“What did you say?”

Jane tilted her head in confusion.

“You know. You’re working hard to fulfill the contract until you lose weight, but I wasn’t sincere.”

“What are you talking about? That you weren’t sincere?”

It was an incomprehensible statement.

Cain was diligently performing his duties as a duke. The obligations arising from their contract were much more on Jane’s side than his.

As for the obligations he had to keep…

Jane’s face flushed red as she recalled what they were.

“Looks like you remember. That obligation doesn’t necessarily have to be fulfilled at night.”

Cain reached out his hand towards Jane.

“Let’s do it sincerely.”

The carriage shook violently.

* * *

They arrived at the lodging late at night. The reason for the delay was Cain.

Because he suddenly pounced on Jane, saying he would fulfill his duties as a husband…

The hoteliers, who had been notified in advance, lined up in the lobby to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Hastings. It was an excessive welcome.

“Welcome, Duke and Duchess of Hastings!”

The loud greeting was almost deafening.

“You must be tired from your journey. I’ll escort you from here. I’m Sham, the general manager of William Hotel.”

The middle-aged man, Sham, led the way with a key in hand.

“Your room for tonight is on the 5th floor of William Hotel, the Emerald Room. It’s the pride of our hotel. You can look forward to it.”

Sham confidently opened the door upon reaching it. Jane inwardly marveled as she surveyed the brightly lit room interior, despite it being nighttime.

‘It’s worth boasting about.’

The luxurious furniture in the spacious living room, the masterpieces and sculptures hanging on the walls, and the Oriental-style carpet on the floor – nothing was neglected.

“If you need anything, please ring the bell anytime. The Emerald Room’s bell is directly connected to the front desk on the first floor.”

“Good work. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Cain dismissed Sham. Only Jane and Cain remained in the large room. Naturally, silence fell.

While Jane was pondering what to say, Cain beat her to it.

“Take a shower.”

“You go first. I’ll shower later.”

Jane waved her hands dismissively. The thought of facing Cain after showering made her body twist.

‘I might die of awkwardness.’

Although Jane had spent nights with Cain quite a few times, they always went straight to bed, leaving no room for awkwardness or conversation.

But today would be different. For the first time, the two would share their lives as a married couple.

Jane paced around the room, wiping her damp nape.

Suddenly, she recalled what Sham had said.

It would be better to take a walk outside than to wait anxiously for Cain.

Jane grabbed her coat and went outside.

* * *

Jane strolled through the garden, enjoying the refreshing night breeze. As Sham had said, the garden at night was quite splendid.

Her pounding heart had calmed down, and now she felt she wouldn’t be too flustered even if she encountered Cain.

Jane appreciated the sound of insects and the light spreading around the gas lamps.

As it was a famous hotel, there were quite a few people taking walks.

Not wanting to disturb those engaged in pleasant conversations, whether they were couples or families, Jane moved to a dimmer area to avoid them.

Although it was dark, it was still the hotel garden, and staff members passed by occasionally, which was reassuring.

Jane fully enjoyed the tranquility of the night. As she did so, her tension eased bit by bit, and her worries disappeared.

Jane, who had been counting how long she should stay out before returning to the room, chuckled.

It’s not like Cain would be waiting for her, why was she worrying about such trivial things?

She let go of even the tiniest bit of tension.

Just then, there was a soft rustle of fabric. It was different from the sound of someone taking a walk, so she hesitated.

She stopped and perked up her ears.

Only the sound of insects could be heard.

‘Did I hear wrong?’

Jane took a deep breath and naturally started moving her feet again. It was just as she was thinking she should head back to the room.

“Ugh.”

Someone pushed Jane’s shoulder hard. Or rather, should we say their shoulders collided?

It happened so quickly that Jane couldn’t accurately perceive the situation.

Jane’s body tilted greatly. She hastily reached out her hand and grabbed a tree.

Having barely managed to support her body without falling, Jane called out to the man who had bumped into her and left.

“If you bump into someone, you should apologize.”

But Jane immediately regretted it.

I should have just let him go.

The man’s attire and atmosphere were unsettling.

The man wearing a dark navy hat turned to look at Jane while pulling down the brim of his hat. The shabby appearance revealed through the fluttering of his faded coat of the same color was unkempt.

Jane unconsciously took half a step back.

The man was not a hotel guest. Nor did he seem to be an employee.

His shabby clothes and the attitude of not apologizing after bumping into someone proved that.

Then why was the man here?

The possibility of crime suddenly occurred to her. Jane’s muscles began to stiffen.

‘I shouldn’t be conscious of it.’

Jane rubbed her forearm.

The man silently watched Jane do this, then turned away. And soon he disappeared from Jane’s sight.

Jane, whose legs suddenly gave out, sat down with a thud.

Belatedly, her bumped shoulder started to ache. Jane rubbed her shoulder as she got up.

Then she noticed a paper that had fallen on the ground.

‘Did that man drop it?’

Jane picked up the paper. She was about to take it to the front desk and report that there was a suspicious person.

However, Jane didn’t visit the front desk that night. Or rather, she couldn’t.

The man hadn’t dropped the paper, but left it behind. It was certain. Because the recipient of the note was Jane.

Miss Jane Whitney

Tomorrow at 5 PM, we will initiate action at the Denverlin New Station construction site.

From Rose

Jane’s hands trembled. Rose was a term referring to the Rose Faction.

Why would they send a note to her? And what did they mean by initiating action?

Jane’s face turned pale.

* * *

“Is the food not to your liking?”

Cain stared at Jane, who was just poking at her plate with her fork.

“No, it’s not that.”

Jane answered without even raising her head.

“If you’re tired, you can rest at the hotel today.”

“Pardon?”

Jane’s condition wasn’t good. She wasn’t listening properly to people’s words, and she flinched every time someone touched her.

Because of this, Cain’s mood was absolutely terrible. It felt like she was treating him like a criminal.

“I said you can rest at the hotel. Your expression is just like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse. You came here to rest anyway, so you don’t need to feel pressured to come along.”

“No, I want to go too. We’re going to that new station construction site… right?”

“Yes. Looks like you listened to that explanation properly.”

Jane gave a faint smile.

Cain pretended to drink water while closely observing Jane.

She’s really strange.

Oddly enough, Jane seemed intimidated. Or was she hiding something?

Either way, it was clear that this wasn’t the usual Jane who would rebut with an expressionless face no matter how much he prodded her.

Her face was pale too. Had she completely exhausted herself from just a day of carriage travel?

But that didn’t seem right, as her complexion had been very good when they arrived at the hotel yesterday.

Cain reflected on yesterday’s schedule to figure out when Jane’s condition had started to deteriorate.

He needed to know the reason to be able to treat it.

How much would Norbert and Mary nag if they returned home with deteriorated health from a place they went for recuperation?

The thought alone was dreadful.

‘It was after she came back from the walk.’

Recalling last night, he started to get angry.

When he came out of the bathroom and saw the empty room, Cain thought Jane had run away.

Although he knew all her luggage was still there and she had no reason to leave, at that moment he somehow had that thought.

Cain instantly made plans on which routes he should block to catch her if she had run away.

And just as he was about to call Nathan to carry out the plan, Jane appeared.

In a half-dazed state.

With her unfocused eyes lacking vitality, Cain couldn’t even scold her for going out without saying anything.

He personally escorted the dazed Jane to the bathroom, and after she finished washing, he put her to bed. After that, they each tried to sleep.

Of course, Cain had to spend most of the night wide awake due to Jane’s suspicious behavior.

“About yesterday’s walk.”

“Nothing happened.”

Jane shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly and answered before he even asked anything.

“Who said anything? I was just going to ask if it was good for walking.”

“Ah… yes. It wasn’t bad.”

Something must have happened during the walk. And Jane wants to hide that incident.

Cain never thought he would regret giving Sor a vacation starting from just the second day of the trip.

He had given Sor a brief respite, intending to keep Jane within his own radius, but immediately there was a gap in Jane’s whereabouts.

“Then let’s take an evening walk together today.”

Cain was about to quietly call Nathan and instruct him to find out what happened during yesterday’s walk.

“Cain, will there be security officers at the new station construction site?”

It was in the middle of a quiet meal. Jane threw out an unexpected question. Cain put down his utensils.

“Why are you looking for security officers? Afraid of getting pickpocketed?”

“No, it’s not that… You said there’s a main road around the new station site, right? There will probably be a lot of people passing by, and some might come to see you, so I was wondering if it might get noisy around there.”

“I’m not some famous opera singer, why would people come to see me? Stop talking nonsense and finish your food if you’re planning to come along.”

Cain made a threat that wasn’t quite a threat, implying he wouldn’t take her if she didn’t finish eating.

* * *

On the way to the new station, Jane kept scratching her thumb nail with her index nail.

“Can’t you stop that?”

Cain, unable to bear it any longer, spoke up.

“What? What am I doing?”

Jane opened her eyes wide. She seemed completely unaware that she had been shaking her leg, biting her lip, and scratching her nails.

“What on earth is the problem?”

Cain sighed and asked irritably.