“That’s right. It’s for the final site verification…”

Ryan’s voice grew increasingly quieter as he spoke.

The previous night, Richard had come looking for him. Naturally, Ryan frowned. Richard only came to see him when he was bringing dozens of pages of newly increased processing reports.

Moreover, since it hadn’t been long since he’d returned from Eloise’s, Ryan’s mood was even more downcast.

It was because of the conversation he had with Mr. Surberton.

He hadn’t tried to throw punches at Ryan. He had simply told him about Eloise’s condition with a calm expression.

“They say her lungs and entire bronchial system have weakened from being exposed to cold air for so long. Naturally, other parts haven’t fully recovered either.”

“……”

He would have preferred being punched; it would have been easier on his heart.

With each of Mr. Surberton’s words, Ryan could feel his unspoken thought: “Isn’t this all because of you?”

“Moreover, I hear the Army Headquarters forced Eloise to stay longer even after she said she wanted to stop.”

“……”

Ryan hung his head lower and lower at Mr. Surberton’s words.

He had learned about that fact through Richard as well, though only after already punching Richard in the face once.

Mr. Surberton continued pointing out how the Army Headquarters had pushed Eloise excessively while collecting information.

Though he was merely stating facts rather than condemning, Ryan’s heart grew heavier.

After speaking at length about what Eloise had done and her condition, Mr. Surberton said to Ryan:

“All of this happened because she loved you.”

“The doctor said that if she hadn’t been exposed to the cold for so long, even if she had been injured as much, she would have recovered completely.”

Unable to respond to these words, Ryan left without saying anything.

Emily closed the door with a deliberate loud snap!

After returning to his quarters, Ryan just sat there with a blank expression.

Though Philip knew without asking that his condition wasn’t good, he kept his mouth shut and quietly slipped away.

While he felt sorry for Ryan’s situation, Philip had his own more urgent matter with Abigail.

Honestly, he deserved to be scolded. He had set a wedding date and then suddenly postponed it.

So Philip, acting unlike himself, had submitted several petitions to the Army Command that were half plea, half threat.

He asked for permission to explain some details about his mission to his fiancée so he could tell her that he had no choice because he was performing a national duty.

Fortunately, Philip’s request was accepted, and he immediately summoned Abigail and her family to the capital.

Naturally, he sent a carriage specially prepared to bring her safely.

From the moment Abigail faced him, she couldn’t say a word and just started crying.

When a troubled Philip shook his head and looked at her parents, they said with tired faces:

“Abigail has already been hearing unpleasant rumors. And then, after setting a wedding date, she couldn’t even contact her husband-to-be… Can you imagine how much ridicule she’s endured?”

Philip’s face darkened at the words of the Ogilvy couple.

Even in Feltham, there were people who would occasionally mock Abigail.

If that happened in her hometown, people in more distant places would gossip about Abigail even more enthusiastically.

Especially those who disapproved of her marrying a handsome soldier, how they had belittled Abigail, saying that the gifts supposedly sent before the wedding must surely be fake jewels.

That alone would have been difficult enough, but they even whispered that Abigail was a woman who had easily given herself away just for the prospect of marriage.

Her stomach was already in knots from worrying about Philip, and then to have such gazes directed at her—how much she must have suffered.

Even Eloise, who had gone to the capital, had stopped communicating, and the lady had reached the point where she couldn’t sleep properly.

After hearing all this, Philip pulled Abigail into his arms, knelt on both knees, and cried his eyes out, unable to speak for a while.

“Abigail, I want to go to the cathedral right now… No, we can’t hold a ceremony at the cathedral now because of the terrorism. Even a small neighborhood church—I want to go to the local parish church right now and get married. I want to declare before God how sincere my heart is, and I want to become your lawful partner immediately so that you won’t suffer from any more rumors.”

At Philip’s desperate words, Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvy, listening from behind, were both doubled over with laughter but also showed reluctance.

“Well, your heart is in the right place, but to prepare for a wedding again…”

“No, let’s go right now!”

But Abigail stood up abruptly with her crutch and grabbed Philip’s hand.

If Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvy hadn’t clung to them both, begging them to come to their senses, they would have truly gone straight to the church to hold the ceremony.

If they hadn’t been persuaded that returning to their hometown and holding a proper ceremony would restore Abigail’s honor that had been tarnished, the two would certainly have returned as husband and wife.

In any case, since Philip had resolved his own issue well (though the matter of holding a wedding in Feltham remained, but that was a happy occasion for Philip, not a problem) he couldn’t say much to Ryan, who hadn’t resolved anything.

It was in this situation that Richard came looking for him.

***

Naturally, Ryan glared at Richard as if he wanted to kill him.

“I’m just here to deliver orders from above. So don’t glare at me like that.”

Richard said this, left the report, and hurried out.

Even after he left, Ryan remained dumbfounded for a while before looking at the documents Richard had left, wondering what the “practical cooperation” he had mentioned was.

Shortly after, he jumped to his feet.

He had been wondering how he could see Eloise again.

Mr. Surberton had told him not to come unless it was absolutely necessary, and judging by his firm expression, he would likely send Ryan away if he just came to apologize.

But among the documents Richard had brought was one sheet for practical cooperation.

A cooperation form for the manager of the search items from the mansion where Sinclair had been captured.

And it stated that the signature of the mansion’s owner must also be included.

So as soon as day broke, Ryan dressed neatly in his uniform and went to see Eloise.

Ryan carefully explained to Eloise:

“That’s right. There’s a final verification procedure remaining, and the current documents show you as the owner of the mansion. And I thought it would be good to get confirmation from someone who was present at the scene…”

Ryan’s voice grew quieter again.

He had been happy to have a reason to see Eloise again, but as he was explaining, somehow the reason seemed too flimsy.

It also seemed foolish to ask her to go outside when she hadn’t fully recovered.

“If it’s inconvenient, you can have a representative sign, but we…”

“I’ll go.”

Eloise answered lightly and stood up.

Ryan’s face brightened at her words.

Then Eloise said, as if telling him not to misunderstand:

“I need to check the final treasure that my godmother mentioned in that book. She said there would be a great reward in the place where we hid… Because of the situation, I didn’t have the presence of mind to check it.”

At her response indicating she was going because she had business to attend to, not because she wanted to go out with him, Ryan’s shoulders slumped again.

Behind them, Emily continued to glare at him with a look that seemed to say “What a piece of work,” but…

The carriage carrying the two of them passed through the forest path and arrived at the ruined mansion.

After showing the cooperation form to the soldiers guarding the place to prevent people from entering freely, the two went inside the mansion.

Although it had been somewhat cleaned up, traces of that day remained intact throughout the mansion.

“The restoration costs will be enormous…”

Eloise sighed and muttered.

Before, she had thought it might be fine with appropriate repairs, but seeing the collapsed and charred traces everywhere, she wondered if it might be better to just demolish it.

The problem was that she didn’t have that kind of financial flexibility.

Eloise deliberately ignored Ryan’s hand offering to escort her through the mansion and climbed the broken stairs to examine the space where the two had hidden.

Naturally, there were no treasures of gold or silver there.

Everything had been a novel left by her godmother, and the final reward was also fiction.

She hadn’t had high expectations, but somehow she felt deflated and was about to turn around when—

In a deep corner of the narrow space, she spotted a small dust-covered box rolling around.