By Zephyria The 1st Battalion members who were nearby naturally tried to follow the Commander, but Hugo shook his head as if to say they didn’t need to follow. Instead, he pointed to Leonardo with his chin. It meant to protect him well.
The remaining personnel who could not accompany him silently stared at the back of the Legion Commander. Looking at them asking each other what to do, it seemed that they had no idea where their superior was going.
Leonardo rolled his eyes and tried to figure out the situation that had suddenly unfolded, then looked up at Cordelia, the decisive factor in Hugo’s departure.
She was looking at the departing group with a somewhat anxious look. Soon after, Leonardo got up and casually asked her.
“Major, what’s wrong?”
Cordelia, startled, turned to him with a slightly embarrassed look. Soon, she shook her head as if nothing had happened and smiled, grabbing Leonardo’s hand again.
“It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about it.”
After that, she naturally sat down where Hugo had been sitting, as if her main business was here. Then, she pulled Leonardo’s arm gently, making him sit next to her as well.
She slowly scanned Leonardo’s face with a warm gaze that came from within.
“I heard you woke up a long time ago, but I’ve been busy and haven’t been able to come until now. If I had known you were leaving tomorrow morning a little sooner, I would have come to see you sooner and talked to you to my heart’s content.”
Cordelia’s eyes were full of gratitude, apology, and regret as she said that.
Contrary to her saying it was nothing, there was also a worry that she couldn’t hide.
Leonardo was curious about the details of the previous situation, but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so he didn’t bother to ask. Instead, he focused on her touch, which had become rough enough to not be believed as the hand of a noble.
She, who had been given a heavy responsibility that was constantly mentioned during the meeting, was playing the role of a bridgehead for connecting the Council and the Paren army. He could tell that she had taken time out of her busy schedule to come to see him without her having to say it.
Leonardo unconsciously raised the corners of his lips. It was an instinct to show her only good things in the little time left.
He took out one of the blankets that had been serving as his backrest and warmed it up before covering it over Cordelia’s legs. He deliberately looked at her with a sly look and said in a resentful tone.
“That’s what I’m saying. You should have come sooner.”
Cordelia’s red eyes widened. Leonardo, who leaned back with his hands behind him, shrugged and added.
“I wanted to be praised by the Major.”
Cordelia blinked blankly with an expression that clearly revealed her inner thoughts. Then, she laughed helplessly with that familiar deflating sound.
He had only grown in body, but the teenager Leonardo she had seen a few years ago popped out of her memory and was chattering in front of her. The innocent boy who would pout and ask her to praise him after she stiffly told him he had done a good job after successfully completing a mission.
The Leonardo of that time sometimes acted cheeky, but he also had the unavoidable cuteness of his age. If the pretty boy threw a playful joke, the atmosphere would be much more relaxed even before a serious mission. So it was only natural and an undeniable truth that his military colleagues, including herself, cherished him.
Cordelia smiled happily as if she had briefly visited that time.
At the same time, she recalled the petition she had no choice but to hide and held Leonardo’s hand tightly with a bitter feeling.
“That’s right. I should have come sooner.”
“……”
“You swore to help me, and you fulfilled that oath. I should have been the first to come….”
Her face darkened slightly as she muttered in a heavy voice. Her eyes, wandering as if lost, made Leonardo wonder.
“You saved our family and our territory. Thank you, Blaine.”
Cordelia repeatedly expressed her gratitude to him. Leonardo was embarrassed, but he felt the small tremor that was transmitted through his hand.
He was worried about her somewhat gloomy face and trembling, but instead of asking about the situation, he held her hand tightly with his warm hand.
Around that time, Cordelia’s gaze, which had fallen downwards, went to the handkerchief wrapped around Leonardo’s neck. Even if she didn’t ask whose it was, the presence it gave off was certain. Cordelia repeated the words she hadn’t been able to convey in her heart.
‘This time, I’ll have to save you.’
She saved her words for a moment before raising her head and meeting Leonardo’s eyes.
With the noisy voices of the corps members as a curtain, she casually asked him.
“Blaine, do you trust the Commander?”
^
The victory banquet ended around midnight. Although there were those who were sad, everyone was restraining themselves for the sake of tomorrow’s schedule.
Leonardo, under the protection of Squad Leader 8, entered the cabin alone again tonight. Sitting blankly on the deck, he recalled the conversation from earlier with a dazed expression.
The surroundings were noisy, but thanks to the 1st Battalion members who were guarding them, the two were able to have a fairly serious conversation in that place.
The story went back to the time before entering the peninsula when he swore to help Cordelia in front of the Gate. Stories from their military days that only the two of them knew were occasionally mentioned, but they didn’t go into depth as if they were conscious of each other.
A heartwarming conversation that recalled memories just enough to not be uncomfortable. Leonardo was secretly grateful to Cordelia for keeping that appropriate line.
However, he was speechless and couldn’t answer immediately to her question of whether he trusted Hugo. Cordelia quickly moved on to another topic as if she didn’t ask with much meaning.
But since she wasn’t the type to say frivolous things, Leonardo couldn’t easily give it meaning while inferring its intention. He only guessed that there was something secret between the two of them, who seemed close enough to whisper to each other, that he didn’t know about.
“By the way, where did he go….”
Leonardo, returning to reality, glanced at the tightly closed door. Soon, he frowned and lay down on the deck.
It had already been well over two hours since he had been waiting.
He wondered what they were so busy with, leaving him out. Even Flynn, who had stopped by for a moment, quickly went somewhere else, telling him to go to sleep first.
He hated the nights alone because they were too quiet. An unpleasant loneliness lurked nearby.
On days when he met someone who knew his past, excluding family members like Nero, he would invariably have nightmares if he slept alone. And it seemed like today was one of those days, so Leonardo couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t because the person he was waiting for wasn’t coming. …It probably wasn’t.
Staring at the orange light that had dyed everything from the ceiling to the floor, he wondered what kind of reaction he should show when that person came. He wanted to put an end to the strange atmosphere that had continued since morning. If he had made a mistake, he wanted to apologize.
But before his worries could continue deeply, he heard familiar footsteps from outside. It was an elegant gait that he seemed to know who it was without looking. No sooner had his Gold Eyes moved than the door of the cabin was carefully opened.
Creak―
“You’re here?”
Leonardo, who had been lying down, suddenly raised his upper body. Hugo, who seemed to have opened the door with some care, paused when he saw him awake.
“You weren’t sleeping. You must be tired.”
Hugo looked down at the hour hand pointing to around 2 a.m., slowly closed the door, and came inside. He headed to the corner of the cabin where he had left his luggage before even properly making eye contact with Leonardo.
It wasn’t a very welcome reaction, but Leonardo asked as if nothing was wrong.
“Where did you go? Is something wrong?”
He leaned his body towards the side where Hugo had moved, supporting himself on the deck with his good right arm. Hugo, who was unbuttoning his combat uniform and taking off his top, was silent for a moment at Leonardo’s question.
Then, after neatly folding his clothes and placing them on the chair, he picked up the map on the side table, turned around, and answered.
“I had something to discuss regarding the return route. We decided to move in three groups because we need to move quickly.”
Leonardo’s eyebrows subtly rose at the word ‘return route’. He wondered if that was something to discuss with the knights, but well, he figured he would just assume that’s how it was since he said so.
After hearing the reason why he had gone, Leonardo became less interested in what Hugo was explaining. Rather, he guessed that he was in a good mood now because of the way he was answering fairly sincerely.
But that thought was soon shattered. Hugo, who had approached the deck, picked up a thin blanket and held it appropriately.
Hugo, standing close enough that a shadow fell over his face, looked down at Leonardo and delivered a bolt from the blue in a soft voice.
“You must have been mentally exhausted from being the center of attention all day, so get some rest. I’ll be staying at a residence nearby, so you can use this place comfortably by yourself.”
“…What?”
Leonardo’s eyes widened at the unexpected words and he asked again. He had been staying here all along, so where was he going now?
Of course, even though he had slept in the same space as Agrizendro, they had never shared the same bed. He didn’t know what had happened while he was unconscious, but it was definitely not common for two men who were not in any kind of relationship to sleep together. But still,
“Th, this place is quite spacious. We can sleep far apart, can’t we? You don’t have to go somewhere else.”
Leonardo tried to change Hugo’s decision with a nonchalant attitude, as if it didn’t matter. But Hugo shook his head and said firmly.
“I’m going to look at the map a little more before going to sleep, so the light will probably disturb your sleep. I’ll come to wake you up in the morning, so don’t think about anything until then and get some rest. The journey back tomorrow will be quite long because the Portal at the Gate is currently under maintenance.”
After answering that, Hugo smiled faintly and touched Leonardo’s cheek. Normally, he would have gently rubbed it or swept his hair back, but today there was only a fleeting touch.
“Then, sleep well. Leonardo.”
Hugo nodded and left his greetings before turning to leave. Leonardo followed his back with confused eyes, and then, without realizing it, reached out and tried to grab Hugo’s sleeve.
“Wait, don’t go―!”
But perhaps because Hugo’s pace was too fast, Leonardo, who barely grazed his sleeve, momentarily lost his balance and leaned forward.
Hugo, who happened to turn around at the feeling of his sleeve being pulled, discovered him about to fall and hurriedly bent down.
“……!”
The things in Hugo’s hands were scattered on the floor in an instant. Leonardo hung onto Hugo, almost falling with his lower body hanging over the deck.
His upper body barely leaned against the other’s broad chest, suspended in the air with the support of two large hands.
In the blink of an eye, Hugo, who had caught Leonardo, stared at the fellow in his arms with a somewhat bewildered expression.
Perhaps because the distance was so close, the two couldn’t even breathe for a few seconds. They simply embraced each other halfway, their surprised eyes meeting, frozen in place.
In the silence, their heart rates gradually increased. Just as the sound of the ticking second hand seemed unusually loud, Leonardo was the first to move.
His lovely lips parted beautifully. His eyelashes cast shadows like streaks over his eyes, unintentionally revealing his true feelings.
“Don’t go.”