The moment I saw Ricardo staring at me with surprised eyes, one thought crossed my mind.

Why is Rick here?

I stopped dead in the hall and looked at my senior.

He had clearly come out from the same performance as I had. He was dressed even more neatly than usual, and his morph weapon had taken the obedient shape of a snake, coiled around his finger.

Looks like he came with an invitation.

Who invited him?

“Someone you know?”

Erich Erhart’s voice snapped me back to myself.

“A Badger? Your senior?”

I whipped my head around.

And immediately assessed the situation. Erich Erhart was studying Ricardo closely. The realization instantly soured my mood, but fortunately, Jaeyeon didn’t seem interested in Ricardo at all.

Jaeyeon was only staring up at the chandelier with bored eyes.

I need to get him out of here before more attention gathers.

“Thanks for the performance.”

I spoke quickly.

“Get home safe. I’ll head out separately.”

“You’re not even going to introduce him?”

Erich’s smile widened.

The moment I saw that smile, irritation surged up in my throat.

But Erich pretended not to notice my displeasure.

“Besides, weren’t you planning to ride back in our car?”

“I’ll manage on my own, so stop worrying and go first.”

“I’ll be off then~.”

Ricardo’s easygoing voice drifted over.

When I turned, I saw my senior waving a hand lazily.

“Don’t mind me.... get back safe~.”

“You’re Hildebert’s senior?”

That had clearly been a signal to end the conversation.

But Erich Erhart blatantly ignored it.

“You seem familiar, so I assume you’re a veteran Black Badger who’s been active for a long time. A pleasure to meet you. I’m E—”

“Spitfire.”

I leaned my body toward the tailor.

I stared directly into those ash-gray eyes.

“Stay in your lane.”

Erich slowly pulled one corner of his mouth upward.

Unlike the unsmiling eyes, the curve of his lips softened further. Without changing that strange expression, he silently opened one palm toward me.

He understood.

At the surrender gesture he showed, I eased the furrow in my brow a little.

What I really wanted was to slam my cane against the hall floor.

But then people’s attention would turn this way.

I didn’t want to create that kind of situation.

I didn’t want these people recognizing the faces of the seniors who weren’t part of headquarters.

Once I straightened back up, only then did Erich send me a smiling glance.

Crazy bastard....

“Just make sure Jaeyeon gets back safely.”

I said it without fully smoothing out my expression.

“I’ll get home on my own, so call off all your little pets.”

“Get home safe.”

Erich replied with infuriating smoothness.

At least he knew where the line was, because he didn’t so much as flick his eyes toward Ricardo again.

Instead, he gently turned and started walking at an unhurried pace.

“I’ll contact you again.”

He vanished with a wink.

Jaeyeon, who had been idly toying with an earring while looking at the ceiling, lazily followed after him. Shashinsky and Lee Seunghyun trailed behind.

Both men gave me only a quiet nod before disappearing.

The subordinates are perfectly normal, and yet....

I worked hard to suppress the heavy curse and sigh that wanted to escape.

The moment Erich Erhart vanished from sight, I scrubbed a hand down my face with the one not holding the cane.

I was barely holding back the sigh that threatened to spill out when I sensed someone nearby.

“Sorry if I ended up becoming an unwelcome guest~....”

I quickly lowered the hand that had been covering my face.

And took in my senior, who was watching me with that unreadable expression.

“No. I’m sorry, senior. I just never expected to run into you in a place like this.”

“If only you dressed like this half as often normally~.”

Ricardo tugged at the lapel of my suit.

“I’d almost forgotten how handsome you are....”

Excuse me?

Where had that suddenly come from?

I studied his face to figure out what he really meant, but I couldn’t read any hidden implication there.

In the end, I gave up and asked directly.

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

Ricardo made a face that seemed to say, figure that out yourself.

I genuinely had no idea.

“So how exactly do I usually look in your eyes?”

“Let’s just head out~.”

Ricardo changed the subject as if it were troublesome.

He didn’t even wait for my reply before turning toward the exit.

Because he started walking at that slow pace of his, I never got the chance to ask, Do I look ugly to you the rest of the time?

***

“I don’t have my wallet, senior.”

The moment we stepped outside, I said it to Ricardo.

“If you’re not busy, please give me a ride.”

I added it shamelessly.

Ricardo, who had been walking exactly three steps ahead of me, turned his head to look at me.

A cool breeze stirred his neatly combed black hair. Complete darkness had already settled outside the venue.

Even my senior’s figure was half-swallowed by shadow.

“You should’ve just taken their car~?”

“Right. I only just realized I came out without my wallet.”

I answered smoothly, and Ricardo let out a quiet scoff.

I ignored it.

“And to be honest, I’d also like to see your new place, Rick.”

Instead of replying, Ricardo turned his head away.

For a while he simply stared across the wide opera grounds with an unreadable expression.

I waited without pressing him.

The calm peculiar to the hour when the day is winding down.

Only after the clusters of audience members leaving the hall had thinned did my senior mutter,

“What a liar....”

“Hm? I’m serious.”

“Can you even walk all the way down to the underground parking garage?”

Suddenly Ricardo asked in crisp, clear diction.

He looked distrustfully at my cane — admittedly a luxury item Erich Erhart himself had gifted me — and at the arm resting on it.

“Want me to carry you?”

“I can walk just fine!”

That felt a little unfair.

“I normally get around just fine without a cane or crutches!”

Ricardo didn’t believe me.

Still, he respected my wishes enough not to carry me on his back. Thanks to that, I succeeded in preserving what little dignity I still had left.

I climbed slowly into Ricardo’s green Maserati. I was fully aware I was imposing, but there was no way I could just let Ricardo leave.

I had at least managed to send Erich off quietly, but there had been new Elders in that place, and one of them had been stupidly ambitious. It was obvious the methods would be dirty too.

Erich had said he would handle it, but there was nothing wrong with being careful.

I should ask him to take me to the place Ricardo moved into, not the cabin....

“By the way, do you enjoy classical performances too, Rick?”

I asked as I fastened my seatbelt in the passenger seat.

“I had no idea.”

“I got invitation tickets~.”

The car that had been parked in the underground garage glided smoothly into motion.

I blinked.

“From who?”

“The concertmaster of this orchestra~. I saved him once while on patrol before.... Ever since then, he sends invitations every now and then, so if the timing works out, I come watch sometimes~.”

“Oh.”

So that’s why he was here.

Relieved, I let out something like a sigh of release.

“That’s actually kind of heartwarming.”

There were barely any cars on the road.

The vehicle slid between rows of orange streetlights. For a while Ricardo only drove in silence, his elbow propped against the open driver’s-side window, eyes fixed ahead.

And I wasn’t an idiot....

I was carefully reading the room when the car suddenly swerved.

Screeeech!

“Ah!”

An attack?

I grabbed the passenger-side door and twisted around.

I quickly checked the rear windshield and the back side windows.

...There was nothing.

Forget an ambush — there were barely even any normal cars passing by....

....

At some point the car had been parked perfectly on the roadside.

Wrapped in unease, I slowly turned my head.

Ricardo was pulling a cigarette from the inner pocket of his jacket.

The moment my senior placed the long cigarette between his lips, I quickly took out a lighter and lit it for him.

“I thought you said you didn’t have your wallet~?”

“I really don’t.... I just brought the lighter just in case.”

Ricardo leaned his head out the window.

The night wind was blowing, and beyond the driver’s-side window was the railing of a bridge. As I watched Ricardo smoke in the wind, I listened to the sound of the river below.

The wind sweeps all the smoke away, so there’s barely any smell.

He’d probably known that. Ever since I woke from that seven-month sleep, Ricardo had never smoked in front of me.

The ember of the cigarette blinked in the dark.

My senior spoke.

“It’s not that I don’t understand how you and Ska feel....”

Scary.

“I can’t even say the way you handled it was wrong.... If I were in your position, I’d probably act the same way.”

“...Sorry.”

“But I can’t help being pissed off~.”

The fact that he said it in such a lazy tone only made it scarier.

I tucked my lips inward and carefully watched Ricardo’s mood.

The green-eyed senior still didn’t look at me.

“That said.... it’s not like there’s anything I can really do about it~.”

“...Sometimes I want to tell you everything too. But....”

“I know~....”

Ricardo pulled himself back inside the car.

Apparently he wasn’t planning to finish the cigarette. He flicked it out, then crushed the still-smokable remainder into the ashtray.

“People you’re better off not knowing about.... honestly, I’d rather not know either~.”

“Yes.... um, please just erase the man who tried to greet you today from your memory. He’s the kind of person who makes life exhausting if you get entangled with him.”

“I figured~.”

“...I’m sorry. Were you very upset?”

“Why apologize all of a sudden? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

But your speech got shorter!

I wanted to shout it, but held back.

I sat there quietly with my mouth shut, and only then did Ricardo’s gaze finally settle on me.

A gaze that seemed a little blunter now.

“I mean it.... I just let old memories surface on my own and ruined my mood.... I’m not angry at you, and you did absolutely nothing wrong~.”

“But you have every right to feel bad. Even I wouldn’t have felt great in your place.”

“You asked me for a ride because you were worried some of them might do something stupid, didn’t you?”

Ricardo pointed it out sharply.

“Normally, you wouldn’t have asked for a ride to the cabin, let alone my house. Since it’s late, you’d have insisted on handling it yourself out of pointless stubbornness.”

“...It really is late, so it’s not exactly pointless stubbornness, is it?”

I muttered while looking away, but he was right about all of it, so I couldn’t argue.

“It’s also true that I’d been waiting for an invitation to your house.”

I murmured while looking ahead.

Then I let my gaze settle on the long stretch of road before us. A bridge with no cars passing.

Looking at the night road reflected in the windshield and rearview mirror, an inexplicable longing welled up.

I didn’t let myself sink deeply into the feeling, though. My eyes kept flicking to the glass and mirrors, confirming once again that we weren’t being followed.

Ah.

Wouldn’t riding home in Ricardo’s car actually have the opposite effect?

The thought struck me suddenly.

Could this behavior of mine have provoked people who didn’t know their place?

I might have made things worse by overreacting and tangling the situation needlessly. An attack didn’t have to happen today.

If they were going to play dirty, they were more likely to choose another day.

Suddenly my heart gave a dull ache.

I’ve gotten stupid from soaking in peace.

With my elbow propped on the window frame, I covered my mouth with one hand.

Seven months ago, I never would have acted this hastily and clumsily.

Why did I do that?

No matter how I thought about it, this really had been a mistake. I’d been far too conspicuous. I should’ve just naturally let Ricardo leave after saying goodbye back then.

Ska had been trying so hard to keep Jonathan and Ricardo separated from the Elders.

And like an idiot, I’d lost my instincts and stumbled.

What can I even do right now—

Snap!

A loud sound cracked right beside my ear.

Startled, I turned my head and saw Ricardo’s right hand.

“What’s wrong~?”

My senior, who had snapped his fingers to pull my attention back, leaned against the driver’s seat.

“Your face suddenly got all scrunched up....”

“Did it?”

Feeling awkward, I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Sorry.”

“Does something hurt?”

“Hm? No. I was just thinking about something.”

Ricardo’s eyes narrowed.

That green gaze swept over me. But perhaps he didn’t find anything visibly wrong, because he turned away without pressing further.

The driver’s-side window rose with a soft whir.

I should ask him to let me out somewhere reasonable.

Feeling the car gradually pick up speed, I thought it over.

I could call Igor and ask for pickup—

“I’m heading to my place~. That’s alright, right?”

“Hm?”

What house?

“Rick’s place? Your new house?”

“You said you wanted to see it.”

Ricardo replied calmly.

“Didn’t you?”

That was true.

I had been thinking I needed to visit [N O V E L I G H T] at least once so I could choose a housewarming gift, but hadn’t I thrown that suggestion out far too suddenly?

Hadn’t he been driving toward the cabin before...?

The question rose in me, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask, nor could I stop someone who had already decided to go home.

And so, I arrived at Ricardo’s house.

***

“I’m really sorry for intruding so late....”

I slowly stepped inside Ricardo’s home.