“No, I mean, this is just because I haven’t drawn for so long that my hands got stiff…”

Eloise stopped making excuses as she fumbled for words. The more she stammered and didn’t know what to do, the deeper the mischievous smile on Ryan’s face grew.

Then she remembered what he had said earlier.

“I believe I told you before that it’s not that small.”

Recalling that, Eloise grabbed the drawing she had been working on and ran toward the fireplace with a bright red face.

Naturally, Ryan blocked her with his entire body.

“Calm down, Eloise!”

Instead of shouting “As if I could!” Eloise looked for an opportunity to throw the drawing into the fire by trying to slip it between his sides.

But that attempt was thwarted by Ryan’s hand.

After several struggles, Ryan finally got hold of her drawing. Eloise then collapsed onto the sofa, covering her face with both hands.

Recently, Eloise’s health had improved significantly. Even the doctor who always examined her couldn’t hide his surprise.

She used to get worse every winter. Though her condition had improved after reaching adulthood, she couldn’t avoid falling seriously ill once or twice during winter.

But not this year. To the disbelief of the Surberton couple and Emily, Eloise remained healthy throughout the winter at Blissbury.

Of course, she couldn’t avoid occasional slight coughs, but whenever she coughed even once, Ryan was right there to wrap a shawl around her.

His efforts didn’t end there.

He mobilized all his connections to bring in famous doctors from across the country. Thanks to this, Eloise received examinations from many physicians both while in the capital and after returning to Blissbury.

It wasn’t that her regular doctor lacked skill, but the expertise of these renowned physicians was truly remarkable, and under Ryan’s devoted support, Eloise’s condition improved rapidly.

He was so attentive that even Mr. Surberton, who had been looking for any opportunity to complain, eventually had no choice but to acknowledge him.

In any case, Eloise’s physical condition had improved tremendously, which meant she was quite bored throughout the winter. Unlike before, when she would have been confined to bed, she could now move around, so she needed something to do.

So Eloise picked up her brush after a long time.

Naturally, the first things she painted again were landscapes of Blissbury. But she soon grew bored. Of course one would get bored after drawing Blissbury a hundred times!

Eloise realized what she truly wanted to draw. The answer came quickly.

‘People!’

She tried drawing herself in the mirror. Predictably, she grew tired of it before completing even three pieces. So she drew other people at Blissbury.

By the time she had drawn more than twenty pictures of Emily, she was bored again.

Finally, Eloise had no choice but to return to what she had stopped drawing before—n*de studies.

Of course, since these weren’t drawings that could be proudly displayed during the day, she drew them secretly in her room. Just in case her mother or Emily suddenly barged in, she kept a decoy landscape sketch on top of her sketchbook.

But to be caught by Ryan after all that…

Eloise glared at Ryan, who was waving her drawing with a miserable smile. She remembered what he had said.

He had said it wasn’t that small… The moment she recalled those words, Eloise covered her face with both hands again.

She realized what he meant.

She had been drawing a man’s body. So “not that small” referred to…

Tears welled up from embarrassment and shame.

When Eloise couldn’t speak, Ryan knelt on one knee in front of her and carefully wrapped his hands around hers.

“Eloise.”

Eloise lowered her head even more without responding. Ryan didn’t stop and didn’t stroke her head. Instead, he leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

“When the goddess of the moor bows her head like this, even the sunshine that filled Blissbury disappears. All that remains where your gaze doesn’t reach is the bleakness of a winter pasture…”

“Stop it!”

Eloise, who had been listening to Ryan, raised her voice abruptly and hurriedly covered his mouth with her hand.

That was because what Ryan was reciting was a passage from a popular novel that Eloise had been caught secretly reading recently.

Popular novels had long been established as a hobby among ladies.

Even if they didn’t openly admit to liking them, everyone knew everyone was reading them. Among close friends, they would share books, make predictions, and giggle as they walked together—wasn’t that how it worked?

The problem was that the book Eloise had been reading was one that used the famous “Ryan Wilgrave” as its model.

In fact, books modeled after Ryan Wilgrave had been published for several years, ever since he received great military honors.

But when he faced various charges and was brought to trial, novels modeling him disappeared instantly, as if they had never existed.

Not only that, but novels featuring obvious villains with names clearly mocking “Ryan Wilgrave” became widespread.

Ryan began regaining popularity as a model after the Sinclair incident.

More precisely, after Ryan Wilgrave’s obituary was announced.

The royal family widely publicized his obituary in all domestic media. The content of the obituary was simple.

After the Sinclair incident, Ryan Wilgrave earnestly followed a trail on a secret mission, sustained serious injuries, and eventually passed away.

To better honor his sacrifice, they awarded him the Royal Order of Merit, which had only been given five times in history.

The scene where the prince personally placed the medal before his coffin at the cathedral with tears in his eyes became a major topic not only domestically but also overseas.

Thus, the dead became a legend.

There were no longer people who spoke ill of him as in the past. The atmosphere didn’t allow it, and just by being alive, they felt an inner gloom about his death.

Medals he would never enjoy were no longer a source of resentment. So people gritted their teeth, bowed their heads at Ryan’s grave, and expressed condolences.

Little did they know that the monetary compensation for that medal was going entirely to him, staying at Blissbury.

Not everyone immediately believed in his death.

There were as many who disliked him as there were those who liked him. Those who disliked Ryan raised their voices, saying that such an obituary couldn’t possibly be so vague.

They claimed that Ryan Wilgrave was still alive and hiding on another secret mission for the royal family.

Sightings of him were often published in upper-class tabloid newspapers that mainly carried gossip and rumors.

Ryan would occasionally frown at such articles.

“…I did visit the pub, but who on earth is talking?”

Among those sightings, there were rarely accounts from people who had actually seen Ryan, but no one believed them.

Everyone just considered them nonsense from tabloids with declining circulation.

Thanks to their fallen credibility, as time passed, Ryan Wilgrave’s survival became a low-quality rumor.

Meanwhile, the happiness of Ryan Thornton at Blissbury grew exponentially.

The dead tend to become masterpieces. Just as an ordinary person becomes a deep-hearted, great figure the moment they enter the casket.

For this reason, Ryan Wilgrave became the most popular model after his death.

Novels using him as a model poured out again. Among them were quite a few aggressive and exciting novels.

After all, what did it matter? It’s not like the dead could complain.

Really, what were people thinking…

When he learned of this fact, Ryan roughly ran his hand through his hair and grumbled even more.

Of course, Eloise missed the opportunity to mention that she was reading one of those novels.

No matter how secretly she read them, she couldn’t escape Ryan’s gaze, which was fixed on her all day.

Eventually, Eloise was caught by Ryan while reading alone in a corner room, and Ryan, who had to spend a night as dangerous as being with a lion to protect the book, peeked at the page she had been reading, knowing it was rude.

On that page, there happened to be a scene where the male protagonist was courting the female protagonist.

“When the goddess of the moor bows her head like this, even the sunshine that filled Blissbury disappears. All that remains where your gaze doesn’t reach is the bleakness of a winter pasture. Please let my body tonight appease my goddess’s anger… Eloise? Why are you glaring at me like that?”

After reading the dialogue, Ryan playfully turned the page and smiled leisurely.

When an embarrassed Eloise tried to take the book back, he held it high and dodged her.

But when Eloise stumbled, he caught her by the waist and whispered:

“You don’t need something like a script anyway.”

Ryan tightened his hand around her waist, pressing her body closer to his chest.

When she felt his body, firmer than described in the novel, Eloise couldn’t help but let out a small breath.

If Mr. and Mrs. Surberton hadn’t entered at that moment, things might have gotten a bit dangerous.

In any case, recalling all this, Eloise glared at Ryan as if she hated him.

“Stop teasing me.”

Ryan obediently returned the drawing. He had to, or Eloise looked like she might really cry.

“But don’t burn it.”

“Why not? It’s a poorly drawn picture anyway.”

“Rather than poorly drawn, it’s a bit different…”

Ryan, uncharacteristically, swallowed his words.

At his behavior, Eloise realized their conversation was heading in an embarrassing direction again and stood up abruptly.

Just then, the sound of a carriage was heard from below, followed by Mrs. Parker’s voice.

“Mr. Surberton! Madam! You’ve returned!”

Eloise’s parents, who had gone out on an errand, had returned.

The moment she realized this, Eloise didn’t hesitate to snatch the drawing from Ryan’s hand and throw it into the fireplace.

Ryan hurriedly wiped Eloise’s cheeks, which still had a slight flush, with his handkerchief.

After quickly checking each other’s appearance, the two immediately took their places—Eloise at her desk and Ryan on the sofa.

A moment later, when Mr. and Mrs. Surberton came up to the room, Eloise and Ryan appeared to be elegantly enjoying a leisurely afternoon.

“Welcome back.”

As Ryan stood up and approached with a smile, Mrs. Surberton warmly received his greeting.

Mr. Surberton still glared as if displeased, but his attitude had softened considerably compared to before. Previously, he had disliked even having Ryan and his daughter in the same room.

“Ryan, did your business go well?”

When Mrs. Surberton called him by his name as if he were already family, Ryan nodded.

“I was actually going to share this news with Eloise.”

Ryan had been away from Blissbury for a few days. The reason was…

“Yes. I’ve made contact with Doctor Giacomo, and he said he would visit soon. So…”

Ryan looked at his fiancée, who was blinking as if nothing had happened, and said:

“It seems we’ll need to go to Bringport for Eloise’s examination.”