The rain had poured down as if the sky had collapsed.

In that deluge, Mr. Surberton’s house had barely withstood. On that night when the two of them were trapped here, how many bowls had collected the leaking water throughout the house, playing their own random rhythms?

The water that flowed down from the ceiling and walls had left unsightly marks everywhere.

The engineering corps had repaired the worst areas, but with more urgent matters to attend to, the remaining minor issues were still not completely fixed.

Eloise’s room was the same. The water stains on the wall were still clearly visible.

“This didn’t even get wet,” Ryan glared at the portrait of ‘Ryan Wilgrave’ with disapproval.

“What do you mean by ‘this’? It’s your superior officer’s portrait—shouldn’t you show a little more respect?”

“It’s not like it’s Her Majesty the Queen. No need for that.”

At his curt tone, Eloise’s eyes narrowed.

“Do you realize how many times this man saved your life? Stand at attention right now.”

At Eloise’s words, Ryan deliberately pretended not to hear, looking away.

Seeing his attitude, Eloise rummaged through her bag for a clean cloth. She then carefully wiped away the dirt and dust still remaining on the portrait frame.

Her touch as she cleaned the portrait was extremely careful. Her concern that the painting might be damaged by even the slightest pressure was palpable. With each stroke of her hand, the handsome face in the portrait regained its original beauty.

Eloise was truly putting her heart into it. Moreover, when cleaning the face, she was even more careful, as if handling a glass figurine that would break with the slightest pressure.

Ryan found the scene extremely displeasing.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have just endured sitting for the portrait myself!’

As he thought this, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Passing the portrait modeling to his adjutant wasn’t just because it was bothersome. At that time, he had many infiltration missions in enemy territory, so there was a need to conceal his appearance as much as possible.

Thanks to that, he had managed to deceive quite a few people until he reached a certain rank.

Unlike him, soldiers whose faces were known had been discovered by enemy forces and shot on sight.

So he had thought it fortunate, but now he was regretting it simply because Eloise treasured the portrait. How much more foolishly could he behave?

Still, watching Eloise ostentatiously cleaning the portrait, even blowing on it with little puffs of breath, Ryan felt sick to his stomach.

‘If they had painted my actual face back then.’

Would Eloise have shown him affection at first sight?

Could he have had friendly conversations with her sooner?

If only…

As his thoughts threatened to spiral endlessly, Ryan urgently pulled himself together.

Now was not the time to regret lost time or to be jealous of the ‘Ryan Wilgrave’ in the portrait.

‘I need to tell her that I am Ryan Wilgrave!’

It was something he had forgotten—no, something he remembered but had desperately pushed aside.

Of course, there were reasons for this. When operating under the name Ryan Thornton, revealing that he was Ryan Wilgrave wasn’t something he could do freely.

Being a legally distinct identity, he was prohibited from revealing his true identity except for military-related missions.

Mark Russell, who had come down from the capital, acknowledged him only because he was on a mission. If they had merely met in passing, even though Mark knew he was Ryan Wilgrave, he would have pretended not to know him at all.

‘But…’

When would he get permission for this if he returned to the capital now?

Moreover, seeing Eloise cherishing the portrait and flashing her eyes at him to show proper respect to Colonel Wilgrave, he somehow felt he needed to tell her his true identity right now.

‘First… she’ll be angry!’

He had spent months pretending not to be Colonel Wilgrave. All while watching her raise her voice in defense of Colonel Wilgrave.

He could have claimed not to know him or mentioned a different battalion, but instead he had said he belonged to the 57th Infantry Battalion, pretending to be someone who knew the colonel moderately well, all while observing her reactions.

‘Why did I do that?’

Thinking about it, he could have said something else.

From the beginning, while the Ryan Thornton identity was established as a sergeant, he could have mentioned any suitable department under Army Headquarters for his affiliation without any problem.

But from the start, he had said he belonged to the 57th Infantry Battalion.

‘At that time, I didn’t think anyone would care…’

Besides, he had only exchanged initial greetings with Mr. Surberton’s family and the people of Feltham, thinking there would be no further connection.

In fact, for a while, hadn’t he shut himself up in Blissbury, meeting only the minimum number of people?

But now everyone in Feltham knew him and greeted him warmly. And with Eloise, whom he thought he would have no further conversations with…

He looked at Eloise, who was still diligently cleaning the portrait.

The clear autumn sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating her.

Her light brown hair shone in the sunlight with the most beautiful color of abundance.

Her eyes still held the summer greenery even as the cool season returned, changing the colors of everything else.

The light of those busy, chaotic, and joyful times they had spent together in Blissbury.

As he gazed at her absently, Eloise seemed to notice his stare and turned her head.

The moment their eyes met, her sharp gaze softened into a curve filled with laughter.

As if her earlier sharp words had been a joke, her eyes were full of affection, and Ryan found himself moving toward her without realizing it.

He wanted to hold that smile in his hands right away. And he wanted to kiss her.

Just as his lips were naturally moving toward hers, as they had in Blissbury—

“Eloise! Your father has arrived!”

Mrs. Surberton’s loud voice came from downstairs. Startled by the sound, the two stepped back.

Realizing what they had been about to do and where, they turned their heads, clearing their throats or straightening their clothes to hide their embarrassment.

“I, I should go downstairs.”

Eloise hurriedly turned away. Ryan followed her without a word.

As he descended the stairs, he placed his hand on his heated nape.

This was serious. Even in broad daylight, his desire knew no shame and would suddenly emerge.

As the two came downstairs, they saw Mr. Surberton hurriedly getting out of a carriage that had just arrived and rushing toward them.

“Darling! Eloise!”

He ran to the entrance without even fixing his disheveled clothes.

“Darling!”

“Father!”

Mrs. Surberton and Eloise were the same. The three embraced each other.

At any other time, it wouldn’t have been like this. They would have shared their joy at reuniting somewhat properly and then hurried to unpack, but not this time.

“I, I had to be away at such a time…”

Mr. Surberton’s voice choked as he embraced his wife.

This was the first time Mr. Surberton had been away from his family for so long.

No matter how much he had entrusted his family to the villagers who were like family, and despite his family members being self-sufficient, he couldn’t help but worry.

And then, of all times, they had to experience the disaster of a great flood.

The fact that he hadn’t been by their side when his family was struggling the most and needed him weighed heavily on Mr. Surberton.

“I tried to come so many times… but all the bridges were washed out. The soldiers blocked the roads and wouldn’t let me through…”

He was always someone who shaved neatly and dressed properly. But now, Mr. Surberton hadn’t shaved properly and his face was extremely gaunt.

The worry and longing for his family were so clearly etched on his face like wounds that no one could even joke about why he hadn’t been there when needed.

Seeing the Surberton family’s sobs, even Emily, who had followed them out, dabbed her tears with her sleeve and sniffled.

Everyone was alive without injuries. That alone was enough.

Mr. Surberton, who had been touching his family’s faces and sobbing, looked up and saw Ryan.

He momentarily let go of his family and approached Ryan.

Ryan’s mouth went dry with tension. Although he had saved Eloise, she hadn’t escaped completely unharmed.

How many people could remain unscathed in such a torrent of mud and water? That’s why she still had wounds on her hands and legs. Besides that, the fact that they had been left alone in the house could be considered inappropriate.

Just as Ryan was thinking he should apologize first—

Whoosh!

Mr. Surberton spread his arms and embraced Ryan.

“Sergeant Thornton. You saved our daughter. I don’t know how I can ever repay this debt…”

As he said this, Mr. Surberton seemed overcome with emotion again and couldn’t continue speaking.

While Mr. Surberton patted Ryan’s shoulder, searching for words to express his gratitude, Mrs. Surberton and Eloise watched, smiling and wiping away their tears.

After quite some time had passed, Emily wiped away her remaining tears and said:

“More importantly, you must be hungry. Let’s eat first. It’s lunchtime!”

“Oh, yes, yes.”

Mr. Surberton finally released Ryan and approached Emily, patting her shoulder.

“You’ve been through a lot too. Is your family safe?”

“Yes. Everyone stayed comfortably in Blissbury without any problems. Our house was somewhat damaged, but since it was an old house anyway, the engineering corps built us a new sturdy one, so we feel like we’ve benefited!”

At Emily’s spirited words, Mr. Surberton finally began to smile comfortably again.

“Please sit at the table! I’ll bring the soup!”

Everyone headed to the dining table.

Normally, only three places would have been set at the Surberton family table, but now, as if it were the most natural thing, a place had been prepared for Ryan as well. Seeing this, Ryan felt strange.

A place where his seat was prepared as a matter of course. A sense of belonging much more intimate and personal than in the army.

Ah.

He swallowed the sigh that had almost escaped without his realizing it.

This was clearly the warm sense of belonging that came with the name of family.