Farewell (1)
Leovald heads to the chapel.
The unconscious eldest son of the Ertinez family had already been placed in holy water. He would suffer from a severe headache for a while, but he wouldn't die.
However, Isaac's situation was different.
Carried on Leovald's back, Isaac mumbled incoherently and wheezed in a semi-conscious state. Leovald, cradling the man carefully, made his way to the inner sanctum of the chapel. And then, he began to care for Isaac in a human manner rather than a divine one.
He removed Isaac's clothes, soaked with rain and mud and stealing his body heat, and gently laid him in a bath filled with holy water. Leovald started to softly scrub away the dirt and grime clinging to Isaac's body with a soft cloth.
Even if the holy water's healing effects didn't work, its purified salt content helped clean the wounds. He carefully washed from the tips of Isaac's fingers up his arms, which bore fully settled scars, and then his submerged torso. The skin, wet from the water, felt softer.
Water splashed, and Leovald himself got drenched again, but he didn't mind.
Wrapping his index finger in a soft cloth, he carefully examined Isaac's neck. His sleeve, cut off to stop the bleeding, was tightly adhered to the wound where the dried blood had stuck. Leovald soaked the sleeve in holy water and gently removed it, revealing a wound about three or four fingers in length.
Leovald remained silent as he pulled Isaac into his arms and lifted him out of the water. After drying his wet body with a clean cloth, he rummaged through the medicinal kit and found herbs and ointments useful for stopping bleeding and healing small cuts.
When he had roamed the battlefield as a mercenary, it had been hard to find healing priests and even harder to get holy water, so to survive, he had to learn the old ways.
The lessons learned from those days had never been as welcome as they were now.
The rainwater that had soaked his hair wouldn't dry, trickling down Leovald's cheek and gathering at his chin before dripping off.
He laid Isaac down so his neck was visible, applied the ointment, and carefully bandaged the wound. He did all of this mechanically and calmly. His hand, which had swollen from overexertion, brushed against Isaac's cheek as the sleeping man lay still. Even though the treatment was done, tonight would be a critical point. This was the moment when infection was most likely to occur.
Leovald noticed Isaac's pale complexion and trembling body. After removing his own clothes and dousing himself with a cold baptism of holy water, he moved closer.
He crawled into the bed and wrapped his arms around the shivering man from behind. Holding him tightly to stop the trembling, he made sure Isaac wouldn't shake any longer. If he allowed him to continue trembling, his muscles would be sore and painful the next day, so…
No. Honestly, it was just an excuse. What Leovald really wanted was to enclose the other in his arms, to feel the pulsing heartbeat, the body spasming intermittently, and the laboured breaths—he simply wanted to experience them all.
The weight of a single person in his arms was strangely light and, at the same time, unbearably heavy. It felt so light, it seemed like it could slip away at any moment, yet when held close, it felt overwhelmingly full, almost as if it could never be enough.
It was utterly unpredictable.
The inner sanctum of the chapel was quiet, detached from the noise outside.
Leovald exhaled slowly, staring at the ceiling of the chapel. The humble ceiling reminded him of the one in the Lilium Fortress' bedroom, creating an illusion that this night was no different from any other.
He lay still, thinking about the things that night symbolized. A kind of brief death, a moment that most resembled death, when he had closed his eyes and let himself go.
When he hadn't yet earned his name, when he was still a street urchin, the other children feared the night. They imagined all kinds of mysterious events, dreamy and secretive things that emerged under the dark curtain, the terrifying emptiness and coldness the night brought.
But for Leovald, the night wasn't a vague, general concept. The word "fear" was almost a form of packaging. Beneath fear, the truth was hidden.
There were those who froze to death alive in the cold of night, drunks, and victims devoured by monstrous creatures with cannibalistic tendencies, dying in horrific ways.
There were the chaotic battles and raids, the flurry of arrows under flickering torches, and the screams that filled the air.
There was a time when he had run barefoot across a snowfield as a sacrificial offering, desperately hoping that the monster's fangs wouldn't be too sharp, wishing that the pain wouldn't be unbearable.
And more memories piled on top of those.
He opened his eyes again and looked at how much his new night had changed. The face of the man lying peacefully with his eyes closed was completely still, evoking the memory of a time when he had joked, saying, "You wouldn't even know if I carried you while you're sleeping."
With his physical hearing, Leovald could hear the sound of Isaac's heartbeat, the subtle rustling of his breath as it brushed against the blanket. However, sensing everything through his hearing was not something he was accustomed to.
So, he reached his hand across Isaac's back and pressed it against his chest. The skin, and beneath it, the bones and muscles that made up the framework, and the pounding source of life within. The heart beats regularly. It throbbed strongly, maintaining its rhythm deep in the warm water. It was warm. He was alive.
However, this sensation, while comforting, also intersected with the countless final moments of lives he had severed over the years, giving him a chilling feeling.
Leovald quietly immersed himself in the sensation, gazing at the man in his arms. How convenient it was to have an excuse—whether to ward off the cold or to soothe a nightmare.
At that moment, Isaac rustled and twisted his body. Thinking he might be uncomfortable, Leovald loosened his grip slightly, only for the man to turn and burrow closer into him.
Like a small animal accustomed to the feel of human hands.
"Mm…"
Fearing he might wake him, Leovald remained still, but Isaac merely muttered softly in his sleep.
Leovald gently pulled Isaac back into his embrace. He placed his hand on Isaac's smooth back and softly stroked it, exhaling slowly. He couldn't believe how this small gesture could make him feel so incredibly fulfilled.
He wanted to hold him tightly, leaving imprints on his body, marking him with their closeness. He wanted to press in with such force that their warmth would mingle, enveloping him in the warmth of real blood and the softness of the body within.
Before, he had wanted to tear through the outer shell and see what lay inside, but now, he simply wanted to be fully immersed in it, to remain peacefully within. Inside, it was warm, the sound muffled like being submerged in water, and it felt as though everything was surrounded by Isaac, making it feel all the more comforting.
Leovald, feeling a little impatient, pressed his forehead against Isaac's.
He knew that the thought he had just had was an irrational impulse he shouldn't vocalize. It was just a foolish thought, after all.
He knew that the moments when Isaac would call him "Leo" while alive were worth so much more than anything else.
'…'
He wanted to see the eyes beneath the closed eyelids. However, he suppressed the impatience and held it in.
When Isaac woke up after a good rest, he knew that the first person those eyes would see and the name they would call would all be him. With that thought, he closed his eyes again, the calmness returning to his heart as he held Isaac in his arms.
Dawn was breaking.
***
"…Leo?"
A hoarse voice escaped my throat, accompanied by an excruciating pain.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Leonardo, his face filling my entire vision, leaving me bewildered. It seemed the rain had stopped, and judging by the sunlight brushing against my cheek, it was clear that morning had arrived.
Nidum Tower? What about it? What about the Ertinez family, the writers, and the scenario notes?
There were so many questions crowding my mind, but they all sank quietly inside. Maybe it was because the dust, like tiny fireflies, was floating in the warm light, or maybe it was because my hoarse voice refused to speak.
Or perhaps it was because watching Leonardo, who was peacefully sleeping with his eyes closed, made me feel strangely calm. I just wanted to let everything go and take a deep, long rest.
'Last night was too long…'
Of course, the time felt long, drifting through the slow, grey world, but it was still just the perception of time.
I glanced at Leonardo, who was sleeping, letting out a soft groan. As the saying goes, the sleeping face is the most lovable; even his face, which usually looked so disinterested, appeared neat and calm. My gaze slid down from his gently swept forehead, the lowered eyelashes, and the closed lips.
It was then that Leonardo opened his eyes and looked at me with his clear and transparent gaze.
He had woken up from a deep sleep, looking groggy, and the sight was so amusing that a smile escaped my face. My lips moved slightly as I said, "Good morning, Leo." Leonardo blinked and sluggishly moved, burying his head back into the pillow.
"What? Are you planning on sleeping in like this?"
This won't do. While we were asleep, do you have any idea what happened to the Ertinez Castle? As I petted Leonardo's head, who was lazily sluggish as if he didn't want to wake up, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.
It was the breath… and the feeling of hair brushing against bare skin beneath the collarbone, as if there was nothing in between.
'Am I… naked?'
More importantly, this doesn't feel like the fortress at all. What's going on here? Sure, my clothes were a bit dirty from the rain yesterday, but that's no excuse to just strip off here. Feeling lost, I grabbed Leonardo's shoulder, about to interrogate him, when suddenly—
Bang!
The sudden noise made me turn around, only to find Ferdinand looking like he was suffering from a horrible hangover, his face and neck bright red, fidgeting restlessly. It looked like he had just come out of the water, dripping wet, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
"I-I really… didn't know…!"
What's up with him now?
'Is he still in the