By Zephyria He didn’t seem very interested in this side at first glance, but the moment his eyes met, he gave a friendly smile. Leonardo felt uneasy at the 7th Battalion Commander’s expression, which changed as if he had been waiting for it.
He remembered that he had approached him like a sly fox before, using artificial introductions and subtly bringing up the word cooperation. Seeing that he had suddenly encountered him when the Legion Commander was not by his side this time, it seemed that he was not just passing by.
‘Wasn’t the senior commander meeting not over yet? Why is he here?’
Leonardo showed an uncomfortable expression and crossed his legs in the opposite direction. Kenneth, who was sitting across from him, sensed an unusual atmosphere and glanced at him.
The 7th Battalion Commander, who was looking around for no reason, seemed to have decided on his destination. His steps, which had been circling around the tent, headed towards Leonardo without hesitation.
Kenneth’s military boots, which had been sitting, were completely attached to the ground at that moment. Leonardo’s gaze shifted to him at the gesture of leaning his upper body as if he was about to stand up at any moment.
At that moment, the 7th Battalion Commander’s steps stopped abruptly at the entrance of the tent. An unknown sigh flowed from his frozen mouth.
“Oh, dear.”
It wasn’t because he was conscious of Leonardo’s expression or Kenneth’s attempt to stand up. His gaze was fixed on the clothes Leonardo was wearing and the handkerchief tied around his neck.
“It’s almost like wallpaper…”
The 7th Battalion Commander’s face was full of regret, as if he were looking at gold bullion stored in a glass case. But he shook his shoulders as if he had a chill, clicked his tongue, and quickly turned away. A dumbfounded chuckle and meaningless nods followed.
Contrary to expectations, Leonardo’s eyebrows lifted slightly as the uninvited guest retreated so easily. He only followed the back of the 7th Battalion Commander, who disappeared to the right of the entrance, with his eyes.
‘…What’s going on?’
Kenneth, who had been looking back and forth between the two, put his slightly lifted buttocks back on the chair. He lowered his voice and asked Leonardo cautiously, gauging the situation.
“Did you have something to talk about? Was I in the way?”
“No, I have nothing to say.”
But it seems like he does. Kenneth tilted his head at the quiet mutter that followed.
Leonardo, who had been staring at the other side of the tent that was hidden from view, took his eyes off it about thirty seconds later.
“Did he leave?”
At Leonardo’s question, Kenneth blocked one of his ears that was close to him. Then, he concentrated on the other ear for a moment and quietly nodded.
Leonardo uncrossed his legs. Only then did a bothersome voice come out.
“He bothered me last time too. I guess he just left because you were here this time.”
As he frowned and rested his chin again, Kenneth awkwardly smiled and touched his nose. He didn’t know if he was trying to praise him, but the strong scent covering Leonardo was too noticeable to ignore. He was about to wave his hand and tell the truth, but he stopped. Instead, he hesitated as if he had something to say, and opened his mouth when the surrounding noise subsided.
“Um, Blaine.”
Leonardo only rolled his eyes to answer. Kenneth said quite seriously.
“It’s almost time to return, but I don’t think you should be alone in the future.”
“Hmm?”
Leonardo blinked at the sudden words. He pointed his chin at the direction the 7th Battalion Commander had disappeared and asked.
“Why, because of him?”
“No, it’s not necessarily because of that… it’s just that, something difficult might happen to you, Blaine.”
Kenneth shook his head, looking back once. Leonardo raised his eyebrows as if asking what he meant. Then, as if he thought he had said something wrong, Kenneth stammered and added.
“Ah, it’s nothing special―. Everyone likes you, Blaine, so they’re interested, and they’re also very curious… but that might be unpleasant for the person involved.”
The unexpected answer made him just stare at Kenneth. The story that Kenneth then uttered was the impression he had felt while being with Leonardo for a short time.
“I definitely knew it while sitting here with you, Blaine, about 72 people have passed in front of this tent so far. But all 72 people slowed down a little when they passed the entrance of the tent. I guess… well, I don’t know if you know, but you’re such a hot topic right now… and because you stand out, they can’t help but look at you without intending to.”
Because he remembered that Leonardo hated it when the scholar called him ‘pretty’, Kenneth deliberately tried to avoid directly saying that his appearance stood out.
But Leonardo’s eyes were already a little wider as he listened.
It wasn’t anything else. The strangely specific number that Kenneth presented was a little creepy.
‘He was counting all that?’
This guy was really unexpectedly concerned about things he hadn’t even thought of. He didn’t know if it was part of his outstanding senses or if it was just his personality, but Kenneth continued to speak as if it were nothing.
“But when you’re alone, well… people slow down even more blatantly. When you’re eating alone, or when you’re resting… Ah, of course, I don’t mean they’re doing it with bad intentions! I can hear well. When I hear them whispering after they pass, I can roughly hear what they’re saying. Most of them are just curious about what kind of person you are, or they want to say hello, that’s all they’re talking about!”
Kenneth hurriedly tried to fix what he had said in case Leonardo misunderstood in a bad way. Leonardo just listened quietly, only blinking his eyes without saying anything in particular.
“Still, it’s less noticeable when you’re with someone, so I’m telling you because I think you’ll feel more comfortable. Actually, I thought you were really amazing in my heart. I get really nervous when people stare at me this much, but you seem to be used to it.”
If you had to pick Kenneth’s tone, it was mixed with a little pity rather than a really amazing feeling. He jokingly finished by saying that everyone was considerate and considerate, but secretly coveted the seat he was sitting in.
But his words were full of strange worries. Leonardo could vaguely catch two facts from the words Kenneth had blurted out.
One was that he was one of the people who had a great interest in him, and the other was that he was more worried about him than he thought.
“……”
He knew that this guy had been giving him more affection than common sense since he had begged him to take him with tears streaming down his face. But now that he saw it, it wasn’t just affection, but he was also more concerned than he looked, and he seemed to have a sensitive side as much as his senses were outstanding.
Leonardo, who was organizing his thoughts, couldn’t open his mouth easily. Then, Kenneth, who had been talking alone, realized something and touched the corners of his mouth.
“Ah, I’m sorry if I said something rude…”
“…No, you―.”
Leonardo moved his lips and paused for a moment. Only after organizing what he wanted to say did he calmly open his mouth.
“You must be tired too.”
As the calm voice spread, Kenneth’s eyes widened a little this time.
“…Excuse me?”
“You have to hear even things you don’t want to hear. Then you’ll become very sensitive.”
Leonardo said calmly. Kenneth stammered and answered.
“Yes? …Oh, no, that’s okay…”
Kenneth, who was about to deny it quickly, hesitated. He was about to habitually say that he was okay because of his social position, but he was suddenly at a loss for words.
Usually, people who knew and tried to use his abilities would value those abilities very highly, but no one would bring up such a story. But since someone who had not the same abilities as him but had suffered similar pain was directly saying such things, Kenneth felt a lump in his chest for some reason.
It was a fact that he always thought about but never properly faced. It felt quite dazed to hear it from someone else’s mouth.
Kenneth’s gaze, which had been staring at Gold Eyes, gradually went down further. There was complexity in it. It seemed that there were also emotions he wanted to hide.
Leonardo, who had been watching quietly, turned his gaze to Kenneth’s hands fidgeting on the table.
Not liking the atmosphere that was about to become depressed, Leonardo tried to answer as simply as possible instead of rambling on.
“Thank you.”
He erased the dark expression from just now. Putting his longing for Nero aside for a moment, Leonardo smiled at Kenneth.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
The corners of his mouth, which he had worked hard to raise, drew a beautiful curve that was impossible to take his eyes off. Kenneth dazedly looked at him, and then shyly smiled as well.
In his heart, he was slowly hardening his mind. The person in front of him was strong enough without him needing to protect him, but for some reason, he felt like he wanted to protect him.
Hoping that his slight actions would be helpful to him, Kenneth placed his hands on his thighs. His hands, which had been fidgeting invisibly, were now clenched into fists.
Just as his determination was becoming stronger, a faint smell of wind brushed past the tip of his nose.
‘Oh.’
Kenneth’s gaze turned outward again. This time, he got up from his seat without hesitation.
“Blaine, I think I should get going now.”
“Huh? Oh.”
Leonardo’s gaze followed Kenneth as he quickly rose to his feet. Seeing him say he was leaving so decisively, he wondered if he had kept him for too long.
To soothe his slight disappointment, Leonardo subtly pulled his chair back. Just as he was about to get up to see him off, his gaze fell to the floor, following something.
Kenneth was visibly flustered as he hurriedly bent down.
“Ah―!”
The items that were halfway out of Kenneth’s pants pocket fell to the ground as he stood up.
It seemed that when the 7th Battalion Commander had approached earlier, his lower body had shifted, causing them to gradually slip out.
Leonardo thought that even his flustered cleanup was just like him, and with an exasperated expression, he looked down under the table.
There were two items that had fallen. One was an unidentifiable black device about half the size of his palm, and the other was a flat, rectangular case with a flamboyant pattern. Neither was particularly small, and the latter was very familiar.
Leonardo’s hand, which had been about to pick them up, paused in mid-air. At that moment, Kenneth’s hand quickly snatched up the black device. Leonardo’s eyes were still fixed on the rectangular case he hadn’t yet retrieved.
It was a cigarette case. A rather hard-to-find item smoked only by people with peculiar tastes.
And that notoriously strong cigarette was also one that he always enjoyed smoking.
Leonardo was puzzled.
‘Does he smoke?’
262
Leonardo was puzzled.
‘Does he smoke?’
However, before his thoughts could go any further, Kenneth’s other hand reached out and picked up the fallen cigarette case. Seeing him quickly stand up across the table, Leonardo also straightened his legs and rose from his seat.
Kenneth awkwardly smiled and stuffed the items into his pocket. Just as the cigarette case was about to disappear into the deep pocket, Leonardo casually tossed out a question.
“You smoked too?”
Kenneth’s eyes widened.
“Huh? Ah, yes, well….”
“It’s hard to find people who smoke those. I smoke them often.”
The leaves that are the raw material for those cigarettes can only be found in a small area in the southern part of the Empire. Cultivation is difficult because it only grows in special environments where warm temperatures meet highlands and sea breezes, and its scarcity is high throughout the continent.
Moreover, the scent itself is a bit unique, so there isn’t much demand, and there are only a few distributors. The manufacturer’s dedication to craftsmanship also contributes to the small production volume per period.
Because of this, Leonardo spoke with a nuance of renewed pleasure, but Kenneth only responded with a lukewarm “Ah….”
Then, he took out the cigarette case he had put in his pocket again. Kenneth, who had been fidgeting with the crumpled case, handed it to Leonardo as it was.
“Would you like to have it?”
“Huh?”
Leonardo asked back with a surprised look. To readily offer such a precious thing(?) was nothing short of a love confession among enthusiasts.
“You’re telling me to take it?”
“Yes….”
“Why?”
It was pure curiosity. As the hand that had been about to see him off paused and asked back, Kenneth lowered his gaze to look at Leonardo’s hand. Scanning the floor in that state, Kenneth scratched the back of his head and pondered for a moment. Soon, he looked up, smiled awkwardly, and reversed his previous answer.
“I actually don’t smoke. I got it to give to Blaine.”
A question mark appeared in Leonardo’s eyes. But before he could ask for the full story, Kenneth suddenly grabbed Leonardo’s hand.
“You’ll accept it, right?”
With a slightly trembling hand, he firmly pressed the cigarette case into his hand and turned towards the entrance before he could be stopped.
“I have something urgent to take care of, so I’ll head out first!”
Leonardo was caught somewhere between bewilderment and absurdity at the sight of Kenneth practically running away.
Meanwhile, Kenneth, who had turned to the left side of the tent, completely disappeared from view within seconds. Leonardo stood there alone, holding only the cigarette case he had left behind. His blinking eyes stared blankly at the empty space where Kenneth had last been seen.
‘He got it to give to me?’
As his eyes met those of another member passing by, Leonardo shifted his gaze to the case in his hand.
He was grateful, but he was also bewildered. The question ‘Why?’ wouldn’t leave his mind.
He was also surprised that he knew what he smoked in advance. But since he had already said with his own mouth that he was very interested in him, he thought that this might also be part of that interest.
He had taken out a cigarette in front of him a few times, so he might have noticed the brand then. However, he still wondered how he had obtained such a hard-to-find item outside, in the chaotic peninsula or Fidele Territory.
Judging from the crumpled surface of the case, it felt like he had been carrying it for quite a while, so it didn’t seem like he had bought a new one. If so, that meant he had gotten it from someone else who smoked…. If he was willing to share cigarettes with a new recruit who wasn’t even his superior, that person must have been quite unique… no, a good person.
As his trivial thoughts grew longer, Leonardo plopped down on the chair. His hesitating thumb gently pushed up the flamboyant case.
At that moment, a sigh of “Huh―” escaped him involuntarily. The densely packed cigarettes seemed to be welcoming him to smoke one right away.
“…Eleven, twelve, thirteen. This is completely new?”
Because this cigarette has only one case design, the number of cigarettes inside is also always the same. When you buy a new one, there are a total of 13 cigarettes, expressing the manufacturer’s strange philosophy that it represents the 13th month, the last month of Laina Rogia, which was a very unfortunate number.
But when he counted them, he became puzzled again. He hadn’t smoked a single one while the case was crumpled like this? And he was giving it to someone else like that?
He couldn’t do that unless he had decided to quit smoking, so Leonardo brushed aside his distracting thoughts and took out a cigarette as if possessed.
Honestly, it had been so long since his last smoke after entering the peninsula that he couldn’t even remember when it was. Although he wasn’t an addict, Leonardo, who was quite the smoker, couldn’t dare to ignore a favorite item he hadn’t seen in a while.
‘Just one, just one.’
He knew that his body hadn’t fully recovered yet, but sometimes things like this can be medicine. Leonardo, with the cigarette between his lips, instinctively sucked on the unlit filter.
The longing scent swirled in his mouth, and his eyes twitched as if he was excited. It was a completely different level of bliss compared to the pipe tobacco he had only been using to ruin his mouth lately. It was like a drug that awakened his dulled nerves….
‘Pipe tobacco?’
The memory that suddenly flashed by felt somewhat foreign. Leonardo’s eyebrow rose. Had he smoked something like that recently?
His last smoke was definitely the moment when Alex Siles sat next to him and first proposed the deal. After that, he had run out of the cigarettes he had, and the situation was so chaotic that he didn’t have time to borrow from anyone else.
He tilted his head for a moment, but his head wasn’t working well because he was hungry. He casually dismissed it as a misunderstanding, and brought his finger to the end of the cigarette. As soon as he lit the tip, artistic smoke rose from the burning tobacco leaves.
The cool scent that pierced his lungs felt like he was drinking from the Holy Grail of death. The dreamy fragrance gently caressed the gloom of the night. A tingling pleasure spread through the back of his neck and scalp.
‘Ah, I’m alive.’
Fulfillment settled on Leonardo’s loosely relaxed eyelids. It was a sudden gift, but he thought Kenneth was quite commendable. But perhaps he was too engrossed, as he didn’t notice the approaching footsteps.
He only felt that the surrounding air had become noticeably cooler. At that moment, a chilling voice pierced his ear.
“What are you doing right now?”
His shoulders twitched reflexively. Leonardo was startled and tried to turn around.
But even before that, a strong grip grabbed his chin and lifted it up. His neck was tilted back, and the hard lower abdomen touched the back of his head.
“Leonardo.”
At the same time, the cigarette in his lips was pulled out. A stern voice echoed from above his head.
In Leonardo’s view, looking up with his head tilted back, stood the Ice Reaper, with a languid smoke that suited him quite well.
“Uh… uh?”
As his vision belatedly recognized him, the thick scent of his body wafted over him. The scent mixed with tobacco wasn’t bad, but the expression looking down at him was very terrifying. Perhaps because of that, Leonardo, who had been making a foolish face, could only stammer and couldn’t answer right away.
Only his Adam’s apple surged greatly, following his throbbing heart. The large hand holding his chin wrapped around Leonardo’s entire neck as if to compress it.
“Are you even aware that you’re a patient?”
Hugo, looking down from above, asked in a seemingly angry tone. In the meantime, the cigarette between his fingers froze with the smoke, and then shattered into pieces and turned to dust before Leonardo’s eyes.
At the afterimage of the cigarette crumbling and scattering like snowflakes, Leonardo sweated profusely. He felt the other party was ‘angry’ as it was. He felt like he had done something terribly wrong for no reason.
Perhaps because he had been in a meeting all night, Hugo’s eyes were even a little bloodshot. From his position looking up, that contributed greatly to feeling intimidated.
Leonardo, who had been staring blankly, finally pushed away Hugo’s hand that was holding his chin after a long time. Then, he straightened his head, turned around, and made an effort to excuse himself to the chilling blue eyes.
“I, I took one puff. Just one puff―. And I was going to throw it away right away. Really.”
“……”
Hugo sighed, rubbing his forehead at the excuse that was worse than not making one. He had gone to his residence and found no one there, so he had hurried over after hearing the members’ words, but he never expected him to be causing such trouble. He was very angry at him for not taking care of his body. But fearing that it would turn into an unwanted argument like last time, Hugo restrained himself and said.
“You didn’t even eat properly yesterday. How will your body be if you smoke on top of that?”
“…Is eating related to smoking? And I really only took one puff, you know?”
“Whether it’s one puff or one pack, it doesn’t change anything. The important thing is that you smoked. And… where did you get that? Did Kenneth Weaver give it to you?”
Hugo said, snatching the cigarette case from Leonardo’s hand. Before he could even feel the sense of loss in his hand, Leonardo flinched inwardly at the mention of Kenneth’s name. He didn’t know how much Agrizendro had been watching from, but he felt he had to protect Kenneth first.
“No? I just grabbed some random guy on the street and asked for it, and he gave it to me?”
Hugo’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t seem to believe it at all. Leonardo felt guilty, but he didn’t give in. The moment he admitted that Kenneth had given it to him, he might never see him again.
Of course, he was also a little upset about having the cigarette taken away like this, so he flailed his arms and tried to take it back. But Hugo quickly stretched his arm upwards, and the cigarette case went up to a hopelessly high position.
He didn’t bother asking for it back because his eyes were firm and he had no intention of returning it. He knew that it wasn’t a good thing, so he didn’t want to waste his energy on it.
However, Leonardo, who was sitting on the chair and looking at Hugo, said in a sulky tone.
“The medical officer didn’t say anything special about cigarettes either. You know I used to smoke. But you’re not my lover, so why are you interfering so much?”
Of course, it was interference stemming from concern, but Leonardo argued with Hugo even though he knew it. He also felt a little resentful that he had been disarmed of his precious cigarette. But he had said he would be back not too late, and he couldn’t help but feel resentful that he hadn’t kept his promise.
However, Hugo didn’t have time to deeply understand such a psychology right now. He narrowed his brows and placed one hand on each of the chair’s armrests. In that state, he bent down, brought his face close, and steadily pressured Leonardo.
Leonardo, who had suddenly been trapped by Hugo’s arms and the chair, slipped off the chair diagonally, trying to avoid him as he slowly descended. Just as he was about to lie down on the chair, not knowing where else to go, Hugo, who had been looking down almost vertically, chuckled in disbelief.
“Then, do you listen to your lover?”
263
“Then, do you listen to your lover?”
Leonardo’s eyes moved slightly. The unexpected question suddenly caught him off guard.
He had only chosen a suitable relationship in the sense that he didn’t want to be interfered with, but when it came back as an extremely personal question, he was momentarily speechless.
He was also curious about the intention of the question. Honestly, if he was going to ask, he should just ask, and he wanted to ask why he had brought his face so close more than necessary.
It was as if he was openly trying to observe how he would react. As the persistent gaze scanned his eyes, nose, and mouth, he felt as if every tremor of his muscles was being dissected.
Leonardo, who had received such a gaze from Hugo before, didn’t like the situation of being crushed by the persistent gaze of exploration. But right now, it seemed that the atmosphere would become somewhat strange whether he pushed his shoulder away and got up first, or nonchalantly retorted something. It was an instinctive feeling.
It was too subtle to ignore, and the breaths that brushed against each other in this close gap were quite strange. The occasional skinship from yesterday became clear through all five senses at the same time. But it seemed that he wasn’t the only one being swayed by such sensations.
The person looking down at him also seemed to be swimming in a similar time as him. His deep eyes became more and more profound.
Leonardo consciously moved his lips, which had been curled inward as he slightly bit them, as if to show off. Then, the blue eyes, whose depth could not be known, touched the red lips that had slipped out between his teeth.
His gaze, which had lingered for quite a long time in his perception, returned to its original position. Leonardo, who had been looking up at his unwavering face, broke the suffocating silence and barely opened his mouth.
“I listen. To my lover.”
His voice was relatively calm for someone who was flustered. This time, he didn’t want to get caught up in the other person’s pace like yesterday.
When he squinted and stared as if he was about to start a war of nerves, the other person’s shadowed eyelids blinked slowly as if to answer.
In that instant, thin strands of blonde hair that had flowed down along the back of the chair scattered like rays of light over Leonardo’s forehead.
Hugo, who would normally have naturally reached out and tidied it up, only watched quietly at this moment. He opened his mouth dryly when Leonardo’s muscle strength, which had been enduring the difficult posture, reached its limit.
“I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”
The golden eyelashes that were in line with his firm lips fluttered slightly.
His words themselves sounded like a joke, but his tone was stiff, devoid of laughter. For some reason, it seemed like he was uncomfortable. It wasn’t possible, but it also sounded like he was being sarcastic.
Leonardo, who was puzzled by the rather cold reaction, slightly raised his eyebrows and tried to figure out his intention. But before he could properly examine his expression, Hugo’s face, which had been approaching, slowly moved away.
He straightened his back, took his hands off the armrests, and moved his steps along the circumference of the chair. Following his footsteps, Leonardo also tried to straighten his upper body with the strength of his arms and sit up straight.
But at that moment, Hugo, who had stretched out his arms, grabbed Leonardo’s waist. Then, he lightly lifted him up as if he were holding a cotton doll and sat him upright on the chair.
Leonardo, who had floated up to his thighs for a moment before sinking back down, leaned obediently against the backrest by his strength. Hugo, instead of sitting in the chair opposite him, leaned his lower body diagonally against the table right next to him. Although he was clearly sitting on the tabletop, both feet were touching the ground because his legs were so long.
Leonardo, who had been silent, quietly examined Hugo’s mood. Hugo left the cigarette case he had taken on the table as it was. He washed his hands with the water he had spat out and swept back his navy hair. His brow, looking out of the tent, was strangely furrowed.
‘Is he upset?’
Leonardo, who was staring at his tired profile, quietly guessed his emotional state that was faintly revealed.
He was the one who hadn’t given up on him until the end when he was about to go berserk, so he wondered if he was upset because he had coldly told him to mind his own business too much. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such an expression after making eye contact in that atmosphere just now. It was as if he was reacting as if he had experienced a different situation from him, so Leonardo was newly bewildered.
‘Is his pride slightly….’
Then, Hugo, who had been touching his eyes with his fingertips, glanced and turned his head. He sent a meaningful gaze, then leaned his upper body, resting his hand on the table, and said.
“I understand you don’t like interference, but whether you’re my lover or not, it can’t be helped while you’re here. Here, I am your final decision-maker and protector. I have a duty to interfere so that you can regain your health, and to safely take responsibility until your return.”
As Hugo said that, his gaze was still fixed on the handkerchief of his tied around Leonardo’s neck. Leonardo’s gaze also followed his, looking down at his neck. As he fiddled with the knot that wasn’t loose at all, Hugo tapped his cigarette case and added.
“I’ll give it back to you when you go back and finish the thorough examination and it’s determined that there’s nothing wrong. And after that, I promise not to interfere. Anyway, I’m returning to Zodiac tomorrow, so there’s not much time left.”
Leonardo, who had been listening quietly, widened his eyes at that moment and asked.
“What? You’re returning tomorrow?”
“…Yeah. Flynn didn’t tell you?”
“You were both gone all night. This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
Leonardo retorted, recalling the conversation between the members he had vaguely overheard in the cabin earlier.
‘What kind of meeting takes so long? Is it because of the return tomorrow?’
At that time, it was too noisy, so he didn’t think specifically about what the meaning of ‘return’ was, because he was just casually listening. He never dreamed that it meant the entire unit was returning to Zodiac.
Come to think of it, Kenneth had also told him that it would be better not to be alone, prefacing it with ‘although we’re returning soon,’ he remembered.
As he pieced things together one by one, he began to understand why the members had seemed so busy yesterday and today.
When Leonardo’s eyes looked increasingly confused, Hugo added a brief explanation.
“The demon beast subjugation is almost finished… and the volcanic eruption has a barrier temporarily activated to prevent the spread of damage, but that’s ultimately nature’s domain, so we can’t just wait here until it subsides. We can’t keep neglecting the casualties, so it’s been decided that we’ll return to the central headquarters first. So today will be the last day we stay here.”
Leonardo looked up at Hugo with a dazed expression.
‘The last?’
Returning tomorrow was very good news. But was it because the timing was earlier than expected? His heart suddenly felt uneasy.
‘Is it really over now?’
Rather than primal joy, other thoughts came to Leonardo’s mind first. The end of the long, long subjugation. A farewell to this tiresome group as well.
The promised time was vaguely approaching, and in the midst of it, a certain ending that he would face at the finale came to mind.
‘There’s not much time left to be together.’
The fact that he had realized this anew made Leonardo feel a little dazed. Hugo, watching him show a lukewarm reaction unlike what he had expected, cautiously asked.
“Aren’t you happy?”
Then Leonardo, who had been staring blankly into the air, blinked and looked at Hugo. Soon, he lowered his gaze to the table. His Gold Eyes, moving busily like a second hand, seemed somehow lacking in composure.
Hugo watched him, who seemed to have a complicated state of mind, and clasped his hands on his thighs, muttering softly.
“I thought you’d be happy if I said we were going back soon.”
Leonardo, who had been organizing his thoughts, raised his head again. He muttered to Hugo with a somewhat unreal expression.
“I am.”
Hugo’s eyebrow muscles twitched slightly. Seeing him, Leonardo asked Hugo in return.
“What about you?”
Leonardo’s question was, in fact, a very foolish question if you knew Hugo Agrizendro. That’s because the answer was already clearly determined.
Pushed by the higher-ups, burdened with heavy responsibilities, he came to the peninsula, watched the time bomb that was Leonardo Blaine, and led the Council’s great army. He was the one who had hoped more than anyone else that this subjugation would end successfully, and he was the one who had been counting the days until his return to Zodiac.
But now, at the crossroads of an extremely obvious answer, Hugo couldn’t easily answer Leonardo’s question. It felt like there was another meaning in it somehow. Not the meaning that was heard directly, but a hidden meaning that only they, who had shared the past, could understand.
If it were usual, he could have easily grasped such a thing. But today, the meaning was especially confusing. The reason was something he himself didn’t know well. Perhaps he was deliberately turning a blind eye.
Hugo suddenly recalled Leonardo saying that he liked oranges. His voice, hastily adding the object, brushed past his ears.
Somehow, the scent from that time seemed to fill the tent again. Hugo made an effort to recall the meaning of the question, but he uttered it somewhat ambiguously.
“Me too, I am.”
From that point on, silence flowed between the two. No one could move even a finger, afraid of breaking the silence.
They, who were second to none in being quick-witted and agile, couldn’t possibly not know the tension that was flowing tautly in their own space, which seemed open but was cut off.
Leonardo was curious about the inner thoughts of this man who confused him more than anyone else in his life. It sounded like he was glad to be able to return, but the look in his eyes wasn’t.
Tilting his head at the returned answer and slightly creasing his eyes, the sunlight streaming in from outside swept across Leonardo’s face.
Hugo, staring at the clear Gold Eyes through which the light was transmitted, turned his gaze away first, trying to shake off the escalating atmosphere. His gaze, which had moved outside the tent, was looking at yesterday’s Leonardo, not the passing members.
He was referring to ‘Leonardo meeting Felix Montero’ in the report of his subordinate, his right-hand man, who had told him every detail of what had happened while he was away.