By Zephyria 
“Please wait inside until further notice. You are free to use the showers or other facilities, but at least one team member must remain in the room at all times.”
After delivering the brief instructions, the staff member bowed and left Team Joker’s waiting room. Until the door closed and his presence completely vanished, those remaining inside didn’t utter a word.
With the usually boisterous group falling silent, a chilling atmosphere began to permeate the room. It felt as though the coldness of the man they had just encountered had followed them inside. While a sense of incongruity filled the silence, Gillian was the first to move.
He finished wiping the soot from his face and neck with a towel. Beatrice sat on the sofa, clutching the doll she had been gifted, looking even more like a doll than the toy itself. Morbang handed her a cup of tea that had already gone cold, and gave Ero—who was shaking his legs incessantly—the drink bottle he had left behind.
The tonic water, which had lost all its carbonation because the cap had been left open, was like the water of life to Ero, whose mouth was bone-dry. As he gulped it down, Orca, who had been observing, broke the silence of the waiting room with a look of complete ignorance.
“Who was that man from earlier? Why is everyone acting so serious?”
Pfft— Ero spat out his drink and began coughing violently, having choked.
“Hack, cough, wheeze—”
“Are you alright?”
Normally, Beatrice would have nagged him for being gross, but this time she remained silent. Instead, Morbang grabbed a towel from the side and handed it over. Ero took it, gave a nod of thanks, and immediately replied to Orca.
“I mean, Kaja, ahem, you really don’t know who that was?”
“Is he famous? Do Beast and Bell know who he is too?”
“Of course. How could we not?”
Beatrice, who had been silent with a pale face, spoke up. Her voice was sunken, unlike her usual self. Gillian, turning his head, added to the conversation.
“Is there actually someone who doesn’t know a Duke of the Empire?”
“…A Duke? That man is a Duke?”
Orca asked back, sounding incredulous. Then, for a brief moment, he recalled the aura of the man he had clashed with.
A strong and solid physique, a thick scent of water enveloping his entire body. Eyes that were clear yet cold and silent, like a deep sea of unknown depth. Occasionally, he felt a fierce momentum, like a surging tidal wave.
However, an innate nobility hid all of that beneath the surface. Orca nodded, finally understanding.
“Then he must be the Duke of Agrizendro.”
“What, did you really not know?”
When Gillian asked in a bewildered tone, Orca answered calmly.
“Our pod’s habitat is on the southern coast, so news from the inland arrives late. We live with nature rather than in human society, so it’s hard to come across newspapers. No matter how famous a person is, it’s difficult to memorize every single face.”
“Then how do you know the name?”
“I had heard that one of the Empire’s Dukes is the strongest ice-element mage. Since most of those in the pod who leave to train as mages can manipulate water, they regard that name as the pinnacle of their training stage.”
As he continued his explanation, Orca knit his brows with a troubled expression.
“But… I didn’t expect the person the Lion was meeting to be him.”
Orca tidied the sleeves of his loose robe and crossed his arms thoughtfully. A strange silence suddenly fell over the waiting room. Faint wrinkles formed on Gillian’s forehead and around his eyes, and Ero, who had been listening blankly, blinked before his face suddenly turned pale.
‘H-how did he know…?’
He feared that because he had talked so much, he might have accidentally let the secret slip. His eyes shook anxiously as he retraced his memories. But if that wasn’t the case, then what did that orca just say?
Just then, Beatrice, who was sipping her tea, abruptly interrupted.
“Who is meeting whom?”
“Ryan and the Duke. The two of them smelled the same.”
“What does that mean? Speak so I can actually understand.”
She urged him, bringing the heel of her shoe—which had been dangling in the air—down to the floor. Morbang, who had been wiping up the drink spills Ero had made, also snapped his head around.
“When we met at the dinner last time. The Lion smelled of water.”
With everyone’s attention focused on him, Orca added calmly.
“The scent was so pure that I thought it had just rubbed off from some other water at the time. But after seeing the Duke earlier, I know for sure. That is that man’s scent.”
Every time the line of his lips brushed against the mucous membrane, it felt tingling. Perhaps it was because he had put so much strength into resisting being swept away. His lower jaw, which had been stiff, trembled while half-open.
Then, the tip of the tongue that had been scanning his teeth retreated for a moment, only to take his entire lip into its mouth and embrace it more deeply.
“Ngh…”
“…Mm.”
A low nasal sound penetrated the gap of their close contact. As their straight bridges of noses rubbed together as if they might be crushed, the erotic encounter they had shared in the shower unconsciously came to mind. Instinctive excitement surged, but Leonardo tilted his head, pulling his neck back. The lust they had indulged in just a short while ago was being repeatedly braked, whether due to the location or the situation.
Trapped in the shadow created by the man, Leonardo pressed his spine and forearms tightly against the wall, even though there was nowhere left to retreat. His eyes, narrowed into slits, watched the partner swimming inside his mouth.
The man, whose eyelashes rested neatly, had his eyes closed softly. As if intending to fully enjoy the pleasure of their union in this situation, a vertical line formed between his focused brows.
However, it seemed things weren’t going as planned because of Leonardo’s lack of cooperation. The closed eyelids lifted loosely, sending a gaze laced with emotion.
Leonardo stared straight into the blue eyes, never once avoiding them.
‘So what.’
It would have been natural to be flustered when facing him at such a close distance, but he responded by twisting the corner of his mouth and biting the other’s lower lip. It was far from the tender and ticklish kiss of last time.
While their fierce gazes intertwined as if neither would yield, neither wrapped a hand around the other’s waist or neck. One might wonder where such a moodless kiss came from, yet their heated breaths and damp contact were busy lingering, as if carving a love letter onto each other’s tongues.
As the kiss ripened, Hugo, who finally surrendered first, breathed out a sigh.
“…Are you going to leave your hands just like that?”
He urged subtly, rubbing against lips that had not yet parted.
Lowering the arm that had been bracing the wall, he grabbed Leonardo’s limp wrist. Since both were wearing long sleeves and gloves, very little bare skin was exposed. However, Hugo skillfully widened the cuff of Leonardo’s glove and slid his long fingers into the gap.
As two thick pressures entered, the once-loose wrist cuff became tight. In that state, Hugo bent his index and middle fingers to gently rub Leonardo’s wrist. When the artery reacted minutely, he ignored it and went deeper. Caressing the root of the palm, he slid into the soft valley that forms the thumb and hypothenar eminence.
Upon reaching the hollow center, he drew a circle with his fingertip and pressed firmly. Leonardo’s fingers trembled violently.
Leonardo repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist in his other hand. It wasn’t because he wanted to hit him, but rather because he didn’t want to succumb easily to the man’s temptation, nor did he want to let the atmosphere soften so readily.
Just then, beyond the large window behind Hugo, metal materials hanging from ropes were pulled upward. Because their volume was quite large, the corridor momentarily darkened before brightening again. Startled by this, Leonardo pushed Hugo’s chest away with his forearm.
“Stop.”
Releasing the breath he had been holding, he immediately looked over the man’s shoulder warily. Only after confirming there were no shadows of others did he flick his tongue and narrow his eyes.
“What are you trying to do?”
He knew it was a habit, but it was an action that drew attention. In Hugo’s sight, the lips that had been syncing breaths until a moment ago were stained red and glistening. Because Hugo had obsessively bitten and sucked them, following whenever Leonardo tried to turn his head, the entire area around the mouth, not just the corners, was drenched in saliva.
Hugo rubbed the lips that were about to utter cold words again, as if wiping them with his thumb.
“…You said you’d meet me once the match was over.”
“No, that’s true, but… ha… why did you come find me while I’m with my team members? Usually, we met alone after everything was finished. And what’s with suddenly kissing in a place like this?”
Staring at the furrowed brows, Hugo answered quite brazenly.
“Was I not supposed to?”
Leonardo’s eyes widened as if he had heard something unthinkable. Soon, a scoff of disbelief escaped him.
“What? Ha, obviously—”
He was about to say it wasn’t allowed, but then he suddenly remembered that they had never actually made such a promise. He had only said he wouldn’t touch Ero; he hadn’t set any other rigid rules like a strict code of conduct. But even so, he thought that if this man were a Duke of a nation, he would understand such basic calculations or interests without needing them to be spoken.
Speechless, Leonardo pushed away the man’s hand, which continued to steal glances at his lower lip. Then, with a low sigh, he spoke as if listing his grievances.
“What if someone sees us? The back is all glass. Besides, in the eyes of others, we’re just in a relationship of hunter and hunted. The trial is over and we’ve been released; wouldn’t it look strange if we’re caught kissing?”
Even if there was a bond from fighting together in the subjugation, they were not in a relationship where private meetings were seen as natural to the public. If it became known, it would surely attract public attention—in an unwelcome direction.
And it was the same in the eyes of his team members.
However, Hugo continued as if he didn’t care.
“Don’t worry, we can’t be seen from outside. And even if we could, is there a need to dance to the tune of those gazes?”
The corner of Leonardo’s mouth twitched. He didn’t understand why someone who should know better was acting like this. It almost sounded like he was being stubborn.
“You said you’d protect me. From tiring noise.”
This time, Hugo was the one left speechless. It was a perfectly reasonable statement, but since he didn’t usually have a hobby of misinterpreting things, it felt as though that ‘tiring noise’ referred to his own presence.
Of course, he knew that wasn’t what was meant. He knew that the object of protection Leonardo spoke of included not only himself but also Hugo.
However, feeling a sudden tightness in his chest, Hugo remained silent for a moment. Taking advantage of that gap, Leonardo continued.
“…Even if it’s not that, anyone gets nervous when they face a Council Legion Commander. Didn’t you see my team members earlier? They were happy about winning, but the moment they saw you, they all panicked. If that wasn’t your purpose for coming, you could have just met me alone later.”
“If I hadn’t come to find you now, you wouldn’t have met me today.”
“No, I would have.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I said I would!”
Leonardo, whose voice had risen slightly, turned his head away for a moment to calm his excitement. He closed and opened his eyes, then replied to Hugo once more.
“What makes you so sure? It’s not like you know everything about me. You can’t even remember.”