By Zephyria Hugo’s eyebrows, which had been still all along, tensed up. The temporalis muscle from his straight forehead to his temples was faintly prominent and then subsided.
For a while, he did not take his eyes off the side of the Grand Duchess’s face. Perhaps sensing his persistent gaze, Gladias also slowly turned her head and stared at Hugo.
In one corner of the noisy stadium, a suffocating silence flowed between the two.
The owner of the elegant and dignified posture and cold gaze always gives a sense of pressure as if looking up even when viewed from the same position. Hugo wondered how he should react to the Grand Duchess, who was notifying him of a major event placed in front of him today as if it were a matter of course.
Does he still see me as a submissive child who only waits for orders from you? He chose and chose the words that lingered on the tip of his tongue.
He didn’t know if the one word he finally completed was aristocratic, as she said.
“I will pretend I didn’t hear that.”
He turned his gaze forward, retorting in the same tone of notification. Gladias, who was looking at his increasingly sharp side profile, revealed her displeasure without filtering it.
“How long are you going to keep avoiding it? Have you forgotten your duty as Duke?”
Hugo silently loosened his hardened lips. He barely managed to hold back the laughter that was about to come out.
“I haven’t forgotten. But I have repeatedly told you that there are many important things and it is not yet the time.”
“The marriage proposals are piled up like trash, but the position of the mistress has been vacant for more than ten years. Are you really saying that because you don’t know what the world is saying?”
“I didn’t know you cared about rumors.”
Their eyes, which had exchanged a few words, met again in the air. The eyes, which were second to none in intelligence, were sharper than ever today.
“Duke, you should care a little. What should you prioritize more?”
Gladias’s slender neck was increasingly strained, and the well above her collarbone was deeply hollowed out.
Around that time, Hugo’s heart became heavy again, worried that her mind and body might be strained. He couldn’t help but feel that he was too cruel. He sighed softly and was about to give in when it happened.
“When I was the Duke’s age, I had five children. Now that the times have changed, I don’t expect that much. But didn’t you promise me?”
“What promise are you talking about?”
“That you wouldn’t do anything that would harm the family. If you unilaterally dismiss the marriage that has already been discussed, it will be a small disregard and insult to both families. So you should show at least some sincerity. Did I order you to hold the ceremony right away?”
Gladias was always like this. She cleverly created a situation so that the other party could not refuse on the grounds of righteousness and justification, and then manipulated people’s will. Even the decisions made as if pushed were made as if they had chosen them themselves.
“Deal with it wisely. If you are truly the head of Agrizendro.”
It was a word that tightened his neck so that he could not easily answer. It was more than a spell with Magic Power.
But at this moment, Hugo naturally remembered the face of one person without even remembering the reason. Then, what flashed through his mind was the oath he had made the last time he parted ways with him.
That he would become a stronger person to protect you.
He quietly reflected on whether his current appearance really matched that.
Well, is there anything significantly different between me then and now?
But ridiculously, the voice that flowed out next was more aristocratic than ever.
“I will take care of the words that have been exchanged on my own. However, a marriage that is unilaterally conducted like this will never be concluded in the future. It is not only a matter of courtesy between the parties, but also not polite to the person who stayed in my heart.”
In contrast to his calm tone, the atmosphere of the stadium gradually heightened. Only the space surrounding the two was alien, as if placed in another world. The heat and cheers running towards the end of the opening ceremony made his mind and ears numb.
As a result, Gladias could not immediately understand the meaning of Hugo’s words. He had silently followed the path and principles she had set for him all his life. What he liked and disliked. He rarely talked about personal preferences.
Therefore, his statement revealing the supreme purity of ‘heart’ gave a similar shock to the day when he had defied the Grand Duchess’s will with his own will.
“Who is it? That person.”
Gladias’s lips, which were asking calmly, twitched slightly.
Hugo just smiled faintly. There was no answer. It seemed that he was trying to protect someone who might not even exist.
He only glanced down at his wristwatch. Before he knew it, darkness had fallen over the transparent roof, and the person in charge of the opening ceremony carefully approached the two. He told Hugo that he should slowly move to the stage for the closing performance greetings to be held in about 10 minutes.
When a justifiable reason to leave presented itself at the right moment, Hugo readily nodded and gestured for the knights lined up behind him to come closer.
“See to the Councilwoman.”
“Yes, sir.”
Their precise movements and voices were perfectly synchronized with the accumulating pitches and playful rhythms of the string instruments. The melodies of the music, heading towards a climax, blended together. Among them, the most deeply moving was the aria of the pipe organ, known as the king of instruments.
The extreme resonance emitted by tens of thousands of pipes surged like a torrent, dominating the vast space beneath the dome. Hugo, with a gentle smile on his lips, looked down at Gladias. The golden light reflected, making the world around him dazzling. The deep, reverent timbre embellished his imposing figure, which seemed to exude even more vigor today.
Hugo glanced at Flynn, who was hovering nearby, and then straightened his attire. He then bent down and carefully fastened the fur cape draped over Gladias’s shoulders.
“I will be back soon. We can discuss this matter further later.”
The Grand Duchess’s cold gaze did not leave him, but she made no particular reply. Hugo, having removed his hand from her, was about to give a light bow.
Kwaaaang—!
A flash of light erupted from one side of the stadium, as if struck by lightning.
An explosion, out of sync with the festive atmosphere, cut across the arena. It was a grand dissonance that made the crowd, immersed in the melody, flinch in unison.
A mind-numbing wave swept fiercely, echoing like a gunshot throughout the stadium.
The bustling stands fell silent as if time had stopped for a moment. Then, after about one or two seconds, a chaotic mix of sighs and murmurs followed. In places, screams filled with fear erupted.
Anxiety spread rapidly on the trembling breaths. It was because the explosion that had shaken the world a few months ago had instantly consumed the consciousness of the crowd.
“What’s going on?”
“Is it… terrorism?”
As the panicked crowd stirred, the VIPs seated in the VIP section were the first to move. As they rushed to leave the stadium, the crowd, whose reason had been clouded, also jumped up from their seats. Andreas and the battalion commanders, feeling the gravity of the situation, exchanged glances. They quickly stood up and began to assess the situation.
Hugo, who had instinctively supported Gladias’s head and pulled her into his arms, stared at the source of the explosion with sharply hardened eyes. Smoke was rising from one side of the stadium where the light had flashed. However, his vision was quickly obscured as the family knights rushed to protect their master.
Nevertheless, Hugo could not take his eyes off that one spot. The screams in his ears sounded faint, as if submerged in water.
“Lord, it would be best to evacuate first.”
“There is a risk of chain explosions! You must move quickly….”
In an instant, Magic Power, so deeply imprinted that it would be etched into his bones, sent shivers down his skin and spine. Even from this distance, he could recognize it at once. Hugo murmured as if sighing.
“…Leo.”
Gladias, hearing him, lifted her eyelids and stared at Hugo’s face.
Amidst the thick human wall that had formed around the upper seats, the man’s poignant expression and voice, so out of place in the situation, were so clear.
Hugo, belatedly regaining his senses, checked Gladias’s complexion, and all traces of his earlier expression vanished. Before she could say anything, Hugo urgently ordered Flynn, who had come closer.
“Flynn, take the Councilwoman and return to the mansion. Escort her along the widest and safest route possible. The rest of us will investigate the cause of the explosion and manage the situation.”
“Yes, sir—!”
Hugo led the knights and hurried to the opposite side of the ground. The battalion commanders of the Council also followed him.
Gladias, supported by Flynn and the knights, rose from her seat. Even so, she did not take her eyes off Hugo’s back.
Meanwhile, the location of the explosion was the multi-purpose hall located on the first floor of the east side of the main stadium, which was also the final goal point of the F Group test match. What poured out of the unstable F Group’s last Portal were the tangled limbs of the passers and the enormous destructive power that swept the vicinity.
Originally, fierce physical fights were frequent just before passing through the Portal, so various safety devices such as soft mats and temporary Barrier Stones were prepared at the goal point. However, the energy that this Portal carried could not be handled by such things. The power was so fierce that the shockwave that penetrated the wall of the hall extended to the ground of the main stadium.
Fortunately, there were no casualties because the perimeter of the ground was filled with water. Furthermore, thanks to the effect of mitigating some of the impact, the point of destruction stopped at the side.
As the unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes, the Council’s staff members only blinked, staring at one side of the collapsed wall. The dizzying large-scale accident that broke out on the first day of the league, no, on the day of the opening ceremony, made cold sweat run down their spines. They belatedly ran to manage the accident after receiving instructions from the manager, but their minds were still not organized.
The people who had passed early and were waiting in the hall also covered their mouths, doubting their eyes at the situation.
In the meantime, one of the participants who had been sprawled at the bottom of the breached wall stirred. Then, the one who shrugged his shoulders and slowly raised his head was Leonardo.
His appearance was quite disheveled, but he desperately protected his mask. He groped his face, frowned, holding his ringing ears. He shook his head wildly because of the tinnitus from the aftermath of the explosion, then staggered to his feet.
What he saw in his blurry vision were members wearing white uniforms, and white walls and pillars blending with them. He didn’t know why, but it was a carpet with debris scattered on it. As a similar scene to a few hours ago unfolded, Leonardo realized that he had safely passed through the Portal.
Ah, I made it. Even though he was still dizzy, a smile leaked out in the joy of victory.
He clenched his fist tightly with one hand and chanted “yes—” as if excited.
‘But where’s Ero?’
Perhaps he had grown fond of him in the meantime, he thought of him even in his dazed state. He had been holding him tightly by his side, but he was worried that he might have dropped him along the way. Fortunately, before his worries deepened, Ero appeared before Leonardo on his own feet.
“Hyung-nim.”
The guy, who should have been making a fuss with tears of emotion, was unusually calm. Similarly, his appearance was shabby, but he looked fine without any injuries.
“Ero.”
Leonardo, wondering at his reaction, smiled first and nudged his shoulder with his fist.
“Did you see? I told you I’d get you through, right? Serve me as your hyung-nim for the rest of your life.”
“Hyung-nim, that’s….”
Ero hesitated, looking like a wet mouse, then pointed behind Leonardo with his finger.
“I think you should take a look behind you for a moment….”
Leonardo tilted his head at the incomprehensible answer. Soon, he casually turned around.
In an instant, the pouring light of the spotlights was so dazzling that he contorted his expression. He raised his arm to shield his burning vision, but it didn’t take long to distinguish objects.
“…Huh?”
The overwhelmingly large indoor stadium and stands loomed grandly as if to swallow him. It was a sight he had seen once before while moving to register his belongings before the match. But the atmosphere he felt then was completely different.
His stuffy ears cleared, and the tinnitus disappeared in an instant, and the pressure returned to normal.
The sound of the crowd filling the grand stadium pierced his entire body with the force to shake his heart. It was indistinguishable whether it was cheers or jeers.
One thing was certain: the entire arena was surging like a wave, watching him.