Bermuda

“We apologize, Commander. It was our mistake.”

Hugo, who had taken off his blood-stained jacket and gloves, glanced back. The medical team, lined up in a row, bowed at a 90-degree angle and confessed their mistake in unison.

Hugo scanned the backs of their heads with an expressionless face, then turned back to the front and casually hung his jacket on the coat rack. Then, looking tired, he slumped into a wooden chair, leaned forward, and asked with a sigh:

“What mistake?”

Two medical officers exchanged glances. One of them opened his mouth.

“We failed to confirm that he hadn’t taken the full dose of the prepared sleeping agent. It seems he only took about a third of it through sleight of hand and discarded the rest along with the empty packets.”

Hugo already knew that white powder presumed to be the sleeping agent had been found in the trash can. This lent credibility to the assumption that Leonardo had been suspicious of the drug before taking it.

‘I was too complacent.’

Hugo slowly rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes tightly.

It was a big mistake to think he would take it without suspicion this time, as he had readily accepted the medicine when they left Fidele before. Rather, using the same method as then was a form of underestimating his alertness. It might also have been the occasion that shattered Leonardo’s trust in him.

“It seems the problem was that the small amount of sleeping agent he took gradually lowered his heart rate during the examination, and the examiner mistook this symptom for a sleep state and proceeded with the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) blood draw.”

As he listened to the story of how hell broke loose the moment the blood-drawing needle was inserted, Hugo quietly gazed at the clear face lying on the bed. The face, peacefully sleeping with eyes closed as if dead, showed no trace of the terrifying killing intent from earlier.

Compared to his yaksha-like appearance then, he could be called an angel now. He was so pure and delicate that one might think this is what a messenger of God would look like, if they existed.

Looking down at the beautiful person with a thousand faces in the worst way, Hugo habitually brushed aside his bangs. It was fortunate that the situation had calmed down, but seeing Leonardo unconscious was never a welcome sight.

But even if he opened his eyes, would he ever see those golden eyes smile at him again?

Hugo swallowed his bitterness, withdrew his hand, and asked the officer:

“So, how is his condition?”

“Fortunately, the major arteries weren’t completely severed, so we succeeded in 99.9% regeneration. There’s no danger to his life, and the skin has been well sutured without major scarring.”

“...That’s a relief.”

“However, as you know, due to the severe blood loss, he’ll need to rest for a while. We’re currently checking the immune response by comparing the blood scattered in the examination room with the stored blood pack samples. As soon as safety is confirmed, we’ll report and proceed with the transfusion. And...”

The officer paused for a moment before continuing.

“With this incident, we’ve secured enough blood for the necessary tests, so additional blood draws shouldn’t be needed. We’ll report as soon as the analysis results are out.”

As the officer finished speaking, another officer next to him nudged his arm. His expression seemed to ask if he really had to say that in this situation. The officer who had spoken earlier also seemed to think it was a bit inappropriate and cautiously glanced at the Commander. However, Hugo just nodded slowly without saying anything.

The medical officer then reported that Flynn had also lost consciousness from exhaustion, but would likely wake up by this afternoon. He added in a positive tone that, surprisingly, there were no external injuries, so he should be able to return to daily life soon.

Despite the chaos that had occurred, there were no human casualties, with only Leonardo’s blood spilled on the floor. This confirmed that he had struggled purely out of fear, not with the intention of harming others.

Before, and this time too, he had been afraid. Hugo, unable to take his eyes off Leonardo, recalled once again those unfocused golden eyes.

‘Did that bastard tell you to bring it?’

What on earth did that mean? All sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind. Hugo took Leonardo’s limp hand and pressed the bandaged back of his hand to his lips.

With half-closed eyes, aimlessly tracing his golden eyelashes, he suddenly muttered:

“Did I do something unnecessary?”

The medical officer who had been briefing like calm background noise stopped at Hugo’s voice. In their view, they could see the side profile of the Commander, who hadn’t been able to concentrate on their story at all. With dark shadows under his sunken eyes, he was staring intently at the patient lying on his own bed.

Sensing the strange atmosphere, the two medical officers exchanged glances, then bowed their heads and stepped back in farewell.

“We’ll return in two hours to check his condition.”

Hugo lowered the hand he had pressed to his lips and glanced back. They seemed to be deliberately giving him space, but he didn’t bother to stop them.

Soon after, the medical staff bowed and rushed out, and their footsteps faded down the corridor. Hugo lowered his head, following the sound of the second hand, sighed, and then briefly stood up to securely lock the door.

‘First, I need to instruct Shorendo to issue a gag order...’

Although he wasn’t sure they could completely silence all the medical staff who had witnessed the situation, if this incident spread outside, it would be quite troublesome for both him and them. That was also why he had brought Leonardo to a private room rather than a special ward in the infirmary. Even in the midst of the chaos, Hugo was organizing future plans as he strode toward the door.

However, as he grabbed the handle, he saw a medical staff member standing beyond the not-yet-closed door. The staff member, who had been waiting quietly, seemed to have noticed Hugo through the gap and stepped forward as if he’d been expecting him.

“Commander, I have something to give you.”

He was holding a crumpled medicine envelope in his hand. Hugo’s eyebrows rose subtly.

“What is it?”

“Ah, I’m... the psychiatric counselor who briefly spoke with Mr. Leonardo Blaine just before the examination. It’s nothing much, but I thought this might be needed when he wakes up.”

‘Counselor?’

Hugo accepted the medicine envelope from the staff member, hiding his suspicion. With doubts that someone within the Council was trying to pressure Leonardo, he couldn’t simply accept and hand over unknown medicine, even if it was from medical staff.

Just as Hugo was about to ask about his affiliation and what the medicine was, the staff member added:

“I have a family member who is a war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.”

*****

‘Mr. Leonardo Blaine mentioned that he also has PTSD symptoms. He gave a heads-up that he wanted to avoid tests that might trigger neurosis during the examination process. However... he didn’t answer when asked exactly what situations made him anxious, so we arbitrarily excluded a few tests when he was judged to be conscious. But we proceeded with the blood drawing stage as it was deemed unavoidable.’

Sitting at the desk in the Commander’s office, Hugo felt the black letters swimming even as he read the documents he needed to process. It was because the words he had heard from the medical staff yesterday kept lingering in his mind, disrupting his concentration.

He seemed to feel guilty for not warning the examiner more strongly, saying that his family member and Leonardo showed similar symptoms.

‘I apologize for how the situation turned out.’

Hugo set down his pen for a moment and rubbed his eyes. The medical staff member’s voice played again like a panorama.

‘This is a list of medications I often prescribe to my mother who suffers from PTSD. Mr. Blaine also asked me for it. He specifically requested certain medications, so it seems he has experience taking them. He’ll probably take them without any problems if you give them to him.’

He had never told Hugo about such symptoms himself, so while Hugo had only guessed, it was the first time he’d heard that Leonardo had directly experienced symptoms and even taken medication.

After separately instructing them to inspect the list of medications in the envelope, it turned out they were really ordinary PTSD management drugs—antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. The medical staff member explained that while it seemed Leonardo had stopped taking the medication for a long time, something must have recently triggered and heightened his anxiety.

‘A trigger, huh.’

Hugo tapped the documents with his fingertips, trying to recall when Leonardo had started to become anxious. However, there were so many factors that could have sharpened his nerves that it was almost meaningless to single out just one.

The old-style mana-restraining handcuffs, the scene at the plaza a few days ago, injuries that nearly killed him, the deaths of people he couldn’t protect.

The thousand-year-old mother body, the forcibly decided expedition to the peninsula, or even before that...

‘Maybe it’s been like this since the moment he met me.’

Looking back, every aspect of his environment around Hugo was a situation that could only cause stress.

Hugo stared into the vast empty space of the Commander’s office with an uncharacteristically blank gaze.

Thud–

His fidgeting fingertip fell onto the document and stopped moving, as if realizing his ignorance.

No matter how much he tried to accommodate Leonardo, it would be purely from his own perspective. In the end, it was impossible to perfectly understand his inner thoughts unless the person himself spoke up—just as Hugo had suddenly realized how little he knew about Leonardo while listening to the medical staff member’s words.

Well, even when he wanted to ask about the past, Leonardo showed signs of discomfort, so he often missed the timing.

At first, he didn’t have the capacity to care about such things, and both of them probably thought more about finishing the job and being free of each other.

But now, when everything is over and the time comes, can he confidently say he can part ways with him happily?

Could he sufficiently define their relationship as just that of the Council’s Commander and a high-risk mage?

‘I’d like to have a conversation when he wakes up... though I’m not sure if he’ll oblige.’

Hugo sank into contemplation, wrestling with the questions that kept arising at random. He always became overly focused on matters related to Leonardo. The content of the documents was already secondary.

So it was only natural that Hugo didn’t hear someone repeatedly knocking on the door outside. In the end, it was only after Gabe, who had been waiting and knew he was inside, opened the door and entered that Hugo barely emerged from his thoughts.

“What’s the matter?”

“Commander... it’s too cold.”

As Gabe spoke, shivering his shoulders, Hugo finally realized that the air inside had grown noticeably chilly. The temperature must have dropped in the space used by the adjutants in front of the Commander’s office as well, leaving them shivering in the cold for several minutes.

Hugo opened the large window to let out all the cold air, as if in apology. Then Gabe entered with quick steps, carrying a heavy stack of documents, and placed them with a thud on one corner of Hugo’s desk.

Seeing another pile of work accumulating, Hugo didn’t say anything, but his expression subtly hardened. Noticing the sign, Gabe gathered the already processed documents and changed the subject, suggesting that he take a break.

“Flynn returned about 30 minutes ago, saying he had a lot of work to process. He says there’s no particular problem with either himself or that side. But it’s still worrying to leave the patient alone for long, so wouldn’t it be better for you to check on him directly, Commander?”

He was referring to Leonardo in Hugo’s personal room. Flynn had regained consciousness yesterday evening, as the medical officer had said, and returned to work without any problems.

However, Hugo, thinking he also needed rest, had given Flynn a rest order under the pretext of checking on Leonardo’s condition. He seemed to have returned because he couldn’t bear it, due to his innate workaholic tendencies, but anyway, thanks to that, it was the right time to go see Leonardo.

“Is he still unconscious?”

“Well... Flynn said that when he last checked, he was occasionally tossing and turning but hadn’t woken up. But since they say his brain has forcibly entered a sleep state to recover his overworked body, won’t he wake up soon once he recovers?”

Gabe conveyed the message in the best possible light, citing the medical officer’s opinion. However, Hugo checked his wristwatch and furrowed his brow.

“30 hours...”

About 30 hours had passed since Leonardo collapsed. If it was a sleep state, that would be fortunate, but even so, being asleep for 30 hours clearly indicated a problem.

“Is he sleeping a lot because he’s still young?”

Hugo muttered in a serious voice, filled with concern. In truth, it was less that he believed it and more that he wanted to. But Gabe, who took it seriously, looked up at the Commander with an ambiguous expression.

‘There’s not much difference with Flynn...’

No, before that, isn’t he already an adult? He’s well past the age to be called young.

But seeing the Commander already preparing to leave, Gabe swallowed the words that had risen to his throat. Meanwhile, Hugo, who had loosened his tie, signed the last document he was looking at and handed it to Gabe, saying:

“When it’s time, go home with Flynn. I’ll be going now.”

With those words, he opened the door of the Commander’s office and left in hurried steps. It was a declaration that he would not return here today.