Ryan, who had been staring blankly for a long while, continued reading the letter with an expression of disbelief.

And soon, he grasped the situation.

“This… is this a letter addressed to ‘Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Wilgrave’?”

He began rereading the letter from the top, carefully this time.

The letter was filled with warmth and kindness, so much so that it could naturally bring a smile to the reader’s face.

Of course, Ryan couldn’t smile. Because this letter was meant for Ryan Wilgrave.

At the dinner table, when Eloise had defended Lieutenant Colonel Wilgrave, he had merely assumed she was one of his admirers.

He had been surprised that a young woman in this countryside town knew so much about battles, but he had thought little of it.

But now, after reading this letter… it was clear that, even if they weren’t outright lovers, this was certainly not a letter written in mere friendship.

The depth of affection and trust expressed went far beyond what could be called friendship.

“This is… quite something.”

Ryan had no idea what to do in this situation.

“Just how much does she like ‘Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Wilgrave’?”

In truth, receiving letters like this was nothing unusual for him. There were times when he received over a hundred letters a day at the military base.

His mother had long since passed away, and the gravedigger who had given him the Wilgrave name had been buried in the very cemetery he once tended.

As for his biological father, Earl Wallace, he had always regarded Ryan as a thorn in his side and would never think of sending him a letter.

So Ryan never opened the letters addressed to him.

At first, out of curiosity, he had read a few. But before long, he stopped altogether.

The more achievements he accumulated, the more letters arrived.

Strangers, unknown addresses, flowery praise, and transparent requests to meet him, their greed barely concealed.

Some of the letters were from people who seemed to be in a truly desperate state.

Among the ones he remembered were a person claiming that Ryan had stolen their money and demanding its return, another insisting that Ryan was their long-lost grandson and that they had to meet.

But the most absurd letter came from someone who claimed to be his wife.

Sick of these letters, Ryan eventually stopped opening them altogether.

When his adjutant asked what to do with them, Ryan told him to burn them. But the adjutant, insisting that they contained the citizens’ heartfelt sentiments, took them home instead.

The flood of letters stopped as if by magic on the day Ryan was summoned to the disciplinary committee after the war ended.

As the editorials criticizing him increased, the letters started coming again.

This time, the envelopes themselves were different.

“What is all this?”

His adjutant held a letter as if he were handling something repulsive, inspecting it with the tips of his fingers. Written in dark red ink were words like “Coward,” “Murderer,” and “Die!”

It was obvious what kind of content lay inside.

“Burn them all.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure they’re completely destroyed.”

The adjutant, who had once urged Ryan to read at least a few letters, took the hateful letters outside and tossed them into a campfire.

Ryan had already stopped reading letters, but from that moment on, he truly lost all interest in any mail that arrived for him.

And yet…

“There are still people sending letters like this.”

Though letters of criticism still arrived occasionally, messages of support had all but ceased. Yet, Eloise was still one of the few people writing to him.

Ryan stared at Eloise’s letter again, resting his chin on his hand.

…It’s been a long time since I last wrote a letter. I trust that you’ve been well. Surely, this beautiful spring hasn’t only come to Newham.

The neatly written letter contained affectionate words, though they were not overwhelming.

…I saw that those ridiculous newspapers are still slandering you. They had better be prepared to shut down the day I arrive in Newham!

Ryan chuckled when he saw the names of the newspapers and magazines that had harshly criticized him, scribbled in eerie handwriting, all in red ink.

She was genuinely prepared to set fire to their offices when she arrived in Newham.

He had read this letter multiple times, yet it still made him laugh.

After rereading it several times, Ryan placed it on his desk.

At first, he had considered crumpling it up in irritation, but, if he were honest, the letter was amusing and affectionate. There was nothing rude about it, and it occasionally revealed concern for him.

It was a cheerful and delightful letter.

If only it weren’t addressed to Lieutenant Colonel Wilgrave.

He pondered over what to do with it and, for now, placed the letter in his desk drawer.

If Mr. Palmer happened to come into the study to clean and saw it, things could become troublesome.

Not for himself, of course, but for Eloise.

“If she was going to write something like this, she should have at least left out the name.”

Then he could have just claimed it was a letter addressed to him and laughed it off… No, now that he thought about it, it was addressed to him.

As that thought crossed his mind, Ryan opened the drawer again and took out Eloise’s letter.

He read it again, even though he had already memorized its contents. For some reason, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

‘It doesn’t seem like this was the first letter she wrote.’

There were mentions of previous letters scattered throughout the text.

Ryan slowly tapped his fingers on the table. What had been written in the other letters that had reached Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Wilgrave?

“I should’ve read them if they existed…”

Muttering to himself, he suddenly shuddered.

‘What am I even saying? Read what?’

He shoved Eloise’s letter deep into the drawer as if it had come straight from hell.

‘I should just pretend I never saw it.’

There was no way Eloise had included it intentionally for him to read. Most likely, it had accidentally gotten mixed in while sorting through documents to send.

For a moment, he considered returning it. But then he recalled how, the last time he returned a painting, she had snatched it away in horror and glared at him. That made him wonder if there was really any need to return this letter.

If he simply ignored it, she might assume she had misplaced it somewhere and soon forget about it.

Ryan turned his attention back to the documents regarding the summer banquet.

He needed to go through them quickly, but for some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about the letter in the drawer, the one he had already read multiple times.

***

Eloise felt as if she were walking on thin ice every single day.

At any moment, Sergeant Thornton might appear, looking at her with even greater contempt than when he had seen the n*de painting, and sneer, “So you are insane.”

And then he would spread her letter around Feltham. People would cover their mouths in shock while staring at her, and her mother would faint from embarrassment.

Or perhaps she would be the one to collapse first.

‘Why did it have to be him?! Why?!’

She screamed in her mind, but no matter how much she despaired, the letter that had gone to Sergeant Thornton would not return to her.

The first person to notice her unease was Emily.

“Miss, are you feeling unwell?”

“Huh? Oh, no, I’m fine.”

“Really? Then why haven’t you been eating any cookies lately?”

Eloise loved Emily’s cookies the most. Whenever Emily baked them, Eloise would hand them out to the village children while happily eating her share.

Emily grumbled about having to bake another batch because the cookie jar emptied so quickly, and it became a weekly routine.

But this time, even after a whole week, cookies remained in the jar. And that was after generous portions were handed out to children who had come expecting them.

Naturally, Mrs. Surberton also noticed something was off with her daughter.

“Eloise, are you really all right?”

She was usually the first to scold and lecture her daughter, but now, seeing Eloise’s pale complexion, she was utterly flustered.

Despite all her nagging, Eloise was still her only daughter—the child she dearly loved. Hadn’t she given up high society in Newham entirely and moved to this countryside for Eloise’s health?

“I’m fine. It’s just… I’m worried about godmother.”

At those words, Mrs. Surberton gently patted her daughter’s shoulder with an understanding expression.

“Yes, I’m also worried that we still haven’t received a letter. I fear she must be gravely ill.”

Hearing the concern in her mother’s voice, Eloise silently apologized in her heart.

‘I’m sorry, Father. I’m sorry, Godmother.’

And so, she continued to spend her days anxious and sleepless.

Yet, even after more than a week, Sergeant Thornton did not appear with her letter in hand, mocking her.

Then, two weeks later, a letter from her father arrived.

Fortunately, her godmother had passed the critical stage. However, due to her advanced age, she was now preparing for the end of her life at a slow pace. Her father wrote that he would remain with her until the end, so he was uncertain when to return to Feltham.

***

A month passed.

By then, Eloise had completely erased the matter of her letter to Lieutenant Colonel Ryan from her mind.

Of course, she still felt uneasy whenever she looked toward Blissbury, but given that no word had come, it was clear that Sergeant Thornton had never seen it.

‘Yes, it could have ended up somewhere else entirely.’

Or, perhaps, God had picked it up and personally delivered it to Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Wilgrave.

Considering how thoroughly she had searched for it and still found nothing, that possibility seemed likely.

Once again, Emily’s cookies started disappearing quickly, and Mrs. Surberton’s nagging increased.

And so, as the peaceful early summer settled in—

“A letter from Blissbury!”

A young errand boy appeared, holding out an envelope.