In Feltham, as winter approached rapidly, everyone had to move busily.

They needed to prepare plenty of grain for the winter, as well as fruits and dried meat.

The farms were busy making and delivering cheese and sausages, while the mill was crowded with people who had come to grind their harvested wheat.

Joy at having regained a life similar to last year’s after half a year, along with worried sighs about the wheat fields that still needed to be recultivated, mingled chaotically in the mill.

Soon, people’s conversations shifted to another topic.

“Have you seen Mrs. Ogilvy? She’s absolutely radiant.”

“She has every right to be. Everyone was worried about Abigail, though no one said it openly. They say she has money to receive from relatives, but money isn’t everything… Now that she’s getting a fine husband, how happy she must be.”

Though the Ogilvy household was said to be harmonious, the future is unpredictable.

Right now, siblings could look after each other, but as time passes and they age, when property passes to their children, someone might find Abigail a burden.

Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvy had always worried about that. So they couldn’t help but be delighted that their most concerning child now had someone to share her future with.

“There’s quite a stir in Camborne with all the orders the Ogilvys have placed. They’ve ordered so much alcohol and meat.”

“I heard they ordered even more whiskey than Mr. Courtney did, and of a higher quality too!”

Mr. Courtney giving Highland whiskey to everyone who attended his eldest daughter’s wedding was something of a legend in the area.

But it seemed Mr. Ogilvy wanted to prepare a wedding that would remain on people’s lips even longer.

“So we can finally put those Camborne folks who’ve been showing off in their place, even though it’s not their wedding?”

Everyone gathered at the mill snickered at the thought that this legendary event would now belong to Feltham.

It was common knowledge that Camborne people subtly looked down on those from Feltham.

That’s why when Ryan came to Blissbury this year, didn’t everyone naturally assume he would marry someone from a Camborne family?

Yet it turned out that all the connections formed were with young ladies from Feltham.

“Abigail is one thing, but what about Eloise? What’s happening with Sergeant Thornton?”

Many people had noticed that the relationship between the two had changed somewhat after the great flood.

This was because Ryan, who had kept his distance from other young ladies, would approach Eloise first to speak with her and always hovered around her.

At first, people thought it might be friendship between two who had faced life and death together, but watching the two of them looking at each other as they walked together, it wasn’t difficult to notice deeper and more complex emotions mixed with something inexplicably thrilling.

“I heard he returned to the capital for urgent business, but won’t he come down with Sir Osborne for Abigail’s wedding anyway?”

While everyone was talking like this, someone rushed into the mill and shouted.

“Have you all heard? Abigail’s wedding has been postponed!”

“What?”

At those words, everyone froze. Then, the first person to regain their composure raised their voice.

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

Weddings are only postponed when there are truly unavoidable circumstances.

After notifying all relatives, preparing food for them to eat during their stay, places for them to sleep…

There’s so much to prepare that if there’s even a small problem with the schedule, it causes chaos.

“What’s the problem?”

“Well… It seems Sir Osborne can’t come.”

“What?”

Everyone in the mill exclaimed in surprise.

“What do you mean he can’t come?”

“Is he injured?”

“He’s a soldier, right? Surely he hasn’t died…”

“What nonsense! There isn’t even a war!”

The mill instantly erupted into chaos. Then someone spoke up.

“Could it be… a broken engagement?”

At those words, the surroundings immediately fell silent.

These were thoughts everyone had harbored to some extent. Philip Osborne was clearly an excellent soldier.

So much so that not a few young ladies had given their hearts to Philip, despite Ryan and Richard being around.

With his qualifications, he could have married a woman from a respectable family in the capital, not just from a rural village like this.

That’s why when the wedding news was first announced, how many people had doubted whether it was true?

Among them, some didn’t hide their malice, sneering, “Who would take a cripple as a wife? He’s probably just amusing himself with her for a while. I bet he won’t really marry her.”

At the time, everyone thought they were just speaking out of jealousy, but the moment the word “broken engagement” came from someone’s lips, everyone recalled those words.

“No, that can’t be it because they say he sent all the gifts… and they’re all expensive things.”

With these additional words, people became even more confused.

What on earth was going on?

* * *

“What on earth is going on?”

Eloise’s voice rose as she visited the Ogilvy house.

Abigail, who would normally have hurriedly stopped her, was just sobbing with her face covered by both hands.

“There’s been… a problem… hic.”

Unable to finish her sentence, her friend burst into tears again, and Eloise’s eyes also reddened.

Clearing her throat and wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Eloise looked at the items placed on the table.

One was a letter, the other a necklace and earrings in an elegant box.

Naturally, they were all sent by Philip.

“I’m going to read this.”

Eloise picked up the letter and read it quickly.

The content was simple. Something had come up in the military, and he couldn’t make it to the wedding schedule. He had pleaded earnestly, but the orders from above were strict, and he absolutely couldn’t move. Even sending this letter was cutting it close. Please don’t have the terrible thought that his feelings had changed. As proof, he was sending ahead the things he had prepared for her, and so on.

At the end, passionate words of love replaced a formal greeting.

Eloise folded the letter weakly. Though they say you can’t fully read someone’s thoughts through a letter, this one conveyed genuine, heartfelt sincerity.

Eloise’s gaze turned to the jewelry placed on the table.

If the rude speculations of people were true, Philip would not have sent such valuable items.

Eloise recalled Philip’s letter she had just read. A letter filled with desperate emotion but containing nothing about his exact situation.

Just like Ryan’s letters…

As she was thinking this, Mrs. Ogilvy entered. Her face looked even more devastated than Abigail’s.

“What are we to do now? We’ve already notified all the relatives… Some of them must have already departed.”

At her mother’s words, Abigail muttered, suppressing her tears.

“I know. And we can’t even go to the capital to find him…”

The moment she heard those words, Eloise found herself suddenly standing up.

Go to the capital to find him.

The words Abigail had just spoken echoed in her mind.

‘Why haven’t I thought of this until now?’

Eloise clenched her fist. Then, looking at her friend who had yet to fully dry her tears, she said:

“I’ll go to the capital.”

She was tired of sitting and waiting. Now she wanted to go find him herself.

There was no reason not to.

* * *

Crack.

In the spacious, old-fashioned reception room, a fire crackled in the huge fireplace on one side of the wall, sending sparks flying.

Recently, many noble families had begun using heating systems that pumped hot water through the rooms, heated by fires built outside, instead of fireplaces.

But here, in the house of Earl Wallace, that was out of the question.

Wasn’t this family considered extreme even among conservative nobles, to the point where even fairly traditional aristocrats shook their heads?

Because of this, the Wallace family still stubbornly used traditional heating methods.

He closed the newspaper he had been reading and raised his head.

The world in the newspapers was still utterly peaceful. A world where everyone was enjoying happiness in the aftermath of a victorious war.

“Hmph.”

Earl Wallace clicked his tongue as if displeased with it all.

It wasn’t that he disliked this peace. He was just irritated that the name of the one who should rightfully be enjoying the sweetness of victory was missing.

“Vivian will cause a scene again today.”

His voice, as he spoke his wife’s name, was full of sighs and irritation.

Vivian Tasha Mary Agatha Bertie Seymour Wallace.

Unlike his own short name, Arthur Wallace, his wife’s full name was so long that he sometimes got confused.

It proved that his wife was a person of noble lineage.

In reality, she was the true owner of the Wallace family. Arthur was merely a fortunate man who had inherited the earldom because he had been chosen by her.

He rubbed his irritated face with his hand and looked at the fireplace.

He remembered Ryan’s letter that he had thrown into that very spot a few weeks ago.