By Zephyria Swish—
Water droplets dripped from his navy blue hair.” They passed over his neat forehead and eyebrows, and precariously formed on the tip of his prominent nose.
A few drops that rolled down his lower face thoroughly soaked the collar of his formal suit. Hugo, in that state, supported himself on the sink and stared blankly at the pouring stream of water from the faucet.
Looking at the surface of the vigorously bubbling water, the events in Aurasian seemed like a dream. Not just a simple dream, but a terrible nightmare. However, the stream of water flowing over his skin reminded him that it was not a dream.
He had stayed in the inner chamber for less than two hours, but his shoulder muscles were aching, perhaps because he had been tense the whole time. A throbbing headache and nausea followed, but his instincts as a Duke barely maintained his composure.
‘What are you talking about?’
Recalling the situation a moment ago, Hugo wiped his eyes and mouth with his wet hands. After turning off the faucet, he took out a handkerchief from his inner pocket with a calm expression.
When he raised his head and looked in the mirror, the interior of the bathroom, glittering with gold and marble, was reflected as it was. In the dazzling background that pricked his optic nerves, a wet man stood pathetically.
‘Did you raise a cat?’
He began to meticulously wipe the moisture from his face with a handkerchief. He erased the ignorant human who could only ask questions and put on the Duke’s facade again.
“Hmm, I did. But the problem is that I get tired of them easily.”
The voice of the Monarch responding to his words, distinguishing and pointing out ‘animals’. It made him feel a strange current pulling taut over the table. In the meantime, the Emperor continued to stroke the head and forearms of the servant sitting next to him. The servant naturally entrusted himself to the absolute being’s affection as if it were obvious. It was a bizarre act, as if he had really become an animal.
As he watched the scene without saying a word, the Emperor gestured to another servant as if to tell him to take the Imperial decree and leave. Then, he raised the golden cup, took a sip, and murmured in a voice mixed with laughter.
“He seems to be doing well.”
Hugo did not answer those words. The impious silence lasted for quite some time.
As the other party showed interest in the faction’s banquet to be held in the afternoon, the topic of conversation naturally shifted to that.
The uncomfortable meal, which felt like swallowing human flesh, continued for about an hour after that. As soon as he escaped from the suffocating maze, the place Hugo sought was the bathroom in the Imperial Palace, far away from the inner chamber.
“……”
The Duke’s appearance after tidying up was not as good as when he left the mansion, but he had regained a more neat dignity. Hugo firmly closed his mouth, from which a sigh was about to escape. This was still inside the palace. He had to maintain this masked appearance at least until he stepped outside.
He turned around and sat on the wide marble countertop. He stretched his long legs diagonally, put the handkerchief in his pocket, and stared at the air. Fine blood vessels were visible on the temples next to his sharp eyes.
‘What do you want to tell me?’
All the gold colors in the inner chamber reminded him of one person. Even if he wanted to deny it, it was a fact that he could not ignore if he had any sense, as the Emperor had said. The boys generally resembled the colors that Leonardo possessed.
But that person never took back someone he had once abandoned. To infer that psychology, it would be because it would interfere with the fear-based political system he had built with effort over several decades.
If he brought back a human who had rebelled against the Empire and been kicked out, the weight of ‘sin’ would become lighter. It was because the paltry hope that one could be forgiven for whatever they did would undermine discipline.
So, His Majesty, the dignified Emperor, would not look for Leonardo even for the sake of maintaining the current status quo. Outwardly.
He had a meticulousness that only kept those who showed loyalty that willingly chewed and swallowed human flesh by his side. Therefore, there was no way he would forgive a war hero who had disobeyed his orders. That was the law and order of this country, of the Emperor.
But what was this unpleasant sense of unease? Was it that Leonardo had caught his eye because he had been collecting gold colors, or had he collected those who resembled him in the first place?
‘Was he warning me about my actions to restore his honor, or was he revealing his possessiveness over someone he had kicked out in front of me?’
Either way, the situation was not good. It would have been better if he had warned him outright. He always hid his true intentions as if telling him to guess on his own, and if he offended his sensibilities, he would remove him from his sight without even giving him a chance, so there was no way.
Hugo, who was tightening his tie to the point of discomfort, suddenly thought of the cigarette case he had left at the mansion.
“Should I have brought it?”
It had been over 10 years since he had quit for various reasons, but there were times when he longed for the acrid yet refreshing smoke when his chest felt tight. This was one of those situations. Leonardo’s cigarettes were particularly harsh and poisonous, and perhaps they had to be poisonous in order to forget the difficult situation. And for some reason, at this moment, he quite missed the cigarettes he smoked.
Hugo, who bit his lip tightly, recalled the scent of cigarettes and glanced at his watch. 2 PM. There was still some time, but he would have to leave soon to arrive at the banquet hall on time.
He gathered his thoughts and slowly raised his body, which had been leaning against the stone slab. If he finished his scheduled work and returned to the mansion late, he was thinking of looking for traces of Leonardo today. He had promised not to look, but this was separate. It was because he was planning to delve into the past, not the present.
Hugo quickly organized his plans in his head and hurried out of the bathroom. But the moment he took his first step into the hallway, he had no choice but to stop at the sight of the person he encountered.
“You’ve come out.”
Chaud, the Emperor’s servant, spoke kindly. He stood at the edge of the hallway as if he had been waiting for him for a long time.
Hugo, who had hardened his expression for a moment, looked down at him with a cold gaze. Perhaps because he had seen a bizarre sight that he could not utter, a strange hostility settled in his eyes as soon as he encountered the light tan color.
It was such a cold look that tension flashed across Chaud’s face as he looked up. As the Emperor’s servant, he rarely faced such blatant rejection towards him. Especially not from Duke Agrizendro, the head of the Imperial Faction.
As the hair that chased after gold came into view again, the discomfort that had subsided rose again. When he saw a hallucination of light purple curtains fluttering in front of him, Hugo frowned and closed his eyes tightly, then opened them.
Soon, with a low sigh, he checked his watch again and realized that he had been delaying for quite some time. He relaxed his expression and replied.
“…I see. Excuse me. I’ll be on my way.”
“You look pale, are you alright? I’ll escort you to the exit.”
“I’m fine on my own.”
“It might be difficult to find your way as the internal structure has been changed a lot recently. If it’s not too much trouble, I’ll escort you.”
The servant’s answer was polite but firm. He could not leave a VIP alone in the inner palace, and the palace was a space only for the Imperial Family. There was no way they would leave a visitor to wander around as they pleased in a place where threats had to be constantly checked.
Hugo stared silently at Chaud’s face, who was showing his palm and guiding the way. Soon, he averted his gaze and only nodded once. The servant pointed to one end of the hallway and led the way.
“Please come this way.”
The two crossed the inner palace, which was filled with brilliant light, once again. Using the royal guard standing at regular intervals as signposts, they headed towards the path that led to the gallery where they had first set foot.
Hugo, who was following behind, occasionally glanced at Chaud’s left shoulder, which was visible diagonally. It was because he wondered if he also had an uncomfortable arm. But the thought did not last long. As they passed through the intersection of the hallway, a huge indoor garden with an open ceiling revealed itself.
The garden, spread out beyond the window next to the hallway, was as dug up as the central garden that had greeted him when he first entered the Imperial Palace.
Hugo stared silently at the red soil that had encroached upon the marble floor. Chawood observed his gaze but didn’t add any particular comment this time. He merely nodded lightly towards the two laborers and the guards who were carrying saplings from across the way.
Following the guards’ instructions, the laborers set the saplings down and bowed their heads as the Duke passed by the hallway.
Hugo paid them no mind. He simply quickened his pace to leave as soon as possible.
It was about four steps past the laborers that he felt another sense of unease.
“…….”
He, who had been striding purposefully, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. The carpeted floor muffled the sound of his shoes. Only Chawood, aware of his change in demeanor, turned back and cautiously inquired.
“Is something the matter?”
In the meantime, the laborers and guards were carrying the saplings away to the other side. Hugo reflexively took a step forward, then, uncharacteristically, stared blankly at their retreating figures for a while.
The laborers turned the corner and entered the garden. There, saplings of the same kind they were carrying were being planted in a row. It wasn’t just one or two. The question was, the fresh scent of the saplings he had just passed by was somehow familiar.
‘This smell is…’
Hugo gazed vacantly at the sunlit garden for a moment, then slowly raised his head, scanning the gold that permeated every corner of the inner palace. He unconsciously focused on the subtle scent that permeated the air. The bustling sights and smells brought confusion to Hugo’s perception.
Taking one last small breath, he turned to Chawood, who was waiting, and asked in a low voice.
“Do you know the name of those saplings?”
The aide looked puzzled but answered kindly as always.
“They are saplings of the Lambers tree. Because they only grow in the special environment of the highlands, you probably haven’t seen them often.”
Hugo’s tightly closed lips twitched slightly. The chilling words he had witnessed in the Legion Commander’s office on the day of the funeral, when the rain was pouring down, flashed through his mind.
It must have been the writing he saw in Kenneth Weaver’s memo.
B’s cigarettes are a mixture of Lambers leaves and Burknil cigars.
Still seems to be smoking the same thing.