By Zephyria One of the members who had come to the door following the Legion Commander asked back with a puzzled expression.
“Are you talking about outside the door? Is it okay to leave them here?”
Meanwhile, Hugo’s two legs were approaching Leonardo as if possessed.
“Yes, leave them and go. There’s no need to come in. Good work.”
“Ah, yes!”
At the Commander’s firm order that leaked through the door, the members tilted their heads but piled the books they had brought against the wall. Someone whispered that they should at least organize them since he had told them to put them on the bookshelf earlier, but everyone quietly shook their heads because the rumor that a terrifying beast lived in the Legion Commander’s private room was rampant.
Around the time their suppressed gestures were whispering outside the door, Leonardo was staring up at the person who had stopped in front of him before he knew it.
Hugo was just looking down at him without saying anything. Judging from the fact that the bathroom was full of moisture, he seemed to have come out after taking a shower, but it was questionable why the guy who could dry his wet body in an instant was doing this.
“Did you shower?”
“Yeah. I was stuffy.”
Leonardo answered naturally while calming his accelerated pulse. He felt like the blue eyes were somehow exploring him, so he put more strength into his neck and shoulders.
Hugo, whose eyes became strange at the word stuffy, suddenly bent his upper body. Then, without warning, he wrapped his arms around the back of Leonardo’s thighs, lifted him up lightly.
“Wh, what is it?”
Leonardo, startled when his feet suddenly floated in the air, put his hands on his broad shoulders and swayed for a moment. Hugo firmly supported his waist and moved him away from the window a little, then put him down again. Soon, he said with a stern expression.
“I told you not to go near there because there might still be fragments left.”
Leonardo, who had hugged his neck to keep his balance, stepped back in surprise. When he belatedly remembered the other person’s request, he nodded, saying ah. Hugo clicked his tongue and naturally stood with his back to the door.
He looked back at the remaining presence outside and began to personally fasten Leonardo’s precarious gown.
“Why did you open the window? The temperature is cold on days like this, so your body temperature drops quickly.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the wind that had blown in slammed the open window shut. The rain that had been pouring in stopped, and the space became quiet in an instant. Leonardo glanced at the window, then looked down at his chest, feeling the delicate touch. The fingers that brushed against his skin were somehow stimulating.
“Just… I wanted to get some air.”
Hugo sighed softly as he touched the gown. Who would get air until the rain was soaking wet on a day like this?
It was fatal for a Fire Mage to have a low body temperature. He was already worried because the test results weren’t good, but if he kept leaving him alone, he would do things that would make him worry.
Hugo pressed his white body into the gown almost like packing a bundle. Leonardo, who was swaying little by little as he was led by his strength, slyly raised his eyelids and looked at him. It didn’t seem like he had noticed anything, but there was some emotion in his hands. It seemed that the atmosphere wasn’t very good in the morning, so he had a lot to say but was refraining from nagging.
Leonardo, who had been silent, rolled his eyes and suddenly realized that the Commander’s clothes were different from when he went out.
“Did you come from somewhere else?”
It wasn’t the black uniform he had seen in the morning, but formal black pants and a gray shirt. Hugo made eye contact with Gold Eyes once and then focused on the gown again. It was positive.
He wondered why he wasn’t coming, but he wondered if he had deliberately wandered outside. Leonardo looked at him and asked again.
“Why did you change your clothes?”
“I smelled like cigarettes, and I got a lot of rain. I took a shower at the same time.”
“…You’ve been through a lot.”
Hugo’s expression, which had been stiff, softened a little at the one word that seemed to understand his hard work without any further questioning.
“Why did you bring them?”
“I brought some books to move. It’ll be boring if you’re always alone.”
It sounded like he brought them for you. He didn’t usually enjoy reading, but Leonardo’s eyes also softened a little because it was for him.
Anyway, he didn’t know where he smelled like cigarettes, but he didn’t seem to like it, so he thought he should refrain from smoking in front of this person in the future. In that instant, Hugo’s hand firmly tied the belt of the gown. It was similar to the knot he used to tie the handkerchief before.
“Dry your body well, dry your hair too. Don’t go to the window. Where did you put your slippers?”
Hugo, who had arranged the gown, turned his body and floated the puddle formed in front of the window in the air. After sending all the raindrops that had invaded without permission through the window gap, he wandered around the vicinity and visually checked that there were no glass fragments.
Afterwards, he turned towards the entrance that was still not closed to see if the members had left. Leonardo, seeing Hugo’s busy appearance, hurriedly asked, fearing that he would go out again.
“Do you have to go somewhere else again?”
Hugo, who was holding the door frame, looked around and answered.
“…I do have some work to do, but why?”
“Do you have to go right now?”
The members had already piled up the books and left, so there was no one in the hallway. It seemed that they had omitted the greetings so as not to disturb him since they could hear the voices from inside.
Hugo glanced at his wristwatch and continued.
“I have about an hour to spare.”
Leonardo’s face, who had been holding back like a twenty questions game, lit up noticeably. He dripped water from his wet hair and approached Hugo. Then, he slyly pinched the end of his gray sleeve.
“Then dry my hair for me.”
Blue eyes, which turned around when his arm was pulled, were filled with bewilderment.
Hugo blinked and asked back.
“Dry your… hair?”
Leonardo, who was sitting in front of a side table with a half-body mirror, muttered in an absurd tone as he scanned the thick book in front of him.
“How can you bring something like this even if you bring it? Did you really bring this because you thought I’d be bored?”
Hugo, who was standing behind him and stroking his wet blond hair with a soft towel, cleared his throat softly and answered, hiding his embarrassment.
“It’s better than nothing.”
“No, no matter what―.”
The heavy books piled high next to the chair boasted an overwhelming thickness, enough to be used as bludgeons if swung. The problem was that the covers were adorned with boring titles like Expansion of Trade Routes and the Impact of Trade Tariffs, Philosophical Discourse on Order and Chaos, and The Relationship Between Magic and the Industrial Revolution.
The most impressive of them all was The History of the Council, Volume 1, held in Leonardo’s hands. He quickly skimmed through the chronological table of contents, flipping through the pages and skipping past 30 pages at once.
In the 7th year of Valanor Lucius Laina, the 181st year of the Laina Rogia calendar, a consultative body named the ‘Parliamentary Assembly’ was newly established, following the system of the ancient Senate, which discussed important national matters and provided advice. The Parliamentary Assembly can be seen as the predecessor of the Council, which was founded approximately 300 years later, and the Lex Concordia Magna Carta, written during this period, reflected the era well, but is evaluated as a failed law that could not be applied to later generations. The reason is….
He looked at it with blurred eyes, but realizing it was no use, he closed the book. This time, he reached out and grabbed The History of the Council, Volume 9.
“Perfect to read when I can’t sleep. I already feel sleepy.”
He was dumbfounded, but he wanted to tease the Legion Commander, so he deliberately used exaggerated expressions and chuckled. Then, as he flipped through about a hundred pages of the new book, a vaguely familiar name caught his eye in the ‘People’ chapter.
Hugo Agrizendro, Water/Ice Attribute, Rank S4, All-Rounder. Transferred from the Imperial Army to the Council Legion and simultaneously appointed as the 1st Company Commander under the 2nd Battalion.
“Oh.”
To be honest, he didn’t even want to know about the ‘History of the Council,’ but this name alone made it worth looking into the book. 987 was 12 years ago. The current him and Agrizendro at that time were roughly the same age. To be appointed as a company commander upon joining at that age was nearly impossible, even with noble lineage or connections.
But to think that this man, who suited the position of Legion Commander so well, had a company commander period, Leonardo felt a new sense of emotion, as if he were seeing him as a fledgling. But in the meantime, a meteoric rise to Legion Commander in less than 10 years.
He somewhat understood the record that an old man who had held the position of Legion Commander of the Council for 50 years before Hugo Agrizendro danced and relinquished his position at his inauguration ceremony. He could imagine how sensational his transfer must have been within the Council. That was probably why they didn’t want to let him go either.
As Leonardo grumbled and briefly focused on the book, Hugo, who had been staring at him disapprovingly in the mirror, suddenly reached out to take the book.
“You don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to.”
“Aah—, who said I wouldn’t?”
Leonardo hugged the thick book and resisted to avoid losing it. Only after Hugo withdrew his hand with a wry smile did he tilt his head back and look down at the other with an arrogant gaze.
“But you know, will your hair dry like that? Rub it harder. You have to do it this hard to wipe off the water properly.”
He was saying this because he was frustrated with His Excellency’s gentle touch, which was carefully wiping as if he were wiping a glass with a towel. Leonardo demonstrated in the air and conveyed detailed requirements to the clumsy Hugo. Hugo, who had been putting his heart and soul into it, raised an eyebrow at the cheeky command.
Listening to him, Hugo couldn’t help but chuckle. It was his first time drying someone’s hair, and not only was he being freely bossed around, but he was also being treated like a servant.
He couldn’t imagine what the butler and servants, who had been guarding the empty mansion for months, would say if they saw him like this. One thing was certain: the head butler would surely faint and grab the back of his neck.
Hugo, who had been silently gazing at Leonardo’s chattering lips, suddenly reached out and covered his shameless face with the wet towel. Then, as Leonardo had ordered, he grabbed his hair with the towel and began to tousle it.
“Yes, yes, Master. I was inadequate. So please lower your head a little.”
“Ah, wait, why my face—! I said rub my hair!”
Leonardo struggled to escape from the somewhat rough touch, but Hugo didn’t let him go, his face playfully indifferent. He had thought before, but the hair that wrapped around his fingers was so soft that it was hard to believe it belonged to a Fire Mage. Perhaps because of the pleasant sensation it gave, his mind, which had been tense all morning, felt much more relaxed.
That was probably why both of them were immersed in this ridiculous role-playing game, in which the situation had already solidified, without any objections.