For a moment, Eloise couldn't comprehend what she had heard.
"To the capital? Who?"
She had thought endlessly about what would happen when her father returned. More precisely, about the day Ryan would meet with him to seek official permission for their courtship.
Every scenario had played through her mind countless times.
*What will Father say? And Mother? Will Father return soon? When he does, should I summon Ryan immediately? Or should I begin with conversation about how he saved the villagers, then invite him to dinner—make it all seem natural?*
Sometimes she imagined obstacles preventing Ryan from speaking to her father.
A sudden illness, perhaps. A terrible cold.
Her imagination conjured wilder pictures still: at the very moment he opened his mouth to speak, the fireplace would erupt in flames, or meteorites would streak across the sky, sending everyone rushing outside to witness them.
But none of her imagined scenarios—not a single one—included him leaving Blissbury to return to the capital.
Included him *leaving*.
That simply could not happen.
Yet now he stood before her, saying he must go. The moment this fact registered, it was as though someone had doused her with ice water.
"To the capital? Why—"
She wanted to ask why he had to go, but the words died in her throat.
*That's a foolish question. Ryan is a soldier. A soldier still assigned to his unit.*
*If his superiors summon him, he must return immediately.*
Why had she never considered this before?
"To the capital? What does this mean?"
Mr. Severton emerged from the living room, his face creased with concern. Perhaps he worried about Ryan being summoned so suddenly.
Ryan, seeing everyone's startled expressions, hesitated before answering.
"An urgent order has arrived. A summons—"
"A summons order?"
"My God!"
Mr. and Mrs. Severton's faces darkened instantly.
"What does this mean? Is war truly starting again?"
From the tremor in Mr. Severton's voice, Ryan understood why the couple had grown so grim. They must have remembered the young men who, receiving identical notices, had marched off to the capital when war began all those years ago.
Ryan quickly smoothed the tension from his features and spoke reassuringly.
"It's not that. It seems a matter has simply arisen where I'm urgently needed."
This wasn't a lie. Though it concerned an enemy country, if war had broken out, Ryan wouldn't have been summoned alone. Richard and Philip—even the engineering corps still stationed in the village—would have received orders immediately.
But the letter that arrived in secret had called for him alone.
"Then that's a relief, but... what exactly is this about?"
"I don't know myself yet."
Even knowing it involved an enemy nation, his answer remained truthful. He genuinely didn't know the specifics. And even if he had, he couldn't have revealed them.
When Ryan offered nothing further, Mr. Severton sighed.
Though not a military man himself, his friendship with Baron Stanford had granted him some understanding of military affairs. From the very first day Ryan arrived in Blissbury, he had suspected that Sergeant Ryan Thornton might be a more complicated soldier than he appeared.
Now, with this solitary summons, it seemed his intuition had proven correct.
"Then when must you leave?"
"I believe I need to go immediately—"
"Yes. If command calls, that's what must be done."
Mr. Severton clapped Ryan on the shoulder.
Ryan couldn't speak past the regret in the older man's eyes. Slowly, he turned around.
There stood Eloise, looking utterly stunned.
"Right now... you need to go?"
Ryan could only nod.
He knew what she had been waiting for. Before entering the living room with Mr. Severton, he had caught Eloise's eye as she rose to help Emily.
In that glance, he had seen undisguised excitement. Hope directed toward her beloved.
Ryan had deliberately cleared his throat then, coughing softly.
Before telling Mr. Severton about their relationship, he hadn't wanted his voice to sound uncertain or strange.
But that wasn't the only reason.
*Since I'm going to tell him everything today...*
He had intended to reveal their relationship—and simultaneously confess his true name.
It had been a monumental decision.
**Ryan Thornton.** A fictitious name. A fabricated identity for assignments.
Yet those few months lived under this borrowed persona had been the happiest of his life.
So much so that he had thought, more than once, that Ryan Wilgrave might simply disappear—so that Ryan Thornton could remain.
Frankly, if it were possible, he would have done it.
After all, who needed Ryan Wilgrave now? The war was over. A soldier who could strategize was more useless than a single swift horse.
That was why he had imagined his own death several times before sleep took him.
*Ryan Wilgrave died in an accident during leave.*
There was no point counting how many would rejoice at his demise. Starting with his own father, who hadn't wanted him to return alive.
Moreover, throughout Albion, countless readers of newspaper articles believed him a cowardly soldier and condemned him accordingly.
Ryan Wilgrave's death would bring them joy and peace. Even in enemy lands.
Of course, some would grieve. Like Eloise, there were those somewhere who had believed in him to the end, despite the condemnation of others.
But grief is short-lived. The world forgets its dead with ease.
Still, a handful—Baron Stanford, Richard, Philip—would know he yet lived.
The more he dwelt on it, the more Ryan wished himself dead.
But he had caught himself immediately, releasing a heavy sigh.
*Coward.*
He recognized these thoughts for what they were: fear of revealing his true identity to Eloise.
The terror that she would think him a deceiver. That she would grow disillusioned and distance herself.
Out of this fear, he had contemplated erasing himself entirely.
An absurdly pathetic escape.
Knowing this, Ryan had continued to delay—again and again—revealing who he truly was.
*Better not to speak of Ryan Wilgrave at all.*
Having someone to support him was extraordinary—joyful, comforting—and so he had constantly spoken to Eloise about Ryan Wilgrave.
And she, fierce and unwavering, had risen to defend him each time.
But now... what if he told her Ryan Wilgrave was *him*?
What expression would cross her face?
Would she believe that by speaking of Wilgrave so often, he had been deceiving her all along?
His worry extended beyond Eloise. If he revealed his identity as Ryan Wilgrave, how would the Severtons react?
Though Eloise had defended him, her parents held no such kindness toward Lieutenant Colonel Wilgrave.
And in such circumstances, if he disclosed this truth...
Ryan swallowed and felt the letter's weight in his pocket.
Just moments ago, the summons had made everything inside him collapse.
But now his thinking had shifted.
The fact that military leadership—which had ignored summons to the Disciplinary Committee—now sought him so urgently meant one thing: there was certainly a matter requiring Ryan Wilgrave.
*Then...*
Could this be an opportunity?
A chance to raise Ryan Wilgrave's reputation from the depths.
And then, when he spoke his true name before his beloved, he would not be ashamed.
Ryan took Eloise's hand. Lifting it gently, he pressed his lips to her knuckles.
"It won't be long."
He made his promise.
**"I'll return before the first snow falls."**