At his words, Eloise momentarily failed to understand what she had heard.

‘Going to the capital? Who?’

Eloise had always thought about what would happen when her father returned.

More specifically, about the day Ryan would meet her father to formally acknowledge their relationship.

Whenever she thought about it, all sorts of imaginings chased one another through her mind.
What would her father say? Her mother? More importantly, would her father really return soon? Should she call Ryan immediately when he returns? Or would it be more natural to invite him to dinner while mentioning how he saved the villagers?

In the process, she would inevitably imagine scenarios where Ryan couldn’t tell her father about their relationship for some reason.

Situations like him catching a severe cold.

Her imagination would stretch further to absurd scenes like a fire suddenly spreading from the fireplace just before he could speak to her father, or meteors showering from the sky causing everyone to rush outside to look.

But among all the scenarios that appeared in Eloise’s mind, there was never one where he would leave Blissbury and return to the capital.

Him leaving this place—that was something that could never happen.

But now he had said he must return to the capital.

The moment she comprehended this fact, Eloise’s mind cleared as if doused with ice water.

“The capital? Why…”

She was about to ask why he needed to go to the capital, but closed her mouth.

It was a foolish question. Ryan was a soldier. And not just any soldier, but one still in active service, belonging to a unit.

So he was someone who had to return whenever his superiors called him.

Why had she never once considered this obvious fact until now?

“The capital? What does that mean?”

Perhaps he was worried about Ryan being suddenly summoned.

Mr. Surberton, who had been in the drawing room, had come to the entrance and asked in a surprised voice.

Ryan noticed everyone looking at him with startled eyes, hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“…I’ve received an urgent summons.”

“A summons?”

“Oh my!”

Mr. and Mrs. Surberton’s faces darkened.

“What does that mean? Surely the war isn’t…”

At Mr. Surberton’s trembling voice, Ryan realized why the couple’s expressions had instantly become so grim.

The couple must have recalled young men who had received similar notifications and gone to the capital when the war began long ago.

Ryan quickly relaxed his rigid expression to reassure them.

“It’s nothing like that. It seems they just need me for something urgently.”

It wasn’t a lie. Though it involved the enemy nation, if war had broken out, they wouldn’t have summoned only Ryan. Richard and Philip, as well as the engineering corps still staying in the village, would have received immediate summons as well.

But the letter that arrived had discreetly called for him alone.

“Well, that’s a relief… but what could it be about?”

“I don’t know that myself yet.”

Though he knew it concerned the enemy nation, his answer wasn’t a lie. He truly didn’t know exactly what it was about. Even if he had known more, he couldn’t have spoken of it anyway.

When Ryan didn’t elaborate further, Mr. Surberton sighed.

Though not a soldier himself, he knew something about the military thanks to his friend, Baron Stanford.

Because of this, he had been thinking since Ryan first came to Blissbury that Sergeant Ryan Thornton might be a more complicated soldier than he appeared.

And now, seeing that he alone had received a summons, it seemed his conjecture had been correct.

“When do you depart?”

“…I should leave right away.”

“Yes, of course. When the higher-ups call, you must go.”

As he said this, Mr. Surberton patted Ryan’s shoulder.

In response to Mr. Surberton’s regretful manner, Ryan could say nothing and slowly turned around.

There stood Eloise, with a dazed expression.

“Must you leave… right now?”

Unable to bring himself to answer, Ryan nodded his head instead.

He knew what she was waiting for. Just before he headed to the drawing room with Mr. Surberton, he had exchanged glances with Eloise as she rose to help Emily.

At that time, her eyes showed undisguised excitement. And expectation toward her lover.

So Ryan had cleared his throat unnecessarily.

He couldn’t speak in a ridiculous, shrinking voice before telling Mr. Surberton about his relationship with Eloise.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

‘I was going to tell them today!’

He had planned to reveal his real name while speaking about their relationship.
It was a major decision for him.

Ryan Thornton—a fake name and identity created for a mission.

Yet the past few months he had lived as this false persona had been the happiest time of his life.

So much so that he had thought many times that Ryan Wilgrave could disappear if it meant preserving Ryan Thornton.

Honestly, if he could, that’s what he wanted.

After all, who would want Ryan Wilgrave now? The war was over, and a soldier skilled in strategy was more useless than a fast horse.

So before falling asleep, he had imagined killing himself countless times.

Ryan Wilgrave. Died in an accident while on leave.

There were too many people who would welcome his death to count meaningfully. Starting with his own father, who had hoped he wouldn’t return alive.

Moreover, throughout Albion, there were still many who believed him to be a cowardly soldier after reading newspaper articles and threw criticism at him.

Ryan Wilgrave’s death would bring joy and peace to them. Even to the enemy nation.

Of course, there would be those who mourned him. Like Eloise standing before him, there were people somewhere who had believed in him until the end despite others’ criticism.

But grief is fleeting. The world easily forgets the dead.

Anyway, the few people like Baron Stanford, Richard, and Philip would know he was still alive.

The more he thought about it, the more Ryan wished for his own death.

But soon he came to his senses and sighed.

‘It’s cowardly.’

He realized the reason for these thoughts was his fear of revealing his true identity to Eloise.
Fearing she would be disappointed that he had deceived her, and that she would distance herself from him—trying to kill himself because of that.

It was an absurdly shameful avoidance.

Knowing this, Ryan still continued to postpone revealing his identity, again and again. He should have never mentioned Ryan Wilgrave at all.

Finding it surprising, enjoyable, and comforting that someone would take his side, he kept bringing up Ryan Wilgrave to Eloise.

And she would angrily become a desperate advocate for Colonel Wilgrave.

But now if he were to say that he was Wilgrave?

How would Eloise look at him?

Would she think he kept bringing up Colonel Wilgrave’s story to deceive her?

Eloise wasn’t the only one he worried about. How would Mr. and Mrs. Surberton think of him once they knew he was Ryan Wilgrave?

No matter how much Eloise defended him, the Surbertons weren’t very favorable toward Colonel Wilgrave.

If he revealed this fact in this situation…

Ryan swallowed dryly as he felt for the letter inside his coat.

Until just now, this summons had made him feel as if the ground was collapsing beneath him. But now his thoughts had changed.

The military, which had been ignoring the disciplinary committee’s summons, was urgently looking for him—this clearly meant they needed Ryan Wilgrave for something.

‘If so.’

Perhaps this was an opportunity.

An opportunity to restore Ryan Wilgrave’s reputation that had fallen to the ground.
So that he wouldn’t have to be ashamed when speaking his name before the one he loved.

Ryan took Eloise’s hand. Then, carefully kissing it, he said:

“It won’t take long.”

He promised.

“I’ll return here before the first snow falls.”