By Zephyria “I’m sorry, Legion Commander. It’s our mistake.”
Hugo, who had taken off his blood-stained jacket and gloves, glanced back. The medical team, who had bowed at a 90-degree angle, lined up and confessed their mistake to the main doctor.
Hugo, with a dry face, scanned the back of their heads and then looked forward again, casually hanging his jacket on the hanger. Then, he sat heavily on the wooden chair with a tired face, leaned his upper body forward, and asked with a sigh.
“What mistake?”
Two medical officers exchanged glances. One of them opened his mouth.
“We failed to confirm that he had not taken the entire amount of the prepared sleeping pill. It seems that he only took about a third as a trick and threw the rest away with the empty bag.”
He had already heard that white powder, presumed to be a sleeping pill, had been found in the trash can. This added credibility to the speculation that Leonardo Blaine had been suspicious of the drug before taking it.
‘I was too naive.’
Hugo slowly rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes tightly.
He had thought that he would take the medicine without suspicion this time as well, since he had readily taken the medicine he had given him when he left Fidele before, but it was a big miscalculation. Rather, using the same method as before was tantamount to overlooking his agility. Perhaps it was also an opportunity to destroy his trust in him.
“It seems that the small amount of sleeping pills he took gradually lowered his heart rate during the examination, and the examiner mistook the symptoms for sleep and proceeded with the blood draw, which was the problem.”
Listening to the story that hell had begun the moment they inserted the blood-drawing needle, Hugo quietly looked at the clear face lying on the bed. There was no trace of the terrifying murderous intent from before on his face, which was simply closing his eyes gently and sleeping as if he were dead.
Compared to his appearance as a yacha at the time, he was now an angel. If the messenger of God existed, he wondered if he would have such a face, so pure and delicate.
Looking down at the beauty with a thousand faces in a bad way, Hugo habitually swept his bangs back. It was fortunate that the situation had subsided, but seeing Leonardo Blaine unconscious was never a welcome thing.
But even if he opened his eyes, would he ever be able to see Gold Eyes smiling at him again?
Hugo swallowed his bitterness, withdrew his hand, and asked the officer.
“So, what’s his condition?”
“Fortunately, the main artery was not completely severed, so we succeeded in regenerating 99.9%. There is no danger to his life, and the skin has been sutured well without any major scars.”
“…That’s a relief.”
“However, as you know, he lost a lot of blood, so he will need to rest for a while. We are collecting the blood scattered in the examination room and comparing it with the blood transfusion pack sample that we have in storage to check for an immune response. We will report and proceed with the transfusion as soon as safety is confirmed. And…”
The officer paused for a moment before continuing.
“Since we have secured enough blood for the examination through this incident, we don’t think we need to draw any more blood. We will report the analysis results as soon as they are available.”
As the officer finished speaking, another officer next to him nudged his arm. It was an expression that said, “Did you have to say that in this situation?” The officer who had spoken earlier also seemed to think it wasn’t a good idea and glanced at the Legion Commander. However, Hugo simply nodded slowly without saying anything.
The medical officer then said that Flynn had also collapsed and only lost consciousness for a while, and that he would wake up in the afternoon. He added in a positive tone that he seemed to be able to return to his daily life soon because he had no external injuries at all.
Despite the chaos, there were no casualties, and only Leonardo Blaine’s blood was splattered on the floor. This soon convinced him that he was not trying to harm others, but was purely struggling to escape from fear.
Both before and now, he was afraid. Hugo, unable to take his eyes off Leonardo Blaine, once again recalled the Gold Eyes that had lost focus.
‘Did that bastard tell you to bring it?’
What on earth did that mean? A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind. Hugo took Leonardo Blaine’s hand and pressed the bandaged back of his hand to his lips.
He mumbled as he aimlessly scanned his golden eyelashes with half-closed eyes.
“Did I do something unnecessary?”
The medical officer, who had been briefing him like a quiet background music, stopped speaking at Hugo’s voice. In their view, they could see the side of the Legion Commander’s face, who was not focusing on their story at all. His sunken eyes were darkly shadowed, and he was staring intently only at the patient lying on his bed.
The two medical officers, feeling a strange atmosphere, looked at each other at the same time, then lowered their heads knowingly and retreated with a bow.
“Then we will revisit in two hours to check his condition.”
Hugo lowered the hand that had been on his lips and glanced back. It seemed that they were deliberately making room for him, but he didn’t bother to hold them back.
Soon, the medical staff bowed and rushed out, and the sound of footsteps faded into the distance down the hallway. Hugo lowered his head, following the sound of the ticking clock, sighed, and then got up from his seat for a moment to lock the door tightly.
‘First, I need to order Shorendo to issue a gag order…’
He didn’t know if he could silence all the medical staff who had witnessed the situation at the time, but if this matter were to spread outside, it would be quite troublesome for him and them. That was also the reason why he had brought Leonardo Blaine to a private room instead of a special room in the ward. Even in the midst of the chaos, Hugo organized his future plans and strode toward the door.
But as he grabbed the doorknob, he saw a medical staff member standing beyond the door, which was not yet closed. The medical staff member, who had been waiting quietly, also seemed to have found Hugo through the crack in the door, and took a step forward as if he had been waiting.
“Legion Commander, I have something to tell you.”
He was holding a crumpled medicine packet in his hand. Hugo’s eyebrows rose subtly.
“What is it?”
“Ah, I’m… a mental health counselor who spoke briefly with Leonardo Blaine before the examination. It’s nothing, but I thought he might need this when he wakes up.”
‘Counselor?’
Hugo hid his suspicious expression and accepted the medicine packet that the medical staff member handed him. Now that he suspected that there was someone in the Council who was trying to pressure Leonardo Blaine, he couldn’t just accept an unknown medicine and feed it to him, no matter how much the other person was a medical staff member.
Just as Hugo was about to ask him about his affiliation and the type of medicine, the medical staff member added.
“I have a veteran in my family who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.”
‘Leonardo Blaine said that he also has PTSD symptoms. He told me in advance that he wanted to avoid examinations that could cause neurosis during the examination stage. However… he didn’t tell me exactly what situations made him feel anxious, so I arbitrarily excluded some examinations when I thought he was conscious. However, I thought the blood draw stage was unavoidable, so I proceeded with it as it was.’
Hugo, sitting at his desk in the Legion Commander’s office, felt the black letters floating around even as he read the documents he had to process. This was because the words he had heard from the medical staff member yesterday had been lingering in his mind, disrupting his concentration.
He said that his family and Leonardo Blaine had similar symptoms, and he seemed to feel guilty that he had not given the examiner a stronger warning.
‘I apologize for the way things have turned out.’
Hugo put down his pen for a moment and rubbed his eyes with his hand. The medical staff’s voice replayed like a panorama.
‘This is a list of medications that I often prescribe to my mother, who suffers from PTSD. Blaine also asked me to give it to you. Since he specifically asked for a certain medication, it seems like he has experience taking it. He will probably be able to take it without any problems if you give it to him.’
He had never mentioned such symptoms to me himself, so I had only inferred it, but this was the first time I heard that he was directly experiencing the symptoms and even taking medication.
Afterwards, I separately ordered a review of the list of medications in the medicine bag, but they were just ordinary PTSD improvement drugs such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. The medical staff said that Leonardo seemed to have stopped taking the medication a long time ago, but something recently must have triggered and heightened his anxiety.
‘Trigger, huh.’
Hugo tapped the documents with his fingertips, trying to remember when Leonardo had started to feel anxious. However, there were so many factors that could have made him nervous that it was meaningless to single one out.
Old Magic Stone handcuffs, the scene in the Grand Plaza a few days ago, injuries that nearly killed him, the deaths of people he couldn’t protect.
The thousand-year-old core, the forced decision to participate in the expedition to the peninsula, or even before that….
‘Maybe it was from the moment he met me.’
Looking back, the environment around him since he had been by my side was nothing but stressful.
Hugo stared blankly at the vast Legion Commander’s office, uncharacteristically.
Thud―
His tapping fingertips fell onto the documents as if realizing his ignorance, and did not move.
No matter how much I try to accommodate Leonardo, it’s purely from my perspective. In the end, it’s impossible to fully understand his inner thoughts unless he tells me himself. Just like how I suddenly realized that I didn’t know much about Leonardo while listening to the medical staff.
Well, even if I wanted to ask about his past, he would show signs of displeasure, so I often missed the timing.
In the beginning, I didn’t really have the luxury to care about such things, and both of us were probably more focused on finishing our work and being freed from each other.
But now, when everything is over and the time comes, can I really be sure that I can part ways with him with a happy heart?
Could I sufficiently define myself and him solely as the Council’s Legion Commander and a high-risk Mage?
‘I want to have a conversation with him when he wakes up…. I don’t know if he will.’
Hugo fought with the random questions that came to mind and fell into contemplation. He always gets too absorbed when it comes to things related to Leonardo. The contents of the documents were already forgotten.
So, it was only natural that Hugo didn’t hear someone knocking on the door repeatedly from outside. Eventually, Gabe, who knew he was inside and had been waiting, opened the door and entered, and Hugo barely snapped out of his thoughts.
“What’s wrong?”
“Legion Commander…, it’s too cold.”
As Gabe shivered, Hugo finally realized that the indoor air had become noticeably colder. The temperature in the area in front of the Legion Commander’s office, where the adjutants worked, must have dropped, and he must have been shivering in the cold for a few minutes.
Hugo opened the large window to let out all the cold air, as if to apologize. Then, Gabe came in with a heavy stack of documents and placed them on the corner of Hugo’s desk with a thud.
Seeing the pile of work piling up again, Hugo didn’t say anything, but his expression subtly hardened. Noticing the sign, Gabe picked up the documents that had already been processed and changed the subject, suggesting that he take a break.
“Flynn returned about 30 minutes ago, saying he had a lot of work to do. He said that there were no problems with him or the patient. But it’s still worrying to leave the patient alone for a long time, so wouldn’t it be better for you to check on him yourself?”
He was referring to Leonardo in Hugo’s private room. Flynn had regained consciousness last night as the medical officer said and returned to work without any problems.
However, Hugo, who thought that he also needed rest, had ordered Flynn to rest under the pretext of checking on Leonardo’s condition. He seems to have returned without being able to stand it, due to his innate workaholic nature, but anyway, it’s a good time to go see Leonardo thanks to him.
“Is he still unconscious?”
“Well… Flynn said that when he last checked, he was occasionally tossing and turning, but he hadn’t woken up. But he also said that his brain is forcibly in a state of sleep to recover from overwork, so wouldn’t he wake up soon after he recovers?”
Gabe conveyed the words in a positive way, referring to the medical officer’s opinion. However, Hugo frowned after checking his wristwatch.
“30 hours….”
About 30 hours have passed since Leonardo collapsed. If he’s just sleeping, that’s a relief, but even so, if he’s been asleep for 30 hours, there’s definitely a problem.
“Is he still young and sleeps a lot?”
Hugo muttered with a worried and serious voice. In fact, he didn’t really think so, but rather wanted to believe it, but Gabe, who took it seriously, looked up at the Legion Commander with a vague expression.
‘He’s not that much different from Flynn….’
No, before that, isn’t he already an adult? He’s long past the age to be called young.
But seeing the Legion Commander preparing to leave, Gabe swallowed the words that had risen to his throat. In the meantime, Hugo, who had loosened his tie, signed the last document he was looking at and handed it to Gabe, saying.
“Go home with Flynn when you have time. I’ll be going now.”
He said that and hurried out of the Legion Commander’s office. It was a declaration that he would not return here anymore today.