Chapter 99
After receiving Yulia’s message asking him to come home, Cain rushed straight to the Clue estate. Guided by a servant, he entered the rear garden, and the moment he saw Yulia sitting under the canopy, he hurried toward her.
“You’re hurt.”
“Welcome, Sir Cain.”
He expected him to ask if she was all right, but it seemed her immobilized arm caught his attention first. Seeing her arm, Cain clenched his teeth as if he were the one in pain. Yulia stood up to greet him and smiled as she gently rubbed the area near her wrist.
“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt if I keep it like this. They said the bone seems fine, I just sprained it a little, so I have to keep it secured for a while.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you’re injured.”
Cain’s expression twisted in a way Yulia had never seen before. He normally looked as if he only ever wore perfectly fresh clothes, yet today his navy jacket, which he had worn the previous day, was wrinkled all over.
Since the person she had arranged to meet had vanished unexpectedly, Yulia assumed Cain must have been quite worried. After offering him a seat, she poured tea into Cain’s cup with Lucy’s help and smiled.
“You were worried, weren’t you?”
“Did the Count not tell you? I saw the men getting onto the carriage with my own eyes.”
“I see. You must have been shocked.”
At Yulia’s words, Cain’s face tightened as if in pain. She’d thought he was simply worried, but his exhausted eyes, unable to meet hers directly, held a hint of guilt—the same guilt she’d once seen in Cayente’s eyes. Yulia spoke softly, just in case.
“I wasn’t attacked because I was on my way to meet you.”
Even if not that, there were people purposefully targeting her—so the same thing might have happened even if she had stayed home. Cain’s eyes widened in surprise, then his usual smile returned. Yet something still seemed unresolved; he hesitated, rolling the teacup between his hands.
Watching him, Yulia suddenly grew nervous. What could make someone who had so casually admitted liking her earlier seem reluctant to speak now?
“A normal noble would hate even going near smelly, dirty vagrants—but you were different.”
Cain gave a small laugh, then looked up and unexpectedly began explaining why he had grown fond of her. Most noble ladies would shriek and flee if vagrants came near, yet she had approached them instead—he said that unusual sight had caught his eye.
She should have laughed politely, but when Cain finally met her eyes after staring downward for so long, Yulia found it difficult to even pretend to smile. She had thought it was just mild fondness, but perhaps her feelings had gone deeper than she realized; in his gaze, she felt as though he had confessed his love.
“I see.”
Even after she finally managed to respond, the soft atmosphere—matching the pale, apricot-colored trumpet creepers adorning the table—did not dissipate. So Yulia quickly brought up the topic of the concert.
“I’ll have to delay it, but I still plan to hold the charity concert.”
“Ah, yes. That’s why we were supposed to meet, wasn’t it? How can I help?”
Thankfully, the delicate tension that should only exist between lovers disappeared, and Cain spoke in his usual relaxed tone. He really did enjoy music, as he had claimed—he knew quite a lot.
He said it was nice to group pieces under a theme, that breaks should be included to avoid boredom, and that handing out programs in advance could help people look forward to their favorite pieces…
Yulia had attended concerts held at parties with her father but had little experience organizing one herself, so these were small yet important details she didn’t know.
As she carefully wrote down everything Cain said, he quietly watched her and let out a small laugh. When Yulia looked up as if to ask why, Cain wore an oddly bitter smile and murmured to himself:
“I didn’t expect to regret this much…”
Yulia thought he still had lingering affection for her. Even without Cayente’s warning, she’d planned to politely sort things out after the concert. Just then, Cayente appeared behind Cain.
“Brother? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Yulia stood up awkwardly, and before Cain could fully turn around, Cayente strode forward, fixing a cold glare on his back.
“Was this all your doing, Sir Dines?”
“What are you talking about?”
Yulia asked in shock, but Cain didn’t look at Cayente at all—he simply kept smiling gently at her.
* * *
They could have continued talking in the garden, but Cayente moved everyone to the drawing room. He didn’t want the servants overhearing and spreading gossip across the capital, though it ended up being pointless.
“I asked what you planned to do by approaching my wife!”
Unable to control his anger, Cayente raised his voice so loudly that people in the hallway and even in the garden beyond the windows could hear.
Yulia was too shocked to speak. The idea that Cain might have been behind what happened to her left her frozen. This only angered Cayente more—how could she become so attached after meeting the man only a few times that his betrayal affected her this deeply?
Wide-eyed, Yulia stood far from Cain, leaning against the wall near the door, trying to keep distance.
“Seduced?”
“What…?”
“I said he tried to seduce you. Lady Yulia.”
Cayente was furious enough that he couldn’t sit, yet Cain was the only one seated—appearing perfectly relaxed, as if he had done nothing wrong. He leaned back comfortably, grinning as always, and continued:
“Did the Count insult my little sister? I thought it’d be refreshing to see his face twist in anguish when he saw his wife flustered and falling for another man. So yes, I considered seducing her.”
He had acted as if he didn’t know she was married at first, and now even that was a lie. Yulia let out a weak sigh. Cain, who had shown no sign of remorse earlier, finally straightened up at the sound.
“That was my initial intention. But aside from approaching Lady Yulia knowing who she was, nothing else I said or did was false.”
Even now, Yulia couldn’t detect any ulterior motives in Cain’s eyes. She had no idea what to say. Cayente, his neck stiff with rage, ground his teeth.
“What ‘truth’ are you telling my wife in front of me?”
“I simply can’t understand what’s so great about a man so stubborn and closed-off. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand how you chose him. It’s only that I regret the connection coming too late.”
“Sir Dines!”
Cayente nearly exploded at Cain’s remark about their marriage.
“What did you mean earlier—was all this really done by Sir Dines?” Yulia asked.
She recalled when Cayente had suddenly appeared, and Cayente asked something that was both a question and an accusation.
“Did you interfere with my work for that reason too? You failed to seduce Yulia so you wanted to trouble me some other way? But you should never have gone as far as having her kidnapped!”
“That wasn’t me.”
Cain waved his hand, insisting he had nothing to do with that. Why would he ever do something that would put Yulia in danger? He had only lent money—because someone asked him for help removing Count Clue from his position. And since that someone broke the condition that Yulia must not be harmed, he had cut ties.
Cayente stared with utter disbelief, but Yulia felt Cain likely wouldn’t lie at this point—not after confessing to something that clearly put their relationship beyond repair.
“Could you explain more? I don’t understand what’s happening…”
“I was contacted and asked to help remove Count Clue from the Empire. Since I had plenty of grudges against him, I helped financially—nothing more. Though I did think it would be amusing to try seducing you and take everything the Count had at once. But I never took part in or touched that other matter.”
“Then what about the hat and gloves I ordered?”
She wondered if he might know about that incident too, but Cain looked genuinely confused, as if he didn’t even understand the question. Cayente obviously didn’t trust him, assuming it was another lie, but Yulia didn’t think someone who liked her would sabotage her over something so meaningless.
“Then who asked for your help in the first place?”
“Didn’t we meet together before?”
Yulia thought back to when they had all met, and a name rose to her lips.
“It was the Marquess Verre, wasn’t it.”
