Richard made an expression as if he were being strangled and looked around.

The few people nearby became filled with curiosity as they watched the two of them. Richard clicked his tongue, grabbed Eloise’s wrist, and quickly moved to a corner.

When they reached a secluded spot away from others’ gazes, Eloise roughly knocked his hand away.

“Let go!”

Until just now, she had held back since she didn’t want to cause too much commotion, but not anymore.

As she rubbed her wrist as if it hurt, Richard ran his hand over his face and said with a sigh.

“Haah, first I apologize. But calling me a marriage swindler is a bit……”

Richard recalled the gazes of people who had been watching him before coming here.

Those who didn’t know who he was looked at his neat face and attire and whispered as if they understood the situation.

He had only dressed well because he didn’t want to look shabby even during a mission, but to think he would be misunderstood like this.

“You’ve done something far worse than that, which is why I let you off with just that, Sir Richard Cameron.”

Eloise’s still sharp gaze glared at him.

“Now, explain immediately where you’ve been all this time, and where on earth Ryan and Philip have gone. If not……”

Eloise threatened as if she would grab him by the collar at any moment.

“I’ll accuse you of an even more terrible crime.”

As she said this, Eloise grabbed the upper part of her blouse.

Richard’s face turned pale as he guessed what crime she might accuse him of. Seeing him like this, Eloise smiled even more.

“Come to think of it, you said earlier that if Ryan had heard, you would have been dead? Then it seems you still have enough of a relationship that Ryan would come to kill you?”

“……”

At Eloise’s pointed remark, Richard bit his lip.

Seeing him unable to say anything, Eloise took a deep breath.

Richard raised both hands, realizing she was about to shout loudly.

“I surrender, I surrender. Alright, I’ll answer as much as I can, so please don’t cause any more commotion.”

At Richard’s now compliant attitude, Eloise exhaled the breath she had taken.

“Fine. Let’s ask the most urgent question first. Where did Philip Osborne go? Did he really deceive my friend and run away?”

She wanted to grab Richard’s collar and shake him, demanding to know where Ryan was, but Abigail’s situation was more urgent.

“I swear to God, I swear to Her Majesty the Queen, that’s absolutely not the case. Philip……”

Richard hesitated several times, moving his lips, then closed his eyes tightly and answered.

“He was ordered by the military to urgently carry out a mission. Please don’t ask me any more than that. I’m a soldier who must obey military law.”

“……”

Looking at Richard answering with an uncharacteristically serious voice, Eloise softened her raised eyebrows a little.

They say you can’t judge a person by appearances, but Richard’s words and expression now seemed too genuine to be a lie just to get out of this situation.

“I heard he was discharged?”

“That’s because it’s easier to operate in various ways. When the mission ends, his position will be temporarily restored and then he’ll be discharged again.”

“Why discharge again?”

“Because Philip wants to stay by Abigail’s side. If he’s in the military, he can’t be with her all day, can he?”

Richard continued speaking.

“I assure you, once this mission is over, Philip will return straight to Abigail’s side. When he first received the order, I wish I could show you how shocked and angry he was.”

“…Alright. Let’s say that’s the case with Philip, then what about Ryan? Is he safe?”

She had intended to demand where that man was, but her honest feelings came out first without her realizing it.

“I heard there’s no record of him? That such a person doesn’t exist.”

“That’s…….”

Richard was at a loss for words again.

He wanted to tell Eloise everything.

‘His real name is Ryan Wilgrave, that’s why! Ryan Thornton is just a name he uses for missions! But for this operation, all his past records were completely destroyed! And it seems he hasn’t told you about this yet!’

…Richard pressed his lips together as he imagined saying all this.

Otherwise, he felt like he would really spill everything.

‘That would be disastrous!’

First, Eloise would grab him by the collar, then Ryan would catch him, and then the army superiors might point guns at him. He was a soldier with a duty of confidentiality. If he violated that? Execution.

After briefly imagining this terrible scenario, he looked at Eloise again.

“Just… please understand that it’s all related to the mission. Both Ryan and Philip. None of them betrayed the people of Feltham. They all just want to return as soon as possible.”

That was true. Both Ryan and Philip had already made the village, which they had initially thought they would stay in for just one season, their heart’s home.

Richard looked anxiously at a clock tower in the distance and then said to Eloise.

“I have to go. I’m also on a mission. And keep everything secret—that you heard these things from me, that you met me. Otherwise, you too will be troubled.”

Then, as if still not feeling at ease, he advised again.

“Act as usual. Make sure no one around you notices that something happened to you today. No, just live as if you never met me today. Well then…”

“Wait!”

Eloise grabbed Richard as he was about to turn away.

He was already very troubled just for having shared such minor information.

She didn’t know exactly what mission the three of them were assigned to, but it was clearly something very serious.

‘But he won’t tell me more even if I ask.’

However, she couldn’t let go of this connection to Ryan that she had barely managed to catch.

“Give me your contact information. Just in case, if you give me a fake address……”

“Alright, alright. 55 Simeon Street, third floor, first room. You can send letters there. Come out a while after I leave.”

After saying that, Richard slightly bowed his head and hurriedly left.

As he instructed, Eloise came back out to the main street about five minutes after Richard had left.

She looked around just in case, but as expected, Richard was nowhere to be seen.

Even the people who had been briefly interested earlier were no longer around, suggesting they had all considered it a minor incident and gone their own way.

Eloise headed to the library she had originally intended to visit, as if nothing had happened.

As her excitement subsided, she began to understand the situation bit by bit.

‘Just how significant a mission were they assigned to?’

What could make even the playful Richard act so cautiously?

Entering the library, Eloise found a seat in the corner. As she caught her breath, she immediately thought of Ryan.

‘Is Ryan alright?’

A mission that required erasing one’s existence. She couldn’t even guess where he might be or what he might be doing.

As with all secret missions, they rarely become known to the world. But she could guess that this kind of mission was not common.

After pondering for a while, Eloise got up and headed to the reference room.

After all, the things she was worrying about were beyond her control. If that was the case, shouldn’t she focus on what she had intended to do?

Even while thinking this, Eloise recalled the last time she had seen Ryan.

Then belatedly, she remembered.

“I forgot to ask who Sylvia is!”

* * *

Ryan, who had been hiding in the grass, suddenly shuddered from a chill that came over him.

“What’s wrong?”

When Philip asked in a whisper, Ryan shook his head and put the telescope back to his eye.

“It suddenly got cold.”

Despite not being one to believe in superstitions, it was such a bone-piercing chill that he wondered if someone was cursing him.

He would like to get up and run around a bit, but he couldn’t do that now. Ryan’s expression hardened at the scene visible through the telescope.

“At least 30,000.”

The old battlefield, which people thought would be empty after the war, was filled with Gilian troops.

As if they were ready to board ships and advance to Albion at any moment.