By Zephyria There was an old man who looked like a cemetery caretaker standing there. The moment he heard Leonardo’s words, his expression instantly contorted. The traces of time covering his skin also distorted as if heat haze was rising.
A youthful face was revealed beneath it.
“Hyung―!”
Nero, now certain, frowned and ran towards him, and Leonardo naturally opened his arms wide. But when the grown-up guy hugged him with all his might, he was pushed back two steps by the unexpected weight.
“Hey, hey, heavy―.”
“Why are you so late!”
His choked voice tried to scold him rudely. But the flame-like hair drooped over Leonardo’s shoulder and rubbed against his forehead. His arms were wrapped tightly around his waist and back as if he wouldn’t let go. It was a bit embarrassing, but Leonardo thought it would be okay on a day like today, so he chuckled and patted Nero’s back.
“Did I delay on purpose? It took a long time because of the trial. But it ended well.”
“Trial?”
Nero, who had suddenly raised his head, asked back with wide eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
Because the news of the conference announced just an hour ago hadn’t reached the remote Floating Island yet. Leonardo Blaine smiled deliberately as he replied.
“I can wander around now without being caught by the Council. I got a promise that they won’t chase me again.”
“…Really? They did? No lies?”
“The verdict is out, they’ll keep their word even if it’s just out of embarrassment. I’m free now, officially.”
Nero, unable to grasp the context, furrowed his brow and mulled over his superior’s words. He moved his lips, then carefully added with a strange anticipation.
“Then, that thing from three years ago—”
“That’s separate.”
At Leonardo Blaine’s curt reply, Nero closed his mouth with a disappointed look.
But he quickly composed his bitter expression. Instead, he responded with a face of genuine congratulations.
“That’s great. That’s really great.”
As family who knew the meaning behind those words better than anyone, the two men standing close to each other smiled and looked at each other. The sharp impressions were gone, and their smoothly curved eyes whispered unspoken joy, giggling. The corners of their lips curled up so much that their even teeth were fully exposed.
Leonardo Blaine continued in a pleasantly subdued voice.
“It’s thanks to you.”
Nero raised an eyebrow. Leonardo Blaine grabbed his shoulders and the back of his neck, massaging them gently as he added.
“I felt bad for only scolding you back then. Thanks for helping me.”
It was concise, but for them, it was more explicit than any expression. Nero, with a dazed face, uncharacteristically furrowed his brow and made a pinched expression.
“Captain…”
He pouted his lips and hugged Leonardo Blaine tightly once again. Nero was clearly the one hugging, but inevitably, it was a similar situation to being hugged. Leonardo Blaine had always been the one to hug him because he was bigger. Now, they were about the same, and the red hair seemed to stick up a little higher.
Anyway, Nero seemed to think he was still a young boy, as his hug was close to a suffocating pressure that didn’t consider the other person at all.
Leonardo Blaine told him to let him breathe and gently patted Nero’s sturdy butt. He used to be horrified when his brothers even touched him, but today, perhaps because his joy came first, he didn’t react much.
He usually didn’t like to act like the youngest, so this behavior was both welcome and, on the other hand, such an intense display of affection that Leonardo Blaine wanted to say, “What’s wrong with you?”
But Nero’s touch, which he thought was a hug, gradually groped his back, waist, and arms. Leonardo Blaine was rather embarrassed by the increasingly intense touch.
“Wh-what, where are you touching?”
“Captain, why have you lost so much fat and muscle?”
Nero, having changed his attitude, rummaged persistently as if scanning him. His actions were unrestrained, as if he were conducting a body search.
“I’ll let the arm injury slide, but your body has become like paper? What’s wrong with you? It wasn’t this bad back then?”
The affectionate and touching reunion atmosphere quickly disappeared.
“What, paper? Hey, you little—”
“Don’t tell me that bastard didn’t even feed you properly? After he captured you? Ha, wow… what a real bastard? Take off your clothes.”
“Hey, no. Listen to me. And why are you taking off my clothes here? Are you talking about the Legion Commander?”
“No, now that I see it, your face is half its size…”
“I was released thanks to that Legion Commander—”
Just as their stubborn voices, each only speaking for themselves, became entangled, red eyes scanned the Captain’s jawline, which had become so slender that it was almost frail. He couldn’t bear to grab the hollow cheeks, so he just bit his lip, when suddenly, a familiar and annoying object caught Nero’s eye.
In an instant, his red eyes turned cold. He leaned his head toward the unidentified piece of cloth hidden inside the Captain’s beige shirt collar.
“This can’t be…”
He recalled the terrible scene he had witnessed when he infiltrated the cabin disguised as the Legion Commander’s aide. The Captain’s body was covered in that bastard’s belongings, lying there completely violated…
“You son of a— This, it’s that!”
Nero almost had a fit and reached out as if to grab his collar. Leonardo Blaine flinched, buttoning up his shirt and taking a step back.
“Wh-why?”
It was because the mark left by His Majesty when he had been fiddling with his neck had not yet faded. Fearing that Nero might see it, Leonardo Blaine desperately covered his neck, wrapped in a handkerchief, pretending to be calm.
But Nero, who had no way of knowing that, felt as if the sky was falling at the sight of the Captain cherishing ‘that bastard’s’ handkerchief. Soon, he transformed into a demon-possessed figure, roaring and demanding that he take it off immediately or he would burn it, like a beast that had puffed up its body.
“Give it to me right now! Why are you wearing that, Captain?”
“Why can’t I wear it! Besides, where did you get the nerve to—”
The two, who had been bickering, suddenly engaged in a chase in front of the tombstone. The death tag game between two Dark Silvers was quite intense, to the point where the lush grass was deeply trampled.
Threats, far from the peaceful scenery with good sunlight, were exchanged affectionately. They crossed between the trees faster than the speed of sound, chasing each other for a single handkerchief.
During the chase, Leonardo Blaine, whose stamina was depleted, slipped and fell, causing Nero to panic and catch him, ending the situation.
The two, now soaked with sweat, swept back the hair sticking to their foreheads and cooled off in the cool breeze. They sat side by side in front of the tombstone that read ‘Ian’, looking down at the scenery below the sloping Floating Island. Nero sat with his hands behind him, glancing at Leonardo Blaine’s left shoulder, and then made a peace offering.
“Is your arm okay?”
Leonardo Blaine had eventually removed the handkerchief and buttoned up his shirt all the way. He rotated his shoulder as if to show off.
“It’s fine.”
He added nonchalantly that the Medicinal Herb Nero had given him had helped, and Nero’s nose and shoulders soared high as if piercing the sky. He was such a simple guy. Leonardo Blaine could see the smile leaking out from the corner of his eye.
“How long have you been here?”
Leonardo Blaine asked, cutting the sandwich he had bought from the inn last night in half. He handed half to Nero, still wrapped in the packaging. His gaze was fixed on the vast panorama of the city revealed below the clouds, beyond the cliff of the grass-covered island.
It was probably a spectacle that anyone living in this country should see at least once. For Leonardo Blaine, who liked to look down at the land he protected from a high place, it was one of his favorite places, so much so that he could sit in front of it all day.
Watching his profile, which clearly showed his emotions, Nero warmed the hardened cheese of the sandwich.
“I’ve been going in and out of the peninsula for about three or four days since I left, and I’ve only been back for a day since I came back this time. Since there are only two times a year when you can easily cross from Celestia to Solia, I thought I might run into you around this time.”
“Hmm, you came at the right time.”
“Actually, Taylor was here a few days ago, and Finder and Kyle were here too. Maybe the other seniors stopped by sporadically without saying anything? Taylor said he’s going to punch you when you come out, for making him worry.”
“Tch, they’ve all become cheeky as a group.”
That’s what he said, but Leonardo Blaine had a gentle smile on his face. Hearing the names he had missed for so long made one corner of his heart tickle. It was a sign that he was in a good mood.
Adding Ian, who was behind them, it felt as if the entire 11th squad was gathered together.
As the cheese on the sandwich became mushy, Nero took a big bite and continued.
“They’ve become very lax. While the Captain was captured. Honestly, at first, we even talked about whether we should do what we promised each other, right now. Astrid stopped us, but the 11th squad almost stormed the Council.”
“……”
“Since you’re free, let’s secretly meet up with each person and say hello. I’ll tell you the place and time.”
Leonardo Blaine, who had barely chewed and swallowed the dry bread, didn’t respond to Nero’s words for a while. It was because he thought it wouldn’t be easy in reality. He changed the direction of the conversation to a topic he was involved in.
“How’s your surveillance network?”
“Ah, that, it’s going well. Headquarters seems to have concluded that the cause is internal…”
Leonardo Blaine turned to Nero with contracted pupils. As the atmosphere changed in an instant, Nero waved his hand, about to take another bite, and added.
“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry. They don’t know we did it, it just passed as a manager’s fault—”
“Then the security will be even tighter, how am I supposed to meet anyone else here? I’m already on edge just meeting you, you know.”
“…You know, Captain, you’re the one who’s doing the scariest things, but you’re very afraid of things that are completely useless?”
He had felt it since before, but Nero seemed to have grown bigger and more argumentative. Leonardo Blaine looked at him with a sulky look, but he didn’t say anything wrong, so he just stuffed his mouth with bread.
His mumbling appearance was annoying but still pretty, so Nero, who was glaring at him in the same way, shook his head. Then, he also devoured the sandwich, and suddenly remembered something and asked carefully.
“Was… nothing wrong at the Council? Did the Legion Commander notice anything…?”
“You’re quick to ask.”
Leonardo Blaine replied, looking at the sky with a thorny tone. At that moment, Nero visibly flinched.
“Don’t tell me… that guy knows something? Did he threaten you, Captain?”
Nero asked that, but in his heart, he cursed the Legion Commander. He had told him to get out of here immediately if he cared about his comrades, and he had acted like he would keep his existence a secret as long as he left. But in the end, that bastard had finally revealed his existence to the Captain. He was worried that the Captain, who had been left alone in enemy territory, might have been subjected to unhealthy demands from the Legion Commander using him as an excuse.
Since ancient times, there had been many scoundrels among the military officers who wanted to possess Leonardo Blaine as their own. Therefore, it wouldn’t be strange if there was one more of those guys. Originally, the guys with the handsome faces were the ones with the dirtier backsides…
“No.”
Leonardo Blaine stared silently at the blue sky. He looked at the passing clouds and thought of the man who had covered everything up for him.
“He didn’t say anything.”
At the unexpected answer, Nero’s eyes widened slightly. Leonardo Blaine turned to Nero and chuckled.
Then, he poked his shoulder with his fist and scolded him.
“Don’t call him that guy. He’s a good person.”
Nero was momentarily speechless and opened his mouth. In his eyes, he could only see the pitiful Captain who had fallen into Stockholm syndrome.