Bermuda [bl]

The gaze that bore into him with heavily constricted pupils somehow gave him an eerie feeling.

"...A vampire?"

Hugo asked back at the sudden question, while slightly leaning his upper body backward. It wasn't because the distance was close. Although Leonardo was clearly looking at him, it felt like he was piercing through to somewhere even deeper.

Moreover, when he glanced down at the strange sensation, he noticed that the bandaged hand had somehow become entwined with his palm, subtly caressing his wrist. It was a touch that could be mistaken for a sign of seduction, but Hugo knew what this action meant.

It was similar to when he had pulled Tergio's arm and rubbed his wrist during their second encounter in Frost territory.

'Is he testing me now?'

"You mean an immortal being... that lives by sucking blood?"

Hugo recited the commonly known definition of a vampire, even as he harbored doubts. Leonardo's expression as he looked into his face was somewhat suspicious. Even after Hugo finished speaking, he didn't answer for a while.

Hugo asked again.

"So this vampire being took your blood?"

Putting together all the facts presented so far, the vampire referred to as 'that bastard' was the only person who could extort the precious blood of the war hero. This was done secretly within the imperial army, so anyone capable of doing this would have to be at least at the executive level of the military.

Of course, it wasn't clear whether the vampire Leonardo mentioned was a real blood-drinking being, or if it was a nickname like Kazad that had been given to him. Either possibility existed. Although the number of different races had decreased, they hadn't died out completely, and if it was the latter, the other party would have to have enough power to divert blood in utmost secrecy...

"Leonardo?"

At that moment, Leonardo's complexion suddenly worsened. He leaned back against the chair and covered his mouth with both hands, starting to breathe heavily to the point of making wheezing sounds.

Hugo, taken aback, tilted his head to look up at his crumpled eyes.

"Leo, what's wrong?"

"...I think I'm going to throw up."

A small mumble flowed through the gaps between his fingers. He squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain and shrugged his shoulders, focusing on his breathing.

Oh no, it seems he had dug too deep into the trauma. Fearing that yesterday's situation might repeat itself, Hugo lifted the entire chair Leonardo was sitting on, moved it away from the table, and took out a handkerchief from his inner pocket.

"Do you want to throw up? It's okay if you do."

As if he would catch it with his hands if Leonardo vomited, Hugo held out his palm wrapped in the handkerchief. However, Leonardo shook his head and tried his best to suppress the nausea rising in his throat.

"...I don't want to."

Yesterday's experience of vomiting with all the blood rushing to his face was as painful as cutting his palm with glass shards. But contrary to his will, his abdomen kept expanding and contracting repeatedly, as if preparing to vomit. Leonardo pushed away the outstretched hand with his forearm and turned his whole body away from the table.

The red syrup mixed with strawberry pulp on the soufflé plate looked like viscous blood flowing from crushed human flesh. Leonardo curled up his body at the terrible scenes flashing through his mind. He tried to shake off the red color trying to invade his thoughts and focus on the white roses to think of something good.

Sensing something was amiss, the members immediately tried to approach the two, but Hugo, realizing that Leonardo needed time to calm down, waved them off.

Eventually, he stood up and adjusted the parasol's position to match the sun's movement. He filled an empty cup with lukewarm water, then patted Leonardo's shoulder while taking out a powdered sedative.

The occasional north wind that blew through shook the garden's foliage. Just the fact that it was a wind coming from the north made Leonardo's body flinch.

"..."

After about 10 minutes had passed like this, whether due to the mind control taking effect or not, the trembling subsided and his stomach became relatively stable. However, it took quite a while longer for him to accept the water cup Hugo handed him and bring it to his lips.

"Are you okay?"

Leonardo slowly shook his head at Hugo, who asked with a worried face. He barely managed to swallow the water to push down the gastric juices that had risen to his throat, but even that was an extremely small amount.

Feeling that if he drank anything more it might overflow, he handed the water cup back to Hugo.

Refreshing juice, soft pancakes. It was a shame, but today they were as good as finished already.

"...I can't eat that."

"You can eat it next time."

Hugo stroked Leonardo's hair, then sat down beside him and sighed. As he caressed the pale fingertips protruding from the bandage, they felt colder than usual.

Despite having been warned by the counselor, his actions, fixated on the 'secret', felt naive.

'I'll have to be careful for a while.'

It seemed that asking too directly in the expectation of finding out something was the root of the problem. Hugo touched his lips with a complicated expression.

Still, it wasn't as if he hadn't gained any information at all. Although it was oddly 'easy' to get an answer, hadn't he roughly figured out the cause of the blood draw trauma? He hadn't properly heard what the important vampire was, but it seemed he had gathered clues worth investigating further. It's not like this was the only opportunity.

'But... what was that?'

Hugo handed the handkerchief to Leonardo and gently comforted him.

"There's no need to push yourself."

Leonardo, who had tidied his mouth with the received handkerchief, looked up at Hugo with tired eyes.

"Okay."

Staring at his drooping eyes, Hugo felt a disconnect with the golden eyes he had faced earlier. Although there might not have been any other intention in the action of fiddling with his wrist, those eyes certainly seemed to be observing his reaction.

As if deliberately leaking a small amount of information and testing him.

"So, why did you make me take the sleeping pill in the transport vehicle?"

Leonardo, who had barely suppressed his nausea, passed the turn as if to indicate that his answer was over. Hugo, who was about to sink into contemplation, quickly returned to reality at his question.

After a brief pause, he opened his mouth with a nuance of having no particular meaning:

"It wasn't a sleeping pill, but a sleep inducer. I thought it would be better for a patient to wake up and immediately arrive at the destination."

Hugo spoke as if he had done it out of consideration for him. It wasn't a lie.

"Of course, that too was regardless of your will, so I fully understand your anxiety. It was my fault for not asking your opinion beforehand. Please forgive me."

As always, he conveyed this in a solemn tone and held out his hand to the other with a calm gaze. Staring at the Commander asking for his forgiveness, Leonardo narrowed his eyes, trying to discern the truth.

"...Really?"

"Of course—"

If he confessed that some force had been chasing him, the peace they had just regained might be shattered again. For Leonardo's stability, and for the sake of their relationship, Hugo decided to be a bad adult who lied once more. He intended to reveal the truth when the time was right, but at least not now.

Leonardo, who had shown clear signs of hesitation, only withdrew his overtly suspicious gaze after staring into Hugo's eyes for a long time. Then he gently placed his hand on Hugo's palm, which had been outstretched for quite a while. The warm palm, hiding its coldness, caressed him affectionately. A gentle smile spread across his firm lips.

"From now on, I'll explain to you one by one what each prescribed medicine is for. This won't happen again. I'm sorry for confusing you."

Hugo offered a sincere promise. Facing him, Leonardo was half convinced that this man seemed to know nothing about vampires.

Yes, that's fine then. At least it didn't seem like there was any other intention in giving him the medicine.

Of course, the fact that he had tried to proceed with the blood draw without saying anything established that he thought of Leonardo as an uncontrollable child... Leonardo, recalling the snow-white examination room covered in blood, had to admit that he was nothing more than a dangerous being here.

'I must have been like a beast.'

A time bomb that clings to past events and frequently has seizures. He knew that the more this happened, the harder it became for both himself and Agrizendro.

He hated himself for constantly trying to doubt when this person was the only one he could rely on now. He felt ashamed and sorry. But the words wouldn't come easily.

Leonardo furrowed his brows in complexity as he recalled his behavior at that time. Then, unconsciously caressing Hugo's hand, he asked with his head bowed low:

"How's Flynn?"

Hugo's eyebrows reacted to the suddenly mentioned name. He immediately recalled Flynn's image of blocking Leonardo with his whole body during the bloodshed.

"He's very healthy. No injuries at all."

"..."

"He's probably working right now... Why don't you say hello to him later?"

As Hugo suggested with a gentle smile, Leonardo nodded, hiding his embarrassment.

Then his gaze traveled up Hugo's forearm and shoulder covered by his uniform. After scanning his upper body, he fixed his gaze on the blue eyes that were particularly difficult to meet today.

"What about you?"

His eyes, which looked up furtively as if knowing he had done wrong, were very clear. Unlike before, his expression was full of apology, as if he was concerned about hitting him mercilessly with his fists.

It was completely different from when he had been staring intently. Hugo quietly looked into the abyss hidden in Leonardo's pupils.

Originally, he had intended to answer that it was okay, meaning he hoped Leonardo wouldn't worry about it, but as he looked down at the face so pretty it made him chuckle, he remembered the moment when he had let him go, deceived by this face.

This guy was so accomplished in acting that he could even deceive Hugo himself. So it might be meaningless to think alone about what that look in his eyes earlier had meant.

Hugo deliberately relaxed his mouth.

"It's okay since you're safe."