The Secret Affairs of the Fake Duke Couple (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
Jane was waiting in her room for her meal. Under normal circumstances, she would have gone down to the dining room to eat. But after her battle of wills with Lady Themis, she was utterly drained.
〈You’re full of poison. All that remains in you is venom. Only once it’s all drained away can grace take its place.〉
When Jane, trembling yet refusing to bend her knees, held her ground, Lady Themis was the first to raise the white flag.
That didn’t mean her lessons had become any easier. Lady Themis’s training remained as harsh as ever, leaving Jane with excruciating muscle pain.
Thus, she had requested her meal be brought to her room.
Jane let out an involuntary chuckle when she saw the tray Michelle set down on the table.
She hadn’t even the energy to laugh—but the sight of the tray left her no choice.
Tomato soup had splattered everywhere, thoroughly ruining the tableware and bread.
It was simply inedible. Even the bread looked strange.
Jane pressed firmly on the bread. It was so hard it felt like stone, pressing back against her fingers.
Without enough soup to soften it, the bread was impossible to eat—but the soup had splattered all over, leaving only a thin film at the bottom of the plate.
The Jane of yesterday would have gratefully eaten it. But the Jane of today couldn’t afford to. Circumstances had changed, and so must her demeanor.
“Bring it again.”
Jane gave Michelle one more chance. Since she was a maid sent by Cain, Jane assumed she’d understand if properly instructed.
Without a word of complaint, Michelle picked up the tray and left.
Jane began to hope she could properly train this girl named Michelle and keep her close.
Unfortunately, that hope turned to vapor.
The second meal Michelle brought up was even worse.
The tomato soup contained no solids, the tableware was still a mess, and the freshly served salad greens were completely wilted. This time, there was no bread or meat at all.
Michelle had officially declared war on Jane.
Was the House of Hastings full of nothing but brawlers, each desperate to pick a fight with Jane?
Jane had no strength left to fight—but she refused to lose.
She knew all too well that if she backed down even an inch here, something far worse would follow.
Jane narrowed her eyes.
She was the same Jane who’d bested Lady Themis—the very woman nicknamed “the she-devil.” At the very least, she was confident she wouldn’t lose.
“Again.”
Michelle went downstairs once more.
“Bring it back warm this time.”
Michelle made nonstop trips from the first to the fourth floor. Sweat began soaking through her thin dress.
“I can’t stand this filth anymore!”
On her fourth trip toward the dining room, Michelle snapped in frustration.
“She should just eat what’s given! Why so many complaints? If she wants something specific, why not come down herself? It’s not like training a dog! Again, again, again!”
Michelle shuddered in exasperation, nearly dropping the tray in the process.
Tomato soup spilled over the edge of the bowl, flowing across the silver tray like blood.
“She must’ve lived off scraps her whole life. Now she pretends to be refined.”
Confirming no one was around, Michelle’s grumbling grew louder.
At the trash bin outside the dining room, Michelle dumped the entire meal.
“Chef, she said this doesn’t suit her taste. She must be used to only the finest. Personally, I think your cooking is the best and most delicious…”
“So you threw it out again?”
Chef Pudica’s face flushed red as she looked at the tray.
“She overturned the soup bowl, saying there’s no way anyone could eat this.”
Michelle mumbled, casting a sidelong glance at Pudica.
If she didn’t like it, why not just say so? Why ruin perfectly good food!
This was an insult to her personally. Pudica had had enough—she tore off her apron and tossed it aside.
“I can’t do this anymore!”
Michelle smirked inwardly. Her efforts to secretly swap out the food before delivering it to Jane had paid off.
Humming a little tune, Michelle headed back toward Jane’s room.
“What shall we do, miss? The chef has gone home for the day.”
Jane’s expression darkened. Michelle’s, on the other hand, brightened.
It was satisfying to see the girl who’d made her suffer now go hungry.
Though Jane went unfed, it was clearly her own fault. She’d brought it upon herself. If pressed, Michelle could simply blame Pudica.
Michelle’s mood lifted considerably.
[This is the timeline separator]“She didn’t eat?”
Cain rubbed his temples, looking vexed as he received Nathan’s report.
“Yes. She seems terribly picky. She’s repeatedly rejected Pudica’s cooking.”
Cain’s expression turned enigmatic.
He knew Jane hadn’t refused the meal because of Pudica’s cooking—but because of Michelle’s attitude.
By chance, Cain had overheard Michelle’s complaints—arrogant grumbling she’d never dare voice in front of her master.
Yet Cain chose to ignore it. Few in the Hastings household held Jane in high regard.
Though Jane didn’t know it, more than a few had suffered hardship simply by being associated with the Whitney family.
Prominent victims included Cain himself and the late Duke and Duchess Hastings.
If Cain spoke up for Jane, outward hostility might subside—but he felt no need to intervene.
After all, with so many harboring animosity toward her, this wouldn’t end after one or two incidents.
He’d summoned Jane to Somnium House precisely to avoid such headaches—
whether concerning Joseph, internal family affairs, or keeping an eye on Jane himself.
Therefore, she needed to handle trivial matters like this on her own.
Since childhood, Cain had been taught that a true master knows how to properly manage subordinates.
Any trouble arising from his failure to control his staff was entirely his own responsibility.
Thus, the Michelle issue was Jane’s problem to resolve herself.
“Shall I tell them to prepare another meal? Pudica’s thrown in the towel completely.”
“Leave it.”
“Really?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Understood.”
Though uneasy, Nathan held his tongue about Jane.
Something felt deeply wrong—but he couldn’t pinpoint what.
Speaking out of turn would likely earn him a scolding. In such cases, silence was best.
“By the way, Vincent asked if you’ll be coming to the club.”
Vincent was the owner of the gentlemen’s club Cain frequented—and also the caretaker of Cain’s black merlin.
“It’s been a while since I’ve visited the club…”
“About a week, sir. Not since you decided to marry Miss Jane.”
“Why draw that connection?”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“The causality is wrong. I suppose I’ll go today, then.”
Cain gathered his outer coat. Nathan immediately followed.
“Will you return at dawn?”
“Why ask?”
“You usually come back at dawn when you go out, so I thought I’d rest properly at home.”
“Even if I return earlier, I won’t call for you—sleep well.”
“In that case, no problem,” Nathan replied cheerfully, accompanying Cain out to see him off.
Though it was late, the carriage for Cain was swiftly prepared.
As he descended to the entrance hall, Norbert stood waiting with a look full of things to say.
“Your Grace, I have something to discuss regarding Miss Jane.”
“I’m on my way out, Norbert. If it’s not urgent, I’d prefer to hear it tomorrow.”
Norbert hesitated, then fell silent. Cain’s offer to listen “tomorrow” was clearly a polite way of saying he didn’t want to hear it at all.
Though Norbert cared for Jane, his true master was Cain—and Cain alone was whom he owed obedience.
Satisfied with Norbert’s retreat, Cain climbed into the carriage. At the tap of his knuckles on the door, the coachman urged the horses forward briskly.
Even the horses seemed exhilarated by this rare nighttime excursion.
Once Cain’s carriage vanished completely, Norbert spoke in a conflicted tone.
“Did he say he’d be late returning, Nathan?”
“He seemed likely to come back tomorrow.”
Worry settled deep into Norbert’s face.
[This is the timeline separator]Contrary to Nathan and Norbert’s assumptions, Cain returned to Somnium House just past midnight.
Tonight, the gentlemen’s club had been a disgrace. Opium-addled ruffians had brought in hordes of courtesans, utterly ruining the atmosphere.
‘Is this what one calls gentlemen’s club behavior?’
Cain clicked his tongue, shaking his head disapprovingly.
In name only was it a gentlemen’s club—in practice, it was no different from a den of debauchery.
Especially at night, it was almost shameful they didn’t change the signboard.
During the day, transgressions were limited to card games—but at night, everything changed.
In the club’s basement—open only after dark—nobles indulged in excesses beyond commoners’ wildest imaginings.
The aristocracy were nothing but fallen demons wrapped in polite exteriors.
Cain merely watched such behavior unfold—because the Queen herself had ordered him to overlook it. Helena wanted the nobles kept dull, except for a select few she personally controlled.
Thus, Cain tolerated aristocratic excesses so long as they caused no public scandal.
But tonight, he was thoroughly disgusted by their pitiful antics.
Even his favorite whiskey tasted bland, the music uninspired, and he’d lost several rounds of cards in a row.
He felt no stirrings even as a woman repeatedly rubbed her chest against his arm.
So he returned home earlier than planned, intending to soak in a hot bath and wash away every trace of the club’s stench.
Quietly silencing the servant who would announce his return, Cain strode briskly up the stairs.
He reached his room in moments and grasped the doorknob.
Just the thought of sinking into the bath eased the tension coiled in his nerves—slightly.
At that exact instant—
Thud!
An unnatural sound, utterly out of place for the late hour, echoed from the end of the hallway. Cain’s nerves snapped taut again.
A thief?
If so, Cain intended to deal with the intruder before the knights even stirred.
He pulled the revolver from his pocket and crept silently toward the source of the noise.
Clouds obscured the moon, casting deep shadows—but spotting the culprit proved easy.
Cain’s eyes narrowed. A rounded shape shifted restlessly in the darkness.
A thief—or an intruder?
Which was it?
Cain had many enemies. The Rose Faction had marked him as their primary target for elimination, and the Kingdom of Instan felt the same.
Though no enemy had yet infiltrated his home, he couldn’t afford complacency.
Silently, Cain moved behind the shadowy figure and pressed his gun to the back of their head.
The figure—far too small to be an assassin or thief—shuddered violently and raised both hands.
“It’s me—it’s me! Cain, it’s me!”
Jane’s scent brushed past Cain’s nose.
“Jane?”
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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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