Eloise stared at the letter without saying a word for a moment. She wondered what on earth was going on.

No such person? Ryan wasn’t in the 57th Infantry Battalion?

‘That can’t be right.’

This wasn’t the first letter she had sent. From the day after he left, Eloise had immediately started sending him letters.

And a week later, his reply with the clear stamp of Army Headquarters had arrived for Eloise.

After that, Eloise and Ryan had continued to exchange letters.

Then, a few weeks ago, his letters, which had been arriving at regular intervals, suddenly stopped.

At first, she waited. But there was absolutely no sign of any letter coming. So, unable to hold back, she sent another letter.

The letter now in Eloise’s hand was that second letter she had sent.

“Miss. This, this……”

Emily, who had been frozen in place, stammered as she called to her. At that voice, Eloise came to her senses and spoke with difficulty.

“There must have been a unit transfer. I read in the newspaper that in such cases, they return letters.”

She had read in the newspaper that in such cases, letters were often mistakenly delivered to people with the same name in different units, so now they returned letters if the person wasn’t in that unit.

She never thought she would see with her own eyes the stamp they mentioned.

“I suppose there was a problem with letter delivery because of that.”

When Eloise spoke in a bright voice as if she understood the situation, Emily’s expression also brightened a bit.

“William, you should go now. You must have many deliveries to make. Besides, the days are getting shorter now, so you need to hurry, right?”

“Yes, it’s winter now. If I don’t hurry, I’ll have to ride in the dark, which I’d rather avoid. Then I’ll take my leave.”

He took off his hat, bowed politely, and quickly pedaled away. Eloise also rose from her seat.

“Let’s go back too.”

“Yes!”

Emily turned around happily. She had brought a shawl for Eloise but forgotten her own, and was starting to feel the chill.

When the two entered the house, Rosie, who had been waiting for them, quickly approached.

“You must be very cold? Would you like some tea?”

When Emily made a satisfied expression at those words, Rosie felt relieved.

The scariest person in the world was her sister.

“I’ll go to Blissbury after I’ve trained you perfectly, so be prepared.”

Hadn’t she said that she wouldn’t allow Rosie to learn her duties inadequately and become a burden to the Surberton household, and hadn’t she been watching with stern eyes whenever Rosie worked?

Moreover, she felt awkward because her sister had left the well in anger just before. So she had been wondering what to do and had put the kettle on in advance, which seemed to have been the right decision.

“Thank you, Rosie. Please do.”

“Yes, but we’ve run out of the tea you usually drink, so another type of tea leaf… Miss?”

Rosie looked at Eloise with a puzzled expression.

She had only mentioned that they had run out of tea leaves and would serve another kind, but couldn’t understand why the young lady’s expression had suddenly hardened.

“Um, is there a problem……”

Rosie looked at her sister, seeking help. Emily swallowed a groan.

She had remembered who had given them the tea leaves that had run out.

Just then, Eloise relaxed her expression as if nothing had happened, smiled gently, and said to Rosie:

“Yes, anything is fine. Could you bring it to my room?”

“What? Yes!”

As Rosie quickly nodded, Eloise smiled and went up to her room.

Behind her, she could hear Emily and Rosie letting out sighs of relief.

Returning to her room, Eloise closed the door. Then she immediately collapsed into a chair.

“Hah……”

A long sigh escaped her lips. The smile disappeared instantly, and her face was filled with worry.

Eloise covered her face with both hands. She remained still for a long time, but far from calming down, the trembling in her hands grew worse.

The anxiety she had been suppressing was finally surfacing.

After taking a moment to steady her breathing, Eloise eventually removed her hands. Then she looked at the letter she had sent that was now in her hands.

‘Where has Ryan been transferred to!’

Until now, her letters had been arriving without issue. But suddenly, this one was returned.

Eloise got up from her seat, placed the letter she had written on the desk, and opened the drawer. Inside the drawer, the letters Ryan had sent her were neatly arranged.

Eloise picked up the most recent letter she had received from him.

The content was mundane. He inquired about her well-being and shared his own. It was a letter conveying his longing for her in words that were restrained but sincere.

When she had received it, she had simply been happy, but now looking at it again…

‘…There’s nothing about his surroundings.’

While unit transfers could happen anytime upon orders from superiors, they wouldn’t change assignments without reason.

But looking at it again now, the letter contained nothing about his unit or duties. As if he had no intention of revealing anything about himself.

Eloise rifled through his earlier letters.

She re-read each one carefully, from the first letter he sent to the most recent ones.

After reading them all, it became even more apparent.

For someone who had left to take on an urgent mission, he had written very little about what mission he had received or what the atmosphere was like in the military he had returned to after a long time.

The few descriptions that were included were all written vaguely. Statements like how everything seemed stifling after returning to the military headquarters after so long, or how he missed Blissbury with its sky and trees while being surrounded by buildings.

There was nothing written about what work he was doing or what people he was meeting.

As if he was deliberately hiding something.

‘I suppose that’s normal for a mission.’

He seemed to be a soldier who received a certain level of trust. So Lord Stanford must be looking after him specially.

‘He probably can’t talk about secret missions!’

Although she thought it couldn’t be helped that he hadn’t written anything in his letters, Eloise couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

‘Still… he could have written a bit more about what’s going on around him.’

Resentment toward him suddenly welled up in Eloise’s heart. Along with it came thoughts she had been suppressing.

Though she had been trying her best not to think about it and had been turning a blind eye, she had often heard of similar situations.

That is, situations where retired soldiers played with the hearts of country girls and then disappeared.

The newspapers said such incidents were increasing and causing significant discord in peaceful rural towns.

It would be fortunate if they were actually soldiers; there were frequent cases of men impersonating soldiers, deceiving women by falsely claiming to be decorated, excellent soldiers.

When reading such articles, she had merely thought it strange that such things happened, never imagining she would experience it herself…

Suddenly, Eloise came to her senses and shook her head vigorously.

It’s just that his letters are delayed. Isn’t it common for letters to be misdirected or lost during delivery?

‘That’s why I haven’t received his letter.’

And coincidentally, during that time, his unit assignment had changed.

If she waited, he would find it strange that there was no reply from her and send another letter, and then she would know his new unit for certain.

Eloise looked at the closing lines of the letters spread out on her desk.

There were all kinds of “Ryan” there.

Ryan who already misses you.

Ryan who is more committed to his duty than ever before, and thus determined to finish his work quickly.

Ryan who dislikes the thought of another Ryan still hanging by your bedside.

Eloise looked at the end of the last letter she had received. It said, Ryan who is trying to become your Ryan.

Eloise’s fingers traced those words over and over again. As if Ryan were actually there.

“It’s alright.”

Eloise told herself.

The things he had told her couldn’t be lies. He was a soldier who came here on Lord Stanford’s recommendation, and other soldiers like Richard and Philip had come with him.

Even the person in charge who brought the engineering corps treated him with respect.

Moreover, unlike in the newspaper articles, he hadn’t taken anything from her. Far from targeting the Surberton family’s wealth, he had worked harder than anyone to restore the ruined village before leaving.

So Ryan couldn’t be someone who deceived her with lies like those mentioned in the newspapers.

‘Philip will be coming soon, they said.’

She had heard that he would soon return to prepare for his marriage to Abigail. And then there would be a wedding.

‘He’ll come with him!’

They had seemed like very close friends. With such a friend getting married, and with Eloise being here…

There was no way he wouldn’t come.

Eloise put the letters back in the desk drawer.

After sorting out her thoughts, the doubts she had harbored about him just moments ago seemed so trivial.

To be so distraught over one returned letter.

‘Let’s wait a little longer.’

Then surely there would be good news, or perhaps he might even return in person.

With that thought, Eloise closed the drawer.

And a few days later.

“The wedding has been postponed? What does that mean?”

Eloise heard unbelievable news.