By Zephyria Hugo’s eyes, which had become much deeper, stared straight at the golden light. Then, he called out the other person’s name that was wrapped around the tip of his tongue somewhat impulsively.
“Leonardo.”
As the clear golden eyes reacted slightly, Hugo conveyed the words that came from his heart without filtering them.
“Sometimes when I look at you, I think you’re much more mature than me.”
Leonardo’s eyes, which had been bent, were raised in doubt.
“…Hmm?”
“I often look back on what I was doing around your age, and what I would have done if I were you.”
Leonardo blinked blankly at Hugo’s earnest gaze.
He hadn’t said it expecting any particular reaction, but suddenly hearing such words made him feel rather awkward. It seemed like he had been muttering to himself for quite a while, so Leonardo stared at the table with an embarrassed expression.
“Oh, uh… is that so?”
His wandering gaze naturally went to the wristwatch on Hugo’s wrist. But it returned to its place at the other man’s words.
“You are already excellent in yourself, so there’s no need for me to add anything… but I think it’s okay for you to enjoy what you’ve achieved a little. I want to see that side of you too.”
The calm but sudden advice brought a new kind of embarrassment. Leonardo widened his eyes for a moment, then repeated Hugo’s words with a dazed expression.
‘What does he want to see?’
“It means you deserve to be thanked. Look over there, Leonardo.”
Hugo added, as if reading his thoughts, and pointed outside the tent with his chin. Leonardo, pondering the meaning, followed his gaze without realizing it.
The atmosphere of the base camp, which could be discerned from the expressions and voices of the members, had changed considerably since Leonardo’s sudden actions. Before, it felt like everyone was enduring to avoid collapsing, but now there was an energy that made it seem like they could overcome the situation in some way.
Hugo, realizing the impact Leonardo had made in achieving this, calmly began to speak.
“Our Council’s legions originally have the duty and joy of serving the people of the Empire and dedicating themselves to the Empire’s well-being. Of course, individual thoughts may differ, but at least at the moment of swearing the oath at the induction ceremony, everyone will feel the same.”
Leonardo’s eyes rolled to the side again. It was a seemingly irrelevant story, but he quietly listened, thinking that this wasn’t the main point.
“Subjugating demon beasts is also our job if they harm the people of the Empire. But the Council hasn’t had many opportunities to participate in large-scale battles where we have to risk our lives. So fighting a demon strong enough to bring ruin to this land… was something our members could hardly imagine.”
The mug in Hugo’s fingers was placed on the table. The nearly untouched amount of coffee was noticeable.
“When the core escaped from Seal 118 and advanced to the plains, I saw despair in the eyes of the members that I had never seen before. Their bodies were fighting, but their minds were already captured by helplessness. But then, at some point, I saw an overflowing will in those members. It would be a lie to say there was no fear or sadness, but something even greater was moving them.”
Leonardo’s eyelids twitched slightly. Hugo, leaning back slightly, reached out over the table.
“The reason they were able to rise again was not only the noble spirit of fighting to the end for the Empire. Fundamentally, it was because of the slightest possibility that they could return alive, that they might win this battle.”
“…….”
“And you were at the center of that possibility.”
His hand intertwined with Leonardo’s hand, which was holding the mug. The cool touch separated the fingers attached to the surface one by one as he spoke.
“I never thought it was possible for a single person to change the course of a battle. But seeing you changed my mind. I still can’t forget that moment. I probably never will.”
Hugo’s face, recalling that time, was solemn and serious. But unlike his expression, his large hand gently caressed Leonardo’s fingers.
There was no impure intention in that leisurely yet persistent touch. But it was so stimulating, as if teasing him, that Leonardo’s attention was soon focused on the sensation transmitted through his hand rather than what he was saying.
Hugo held Leonardo’s hand and pulled it towards him. The width of the table wasn’t that wide, so his hand was soon in front of Hugo’s face.
“Look at the people you saved.”
Hugo swept the back of the other’s hand with his lowered gaze, then lifted his eyelids and looked at Leonardo. Leonardo stopped breathing for a moment, perhaps because the blue eyes he met were so deep.
Soon after, just as he felt strangely hot in the room, Hugo’s lips touched the back of Leonardo’s hand.
“……?”
Hot breath landed on the prominent knuckles. As the soft sensation was transmitted to his bones and skin, Leonardo’s hand twitched noticeably.
His eyes widened, and his mind stopped for a moment. Meanwhile, Hugo’s breath went down the fingers with small scars before he could stop it.
His neat lips pressed down on the bent knuckles one by one. It was quite intimate for what could be dismissed as a light peck.
Leonardo didn’t immediately grasp what this man was doing. He was just trembling at his fingertips and stiffening. Then, belatedly regaining his senses, he barely pulled his arm towards him and blurted out in a bewildered tone.
“W-wait, what are you doing?”
But Hugo’s tightly gripping hand didn’t let go of his hand. Rather, his breath penetrated deeply between his fingers. Leonardo, looking at the other man, shrugged his shoulders with a confused face. A chill ran down his spine. The labial sounds tickling his fingers were terribly erotic.
Hugo caressed Leonardo’s hand with his lips for a while, and only after occupying the fingertips did he release him. Leonardo, with a purely surprised look he had never shown before, stared at Hugo, holding his hand to his chest.
His earlobes were flushed red as if they were burning. Hugo smiled slightly at the sight.
“Oh dear, I didn’t expect you to be this surprised.”
Leonardo, unable to keep up with the other man’s overly relaxed reaction, could only barely move his lips. Soon, he tried to erase the sensation left on the back of his hand by rubbing it, and confirmed that the other man’s intention was only respect and reverence, and a little bit of playfulness to tease him.
Thinking so, he felt somewhat ashamed of his transparently surprised appearance. Leonardo, who barely managed to feign composure, said with a flushed face.
“You shouldn’t do this to me.”
Hugo raised an eyebrow at the sudden retort. Then, with a puzzled look, he asked back.
“Why?”
“Well, because you’re a Duke―.”
As if asking the obvious, Leonardo raised his voice slightly. It wasn’t so much anger as resentment towards the other man who had embarrassed him.
Leonardo wasn’t naive enough to misunderstand the kiss on the back of his hand. He too had sworn allegiance to his lord in the past, or had given a formal greeting to a high-ranking person a few times as a formal greeting to show respect.
But most of them were at official events, and he tended to avoid them as much as possible in private situations for fear of troublesome situations. After an unpleasant experience, he ended up with just a short pretense even in necessary situations.
But for a superior, a Duke who was one of the most prominent in the Empire, to kiss the hand of a commoner, no matter how respectful, was impossible. Although the boundaries of status, excluding the Emperor, were becoming increasingly blurred, there was still an unbridgeable gap between nobles and commoners.
Moreover, this persistent and lingering hand kiss was something Leonardo had never experienced in his short life.
Hugo, watching the increasingly complex Gold Eyes, chuckled softly and replied.
“Where is it that a Duke can’t do something?”
Leonardo was momentarily speechless at the brazen answer. It was an authoritarian and arbitrary statement that he wouldn’t have believed the usual Hugo would make. But it suited him so well, as if it were his own clothes, that he forgot the words he was about to retort.
The back of his hand felt hot as if it had been burned. The memories that had been fading away were once again vividly recalled.
‘I was trying not to think about it, but why do you keep….’
The sensation of those lips, which he had accidentally learned, seemed to be vividly engraved on each of his fingers, passing through his neck and shoulders. He had even had a hard time because of that sensation, but the other man seemed to be completely unfazed by this situation.
‘Is it because he’s a noble?’
Leonardo pursed his lips, as if the weight of acceptance was different. Feeling like he had lost for no reason, he lowered his eyes and turned his head.
Two members who were standing near the entrance naturally came into view. They weren’t looking this way, but they were close enough to hear the conversation.
But even being concerned about them seemed to be his own problem, so Leonardo could only clench his hot hand with a sigh.