Pale cigarette smoke drifted along the edge of red lips. Leonardo let out a long breath, releasing the thoughts he had driven deep into his lungs. The nicotine spreading slowly through his body produced a fleeting but undeniable pleasure.

Those fireworks that had felt like fragments of memory would linger in his chest for a long time, and whenever he looked up at the sky they would shine inside him like preserved stars.

With the constellation that decorated the early dawn as his roof, he recalled the dreamlike episode from a few hours earlier. A stretch of time that had belonged only to the present—without past or future.

Not a moment spent clinging to past glory or enduring in hope of some uncertain possibility, but a moment when he could immerse himself completely in what stood before his eyes.

Lately he had experienced moments like that more often. Whenever he recalled the person who had been with him during those times, it felt almost like being intoxicated by a drug. He would find himself strangely excited, smiling broadly like he had in the careless days of his youth.

In the end, I couldn’t bring it up today either.

Yet the feeling after the drug wore off was hardly pleasant. The countless worries and stray thoughts that had been pushed aside came flooding back with twice the force for the time they had been suppressed.

In truth, the reason he had been the one to suggest meeting today was because he wanted to hear about what that person had experienced during the explosion incident. How the Council had handled the matter internally. What kind of difficulties he had faced. Whether the experience had changed his state of mind.

And, since Leonardo himself had been indirectly connected to that incident, he had wanted to quietly test how the man might react if the truth were revealed to him someday.

But in the end, he never brought it up. He knew it was avoidance.

Even so, he wanted that moment—at least that moment—to remain beautiful.

When he heard that the man’s subordinate had wronged him, he naturally hadn’t felt good about it. Yet, strangely enough, anxiety and relief had crossed his mind at the same time. The more reasons that person had to feel guilty toward him, the more justification Leonardo seemed to have for hiding the truth in return.

And maybe it would be fine to leave °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° their relationship undefined forever.

Rrrk—

He had just begun to dwell on the lingering attachments clinging to a life that once held nothing but goals when he heard the sliding door open behind him.

A bright voice followed, calling his name.

“Oh—Leo!”

Leonardo turned his head halfway with an indifferent look. Judy was coming out, struggling along while carrying a laundry basket almost as big as she was.

This was the rooftop of a long, narrow building in one of the more densely populated areas of Libertas. However, it was fairly far from their usual residence. Unlike the bright entertainment district nearby, this area at this hour was extremely dark and quiet.

Most people were still out working.

Apparently Judy had chosen this place as today’s laundry-drying spot.

“When did you get here? You didn’t even come straight home.”

“Just now.”

Leonardo answered simply and lifted the cigarette hooked between his fingers. A moment later he burned the rest away in a breath of smoke. Judy, who had been approaching him, stopped abruptly with a startled look.

“Ah—! You didn’t have to put it out!”

“It’s fine. I’ve had enough.”

At Leonardo’s feet lay the remains of several cigarettes smoked back to back, reduced to ash.

Of course, since he disliked leaving traces behind, he quickly scattered the ash with a small gust of wind. He dipped his hand into an iron bucket sitting on the old bench nearby and washed away the smell and residue with collected rainwater. Then he gestured for Judy to bring the basket.

“I didn’t interrupt you, did I?”

Judy waddled over toward him.

“Interrupt what?”

Leonardo took the end of the clothesline as if he had done it many times before and tied it securely to a protruding steel beam of the poorly finished building structure. Then he stepped back, holding the other end of the line and leaving some space between them. Judy set down the basket, smiled brightly, and began hanging the wet clothes one by one.

Watching quietly, Leonardo asked,

“Why did you come all the way here? You could hang them near the residence.”

“Terzio’s patrols have gotten stricter lately. It’s better to hang them somewhere confusing where lots of laundry is already out.”

“Hm.”

Leonardo sat down on the low brick railing adjusted to Judy’s height. Beneath the railing, countless pieces of laundry were strung across pipes, stretching over the alleyway.

It was a very different sight from the orderly flagpoles along the main streets.

But these too were a kind of banner representing Libertas.

Flags reveal the spirit and living standards of a place. The faded, torn cloth pieces fluttered in the wind together with steam rising from the pipes.

Sometimes the lowest of the low here even stole things like that, so people usually hid their laundry in narrow alleys near their residences.

But recently, the local vigilante patrol had begun sweeping deeper into the area, stirring through the alleys. To keep the residence safe, they had to endure these troublesome arrangements.

Judy, who had moved closer without him noticing, rummaged through the basket and said,

“I’m also drying the new poisonous herbs we brought in. The wind here is strong, so they dry fast.”

“But you’re not on duty today, are you?”

“Right. It was Gil’s turn originally, but today...”

Judy trailed off mid-sentence and glanced at Leonardo cautiously. The golden eyes stared at her before curving slightly. Already wearing the expression of someone who knew everything, he tilted his head and asked lazily,

“Today what? You entered the match?”

“H-How did you know?”

“How else? I met you.”

Leonardo shrugged.

“When did you all start moving around without sharing things with me?”

“No, it’s not like that! Leo! The others wanted to help secretly... this is the only thing we didn’t tell you. Really!”

Judy waved her hands frantically while holding up a pair of white underwear that probably didn’t even belong to her.

The sight of her looked so anxious and desperate that Leonardo almost laughed.

She was transparent in a way that made her one of the few partners Leonardo genuinely trusted.

Normally Judy supported plans quietly rather than taking initiative, so there was no way she would have decided to keep something from him on her own.

Her flustered expression was amusing, but it was also pitiful enough that he decided to let it slide.

“Fine. I believe you. Just share things immediately next time when I’m not around.”

“Of course! I just forgot for a moment, really!”

“I said I get it, so stop waving that thing around.”

“Ah—.”

Judy looked down at her hands and, embarrassed, quickly hid the underwear behind her back. Then she casually hung it on the line and changed the subject.

“How was today’s match? Are you tired? Did any weird guys interfere again?”

“A weird guy... Well. One thing’s certain—it was easier than last time.”

“So you passed again?”

“Obviously. Look.”

Leonardo rummaged through the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a folded card. With a light flick of his finger, the fluttering piece of paper drifted down into Judy’s palm.

When she unfolded it, an elegant pattern engraved along the edges appeared first.

In the center were the date of yesterday, the location of the match, and the words:

Lion, 1st

He had asked the League operations staff to issue the card specially so he could show it to His Grace.

Normally they didn’t give out anything like this, so the finishing and stamped seal looked somewhat crude.

“Wow, Leo! You got first place? That’s amazing!”

“Of course.”

Even so, Judy raised her voice excitedly as if she had discovered something extraordinary. She held the card up with both hands and examined it against the sky, eyes wide with amazement.

Watching her reaction, Leonardo felt his shoulders rise slightly with pride.

At the same time, a faint bitterness crept in.

I won first place to show it to him... and in the end I couldn’t even show him this.

It wasn’t as if there had been no chance to say anything.

But he had never once talked about the match itself with His Grace.

Thinking about it now, he hadn’t said what he intended to say either. What exactly had they done when they met today?

...Kissed?

Well, that had been nice in its own way.

Still, it wasn’t only today. The same thing had happened before. Conversations during meals could easily have drifted to the subject, yet His Grace never asked about it first.

Despite asking about so many other things.

“At this rate, you’ll really win the whole thing, won’t you, Leo?”

Judy’s voice rang with sincere joy, pulling Leonardo back from his thoughts.

“Of course I will. The moment I submitted the application, I was already planning to win. If it’s not me, then who? You all said that yourselves.”

“That’s true. Hehe—then the day our goal comes true isn’t far away!”

Judy, clearly excited, shook out another piece of laundry and added,

“Once we get the Cardo ore, we’ll all go to the Imperial City together and—”

Waaah—

At that moment, a faint cry sounded from somewhere beyond the building.

Both of them turned their heads in the direction of the sound.

Cats crying was a common noise around here, so at first they both assumed it was just another animal in heat or fighting over territory.

But listening more closely, it sounded different.

Softer.

More fragile.

“A baby.”

Judy murmured as if enchanted.

Leonardo’s golden eyes turned toward where she had been standing. But Judy had already set down the clothes she was about to hang and moved toward the railing where Leonardo sat.

Then she climbed up onto it precariously.

Standing on tiptoe, she peered between the buildings. Worried she might fall, Leonardo held the clothesline with one hand while grabbing the hem of her fluttering dress with the other to pull it back.