They appeared to be horses brought by the soldiers.

Startled by the continuous gunfire and explosions, the horses tried to flee but were tightly bound, so they could only neigh in distress, not knowing what to do.

Eloise turned her head. At the cathedral entrance, people were pushing each other in a frantic rush to get outside.

Meanwhile, the gunfire continued, and the area was filled with people falling while screaming, and others crying for help as they were trampled after falling.

No matter how she looked at it, if they ran toward that direction now, the people there would also become victims of Sinclair’s group following behind them.

‘In that case…’

Eloise approached the tethered horse.

“Eloise! What are you trying to…”

“Untie this right now! Hurry!”

When Eloise snapped, Ryan looked back and forth between her and the horse, then sighed and quickly took out his dagger to cut the rope.

“Give me a boost!”

At Eloise’s cry, Ryan immediately grasped her arms and bent down.

Using Ryan as a good foothold, Eloise lightly mounted the horse.

As she grabbed the saddle, Ryan pushed off the ground and jumped up behind her.

It was a skill bordering on acrobatics, but this was no time to be impressed.

“We need to get out of here! Sinclair is targeting us!”

At Eloise’s shout, Ryan, who had taken the reins from her, hesitated for a moment.

“Ryan! Hurry!”

When Eloise urged him, Ryan let out an even deeper sigh and turned the horse’s head. He directed it toward the lowest part of the wall surrounding the cathedral.

“If your parents find out about this, they’ll probably shoot me.”

“They’ll shoot you even if they don’t know! Just ride fast!”

Even while knowing he was trying to lighten the mood with his answer, Eloise pressed him with a voice devoid of fear.

Ryan realized how low his reputation had fallen from her certainty that her parents would shoot him regardless.

And he thought that after all this was over, when he faced the Surberton couple again, he might have to crawl on all fours before them.

Anyway, for both him and Eloise to return to Feltham, they somehow needed to survive and escape this moment.

“Hold tight, very tight. If you lose your grip, you’ll tumble straight to the ground.”

Eloise knew well how badly one could be hurt from falling off a horse.

So she held on tightly as Ryan instructed.

She held onto him.

Ryan, though tense, pulled Eloise closer to him.

As if he would cushion all the impact should they fall.

“There they are!”

Just then, Sinclair’s voice was heard from above.

Looking up, they saw that she and her followers had already emerged from the collapsed wall of the cathedral.

They had fully loaded pistols in their hands again.

Ryan immediately kicked the horse’s side.

The confused horse pulled its head back slightly, then upon receiving the signal, began to gallop quickly as if finally released.

The cathedral wall grew closer and closer.

When the horse suddenly leaped, Eloise closed her eyes tightly and held on.

She felt her body rise and her heart sink with the sensation of falling.

And just when she thought she would hear a crash…

With a thud, the ground made contact, and the horse continued its gallop.

Eloise immediately opened her eyes wide.

She met Ryan’s gaze as he looked back at her with a smile.

They had safely cleared the wall.

But they couldn’t just relax.

Behind them, gunshots sounded, and the ground beside the horse was gouged out.

Sinclair’s group had resumed their attack.

“Run!”

At Eloise’s shout, Ryan urged the horse on as if he had been thinking the same thing.

The intelligent animal immediately understood what its human riders wanted and began galloping toward the wide road.

The horse carrying the two ran swiftly, leaving behind people fleeing and others rushing toward the commotion to see what was happening.

Several gunshots were heard behind them, but none hit their mark.

“Keep running!”

Just as Eloise shouted excitedly at the thought of having escaped safely, the sound of hoofbeats, not gunshots, was heard from behind.

At that sound, Eloise leaned out from Ryan’s side to look back.

Then she immediately cried out in a frightened voice.

“Sinclair is following us…!”

Though she thought they would give up the pursuit, Sinclair’s group was determined not to let them escape and followed on the remaining horses.

Shouts from the startled soldiers could also be heard.

“Fire!”

“Quickly! We can’t let Sinclair escape! She’s the one who planned this!”

Sinclair’s group jumped over the same wall that Eloise and Ryan had cleared, evading the pursuing soldiers.

But they couldn’t all make it through so smoothly.

The first few managed to jump over successfully, but when one horse hesitated and failed to clear the wall properly, all the horses following behind also stopped.

The soldiers didn’t miss this opportunity.

Guns blazed again, and several terrorists fell to the ground.

But it wasn’t the end.

About ten people, including Sinclair, were still pursuing Eloise and Ryan.

Now seemingly without any restraint, they continued firing ahead.

Seeing a bystander on the long road get hit by a bullet and collapse, Eloise realized they needed to escape to a less populated area.

“Where should we go?”

The first place that came to mind was the Army Headquarters.

It would be convenient to just keep galloping along the main road, but it was long and too crowded with people.

Moreover, their horse carrying two people would surely tire faster than the horses behind them, each carrying only one person.

A secluded place not too far away where people wouldn’t be harmed.

Suddenly, one place came to Eloise’s mind.

“Give me the reins!”

Eloise snatched the reins from Ryan’s hands and turned the horse’s head to the side.

Then she quickly galloped down a narrow alley.

Behind them, Sinclair’s group continued to shoot.

The gunfire stopped, perhaps because they had used up all the bullets loaded in their pistols.

But they couldn’t relax.

‘There might still be some of their remaining forces elsewhere.’

She couldn’t be certain that everyone had come to the cathedral.

Considering the amount of explosives they had, it was possible they had planted their allies elsewhere to cause chaos in the capital after the cathedral attack succeeded.

So she needed to lure Sinclair away while avoiding places where people gathered.

And there was only one place in the capital that Eloise knew well.

“Move aside! Get out of the way!”

Shouting to prevent others from getting hurt, Eloise could see in the distance the hill where her inherited mansion stood.

After a while, Eloise arrived in front of the mansion.

“Get off!”

“Where is this?”

“A place for us to hide!”

Ryan didn’t ask further.

He immediately dismounted, then caught Eloise as she almost fell off.

Then he patted the horse’s rear.

The horse, momentarily confused, ran off down another alley that caught its eye.

Not far away, the sound of other hoofbeats could be heard approaching.

Sinclair had persistently followed them all the way here.

Eloise quickly grabbed Ryan’s hand and entered the mansion.

The mansion door opened easily with just a strong push, as she had only loosely secured it when she left.

At first, she thought about hiding in the basement.

But if they were discovered there, they would have nowhere else to escape.

So if they were going to hide, the upper floor would be better.

At that moment, something flashed through Eloise’s mind.

She immediately rummaged through the bag she was still carrying on her shoulder.

Soon, a small pistol appeared in Eloise’s hand.

It was the gun her parents had used.

“Here it is!”

Sinclair hurriedly dismounted in front of the old mansion with its open front door.

The other Lenskians following her shouted.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just escape!”

The plan had failed.

So wouldn’t it be better to hide somewhere and quietly escape to Lensk to plan for the future?

But Sinclair, with bloodshot eyes, exclaimed.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I must kill Ryan Wilgrave, that bastard, no matter what!”