By Zephyria Leonardo’s shoulders heaved heavily due to his ragged breathing.
A gray wasteland stained with despair. A golden flame shining precariously in that place.
From the captain’s figure, wavering as if he would lose his balance yet steadfast, Nero encountered an indescribable emotion.
He had always respected his will and admired his beliefs. But the emotion that surged within him at that moment was not the zeal and pride to follow the captain’s will.
It was anger at a simple, unwavering, foolish human.
Nero scoffed and asked back.
“People we have to protect?”
White hands rose from the muddy ground, grabbing Leonardo’s legs and pulling him into despair. Wanting to shake off the curses and accusations that those phantoms were pouring on him, Nero unknowingly squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them.
However, the unpleasant whispers of hallucinations persistently lingered around him, and the face of the hero, so upright that it was frustrating, gradually blurred and distorted.
Torn, cut, and tattered, yet speaking of the citizens of the Empire before his own safety.
Nero sneered at that figure of the captain. Soon, he covered the hot fist touching his left chest with his hand, gripping it so tightly that the veins stood out on his entire forearm, and said.
“Stop trying to act cool.”
Leonardo’s eyelids twitched slightly. Nero’s lowered voice fell to the ground with the flowing rainwater.
“Those citizens of the Empire, those citizens of the Empire! What have those great citizens of the Empire done for you in the past three years? They criticized, cursed, and damned you. What else have they done for you besides that!”
As if venting the suppressed injustice, Nero’s distorted anger overflowed uncontrollably. The resentment and anger mixed with trembling breaths burst out like a volcano, along with piercing emotions.
“Really… it’s really frustrating. Have you ever seen me get this angry at you before? I wouldn’t be like this unless it was this bad—”
“…Hey.”
“What have you gained from protecting the citizens of the Empire? That trashy restriction that executes you if you meet a comrade? That creepy Leash that makes a perfectly good Magic Power half-crippled? Is that what we’ve been fighting for until now? No. Right now, you are more important to me than this damn Empire that only gives us that kind of crap!!”
The blazing red eyes flared up as if to devour the opponent standing face to face. From the passionately panting breath and the grip clenching his hand, Leonardo faced Nero’s resentment raging in his stead.
These were words that they both knew but had never openly spoken for each other’s sake.
Normally, he would have smacked him on the head for being rude or coldly warned him for crossing the line. But now, he couldn’t say or do anything. He didn’t have the capacity to distinguish whether it was because of Nero’s strength holding him back, or because the words he was uttering were all true.
Leonardo swallowed the bitterness swirling in his mouth with difficulty.
“I wouldn’t have said this in the past either. You are much smarter and stronger than me, so even if I was anxious, I would have followed you without complaint. …But look at you now. Right now, you really look like you’re about to collapse. I’m going crazy with worry that you might faint again somewhere without me even noticing for a moment.”
Nero’s words poured out painfully, as if trying to scratch his pride. But Leonardo closed his mouth, knowing that it wasn’t his intention.
Seeing him silent without replying, the strength in Nero’s hand covering his fist gradually loosened. Then, suddenly, his widely opened arms came and hugged Leonardo without context.
In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he was pulled into the embrace, but to Leonardo, it felt like a young subordinate who wanted to vent his frustration was hugging him. Perhaps that’s why, even though he was momentarily taken aback and trapped in the warm embrace, he didn’t particularly push him away and slowly patted Nero’s back.
The tighter the embrace became, the more his ribs throbbed again, but he only frowned slightly and didn’t show it. The sound of breathing ringing in his ear was anxiously trembling.
“Please, I’m begging you. Let’s get out of here.”
Nero’s voice, once again desperately heard, went well with the sound of the rain. Against the backdrop of that humid music, Leonardo helplessly melted into the coziness, gazing up at the sky beyond the other’s shoulder.
He wiggled his limply bent wrist, stroking the back that had become wider than his, and gently ruffled the hair redder than blood with his blood-soaked hand. The throbbing felt from the touching chest shook his troubled heart, but from the moment he first heard the words to run away until this moment, which would be the last. Leonardo’s resolve had never wavered even once.
“Nero.”
Leonardo slowly blinked because of the raindrops gathering in his eyes. The two arms hugging his waist and shoulders loosened slightly upon hearing his name. Leonardo grabbed Nero’s shoulders and pushed him back just enough to see his face. Then, he opened his mouth in a calm voice.
“You’re right.”
Hope momentarily colored the red eyes looking at Leonardo. The stubborn eyes, refusing to hear any other words, relaxed for a moment.
But the words that came from the other person were a little different from what Nero had expected.
“As you said, I’ve become weaker than before. Terribly so. I can’t use Magic Power as much as I used to, and because I lived as a civilian, my agility and senses have deteriorated. That’s probably why I was caught by the Council and ended up here.”
What followed were only words that belittled himself, as if to mock reality, so Nero seemed quite flustered as he listened.
“…No, Captain, I didn’t mean it that way—”
“But from the time I was paroled from Amphitrite, every moment we occasionally met. And until right before I was taken into custody by the Council, I kept running away.”
Leonardo, who had cut off his words and lowered his head for a moment, bit his lip heavily.
“I ran away to escape the law, ran away to avoid criticism. I constantly ran away from my past, my faults, my tainted honor.”
His expression, which met his eyes again, was painfully distorted by the memories of the past.
Nero was momentarily breathless when he suddenly faced that face. He couldn’t say anything to the other person. He thought they had experienced the same pain, but the weight of the pain he felt could not be the same as the person involved. The deep emotion lingering on Leonardo’s face was much more stinging and heavier than his own heart.
So, as he silently remained silent, the red lips in front of him fluttered pitifully before long. What leaked out from between them was the captain’s true feelings that had been hidden all along.
“Nero, I don’t want to run away anymore.”
The furrowed, beautiful brows pleaded with a deliberately calm expression. The voice added to it was so choked up that it came to Nero more desperately than any other words.
“…Captain.”
Silence fell along with the rain after the difficultly revealed truth.
There were many things they wanted to say to each other, but neither of them intended to open their mouths. This was because each of their intentions had already been fully conveyed by the stifling emotions that had passed between them until now.
Nero sighed and roughly rubbed his eyes at the sight of the captain, who didn’t want to back down as much as he did. He grabbed his wet hair as if he were going to tear it out and closed his eyes tightly in dismay before opening them. As he did so, the captain’s hand cautiously reached out and tidied his disheveled hair.
“I don’t want you to stand out to other people and become dangerous for no reason. There’s no need for you to get hurt fighting that monster either.”
Leonardo said, raising the collar of the combat uniform Nero was wearing and carefully fastening the buttons and zipper up to his neck. After tenderly adjusting his clothes like that, he pushed Nero’s chest and took a step back.
“So, you go back as you are. You’ve done your part by saving me.”
“……”
“Of course, I’m not leaving here. Not until I kill that bastard.”
Leonardo’s fiercely burning gaze continued to the monster roaring in the distance. At first glance, it seemed like he was seething with resentment and desire for not being able to catch and kill him, but Nero, who had known him for a long time, glimpsed another emotion mixed in his clear gold eyes.
Perhaps it was worry about ‘that human’ who was confronting him.
Staring at the blue light spreading in the sky following the captain’s gaze, Nero barely swallowed the curse about that annoying human. Then, he turned his eyes back to the front and spat out in a sulky tone.
“Captain, do you know that?”
Leonardo’s pupils, which had been following Hugo’s trail, returned to their place at Nero’s question. As the gold eyes were solely directed at him, Nero said, tucking the golden hair, which had become quite long, behind his ear.
“You used to tell me that I was stubborn all the time, but when I see it, you’re the one who’s really stubborn.”
His elegant eyebrows furrowed slightly at the sudden remark. Nero, who had captured that figure in his eyes, sighed deeply once in front of Leonardo. He opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind, suppressing his emotions with a series of deep breaths.
“If you’re not leaving, I’m not leaving either.”
“…What? Hey, what have you been listening to me say until now—”
“But I’m originally someone who shouldn’t be here.”
Nero didn’t give him a chance to retort in case another fierce command would fall from the captain’s mouth. Leonardo, who was about to say something, paused for a moment and closed his mouth because the following words weren’t wrong either. He couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all.
“So, just give me one reason. A reason why I can be here.”
Nero, who had been hesitating, suddenly grabbed Leonardo’s hand. Soon, the firmly determined red eyes met his eyes straight on.
“A reason why I can stay by your side and fight together.”
In front of the sharply blazing gaze, Leonardo finally grasped Nero’s intention. Nero was urging him on as if he had read his mind.
“Be honest. You need me, don’t you?”
“……”
Leonardo hesitated between the true feelings and reason that were momentarily mixed together. Nero was talking about the reality in front of him now.
As he said, it was questionable whether he and the Council’s power alone could resolve this miserable situation. To be really honest, he needed his power.
But what if he stayed here and was found out? What if someone recognized Nero’s identity and reported him?
Bad thoughts of what might happen randomly came to mind, and Leonardo bit his lip tightly. He felt like he was being sucked into an endless deep agony. As a result, a headache came and he closed his eyes tightly, and the hand gripping his hand tightened even more strongly. It was a silent pressure not to think about anything else.
The eyelids of Leonardo, who had been trembling, slowly opened at the desperation conveyed from that strength, no less than his own. Before long, the gold eyes soaked in thoughts surrounded by eyelashes were revealed, and that mournful gaze grabbed Nero’s collar.
The lips, which had turned purple, twitched weakly, and finally, he uttered with difficulty in a barely audible voice.
“…Nero.”
“……”
“Help me.”
His pretty face collapsed painfully as if he had said something he shouldn’t have said. Nero simply hugged him without saying anything at the sight of the captain lowering his head.
Wrapping his arms around the captain’s head buried in his shoulder, Nero smiled faintly. Then, in the most trustworthy voice in the world, he replied plainly to the reason he had given.
“Roger.”