to Norbert.

“Let them know I’ll be inviting these people. And could you look into recommending a good riding instructor? I plan to go see some horses with Joseph this afternoon. Please prepare for that as well.”

“Certainly, my lady.”

As Norbert left with the note, Jane also rose from her seat.

The conversation had gone longer than expected, and it was already time to read picture books with Joseph.

After checking on the progress of the interior work in Joseph’s room, Jane headed to the fourth floor room where Joseph was temporarily staying.

Knock knock.

The door swung open as soon as she knocked. Joseph was standing right behind it with a bright face.

“Were you on your way out, Joseph?”

Jane asked, seeing the door open as if he had been waiting.

“No! I was waiting for you, Mother!”

Joseph had been calling Jane ‘Mother’ since the very day after the wedding.

The time she had spent worrying that Joseph might feel uncomfortable with her seemed meaningless, given how well the child had adapted to the new title and relationship.

“I see. I should have come earlier.”

Joseph burrowed into Jane’s open arms like a puppy.

Joseph was a child full of love. He often expressed more love than he received.

But only a select few could see Joseph’s radiant smile.

He still stiffened and became awkward in front of strangers.

This was one of the things Cain disliked. He was someone who believed that the son of Hastings should be confident and proud wherever he went.

‘As if that’s easy.’

To be confident everywhere, one needs trust in people.

The belief that people will like you. The assurance that it’s okay even if you make mistakes.

Confidence without that is mere acting.

Jane didn’t want to raise Joseph to be an actor.

So Jane’s task was simple. To pour out as much love as possible so that Joseph could love himself.

It wasn’t something with visible results like math or language.

The method Jane chose was slow, and the outcome couldn’t be guaranteed.

“Mother. Pl-please read this one today!”

But Jane wasn’t going to give up. Because Joseph was following along well with his own will.

“Alright, come here.”

Jane smiled brightly.

Jane sat Joseph on her lap with the book and read the picture book to him.

When animals appeared, she drew pictures of them or imitated their sounds, and when grand buildings came up, she tried to build similar structures with wooden blocks.

Deeply engrossed in reading the picture book, quite some time passed.

Norbert came to inform that preparations for going out were complete. It was time to go see the horses.

Jane closed the picture book and put it away neatly.

“Joseph, shall we go see some horses?”

“H-horses? Ri-riding horses?”

“Yes. Riding horses. Remember we just saw them in the picture book? The strong horses that carry people and run.”

“Yes! H-horses!”

Joseph grabbed the picture book and quickly flipped through it to find the page with horses.

“Are we g-going to the zoo?”

Joseph’s eyes sparkled with expectation. They were like stars.

“I’m sorry, Joseph. It’s not the zoo.”

The kingdom’s only zoo was attached to the Queen’s grounds next to the royal palace.

And that place was open only to a select few.

It had a completely different purpose from the foreign zoos they had heard about.

The Queen’s zoo was a huge enclosure that housed rare animals brought as gifts by foreign envoys.

“How c-can we go to the zoo?”

Joseph asked as he changed clothes with the help of Reti and Nas.

“When Joseph grows up to be a great adult and achieves merit, or becomes a member of parliament like your father, then you can go. By invitation from His Majesty.”

“But th-then you can’t go, Mother.”

Joseph’s face fell.

He wanted to go to the zoo with Jane. Since Jane had also found the animals in the picture book fascinating, he wanted to see them together.

He didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Joseph had learned that sharing good things and delicious foods was what happiness was about.

“You want to go with me?”

Jane could go as a partner, but she chuckled. Even if she told him that fact, she wouldn’t be by Joseph’s side by then.

Joseph nodded his head vigorously.

“There is a way. When Joseph is old enough to travel abroad, we can go to a foreign country.”

“I’ll gr-grow up quickly! So let’s go together!”

Joseph held out his pinky finger, asking for a promise.