At some point, he became unrestrained in deceiving himself.

‘Let’s be honest.’

Cain was afraid of knowing the truth. He had a feeling that something big was hidden. Something that would certainly not be pleasant for him.

Should he just pretend not to know and move on?

Even though he knew he shouldn’t, he kept feeling that temptation.

These days, even while working, part of his consciousness was captivated by that question.

It’s the same now.

Even more so when I see you.

His focus became increasingly blurred.

“Cain……”

Jane moved.

Like a stone falling into a lake, ripples spread in Cain’s eyes. At the same time, his consciousness awakened.

‘I shouldn’t do that.’

If there was a problem between his parents and the Whitney family, he must be the first to know.

As if he had never stopped, he strode past Jane.

Arriving at Joseph’s door before Jane, he tilted his head crookedly.

“I’m better at teaching Joseph than you are.”

His arrogant appearance was just like the usual Cain.

* * *

“Go home.”

“Yes!”

As Nathan left hurriedly as if someone might catch him, Cain headed towards Joseph’s room.

“Are you planning not to inform us that you’re leaving soon?”

Norbert followed behind Cain. Cain stopped, holding onto the stair railing. After flicking the railing a couple of times with his finger, he shook his head.

That was an order for Norbert and Mary to keep quiet as well.

Norbert sighed as he watched Cain heading upstairs, exuding an air of having no second thoughts.

It’s not good when there are too many secrets between a married couple.

But he couldn’t interfere carelessly. The couple’s problems should be solved by the couple themselves. Especially when it involves their parents.

Norbert fervently hoped that this precarious peace would not be broken.

Unaware of this feeling, Cain opened Joseph’s door.

He saw Joseph reading the test questions with pursed lips and a serious expression, and Jane reading a book in front of him.

And both of them turned their heads at the same time.

“Ah, Father!”

Joseph had an expression as if he had met a savior.

Although Jane is infinitely soft towards Joseph, it seems she’s quite strict when it comes to studying.

Cain smirked seeing the child’s hands covered in ink.

For a moment, the academy system of making children who can barely hold a pen sit for exams felt cruel.

“Shall we hear how far you’ve studied today?”

Cain approached the desk, taking off his jacket and draping it over his arm.

Joseph summarized what he had learned well. Though he couldn’t write well, Joseph was good at summarizing and speaking about what he had heard and read.

‘Should I replace it with an oral exam?’

It was when Cain was thinking of a trick.

“According to my informant, this time the questions will be from Beastart’s book. So I was thinking of buying that book. Cain, would that be okay?”

Jane spoke very cautiously.

“Why buy that?”

Cain frowned. At that moment, Jane’s heart ached.

On the day she first set foot in Somnium House, she learned that he no longer liked Beastart and Osgir.

To the extent of selling off all the works.

‘He shuddered when it came up.’

Because of the memories with her.

Even so, she didn’t expect him to prevent buying the book for Joseph’s studies.

‘Does he dislike it that much?’

Jane couldn’t hide her disappointed expression. Then Cain let out a faint sigh.

“Jane, what I mean is…”

He continued with a very sour expression, as if he had bitten into an unripe fruit.

“I have that book.”

“Pardon?”

Cain turned his head abruptly.

“That book, I didn’t throw it away.”

Was the slight redness at the tips of his ears just because of the sunset light streaming into the room?

Jane’s heart fluttered.

* * *

Jane’s cheeks were the color of ripe peaches as she entered the bedroom.

“My lady, did something good happen?”

Haley, who was preparing Jane’s bed, asked upon seeing her smiling shyly.

“No.”

Her voice was so excited that it made Haley even more curious.

What could have made Jane, who had been depressed since returning from the palace, so happy?

“I’m going to take a bath. Oh… the Duke will be coming in the evening.”

“Ah! Yes! I’ll add rose water to the bath.”

Haley knew well enough what it meant for the Duke to visit the Duchess’s bedroom.

Jane spoke very shyly, but Haley was unfazed.

‘I can sleep in tomorrow.’

For Haley, even the Duke and Duchess’s passionate night was just part of the daily routine.

Hearing that Cain was coming, Haley hurried. She turned on the water for the bathtub, sprayed perfume on the bedding, and ventilated the room.

While Haley was bustling about, Jane was examining some object. In the middle of it, she laughed softly as if something was good.

“What is that?”

Haley approached Jane after finishing her preparations. Jane hugged the object tightly as if it were a treasure.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously a book. What kind of book is it that makes you smile like that? Is it an interesting book?”

“Was I smiling?”

Haley was surprised by Jane’s response as if it were news to her.

“You didn’t know? You’ve been smiling constantly. Your cheeks must hurt.”

Haley tapped her own left cheek. Jane rubbed her cheeks with her palms. As Haley said, she felt a tingling pain in her cheeks.

Jane realized a new fact: that you can feel pain just from smiling.

She tried to control her expression, not wanting to appear silly, but another smile crept out.

It can’t be helped, can it?

It’s natural to be happy when you get to see a precious book that you thought you’d never see again.

The meaning of Beastart’s first edition was special.

Aside from being unobtainable, this book contained memories of Cain and Jane that money could never buy.

Jane’s gaze became distant.

The two of them whispered love messages using Beastart’s first edition without the adults knowing.

When Cain whispered in Jane’s ear, Jane would flip through Beastart’s first edition.

The first word of the 7th line on page 12 was ‘you’, the fifth word of the 6th line on page 18 was ‘kiss’, the third word of the 12th line on page 27 was ‘desire’.

I want to kiss you.

After finishing the interpretation, Jane flipped through the book while sitting on Cain’s lap.

‘Reception room, now.’

After checking the book, Cain lifted Jane and took her to the reception room. And in the reception room, the two shared a deep kiss.

Sometimes the two even exchanged letters using only numbers.

Letters written using only the first letter of words that appeared only in the first edition sometimes contained vulgar content, but they could convey the burning love between the two just as well.

Jane’s consciousness drifted to 8 years ago, to the garden of Somnium House.

It was summer.

The season when lying under the shade of a tree and looking at the sky, the sunlight shining through the leaves glittered like jewels.

A time spent with Jane resting her head on Cain’s thigh, and Cain stroking Jane’s hair.

Too much was contained in just one book.

That’s why when she heard that this book had been thrown away, Jane felt as if a part of her body had collapsed.

But he hadn’t thrown it away!

Moreover, Cain was keeping the book in a safe as if it were an important object.

Jane saw Cain take Beastart’s book out of the safe.

He said he had thrown it away, but in fact, he had been cherishing it preciously.

Was he always such a person with a different inside and outside?

How many lies like this, meant to hurt her, had he told?

Jane was more curious about his intention in lying than the fact that he had lied.

If he had really forgotten everything, there would have been no need to pretend to have forgotten.

Perhaps he too…

Jane quickly shook her head.

She kept having vain delusions. Cain was different from herself, who was trapped in the ghosts of the past.

‘I’m the only one yearning for the past.’

She could tell just by how well he had lived, as if to show off.

Jane pressed hard near her loudly beating heart and placed the book on the bedside table.

“I’ll bathe alone, Haley.”

Jane entered the bathroom before Haley could inquire further. And a little while later, Jane poked out just her face and said,

“Don’t touch that book.”

At the rather stern tone, Haley nodded reflexively.

* * *

As Haley had predicted, Jane left the bed late.

As always, her body was clean. Except for the marks Cain had left.

Jane looked for Beastart’s book as soon as she opened her eyes.

Last night, Cain had been unusually kind.

After two intense lovemaking sessions and barely shaking off the approaching drowsiness, Jane made this request, and he hesitated.