Previously
Eleanora sells a large jar of candied ginger to Killian, who carries it away with surprising ease despite its weight. Later, a man named Owen Hughes visits her clinic and recognizes her as Elliot Winter, the doctor who saved his leg during the war.
So she had enlisted in the army in her father’s place?
( ‘Good heavens… So that was the truth.’ )
Faced with a reality he had never once imagined, Owen was struck speechless.
Yet his astonishment did not linger, for his cool soldier’s mind soon took charge.
‘Wait… If that’s true, someone must have helped forge her identity.’
Conscription procedures were hardly that simple. The enlistment order had to match the personal records kept by the military unit.
Had the draft order been issued in her father’s name, his age would naturally have been entered in the military registers.
Yet when she reached the unit, the records for Elliot Winter must have described a young man in his twenties. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have even passed the initial intake examination.
Which meant someone had meticulously altered the paperwork between the moment the draft order was issued and her arrival at the unit.
‘Just who helped her? That’s not something an ordinary person could pull off.’
Questions piled in his mind like a mountain.
Even so, he did not press her. Her eyes were trembling with anxiety, and what she needed now was reassurance, not an interrogation.
She answered quietly.
A look of awkward discomfort washed over Owen’s face.
Eleanora offered a bitter smile.
“……”
Silence fell for a moment. Then Eleanora hastily waved her hand, as if realizing what she had just said.
Owen’s voice was gentle.
At his sincere comfort, Eleanora’s expression softened slightly.
She hesitated for a beat, then spoke cautiously.
Eleanora nodded.
( ‘What a mess…’ )
Owen wasn’t indebted to her alone. There was also Killian, the other man who had saved his life.
And he knew better than anyone that Killian was frantically searching for Elliot Winter.
In fact, one of the reasons he had come to the clinic today was to carry out Killian’s orders.
( ‘Find out if she has any brothers. Real brothers, or even relatives.’ )
Remembering Killian’s piercing gaze, Owen bit his lip in hesitation.
( ‘Hmm… But even if I told him the truth, I doubt the master would be pleased.’ )
If he discovered that the person who saved his life was a woman, he might feel far less gratitude than sheer shock and a terrible sense of betrayal.
( ‘With his temperament, it would spark pure chaos. This quiet clinic would be torn to pieces.’ )
Having made up his mind, Owen nodded slowly.
Eleanora breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.
Feigning indifference, Owen changed the subject.
Eleanora’s eyes widened in surprise.
( ‘Why does she look so shocked?’ )
As Owen watched her expression with curiosity, Eleanora offered a faint smile.
Owen understood the situation at once.
‘So… Doctor Winter doesn’t know.’
She didn’t know Killian had been at the Belwa front. Nor did she know she was the very person who had saved him there.
How could that be?
Yet when he thought about it, it made sense. During her days as a military doctor, Eleanora had been so frantic that she rarely remembered names, and sometimes not even faces.
It was only natural she hadn’t remembered him back then.
Still, when Killian was granted his baronetcy, the newspapers had been filled with stories glorifying the “Cage” operation he had led at the Belwa front.
( ‘Ah… right. That was right around the time her father died.’ )
Back then, she wouldn’t have had the time to read a newspaper at all.
‘In any case, there’s no need to tell Doctor Winter about the master either.’
Knowing Killian had been there wouldn’t improve anything. It would only leave her living in constant anxiety, terrified he might uncover who she really was.
He pulled out a wad of banknotes and held it out to her. Eleanora’s eyes widened immediately.
Owen spoke with certainty.
He deliberately put on a pitiful expression. In the end, Eleanora accepted the money reluctantly.
Long after Owen left, her mind remained in turmoil.
Her pocket was full of cash, but her heart had grown heavier than lead.
‘To receive this much money… and from Killian of all people… I feel as though he’ll tell me later that I wasn’t worth what he paid.’
And would Owen truly keep the secret? He seemed trustworthy, but what if his tongue slipped one day?
Especially in front of Killian.
‘They’re just needless worries.’
As long as Eleanora didn’t find herself in front of both men together, Owen would never have the chance to say the wrong thing.
From that perspective, it was truly fortunate that she wouldn’t have to get tangled up with Killian.
Though Killian insisted he was in perfect health before periodically surprising her with his alarming paleness, he was hardly in such critical condition that he might collapse at any moment.
Only a few minutes had passed since she patted her chest to soothe herself when Julian walked into the clinic, looking pale and thoroughly exhausted.
Eleanora asked in concern, and Julian let out a long sigh before opening up.
Eleanora said, trying to comfort him.
Julian’s eyes suddenly widened.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Eleanora hastened to explain.
No matter how much he snarled at people like a wild beast, he wasn’t an actual animal.
He was a human being like anyone else, who talked and walked.
Julian said earnestly.
( ‘It seems you spoke with the baroness about something, but no matter what you try, my marriage will not happen. So do not waste your time.’ )
Remembering the cold gaze that had accompanied those words, Julian shuddered involuntarily.
Julian’s eyes began to gleam with an intensity that weighed heavily on her.
Eleanora said in protest.
He took her hands, pleading with her. Eleanora bit her lip.
This request crossed the line.
On top of that, he had seen with his own eyes how Killian insulted her. Yet here he was, asking her to build a friendly rapport with him.
( ‘Does it not matter to him if I get hurt?’ )
A sudden bitterness surged within her.
Yet when she saw the wretched look in Julian’s eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse him coldly.
He was so trapped by his own predicament that his vision had narrowed. At his core, he was kinder than anyone.
Julian then departed with light, enthusiastic steps.
Left alone, Eleanora let out a deep sigh.
( ‘I agreed… but what on earth am I supposed to do now?’ )
All that tied them together was living next door to each other. She hadn’t expected her path to cross with Killian’s often in the future anyway.
Perhaps it would have been better had she refused firmly from the start.
Yet… how many women in this world could ignore a plea from the man they harbored unrequited feelings for?
Eleanora squeezed her eyes shut, her heart sinking into utter turmoil.