By Zephyria Leonardo’s heart sank at the thought that the situation would be settled like this.
“Ah, no—”
He immediately reached out to grab something, but his fingertips stopped in the air at Hugo’s next words.
“The fact that we can face each other and talk like this is all thanks to you fighting with your life on the line. Yeah, I should have said this first… The order was completely wrong. I’m sorry, Leonardo.”
He was sincerely apologizing, but from the listener’s point of view, it sounded like a declaration to stop. That was because there was a deep shadow on the face he looked up at. His sunken eyes were dark as if they had sunk into the abyss.
Leonardo unknowingly swallowed hard. He felt like something would go wrong if he ended it like this.
He didn’t want to see the other person disappointed in him. But perhaps because of the defense mechanism he had been wearing for the past three years, his mouth, which had been arguing well, hesitated at the moment he needed it.
“But the fact that the Amplifier is dangerous doesn’t change.”
In the meantime, whether it was unfortunate or fortunate. The Legion Commander, who had a strong sense of duty, reached out his hand as if he still had something to say.
“I want you to give me all the Amplifiers you have. Of course, it’s not a coercion or an order, but… I don’t want you to be involved in such dangerous things anymore.”
This time, his tone and expression were infinitely gentle. This must have been what he wanted to convey from the beginning. However, Leonardo felt that the air at this moment was particularly bitter, as the other person seemed to be making every effort to avoid offending him.
Leonardo, who had been looking up, slowly lowered his gaze and stared at Hugo’s forearm that was stretched out in front of him. He scanned the burn marks on it, and then lowered his head along the fingertips that followed.
He took a deep breath to organize his thoughts and feelings. After that, his stubbornness and pride fell to his feet. Leonardo felt that his head was much calmer, and he touched his stiff mouth with his hand. He barely muttered in a voice that seemed to crawl in.
“I don’t have it anymore, that Amplifier. What I used then was the last of it.”
Hugo’s fingertips stopped at his subdued voice. Hugo, who had lowered the hand that had been reaching out to Leonardo, stared intently at the drooping golden head.
The excitement from before was nowhere to be found. It was completely extinguished, like water poured on a flame. There was still room to continue the conversation, but Hugo couldn’t believe Leonardo’s words as they were. He thought that Leonardo might have made up an excuse to finish the uncomfortable situation.
But whether that was true or not. All he could do in this situation was to believe him. Hugo slowly nodded at his words, knowing that the other person couldn’t see him. Then, as if sensing the nod, Leonardo slowly raised his face.
The golden eyes, still a little sullen but with a much gentler look, said.
“And… You don’t have to be sorry. I know you didn’t mean it that way.”
Hugo’s eyebrows twitched noticeably because the answer that came back was far from what he had expected.
“I just… Took it badly.”
Leonardo’s voice, tinged with embarrassment, scattered in the quiet room. His gaze also wandered through the air following his voice, and then returned to Hugo only after he finished speaking.
Leonardo repeatedly bit and released the ends of his lips as Hugo’s eyes, with their deep lines, looked at him with an unknown expression.
“But it would have been nice if you had said that from the beginning. That you were worried about me.”
He spat out bluntly with a hint of resentment. His beautiful eyebrows were slightly furrowed, although he wasn’t being sharp.
Hugo, who had been staring blankly at the distorted golden eyes, grabbed the opportunity he had given him without hesitation.
“I’m worried about you.”
Leonardo was momentarily flustered by the words that followed so easily. But he tried to hide his inner thoughts and narrowed his eyes as if trying to discern the truth. Then Hugo conveyed it once again clearly.
“I’m anxious. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt again.”
Leonardo’s eyes, which had been giving strength, helplessly relaxed. A silent sigh flowed out through his parted lips.
How could he just be proud in front of such a person? It was the moment when even the last bit of stubbornness was futilely broken.
He thought that the act of revealing his inner self was an act that could easily be looked down upon by others. But the other person, who always apologized first and spoke his heart, seemed stronger and more solid than anyone else.
Leonardo admired the other person’s integrity, but he resented his disposition that made him feel like a bad person. That was always a complaint, but what could he do? He was objectively and subjectively much older than him.
The golden eyes, which had lost their way and were shaking, fell again on Hugo’s forearm. Large and small scars decorated the bulging blood vessels. Among them, the most noticeable was the scar he had left.
This person says that every moment he is facing now is all thanks to him. But if this person hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have had the moment to face that scar.
Leonardo, hesitating, carefully reached out his hand. He caressed the scar as if handling glass, as if the thick forearm would break. Soon, his hesitant touch slid down. He dug deep between the large hands that looked particularly empty.
Leonardo, holding the cool fingers, glanced up.
“I’m sorry.”
At that moment, a sigh flowed from between Hugo’s teeth. His voice echoed around his ears like an afterimage.
He tried not to show his agitated heart, but his wide chest slightly swelled and then subsided. It was a truly amazing ability. To make a complicated mind feel as empty as a void with just one word.
The sweet apology conveyed by his mournful eyes made him look back on the past times like a panorama. That’s why Hugo was able to understand all the many meanings contained in the one word he gave him in a short moment.
“……”
Hugo firmly held on to the heat that had come on his own, lest the sensation conveyed through his fingertips escape.
Only gold was reflected in his blue eyes that had helplessly melted. His heated heart strongly pulled the hand he was holding towards him.
“Come here.”
^
The setting sun, sinking lower and lower, disappeared from the window. Soon, a bluish darkness seemed to thickly dye the entire sky.
Perhaps because he had never been outside yet, it was difficult to realize that this place was not inside the peninsula. But even though it was quite late, it was bright, so the days felt longer than when he was in the peninsula.
It would have been nice if there was a window on the opposite side as well, but only a tightly closed door was located on the west side. Leonardo felt disappointed that he couldn’t watch the retreating sun.
But the person he was waiting for soon comforted himself. It was because he would soon be able to open that door and leave this place. Hugo, who had been dissuading him from going out all along, had allowed him to go out for some reason.
“Where could he be….”
Hearing his voice that sounded like a soliloquy, Leonardo turned his head and looked at Hugo’s back. Hugo was rummaging through Flynn’s backpack placed in the corner, looking for something.
Although the preparation time seemed to be getting a bit long, Leonardo absentmindedly adjusted the sleeve of the extra layer he was wearing. Unlike the peninsula, the evenings here were quite chilly, Hugo had said, pulling out a thin jacket and handing it to him to wear. Even though he hadn’t applied any perfume, the deep scent permeating the fabric instantly revealed that this jacket, too, was his possession.
Around the time the twice-folded sleeve was getting crumpled from all his fidgeting, Hugo turned around as if he had found what he was looking for.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Watching him stride over, Leonardo shook his head as if to say it was fine. At the same time, he glanced at what was in his hand. It was a neatly folded handkerchief that looked soft in texture.
Earlier, when he had been taking off his clothes layer by layer to wash up, he had also undone the handkerchief tied around his neck.
Thinking he had brought back that same handkerchief, it seemed this time it was a spare one he had kept on hand. Though it bore the same family crest, the pattern was different from the familiar one.
Staring intently, Leonardo could guess what he intended to do.
Hugo spread the handkerchief wide, then folded it diagonally lengthwise, making it resemble a ribbon. Then, as if it were the most natural thing, he wrapped it around Leonardo’s neck. Covering the outline of the choker seamlessly, he tied a knot at the collarbone and said,
“Wrapping the neck is the most effective way to maintain body temperature. Even if it’s uncomfortable, keep it on while we’re outside.”
Watching the large hands skillfully tying the ribbon, Leonardo replied nonchalantly to Hugo.
“It’s not uncomfortable.”
Saying that, when he gently lifted his eyelids, the blue eyes meeting his smiled softly.
“That’s a relief.”
Agrizendro had seemed very displeased with his intention to go outside. But it seemed that, despite that, his words about feeling stifled indoors had bothered him, forcing him to reluctantly permit it.
Of course, there was the condition that he couldn’t go far and had to return after just a short walk nearby. Added to that was the requirement that Hugo himself must accompany him, but there was no reason to refuse.
Leonardo lowered his gaze again at the delicate touch brushing against his neck.
Had it not been long since he escaped from those broad arms? His earlobes still felt hot.
However, neither of them explicitly mentioned what had just happened. They didn’t define what it meant, either.
Just as an indescribable ticklish sensation lingered around his neck and chest, Hugo, having finished tying the handkerchief, extended his hand with a satisfied expression.
“Let’s go.”