In that moment, Eloise felt as if she heard her heart plummet to the floor with a thud.

Just moments ago, she had truly believed God was watching over her. But in this brief instant, had God momentarily looked away from her?

‘Perhaps this is just an auditory hallucination.’

Eloise slowly turned her head, harboring a hope that even she knew was absurd.

But there stood Sinclair, dressed in black, staring at her with cold eyes.

Her appearance, as if she had emerged straight from the darkness, involuntarily brought the word “death” to Eloise’s mind.

“Eloise? I’m asking you a question.”

Was she no longer bothering to maintain even the outward courtesy she had shown before? Sinclair’s tone was like that of someone scolding a servant who had done wrong.

When Eloise remained silent, Sinclair strode toward her with purposeful steps.

Eloise didn’t back away. There was no point—this was Sinclair’s mansion after all. There was nowhere for her to escape.

Sinclair approaching in her black attire looked like death itself drawing near.

But Eloise wasn’t afraid.

Her initial frozen reaction had been from surprise, not fear of Sinclair. That’s why she could stare directly at Sinclair without any change in her expression.

As Sinclair came closer, her black outfit became more visible.

Her hat, adorned only with a black onyx brooch, was made of glossy rabbit fur.

The collar wrapped tightly around her neck, and below it, a neat and elegant mourning dress.

At today’s funeral, Sinclair would surely stand closer to Ryan’s coffin than others.

That must be why she had dressed with such care.

Upon seeing Sinclair’s attire, Eloise couldn’t help but let out a small, bitter laugh.

She herself hadn’t even received an invitation to her lover’s funeral, let alone been able to attend it.

Though she understood it was inevitable since she hadn’t even known his real name, anger welled up inside her at the thought that this woman would stand closer to him in his final moments than she would.

Wasn’t it this anger that kept her attached to finding evidence in this dangerous place?

Since it had come to this, she might as well…

After learning Sinclair was a spy, and after hearing of Ryan’s death, Eloise had often imagined slitting Sinclair’s throat if given the chance.

Even if only in her imagination, she wanted to vent some of her anger on this spy.

So the scene naturally continued with her taking a gun from her pocket and pointing it at Sinclair…

Just as the scene was about to continue with her naturally firing the gun, Eloise realized why she had such thoughts.

Eloise’s gaze went to her pocket.

She could see the coat pocket bulging with something heavy inside.

And between the slightly open pocket was…

Eloise smiled as she took out the small notebook from her pocket.

‘Let’s see what she’ll say.’

Eloise looked directly at Sinclair and said to herself.

Let’s pretend it’s a gun.

Sinclair stopped in her tracks at the sight of Eloise’s bright smile.

She too was exhausted from staying up all night.

Finally, today was the day!

How she had waited for this day since Ryan Wilgrave’s funeral was announced.

For today, there were many things to spend on, many people to cut off.

Fortunately, there had been no major issues so far. At this rate, their plan would surely end in success today.

The items placed in the courtyard would have all safely arrived at their necessary destinations by dawn.

Those things would now make Colonel Wilgrave’s funeral even more special today.

That’s why Sinclair had put so much effort into the clothes she would wear today.

She would need to exchange greetings with many people at every necessary moment.

So it would be courteous to give them a more respectful impression.

She had heard that her Lensk colleagues had already bought black armbands.

They could surely sell them at a high price since many people would suddenly need to dress in mourning.

As she was coming down to see the luggage leaving from dawn with such good thoughts, she saw the girl who had been staying in the guesthouse putting something in her pocket as she came out of the courtyard.

‘Eloise!’

Honestly, she had been so busy preparing for today that she didn’t even know if Eloise was still in the mansion.

She thought the butler had said she would leave today.

Anyway, there was no reason to see her again!

The only reason she had allowed her to stay was a slight feeling of guilt for causing the death of her lover.

Now that had no other meaning, but the moment she saw Eloise hurriedly coming out of the courtyard, a sudden ominous feeling washed over her.

Sinclair felt her blood run cold as she tried to recall when she had last felt this way.

It was similar to the foreboding she had felt when Ryan Wilgrave had repeatedly thwarted their plans.

That’s why she had hurriedly come down and stopped Eloise without even realizing it.

‘There shouldn’t have been anything left in the courtyard anyway.’

They had covered the wooden storage boxes with blankets.

To an unknowing observer, they would look like food supplies temporarily placed in the courtyard with family.

Of course, the quantity was large, but since no one had been passing through the courtyard since the day those items arrived, they wouldn’t have caught anyone else’s eye.

So even if Eloise had been there and left, she wouldn’t have been able to figure out what they were.

Despite thinking this, her heart was still pounding.

She needed to check what Eloise had put in her pocket right now.

If she had taken something dangerous, she would surely look flustered when confronted.

So when she saw Eloise stop in her tracks, Sinclair was convinced something was wrong.

Seeing the dismay on her face as she turned around only strengthened her conviction.

But from then on, things didn’t go as expected.

“Is this what you’re referring to?”

Eloise said this and then took it out.

As if showing what it was wasn’t that difficult, even though she had hidden it.

‘Was it… that?’

What Sinclair had actually seen was Eloise putting something in her pocket and then hurriedly coming out.

“What is that?”

She needed to confirm what it was to get rid of this uneasy feeling.

She extended her hand as if asking Eloise to hand it over first, but Eloise didn’t give up what she was holding.

This made Sinclair even more anxious.

Her gaze was completely focused on what Eloise was holding.

“It’s something I’d rather not show…”

Saying this, Eloise ignored Sinclair’s outstretched hand and took a step back.

Sinclair became even more impatient.

Finally, she moved closer and snatched it from Eloise’s hand.

She hurriedly opened it and saw what appeared to be handwritten text.

Thinking it might be a notebook, she tried to look more closely when she heard Eloise’s flustered voice.

“Ah! Why did you…”

At Eloise’s seemingly flustered voice, Sinclair realized how rude her action had been.

But even so, her eyes continued to scan the contents.

She was worried that it might contain telegrams related to this matter.

But what Sinclair saw was an unexpected sentence.

‘In that room… there will be piles of hatching masses…?’

It contained what looked like a sentence from some cheap novel sold on the streets.

As Sinclair looked at it in confusion, trying to figure out what it was, Eloise snatched the book back just as Sinclair had done to her, and said with agitation:

“This is a treasure map my godmother gave me!”

“Treasure map?”

“Yes. I thought the mansion I inherited was just an old abandoned house, but apparently there’s an incredible treasure inside.”

At Eloise’s excited voice, Sinclair was dumbfounded.

This wasn’t a children’s adventure novel—what an absurd story.

“My godmother wrote it like a novel and gave me this riddle. If I solve it, I too can become a famous figure in society.”

As Eloise said this with sparkling eyes, Sinclair felt embarrassed.

She felt foolish for losing her composure over something like this.

“…I see.”

With nothing more to say, Sinclair just stared blankly.

“I didn’t realize you were such a normal person.”

It seemed that was a lie, and that this Eloise—oblivious to the current situation and excited about a futile dream—might be the real Eloise.

“By the way, Lady Sinclair, I heard you’re attending the funeral… Could I perhaps go with you? I’d like to observe, since many important people will be there…”

“That won’t be possible. I’m sorry.”

With even her desire to continue the conversation completely gone, Sinclair slightly bowed her head and said:

“Goodbye then, Eloise.”

With those final words, she turned around, and thus didn’t see it.

The cold glare in Eloise’s eyes as she watched Sinclair walk away.