By Zephyria “Oh, is the Council meeting over?”
Flynn jumped up from his seat as soon as Hugo entered. Flynn, subtly straightening his face, hurriedly approached his superior.
Hugo, closing the door and answering with a nod, first undid the fastening button on his wrist. As always, he took off his gloves and handed them to Flynn, then briefly relayed the contents of the concluded Council meeting.
“Besides Gates 5 and 6 in the east, which we discussed this morning, they’re opening additional Gates. They say the temporary Portal will be connected by tomorrow.”
Although it was a schedule he had set himself, the Council meeting had been held twice today alone, so Hugo’s face was clearly showing signs of fatigue as he conveyed the situation. Because of that, Flynn waited for him to unbutton his combat uniform and asked again with an effort to sound positive.
“Then, is it possible that we might be able to depart earlier than expected?”
“Well, we’ll have to see what happens on the day.”
Flynn quietly nodded at Hugo’s unwavering answer. Afterwards, he received the clothing items as if he was used to it and went to the corner to organize Hugo’s belongings.
Hugo, while washing his hands simply by conjuring water, watched Flynn’s face as he moved away. Then, he quickly turned his head, and the place where his gaze rested was Leonardo, who was sitting on the deck and staring blankly at them.
He immediately walked over to Leonardo with long strides and sat down heavily next to him. Then, with a much more relaxed gaze, he examined his pale face and asked cautiously,
“How’s your condition, a little better?”
Hugo’s hand naturally rested behind Leonardo’s back. His broad upper body leaned slightly in that direction.
Even though they were close, it wasn’t a distance that he would normally be conscious of, but today, Leonardo, who was looking up at him, pulled his body back slightly as much as Hugo approached. It was because his mind had become rapidly complicated from just a few seconds ago.
He thought it was strange that his body had reacted to the Legion Commander when he had just woken up, but after hearing Flynn’s story, various things meshed together, and he was very confused.
Furthermore, a strange scene that suddenly flashed through his mind overlapped with the figure of the Legion Commander he was currently seeing. Because of that, as he just stared up at him without answering, Hugo tilted his head and called him again.
“Leonardo?”
“…Huh?”
“How’s your body? Are you tired?”
At Hugo’s continued question, Leonardo belatedly came to his senses. Soon, with a face that anyone could see was flustered, he answered incoherently.
“Uh, uh, no? I’m okay. I’m perfectly fine.”
Hugo, who was examining his complexion up close, slightly raised his eyebrows at Leonardo’s strangely disjointed answer. However, he nodded without saying anything else at the mention that he was okay. Soon, he turned his eyes to the low table that had been pushed back.
When he saw that the amount of soup was no different from when he had left, his blue eyes creased slightly.
“But why is that still the same?”
Hugo’s voice was mixed with a shallow sigh. Leonardo also turned to look at the table where the soup bowl was placed, following him.
“……”
After being silent for a while, Leonardo turned his head back to Hugo. Leonardo was wearing a somewhat displeased expression. He knew it was for his sake, but he wasn’t old enough to be scolded for not eating, so the other person’s scolding tone was annoying him after a long time.
Because of that, Leonardo, hugging his knees in an awkward posture, answered in a grumbling tone for no reason.
“It tastes bad.”
“…But you have to eat to recover quickly.”
“I think I’ll get sicker if I eat something that tastes bad?”
“What’s good for the body is usually bitter.”
He tried to be stubborn for no reason, but Hugo said firmly as if he had no intention of listening to his whining. Even so, unlike his words, he gently swept back Leonardo’s bangs with his hand.
Leonardo didn’t particularly reject the touch, but he still stared at the other person with a sullen gaze. After a moment, when his hand reached his face, he slightly lowered his eyes. The fleeting sneer quickly disappeared.
A large hand wrapped in warmth lightly brushed his hair and forehead. It was definitely not unfamiliar, but today, he felt a subtle sense of tension, and his neck stiffened unconsciously.
‘The poison…’
The golden hair that tickled his eyes was tangled between his long fingers and completely swept back. As his vision cleared, Leonardo stealthily lifted his eyelids. As soon as he saw Hugo, he was reminded of what Flynn had said again.
‘Is this the person who sucked it out directly?’
Flynn didn’t mention it outright, but it seemed that the medical officer’s words that the Legion Commander had participated in the surgery before were a hint. And when he combined it with the strange scene that had flashed through his memory, his intuition told him that this was the only person who could have done it.
However, Agrizendro looked no different from usual. Other than the fact that his eyes looked a little deeper, perhaps because he was tired, there was no noticeable change in the face he was making at him.
On the other hand, Leonardo couldn’t maintain his composure as much as the other person. His gaze reached the other person’s eyes and then glanced down.
He saw another hallucination of red liquid smeared around his mouth. At the same time, his left shoulder became very hot.
‘I’m going crazy.’
It wasn’t throbbing and painful like before, but a burning heat as if he had been burned. The other person was ice, far from being hot.
‘Why the hell would the Legion Commander?’
If there had been a wound in his mouth, it would have been only a matter of time before he got infected when he sucked out the poison. Fortunately, he seemed fine, but Agrizendro had also suffered major injuries in the battle with the core. If even a little poison had passed into his trachea or esophagus, it would have been fatal to him, who already had considerable internal injuries.
So, it was a very dangerous method for a medical procedure performed by a high-ranking person. But this person did it himself, huh. Something felt strange.
He extremely disliked others touching his body without permission, especially touching his left shoulder. Nevertheless, he didn’t feel so unpleasant that this person had done it. No, rather, he felt like he should be more than grateful.
According to the medical officer, he might have really been on the verge of death at that time. Moreover, considering what had happened inside the barrier, he had been indebted to this person more than once or twice.
However, since it was only his guess that this person was the one Flynn was talking about, Leonardo wanted to ask him for sure on this occasion. His prominent Adam’s apple heaved greatly.
“Hey.”
As Leonardo’s voice spread, the attention of the two people in the same space was immediately focused. He felt a little burdened by the sudden silence, but Leonardo opened his mouth to resolve his question.
“That, my shoulder…”
He just had to ask the simple question of whether it was you who removed the poison from my shoulder, but unlike what he thought, his mouth didn’t open easily.
He didn’t know why. He just somehow found it difficult to bring up the words in this place. Was it because Flynn was over there? He suddenly thought that it would be better to ask when they were alone.
As Leonardo seemed to be struggling to speak, Hugo’s gaze became ambiguous as he watched. He seemed to think there was something wrong, and he seemed more rigid than before.
Perhaps because of that, Leonardo, who was facing him, trembled lightly as if he had a chill. He hugged his knees and shrugged his shoulders without realizing it, and Hugo paused, withdrew his hand, and asked.
“Why, are you cold? Or does your shoulder hurt?”
“…No, it’s not that.”
Leonardo shook his head, afraid of causing concern. It wasn’t cold or painful, but an unknown sensation was making him nervous.
However, his gaze kept reaching Hugo’s lips as he asked him. The blue eyes he had seen beyond the rising bubbles were vivid in his mind. Come to think of it, he remembered that his lips had collided roughly with the man in front of him when he was teetering on the edge of a rampage. His Magic Power, which had filled his stomach, seemed to be wriggling even now.
At this point, Leonardo decided not to look at Hugo at all. Reason suppressed instinct.
All the actions he had taken towards him must have been to save him, but he felt very ashamed of himself for unnecessarily recalling the sensation of his lips.
Leonardo covered his lips halfway as if he was resting his chin on his palm. Hugo, with a gaze of half doubt and half worry, stared at him as his reaction changed from time to time.
Then, in case, he used Magic Power to raise the temperature of the room again. At that time, Flynn, who had been watching the two people from the corner, suddenly broke the silence that seemed to be getting longer.
“Um, Legion Commander. What should we do with Blaine’s clothes?”
This time, Hugo and Leonardo simultaneously turned their eyes to Flynn. As soon as Hugo understood Flynn’s words, he shifted his gaze to the combat uniform that Leonardo was wearing.
Leonardo also looked down at the sleeves that covered more than half of his palm, following him.
‘Ah.’
Come to think of it, he was still wearing this.