By Zephyria Leonardo blinked his heavy eyelids and stared at the unlit ceiling. Unusually bright moonlight streamed in from a small window high on the right.
It probably wasn’t because of that, but he couldn’t fall asleep for some reason. Even when he was still, he could feel his pulse throbbing in his neck and ears.
But the real reason he couldn’t sleep was something else. It was probably because of the heavy hand patting his lower abdomen.
Leonardo slowly shifted his gaze, following the large hand that moved in a steady rhythm. Following the thick forearm that continued from it, he reached the end and saw the handsome man lying with his head propped up, facing him.
“Why aren’t you asleep?”
He asked without inflection, his eyelids and voice languid. Pale moonlight poured down on his face as if shattering. The sight was like a beautiful plaster statue that a master craftsman had painstakingly refined.
The clear and bright sky also suited him very well, but the cool and sensual colors of the night must have been created for his light.
Leonardo frowned slightly at his embarrassing thoughts, but he couldn’t deny the feelings that came from his heart. He just wondered if the other person could hear his pulse, and pulled the bedding up to his chin, whispering as if to himself.
“Why aren’t you asleep?”
“…I can’t sleep until you sleep.”
“You said you might have nightmares, but you didn’t ask me to put you to sleep….”
Whether he said that or not, Hugo was still patting his lower abdomen and pulled another pillow from the head of the bed with his right arm. After placing the pillows on top of each other a little closer to Leonardo, he laid his head and heavy thoughts on them. His face was full of fatigue, but he never closed his eyes. He would probably continue to do so until the guy in front of him fell asleep.
Leonardo stared silently at Hugo, who didn’t answer, then reached out from under the covers and placed his hand on his stomach. Then Hugo’s patting stopped as he felt the presence under the blanket. Soon, he lightly grasped the swaying temptation along with the thick bedding.
Feeling a sense of stability, Leonardo asked him in a hushed voice.
“So why were you avoiding me? Were you really upset by what I said?”
Hugo suddenly realized that he hadn’t properly explained that yet.
His blue eyes briefly went up. Then he lowered them and reluctantly agreed.
“…I guess I was.”
Then the golden eyes, which had been sharply raised all day, drooped weakly.
“I’m sorry.”
The hand under the covers moved softly, gently scratching Hugo’s palm.
Hugo closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and sighed.
‘This is a problem.’
Even if this guy suddenly changed his mind and tried to harm him one day, the effect would be so certain that he would forgive all sins with just one word of apology and that face.
Hugo collided with the complacency that he didn’t want to escape from, even as he felt the crisis. At the same time, he fell into deep thought about whether he should accept this apology.
In fact, he didn’t even know why he did it. He just thought it would be better to keep his distance.
As a result, this is what happened… If the other person felt hurt by him, it seemed that his actions were a bit too harsh.
Rather, he was the one who should be apologizing, but he felt a pang of conscience when he was being apologized to instead. But considering that he had been running around to prepare for the coming turmoil, it seemed okay to pretend not to notice this much apology.
Hugo caressed the fingers that were fidgeting between the blankets. Then he looked at the melancholy face and rubbed his eyes with his gaze. The topic of conversation quickly shifted to something else.
“There aren’t many places in Fidele that handle high-quality fabrics. I’ll have a new magic robe made for you when we return to Zodiac, like we talked about before.”
Leonardo knew that Hugo was deliberately changing the subject, but he didn’t mention it any further. Instead, he counted the last moments that would remain between him and him after he returned.
Since he was talking about high-quality fabrics, it meant a custom-made robe, which would take quite a while from tailoring to production. Leonardo asked tentatively.
“When we go back, how long will it take after that?”
“…What?”
When Hugo asked back as if it were ambiguous, Leonardo hesitated before answering.
“How long will it take until you let me go?”
Hugo was momentarily speechless at the direct question. His gaze wandered through the air before returning to its place.
“Well, if we change the disposition in a summary manner, it’ll take about two or three days. If a trial is held, it’ll take a day or two longer.”
“You have to have a trial?”
Leonardo retorted in an absurd tone. Within it lay the deep trauma he had experienced three years ago.
Hugo stared at him, his face darkening in an instant, and recalled the northern plaza of Zodiac, which had been almost destroyed.
When you think about it, it couldn’t be said that it was anyone’s fault, but externally, Leonardo, who had disobeyed the public authority, was highlighted as the cause.
The higher-ups would try to prevent the Council’s image from being tarnished, so if Leonardo wasn’t co-opted after his return, they would preach about the incident to the world as an even more cruel event. Then the media, which had a negative view of him, would write sensational articles as if they had been waiting for it.
In the end, Leonardo, who had enemies on all sides, needed an official pardon that could offset all of that.
A pardon that would completely clear up the suspicion that he had helped the head of the merchant group escape from frost territory, whether it was true or not, and clear his name of threatening the safety of the imperial citizens and destroying the facilities of Zodiac. Furthermore, he needed a stepping stone to restore his tarnished honor, even if only a little, and to lay the foundation for living freely in this land.
Hugo believed that the trial of Leonardo, hosted by the Council as a deliberative body, could be the answer to that. Of course, it wouldn’t go as easily as he intended, but it was the most certain way to improve public perception and the key to regaining his rights.
Moreover, the credibility of the Council’s ruling would prevent external forces from approaching Leonardo in the future. And there was nothing more for Leonardo to do for that. The achievements he made in the peninsula were a great feat that could not be converted into the value of freedom.
Now, it was up to him to convey those achievements truthfully and effectively without any shortcomings. However, since he had a conversation with Cordelia in the watchtower a few days ago, Hugo had to question himself several times as to whether he could really do it.
He was preparing through his adjutants Flynn and Gabe, and several subordinates outside, but he wasn’t sure if the situation would unfold as expected. Moreover, something he didn’t know was controlling the truth from beneath the surface. Something as chillingly thick and secretive as a bundle of petitions.
Hugo slowly blinked his eyelids and bitterly swallowed his reality.
‘Can I, who can barely keep my place, really protect you?’
He met the Gold Eyes that were looking at him with an even more subdued gaze. Since Hugo had been silent all along, anxiety naturally settled on Leonardo’s face.
“Why?”
He meant, why are you looking at me like that? To that short question, Hugo uttered words that were completely different from his inner thoughts.
“Don’t worry. Whether a trial is held or not, there will be no problem in regaining your freedom.”
Hugo murmured like that and reached out. He gently touched Leonardo’s soft cheek.
“Trust me.”
Leonardo blinked at the other man’s sweet assurance. It sounded like it was directed at him, but it also sounded like a solemn vow to himself.
Next, he remembered Agrizendro, who had told him to trust him amidst the outpouring of volcanic eruptions. He and this man had survived there. All he had done at that time was trust him.
So this time, it would be as he intended. Leonardo believed that and answered.
“Okay.”
Leonardo slowly nodded and rubbed his cheek against Hugo’s hand.
Hugo’s firm lips relaxed on their own. He was the one who was trying to reassure him, but the fresh golden eyes and the skin brushing against his fingers seemed to be telling him to rest assured instead.
Hugo became a little more greedy for the cheek that had come to him on its own, then turned his attention to the golden hair that kept falling down.
“When we go back, it might be a good idea to trim your hair a little.”
“Why, is it not good now?”
“No, it’s not that….”
He couldn’t bring himself to say that he couldn’t see his eyes well.
Instead of saving his words, Hugo looked for another reason to change the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the topic that suddenly came to mind was not one he wanted to think about very much.
“…There will be someone who’s worried about you. It would be better to show them a neat appearance when you go back, if possible.”
Leonardo listened to those words without much thought, then slowly pondered the hidden meaning in the somewhat unexpected remark. Then, he was startled for a moment. Someone to worry about me? Go back? He wondered if Hugo knew something.
He worried that his expression might betray him, so he idly pushed the inside of his cheek with the tip of his tongue to loosen the stiff muscles. Then, as if nothing was amiss, he asked back.
“Someone to worry about me? What, who?”
Surprisingly, quite a few people flashed through Leonardo’s mind. Starting with Nero first… faces he hadn’t seen in a long time, like the white Butterfly that had flown in through the bars of his prison.
Hugo withdrew his hand from Leonardo’s hair. After a brief pause, he said in a calm tone.
“A lover, someone like that. I wouldn’t think you wouldn’t have one.”
It was a completely unexpected remark, and Leonardo’s eyebrows subtly rose.
“A lover?”
Leonardo was confused as to whether the other person was serious or had other intentions. He blankly met Hugo’s eyes and replied in a puzzled tone.
“I don’t have anything like that?”
Hugo’s eyebrow muscles twitched slightly. He thought Leonardo was lying to him to protect that reckless fool.
Contrary to Hugo’s misunderstanding, Leonardo soon chuckled and said nonchalantly.
“Oh, of course, it would be strange if someone like me didn’t have one. But―.”
Speaking in a brazen and boastful tone, he lightly grumbled, asking if Hugo knew how busy he had been and where he would find the time for that. Then, he playfully chided, saying that this was why the Council was no good, and asking if they had even bothered to tail him and do a background check.
His soft facial muscles and relaxed vocalization confused Hugo, who had been convinced that he had a lover.
Having had many interrogation experiences in the past, he was confident that he could accurately guess whether someone was telling the truth or lying with a high probability. But Leonardo, illuminated by the moonlight, somehow didn’t seem to be lying.
Hugo’s relaxed brow gradually tightened. One of his eyebrows twitched as if sensing some kind of error.
The vexations that had tormented him countless times earlier quickly flashed through his mind.
Hugo asked in a rather serious tone.
“…You don’t?”
Leonardo, who had been chattering away, stared blankly at him. Soon, as if it were obvious, he nodded.
“Nope.”