“Cough!”

As Eloise let out a rough cough, Mrs. Surberton, who was sitting next to her, hurriedly stood up.

“Eloise, are you alright?”

At her mother’s worried voice, Eloise answered with a slightly annoyed expression.

“I just swallowed water the wrong way.”

Eloise continued coughing and drank the remaining water in her cup in one go. The tickling sensation in her throat seemed to subside a little.

Not that the coughing had completely subsided.

Eventually, as Eloise started coughing again while hitting her chest, Mr. Surberton’s lips hardened from where he sat on a sofa a little distance away.

Although he usually wore a kind-looking smile, now he was grinding his teeth with such a frightening expression that everyone who knew him would doubt their eyes.

“Ryan, that rotten bastard…”

Mrs. Surberton’s eyes widened at his uncharacteristically rough language. But she didn’t stop her husband’s harsh words. Rather…

“Darling, when exactly are you going to kill him? I’ve already bought the gun.”

…she went one step further and casually uttered terrifying words.

“Really, both of you, stop it!”

Eloise finished patting her chest and raised her voice.

“If anyone’s going to kill him, it’ll be me, so both of you wait your turn!”

At their daughter’s bold statement, the Surberton couple finally closed their mouths.

Just then, the door opened and Emily entered. In her hands was a plate filled with cream soup loaded with ingredients.

As steam rose from what must have been freshly boiled soup, Eloise unconsciously swallowed.

Seeing Eloise, Mrs. Surberton took her husband’s arm.

“We’ll leave so you can eat comfortably.”

“But we still need to finish the agreement documents for Baron Stanford.”

The Surberton couple left the room, huffing with indignation, arm in arm with the determination to deal with a certain someone. They looked quite affectionate.

Emily shook her head as she watched the Surberton couple close the door and leave.

“They’re really crazy. Both of them are too much.”

Then she said with a bright smile:

“If they kill him, I won’t have anything to do except look after you. They could at least let me know if Ryan sprains a finger.”

Although it might sound like a joke, Eloise, who knew Emily well, couldn’t say anything.

‘She’s completely obsessed!’

While Eloise was breaking out in a cold sweat, Emily placed the tray on the bedside table.

“I’ll leave this here. Please eat comfortably. And…”

Emily took out a newspaper from one of her apron pockets and placed it behind.

“This is yesterday’s newspaper.”

“Thank you, Emily.”

“Don’t mention it. When I think about how I envied you, believing you were living comfortably in the capital while not knowing how much you were suffering, I want to hang myself…!”

Emily’s voice was suddenly choked with emotion.

Thinking that she would start crying again as she always did if left like this, Eloise hurriedly consoled her.

“Oh my, the soup will get cold. It looks delicious with all those carrots and asparagus. I’ll eat it quickly before it gets cold. Please go and take care of my parents’ meal too.”

“Ah, yes, yes!”

Emily couldn’t just focus on Eloise’s meal.

Emily left the room after nagging that she should finish everything without leaving any leftovers.

“Don’t worry. I’ll eat it all right away.”

“Enjoy your meal!”

The moment Emily closed the door and left after receiving multiple assurances…

Eloise immediately picked up the newspaper Emily had left.

As soon as she opened the newspaper, the headline caught her eye.

‘Rescued from terrorism, all new accomplices left behind…’

Reading those words, Eloise bit her lip.

Two weeks had already passed since that terrible day.

Sinclair collapsed and the Albion army surrounded them. Eloise blankly watched as she was dragged away.

Meanwhile, the guards who had followed were busy putting out the fire that had caught on the mansion.

Everything felt unreal, as if happening in a very distant place.

All Eloise could do was feel that everything was over and sense Ryan’s warmth as he continued to hold her hand.

Eloise lost consciousness after hearing Ryan’s voice asking if she was alright.

And when she opened her eyes again, the Surberton couple and Emily were sobbing by her bedside.

As it turned out, contact from Mrs. Fairfax had stopped at some point.

Worried, the Surberton couple immediately began packing their bags.

With Emily also begging to be taken along, the three of them rented a carriage and went to the capital.

On the way, they met someone sent by Baron Stanford and learned that a large-scale terrorist attack had occurred in the capital.

And that Eloise was deeply involved in it.

From that moment, the three urged the coachman on without even sleeping and rushed to the capital.

And the three came face to face with Eloise, who was still unconscious, at Baron Stanford’s mansion in the capital.

“They said all hell broke loose after that…”

Even Emily, who was making a fuss about not letting this go, couldn’t properly explain how furiously Mr. Surberton had raged that day.

What’s certain is that Mr. Surberton threw a punch at Ryan as soon as he saw him.

“I guess I really am my father’s daughter.”

Although raising a hand against someone was never a commendable action, honestly, considering what Ryan had done, he deserved praise just for not using a knife on the spot.

And according to Emily, Ryan, knowing his fault, quietly accepted Mr. Surberton’s anger without making a single excuse.

The problem is that he hasn’t been seen since then!

He couldn’t have heard the news that she had regained consciousness, but there’s been no sign of him until today.

Eloise ate the soup Emily had brought while flipping through the newspaper.

Perhaps because she had only eaten tasteless porridge at Sinclair’s house for the past few weeks.

The soup that Emily had made with plenty of good ingredients and care was delicious enough to bring tears to her eyes.

As she continued to swallow the warm soup while reading the newspaper with her eyes, an article on page 2 caught Eloise’s attention.

“The royal family has quietly decided to hold Colonel Ryan Wilgrave’s funeral again…?”

Eloise tilted her head.

Hold again? Does that mean Colonel Wilgrave is really dead?

“What does this mean?”

How could they hold a funeral for someone who was clearly alive?

Then Eloise suddenly remembered that in none of the newspapers she had seen over the past few days had there been any interviews with Ryan or statements of his position.

“…?”

Since it was natural for her that Ryan was alive, she hadn’t paid any attention to such details.

But thinking about it now, Ryan himself hadn’t appeared anywhere in the newspaper articles.

As if he didn’t exist.

‘What’s going on!’

Why would the royal family try to hide his survival? There should be no reason to hide it anymore.

‘If it’s not the imperial court’s decision…’

Perhaps he wanted it that way.

‘But why would he have a reason for that?’

The terrorist attack had failed, and through this incident, the Albion imperial court had caught not only the hidden forces of Lensk but also the corrupt nobles.

There was damage, but they had boldly pruned the rotten parts, so now the tree called Albion had only to grow strong again.

And all this credit should rightfully go to Colonel Wilgrave, so why had all traces of him disappeared?

Full of questions, Eloise turned the newspaper page again.

Perhaps because of this, the article about the heir to the Earl of Wallace suddenly passing away due to worsening illness didn’t remain in her mind and passed by.

That night, after consulting with the doctor, Mr. Surberton told Eloise:

“I think we should return the day after tomorrow. Baron Stanford said he would send his personal physician to Blissbury, so there will be no problem with your treatment.”

Eloise said nothing to her father’s words.

She too wanted to go home now.

But before that, she needed to settle everything.

Perhaps knowing Eloise’s feelings:

“Miss,” Emily said as she entered with a face like she had swallowed half a rabbit.

“Ryan is here to see you.”