Bermuda Chapter 328

“Hah...”

Leonardo, who had let out a sigh without realizing it, gave Hugo a smile filled with mixed emotions. A tingling thrill spread from his back, lighting a fire in his chest. If God had sent a ssenger to take his side, would it look like this?

Hugo, too, finally felt relieved at the sight of the other smiling. The only gold in the dark hall shone especially brightly today. As if telling him not to look anywhere else, their gazes clung to each other desperately.

However, the mont that felt as if only the two of them remained in the vast space didn’t last long.

An echo of crowd noise, like when he had entered, resounded. Angry Upper House mbers rose en masse and left the courtroom.

Soon after, the wave from the gallery was about to spill over the temporary fence set up in the hall.

“Blaine, let’s go.”

Leonardo was [N O V E L I G H T] freed from the handcuffs binding his wrists with the help of Flynn and the 1st Battalion, who had approached without him noticing. Seeing the fallen tal pieces, he stood up abruptly and moved outside the courtroom as if escaping, under their escort.

Knowing the overheated atmosphere, he didn’t ask why. However, Leonardo t eyes with the man in the white smoke who watched his exit until the very end.

Like a male god appearing in a majestic oil painting. He stood straight, noble, and clear against the blurry background, all alone.

Woong, bang–

He hadn’t noticed when entering, but the massive door—about three tis a person’s height—closed firmly, creating a gust of wind. Leonardo passed through the maze-like passage with Flynn gripping his forearm, without even a mont to catch his breath.

“What about your Commander? Is it okay to leave him there?”

“He’ll co after cleaning up. We’d be in the way if we stayed.”

At Flynn’s resolute answer, Leonardo nodded but occasionally looked back toward where loud voices could still be heard. Though he felt relieved, it didn’t seem to have ended cleanly. He trusted him, but he was worried about him.

After passing through the fourth door, which he had only gauged by sensation with his eyes covered earlier, they were able to erge into a wide space like a hall. There, they encountered the 8th Platoon of the 1st Battalion, who were waiting. These were guys he had bumped into once or twice on the peninsula.

Just as he was feeling inwardly glad to see familiar faces, they, including the 8th Platoon leader, saluted with their hand to their eyebrows.

“Congratulations on your release verdict. We’re glad there was a good result.”

At the Platoon leader’s greeting that made him feel awkward, Leonardo was at a loss for how to react. Then, with his usual relaxed smile, he answered as if it was nothing special:

“What’s this, all of a sudden?”

“If you’re ready to leave right away, we’ll escort you on your way out. Let’s go to the annex first.”

“What?”

After being montarily flustered, Flynn, hiding his urgency, added to Leonardo:

“Blaine, you saw the situation, right? I think it’s better to hurry.”

Though concise, the aning was well understood.

Today, he would say goodbye to these people.

Leonardo looked around for a mont with a blank expression. He had barely erged from the lingering effects of the release verdict.

*****

When he returned to the Commander’s private room, which had beco as comfortable as his own room by now, the clock on the wall had just passed 5 PM. The intense midday light that had been pouring through the window fra was now replaced by scattered crimson light preparing for sunset, falling like drops of paint that had shaped the male god.

Leonardo took out the new mage robe from the sprawled gift box. He carefully inserted his arms and legs into the soft yet firm fabric.

The tailor’s note said that he had heard about recent significant changes in body shape, so he had made it generously with that in mind. Perhaps because of this, it was quite loose, but rather, it was almost the sa size as the mage robe he had worn when first departing.

A belt was neatly included in the box, as if anticipated. The short na engraved in luxurious lettering on the tal buckle caught his eye.

‘Leo’

Leonardo imdiately realized there was no way the tailor he had first t would know his body shape from a few months ago—or his short na—and that this crystallization of delicacy was both a farewell gift and his work.

‘He put a lot of thought into it.’

Leonardo approached the chair where Hugo had dried his hair, and fastened the belt while checking his appearance in the mirror attached to the side table. However, what actually caught his eye wasn’t the neatly dressed mage robe. It was the image of himself sitting in the chair, and the phantom of the man smiling affectionately behind him.

“...”

He stared blankly at the two people reflected in the mirror for a mont. Unconsciously, he moved his lips again and again, then firmly closed them.

A corner of his chest loosened and tightened again, over and over. When that happened, the ache spread from his chest to his back, stomach, and face, gradually distorting the expression reflected in the mirror.

Leonardo knew what this emotion was. But he carefully covered it up and pretended not to know.

“...Pull yourself together.”

When his inner thoughts suddenly spilled out of his mouth, Flynn, who had been packing his belongings in one corner, turned around as if asking what he had said.

“Hm?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Leonardo shook his head nonchalantly. Flynn stood up from his seat, stretched his stiff back, and approached him.

“I packed so travel money and a pass... and various other things. Do the clothes fit well?”

Leonardo blinked, shaking off his thoughts, and raised the corners of his mouth as he lightly turned his body.

“Yeah, it fits well. How does it look?”

“It suits you.”

Flynn made a subtle expression mixing pride and bitterness, as if feeling a new sentint.

“It’s like seeing you when you first departed for the peninsula.”

“Ah.”

Before Leonardo could grasp the hidden aning behind his words, he recalled his situation at that ti, going back to the point Flynn had ntioned.

It had felt hopeless, stifling, and maddening, but. Even so, there was one thing then that wasn’t there now.

Leonardo raised his head again to check the ti. Then, lightly shaking his long eyelashes, he muttered:

“It’s already co to this.”

His mind was filled with thoughts of that person rather than the joy of release. He was very concerned about his well-being, left behind in the chaotic courtroom.

Leonardo carefully asked Flynn, just in case:

“Before I go, will I... say goodbye to your Commander?”

“What? Of course. Were you planning to leave without saying goodbye?”

When Flynn responded with surprised eyes, Leonardo hastily added:

“It’s not that. It just seems like he’s running a bit late.”

At his uncharacteristically adamant tone, Flynn raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly. Soon after, he reassured Leonardo, saying he understood—and Leonardo felt reassured in turn.

He unnecessarily turned around to look in the mirror again. Though he wanted to quickly show how he looked in Agrizendro’s gift, he was careful in his movents, worried that even the sleeve cuffs might wear out.

“But you know.”

“Hm?”

Leonardo, who had been absently tidying his appearance and hair, brought up one curiosity that had remained faintly unsettling:

“How was I actually released? Honestly, the trial atmosphere was almost invalidating it.”

At the direct question, Flynn’s face was instantly colored with embarrassnt. Leonardo looked at him from the corner of his eye and added as if it wasn’t a big deal:

“It wasn’t a situation that should have ended in release. What did your Commander do?”

Flynn hesitated, considering whether to change the subject, but with the bright golden eyes staring at him intently, he had no choice but to answer awkwardly:

“Well... I think he spent so money.”

“Money? How much?”

“...Well.”

His awkward smile as he shrugged looked quite troubled. It seed to say not to ask any more, so Leonardo closed his mouth at that point.

He knew that money often changed hands in the world of politics and nobility, but he hadn’t expected the Commander—famous for his uprightness, as soone had said—to use such thods. Moreover, judging by Flynn’s reluctant deanor, he guessed that a considerable amount must have been involved.

He felt grateful to him for keeping his promise, but at the sa ti, his feelings grew complicated.

“Hmm...”

Leonardo sat lightly on the chair’s backrest and looked down at his feet. Flynn watched his expression silently, and was about to change the subject when:

“Blaine, where are you going to–”

“You know Kenis Weber. Can I et him too?”

“Huh?”

“I want to thank him for attending as a witness. I’d like to say goodbye before I leave.”

Flynn nodded with an “Ah...” and then answered with a slightly difficult nuance:

“As far as I know, that friend had so urgent business, so I heard he went sowhere else right after giving his testimony.”

“Is that so? No wonder he was in civilian clothes. That’s a sha.”

“I’ll pass on your greetings for you.”

Leonardo nodded as if it wasn’t a particularly important matter and turned his eyes toward the window. However, his profile showed considerable regret.

Flynn traced the handso man’s fine lines with his eyes, which might be for the last ti. Then, without realizing it, he suddenly opened his mouth:

“Aren’t you going to miss ?”

Leonardo rolled his eyes slightly. Before he could even ask back, Flynn continued matter-of-factly:

“I’m going to miss you when we part.”

“...”

The clock on the wall sotis revealed its presence excessively. Today too, with the ticking of the second hand, Leonardo realized he had been silent for quite a long ti.

As he stared at Flynn, who was turning his eyes away in embarrassnt, he soon laughed with a deflating sound.

“W-What? Why are you laughing?”

“There was a kid I saw before. You’re exactly like him.”

Flynn didn’t feel particularly good about Leonardo’s remark, which seed to remind him of soone else. Noticing this, Leonardo approached him with a smile in his eyes and lightly punched his shoulder.

“Miss ? We’ll see each other again.”

Flynn asked back, seemingly surprised:

“See each other again? Then... can we et again?”

“Why not? We t now, didn’t we?”

Though it was an ambiguous statent, Flynn nodded reflexively. He took it to an that since they had t once like this, they could et again next ti.

Seeing the other’s mood lighten at just that one word, Leonardo chuckled and picked up the small backpack Flynn had packed.

Though he regretted Leonardo’s touch leaving so quickly, Flynn watched him sling the backpack over one shoulder and asked:

“When we et again, can I call you by your na too?”

Leonardo turned around with a puzzled face at the weight of the backpack, which felt like cotton.

“Only the Commander calls you by your first na. I... want to call you by your first na too, not Blaine.”

The grown man asked like a shy girl, which didn’t suit him at all. Leonardo strangely furrowed his eyebrows at Flynn’s statent, which seed to express envy.

However, the nape of his neck, which had turned bright red, looked like it might burst if he didn’t answer quickly. Leonardo laughed dryly and answered as if doing him a favor:

“Call Leo. That’s what all the guys close to call .”

Flynn’s eyes sparkled. He brightened his expression and spoke without hesitation:

“Okay, Leo.”

He had said he would call him that when they t next ti, but his hasty speech was ridiculous, though Leonardo didn’t stop him. Leonardo raised the corner of his mouth crookedly and jerked his chin toward the exit.

“Didn’t you say we need to leave quickly? Let’s go now.”

“Ah, right.”

As he followed Flynn, who opened the door and went out first, Leonardo thought quietly to himself:

‘I was really envious of you.’

But he didn’t bother to say it out loud. Finally, after adjusting his shoes, he stepped outside, imprinting the scenery of the room in his mind one last ti.

*****

“Don’t schedule any internal appointnts for the ti being. I’m prepared for disciplinary action anyway. Ah, I’ll attend the press conference held tomorrow in person.”

“Yes, understood. But... Commander, are you really alright?”

Gabe, who was walking quickly through the corridor, asked carefully. The Commander’s profile that briefly ca into his view didn’t look particularly comfortable for soone who had finished his work.

Of course, knowing that his superior had just done sothing big, Gabe kept glancing at him while pretending to be nonchalant.

Hugo, who had brushed back his hair that had fallen loose in the anti, arrived first in front of the Commander’s office and stopped. Soon, after taking a small, deep breath, he tidied his clothes with a posture without a single flaw.

The guards lined up in front of the door bowed their heads and stepped back. The number was three tis more than usual.

Hugo counted to three internally for a mont and knocked on the Commander’s office door.

“It should be fine.”

Soon after, he opened the heavy door forcefully. An alien chill perating the ownerless room seeped out thickly from the small gap.

Hugo stepped inside while maintaining his composure. The cold-blooded witch who had made the presiding judge tremble was standing in the middle of the office like a mannequin, wearing a long fur cape blending white and navy blue.

Thick jewels dangling from slender fingers, and a staff disguised as a cane. The thick cape dragging down to her feet boasted a splendor no less than an emperor’s coronation.

No, perhaps her spirit was already that of an emperor. The emperor of Logia, whose hair had turned white but whose face and eyes still maintained sharpness and youth. A noble woman like cold dew fallen on a winter dawn. As if she had known Hugo would co, she had been staring this way since the mont the door opened.

eting those icy eyes that resembled his own, Hugo put on the facade of an affectionate adopted son and gave a light bow.

“Council mber, have you been waiting long?”

A gentle smile played on his lips. His voice was unprecedentedly kind and showed gladness.

However, the detestable role-play didn’t last long. This was because the woman who had approached him with long strides raised her right hand with a fierce expression.

It was before Gabe could even close the door. The sound of flesh being torn echoed inside the quiet Commander’s office.

Slash–

Hugo’s face, which he hadn’t managed to block, turned halfway.

His Grand Madam opened her bright blue eyes wide and asked:

“Are you in your right mind?”