Previously
Killian, feeling trapped by the women outside his home, decides to meet Eleanora personally to investigate the cause of the disturbance, much to Owen's surprise. During their meeting, Eleanora explains the social frenzy caused by Vivian Ashford and proposes a plan to protect Killian's privacy.
Five days had passed since Killian said with a sullen face, “Do as you please.”
Eleanora held her medical bag and smiled with relief as she looked down the quiet street.
She recalled the conversation she had held with the young ladies right here four days ago.
[“C-Complications from sensory nerve damage?”]
Eleanora had nodded her head slowly, looking solemn.
[“As you know, a battlefield is a perilous place where one must constantly risk their life, and it is never free from clamor, harsh noise, and blinding, flashing lights. That is why so many people who have lived through the front lines suffer from nerve damage….”]
Shock was written plain across the women’s faces; they had no idea what to do with themselves.
[“No, it is not quite like that. These symptoms are closely linked to exhaustion. Usually, he is in such good health that no symptoms show at all, but it seems that after coming to unfamiliar territory, a great deal of fatigue accumulated for various reasons. In time, he will certainly recover, though it is difficult to determine precisely when. For now, the only remedy is for him to live as quietly as possible.”]
The ladies nodded, promising to take great care not to do anything that might hinder Killian’s recovery.
Naturally, some people still showed up to catch a glimpse of Killian even on the following day.
Each time, Eleanora calmly explained the situation, and they were quickly convinced, hurrying off.
( ‘The rumor seems to have spread across all of Oakbridge by now.’ )
Just as Eleanora expected, those who heard Killian’s diagnosis did nothing more than worry about their country’s hero and feel sympathy for him; they added no hurtful words and raised no concerns about his business.
Because she had been certain of how people would react the moment she proposed the idea, she felt no fresh sense of relief now that it had come to pass.
There was, however, one thing that surprised her slightly.
‘Honestly, I didn’t expect Lord Blackwell to give his consent so quickly.’
Deep down, she had half-expected Killian to fly into a rage, barking, “Even so, I won’t have rumors spreading that I’m sick!”
Yet thanks to him allowing her to do as she pleased, she had managed to swiftly quench the ladies’ terrifying interest in him.
‘I feel like I’ve grown a little closer to Lord Blackwell through this whole ordeal….’
Eleanora tilted her head in thought.
( ‘Hmm, maybe not?’ )
Regardless, her impression of him had certainly improved compared to their first encounter.
( ‘Even if I still find him terribly rude.’ )
She was only being polite and smiling around him for Julian’s sake; otherwise, he was the sort of man she wouldn’t care to exchange greetings with at all.
Sensing eyes watching her from somewhere, Eleanora turned around. Killian was standing by the window.
Eleanora looked around herself.
There was no one else there. So, had he been looking at her?
She gave a slight bow to greet him. But when she lifted her head, the curtain had already been yanked shut.
( ‘Good grief.’ )
Had Killian’s temperament become this way only after the war, Eleanora would of course have regarded him as someone broken in body and spirit by the conflict and tried to understand him.
Yet according to Julian, he had possessed a foul temper even before the war.
( ‘That in itself is quite a talent.’ )
Eleanora rested a hand on her waist, let out a long sigh, and continued on her way.
Meanwhile, a startled Killian was soothing his racing heart with a deep exhale.
( ‘Is she a human or an animal?’ )
Since the visitors would not stop coming overnight, he had complied with her request not to open the curtains at all for a while.
Today was the very first day he had opened them. Yet Eleanora happened to be standing outside at that exact moment, and their eyes had even met.
It would have been stranger not to be startled in such a situation!
Killian patted his chest to calm his heart, then parted the curtain slightly and cautiously poked his head out once more. Eleanora was nowhere to be seen.
( ‘What? Where did she go so fast?’ )
In the blink of an eye, she had vanished entirely, without so much as a single strand of hair in sight.
Short though her legs were, she moved with astonishing briskness.
Just as he twitched his nose in distaste, Owen entered the room with a broad grin.
Killian replied with a dissatisfied face:
Owen was certain that whether they were Killian’s academy classmates or comrades who had served in the same unit, none of them were wretched enough to speak lightly of him.
Even during his days at the military academy, Killian had constantly picked fights. Even so, he had quietly approached peers in need of help and lent them a hand.
He visited the graves of fallen comrades even outside the anniversaries of their deaths, looked after their families, and hired soldiers left with disabilities that made finding work difficult.
He carried out his duties in silence and constancy. How could anyone fail to consider him a benefactor?
Killian could not remember every person he had directed harsh words at in his life, but he remembered what he had done to his classmate’s sister.
Killian let out a scoff through his nose.
Back then, an enraged Sebastian had charged at Killian, only to end up soundly defeated.
He had avoided Killian for a time afterward, but patched things up once he saw the extraordinary path Killian forged. In the end, Owen’s words were nothing more than a pointless jest.
Killian, who had been taking even Owen’s silly teasing with a smirk, suddenly scowled and raised an eyebrow.
Owen answered cautiously, watching his reaction. He wondered if there was something about her that displeased Killian.
( ‘Huh?’ )
Owen blinked, his eyes widening in surprise. Killian, for his part, was thoroughly irritated.
( ‘This bastard… What? He has a wife carrying his child, yet he builds a friendly rapport with another woman, and despite having a formal way to address her, he insists on using her given name as if they were intimate….’ )
So that was why.
The reason was convincing enough that Killian felt embarrassed by his earlier indignation, and he turned his head forward again.
Killian said it while glaring coldly at the curtain.
Most people curried favor with him because there was something they wanted to gain from him. Unless they had an angle, there was no reason to persistently approach a brusque man like him.
Owen smiled, shrugging his shoulders.
Owen knew Eleanora’s nature well. Had Killian known that the military doctor back then was Eleanora herself, he would never have said such a thing.
‘And I can’t tell him either… What a mess.’
Meanwhile, Killian kept turning Owen’s words over in his mind.
( ‘His point makes sense. What need would she have for money, being a doctor living in the countryside?’ )
If she truly needed money, she would have moved to the city from the start.
Then what did that woman want from him? What did a woman her age need?
( ‘…Me?’ )
Killian felt as though struck by lightning.
It was not because the idea was ridiculous. Rather, it was because he could find no explanation that made more sense.
‘Isn’t that right? She’s a woman of marriageable age….’
No, in truth, she had passed that age by a bit.
Frankly, it made no sense that a woman like Eleanora had not managed to marry.
Was she not passably pretty? She also looked clever and sharp, like a peeled chestnut.
Her being a doctor was hardly supposed to be a flaw. Yet she remained unmarried? It could only be proof that there were no capable men in this town.
And there was further evidence to back that up. Hadn’t the local women raised all that fuss just to meet Killian?
‘Still, if she truly wants me, why doesn’t she approach me directly?’
Killian turned back around, tapping his chin as he spoke,
Owen chuckled,
Killian’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment.