Lost in thoughts about Lady Sinclair, Eloise couldn’t even remember how she had eaten her breakfast.

When she came to her senses, she saw a plate with barely touched food left on it.

Having difficulty swallowing her food, Eloise hastily put the plate aside and finished preparing to go out. As she did so, she looked out the window at the street.

Lady Sinclair’s mansion was also located in a renowned wealthy district of the capital. Since it was common for nobles and the wealthy to not rise until later in the morning, this area too was quiet in the morning, with only servants running errands passing by.

Eloise’s gaze lingered on one spot of that quiet street. A man was standing under a large oak tree, observing the entrance to Sinclair’s mansion.

Eloise hid behind the curtain, then slightly lifted the edge of the curtain that touched the wall to peer through a narrow gap at the man again.

Not wearing a hat, with his sleeves rolled up and wearing wide-legged trousers, he looked like a laborer working somewhere in the area.

Aware that standing still in such attire seemed unnatural, the man pretended to be anxiously looking around as if waiting for someone whenever someone passed by.

Behind the man was a shabby carriage like those used by employees that she had seen several times at Baron Fairfax’s house.

‘That person is…’

Eloise bit her lip. He was someone she remembered. A man who did odd jobs at the Baron’s townhouse.

Though there were many people employed there, she had often seen this man raking leaves for compost in a corner of the garden whenever she looked out at the garden when she had nothing else to do at the mansion.

Suppressing a sigh, Eloise picked up her bag and went outside. As soon as she left the room, a maid approached from the end of the corridor as if she had been waiting.

“Miss Surberton? Are you going out somewhere?”

Eloise found herself asking the smiling maid before she could stop herself.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“Pardon…?”

At that question, the maid’s eyes wavered for a moment. It was the reaction of someone caught in a lie.

But that lasted only briefly, and the maid smiled and calmly replied.

“I just happened to see you as I was passing by. More importantly, if you’re going out, I’ll prepare a carriage.”

She thought about refusing. But seeing the Baron’s people waiting for her outside, she changed her mind.

“Yes, please do.”

When Eloise readily agreed, though normally she would have declined saying there was no need, the maid hurried downstairs as if pleased.

Not long after Eloise followed down to the first floor, the sound of a carriage was heard at the entrance.

Looking outside, she saw what was clearly the largest and finest of the carriages belonging to this mansion.

Normally, she would have said that even a small carriage would do, but today Eloise boarded the carriage without a word, as if it were only natural.

Glancing sideways, sure enough, the man under the tree was still watching this scene.

When the carriage carrying Eloise passed in front of him, he pretended not to notice and turned his head, but when they turned a corner after some time, looking out the window, she could see the carriage that had been in front of the mansion following from a distance.

‘It seems they want to know what I’m doing and where I’m going, even after throwing me out.’

As Eloise’s thoughts grew complicated, the carriage continued to increase its speed.

The carriage, having left the capital, headed toward a nearby city that wasn’t too far away. Soon, the majestic figure of the Army Headquarters building came into view.

As she got off, Eloise looked toward the entrance. As expected, the carriage that had followed didn’t come all the way in but circled around a few times before heading to a distant location.

It seemed they planned to observe from a distance.

“Please return to the mansion now. I’ll take a public carriage back.”

“What? But……”

As the coachman tried to say that wouldn’t be acceptable, Eloise deliberately spoke with a cold expression.

“It’s because I don’t know when my personal meeting will end.”

When she implied she was here for personal business, the coachman seemed to catch on and nodded.

There were many women who dated soldiers. And there were often those who wanted to hide their partner’s identity.

“I understand. Then……”

The coachman bowed his head as if apologizing for his intrusion and left. Eloise quickly entered the building and examined the entrance area.

When the carriage left, those waiting for her outside became flustered, not knowing what to do.

From where they were, they couldn’t see Eloise getting out of the carriage, and since all the curtains in the carriage had been deliberately drawn, they couldn’t tell if she was still inside or not.

This way, they couldn’t know if she had entered the Army Headquarters or just came briefly to deliver something.

After seeming to deliberate, the men apparently made up their minds and hurriedly drove their carriage to follow Sinclair’s mansion’s carriage.

They seemed to have judged that since the carriage returned so quickly, she must have just delivered something and gone back.

Only after confirming that both carriages had moved away and were completely out of sight did Eloise turn and head inside.

“Haah……”

Emerging into the courtyard of the headquarters building, Eloise sat on a bench and let out a long sigh.

She had come back just in case, but as expected, she couldn’t get any other clues about the three men.

‘I don’t think I can expect anything more from here.’

Then should she continue staying at Sinclair’s house and wait for the information she would bring?

But she still hesitated to continue staying at her house.

‘And I’m bothered that she lied!’

When she had asked about Ryan, hadn’t Eloise deliberately given a different description without even realizing it?

As her thoughts became complicated again, Eloise opened her bag. Inside was her godmother’s book that she had brought to solve during waiting times.

“I keep getting stuck here……”

She had been making no progress with the cipher for two days now.

The format itself was familiar, but since it was a method only briefly mentioned in the Introduction to Cryptography, she needed more proper knowledge.

But there was no way to easily find such a book. It wasn’t in bookstores or in Sinclair’s library.

As she raised her head, wondering how to solve it now, Eloise saw a building directory posted nearby.

And on the part showing the building near the courtyard, a name was written in large letters.

Military Library

‘I wonder if I could access books if I mention my father’s name?’

They probably wouldn’t let her borrow them easily, but perhaps she could at least read them there?

Mr. Surberton had already been registered with various academic societies during his time as a university professor. That’s why every year on the anniversary of the society, letters inquiring about his well-being would arrive along with invitations.

Eloise headed to the library with a hopeful heart.

In any case, she had no intention of returning directly to Sinclair’s house after finishing her business.

Since she had nothing particular to do at the inherited house before solving this puzzle and it wasn’t a place to stay long anyway, it seemed better to at least visit the library.

As she was turning to go toward the library.

“Huh…?”

She saw a man walking quickly from a distance. The moment she saw his face, Eloise’s eyes widened.

“Richard!”

At that moment, the man stopped walking and turned his head. Seeing his face straight on, she became even more certain. It was Richard! Richard Cameron, who had taken leave and couldn’t be contacted!

“Richard, it’s me! Eloise!”

Eloise excitedly waved her hand toward him with joy. But Richard looked around in panic and quickly started running away.

“Richard…….”

Seeing him fleeing madly instead of approaching, Eloise froze for a moment. What’s going on? Why is he running away?

But her shock was brief.

“Stop right there!”

She had thought the vague waiting would continue, but miraculously, she had met one of them.

She absolutely couldn’t let him go like this.

Besides, she instinctively felt that if she lost him now, it would be difficult to meet him again.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Eloise quickly gathered her bag and grabbed her skirt.

“Stop there! Richard!”

Then she ran after him, shouting loudly enough for everyone to hear.

But there was no way she could keep up with a soldier’s running speed from the start. No matter how hard she ran, the distance between Eloise and Richard only widened.

“Stop there! Someone, please catch that man!”

Despite her shouts, it wasn’t a crowded place to begin with, and passersby were too busy trying to figure out what was happening to step forward readily.

Finally, Eloise used her last resort.

“Please catch that man who’s abandoning me and our child! He’s a marriage swindler!”

At that moment, Richard, who had been fleeing frantically, suddenly turned around and ran back to grab Eloise, terrified.

“Are you crazy?! If Ryan heard that, even if it’s a lie, I’d be dead!”