[BL] Guardians of Fate
Chapter 74 - 19: Evangelon Silvermane [3]

Chapter 74: Chapter 19: Evangelon Silvermane [3]

With those words, it didn’t take long for Mathias to warm up to him. If he was honest, staying away from Evan was more difficult than anything else. He didn’t know if it was because he was the guy’s Guardian, but he had already grown unexpectedly attached to his Summoner, much to his chagrin.

They didn’t leave the village right away; they helped the people rebuild their houses, using both physical labor and magic. Then they moved on to the next village, and so on and so forth.

By the time they arrived at the castle and Evan helped Mathias settle in, they had become close friends.

When the afternoon came by, Evan excitedly introduced Mathias to his childhood friends, Elyana and Leon.

"This is Mathias!" he said proudly. "He’s my new friend! He’s also my second Guardian. He has agreed to stay with us at the castle!"

"Oh, oh! A new face!" Elyana exclaimed in delight, her eyes sparkling. She had always been the type to enjoy meeting new people. "I’m Evan’s Guardian, too! It’s nice to meet you."

"Hi," Leon said shyly, unable to look Mathias directly in the eye.

Although he was the same age as Evan and Elyana, he wasn’t as self-confident as they were, and he also found it difficult to open up to strangers at first. He preferred to stay in the background and observe.

"Hello," Mathias said with a smile. These were royals, so he had to remind himself to be as polite as possible. "Pleased to meet you as well."

"I’m Elyana! You can call me ’Ely’," Elyana chirped, extending a hand towards him. "Can I call you ’Matty’?"

Mathias looked shocked, but shook her hand anyway. Elyana raised an eyebrow at the unexpected reaction.

"Why? What’s wrong?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing, just that... it’s the same thing that Evan wants to call me," he stammered.

"Really?" Elyana laughed, and Evan’s laughter quickly joined in. She met his palm with a high-five. "We really think alike, Evan!"

"And my name is Leon," Leon said quietly. The three of them had been so engrossed in their conversation that they had almost forgotten that he was there.

"Oh. Hi," Mathias said awkwardly. He didn’t know what else to say after that.

"Okay then, now that introductions are over, let’s go!" Evan said happily, wrapping an arm each around Mathias and Leon’s shoulders.

"Huh? To where?" Elyana asked curiously.

"To the training grounds, of course! You said you had something new to show me about your magic, didn’t you?"

"Oh! Right. Yeah, Leon here wanted to see it, too!"

In the end, all four had fun at the training grounds within the castle, watching in awe as Elyana gave them impressive demonstrations of her magic.

Since she could conjure and control crystals, her magic was naturally seen as both deadly and beautiful, which enchanted all three boys as they watched.

Later on, Mathias joined her, and they both enjoyed showing off whose magic was better and more efficient in battle.

As the sun set, both Elyana and Mathias left first. Elyana had a curfew to observe while Mathias claimed that he had to unpack all his things and prepare himself for his new purpose in the castle, whatever that meant.

As they watched the two disappear from sight, Leon muttered, "It seems like a lot of fun."

"What is?" Evan questioned.

"Being a Guardian," Leon answered honestly. "Especially being your Guardian."

Evan grinned. "You wanna be my Guardian too?"

Leon nodded eagerly. "Can’t I?"

Evan laughed as he reached out to wrap an arm around his friend. "Unfortunately, as much as I would like that a lot, that’s not how it works."

"Why not?" Leon pouted, his cheeks puffing out cutely. "Can’t I just decide to be your Guardian or something? What do I need to do?"

"Silly! You need to be a Guardian first. You need to be born with it." Evan shook his head. "I’d hate for you to become a Guardian, though."

Leon blinked. "Why not? What if I’d make a great Guardian?!"

"No, it’s just that..." There was a faraway look on Evan’s face as his gaze slowly shifted towards the setting sun. "The life of a Summoner and his Guardians... it’s not exactly pretty."

"What do you mean? I don’t understand." Leon looked downcast. "I want to know more about your kind, too. I’ve tried to read more about it, but Father has often scolded me for it. He doesn’t seem to like me reading those books."

"Books about us, you mean?"

Leon nodded. "He reprimands me and tells me to focus on my formal studies instead."

"Well... maybe you should listen to your father, Leon," Evan said quietly. "After all, he has his sights set on making you heir to the duchy. And that’s no easy task, you know. The King, the Queen, and the Council will have to evaluate you and your ability to—"

"But I don’t care about any of that," Leon interrupted with a frown. "Father doesn’t understand me at all."

"Well..."

Leon was about to say something when he suddenly noticed the time. He sighed. "Father will scold me again if I stay here any longer."

"Okay, let’s go back together," Evan said and offered his hand.

Leon looked down at the proffered hand before a smile slowly curved his lips.

"Together," he said, grabbing Evan’s hand and holding it tightly in his.

‏‏‎ ‎

* * *

‏‏‎ ‎

Thinking back now, Evan really liked Leon. Even though they were distant cousins and the same age, he felt like Leon was his little brother, and often treated him as such. Leon didn’t mind at all, and sometimes it even seemed that he preferred such treatment.

Evan and Elyana adored Leon from the beginning. Leon just had this innocence about him, a pure side that was untainted by the horrors of the real world. This aspect of him made them want to protect him even more.

Although Mathias came into the picture a little later, he, too, seemed to warm up to Leon. Leon simply had that ability. Whoever he interacted with would warm up to him over time.

Though apparently that did not apply to Leon’s own father.

The Duke.

Evan and Elyana had had this suspicion in their minds for some time. That the Duke might hold some kind of grudge against Guardians, or that perhaps he was just the aggressive kind of parent who wanted his son to do whatever he wanted.

Maybe he didn’t want Leon to be associated with anything Guardian-related, but he also didn’t want to strain the relationship between himself, the King and Queen, and their own children.

The Duke never voiced his displeasure, at least not in front of them. But he had a certain air about him that made Evan and Elyana wary. Even Mathias was no stranger to the Duke’s aura. If it weren’t for the fact that the Duke had to maintain good relations, he would probably have snubbed them all a long time ago.

But then the changes began.

It started gradually, starting with Leon.

The transition was subtle, to be honest. It went from Leon sometimes apologizing for being late to meeting them, to just flat out declining all invitations to hang out, always having a convenient excuse up his sleeve. It frustrated Evan a bit, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Not when Leon strangely refused to tell him anything.

And then came the day when Leon suddenly announced that he was leaving the castle and that the Duke wanted him to live at the duchy permanently instead.

He didn’t tell Evan or anyone else beforehand. He just dropped the news right on the day and then left, as if he never had any friendship with them at all.

As if they were just acquaintances.

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