By Zephyria The gaze that he thrust forward with his pupils fully contracted made him feel strangely eerie.
“…Vampire?”
Hugo asked back at the sudden question, but he slightly pulled his leaning upper body back. It wasn’t because they were close. It was because his entangled gaze felt like it was piercing through his depths.
In addition, when he glanced down at the suspicious sensation, he saw that his bandaged hand was already intertwined with his palm and gently stroking his wrist. It was a touch that could be mistaken for a sign of seduction, but Hugo knew what this act meant.
It was similar to the act of Hugo pulling his arm and stroking his wrist when he and Terzio met for the second time in frost territory.
‘Is he testing me now?’
“An immortal being who lives by sucking blood… is that what you mean?”
Hugo recited the definition of a Vampire as it was known to the world, even as he harbored doubts. Leonardo’s expression as he looked into his face was somehow suspicious. He didn’t answer for a while even after he finished speaking.
Hugo asked again.
“So that Vampire took your blood?”
Combining the facts that have been listed so far, the Vampire referred to as ‘that bastard’ is the only person who can steal the precious blood of a war hero. Since it was done secretly within the Imperial Army, if it was someone who could do that, it would be at least a senior officer in the military.
Of course, it was not certain whether the Vampire that Leonardo was talking about was a real blood-drinking being, or whether it was a nickname like Kajard attached to him. Either way, there is a possibility. The number of other races has decreased, but their lineage has not been cut off, and if it is the latter, the other party has a powerful power to secretly steal blood….
“Leonardo?”
At that moment, Leonardo’s complexion, who had been facing him, deteriorated rapidly. He leaned back on the backrest, covered his mouth with both hands, and began to breathe heavily to the point where he made a hissing sound.
Hugo, flustered, tilted his head and looked up at his crumpled eyes.
“Leo, what’s wrong?”
“…I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
A small murmur flowed out from between his hands.
He closed his eyes tightly as if he was in pain, and shrugged his shoulders as he concentrated on his breathing. Oh no, he seems to have dug too deep into his trauma.
Hugo lifted the chair he was sitting on and separated it from the table, and took out a handkerchief from his inside pocket, worried that the same situation as yesterday would happen again.
“Do you want to throw up? You can.”
As if he was going to catch it with his hands if he vomited, Hugo held out his palm wrapped in a handkerchief. However, Leonardo shook his head and suppressed the nausea that was trying to come up his throat as much as possible.
“……I don’t want to.”
But unlike his will, his twitching abdomen repeatedly expanded and contracted as if preparing to vomit.
Leonardo pushed away the hand that was being held out with his forearm and turned his entire body away from the table.
The red syrup mixed with the strawberry flesh on the soufflé plate looked like a viscous blood flowing from crushed human flesh. Leonardo curled up his body at the terrible scenes that flashed through his mind. He shook off the red color that was trying to take over his mind and fixed his gaze on the white rose beyond it.
The members, sensing an unusual sign, were about to approach the two of them right away, but Hugo waved his hand at them, realizing that Leonardo needed time to calm down.
Then, he got up from his seat and adjusted the position of the parasol by pulling it as much as the sun had moved. He filled an empty cup with lukewarm water, patted Leonardo’s shoulder, and took out a powdered Stabilizer.
The rarely blowing north wind shook the flower garden by the hair. Leonardo’s body trembled at the mere fact that the wind was coming from the north.
“……”
After about 10 minutes had passed, the trembling subsided and his stomach became relatively stable, perhaps because the mind control was effective. However, it took a long time for him to receive the water cup that Hugo had given him and bring it to his lips.
“Are you okay?”
Leonardo slowly shook his head at Hugo, who asked with a worried face. He swallowed the water and barely suppressed the stomach acid that had come up to his throat, but even that was only a very small amount.
He pushed the water cup back to Hugo, fearing that he would overflow if he drank anything more.
Refreshing juice, soft pancakes. Unfortunately, it was already as good as all eaten today.
“…I can’t eat that.”
“You can eat it next time.”
Hugo stroked Leonardo’s hair and sat next to him, taking a long breath. The pale fingertips that protruded from the bandage were colder than usual. Even though he had heard the precautions from the counselor, his actions of being obsessed with ‘secrets’ felt complacent.
‘I should be careful for a while.’
It seemed that the root cause was that he had asked too directly in the expectation that he would be able to find out something. Hugo stroked his lips with a troubled face.
Still, he didn’t get no information at all. He was wondering if he had gotten an answer ‘easily’ than expected, but wasn’t the cause of the blood-drawing trauma roughly grasped? He didn’t hear properly what the important Vampire was, but it seemed that clues to investigate had been gathered. It’s not like there’s only today for opportunities.
‘But… what was that?’
Hugo handed Leonardo a handkerchief and gently patted him.
“You don’t have to overdo it.”
Leonardo, who had wiped his mouth with the handkerchief he had received, looked up at Hugo with a weary face.
“Yeah.”
Staring at his drooping eyes, Hugo felt a disconnect from the Gold Eyes he had faced earlier. There may be no other intention in the act of fiddling with his wrist, but those eyes were definitely trying to read his reaction.
Deliberately leaking a small amount of information, as if testing him.
“So, why did you give me a sleeping pill in the transport vehicle?”
Leonardo, who had barely suppressed his nausea, passed the turn as if to let him know that his answer was over. Hugo, who was about to fall into his thoughts, hurriedly returned to reality at his question.
After a brief pause, he opened his mouth with a nuance that it didn’t mean anything special.
“It wasn’t a sleeping pill, it was a sleep inducer. I thought it would be better for the patient to arrive at the destination right after waking up.”
Hugo said it as if he was being considerate of him. It wasn’t wrong.
“Of course, that was also separate from your will, so I fully understand your uneasy heart. It’s my fault for not asking for your opinion in advance. Forgive me.”
He conveyed it in a serious tone as always, and reached out to the other party with calm eyes. Leonardo, staring at the Legion Commander asking for his forgiveness, narrowed his eyes as always.
“…Really?”
“Of course.”
If he confessed that some force was chasing you, the peace that had been barely regained might be broken again. For Leonardo’s stability, and for the sake of his relationship with him. He decided to be a bad adult who lies again this time. He intended to reveal the truth when the time came, but at least not now.
Leonardo, who had a clear hesitant look, stared into Hugo’s eyes for a long time before finally averting his blatant gaze. Then, he gently placed his hand on his palm, which had been held out for a long time. A warm palm that hid its coldness gently caressed him.
“From now on, I’ll explain to you one by one what the prescribed medicine is for. This will never happen again. I’m sorry for confusing you.”
Hugo conveyed a sincere promise. Leonardo, facing him, was about half convinced that this man didn’t know about Vampires.
Okay, that’s good. At least it doesn’t seem like he had any other intentions in giving me the medicine.
Of course, the fact that he was trying to proceed with the blood collection silently meant that he thought of me as an uncontrollable child, but…. Leonardo recalled the pure white examination room that had been covered in blood and had no choice but to admit that he was nothing more than a dangerous being here.
‘I must have been like a beast.’
A time bomb that gets caught up in things that have already passed and has seizures at the drop of a hat. He knows that the more he does this, the harder it will be for him and Agrizendro.
He hated himself for constantly trying to doubt him when he only had this person to rely on now. He was embarrassed and sorry. But his mouth wouldn’t open easily.
Leonardo, recalling his appearance at the time, frowned with a complicated expression. Then, he unconsciously fiddled with Hugo’s hand, then lowered his head and asked.
“How’s Flynn?”
Hugo’s eyebrows reacted to the name that came out suddenly. He immediately recalled Flynn’s appearance, who had blocked Leonardo with his whole body during the bloody incident.
“He’s very healthy. No injuries.”
“…….”
“He’s probably busy with work right now… How about you say hello later?”
Leonardo Blaine, who was hiding his embarrassment, nodded at Hugo’s careful suggestion.
Soon, his gaze traveled up Hugo’s arm and shoulder covered in his uniform. He scanned his upper body, then fixed his gaze on the blue eyes that were particularly hard to meet today.
“And you?”
His eyes, which glanced up cautiously as if he knew he was in the wrong, were very clear. He seemed concerned that he had punched him mercilessly, as his expression was full of apology, unlike before.
It was completely different from when he was staring intently. Hugo quietly peered into the abyss hidden within Leonardo Blaine’s pupils.
Originally, he was going to say he was fine in the hope that he wouldn’t worry, but as he looked down at his face, which was so pretty it was laughable, he was reminded of the moment he was deceived by that face and lost him.
A guy who was so skilled at acting that he could even deceive himself. So, it might be meaningless to think alone about what that look in his eyes meant earlier.
Hugo intentionally loosened the corners of his lips.
“I’m fine as long as you’re safe.”