The place he was led to under the servant's guidance was mystical.
Since he was being led through a different door from the entrance they had come through, he expected it would lead to a cozy courtyard. However, it was the opposite. This villa's true value lay not in its appearance when viewed from outside, but in the outdoor space located inside the building.
When he stepped outside following the white carpet that was too precious to step on, the central plaza first caught his eye. In the plaza, six delicately carved stone columns stood sparsely. In the center, today's dining place with a pure white tablecloth could be seen.
The servants finished arranging the silver candlesticks, decorative flowers, and final tableware before quietly withdrawing. Leonardo slowed his steps for a moment as he gazed at the scenery where hydrangeas and baby's breath harmonized.
The guide who had been walking ahead turned around and pointed to the table with his palm as if clearing the way.
"Please come this way."
Having been subtly nervous, Leonardo slowly moved his steps while adjusting his clothes. Even so, he rolled his eyes to quickly scan the surroundings.
He hadn't expected the dining area to be outdoors, but in some ways it also seemed like indoors.
The reason was the semicircular architectural structure that concavely surrounded the area. The two-story Romanesque-style building of harmonized white and gray formed an arc centered on the circular plaza. The puzzling point was that the cross-section of the arc faced away from the main gate rather than toward it.
The architectural client's intention to cut off external disturbance and create another world within to take complete rest could be felt. Perhaps because of this, in the world the curved building was gazing at, a magnificent lake spread beyond the spacious plaza.
Endless waves curved around the remaining half of the plaza. Leonardo took a deep breath at the scenery that naturally brought a sense of openness. The lake, gleaming as it held the moon, simultaneously contained pitch-black darkness and scattered light. And before that, the back view of a tall man in a white shirt could be seen.
'He changed clothes again.'
In his classic and dandy attire, he stood with his hands behind his back, gazing vacantly at the far side of the lake.
The deep indigo sky met the horizon and settled over the man's head.
Just as he was moving toward him as if entranced, the guide's voice followed.
"Please watch your step."
"Ah—"
Leonardo, who immediately hesitated, looked down at his feet. The plaza floor was rippling like waves. The dark sky reflected, so at first he thought it was glass, but looking again, shallow water was rising over glossy blue-gray floor tiles.
The step difference seemed to be about 5cm, so Leonardo, who had been stepping on carpet, instinctively stepped back. However, the guide who had been two steps ahead was already on the rippling waves. More precisely, he was standing on the water surface.
"It won't get wet, so you needn't worry."
Was he walking on water? Half-doubting, he stepped forward and soft ripples wrapped around his shoe soles. Miraculously, his feet didn't get wet. They didn't sink down either.
As he carefully moved forward, it felt like walking on fine sand with waves washing in.
It was around then that the villa owner, sensing the presence, turned his body.
"You came."
Leonardo, looking up at Hugo, couldn't help but hold his breath. As if he had just washed up, His Grace's bangs, which were always neatly swept back, hung down over his forehead.
Sitting in the chair His Grace personally pulled out for him, he only fidgeted with his hands under the table in awkwardness. He also looked around other places while unnecessarily touching his nape. Strangely, it was difficult to make eye contact as if sitting across from a stranger.
Usually, he would unbutton at most one shirt button, but now two were undone. Thanks to this, the marks he had left were much more visible than before. Only then did Leonardo gradually have to accept that the man he had coveted in the darkness and the person before his eyes were the same person.
He wondered if it was okay to show such an appearance in front of the servants, but keeping silent about the duke's private life would be their duty.
Setting aside his worries, Leonardo was once again captivated by the navy hair that still retained some moisture and his more comfortable-looking attire. His gaze remained fixed on his partner who was flipping through a liquor catalog. He unconsciously stabbed the thinly sliced cold appetizer dish with his fork.
While maintaining his uprightness, he looked mysteriously relaxed, giving a warmer impression than usual and appearing much younger. So much so that he wanted to dare call him 'brother.'
'What expression will he make?'
Would he be flustered, embarrassed? Or would he say it was rude? Either way, he anticipated the reaction.
Leonardo, propping his chin while sneakily stealing glances at Hugo's face, suddenly stopped the tip of the fork he was playing with.
'But didn't he just wash up? Why did he wash separately?'
Just as he was puzzled by the subtle soap scent, another appetizer plate began arriving. When they showed him three or four types of wine to accompany it, he thought about borrowing alcohol's power, but His Grace, who had looked up just then, shook his head.
"Since your condition isn't fully recovered, refrain from alcohol for a day or two. How about juice instead?"
He poured 100% freshly squeezed orange juice into a crystal glass instead. Meanwhile, he naturally drank strong liquor that reeked of ethanol just by opening the cap. Occasionally, he would mix the black liquid from finger-sized glass bottles brought by servants into his wine glass and drink it.
"What's that?"
When he asked casually to try to ease the awkwardness, he put down the wine glass he was about to drink from. Then he shook the crystal glass to mix the liquid well and answered.
"Medicine, you could say something like that."
"Medicine? Do you have some illness?"
Leonardo asked hurriedly, worry coloring his expression. Hugo let out a small laugh at the transparent reaction.
"No, I don't have any illness you need to worry about. Even if I did, it's something everyone lives with. But it feels good to receive your concern."
"...Something everyone lives with? What is that?"
"Mm, though it doesn't come clearly to mind right now... let's say it's worries, for living in the world a bit more wisely."
One of Leonardo's eyebrows rose. Even his worries were quite refined like himself.
"Or perhaps fatigue from being wary of the desire to be faithful to instinct and driving oneself."
"...You mean you have a lot of stress?"
"Not severely. It's nothing problematic either. A life without worries or stress might be peaceful, but I think it's practically a dead state."
Hugo said this and once again moistened his throat with strong liquor.
"Daily life without difficulties dulls the emotions of joy that come after endurance. Even if it's not actually true, humans must believe it to endure and live each day. The reason I find this moment sitting across from you particularly enjoyable is because it's sweet freedom encountered within my life of fulfilling responsibilities and duties. How about it, was that somewhat of an answer?"
What he said sounded unusually like a riddle. It wasn't very satisfying either. However, Leonardo had one thing he wanted to clarify, so he narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Are you happy to meet me, or happy because it's a moment of freedom?"
Hugo, who had emptied his golden wine glass, this time drank water. After completely emptying the glass and wiping his mouth with the edge of his napkin, he answered with a faint smile.
"Leo, for me those two cannot be separated."
Leonardo's eyes blinked for a moment. Soon, laughter leaked out so easily it was embarrassing to his pride.
The helplessly relaxed atmosphere soon gave birth to another topic of conversation.
Though he wanted to interrogate thoroughly in case there were health problems, it had been glossed over due to His Grace the Duke's social skills, but it didn't matter. 'I received my freedom from you, but in your life am I freedom? Am I the joy met after endurance?' Leonardo, who couldn't ask what he meant to ask, rested both arms on the table and leaned his upper body forward.
With all his nerves focused in the same direction, there was no time to look around at the beautiful surrounding scenery.
Just then, when a servant brought the prepared octopus dish, Hugo picked up the cutting fork and knife. Since he had said he specifically wanted to eat it, he carefully cut it himself with all his heart. Soon he served food onto Leonardo's plate with a large spoon.
"Rather than me, you're what I'm worried about."
The arrow's direction turned to the opposite side.
"How have you been living? There's so much I want to hear."
Hugo continued while serving food onto his own plate as well.
"Where you've been living, whether you've been watching me. And why you appeared before me again, I'm curious."
The calmly recited tone was tinged with longing he couldn't fully convey. Leonardo pondered where to start telling him, how much he could tell his partner. Then suddenly realizing there were almost no stories he could tell him, he was at a loss for words.
"Uh..."
He wanted to chatter and share daily life like at any pleasant meal, but thinking about it, he was full of things that had to be kept secret.
Meeting Nero at Solia's cemetery, the noble faction's plot, matters about the collar. That the ultimate reason for participating in the league was Cardo's gemstone as the championship prize, and the reason he needed it was to eliminate the imperial faction.
Leonardo, who had been moving his lips, couldn't say anything until the plate was pushed toward him.
Instead, wanting to tell him something about what he had seen and experienced, he fumblingly searched for topics he could at least talk about.
"So... I went to a strange castle..."
The strange phenomena in that dreamlike place - since not just anyone could approach it, perhaps it would be okay to talk about it a little.
As his lips, which had been swallowing secrets all along, opened, Hugo likewise leaned forward to listen.
Over his shoulder, the sparsely rising stone columns entered Leonardo's field of vision for just a moment.
One of the sculptures perched on top flickered. And the fact that it took the form of a turtle was something he realized only belatedly.