Translator: Nox

28 - Chapter 28

When the discussion about the general seating arrangement was over, the clock pointed to ten.

“Oh, it’s so late. Take this with you.”

Mrs. Parker handed Eloise a heavy basket.

Eloise staggered as she received it, and Ryan, who had changed his clothes, immediately took it from Eloise's hands.

“I’ll carry this until we arrive. Oops!”

He then pretended to be heavy with an exaggerated gesture. Mrs. Parker burst into laughter at his actions.

“I’ll send the carriage you came in tomorrow through our coachman, so it would be better to just ride a horse now.”

“I agree.”

It was better to do that when riding on a night road like this. You never know where there might be a big rock on the road, and it would be harder to deal with any problems that might arise.

Soon, the coachman brought two of Blissbury's horses that were most familiar with night roads. Eloise, seeing the horses, approached them with a happy expression and touched their noses.

“Eclipse, Silver Moon. Please take good care of me today too.”

“You even know their names?”

“Of course. I’ve been taking care of them since they were foals.”

As if to prove her words, the two horses rubbed their faces against Eloise's face, whom they had met after a long time, as if they were happy to see her, and neighed.

After getting on her horse, Eloise waved to Mrs. Parker.

“Goodbye!”

“Yes! Come visit often!”

Eloise didn’t answer Mrs. Parker’s words and just smiled.

After telling the coachman to take good care of the carriage tomorrow and leaving Blissbury, a field full of the sound of crickets soon unfolded.

But the road wasn’t that dark. Fortunately, the moon, which was close to full, was shining brightly.

Even so, she wouldn’t have been able to go this leisurely if she had returned alone on this road.

‘I keep hearing stories about deserters lately.’

Not long ago, an old gentleman driving on a night road north of Cambon was attacked by a strange man who suddenly jumped out of the bushes.

The strange man ran away after stripping the old gentleman of his money, belongings, and even his clothes. That alone was scary enough, but he even killed the horse the old gentleman was driving.

He probably worried that the old gentleman would ride the horse back to town and report it quickly.

‘But killing a horse for that reason isn’t easy.’

Horses are big and smart animals. It would have sensed the danger when it saw its owner getting hurt, but the fact that he went to the trouble of catching and killing such a horse sent chills down her spine.

The old gentleman hurriedly ran away and survived, but what if the deserter attacked someone again? Would the other person be safe then too?

People thought that the deserter had fled further north.

<The constabulary has started searching the surrounding forest, so he must have decided that he couldn’t stay here any longer. I think he might sneak into the industrial cities in the north? Those factories are short of labor and accept criminals too, I hear.>

<I heard that in the alleys where such people live, more than ten people sleep in one room, and they don’t even know each other’s names.>

<It would be the perfect place to hide.>

Listening to such conversations from the townspeople, Eloise also thought that the deserter had headed further north.

Besides, Feltham is south of Cambon. Since it’s closer to the southern capital, the security is better and the roads are well-paved, so the chances of a criminal who needs to hide coming this way are relatively low.

‘But I should still be careful until I hear that he’s been caught.’

Thinking that, Eloise looked to the side.

She saw Sergeant Thornton’s face, which was even more shaded by the moonlight.

She thought he was handsome, but seeing him like this, his handsomeness seemed to have doubled. If another woman from Feltham were in this place, she would have been mesmerized.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

Then, noticing Eloise’s gaze, he turned his head. Seen from the front, his face was even more striking.

He had become a little more gaunt than when she first saw him because he hadn’t been eating well, but that actually gave his impression a sharper edge.

“Your face.”

Eloise didn’t turn her head and stared even more intently at his face.

She knew this was rude behavior. But now, no matter what she did to him, could she be any more of a mess than she had been so far?

So Eloise decided to put aside etiquette and treat him as she pleased.

“Why? Because I’m handsome?”

“Doesn’t a soldier’s virtue include humility?”

“You don’t deny it, though.”

“Even if I deny it, you wouldn’t listen. You’ll hear it a lot from other people anyway.”

Even if she said no, he would hear that he was handsome from others, so it was useless to deny it.

Eloise turned her gaze away from him as if she didn’t think much of it. As she did, she realized anew. She was still annoyed with him, but not as much as when she had rushed to Blissbury in surprise.

‘Is it because I’ve told him everything?’

She had thrown away all pretense of being refined and said, ‘Okay, go ahead and do what you want!’ and told him everything, so she was no longer hesitant or afraid to deal with him.

Thanks to that, didn’t she feel rather relieved?

Besides, Sergeant Thornton was the first person she had ever treated so openly. He was also the first person to know something that only she should have known.

‘Still, it’s a relief that he’s someone who will eventually return to the capital.’

He’s a soldier who came here for recuperation. He already showed signs of being tired of this countryside. When he returns to the capital, he’ll forget about a place like this in a few days. And he’ll definitely forget about my business soon…

‘…He’ll forget, right?’

It would be a very fortunate thing, so why was she hesitating like this?

Strangely, that fact bothered her. It would be good if he forgot, but somehow, the thought of him cleanly forgetting Blissbury hurt her pride.

It’s a quiet place with not much happening, but isn’t it a bit much to forget such a beautiful place?

As Eloise was getting more and more lost in her thoughts, he spoke again.

“Having a striking appearance isn’t a good thing. That’s why I have to disguise myself during infiltration missions.”

“Infiltration missions?”

Eloise’s eyes widened at the word ‘mission.’ Then, one corner of Ryan’s mouth went up.

“As expected, your eyes change when military stories come up.”

“If it’s combat experience, you can hear plenty from the retired soldiers swarming in Cambon, but you can’t easily hear stories about such infiltration missions. So, tell me quickly. Where did you receive an infiltration mission? Did Lieutenant Colonel Wilgrave go with you, by any chance?”

“Well… he was there.”

It was a vague answer. Eloise began to question him more diligently in order to find out what she wanted to hear.

It was a road she would have rushed through nervously if she had been alone. But now, Eloise was excited and raising her voice until she arrived at the entrance of Feltham, far from being nervous.

“Oh my! So, the victory in the Battle of Halifax at that time was…”

“That’s right. Our battalion played a big role.”

Eloise’s eyes sparkled at Ryan’s words. She was as excited as someone who had heard the most enjoyable and touching story in the world.

What Ryan told her was one of the achievements of the 57th Infantry Battalion that had not been fully disclosed to the world.

Count Willus, his father, who was the division commander of the 31st Division, had stolen the credit, so the names of the soldiers of the 57th Infantry Battalion were not properly listed in the military newspaper.

In the military, they knew each other and it was an achievement that had already been taken away, so they hadn’t talked about it much, but to Eloise, who heard the deep story for the first time, it was a more interesting and thrilling heroic tale than anything else in the world.

“Really… Lieutenant Colonel Wilgrave is amazing…”

Eloise muttered with a blank face. Then Ryan said.

“So, are you going to write him another letter?”

The moment he brought up the story of the letter when she was so excited, Eloise shouted as if to tell him to stop.

“Hey, Ryan Thornton!”

Ryan laughed at her shout and ran away. As the two of them were having a trivial chase and entering Feltham.

“Miss!”

“Oh? Emily!”

Emily was standing at the entrance of the village with a lamp.

“Why are you out here without sleeping?”

“How can I sleep when you haven’t returned, Miss? Besides, the madam was worried because of the deserter story, so I came out just in case.”

“Deserter?”

Ryan heard those words and joined the conversation.

“What are you talking about?”

Then Emily excitedly told him the rumors of the deserter. Ryan’s expression gradually hardened as he listened.

When Emily’s story was over, he said to Eloise.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the deserter story? What were you going to do if something happened and I couldn’t take you home?”

“Well… wouldn’t I have run at full speed?”

“Miss Eloise.”

He called Eloise in a serious, low voice as if he wasn’t joking right now. Eloise sighed inwardly.

He’s going to tell me why I didn’t tell him in advance. The moment she looked at him, ready to listen to a long lecture, Ryan said.

“This won’t do. I’ll escort you home every day.”