Previously
Emily confronts Owen with suspicions of an affair, forcing him to reveal Eleanora's secret identity as the wartime doctor Elliot Winter to prove his innocence. Killian overhears this revelation and storms into Eleanora’s clinic, furiously confronting her for the illegal act of impersonating a male officer.
Killian’s overhearing of the Hughes couple’s conversation had been pure coincidence.
Normally, he would have walked away immediately, but what slipped through the crack was too absurd to believe.
Owen cheating on his wife with that woman? He knew Owen was not that sort of man, nor was she that kind of woman, yet his heart grew unsettled for some reason, and he could not easily pull himself away from that bothersome exchange.
Yet Owen’s subsequent defense was far more ridiculous than anything he could have anticipated.
( ‘Eleanora Winter is Elliot Winter?’ )
It made no sense. Such an equation could never hold true.
When Killian had stormed over to her in a fury, it was not to hold her accountable or interrogate her. Rather, he thought a single look at her would confirm that Owen had been babbling nonsense.
Yet the instant he threw the door open and faced her, his conviction began tilting in the opposite direction.
Wide, startled eyes like a frightened rabbit’s. A slender wrist that looked as if it would snap under a single hand.
And yet, those direct eyes never shrank back, even before a predator.
Above all else, she matched the hazy image of “Elliot Winter” lingering in his memory down to the last detail.
It really was her.
Killian’s mouth went parched and burning.
How could it ever cross your mind to go there?
And who on earth are you to crawl into that deadly hell of your own accord?
That battlefield was a living hell where not even Killian could guarantee his own survival.
He could overpower her with one hand this very moment. How had she dragged that frail body all the way out there?
What madness possessed her to do that…?
Because no one else could be allowed to hear this, Killian had barged into the clinic where Eleanora was alone and shut the door behind him.
His anger flared even hotter at her demeanor, offering no resistance whatsoever despite his violent intrusion.
‘Look at you. You really don’t have an ounce of caution!’
Rushing off to the battlefield must have been something she had done without a second thought as well.
Infiltrating the front lines was madness in itself, but having witnessed death there, she should have realized at least one thing: before danger, she was nothing more than a helpless human being.
She should have resolved to preserve her life from then on and never venture near anything dangerous again.
She should have regretted it and learned her lesson.
Yet she had recently risked herself again, saving his life once more.
And Killian hated it with a passion.
He was furious. He felt not a shred of gratitude.
Even though he had sought Elliot Winter all this time to thank him, why was this rage blazing within him like this?
His emotions boiled beyond control, until he finally hurled harsh, indelible words in her face.
Naturally, he expected her to get angry. Or to cry, protesting the unfairness.
Or at the very least, to defend herself by saying she had no other choice, even if he could never accept it.
In truth, he had hoped she would.
‘I’m sorry.’
Instead, she apologized. She even bowed her head like a criminal, struggling to hold back the tremor in her voice.
The moment he saw that, the rage boiling within him vanished like a lie. In its place settled a heavy, cold ache.
As he walked away, Eleanora’s words kept echoing in his mind, saying she would leave every decision to him.
A decision? What decision?
Did she think I would report her to the military police?
Owen had been waiting anxiously for Killian by the entrance, but the moment he saw him enter the mansion drenched in rain from head to toe, all color drained from his face.
Killian ignored him and headed straight into his room.
He could hear Owen saying something outside, but he did not even want to hear his voice.
He could guess why he had deceived him.
First, because Eleanora had asked him to keep it a secret.
Second, because he knew of his aversion to women.
Perhaps he thought that even if she were his savior, he would never tolerate a “woman” who had violated military law.
Yet even taking all those circumstances into account, he could not easily accept this hateful state of affairs.
Leaning back against the sofa, he tilted his head up and stared at the ceiling.
It was still daytime, yet perhaps because of the rain, everything lay dark as a pitch-black night.
Over that dark world, Eleanora’s face was etched clearly. That pale face, taking the full brunt of his rage until it turned blue with shock.
Soon, that face morphed into the image of “Elliot Winter,” which had remained hazy in his memory until just moments ago.
All around her drifted the stifling stench of blood, the acrid bite of gunpowder, and the screams of people rising from every direction.
He squeezed his eyes shut against the ghastly scene. Even so, the image refused to leave his mind.
Shortly after Killian left, Owen came to Eleanora and apologized directly.
Unable to tell her about his wife’s embarrassing misunderstanding, Owen simply explained that a careless slip had leaked the secret to Killian.
Eleanora shook her head quietly.
Naturally, a mistake was still a mistake even if unintended.
Yet ever since she met Owen, Eleanora had felt deep down that hiding her true identity would not be as easy as she thought.
Owen rubbed his grim face hard as he spoke.
At that moment, Eleanora recalled Killian seething with fury and hesitated briefly.
Owen then explained how she had saved Killian in the past, and how he had been searching for “Elliot” all this time.
When astonishment showed on Eleanora’s face, Owen bowed in apology once more.
Owen added that so long as Eleanora was his benefactor and savior, Killian would never harm her.
‘…Though Lord Blackwell’s demeanor was anything but reassuring.’
Although she did not know much about Killian, the man she had seen and judged so far seemed exceedingly conservative, and above all, someone who revered principles.
Military men in particular often regarded military law as dearer than their own lives, and Killian had seemed to her precisely like one of them.
Despite Owen’s reassurance, Eleanora merely nodded in silence. There was no point in explaining her thoughts to him one by one.
Nothing about reality would change because of it anyway.
‘I must tell Professor Percival, shouldn’t I?’
That her identity had been exposed.
Worse yet, that Blackwell himself was the one who had discovered it.
( ‘I cannot cause trouble for the professor, no matter what.’ )
Eleanora let out a deep sigh.
( ‘Why did I even go to war in the first place?’ )
Her father had passed away, and in the end, this disaster had struck anyway.
It was true she remembered the people she had saved during the war, but wasn’t it possible they would have survived even without her?
There had been a shortage of doctors, yes, but she wasn’t the only one. Nor was she exceptionally skilled.
She had only become a doctor because luck had been on her side.
Eleanora sank deeper and deeper into a mire of helplessness and exhaustion, until she could no longer even hear the sound of the rain.
Late that night, having finally made sure that Emily—who had spent hours crying and blaming herself—was asleep, Owen made his way cautiously to Killian.
He had feared Killian might refuse to speak with him again, but fortunately the door opened.
Owen intended to apologize first and then speak about Eleanora. But…
Just as Owen was about to say that under the current circumstances they might not be able to depart tomorrow as planned…
Owen’s eyes widened so far they looked ready to pop from their sockets.
Killian slid a blank check toward him.
“Silence! If you dared to deceive me, you should have been prepared to bear consequences like these!”
The moment Killian’s shout echoed down the corridor… a sound came from the end of the hall.
He had checked for himself that she was asleep!
Panicked, Owen sprinted toward the dark end of the hallway.
Emily was clutching her swollen belly, collapsed on the floor as she let out a pained groan.
Owen dropped to his knees to gather her up and help her to her feet. But… the floor beneath her was gradually growing wet.