Chapter 1. The Woman God Loved

Prologue

It was a nostalgic scent.

A fragrance reminiscent of a rain-soaked forest.

Jane, who had been sitting on the floor of her home that had been turned upside down by debt collectors causing a ruckus, lifted her head.

There was a silhouette waiting at the doorway, which hung wide open with its hinges torn off.

For a moment, Jane thought she was seeing things. There was no way he would appear at her small, shabby dwelling.

But it was him.

With brilliant blonde hair, ocean-like eyes, prominent brow ridges and a noble nose, and a person where elegance and rawness coexisted—there was only one such person in this kingdom.

Cain Hastings.

Jane’s former fiancé and the sole duke of the great Emblem Kingdom.

The arrogant man’s gaze swept over the broken interior of the house.

“You left me and this is how pathetic you’ve become.”

Their reunion after seven years happened at a moment she never expected. At a time when her rock bottom was completely exposed.

He stepped boldly into the house.

“Wretched.”

Each word he spat out pierced Jane’s heart like a dagger.

“Lacking in class.”

Jane squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again.

“How…… did you come here?”

Jane’s voice trembled miserably.

Clean, noble, and dignified—he didn’t belong in this place.

“Wrong question. You should ask why I came looking for you.”

“……Please leave.”

Cain’s expression grew fierce. However, he soon erased his expression and spoke.

“I have a proposal.”

Jane swallowed at the unexpected words.

A familiar face wore an unfamiliar expression. Jane’s eyes trembled finely as she looked at the face of the man who had once been her fiancé.

She felt as if she would be sucked back into the time when she helplessly loved him, and it was the moment she barely managed to tear her gaze away from him.

Cain’s lips, which had once whispered that he loved her, moved mechanically and let out a cold voice.

“I need a woman to play the role of mother to my child.”

His cool eyes felt merciless. This man needs me.

The shockingly rude proposal from that man who had once been her fiancé and was now no different from a stranger.

A familiar realization crossed her mind at the gaze her unchanged former fiancé threw at her.

“Get ready.”

The fact that I have no choice.

The Woman God Loved

Jane Whitney was a woman who had everything.

A moderately wealthy family, virtuous parents, a harmonious household, and a kind and handsome fiancé.

She was even beautiful enough to be the subject of widespread rumors in high society before her debut.

People who saw her rose-like vivid and abundant red hair and lustrous jade-colored eyes all fell in love with her without exception. That’s why she was always grateful to God.

‘Thank you for giving me so much.’

She thought she was God’s favorite.

But it didn’t take even a day for that thought to shatter.

No, even a day was too long. Five minutes—the time it took for the judge to read the verdict—that was enough for her life to crumble.

“Jillian and James Whitney are arrested for treason against the state. The criminals have committed the heinous crime of supporting rebels who disturbed the nation and opposing Her Majesty the Queen to hand over parliament to commoners. From this moment, all assets of the Whitney family are confiscated by the state, and the family is banished from the capital.”

Horror spread across the faces of the Whitney family members who had rushed out upon hearing that the judge had come leading the royal knights.

It was unbelievable.

Count Whitney was a very aristocratic person. Of course, he was a bit special. Only when it came to Jane, that is.

They taught Jane rhetoric, political science, and history—subjects that ordinary women didn’t learn.

But he was someone who personally composed poems to present on the queen’s birthday every year and willingly looked down upon manual labor.

There was no way such a couple would support rebels calling for the dissolution of the royal family.

Jane grabbed the judge.

“Treason? That’s ridiculous. There must be a mistake. Are you sure the royal decree came to House Whitney?”

“Stand aside. If you say one more word here, I’ll drag you away too!”

The knight beside the judge harshly struck Jane’s hand away. Jane looked back at her mother and father with a shocked face.

“Please say something! Please!”

James and Jillian each grabbed Jane’s hands. Jane closed her mouth and lifted her head that had been dropped.

And she met her parents’ eyes. In that moment, Jane realized everything.

“Ah……!”

She staggered.

The verdict was not wrong. The Whitney couple had supported the rebels.

On her parents’ faces, mixed with will, conviction, and guilt for having shown their daughter such a disgraceful sight, there was no injustice or regret.

The Whitney couple had supported the rebels.

“Execute.”

As the judge gave the cold command, the queen’s army occupied the Whitney mansion.

Their hands were merciless. Servants and maids were dragged out, and belongings were all broken.

Jane could only stagger and do nothing. She watched in bewilderment as her precious space was trampled under the military boots of the knights.

“Kyaak! Master! Madam!”

Only when a sharp scream shook the hall did Jane come to her senses.

“Count! You bastards, let go of our count, ugh, urk!”

The knights bound Jillian and James with ropes. Then the servants fearlessly rushed at the knights.

“Take your filthy hands off! These are criminals. Blocking us is the same as blocking Her Majesty the Queen. Do you want to be arrested too?”

Despite the knight’s threats, the servants absolutely would not let go. Then violence that was cruel to the point of being harsh poured down. The knight’s violence was indiscriminate.

He didn’t distinguish between women and children. Those who fell were trampled even more conspicuously.

Jane bit her lower lip hard and clenched her fists. She moved. Without her parents, she had to protect the Whitney family.

“Stop it!”

Jane stood in front of the sword that one knight had raised high.

“Her Majesty the Queen ordered you to arrest criminals, but she didn’t command you to beat up innocent people.”

Jane looked at the judge who had read the verdict. The judge made a regretful expression and gestured toward the knights.

As the knights let go and stepped back, the judge faced Jane.

“Since Miss Whitney says so, we shall withdraw.”

The judge’s gesture of greeting was ridiculously exaggerated, and it was immediately mockery toward Jane.

With that single word and gesture, Jane realized her changed circumstances.

Without laying a finger on her body, the judge had brought her down.

Just as they had swarmed in, the judge and knights rushed out.

Even as they were being dragged away, the Whitney couple smiled toward Jane. As if telling her not to worry.

“Father…… Mother……”

Jane’s mind went completely blank.

She had become not the young lady of a prestigious family, but the daughter of the Whitneys who had committed treason.

She couldn’t even fathom what would change or how miserable her life would become.

‘What about my parents? What happens to my parents? According to the law, the crime of rebellion is……!’

Jane drew in a sharp breath. The crime of rebellion is punishable by death.

‘I can’t just sit still. I need to find someone to help. There must be someone.’

Even then, Jane still believed in her destiny as God’s beloved.

That God wouldn’t abandon her so harshly. That He wouldn’t take everything away.

＊＊＊

The next day, Jane went to see Duke and Duchess Hastings.

The Hastings ducal family.

The family that received the queen’s greatest trust and had traditionally produced chairmen of the noble council for generations.

The Whitney and Hastings families had maintained close cooperation in public areas such as politics and business.

They were also very close privately, as the two families were connected through the engagement between the Hastings heir and Jane.

Since their marriage had been decided from a very early age, Duke and Duchess Hastings had built a friendship with Jane since childhood and were quite fond of her.

That’s why Jane didn’t think twice before seeking out Duke and Duchess Hastings to overcome this crisis.

“Jane, your face looks very haggard. You must have been shocked, right? I was shocked too, but you must have been even more so. What on earth happened? Such a gentle person behind the scenes……”

Ahem, Duke Hastings cleared his throat.

“Jane, have you arranged a place to live? I heard you have to leave the capital.”

Duke and Duchess Hastings worried about Jane.

As expected of the Hastings. True to being the model and exemplar of nobility, they were consistently kind to Jane even though she was the daughter of criminals.

They were different from other people.

The responses that came from people she had sent urgent messages to the night before, requesting help, disappointed Jane.

〈Don’t contact us again. If they find out we’re in contact with you, our parents will scold us.〉

〈Jane, the situation is pitiful, but we’re also in a very difficult situation because of the family head. The losses are enormous. Sorry, but we’ll pretend we didn’t receive your contact.〉

People who had tried to create connections with the Whitney family just two days ago changed their attitudes as easily as flipping their palms.

Duke and Duchess Hastings were the only ones who gave a positive response to her contact and even allowed her to visit.

“I’m very sorry for causing Duke and Duchess concern. It’s shameless, but I have a favor to ask.”

Jane was in a hurry. She felt even more so thinking of Count and Countess Whitney spending time in the detention center.

The detention center where her parents were imprisoned was famous for its poor conditions.

Rats ran around on the kitchen counter, the beds were made of stone, and there was no separate bathroom, so they had to relieve themselves in wooden buckets.

Dark clouds gathered on Jane’s face as she thought of her parents.

“Feel free to say anything. You’re like our own child, aren’t you?”

Jane believed the duchess’s words completely. She even showed tears at her kind words.

She felt so guilty about her situation, having to make a request that would certainly cause harm to such kind people.

But to save her parents’ lives, she had no choice.

Only they, who had the queen’s deep trust, could reduce the weight of the punishment that the Whitney couple would receive.

Jane squeezed her eyes shut and spoke.

“Please save my parents.”

Silence heavily pressed down on the reception room. Duke and Duchess Hastings looked at each other with strange expressions.

“……Jane, that’s quite a difficult request.”

Duke Hastings’s lips, which had been tightly closed, parted.