Cain looked at Jane’s left hand.
“What are you doing? Not applying the medicine.”
Jane couldn’t believe that Cain had personally brought medicine to apply to her hand.
She revised her earlier thought that Cain had changed from 7 years ago.
He was still kind. He was a good person.
His words about “cheap charity” were a lie.
“What are you doing? Unwrap the bandage.”
“I’ll apply it myself.”
Ignoring her words, Cain opened the medicine bottle. With no choice, Jane unwrapped the bandage. He pulled her hand towards him. Soon, Cain’s fingers touched her wound as he applied the medicine.
“From now on, don’t let yourself be disrespected by insignificant people. It tarnishes the Hastings name.”
By “insignificant people,” he meant those like Victor and Hamlin.
“Answer me.”
Though Cain urged her to respond, Jane ultimately couldn’t bring herself to answer aloud.
Despite his brusque tone and harsh words, his unexpectedly gentle touch made Jane’s nose sting with emotion.
A small hope sprouted in Jane’s heart. Perhaps Cain wanted to get along with her too.
She wasn’t hoping for love. Just being friends would have been enough.
Jane would soon realize that this was a misunderstanding.
* * *
“Pack your bags.”
The day after Jane accepted Cain’s marriage proposal, he came to see her.
Cain spoke while blocking the doorway, not entering Jane’s house.
“Pack my bags?”
Jane put down her quill pen on the table where she had been preparing lesson materials for Wolfgang.
Belatedly realizing she hadn’t even greeted Cain, she bowed.
“May the Goddess’s glory be with you.”
Instead of returning the greeting, Cain just nodded slightly. It was an extremely rude gesture, but coming from him, it didn’t seem like a problem.
“What are you doing? I told you to pack. Don’t you have anything to take? It seems that way.”
A slight crack appeared on Jane’s face, but Cain continued his scathing assessment without concern.
“Everything you own looks worthless. Throw it all away and buy new things.”
“Cain, please explain first. Why do I need to pack my bags?”
Cain leaned crookedly against the doorframe. His neat attire with buttons fastened to the neck contrasted with his unkempt posture, strangely drawing attention.
He really has grown up splendidly.
The credibility of the rumors that all women in Emblun desired him increased. It wasn’t just women who wanted him. Men also wished to be close to him.
But the nature of the emotions desiring him differed. Men wanted him out of greed for success, women out of love.
However, no one dared to openly discuss greed or love in front of him.
Cain held power and wealth comparable to the queen. He was the youngest noble council chairman in the Kingdom of Emblun, a war hero, and a man who controlled trade and banking.
This man, who could only be looked up to, for whom arrogance was perfectly fitting, was in a place Jane found overwhelming to even look at.
“Your gaze is quite unpleasant.”
I must have stared too openly. Jane quickly lowered her eyes. Cain’s lower eyelid twitched.
He found it unpleasant both when she stared openly and when she averted her gaze to look elsewhere.
It had been a while since he felt his composure shaken, and the fact that Jane was consistently the cause of it made his mood plummet.
Cain knew the reason. It was because of the remnants.
The remnants of emotion left for Jane. It was not something that could be represented by sweet words like affection or love.
It was mixed with a desire for revenge, or anger, or rage for how she had trampled on him and harmed his family.
Not that Cain wanted revenge on Jane. He was a gentleman, after all.
Having thought this far, Cain cut off the branches of thought trying to extend further.
Continuing that line of thought would only lead to the conclusion that Jane was the sole wrong answer in his life, an unsolved problem.
Since that would only make his mood fouler, it was better to stop here.
“About yesterday’s proposal. Think about it again.”
Cain’s left eyebrow raised crookedly.
“There’s nothing for you to gain, is there?”
Cain’s eyes narrowed. The pupils visible through the slit gleamed with a chilling intensity.
He gauged Jane for quite a while, then clicked his tongue as if finding her pathetic.
“Did you think you had a choice just because it was my proposal?”
From the beginning, Cain had no intention of asking for Jane’s permission.
He always accomplished what he set his mind to. Once he decided, they would definitely get married. Even if it ended in divorce the next day.
The reason he didn’t have Jane sign a contract on the first day he visited was because there was no desk to place the contract on.
“Don’t have useless thoughts. Your opinion was never a consideration from the start.”
“Cain…”
Cain shook his head as if utterly disgusted.
“I’m dumbfounded. Do you still think you can harm me? Do you believe I have feelings left for you?”
“No.”
Jane answered swiftly. Her tone was as if chopping vegetables.
“I believe there are no feelings between us.”
Cain laughed dryly. It was unclear who was saying whose lines, and he found it absurd.
“That’s true.”
“And I believe there won’t be any in the future either.”
“That’s what I want to request. Then what’s the problem? Your debt is gone, and all you have to do is make my child look presentable.”
Yes, what is the problem?
Her mind insisted that doing as Cain said was right. But she hesitated to readily take his hand.
Jane chewed on her lower lip.
“There’s no escape route on my train. If you want to get off, you’ll have to jump from a moving train. I don’t need to tell you the result. Surely you’re not looking for a place to die?”
“No, it’s not that.”
Cain silently observed Jane.
It really irritated him. Things like Jane’s fidgeting fingers.
If he kept looking, he felt he might end up grasping those fingers.
“It’s quite a talent to make me repeat the same thing four times. Pack your bags.”
Cain turned around. The sound of a carriage door opening and closing followed.
Jane let out a low sigh.
She understood his annoyance. After accepting his proposal, she tried to reverse it just a day later.
It was too shameless, especially after receiving money.
Since she had already agreed, she decided not to worry anymore. Jane slapped both her cheeks with her hands. She moved to pack her bags.
First, she took out the luggage bag she had used when coming up to the capital and placed it on the bed.
After packing a few clothes, carefully used cosmetics, ink and quill pens, and three books, the bag was full.
Lastly, Jane opened the drawer of the bedside table and took out a box. It was a box wrapped in a high-quality handkerchief that didn’t match Jane’s circumstances.
Her touch as she stroked the box was very careful.
Jane looked at the door that was left slightly open. It was quiet outside. It seemed unlikely that Cain would enter this house again.
After hesitating, she seemed to make up her mind and unwrapped the handkerchief. Jane held the faded box and opened the lid.
A pair of pearl earrings lay neatly on the dark velvet.
It was the only piece of jewelry accessory left to Jane.
Even when starving, even when begging Victor to postpone the interest payment deadline by just one day, she never thought of selling these earrings that Cain had bought her for her 18th birthday.
Cain had probably forgotten everything, but for Jane, the box containing the earrings was precious enough to wrap in a handkerchief to prevent wear.
Suddenly, the fact that the Cain from 7 years ago and today’s Cain were completely different people washed over her like a wave.
The person she met after 7 years had become a completely different person.
There was no sunny smile, no gentle tone, no heat in his eyes when looking at Jane.
She should have changed as much as he had changed, but Jane hadn’t been able to do so.
Jane let out a faint sigh.
She closed the box lid, wrapped it in the handkerchief again, and placed it in the deepest part of her luggage.
Unlike her initial thought that she had nothing to take, the bag was barely closed after being filled.
Just packing her bags had drained all her energy.
She sat for a moment, looking at the various items she couldn’t fit in the bag.
Cain had told her to throw everything away, but Jane wanted to take it all.
The carpet she had saved money for months to buy, the set of cutlery she had bought after hundreds of deliberations, meant more than just objects to Jane.
Those items were proof that Jane hadn’t fallen to rock bottom. They were what had kept Jane going.
“Should I carry them?”
Jane muttered in a voice dripping with regret, but soon dropped her head dejectedly.
She didn’t want to receive the look Cain had given while surveying her house again.
That gaze, as if looking at something dirty, the unspoken pressure of being beneath his class, had gripped Jane’s heart tightly.
Jane was not insensitive to pain, but she wasn’t masochistic enough to actively create painful situations.
“It’s a shame, but goodbye. Thank you for everything.”
So she bid farewell to her belongings and the house with those parting words.
It was also a farewell to peace.
The life of the Duchess of Hastings could never coexist with peace.
At least not for Jane.
* * *
It was when the carriage drawn by four horses arrived at the outskirts of the city.
“Stop for a moment.”
Cain knocked on the carriage wall. As the carriage stopped, he got out first and looked at Jane.
“Are we getting off here?”
“I have somewhere to drop by briefly. Follow me.”
Since Cain didn’t wait for Jane, she had to hurry. Jane diligently chased after Cain, who had gone far ahead.
Beggars were lined up near the station.
“Please help. I haven’t eaten a single meal yesterday or today.”
Ignoring the plea of a shabby old man, Cain passed by him and stood in front of a child lying quietly.
He tapped the begging bowl in front of him. The child slowly raised his head like a sluggish insect.
“Oh…? You came… again?”
A spark appeared in the child’s dull eyes. Ignoring those words, Cain took out a check from his pocket.
Jane’s eyes widened.
What he handed to the child was a check for 20,000 marks.
To Cain, 20,000 marks was literally nothing more than cheap charity.
As Cain put the check into the beggar’s dented bowl, he looked straight at Jane.
As if telling her to properly understand her position.
As if warning her not to mistake small kindnesses for feelings towards her.
To Cain, she was nothing more or less than a beggar.
Jane’s heart sank.
Cain had not a single shred of feeling left for her. Jane finally accepted this fact.
* * *
The carriage arrived at the Hastings family mansion, Somnium House.
Male lead Asks for a Divorce Every Day
It’s not often you come across a plot like this in the female-dominant genre — make sure to check it out!
This is a novel I’m planning to reread as well.
The male lead is strong, skilled in martial arts, and not the usual fragile type you often see in matriarchal novels.
Meanwhile, the female lead is a scientist—rational and logical. Even when she falls for the male lead, she doesn’t let her emotions cloud her decisions.
If you push through the first few chapters, you’ll gradually find the story really intriguing.
It has a mix of mystery, detective elements, and romance.
The author’s writing style is like crafting a puzzle—except they deliberately leave out a few pieces, making it hard to predict what happens next, yet keeping you hooked.
In the end, everything will come together and be explained.
One-sentence summary: Wife, stop playing with beakers and look at me!
In a laboratory accident, research scientist Zhu Wansheng accidentally travels to a matriarchal world. The original owner of the body is an eighteen-year-old only daughter of a wealthy rouge merchant, already married with a handsome young man.
Zhu Wansheng grins: Nice! She always said she was heaven’s favorite granddaughter. After a life of toil in her previous life, she can enjoy blessings in this one.
However, her joy lasts no more than three seconds as bad news arrives: the original owner’s family is about to go bankrupt, and her husband wants a divorce.
Even worse, she’s stuck with a research system full of restrictions.
Zhu Wansheng: ? Is this the destiny of a research dog?
——
Faced with this mess, Zhu Wansheng pours herself a bowl of wine to drown her sorrows. In her drunken haze, her husband arrives.
His figure is imposing, holding a long sword, with a dignified air that captivates Zhu Wansheng.
Gu Yingqing, however, looks at the alcohol-reeking Zhu Wansheng with undisguised disgust and coldly asks, “Divorce or not?” The intoxicated Zhu Wansheng mumbles vaguely, “I think… it’s not… it’s not… impossible!”
——
The next day, after sobering up, Zhu Wansheng is full of energy, rolling up her sleeves ready to make a big move. As for yesterday? She has no memory of it.
Zhu Wansheng is ambitious; a research dog fears nothing!
Upgrading rouge, extracting fragrances, producing perfumes, researching lipsticks… all shall bow to the power of modern technology!
The original owner’s dying rouge shop is revitalized. Her mother is pleased and with a wave of her hand, passes on the family business to her. As she takes control and her experimental results gain popularity, it’s the pinnacle of her life…
——
But there are always those who can’t stand to see her doing well. Jealousy, scheming, assassination attempts – they want nothing less than her life.
The person who has always kept his distance from her suddenly holds her tightly in his arms, eyes full of concern.
She is unharmed, but he falls into a pool of blood…
Zhu Wansheng feels guilty, “I can grant you one wish.”
Gu Yingqing tentatively circles his arms around her, carefully resting his head in the crook of her neck, pleading softly, “I regret it. Can we not divorce?”
Zhu Wansheng: ? When did I agree to a divorce?
[Small Theater]
The newly developed rouge is beautifully packaged, and Zhu Wansheng is eager to try it.
Gu Yingqing suddenly appears: “My lady, may I apply it for you?”
Cool fingertips lightly brush her lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he leans in for a light bite.
Zhu Wansheng: ?
Gu Yingqing: It smells so good, I wanted to taste it…
On a warm spring day, Zhu Wansheng tries a new perfume: “Spring Night.” Gu Yingqing corners her against a wall.
Warm breath lingers on her neck.
“My lady, from now on, may I test the fragrances for you?”
[Humorous female scientist vs scheming live-in son-in-law male lead]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
