Bermuda

Tick tock, tick tock–

The scales symbolizing the Council represent justice and fairness. It is said these scales were discovered by 'Edmund Justice', who founded the early Council, in a market he often passed through while searching for fairness embedded in daily life.

Leonardo lay on his side on the bed, propping his head with his hand as he turned the pages. His expression was utterly blank as he reread a section of "The History of the Council" once again.

The last name Justice was bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor of the time, and he hoped to fill part of the Council seats with scholars of common origin who were well-versed in law and humanities. However, this was thwarted by the nobles’ opposition and the social conventions of the time, and about 400 years later, Adrianus Agrizendro, who inherited his will, succeeded in registering the first Council member of common origin.

Leonardo's relaxed eyelids twitched at the familiar name that kept catching his eye. To think a descendant of the Agrizendro family, who had been high nobles for generations, created the first Council member of common origin. It was truly heresy among the privileged.

Moreover, this family was a direct descendant of the Logia royal family, and, to be precise, a group more deserving of the title of 'royal blood' than the current imperial family. Suddenly, Leonardo recalled His Grace the Duke, who was walking a similar path to the figure in the book. It was a well-known fact that his territory was crowded with facilities for social outcasts like those from Bermuda or the weak.

Even though he himself had no connection to those from Bermuda.

"The Logia king should have become emperor..."

Recalling the ancient figures who only appeared in founding myths, Leonardo muttered without realizing it. Then, suddenly realizing what he had said, he flinched. He had to be careful; this wasn't the barren peninsula.

His golden eyes, which had been staring blankly at the letters, shifted to the window. The sky, where the rain had already stopped, was now dark. Looking at the clock, it was just past 9 PM by imperial-capital time.

Leonardo sneered and closed the thick book, lying down irritably.

His eyes, fixed on the antique ceiling, were sullen.

"Always making me wait."

It's not like he was being kept as a pet. He didn't know how many times he had waited alone for a time that wasn't even properly kept.

The adjutant had left some simple food on the table, but it must have gone cold by now—he'd been too tired to touch it.

'He said he'd come at mealtime.'

He had long since tidied up and hidden Nero's things, and he needed to hear a definite answer about when he could be released, even if it was because of the appointment Nero had unilaterally set.

However, the Commander was so-o-o busy that he hadn't shown his face for hours after disappearing earlier, leaving behind words he couldn't make sense of. It felt like they were together, yet always apart. Leonardo, curled up like a shrimp, pulled the bed's comforter up to cover his mouth and nose.

When he closed his eyes tightly, the heavy scent became even stronger. There probably weren't many days left to smell this scent. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"..."

Feeling strangely emotional for no reason, he hugged the comforter tightly, then suddenly opened his eyes with a shocked expression. Thinking, 'What am I doing?', he abruptly sat up from where he was lying.

'I'm not a pet waiting for its owner...'

He roughly messed up his hair and jumped off the bed, standing in the middle of the room and pacing back and forth.

It wasn't a prison, but since only registered people could open the entrance door, it was essentially no different from one. Yet hadn't the white butterfly entered and left this place freely without any restrictions?

As that thought occurred to him, his legs moved as if drawn toward the window. Of course, this time he wore the slippers that had been lying around.

Placing his hand on the glass and pulling back the curtain a little, he saw that although the rain had stopped, droplets had formed, obscuring the view outside. When he breathed warm air onto it, the droplets clinging to the surface fogged and quickly disappeared. He thought about opening the window, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° but feeling he might get scolded if cold air came in, he refrained.

Leonardo, leaning his upper body against the window frame with his arms crossed, looked at the sparsely lit windows across the way.

"Looks like many people are working even at this hour."

While this would be true for any major institution of the empire, the Council's evenings were particularly bright, even considering the special period. It seemed there were plenty of people who would come running the instant he tried to escape through the window right now—enough to cause an emergency. The Commander would probably come right away too, but he didn't want to trouble him, so he didn't act on it.

"...?"

At that moment, he noticed a dark figure on the lit rooftop across the way. At first, he thought it wasn't a person because there was no movement, but on closer inspection, it was someone with their arms resting on the railing.

They must have been standing there for a while, though he didn’t know since when. That person must have come out for some fresh air too, he thought, and tried to ignore it.

However, Leonardo couldn't take his eyes off that spot.

'...What is it?'

It felt as if that person was looking this way.

And that too, from long before he had approached the window.

Click–

"Leonardo–"

Suddenly, the entrance behind him opened without warning, and another figure was reflected in the dark glass. Leonardo, who had been completely defenseless, flinched and turned around.

"Oh?"

The person he had been waiting for was just entering.

"I'm a bit late. Have you eaten?"

Hugo closed the door and asked after him while absently looking down at Leonardo's feet.

Wondering why he was doing that, Leonardo looked down as well and realized he was standing by the window he had been told not to go near.

"I'm wearing slippers."

He hurriedly shook his foot to show the indoor shoes, as if making an excuse. Hugo nodded once with an unreadable expression and said nothing.

Yet his gaze shifted to the cloche and neatly arranged tableware on the table. Getting the impression it hadn't been touched at all, Hugo immediately changed his words.

"If you haven't eaten yet, let's go out together now."

"Go out? Where?"

"I was thinking of going to the restaurant we went to last time. You asked me to take you there, remember?"

It was welcome news to hear, as he had been feeling stuffy. However, Leonardo remained silent for a moment. The funeral had just been held not long ago, and now he was suggesting going to a restaurant?

"Um... but now?"

"Why, don't you feel like it?"

"No, it's not that..."

No matter what, this was someone who had just sent off his own subordinates. He probably wasn't in the mood to go to a place like a restaurant at all. But feeling that the other was in quite a hurry, Leonardo trailed off with a puzzled look.

Meanwhile, Hugo picked up his own coat hanging on the coat rack and personally draped it over Leonardo's shoulders.

"It's chilly outside, so wear a coat. Ah, and there's something we need to do before dinner."

He brought Leonardo's outdoor shoes and placed them in front, as if saying they should leave right away. While changing into his shoes in a daze, Leonardo stared blankly at Hugo's face, unable to guess what he was thinking. With the sudden situation unfolding, it was difficult to tell why this person was acting this way.

When he turned his head, recalling the figure outside the window, the figure had already disappeared from that spot.

However, there was no time to think deeply as he was being led by Hugo's hand. Leonardo erased his puzzlement along with the closing door.

*****

"I wish the eyes could be seen a bit better."

"Oh my, Commander. These days, young people don't like it cut so short."

The place Hugo took Leonardo to before dinner, saying there was somewhere they needed to stop by, was a photo studio located inside the Council. As it was a place Council members often visited to take photos for submission with documents, it also doubled as a barbershop where they could neatly trim their hair.

Looking down at his own hair falling with a snipping sound, Leonardo was slightly tense. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had entrusted his hair to a complete stranger's hands, except for Agrizendro. Only after the sponge wiping his face had passed several times did he raise his eyelids to look in the mirror.

The length of his bangs that had been poking his eyes was appropriately shortened, and the hair at the back of his neck that had been covering it was neatly trimmed. He had worried that the person cutting his hair might be older and not match his taste, but contrary to his concerns, he quite liked it.

"With such a handsome face to begin with, trimming the hair makes your face shine even more."

The barber praised Leonardo's beauty and, untying the towel around his neck, appealed to her own skill. Hugo seemed to regret that the pretty eyes weren't revealed more cleanly, but seeing Leonardo looking at the mirror with satisfaction, he asked casually:

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah."

Leonardo swept back about half of his bangs with his warm palm. This temporarily gave volume to his hair, slightly revealing his round forehead.

Like that, Leonardo turned to look at Hugo in the mirror and asked with a bright smile:

"How do I look?"

As if he'd already been brainwashed by the barber's words, Hugo was about to answer that he was shining, but at the last second found another word.

"Pretty."

Leonardo slightly frowned as if to say, 'what's that supposed to mean?', but somehow it wasn't bad, so he let it slide without objecting today as well.

After moving to the photo-taking area and sitting in a proper posture, this time he awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth at the photographer's request. Energized by the long-awaited appearance of a subject, the photographer actively requested various expressions and angles from Leonardo.

Although they'd clearly informed her it was for a regular mage registration card, more than half of the photos taken couldn't be used for identification purposes. However, Hugo, who was watching with his hands behind his back, didn't particularly stop the two. Leonardo didn't seem to mind, unexpectedly, and Hugo also wanted to see photos capturing Leonardo's various looks.

The only photo Hugo had when he first searched for Leonardo showed him with a very sharp expression, as if he'd been forcibly captured and photographed. But now, his air was much softer than then, and he looked much more mature and beautiful, as if he had aged a bit in that time.

No matter what decision he might make in the near future, it wouldn't be bad to keep a few photos of his appearance, just in case.

Hugo gazed at the gold that shone brighter than the studio lights, recalling the conversation he had with Abraham.

"Well, we've got all the usable ones. Would you two like to sit together for one?"

The photographer turned to Hugo, who had been standing to one side, and asked. Hugo asked back with a puzzled look:

"Me?"

"You both have such good looks, it would make quite a picture if you took one together. It's a rare opportunity, how about one shot?"

Since that 'rare opportunity' was from the photographer's perspective, she joked while encouraging Hugo's participation. With two of the best subjects right in front of her, if she missed this chance, she might regret it for the rest of her life as an aesthete.

As the situation had completely changed from the original purpose of the visit, Hugo hesitated for a moment before turning his eyes to Leonardo.

Leonardo also stared blankly at Hugo. Then, as if reluctantly suggesting it, he asked in an intentionally indifferent tone:

"Want to take one?"

Given a family atmosphere that valued authority and orthodoxy, he had many experiences commissioning portraits but rarely stood in front of a camera. But he thought that sometimes this might not be bad either.

Hugo, having lightly agreed, strode over and sat down next to Leonardo.

The photographer, grinning wide enough to show her gums, waved her hand broadly, telling the two to move closer together.

As they checked each other's reactions and their shoulders touched, a flash burst, coloring the scene before their eyes.