[BL] Guardians of Fate
Chapter 93 - 21: An Unexpected Savior [7]

Chapter 93: Chapter 21: An Unexpected Savior [7]

There was a moment of silence after that.

Luke studied them for a while, unconsciously flexing his fingers. He still wondered where to start with the healing, because if he didn’t do something about Ardyn’s wounds, it would be difficult for the latter to move.

At this point, the logical course of action was to leave the city as soon as possible. After Calamity’s disappearance, the soldiers would surely return and investigate what had happened. So, for safety’s sake, it was best that they weren’t here if it came to that.

However, Luke only had a very limited amount of magic left. Even if he emptied his reserves now, he still wouldn’t be able to do much.

"Do you two know each other?" he asked curiously, noticing how the atmosphere had shifted after Ardyn’s question.

Ardyn and Leon turned their heads to look at him.

"Uh, yeah," Ardyn said in a low voice that was almost like a whisper. "We first met last night."

Luke noticed something on Leon’s clothing. The young man was dressed in elegant but simple clothes with a black cloak over it. He radiated a different aura than an average person, perhaps something about his posture that seemed dignified despite the situation.

But that wasn’t what caught Luke’s eye.

"That symbol," Luke said. "It belongs to the Duchy of Hartengrove, doesn’t it?"

Leon seemed startled by this and looked down at his cloak. There, on the chest, was a symbol of a red lion with a yellow spear on each side.

"...Yes," he admitted.

"You seem too young to be the Duke, so I presume that you’re his son," Luke concluded. "What’s someone like you doing all the way over here?"

"I..." Leon was hesitant for a moment. "I don’t know."

"How did you know that we were stuck under that rubble?" Ardyn asked, blinking in confusion. He still couldn’t believe that Leon

was here, of all people, and that he was the one who had saved them.

He had so many questions in his head that needed answering.

"...I saw it," Leon said quietly. "I saw the tower collapse, so I went over as fast as I could."

"You saved us all on your own?" Luke questioned.

Leon looked at him tentatively. "What do you mean?"

Luke gazed back at the wreckage. More than half of them were missing, as if they had simply vanished. He guessed they had been destroyed somehow.

"You did all that alone? With no magic?" he asked. "How did you do it?"

Leon’s eyes went wide. He seemed tongue-tied for some reason. "I..."

"Come to think of it," Ardyn said as he leaned forward — which made him flinch inwardly because, wrong move — towards Leon inquisitively. "Those stones had to be pretty heavy, right?"

"I—I guess so," Leon stammered. His posture had turned tense for some reason.

Ardyn frowned. "So then... you just... grabbed them one by one and threw them away?"

"You could say that..." Leon’s voice was growing smaller by the minute.

Ardyn stared at him in disbelief. "Wait, seriously?"

"N—No, not exactly," Leon said hastily. Suddenly, he seemed much younger and more innocent than Ardyn’s first impression of him had been. "I just... had to save you both. I saw what happened, so I did what I could, and..."

His voice trailed off, and he fell silent. He seemed to regret what he had just said, but he couldn’t take back his words anymore.

At that moment, Luke chuckled.

Ardyn and Leon turned to him in surprise.

Luke just stared back in amusement. "Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bad liar?" he said with a smile.

"...Me?" Leon said, startled.

Luke nodded. "What’s the matter?" he asked gently. "What is it that you’re not telling us?"

Leon hesitated once more, but he didn’t say anything.

"Is it your magic?" Luke prodded. "You don’t want to tell us about it?"

"Magic?" Ardyn said, confused. "No, that can’t be. Evan and Elyana told me that he’s not a Guardian. Right?" He turned to Leon for confirmation. "They seemed pretty sure of it."

Luke merely continued to stare at Leon, as though awaiting his answer.

"That..." Leon’s lips stretched into a thin line. He seemed to be mulling over something.

Ardyn’s mouth dropped open. "Wait a minute, don’t tell me—"

"Yes. You’re right... I am a Guardian," Leon admitted, lowering his head. "You caught me. I just... It’s my first time saying something like this to someone."

Ardyn blinked rapidly. "A—A Guar — wait, but they said that your father seems to hate—" He immediately cut himself off, scolding himself inwardly for the insensitivity. "I mean, Evan and Elyana—"

"They don’t know about it," Leon said quietly. "I never told them."

"O—Oh..." Ardyn didn’t know what to say to that. "Well, why didn’t you just tell them? I’m sure they would’ve understood..."

"It’s complicated," Leon said. "That’s all I’m gonna say."

Ardyn suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

Now that his senses returned to him, he realized something.

Leon was Evan and Elyana’s childhood friend, right? They even told Ardyn last night that they missed Leon dearly, that they wished they could become friends again like before.

But now...

Those two were dead.

Evan and Elyana were dead, and Ardyn, of all people, had to be the one to tell Leon about it.

Shit, Ardyn thought. This isn’t gonna be good.

What should I do?

Should I wait until later?

But still, it won’t be fair to him if he doesn’t know. I should tell—

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sharp pain in his arm. He looked down and saw that he had unconsciously clenched his hand into a fist, triggering the pain in the wounds there.

Damn it. I forgot that I had injured them earlier.

When he pushed Luke down, protecting him, the rocks underneath had pierced his palms, drawing blood. When he raised his hand to his face, there were small abrasions and cuts, raw and an angry red. Fortunately, they didn’t look too deep, but there were tiny fragments of rock embedded in the torn skin.

Ugh, it looks gross, he lamented in his head. He reached out with his other hand and was about to pick out the pieces of rock with his fingers.

But then he was suddenly interrupted by a hand that stopped him at the wrist.

"Let me," Luke said softly.

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