Cain, who placed the teacup on the table, tilted his head.

“Me?”

Cain burst into laughter. He crossed his legs and leaned back against the chair.

His gaze deepened.

In the silence that suddenly fell, Cain thought of Jane.

It would be a lie to say his feelings for her were the same as when they first reunited.

Jane who lived lonely in a collapsing hut, Jane who couldn’t throw away the gift he gave her, Jane who was devoted to Joseph and Hastings, Jane who came to the police station to testify which could have been fatal for her – he couldn’t simply hate her.

However, he wasn’t sure where or how his feelings were flowing. That’s why he couldn’t carelessly speak them aloud.

“How do you think my feelings have changed?”

Cain fired back with a question instead of answering.

“Your Excellency…”

“Nothing has changed. That woman is the enemy of my parents. She’s the child of the one who almost ruined Hastings.”

Cain’s answer strangely sidestepped Vincent’s question.

“Then why don’t you put the Duchess at the forefront?”

“It just sucks. The situation flowing as they want. And Jane…”

Cain pushed his tongue hard against the inside of his cheek.

A scene from the explosion site replayed in his mind.

Jane running around frantically with her red hair flying – he couldn’t throw her to the Rose Faction as prey.

She was still the Duchess, after all.

Just as Cain was about to open his mouth to make a decision, it happened.

There was a presence outside. Cain’s eyes flashed coldly. He jumped up and opened the door.

“Sorry! Was I interrupting a meeting?”

Lloyd was in the hallway. He awkwardly waved his hand.

Cain quickly scanned the corridor. As there was nothing particularly suspicious, he engaged in conversation with Lloyd for now.

“You haven’t gone home yet?”

“I just finished my research. I’m on my way home now. I saw light coming from your room, so I thought I’d say hello. By the way, you’re like a ghost. How did you know I was here without me knocking?”

Lloyd smiled broadly. There didn’t seem to be any other meaning behind his gentle smile.

“How were the research results? Satisfactory?”

“I’ll submit a proper report tomorrow. Anyway, you look busy. I’ll be heading home now, so please continue.”

Lloyd glanced inside the room and nodded to Vincent and Nathan as well.

Vincent and Nathan stood up awkwardly and met Lloyd’s eyes.

Lloyd turned to leave, waving as if he really had no other business.

At that moment, Cain grabbed Lloyd.

“Huh? Why? What’s wrong?”

“That’s the direction of the lab.”

Cain sighed. Lloyd, who was nearly a genius in science and technology, was careless in the most trivial matters.

“Oh, right? I should go the other way to leave… But I have one last thing to check.”

Lloyd pulled up the corners of his mouth. Cain stared at that awkward smile for a moment before closing the door.

* * *

As soon as Lloyd returned to the lab, he locked the door.

“I wasn’t caught.”

He spoke to someone. Then, a woman sitting on the sofa turned her head. The woman wore a smile that looked like it might crumble at any moment.

“Would you like some warm tea, Jane?”

The one sitting on the sofa, the only expensive item in the lab, was Jane.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you don’t look fine. I’m not the type to force things on others, but I think you should have some tea now.”

Lloyd spoke rapidly and went to brew tea from one side of the lab.

‘He’s a good person.’

Both at the last debutante and this time, he couldn’t ignore Jane’s difficulties and helped her.

“Drink. It will help you calm down.”

Jane held the warm cup with both hands and quietly watched the rising steam.

“You won’t answer if I ask what happened, will you?”

Lloyd asked after a long silence.

“Were you very surprised?”

Jane avoided answering with a question.

“Honestly, I can’t say I wasn’t.”

Lloyd recalled encountering Jane in the hallway just now.

As he had told Cain, Lloyd was about to leave work late.

Lloyd’s steps were very light as he was in a good mood, having come up with an idea to further develop his research.

He was humming a tune as he opened the door, and he startled.

A woman was standing in the hallway with an expression that looked not just miserable, but devastated.

At first, he thought he was seeing things. Because at this late hour, he couldn’t think of anyone who would be staring blankly at Cain’s office.

But even after rubbing his eyes, the woman didn’t disappear. He could even smell something delicious.

Since hallucinations that stimulate the senses can’t exist, Lloyd carefully approached the woman.

And the moment he met the woman’s eyes, Lloyd’s heart tightened.

Jane, with a pale face, grabbed Lloyd’s collar tightly.

When her thin voice broke with desperation, Lloyd instinctively gripped her hand tightly.

His hushed voice was drowned out by Cain’s voice coming from inside the office.

It wasn’t on impulse that Lloyd hid Jane in his office after easily deducing that the woman Cain spoke of was Jane.

He wanted to perfectly protect her from Cain who was hurting Jane. It was a feeling he had at Jane’s debutante as well.

“I’m sorry for troubling you. Thank you for helping me.”

Jane put down the teacup after barely taking two sips.

I wish she would drink more, she must be very hurt.

Lloyd’s face was gloomy as he examined her.

“It was a great help. I’ll be going now. And if it’s not rude, may I give you this?”

Jane pushed the basket on the table towards Lloyd. It was the source of the savory smell he had caught in the hallway.

Lloyd realized it was a snack Jane had prepared for Cain who was working overtime.

“This belongs to someone else.”

Jane lowered her eyes. Where is she looking, I wish she would look at me. Lloyd was getting impatient.

“Jane…”

“It seems unwanted. It’s right for someone who needs it to have it.”

Perhaps because Lloyd had Jane in his heart, her words sounded meaningful.

“Just the snacks?”

Lloyd couldn’t help but ask. Jane stroked the basket like a doll.

“Anything.”

“I’ll gladly accept.”

Lloyd pulled the basket a little more towards himself. In the process, he deliberately brushed Jane’s fingertips.

Jane looked up at him blankly.

“I need it.”

Lloyd smiled with his eyes. Jane’s mood became strange. Lloyd was such a kind person.

But that kindness wasn’t meant for her.

But maybe it would never be hers for life?

When the method changes, the result changes too. So maybe she might have a chance.

Just as Lloyd was about to fall into contemplation, Jane spoke.

“I’ll be going now.”

Unlike when she came, Jane grabbed the doorknob with light hands. Lloyd stood behind her.

“Let me know if you need a place to hide again. I was exceptionally good at hiding treasures since I was young.”

Jane’s eyes widened. She blinked as if flustered.

“I’m good at hiding things, people, and hearts.”

Jane noticed Lloyd’s feelings. He said he was good at hiding, but he didn’t hide anything at all.

While she was thinking this, Lloyd pushed the door.

“I can see you off well too, but I guess that’s not possible anymore?”

Lloyd waved his hand, speaking in an uncertain voice.

Jane looked back and forth between the bright lab where Lloyd was standing and the dark corridor before turning around.

She crossed the dark hallway and returned to Somnium House.

* * *

The next evening, Cain visited Jane’s bedroom.

Troubled by what she had heard in Cain’s office yesterday, Jane couldn’t sleep for the second night and was doing embroidery.

“You’ll ruin your eyes.”

Cain snatched the small embroidery frame from Jane’s hands. Lost in thought while embroidering, she hadn’t even noticed his presence.

Jane looked up at Cain, startled.

“Why are you so surprised? Are you hiding something from me?”

Jane swallowed the words she wanted to ask – isn’t it you who’s hiding something?

“What have you been up to?”

Cain put down the embroidery frame and took off his jacket. He acted as comfortably as if Jane’s room was his own.

“Just spending time with Joseph. Studying with Joseph, and looking for a tutor.”

“Is Joseph keeping up well?”

“Yes. He’s good at math and drawing too. He started learning a foreign language recently and he’s progressing incredibly fast. I guess he takes after you with his intelligence.”

“Takes after me…”

Cain raised one corner of his mouth and shook his head.

It wasn’t a good reaction, but Jane missed it, distracted by the rumors the Rose Faction was spreading.

“What I’m curious about isn’t his progress, but whether he’s behaving well. Is he not causing trouble?”

“Joseph would never do that. He’s truly a lovely child.”

Jane smiled, recalling the wildflower ring Joseph had given her earlier today.

“That’s good.”

With those words, the conversation between the couple ended.

Jane awkwardly fiddled with the hem of her shawl, feeling uncomfortable, but Cain seemed unbothered as he leaned back on the sofa, just wiggling his feet.

“Do you have something to say?”

It was very awkward being with him. Even more so because she had clearly heard what feelings he held for her.

To Cain, Jane was nothing but the daughter of an enemy, the bloodline of someone who ruined his family.

At best, she might be considered a tutor who would raise his child without shame.

Jane was merely a tool.

Although Cain had done many things for Jane considering that, Jane, overwhelmed by the cutting words she heard yesterday, couldn’t rationally look back on the situation.

“Not really.”

Cain lifted his head and looked around the room. He seemed to be searching for something.

“Do you need anything?”

She kept talking to him, hoping he would leave quickly.

“I don’t need anything. But I don’t see it.”

“What?”

“Your memento. Did you give that to Joseph too?”

The end of Cain’s words rose strangely high.

“That doll…”

Jane trailed off.

Princess Secret, the doll symbolizing Jane’s happy childhood, had been sitting on the bedside table ever since returning from Delphion.

However, this morning, Jane had put it away where it couldn’t be seen.

Every time she saw that doll, she misunderstood Cain’s feelings.

The illusion that he might have opened his heart to her a little hurt Jane even more.

“Tell me. Did you give it to Joseph?”

“I didn’t give it to Joseph. And whether I give it to Joseph or not, what does it matter to you? Once you’ve given something to me, it’s over, isn’t it?”

Jane snapped. Her voice rising over such a trivial matter must be because of what she heard last night.

Feeling upset with Cain, and angry at herself for feeling upset.