BMD 245

‘Huh…?’

He didn’t want to show that he was surprised, but his eyelashes fluttered against his will.

The strength in his neck and shoulders suddenly disappeared. His head, which had been half-lifted, soon fell back onto the pillow.

As he froze in that state and looked at the other person, the drowsy blue eyes blinked slowly several times.

The indoor temperature was warm to the point of being languid. But a strange coolness seemed to brush against his skin.

‘Since when?’

Leonardo’s mind became extremely complicated. An indescribable tension swirled in the space of only about a hand span.

He didn’t know why this person always pretended to be asleep, making him lower his guard, only to make him so embarrassed. He didn’t know exactly when he woke up, but he must have noticed that he touched his face.

He couldn’t confidently explain in a simple way at this distance why he had stroked the other person’s jawline while lying side by side. He could just skip the explanation, but it seemed like he needed an excuse at the point of sharing a pillow and making eye contact.

Because of that, he swallowed hard, rolling his head and dry saliva, and his Adam’s apple, which had become prominent as he lost weight in the past few days, heaved greatly up and down.

Hugo’s languid gaze, which was impossible to read, followed that movement and glanced down. At the same time, his long legs, which had been subtly shifting, lightly touched Leonardo’s thigh, which had been hot for a while.

‘……!’

Leonardo’s pupils dilated as if shocked. All of his thoughts up to now were completely blown away in that short moment.

As if mocking the causal relationship he had struggled to sever, the heat between his legs flaunted its presence.

“W-wait a minute—!”

A shrill voice that even he had never heard before came out. Thinking that he might touch him if he wasn’t careful, Leonardo abruptly raised his cowering upper body.

But perhaps the crisis had blown away the memories of a moment ago, and he happened to put his weight on his left arm again.

“Agh!!”

As the excruciating pain stabbed into his shoulder again, Leonardo let out a scream and took his hand off the floor. His body, which had jumped up like a startled beast, momentarily lost its balance and quickly fell backwards.

“Leo!”

Hugo, who was also startled, jumped up while still half-asleep. He barely managed to catch the Gold Eyes’ head with his palm before it fell onto the hard deck. At the same time, he looked at Leonardo, who was grimacing, and asked, grabbing his arm with a very flustered look.

“Why, does your arm hurt? Let me see.”

Unlike his husky voice, he was very quick to grasp the situation. Hugo supported Leonardo’s back and shoulders with one arm, and massaged his left arm as if to soothe the startled him with the other. Leonardo, who was half-embraced by Hugo, trembled his shoulders, and even in the midst of that, he picked up the fallen bedding and pulled it up to his abdomen.

Clearly, the pain was so bad that tears welled up in his eyes, but his lower body was reacting to this situation as if it were a completely different person. Feeling ashamed of himself for whimpering in pain, Leonardo struggled to avoid the other person’s gaze and touch and turned his body away.

At that time, Hugo’s hand, which had been stroking his arm, came up and fiddled with Leonardo’s collar. When he glanced down to see what he was doing, his large hand was unbuttoning the small buttons one by one.

“Take it off for a second. I need to see your condition.”

“W-what?”

He had a serious face and was really trying to check his condition, but the person receiving it didn’t feel that way at all. When Leonardo belatedly asked back and grabbed Hugo’s arm, his front was already half-unbuttoned, showing how skilled he was.

“No, no, it’s okay. I’m okay!”

“What’s okay? The wound could get worse. I need to check it now.”

“N-no, I’m really okay, I tell you?”

Leonardo was sweating profusely and struggling with all his might. His instincts were telling him. If he added even more new stimuli in a situation where he was already very conscious, an uncontrollable sensation would rush in and his shame would double.

Moreover, he was very confused because he didn’t even know the cause well, so how much more confused would the other person be if he knew his situation?

The quiet atmosphere of midday was gone, and the two were grabbing each other’s collars as if they were grabbing each other’s throats, engaging in a war of nerves. There was a light scuffle, saying take it off, don’t take it off, but for Hugo, it was just a cute act of defiance from someone who had been unconscious and had just woken up.

“Let go, Leonardo. I’ll just take a look for a second—.”

Hugo completely opened the combat uniform top he had put on Leonardo and even pulled down the innerwear inside to check his shoulder. Then, Leonardo, who had been struggling in his arms, pushed Hugo’s chest hard and broke free, just like he had done once before.

“Don’t touch my body!”

He gathered his legs together, rolled around, wrapped himself in a blanket, and glared at the other person with fierce eyes while sticking close to the wall. As Leonardo became increasingly defensive as if he was cornered, Hugo looked at him with a dumbfounded expression, not knowing what was going on. However, he didn’t reach out any further because he seemed very wary.

Instead, he didn’t back down from that spot and stared silently at his left shoulder with a stiff face.

Only Leonardo’s rough breathing lingered between the two who were silent. Hugo narrowed his eyes in the pouring sunlight and quietly waited for him to calm down.

As silence returned, Leonardo’s reason, which had flown away, gradually began to return. Only then did he notice Agrizendro’s expression, which seemed a little disappointed. His uncharacteristically disheveled hair and tired complexion subtly caught his attention.

“…….”

He belatedly regretted the words he had unintentionally said to the person who had tried to check his body condition. Leonardo cautiously looked up at Hugo with a look of apology. Then, Hugo seemed to think that he had calmed down to some extent and asked him again in a calm tone.

“Is your arm okay?”

Because it was a serious voice that seemed to be really worried, Leonardo resented the insensitive part of his body even in the midst of this.

His conscience pricked. He lowered his eyes, feeling awkward about facing him, and slowly nodded instead of answering.

Even so, he bit his lip, wondering whether to speak or not, and then muttered softly in a barely audible voice.

“I want to take a shower….”

It was an indirect excuse, but in reality, Leonardo’s body was soaked with sweat. So, Hugo, who had taken those words as out of the blue, could somehow understand his actions of struggling.

^

Hugo recognized that Leonardo had desperately resisted because he thought his body was dirty. Because of that, he said he would take him to a place where he could wash and tried to pick him up and move him. However, Leonardo vehemently refused and insisted that he would go on his own.

But even barely supporting himself against the wall was not easy for him now. His legs trembled like a newborn foal. Moreover, he was wrapped in bedding all over his body under the pretext of being cold, so there was no way he could take a step in that state.

In the end, Leonardo, whose body was so heavy that it was difficult to move, was Teleported to a nearby shower facility with Hugo’s help. After rejecting the innocent Legion Commander who offered to help him bathe and the medical officer who said that water should not touch the affected area, Leonardo was finally able to have some time alone. He felt dizzy a few times in the middle, but his mind became much clearer as his body became clean.

Afterwards, Leonardo, who had been moved back to his residence, was surrounded by the Council’s medical officers with a much fresher appearance. He was reluctant to have strangers touch his body, but he couldn’t resist Agrizendro’s coercion, so he obediently held out his wrist when asked and opened his mouth when asked, and received treatment.

As he listened to them talk about his physical condition until his ears were sore, he realized that he had been unconscious for quite a long time and that the wound on his shoulder had been very serious.

“This is an unbelievable recovery. I thought it was well treated because the Legion Commander personally participated in the surgery, but if an ordinary person had been that poisoned, they would have been unconscious for at least ten days. But not only did you wake up in three days, but your current nerve response is also very good… I can only say that it’s really good luck. If I report it to the academic world, it’s a case that would be published as an article right away.”

The medical officer, who had been speaking eloquently with an excited expression, added that he had even considered amputation, mentioning the state right before the surgery. He said that the possibility of necrosis had been raised based on visual inspection at the time, and Leonardo finally understood the pain in his shoulder that had been so severe earlier.

At the same time, he glanced at Hugo upon hearing that the Legion Commander had personally participated in the surgery. He knew that Hugo could use Recovery, but he didn’t know he was skilled enough to participate in the surgery.

“By the way.”

Leonardo, suddenly having a question, interrupted the officer and opened his mouth. Then, Hugo and the medical team members, who were sitting side by side and listening attentively, all turned their eyes to him.

Suddenly, all eyes were on him, making him a little uncomfortable, but Leonardo didn’t care and asked abruptly.

“Why is my voice like this? Is this also because of the poison?”

Leonardo’s voice had been hoarse since he woke up. His throat itself felt swollen and prickly, and because of his extremely raspy voice, it sometimes sounded metallic.

At first, he vaguely thought that his voice was just hoarse from being asleep for a long time, but the hoarseness had become so severe that he suspected there was a problem with his vocal cords, and no matter how he thought about it, it was too much to be just hoarseness.

When Leonardo asked so nonchalantly, the medical officer hesitated and then suddenly turned to Hugo. Leonardo’s gaze also reached Hugo. Hugo, who happened to meet his eyes, asked Leonardo.

“Don’t you remember?”