[BL] Guardians of Fate
Chapter 98 - 22: A Feeling Beyond Rationality [3]

Chapter 98: Chapter 22: A Feeling Beyond Rationality [3]

"Oh." Ardyn rubbed the side of his neck, seeming embarrassed. "Yeah... I guess it’s that obvious."

A smile threatened to curve the corners of Leon’s lips, but he decided to focus on something else. "How’s your back?" he asked, his eyes catching Ardyn’s blood-stained shirt. The sight of it unnerved him — he had always hated to see people hurt — but he had no extra shirt for Ardyn to change into, nor did he have any cloth or gauze to wrap the wounds in.

"It feels better than before, that’s for sure." Ardyn gave a small smile. "Thanks for your help, by the way."

Leon averted his gaze, his hand clasping the other in a gesture of shyness. "It’s no problem." He opened the door at the center, revealing what seemed to be a driver’s seat and a panel with glowing crystals and golden levers. "I’ll start the carriage for a while so we can get moving," he said. "Maybe in one of the nearby safehouses—"

"A bad idea, I think," Luke interrupted softly. "If you go there with us, you’ll be recognized. Besides, I don’t think we should be seen by other people right now. It might be dangerous."

Leon frowned. "You’re right. I... I’ll think of something."

"What about Ravencoast?" Ardyn quickly suggested. "Evan told me to go there after I evacuate the city. He told me to seek out a friend of Elyana’s, and then she’ll give me a free boat ride to Prismond Town."

"Ravencoast?" Leon repeated, eyes wide in surprise. "But that’s..."

"That would be great," Luke interjected. "I need a boat ride as well. I’d like to go back home as soon as possible. Zach might be worried sick by now." He patted something in his pocket, his gaze downcast. "I still haven’t been able to contact him."

"Home? ’Zach’?" Ardyn said, puzzled. "Where do you..."

"I live on the outskirts of the Emerald Kingdom, but it’s a bit far from Prismond Town," Luke explained, turning to him with a slight smile. "As for Zach... He’s my childhood friend. He’s also one of my Guardians."

"Whoa. There are already three of us, huh," Ardyn couldn’t help but remark.

Leon’s eyes glazed over at that moment. "A childhood friend..." he muttered, voice so quiet that it was almost inaudible.

"Wait, but if we go to Ravencoast..." Ardyn gazed at Leon. "Will you also be coming with us on the boat?"

Leon looked startled at this. "Me...? I..." He paused for a moment, seeming contemplative. "I don’t know."

Right, Ardyn realized. "Oh yeah," he began, his voice breaking the awkward silence that had formed. "I guess your father must be real mad at you right now."

Leon’s gaze dimmed. "He is," he said quietly.

"If that’s the case, how much does your father know?" Luke asked. "What exactly happened?"

"That’s... a long story. I’ll need to start up the carriage first and put on the camouflage. I’ll... talk about it after this," Leon said as he finally entered the door leading towards the navigation panel.

As Ardyn peered intently through the open door, he could also make out what appeared to be a four-pane window frame. At this point, this carriage really did resemble a car. It was weird, but in a fascinating way.

"Would you like to open the windows?" Luke’s voice suddenly drifted into his ears. "That way, you can still get some fresh air."

Ardyn turned to him in surprise. Since their first meeting — or rather, since the moment Ardyn had thrown himself over Luke to protect him from the rubble — they hadn’t had a proper one-on-one conversation where everything wasn’t so tense due to the panic and danger. Plus, with Leon now in the mix, there had been too much going on.

"The... windows?" Ardyn repeated blankly, and then inwardly scolded himself for sounding dumb.

"Yes. The ones to your left that are attached to the wall. They’re small openings that allow you to see the outside."

Ardyn could hear the clear amusement and teasing in Luke’s voice, and he felt himself flush in embarrassment. Trying not to look flustered, he turned sideways and grabbed the edge of the window cover, cursing internally.

However, it wouldn’t budge.

He tried again, using more force this time, but he couldn’t move it at all. It was as rigid as if it had been glued in place.

"Uh..." Ardyn swallowed, pointedly trying not to look at Luke. "It’s stuck."

"Stuck?" Luke’s voice grew closer, and there was a shift of movement.

Before Ardyn could answer, he suddenly felt Luke glide over from his side of the bench and swiftly close the gap between them.

Almost immediately, Ardyn felt the warmth of the man’s presence, making his heart thunder in his chest. He held his breath as Luke reached towards the window cover, his body coming even closer, and suddenly Ardyn forgot how to breathe.

In that instant, he felt it again. The familiar rush of emotion, the feeling of his heart pounding wildly in his ears, just like when they first crossed paths in the city last night. Only this time, the emotions rose to a level Ardyn could barely comprehend.

Was this really how Guardians felt towards their Summoner?

Why did it seem so different from what he had expected? It didn’t feel like something he would feel for a stranger or a friend or even family.

Instead, it seemed more like...

"There you go," Luke said, snapping Ardyn out of his trance and bringing him back to reality.

The cover was now effortlessly slid to the right, revealing an open window overlooking the lush grass outside. The morning breeze swept through the carriage, blowing strands of Ardyn’s hair from his face.

Yet his heart still hadn’t stopped pounding.

"...Thanks," he said, his voice like a whisper.

Luke gave him a small smile. "You’re welcome," he said before returning to his original position at the far right end of the bench.

Ardyn could feel the heat rising to his face, and it was then that he realized something.

Why on earth was he behaving like this? This was so embarrassing!

Ardyn swallowed, his palms turning cold and clammy.

This had to be some kind of Summoner-Guardian bond side-effect or something, right? Surely this wouldn’t last forever. Maybe it would wear off soon, and then everything would go back to normal.

Ardyn made a mental note to ask Leon about this later once they had warmed up to each other and had a chance to be alone. Since Leon was also Luke’s Guardian, he might be able to shed some light on these strange feelings. What he thought was odd might turn out to be a natural thing in this world, and he would just have to get used to it.

Anyway, there are other things that I need to focus more on, he thought.

Like what he was going to do after getting that boat ride at Ravencoast.

And also how he could convince Leon to come along with them.

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