Jane already knew that Cain had a child.

Six months ago, she overheard women talking in a cafe.

“Did you hear that Duke Hastings has a son?”

“Yes, I did. And he’s already 6 years old, I hear.”

“So is he getting married soon?”

“No. They say the mother is dead. She was supposedly the daughter of an incredibly wealthy foreigner, or maybe royalty…”

Rumors about the Hastings heir spread wildly.

The suddenly appearing Hastings heir was sometimes a child of royalty, sometimes a child of a brothel, and once even became the son of a woman who had saved Cain’s life.

After breaking up with Cain, it was the first time Jane deliberately plugged her ears to avoid hearing news about him.

So Jane didn’t know much about that child.

“Joseph Hastings. He’s 6 years old. I hear you’ve been working as a tutor? They say you teach quite well.”

“Ah… so you need a tutor.”

Jane understood the background of Cain’s proposal.

At 6 years old, it was about time to look for a tutor. While nannies sometimes took on that role, wealthy noble families often hired both a nanny and a tutor from an early age.

The Hastings family, needless to say.

“The child needs stability, I’m told. He’s not an easy child.”

“What’s he like?”

She should refuse immediately, but questions kept popping out.

She wanted to talk with him a little longer.

To have a normal conversation without resentment or scratching at each other seemed like a dream to Jane.

Of course, the topic of conversation was still a knife slicing her to pieces.

“He got kicked out of the Academy.”

“You sent a 6-year-old child to the Academy?”

Cain furrowed his brow.

He looked at Jane for a moment. More accurately, he glared at her.

Jane wanted to avoid his gaze, but now as before, his eyes had the power to ensnare people.

Cain’s gaze wandered over Jane’s disheveled hair, thick eyebrows, tear-laden eyelashes, and prominent nose bridge.

Then it stopped at her lips. Was it Jane’s imagination that his gaze lingered quite long on her lips, where the lipstick had smeared?

“A Hastings child can’t be an ordinary child. Even if he’s only 6 years old.”

“I know that, but… people usually go to the Academy at 8 years old.”

“I don’t think early education is bad. That’s how people like you can make a living, isn’t it?”

Jane’s brow furrowed slightly.

“He’s not an easy child. Tame him properly. If you raise him to be worthy of the Hastings name, I’ll give you appropriate compensation.”

“Compensation…”

Jane trailed off.

“I heard you have debts.”

Cain looked around the house. A faint contempt settled in his eyes. Jane wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

“I’ll pay them off.”

“No. This is my debt. You don’t have to pay it off, Your Grace.”

“I can’t have a debtor in the Hastings family.”

Cain shook his head with a scornful laugh.

“I could refuse, you know.”

“Ah.”

His tone, exclaiming as if he’d had some great realization, was extremely exaggerated.

That short exclamation contained blatant sarcasm, asking if she knew her place.

“The position of lady of the Hastings house is too much for me.”

“Were you trying to be the lady of the house? You’ve become greedy in the time we haven’t seen each other. I suppose poverty makes people forget their place? You dare to mention the position of Hastings lady?”

Anger tinged Cain’s voice. His expression twisted slightly.

“Know your place, Jane. What I’m proposing is to be Joseph’s mother.”

Cain stated flatly.

“I…”

“I’ll come back in the afternoon. You’d better think carefully before answering.”

Cain turned around. He glared at the door with its fallen hinge, then closed his eyes tightly.

He could just leave like this, but it was as if his feet were glued to the floor, unable to move.

He sighed and suddenly turned back towards Jane. He grabbed her hand with an irritable gesture.

“Are you trying to make a show of this?”

It was her hand with glass embedded in it, bleeding.

“This… leave it. I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Do you want pity?”

“Cain… that’s not it…”

Jane was at a loss. Her blood was staining Cain’s hand and the pure white sleeve of his shirt.

Jane twisted her wrist, trying to pull her hand away, but Cain not only didn’t let go, he pulled her arm even closer.

And then he mercilessly pulled out the shard of glass embedded in Jane’s palm.

“Ah!”

As the glass that had been blocking the wound was removed, the blood droplets grew thicker.

Cain took out a handkerchief and covered her wound, pressing down hard.

Jane couldn’t tell if he was trying to stop the bleeding or crush her hand.

It just hurt. The wound, her heart.

“Does it hurt, Jane?”

It sounded like a kind voice at first. Jane looked up. But there wasn’t a hint of warmth in the gaze looking back at her.

“I asked if the wound hurts.”

“Ah, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Good. Visible wounds aren’t really wounds. They can be treated, Jane. Real wounds are the ones you can’t see.”

Cain let go of Jane’s hand as if throwing it away. His handkerchief fell to the floor. Jane’s gaze fell with it.

The blood that had stopped started flowing again.

“I’ll come back in the afternoon.”

Jane didn’t see Cain leave. The place where his hand had touched tingled. It wasn’t pain, but a sensation, the sensation of a ghost coming back to life.

Jane still loves him.

* * *

Jane bandaged her hand and moved busily.

She didn’t know what state of mind she’d been in last night. She was half out of her mind.

‘Cain came at dawn, but I thought it was night.’

There was quite a long time between when the debt collectors left and when Cain arrived.

‘I should have cleaned up the house during that time.’

How surprised must Cain have been when he saw it.

He was a person who always kept his surroundings neatly organized.

Jane stood up fallen objects, gathered broken things together.

She wiped the blood stains left on the floor with a slightly damp cloth.

Thanks to Jane’s busy movements, by the time the sun was high in the sky, the house was roughly in order.

The window covered with newspaper instead of the broken glass looked quite awkward, and the door that couldn’t close properly due to the torn hinge was bothersome, but it was fine for staying a few days.

Even though her body felt as heavy as lead, Jane searched for work to do. If even a moment’s gap appeared, Cain’s proposal would swirl in her mind.

Jane wanted to accept his proposal.

But.

“I’m really shameless. What right do I have… so brazen…”

Jane was a sinner to Cain. Not only had she abandoned Cain, she had prevented him from being at his parents’ deathbed.

While Cain was abroad after breaking up with Jane, the Duke and Duchess of Hastings suddenly passed away.

The Hastings family didn’t officially reveal the cause of death.

Because of that, various speculations ran rampant. The most likely theory was that they had suffered greatly due to business dealings with the Whitney family and lost their health as a result.

There were also rumors that someone had harmed them, but Jane forgot about those words as soon as she heard them.

The late Duke and Duchess of Hastings were not the type of people to make enemies.

In any case, Jane wasn’t free from guilt regarding the death of the late Duke and Duchess of Hastings.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Jane’s fault, but since she was the one who made Cain leave the Kingdom of Emblen, she couldn’t say she was completely unrelated.

It was true that the Hastings family had suffered because of their connection to the Whitney family.

When Jane left the capital, the servants of the Hastings family had swarmed around her and said harsh words because of that.

“Don’t ever show your face around the Hastings family again! Do you know how much our masters are suffering because of Whitney? Get lost quickly!”

“There’s no need to use honorifics. It’s just an empty title anyway. A title given to a wench who can’t even pass it on. To think I bowed to a woman like that, how shameful.”

“Don’t even think about appearing before the young master of Hastings! Ptooey.”

Do those people know?

About Cain coming to find her at dawn and making a proposal.

She hadn’t even dared to think about seeking out Cain.

Jane deliberately clicked her tongue loudly and picked up a broom. Her left hand unconsciously reached out, causing a fiery pain.

Indeed, God is not on Jane’s side.

“Of all things, why did it have to be the left hand that got injured?”

Jane’s eyes grew moist.

Jane was left-handed. Thanks to thorough education, she could do most things with her right hand, but everything was easier and better done with her left hand.

Why was injuring that left hand so upsetting, tears welled up even though she hadn’t cried when Cain said harsh things to her.

However, Jane wasn’t even allowed the luxury of shedding tears.

The door she had barely managed to prop up fell with a thud.

She was so startled that her tears dried up instantly.

“Looks good. You’ve cleaned up so nicely. Our Jane is so diligent, isn’t she?”

Victor and Hamlin had come.

Victor, who had been picking his teeth with a thin twig, let out a low whistle.

“Now let’s see that diligence in bed. In an old man’s bed, that is.”

Jane turned her head sharply at the blatant hip gesture.

“I thought I refused your proposal yesterday.”

“We know that.”

Hamlin pushed out his lips, imitating Jane. Then he scowled fiercely and warned,

“Don’t think about slitting your wrists again. Unless you want to be tied up. We’ll gag you too. Or is that your preference? Were we too polite?”

Jane’s plan to bite her tongue in the worst case scenario was foiled.

Victor sneered.

“I thought wrong. Proposing to a bitch who looks at other people’s money so easily. It’s too much for you. So we decided to change our method.”

Before she could understand what he meant, Victor grabbed Jane’s wrist.

“Let go of this!”

“Let’s go. We’ll send you nicely packaged to the old man.”

“I said let go!”

They were finally going to sell Jane. Jane struggled not to be dragged along. The floor she had just cleaned got dirty again.

“Keep making a fuss. The old man will understand if you get hit a few times, okay?”

Jane was dragged like a dog. They didn’t care that she fell and scraped along the floor.

Victor, who had dragged Jane out of the house, let go of her as if throwing her away. Jane, who had fallen, almost buried her face in the dirt.

“You know it’s useless to resist, right? Let’s walk nicely.”

Victor’s voice was clearly audible. It would be better if she could just lose consciousness. Why does the mind become clearer at times like this?

Jane struck away Victor’s outstretched hand forcefully.

“Don’t touch me. My legs are fine.”

It seemed she should pretend to go along obediently while looking for a chance to escape. She decided to think about what to do after that later.

Jane was very focused on gauging the timing to escape. Because of that, she didn’t notice someone approaching.

“Wasn’t I your previous appointment?”

“Cain?”

Cain, the person Jane least wanted to meet at this moment, appeared. Jane gritted her teeth in shame.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.