The two of them came out to the adjacent room, but none of the maids who had been standing there were visible.

When they opened the door and went into the corridor, they could hear the voices of people murmuring in the distance. Occasionally, shouts like “Open it quickly!” could be heard.

Eloise and Ryan ran toward the sound without hesitation.

“What’s happening?!”

When Eloise shouted, the maids who were stomping their feet helplessly in front of a door turned their heads.

“Ma’am, our lady is… Oh my!”

They were sobbing as they saw Eloise, but when they noticed Ryan behind her, they hurriedly turned their heads away.

Though he had covered what needed to be covered, it would certainly be shocking to see a man in such a grand mansion with just a piece of cloth roughly covering his lower body.

But neither Eloise nor Ryan paid attention to their reactions as they shouted at the maids.

“Answer quickly! What’s happening! Where is Arabella?!”

One of the maids who had been stomping her feet sobbed and said:

“Well, Ryan, I mean, the fiancé suddenly got angry and dragged our lady inside, and then we heard screams!”

Though she stammered, it was enough to guess what had happened.

“Then why don’t you open the door?!”

“It’s locked! We can’t open it when it’s locked from the inside!”

One maid said this while roughly pulling at the door. Other maids also clung to it and pulled together, but the door only shook without showing any signs of opening.

“Everyone step aside.”

Ryan approached and grabbed the door. Some maids backed away in confusion at his appearance, but most had desperate looks in their eyes, hoping he would somehow open the door.

As he grabbed the handle and shook it, the door that had barely moved before now rattled loudly.

Perhaps because of this, sounds from inside that hadn’t been heard before became audible.

“What are you doing! Stop it! Ahhh!”

The voice from inside was Arabella’s. Along with the sound of hitting and her screams, the maids began to panic.

“You bastard!”

“You bastard, don’t touch our lady!”

They rushed forward and tried to pull the door along with Ryan, but the doors in this mansion were too sturdy.

Meanwhile, Arabella’s screams were heard again from inside. Eloise also shook the door frantically with Ryan, hearing the terrible sounds that suggested what might be happening inside.

Suddenly, Ryan stepped back, turned around, and ran to the end of the corridor.

“Hey! You’re supposed to help, where are you going?!”

Voices full of betrayal and resentment called after him, but Ryan quickly disappeared.

In the meantime, the maids continued trying to get into the room. They might have broken a window to enter if they could, but this was the second floor. Moreover, the second floor of the baroness’s mansion was very high, and while they were wondering how to get that scoundrel out of the room, a sound was heard from the corridor again.

“Everyone get out of the way!”

At Ryan’s voice, Eloise looked at him. In his hands was an absurdly large halberd—a weapon with a blade and axe attached to a pole—as he ran at high speed from the end of the corridor.

Now that she thought about it, she remembered that there had been swords on display in the corridor where he had run earlier, and he had taken one of those weapons.

The maids quickly moved aside even without Ryan shouting again. Not only did he seem to be holding a sword, but the sight of Ryan running with it looked just like…

‘That statue of the war god I saw in the art museum looked exactly like this!’

A dynamic statue running with a giant spear in one hand. She had looked at it for a long time, and Ryan running now looked exactly like that. No, he gave off an even greater and more powerful impression.

Ryan twisted his body and stopped his run. Then.

CRACK!

He brought down the halberd’s tip toward the lock part of the door without hesitation.

The ornate wooden door cracked, making a splitting sound. Then immediately, with a sharp SNAP! the lock part flew off.

Ryan kicked the door open. The door that had withstood all their shaking and pulling now BANG!

“Arabella!”

Eloise hesitated momentarily due to the flying debris, but soon pushed open the broken door without hesitation and jumped inside.

There she saw the fake Ryan, who seemed startled and had stopped moving, and Arabella pinned beneath him. Arabella’s hair was a mess, and there were red marks on various parts of her face as if she had been hit.

The moment she saw this, Eloise rushed at Riham and pushed him away with her whole body.

Riham, who had been dazed, groaned and rolled on the floor from the unexpected attack. Eloise might have been hurt as well.

“Ah…”

Eloise got up, quickly turned her head away in embarrassment, and looked for Arabella.

Free from the weight that had been pressing her down, Arabella hurriedly covered her bodice. Seeing the buttons torn off in disarray, it was easy to guess what the fake Ryan had been trying to do.

Meanwhile, Ryan ran over and brought down the halberd he was holding toward the fake Ryan.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The impostor screamed in terror as he saw the sharp blade flying toward him without hesitation.

“You’re not even hurt, so stop exaggerating.”

Ryan spoke coldly to the fake. As he said, the halberd’s blade had grazed the impostor’s neck but hadn’t left a scratch. However, if it had advanced just one more finger’s width, his neck would certainly have been cut.

The impostor jumped up and shouted loudly, as if finally finding his voice.

“What, what is this! This madman! You bastard, do you know who I am, how dare you!”

“Being a fiancé doesn’t give you the right to ignore borders, and you won’t be a fiancé anymore anyway.”

Ryan said this and looked back. Arabella, who had gotten up with Eloise’s support, was glaring at the fake with eyes full of anger and sadness.

Just by looking at her expression, one could tell. Arabella would no longer call that impostor her fiancé.

At Ryan’s words, the impostor shouted triumphantly, throwing caution to the wind.

“You attack a hero of the kingdom like this? The royal family and the military will punish you all! How dare you attack me, who has been granted immunity directly by Her Majesty!”

Ryan snickered at those words.

“Who are you supposed to be?”

“My name is Ryan Wilgrave! I am the guardian of this kingdom and a glorious person who was directly granted a title by Her Majesty!”

Ryan sighed at those words.

“You? Ryan Wilgrave? How will you prove that?”

“Contact the command post right now! No, the division around Bringport! They will verify my identity! And they will come to punish your disrespectful actions!”

The impostor spoke with a confident voice without the slightest hesitation.

At his words, the maids surrounding Arabella murmured among themselves. Seeing his unyielding and dignified attitude, they imagined the terrible situation of the army rushing here and arresting everyone.

Now Ryan Wilgrave remained as the greatest hero’s name in Albion. The royal family and the military had declared that they would never tolerate those who tarnished his honor, even if he had passed away.

‘If that person really is Ryan Wilgrave…’

No matter how wealthy the Surrier barony might be, they couldn’t withstand the royal family’s anger. Moreover, their lady had just inherited the family.

While her relatives fortunately recognized her, they still didn’t fully approve and kept suggesting she marry a distant relative.

In this situation, if the royal family turned their back on Arabella as well…

Of course, the royal family wouldn’t directly intervene in such matters, but in this city, they were perceived as an overwhelming and powerful presence.

As people hesitated, the impostor smirked and tried to get up.

At that moment, Ryan approached with an expressionless face and pressed down on the impostor’s shoulder. Though he only pressed down firmly with one foot, the impostor couldn’t get up despite struggling.

Looking down at him, Ryan spoke again.

“You said you’re Ryan Wilgrave. Do you know what crime it is to impersonate him?”

“Are you saying I’m lying! How dare this perverted bastard who walks around n*ked!”

At the words “perverted bastard,” Ryan’s eyes flickered intensely. At the same time, he must have applied more pressure with his foot, as the impostor screamed and clutched his shoulder.

Ryan turned his head and spoke to Arabella.

“I apologize for greeting you in this state, Baroness Surrier. I will explain the situation in detail later, but may I ask for one favor?”

“What, what is it?”

“Please allow the soldiers waiting outside the mansion to enter.”

“Soldiers?”

“S-soldiers?”

Arabella and the impostor spoke simultaneously in surprise. Arabella looked at the fake and then quickly nodded.

Ryan then said to one of the maids:

“Please go outside and bring them in.”

“Excuse me, but how will I know who you’re talking about?”

“If you look around outside a bit, they’ll approach you first.”

Ryan added confidently, as if he could guess:

“Because there’s a guy who will definitely approach a woman who looks troubled when she’s alone.”

A moment later, Richard and several men entered with the maid.

“My, he’s an even bigger piece of trash than I thought.”

He looked around the room, then took off the jacket he was wearing and handed it to Arabella. Then, after laughing loudly at Ryan, he stepped on the impostor’s other shoulder and said:

“Well then, shall we begin the special trial ordered by Her Majesty the Queen?”

The corners of Richard’s mouth turned upward.