Eloise pondered for a very brief moment. Had Richard gone mad? Or were her ears deceiving her?

Richard, seeming to understand her bewilderment, spoke again.

“I know it sounds absurd. But the higher-ups want more concrete evidence of treason. We’ve confirmed that information known only to a limited number of people has been leaked. And above all…”

Richard swallowed dryly.

Yesterday, another informant had secured and brought back a code that had already been passed to Gilia.

Those who deciphered its contents were horrified. Along with various military information about Albion, it also contained information about Ryan Wilgrave’s current whereabouts. And it was detailed and accurate.

Naturally, the military leadership was in an uproar. Especially Baron Stanford.

It was clearly a message ordering Ryan Wilgrave’s assassination.

“At this rate, Ryan will be in danger. No, he might already be in danger.”

At that moment, the corners of Eloise’s eyes turned upward. Then, composing her voice as much as possible, she said calmly:

“It can’t be helped. Everyone must be desperate to kill Colonel Wilgrave.”

“That’s what I—!”

Richard, who had been responding reflexively, closed his mouth in surprise. Then, trying to recover quickly, he attempted to continue naturally.

“That’s what I meant. So you’ve heard that Colonel Wilgrave is involved in this matter.”

It was quite a brazen and natural voice. But Eloise, who had already overheard Sinclair’s conversation, couldn’t just let it go with an “I see.”

“Richard. I understand why you didn’t become a spy. You’re not very good at lying, are you?”

At Eloise’s cold voice, Richard, who had been trying to act as if nothing was wrong, squeezed his eyes shut.

“How long do you intend to mock me? Richard, I already heard everything while eavesdropping on Lady Sinclair’s conversation, including the fact that Ryan Thornton is Ryan Wilgrave.”

When Eloise said this, Richard finally hung his head.

He realized that further denial would be futile.

But since he couldn’t be the first to confirm that the two men were indeed the same person, he simply kept his mouth shut and watched Eloise’s reaction.

“Ha…”

Seeing Richard’s attitude, Eloise just let out a small laugh.

Honestly, until he spoke, she had held a small hope.

Sinclair must have been mistaken. She must be under some great misunderstanding.

She had believed this because Ryan had never directly told her that he was Ryan Wilgrave.

She didn’t want to believe facts heard from others rather than directly from him. Of course, she knew that wasn’t entirely right. Still, after spending half a year together… surely…

“Haah…”

Eloise sighed and ran both hands over her face.

As she recalled the time spent with him, the conversations she had with Ryan also flashed through her mind.

From their first meeting, Ryan Wilgrave had been between the two of them.

Wasn’t it Ryan Wilgrave who had modeled for the portrait Eloise had drawn, and hadn’t their dinner conversations ultimately ended with talk about Ryan Wilgrave?

Even afterward, Ryan Wilgrave was always between them.

In their mealtime conversations, during tea breaks while preparing for the Blissbury gathering, and when absently watching the fireplace while working late into the evening.

All those times had been cherished memories for Eloise until now.

But after realizing he was Ryan Wilgrave, they all felt like moments of deception.

And the embarrassment that came with this realization was entirely hers to bear.

Unable to sleep until dawn, Eloise had wondered what Ryan must have thought of her for not recognizing that he was Colonel Wilgrave.

‘He must have laughed at me.’

How ridiculous she must have looked.

Not recognizing the very person standing before her, how pathetic must her worshipful chatter have sounded to him?

Thinking about it, embarrassment washed over her, making her face flush hot.

It was the same now. Imagining how Ryan must have been looking at her all this time, she couldn’t raise her head due to the awkwardness and shame.

At the same time, anger welled up inside her.

During that long time, even though they had gone through life and death together, he hadn’t said a word about his true identity.

Of course, she knew that was the proper conduct for a soldier. Even so, after promising a future together, how long had he planned to keep it hidden?

As her thoughts began to sink into a swamp of gloom, Eloise bit her lip hard.

She wanted nothing more than to grab Ryan by the collar and demand to know why he had deceived her all this time. For that to happen…

‘He needs to come back alive.’

Setting aside all emotions, Ryan needed to return alive first.

Eloise wiped her eyes, which had almost become moist, with the back of her hand and bit her lip again.

“So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

She would have to settle everything after Ryan returned alive.

* * *

Bang!

With a loud noise, a flash of light erupted on the hillside. Recognizing the distinctive sound of a bomb, the soldiers immediately threw themselves to the ground and covered their faces.

Here and there, soldiers called out for God while simultaneously crying for their mothers. They all thought the pursuing Albion forces had begun shelling them.

But there was only one explosion.

After lying prostrate for a while, they looked up at the hill where the sound had come from. But it was quiet there as if no explosion had ever occurred, and the soldiers who had been lying down got up one by one and quickly moved away.

Meanwhile, the retreating ships continued to wash up on the shore. The soldiers couldn’t wait for the ships to dock completely, and many were climbing down using ropes or ladders, while others simply jumped into the sea to reach land.

The defeated soldiers who had returned to their homeland soon forgot about the small explosion on the hill.

They just wanted everything to be over and to return home as quickly as possible as they left the shore.

“Huff, huff…”

Ryan was breathing heavily on a sand pile next to the trench.

The strong sea breeze carried the smell of gunpowder and the thick scent of blood.

He didn’t need to check what was making the sticky sand cling to his face and refuse to come off.

With no sound other than the wind, Ryan slowly got up.

“Ugh…”

Due to his hasty movements, he felt a dull pain in his wrist and leg.

After moving them a few times, he exhaled in relief. Fortunately, nothing was cracked or broken.

After moving a few more times, he stood up and looked into the trench.

Click. When he lit the lighter he had kept in his pocket, his face contorted.

Inside the trench was a horribly mutilated corpse. It was the body of the attacker who had blown himself up with a grenade.

After confirming that he was completely dead, Ryan searched his body. Sticky blood covered his hands, but this was no time to worry about such things.

However, he couldn’t find anything that would reveal the attacker’s identity.

Finally, he put the lighter back in his pocket, then sat with his back against the outside of the trench and recalled the attacker’s last words.

The attacker had called him by name. A voice that had no doubt that Ryan Wilgrave was here.

‘Where did the information leak from?’

Ryan tried to think of who might know his location information. Then his face quickly darkened.

‘Is it that person?’

* * *

Earl Wallace’s mansion was quiet today as well.

As if completely unaware of the clash between the two countries’ armies that had occurred at dawn on the southern coast far away.

But contrary to that tranquility, in the reception room, Earl Wallace was pacing back and forth restlessly, unable to calm down.

Meanwhile, the large grandfather clock on the wall struck 7 PM.

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the clock, then ordered the butler who had just entered:

“I’m going to Sinclair, that woman’s house. Get ready.”