At that time, he thought it would just end with a moment of absurdity.

Though he chuckled wryly several times, when Ryan returned to the mansion, he ultimately felt the emptiness again and shut himself in his room.

In fact, even then, he occasionally remembered. Her saying she admired Ryan Wilgrave without knowing who he was. Her glaring at him directly, telling him not to speak carelessly.

Above all, what kept appearing before Ryan’s eyes was Eloise reluctantly offering him apple pie as if she really didn’t want to give it to him.

While her eyes wished he would quickly disappear, she forced a smile, and strangely, he kept wanting to break down that expression.

Then, with Mr. Surberton’s absence and the continued preparations for the Blissbury party, one day Ryan suddenly realized:

‘Since when did I start eating meals?’

He couldn’t even drink water properly. He couldn’t remember when he had last chewed and swallowed food.

His stomach was always burning and bringing up acid. But at some point, he was sitting at the table, bickering with Eloise about the party while pushing bread into his mouth.

That wasn’t all.

‘Since when did I start sleeping comfortably?’

At some point, he no longer spent the entire dark night lost in thought.

After washing up and lying down in bed, he would fall asleep right away and wake up to the birds chirping at dawn. When he opened the door, the brightening sky and fresh air would rush deep into his chest.

Then, when he heard Eloise’s yawn as she opened her window, having apparently woken up around the same time, the darkness that had tried to settle back into his heart during the night would be pushed away.

Recalling those times, Ryan covered his mouth with his hand.

‘How foolish.’

Thinking about it, he must have been completely smitten with her much earlier than he had realized.

He had escaped the emptiness that had weighed him down for most of his life.

Why had he only thought about how to tease Eloise again as she glared at him?

He regretted, far too late, that if he had realized earlier, wouldn’t he have held her hand at least one more time?

***

In front of him still stood the Earl of Wallace, struggling and repeating that he couldn’t believe what Ryan had said.

The moment he saw him, Ryan’s expression crumpled.

Even though the earl was truly ruined, Ryan wasn’t particularly happy. In fact, he found it more difficult to say that he was conceived from that vile man’s seed than to say that he was Ryan Wilgrave.

He could have lied. He could have said his father and mother were already dead.

But he wanted to strictly adhere to Albion’s old tradition that there should be no secrets between each other before the pre-wedding, before making the sacred vow. Because that was how a proper marriage should be done.

‘For life……’

Ryan silently repeated that phrase in his mind and felt a little embarrassed.

It felt like there was a more intimate desire in those words than in a kiss.

With Eloise, continuously, together, properly. Yesterday, he had felt like she was a vast ocean and he was merely a single fish. A lowly creature that could breathe only when she was present.

As soon as he thought of Eloise again, his already sharp nerves became even more sensitive.

He called out to the soldiers outside:

“The visit is over. Return the earl to his place!”

Until they came in and grabbed his arms again, the Earl of Wallace still wore an expression of incomprehension.

Then, as if finally coming to his senses, he shouted:

“You’ll definitely regret this!”

With what he believed to be his most reliable connection severed, he could do nothing but shout.

Even seeing the earl’s face, once full of arrogance, now distorted, Ryan wasn’t excited at all. In the past, he would have at least sneered.

Now, his mind was filled with thoughts of Eloise that simply wouldn’t go away once they had surfaced.

Leaving the earl’s fading voice behind, he hurriedly returned to his room as if flying. Then he frantically began to handle the remaining work.

Only one thing remained in his mind:

‘I need to go see Eloise.’

And finally today, he was able to leave at last.

Of course, it wasn’t over. There were still remnants of the enemy, and the military was deliberately keeping his life or death status unclear to extract information.

The more chaotic things were, the more things tended to emerge.

When he left the mansion that was being used as a temporary office, a carriage quickly arrived and stopped in front.

The moment the door opened, Ryan immediately bowed his head.

The Prince was getting out of the carriage.

As soon as the Prince saw him, he beckoned him over and moved to a spot away from other people.

“The Sinclair matter is roughly finished. She didn’t open her mouth until the end, but the mouths of those she had released were quite loose.”

Needless to say, they had caught the remnants who were trying to flee without participating in the terrorism, and they had spilled everything.

“Overall, you’ve done well, but where were you heading?”

“Well……”

“Oh my, I asked something obvious. Eloise Surberton. Were you on your way to see that young lady?”

Ryan hesitated for a moment.

He hadn’t yet spoken to Philip about her. Then he immediately recalled how many informants the Prince had around him.

Among them would surely be Richard and Colin. So he probably already knew well about the relationship between Eloise and himself.

Ryan decided to think positively. It was fortunate that he didn’t have to explain at length himself.

“……Yes, sir.”

But his voice didn’t sound particularly respectful.

Noticing Ryan’s discourteous mood, the Prince smiled.

He decided to overlook this level of rudeness toward royalty, since he had found out about Ryan’s most private matters before being told.

“But. Was she devoted to liking Colonel Wilgrave?”

At the Prince’s question, Ryan wore a stupid expression.

“I heard she was an ardent supporter of Colonel Wilgrave. I’m asking if that young lady agreed to make him deceased.”

“Ah, well……”

As Ryan hesitated, the Prince’s eyes narrowed.

“You, don’t tell me…… you still haven’t told her?”

At the Prince’s words, Ryan closed his mouth.

“My goodness.”

The Prince clicked his tongue as if in disbelief. Then he patted Ryan’s shoulder.

“I had a lot to say, but it seems impossible now. You should go meet that young lady and talk to her first. Anyway, in this state, I don’t think you’ll hear anything I say, so go ahead.”

With that, the Prince even offered his own carriage, urging him to hurry.

Normally, Ryan would have refused, saying he would rather run there. But today was different.

He bowed deeply to the Prince and got into his carriage without hesitation. Then he rushed straight to where Eloise was.

Ryan couldn’t hide his impatience as he paced back and forth.

Getting this far was good, but……

“Hmph, coming again…… How shameless…….”

He recalled Emily’s face, who had glared at him while muttering sarcastically loud enough for him to hear as soon as she saw him.

It seemed that in the meantime, his reputation had fallen even further among the people here.

It was understandable. It had been two weeks……

During that time, he hadn’t shown his face even once. He couldn’t even send a letter due to various issues.

Ryan wanted to bang his head against the wall. Whatever he said would just be excuses anyway.

Just then, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him.

It would surely be Emily, entering with her eyes narrowed. It would be fortunate if Mr. Surberton didn’t swing his fists.

Thinking this, he turned around, and Ryan froze in place.

There stood Eloise, wearing a shawl, looking at him.