By Zephyria The place he was led to by the servant was mysterious.
He was led through a different door than the one he had entered, so he expected it to lead to a cozy garden. But it was the opposite. This villa had its true value not in the appearance seen from the outside, but in the outdoor space located inside the building.
Following the white carpet that he was afraid to step on, the central plaza was the first thing that caught his eye. In the plaza, six stone pillars with delicate carvings were spaced apart. In the middle, he saw today’s dining area with a pure white tablecloth.
The servants quietly retreated after finishing arranging the silver candlesticks, decorative flowers, and the final tableware. Leonardo slowed his pace for a moment, gazing at the scenery of hydrangeas and baby’s breath.
The guide, who had been walking ahead, turned around and pointed to the table with his palm as if opening the way.
“This way, please.”
Feeling subtly nervous, Leonardo adjusted his clothes and slowly moved forward. Even so, he rolled his eyes and quickly scanned his surroundings.
He didn’t expect the dining area to be outdoors, but in a way, it felt like it was indoors.
The reason was the semi-circular building that surrounded the four sides in a concave shape. The Romanesque-style building, made of white and gray, drew an arc based on the circular plaza. The puzzling thing was that the cross-section of the arc was facing away from the gate, rather than towards it.
He could feel the intention of the architectural client to cut off the noise from the outside and create another world within, taking a complete rest. Perhaps that was why the curved building was facing a vast lake beyond the spacious plaza.
The endless waves rounded out the remaining half of the plaza. Leonardo took a deep breath at the scene that made him feel naturally open. The moonlit lake, glossy and shiny, contained both pitch-black darkness and scattering light. And in front of it, he saw the back of a tall man wearing a white shirt.
‘He changed again.’
Dressed in a classic and dandy style, he stood with his hands behind his back, gazing blankly at the other side of the lake.
The deep indigo sky met the horizon and settled above the man’s head.
Just as he was about to head towards him as if possessed, the guide’s voice followed.
“Please watch your step.”
“Ah―.”
Leonardo, who had been about to move forward, immediately stopped and looked down at his feet. The plaza floor was rippling like waves. At first, he thought it was just glass because the dark sky was reflected, but when he looked again, he saw that shallow water had risen above the glossy bluish-gray floor tiles.
The difference in height seemed to be about 5cm, so Leonardo, who had been stepping on the carpet, instinctively took a step back. However, the guide, who had been two steps ahead, was already on the rippling waves. To be exact, he was standing on the surface of the water.
“You don’t have to worry about getting wet.”
Was he even walking on water? Stepping forward with half-doubt, a soft undulation wrapped around the soles of his shoes. Surprisingly, his feet didn’t get wet. He didn’t sink down either.
As he carefully moved forward, it felt like he was walking on a fine sandy beach where the waves were crashing.
It was around that time that the owner of the villa, sensing his presence, turned around.
“You’ve arrived.”
Leonardo, looking up at Hugo, couldn’t help but stop breathing. As if he had just washed up, His Excellency’s bangs, which he always neatly swept back, were down on his forehead.
He sat down on the chair that the Duke personally pulled out for him, and fidgeted with his hands under the table out of awkwardness. He unnecessarily touched his neck and looked around elsewhere. Strangely, it was hard to make eye contact, as if he was sitting face to face with a stranger.
He always only unbuttoned one button of his shirt at most, but now two were unbuttoned. Thanks to that, the mark he had left was much more visible than before. Only then could Leonardo gradually accept that the man he had been coveting in the darkness and the person in front of him were the same person.
He wondered if it was okay to show such a figure in front of the servants, but it must be their duty to keep the Duke’s private life a secret.
Putting aside his worries, Leonardo’s consciousness was once again stolen by the man’s navy blue hair, which still had a slight dampness, and his more relaxed attire. His gaze was fixed on the other man, who was flipping through a liquor book. He unconsciously stabbed a thinly sliced cold scallop dish with his fork.
While not losing his composure, he looked strangely relaxed, making him look much younger with a more gentle impression than usual. So much so that he wanted to dare to call him ‘hyung’.
‘What kind of expression will he make?’
Will he be flustered, embarrassed? Or will he say I’m rude? Either way, I’m looking forward to his reaction.
Leonardo, resting his chin on his hand and secretly stealing glances at Hugo’s face, suddenly stopped the fork he was playing with.
‘But, didn’t he just wash up? Why did he wash up separately?’
Just as he was wondering about the subtle scent of soap, another plate of appetizers began to arrive. They showed him three or four types of wine to accompany it, so he wondered if he should borrow the power of alcohol, but just then, His Excellency, who had raised his head, shook his head.
“Your condition hasn’t fully recovered, so refrain from alcohol for a day or two. How about juice instead?”
He then poured 100% squeezed orange juice into a crystal glass instead. Meanwhile, he naturally drank a strong liquor that smelled of ethanol as soon as the cap was opened. From time to time, he would pour a black liquid from a finger-sized glass bottle brought by the servant into his liquor glass and drink it.
“What’s that?”
He asked casually, hoping to ease the awkwardness, and the other man put down the glass he was about to put to his lips. Then, he shook the crystal glass to mix the liquid well and replied.
“Medicine, or something similar.”
“Medicine? Do you have an illness or something?”
Leonardo asked urgently, his face filled with worry. Hugo let out a small laugh at the transparent reaction.
“No, I don’t have an illness that you need to worry about. Even if I did, it’s something everyone else lives with. But it feels good to be worried about.”
“…Something everyone else lives with? What is it?”
“Hmm, I can’t think of anything specific right now, but… let’s just say it’s like a concern for living in the world a little more wisely.”
One of Leonardo’s eyebrows rose. Even his worries are so elegant, like him.
“Or guarding against the desire to be faithful to instinct, or the fatigue that comes from pushing oneself.”
“…Are you under a lot of stress?”
“It’s not severe. It’s not a problem either. A life without worries or stress would be peaceful, but I think it’s the same as being dead.”
Hugo said that and took another sip of strong liquor.
“An uneventful daily life dulls the feeling of joy that comes after enduring hardship. Even if it’s not actually the case, humans have to believe that in order to endure each day. The reason why I find this moment of sitting face to face with you particularly enjoyable is because it’s a sweet freedom that I encountered in a life of fulfilling my responsibilities and duties. How about that, does that answer your question a bit?”
What he was saying sounded like a riddle, unlike him. It wasn’t very refreshing either. But Leonardo had one thing he wanted to make sure of, so he narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Are you enjoying meeting me, or are you enjoying the moment of freedom?”
Hugo, who had emptied the golden liquor glass, now drank water. He emptied the glass cleanly, wiped his mouth with the end of the napkin, and replied with a faint smile.
“Leo, I can’t separate the two from me.”
Leonardo’s eyes blinked for a moment. Soon, a laugh leaked out so easily that it was humiliating.
The helplessly relaxed atmosphere soon gave rise to another topic of conversation.
He wanted to ask him in detail in case he had any health problems, but he was glossed over by the Duke’s social skills, but it didn’t matter. ‘My freedom was given to me by you, but am I freedom in your life? Am I the joy you met after enduring hardship?’ Leonardo rested his arms on the table and leaned his upper body forward.
All his nerves were focused in the same direction, and he had no time to look around at the beautiful surrounding scenery.
Just then, the servant brought the prepared octopus dish, and Hugo picked up the cutting fork and knife. He said he wanted to pick it up and eat it, so he carefully sliced it himself. He then used a large spoon to put the food on Leonardo’s plate.
“I’m more worried about you than myself.”
The direction of the arrow turned to the opposite side.
“How have you been? There’s so much I want to hear.”
Hugo ladled some of the dish onto his own plate before continuing.
“Where you’ve been, whether you were watching me, and why you’ve appeared before me again. I’m curious.”
His calmly spoken words held an unexpressed longing. Leonardo wondered where to begin and how much he could tell him. Then, he was struck by the realization that there was almost nothing he could tell him, and he was at a loss for words.
“Uh…”
He wanted to chatter away as if sharing everyday life at a pleasant meal, but when he thought about it, everything about him was full of secrets.
Meeting Nero in front of Solia’s grave, the aristocratic faction’s coup, the Leash. The ultimate reason for participating in the League was Kardo’s Gemstone, the prize for winning, and the reason he needed it was to eradicate the Imperial Faction.
Leonardo, who had been moving his lips, couldn’t say anything until a plate was pushed in front of him.
Instead, wanting to tell him something of what he had seen and experienced, he groped for a topic he could talk about.
“So… I went to a strange old castle…”
The bizarre phenomena there, which felt like a dream, couldn’t be accessed by just anyone, so he thought it might be okay to talk about it a little.
As the lips that had been swallowing secrets opened, Hugo, equally eager to listen, leaned forward.
It was only for a moment that the stone pillars, sparsely rising beyond his shoulder, came into Leonardo’s view.
One of the sculptures perched on top flickered. And it was only later that he realized it was in the shape of a turtle.