At Emily’s words, Eloise’s gaze turned toward the window.

Although winter nights came early, it was such a deep night outside that it seemed even starlight was sinking into darkness.

Ryan had come to visit at this hour?

Along with a feeling of gladness, a prickly feeling suddenly emerged from deep within her heart. That…

“What took him so long to get here!”

Before Eloise could open her mouth, Mr. Surberton burst out loudly.

And at that outburst, Eloise found herself nodding unconsciously.

What her father had said was exactly what she was thinking right now.

‘Two weeks have passed.’

And after not showing his face once during that time, he suddenly appears at this hour asking to meet?

As Eloise’s face hardened, Emily said with a bright smile:

“Don’t worry. I’ll quickly get lo— ah, no, I’ll tell him that it’s too late and you’re tired, so he should leave!”

After saying this, Emily hurried back outside without properly listening to Eloise’s attempts to stop her.

Ryan was pacing back and forth in the reception room with an anxious expression.

He had rushed straight here from another army safe house currently being used for meetings.

His hair was disheveled from the winter night wind, and his clothes were full of wrinkles left by the cool air, but right now he didn’t even have the presence of mind to fix his appearance.

Currently, his mind was filled only with thoughts of Eloise.

‘She still hadn’t opened her eyes!’

Ryan recalled the last time he had seen Eloise.

***

After being rescued with her from Sinclair’s mansion, Eloise was moved to another safe house belonging to Baron Stanford.

A quiet and clean place near the capital.

He thought all he had to do was wait for Eloise to wake up there, but…

The world wouldn’t leave him in peace.

Being punched by Mr. Surberton who had rushed over wasn’t much of a problem.

No, rather, it was something he deserved.

He wanted to kneel down and bow his head continuously until the man was satisfied enough to sit down.

But Mr. Surberton quickly regained his reason, desperately suppressing his anger.

That made it even heavier and more painful for Ryan.

“Get out. Better if you don’t come back.”

With a cold voice completely devoid of the warmth from their formerly close relationship, Mr. Surberton drove him away.

Ryan had no choice but to leave without saying anything.

Actually, he had planned to stubbornly remain kneeling, hoping to see even a little of Eloise when she woke up, but he overheard Emily glancing at him from the corner and saying to Mrs. Surberton, “Could it be that Miss isn’t waking up because Ryan isn’t leaving?”

‘Could that really be true?’

The doctor had said she was merely sleeping due to fatigue after the tension had released, but as she remained unconscious longer than expected, Ryan increasingly began to think it might be his fault.

In the end, Ryan had to leave.

The person waiting for him after he left was Richard.

“You still have to finish cleaning up!”

He shoved Ryan into the carriage and headed straight for the army headquarters.

The army headquarters after the terrorist attack had been contained was like a battlefield in itself.

First priority was dealing with those who had died or been injured, and new units were immediately organized to calm the agitated public and strengthen security.

They also had to interrogate the arrested Lensk forces, capture those who had fled, and question those who denied having joined hands with Lensk.

There was a mountain of issues to resolve.

When Ryan entered the leadership’s conference room, bloodshot eyes looked at him.
Among them, the person who welcomed Ryan most warmly was, of course, the Prince, the Duke of Kent.

“Ryan! Ryan Wilgrave, how many times are you going to save Albion!”

He embraced Ryan with some excitement and patted him on the back.

“Her Majesty could not attend this meeting but instructed me to commend your achievements on her behalf. She seems ready to grant whatever you ask for! No, she might even grant you the right of succession to the throne. At the rate Her Majesty is going, she might make you part of the royal family and name you first in line for succession!”

Although the Prince was joking, the high nobles and parliament members in the conference room stiffened slightly.

Even knowing it was a joke, the Queen and Prince’s trust in him was so complete and absolute that it wouldn’t be surprising if such a thing actually happened.

Normally, Ryan would have simply expressed his gratitude and changed the subject.
But not this time.

“Will Her Majesty truly grant anything?”

“Oh, you finally want something?”

The Prince was delighted by Ryan’s different response, while the other nobles tensed.

The achievement Ryan had made this time was equal to, no, greater than all his previous accomplishments combined.

Perhaps a statue of him would be erected in the newly constructed central plaza of the capital, and for five hundred years, the people of Albion would look at it with eyes full of respect.

People couldn’t imagine what kind of reward such a great hero would want.

Then Ryan spoke.

“I would like you to kill me.”

“Colonel Wilgrave, what are you saying?”

Not only the Prince but everyone else jumped to their feet.

‘Kill him?’

“To be precise, I would like Colonel Ryan Wilgrave to be treated as completely dead.”

“Colonel Wilgrave, I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The Prince stared at him with eyes seeking an explanation, as if he truly didn’t understand at all.

Instead of answering, Ryan tilted his chin back and looked at each of their faces in turn.

With this incident, Albion had become the hegemon of the continent.

Gilia would not be able to raise its head for decades, and Lensk would also retreat, postponing all their plans.

He was now a hero in Albion, but to everyone else, he was an enemy they would love to tear apart.

That resentment would also be directed at those who had been with him, and there wouldn’t be many moments when they could relax comfortably while still breathing.

In fact, that wasn’t a problem for Ryan.

Since joining the military, he had never felt any great peace, and he had lived with the mindset that it wouldn’t matter much if he died at any time.

But not anymore.

‘I came without even seeing her face properly…!’

Ryan recalled the kiss they had shared in the hidden space of the mansion.

Those green eyes that had been firmly closed as they looked at him.

That gaze that leaned more toward him even while hitting him with resentment.

Ryan realized.

He couldn’t live by Eloise’s side with all the dangers that came with being Ryan Wilgrave.

Although he hadn’t received permission, he had already decided.

He would be by Eloise’s side.

****

The heir to the Earl of Wallace had died.

‘And yet he avoided the funeral…’

Originally, he too had been invited to the funeral.

But claiming poor health, he and the Countess did not attend that day.

Just looking at that, one might say he was lucky.

However, while returning to his mansion near the capital instead of attending the funeral, he met with a carriage accident.

His frail body couldn’t withstand the shock, and eventually, his wounds didn’t heal properly, and he died within a few days.

“Hmm.”

Ryan put down the report again as if it was nothing special.

It was a matter unrelated to him anyway.

Until the Earl of Wallace came looking for him.