His two eyes widened, unable to understand the meaning. No, actually it wasn't that he couldn't understand, but rather his inner self couldn't accept it.
Leonardo pondered several times whether he had heard correctly.
Just a meal? Just a 'meal'?
Hugo, who had been watching him freeze while sitting there blankly, caressed his held hand and calmly explained.
"The medical officer advised that you need sufficient rest just a few hours ago. No matter how you are, your condition couldn't have recovered in such a short time. It hasn't been long since you ate either."
Beyond the soothing words, the signals Leonardo had thought he had exchanged with His Grace flashed quickly through his mind. There were more than just one or two, so it took quite a while to recall them all.
"Also, since you said you were tired, you should gradually get some sound sleep—"
"Ah, no. Wait a moment."
Leonardo raised his other unheld hand to urgently interrupt Hugo's statement.
"I'm not tired, that was just something I said. We've gone days without sleep on the peninsula before."
"...This isn't the peninsula though. You must have had a hard time with the match, so you should rest quickly and recover your stamina too."
"No—"
Leonardo, who was about to retort, closed his mouth. Though he had much to say, whatever he said here would surely look pathetic.
'Then what was all that?'
His confused golden eyes reflected on the strange atmosphere that had occurred in the rest room within the main arena. After exchanging a few words with each other, silence had flowed, and the image of his partner kissing his forehead was still vivid. Recalling the hot breath that had touched his skin and the subtle tension, his resolve to stay silent for the sake of his pride became meaningless.
"...You said you looked forward to it."
Though he raised the question accusingly, what came out was a muffled voice. Since this was his first time experiencing this, he couldn't grasp where he had gotten ahead of himself.
Clearly when he suggested using the villa key together, and when their feet touched in the carriage too. He had been certain they felt the same way... was all of that just his own delusion?
Facing Leonardo, who looked emptily disappointed as if he'd been stood up on a first night, Hugo moved his lips and barely pulled himself together. Though he felt like he'd become the world's worst person, his judgment was that going along with the enticement would make him an even worse person.
His golden eyes, which looked both pitiful and resentful, were tinted pink like clouds spreading across the sky. The parabola that had hung on his red lips seemed about to flow downward at any moment, making Hugo exhale like a sigh.
"Oh dear, Leo."
He raised their interlaced hands and slowly kissed the back of Leonardo's hand. As if soothing a heart that might have been hurt, he carefully pressed his breath along the curves of the hand bones. Then he raised his relaxed gaze to look straight at his partner. The blue eyes looking up contained the desire and anguish of a man who endured again today.
"What I meant was, after a bit more time has passed. How could I wish for such things from you right away when you lost so much blood earlier?"
"...It's stopped now though."
"We heard together that once ruptured, mucous membranes tear easily. Moreover..."
Hugo recalled Leonardo writhing in agony while treating his left arm in Fidelis's cabin. The fishy smell that had invaded his nose when he had directly sucked out the dead blood and poison with his own mouth was still vivid. At the time, more than the horror of the situation, the fear and pressure that Leonardo in his arms might die had consumed his mind.
Though it wasn't quite trauma, it was true that he had become overprotective of this guy since then.
Hugo, who had been biting his lips, raised his left hand to caress Leonardo's cheek.
"When your condition improves, I was planning to formally invite you then. Today I brought you here hastily out of joy at meeting again."
"...."
"Would you also consider my heart when I took you to the rest room earlier? I was so worried when I thought you had suddenly lost consciousness."
Leonardo was very weak to words about worrying about him. Knowing this, Hugo carefully persuaded him so his words wouldn't sound like rejection at all. That it was out of concern for his body. In this process, there was not only intention for Leonardo's sake, but also to convince himself.
If he went along with the atmosphere as his partner wanted right now, ...that would be enjoyable in its own way. Honestly, Hugo had no confidence in restraining himself if Leonardo naked craved affection on bedding full of his scent.
Even if his clear face flushed red and panted until blood flowed from his nose, he might not let him go, saying hadn't he wanted it first? Knowing this, he had deliberately avoided Leonardo's gaze when he stood in front of the bathroom earlier.
As dizzying imagination flashed through his mind, Hugo closed and opened his eyes to appropriately dismiss it. However, unlike him who had cut it off early, Leonardo's mind was running to the end of delusion, filled with all kinds of regret.
'That wasn't seducing me?'
In the darkness, he had done this and that without hesitation. When they were alone, he had sent strange looks thinking it was the right time. Was all that really not seduction?
He had been planning to research about three more ways to use neckties. He had planned to grab His Grace's member that had remained hidden by his trousers and torment it to his heart's content, and slowly get to know each other by gently asking what style he preferred.
"But—"
Leonardo opened his mouth to retort something. At that moment, hot heat burst in his nasal passages where blood vessels had been dilated. Red liquid dripped down below his straight nose.
"Leo!"
Hugo immediately jumped up from his seat and took out a handkerchief from his pocket to hold it in front of Leonardo's nose.
"See this. I told you to be careful."
"No, this is..."
"Don't lift your head."
Leonardo, whose nape was fixed by large hands, was about to protest with a stuffy voice but was forced to lower his head deeply. Watching the blood drops spreading on the white tablecloth made him naturally irritated.
'No, why again at this moment—'
Hah... what terrible timing.
His golden eyebrows crumpled greatly. No matter how much he said he was fine, having nosebleeds twice in the same day, even if he stripped naked and did a strip show, this rigid gentleman would surely wrap his body in bedding and put him to sleep as is.
At the completely failed plan, Leonardo let out a deep sigh.
* * *
The meal that ended with a bloody spectacle came to an end. The elaborately decorated plaza was also cleaned up by the servants' busy hands, with tables and decorations removed to return to its original appearance.
Of course, even that was dreamlike and beautiful. Leonardo sat in a rocking chair prepared by the window, covered with a thick blanket up to his stomach, staring at the turtle on the pillar with a sullen face.
Leaning against the chair's armrest and holding his nose diagonally, His Grace, who had returned after seeing off the visiting doctor and ensuring his silence, plopped down on the bed placed beside him.
"Cold compress is said to be effective. When the bleeding stops, hold it against the bridge of your nose."
What he placed on the nightstand was an ice pack with cold air flowing out. Leonardo glanced at it indifferently before turning his eyes back outside the window. Since he had never been rejected even once in his life, only doing the rejecting, he thought this was appropriate treatment for the man who was setting records in his life in various ways.
"If you hold it too long, you'll get a headache, so do it moderately."
"Mm."
Even to this continued consideration, Leonardo answered curtly. Honestly, his own appearance of protesting because he wasn't coming over was ridiculous, but then don't make him misunderstand.
Seeing Leonardo looking hurt, Hugo let out a laugh mixed with a sigh.
What should he do to make him feel better? Perhaps he should put him to sleep first, he was constantly worrying.
Knock knock—
"Master, there's something urgent to tell you."
"What is it?"
"It would be better to speak privately."
At the servant's voice indirectly conveying that it wasn't something to discuss with company present, Hugo rose from his seat again after sitting for only a short while. He habitually swept back Leonardo's hair, then rubbed his cheek a couple of times with the back of his hand as if telling him to stay here for a moment. Then he moved his steps without any particular instruction and answered the servant.
"I'll come out now."
Click, as soon as the door closed, Leonardo, once again buried in silence, still kept his gaze outside the window. Then he glanced around to look at the door before reaching for the ice pack Hugo had brought.
He brought it over the blanket and meaninglessly fidgeted with the surface beaded with moisture. Soon he leaned back in the chair and placed the pack on top of his head.
The pack filled with angular ice pieces and bumpy immediately melted upon touching Leonardo's heated crown. He pulled down the drooped, functionless pack and glared at it with a disapproving expression.
Even so, he soon placed it back on the nightstand and sighed.
'Ugh, what am I doing?'
He was aware that he always became a child in front of His Grace. But his sulking appearance toward a saint who was concerned about him and wanted to promise the future felt particularly pathetic today. Especially to such a kind person who said he didn't want him to be hurt by others and would always try to protect him.
Honestly, if not for what happened in the basement of the main arena, he would have seriously considered whether he wasn't his type. Recalling the sensation of his thigh being pressed at that time, it didn't seem to be the case. In other words, His Grace was really enduring out of worry for his condition.
Having reached this conclusion, there was nowhere else to blame. It was his own fault for having nosebleeds on an important day.
Moreover, today was His Grace's birthday... shouldn't he be the one asking if there were any wishes first?
Leonardo resolved to greet him with a softened face, even if awkwardly, when Hugo returned, and rubbed his brow. Actually, there was nothing to be disappointed about. How many opportunities would there be in the future?
He, who had slyly rolled up the corners of his mouth, floated his artifact placed beside the ice pack in the air. Then he opened the entrance and began rummaging inside. Since he had received an elegant meal, he intended to see if he had something to give in return.
However, before finding a suitable gift, the communication magic tool he had shoved in earlier caught his eye. This was because there was light on the sensor.
"...?"
Leonardo immediately took out the magic tool. The sender was obviously Tergio.
However, what was a bit chilling was that over 10 connection attempt records had already piled up. It seemed he had tried several times even after Leonardo had ignored his contact earlier.
Leonardo, whose spine felt cold for a moment, looked back at the firmly closed door behind him. After confirming there was no presence around, he immediately pressed the connect button.
It was before the signal tone could even ring twice. As if he had been waiting, Tergio's voice was heard.
—Why are you only answering now?
His voice was quite cold, leaving Leonardo momentarily speechless. From his surroundings, the sound of heavy rain could be heard, suggesting where he was. The murmur of people gathering could also be heard. Leonardo tried to act calm and asked back.
"What? Is something wrong?"
—Hah... are you with the Commander right now?
"What are you talking about? Stop talking nonsense and tell me what's wrong."
Though Leonardo was hit right on target by the direct question, he urged the main point again. At the same time, he threw off the blanket covering his lower body and got up from the chair to close the wide-open window.
In case His Grace, who might return soon, would overhear from outside, he was about to move to the bathroom.
Tergio, breathing a boiling sigh from the other end, lowered his voice and conveyed.
—The shop owner you told me to watch. He was found dead last night.