The Secret Affairs of the Fake Duke Couple (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 13
“Cain ordered it.”
Jane let out a sigh. She couldn’t treat Cain’s messenger carelessly, yet she didn’t want to be pushed around by a maidservant.
“C-C-Cain! You can’t just blurt out your master’s name like that….”
Jane raised her hand, cutting Michelle off.
“Michelle, I’m fine. You know that well enough.”
Those few words carried deep meaning. Michelle, understanding the implication, turned pale.
Just as Jane suspected, Michelle’s behavior stemmed not from territoriality, but from jealousy.
Cain truly was a man burdened by sin.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming upstairs quickly?”
Michelle sharply turned her body.
Jane let out a faint sigh.
Directly reprimanding Michelle was still beyond Jane’s authority—after all, Michelle belonged to Cain.
For seven years, Jane’s pride had been chipped away and shattered countless times. She had endured such dismissiveness over and over.
Michelle envied Jane, yet just a few hours ago, Jane had been living a life even worse than Michelle’s.
Thus, Jane wasn’t angry. But now was the time she needed to show anger.
Circumstances had changed. Jane was now the future Duchess. Offering some advice should be acceptable.
Jane thought carefully about how Lady Whitney had handled disrespectful maidservants.
“Michelle.”
Jane wiped away her smile and stepped onto the same stair as Michelle. Being notably tall for a woman, Jane naturally looked down at her.
Her cold gaze brimmed with dignity.
Though merely looking down from a few centimeters higher, Michelle’s shoulders felt heavily weighed down.
“Your duty is to help me live comfortably. Therefore, from now on—”
Jane grasped Michelle’s chin and lowered it.
“Keep your eyes cast downward.”
She tapped Jane’s thigh lightly.
“Walk as lightly as a butterfly.”
Finally, Jane pointed to the girl’s lips.
“And hold your tongue.”
“Ah…”
“Reply briefly and concisely.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Michelle lifted her head—only to meet Jane’s eyes and immediately bow her waist.
The woman Jane had been before Cain’s study and the Jane standing here now were completely different people.
Back then, she’d seemed fragile enough to shatter at a mere touch, but now she carried the bearing of a stern mistress.
‘Even fallen, nobility remains nobility.’
Though inwardly seething, Michelle quietly replied, “I’ll be more careful.”
She was naturally frivolous and impulsive, but not so foolish as to ignore a blade pointed at her throat.
Seeing Michelle properly subdued, Jane continued climbing the stairs.
“You may stay. I can go alone—consider this an order.”
Jane quickly distanced herself from Michelle.
She’d tried imitating Lady Whitney—had it been obvious she was acting?
Her heart pounded loudly.
[This is the timeline separator]As soon as Jane entered her bedroom and closed the door, she slid down to the floor. The contract she’d been clutching fell to the ground.
While reprimanding Michelle, she’d recalled Lady Whitney. She’d tried copying her mannerisms, but upon reflection, it had felt terribly awkward.
Come to think of it, the previous Duchess Hastings had radiated dignity as well.
Jane worried whether she could even manage half of what her mother and mother-in-law had done.
What expression would Cain wear if he discovered her true thoughts?
Would he sneer knowingly? Would he scold her for needing to hear the same words twice? Or perhaps sigh in relief that they’d parted ways seven years ago?
Whatever it might be, it wouldn’t be a pleasant reaction.
Jane let out a sigh that sounded like a laugh and smoothed her disheveled hair.
Although it was still daytime, the room remained dark—starkly different from Cain’s study, which had been bathed in brilliant light.
Naturally, her thoughts drifted to Cain.
Remembering his lowered brows as he drew on his cigar, his hollowed cheeks, warmth rose to her cheeks.
When had he started smoking cigars?
Cain, two years older than Jane, had already been an adult when they parted.
Back then, he hadn’t smoked cigars. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even frequented gentlemen’s clubs.
Yet now, both smoking cigars and visiting gentlemen’s clubs seemed routine for him.
A sharp pang struck Jane’s solar plexus. She rubbed it with her thumbs.
Every time she noticed a difference from the Cain of the past, a dull ache surfaced.
Afraid further thoughts would ruin her evening completely, Jane lightly slapped her own cheeks.
She stood, stomped deliberately across the room, and flung open the tightly shut window.
She intended to find something to do right away.
Yet, contrary to her plan, she froze, gripping the windowsill.
“Oh…”
A breathy exclamation slipped from Jane’s lips.
The view outside delighted her thoroughly.
The dense green canopy of a massive ancient tree cooled her spirit.
Each time the wind blew, the rustling leaves sounded like nymphs singing, and the lush, carpet-like lawn looked wonderfully soft—inviting her to roll in it immediately.
Beneath the shade of the tree stood a white bench. Tears welled in Jane’s eyes upon spotting it.
“They didn’t sell it.”
That bench, tucked away in a rarely visited corner of the garden, was where Cain and Jane had shared their first kiss.
Cain must have forgotten—otherwise, he wouldn’t have left the bench as it was.
From her room, she could see the very garden where they’d gone whenever they longed to hold hands or embrace!
Though Cain had merely confined her to a corner, to her it felt like a gift.
She suppressed her urge to rush down immediately—the same way one saves a delicious candy for later.
If Cain found out, he’d surely remove the bench. She promised herself silently: she’d visit it only when truly desperate.
Then, she pulled out pen and paper.
Jane began writing a letter at once.
[This is the timeline separator]“He asked a footman to deliver this letter, sir.”
Nathan placed a pale green envelope on Cain’s desk. Jane’s name was clearly written as the sender.
“Where is it addressed to?”
Cain took the letter and tore it open without hesitation. Nathan frowned.
‘If he tears it like that, it’ll be impossible to restore.’
“The Kayden household. It’s addressed to Lady Merche.”
“The family where Jane worked as a governess?”
Cain recalled the report Nathan had given him right before meeting Jane.
“Yes, exactly. Would you like to read it?”
“Why would I tear it open if I didn’t intend to read it?”
“Even with a clear sender, recipient, and purpose, you still censor her letters?”
“People are far more thorough and malicious than one might expect.”
Nathan hadn’t seen it that way.
The Jane he’d observed had seemed pure and clear-eyed.
Her large, bright eyes and slightly upturned gaze had appeared dangerous—but the kind that tempted rationality, not the sort that incited trouble.
Though Cain had ordered him to monitor Jane’s every move and bring the letter, Nathan still couldn’t understand why Cain felt the need for such extreme surveillance.
If he asked Cain directly, the answer would surely be predictable.
‘Is your head merely a decorative ornament placed atop your shoulders for lack of better use?’
To prove he wasn’t merely decorative, Nathan wracked his brain.
Cain’s stated reason for marrying her, her family background, and this relentless scrutiny…
“Your Grace, could it be that you… about Miss Jane…?”
“Shut your mouth.”
Nathan was annoyingly perceptive. Cain clicked his tongue.
Nathan’s frown deepened instantly—he’d guessed correctly.
Cain was using Jane to track down remnants of the Rose Faction.
The Rose Faction.
Despite their romantic name, they were rebels who rejected the current regime and even formed their own army.
Helena called them terrorists, vermin, a plague upon society.
‘So that old fox asked you to do this.’
Had she forced him to choose—marry the princess or eradicate the Rose Faction remnants?
Nathan’s mouth turned bitter. He suspected he’d touched on something he shouldn’t have, but since the topic had arisen, he needed to understand fully.
“Didn’t you already finish cleaning them up? You spent years abroad enduring hardships just to fulfill Her Majesty’s order to root out the Rose Faction entirely.”
“That’s right.”
Seven years ago, the Rose Faction rose up under the slogan, “A rose in the right hand, bread in the left,” demanding the dismantling of the royal family. They organized an army that threatened the monarchy.
Though they never reached the capital, several collateral branches of the royal family, who had acted as local rulers, were captured and humiliated.
They championed an equal world—calling for women’s right to choose their professions and, more radically, the abolition of the royal family itself.
Movements toward freedom and equality had existed before, but the spark that ignited the powder keg seven years ago had a direct cause.
During years of drought, as the kingdom’s people starved to death, the queen and nobles indulged in extravagance.
Eventually, a few desperate farmers publicly condemned the queen and nobles—and in response, their heads were severed and displayed in the square.
That incident coalesced the scattered fury into a unified force.
Yet their dream ended as a fleeting spring dream.
One week before their planned uprising, someone handed the queen the Rose Faction’s organizational chart and list of supporters.
Helena launched a bloody purge.
The Whitney family was ruined for allegedly funding the rebels; powerful merchant guilds were disbanded merely for associating with them; and leaders were hanged.
Their heads were displayed on the city walls—needless to say.
For over a month, blood flowed daily in the square.
People recoiled at the mere mention of “rose,” and the Rose Faction was utterly dismantled. Yet Queen Helena did not stop.
She was thorough. She wanted every hidden remnant eradicated and erased completely.
Because Cain had nearly allied with the Whitney family, he was assigned responsibility for this ruthless purge.
〈Prove your innocence, Hastings, with your own hands. Then I might consider restoring the Whitneys.〉
At the time, Cain still loved Jane. Though he couldn’t save the Earl and Countess Whitney, he desperately wanted to remove the taint of “rebel’s child” from her.
Thus, he accepted Helena’s command.
For two years before voluntarily departing for the battlefield, Cain hunted down hidden traitors.
Though he never dirtied his own hands directly, he had to give orders that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
During that time, his parents died, and his love ended.
Cain’s humanity had been gradually worn away.
“I believed everything had already been settled.”
“The old fox claims smoke is rising again.”
Male lead is a clingy little husband
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
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Sure later Cain wil regret everything he’s done to jane..he only looked the bad side from opposite but never looked inside