“An esper you know, Major…?”
Brenda’s expression became peculiar at Iberis’s difficult admission. She looked at him as if she had heard something strange, her eyes seeming to say, “What esper do you even know?”
There was a reason for Brenda’s reaction. After losing his special team colleagues to Livio’s scheme, Iberis rarely interacted with others.
It was so bad that even after years together, there was still an invisible wall between him and his unit members. He maintained such an isolated lifestyle. To Brenda, this behavior seemed like he didn’t want to experience any more loss.
For Iberis to suddenly bring up someone else’s story and ask for advice was naturally puzzling to Brenda.
“Which esper?”
“Huh?”
“Since you said esper, it doesn’t seem to be someone from our unit… Do I know them?”
“Oh, well, um… It’s someone you don’t know. A… friend, I guess? Someone I was close with before coming here.”
Iberis, seemingly unprepared for Brenda’s specific question, stumbled through his explanation. He was clearly uncomfortable with the unaccustomed lie.
“A friend?”
Swallowing back the retort that had risen to her throat – “Since when do you have friends, Major?” – Brenda narrowed her eyes suspiciously. As far as she knew, Iberis had no esper friends.
If such a person existed, how could I not know?
Tilting her head, Brenda calmly searched her memory. In her time as his adjutant, she had never once seen Iberis meet anyone privately or make personal contact. Without being arrogant, she herself was the esper closest to Iberis.
Something smells fishy here.
The perceptive Brenda wrinkled her nose, seemingly understanding the situation. This wasn’t about some acquaintance; it was clearly about Iberis himself. She decided to hear him out, her face saying, “Let’s see what he has to say.”
“Hmm, I see. Anyway, what about this… esper?”
“Well, recently, this esper suddenly received a confession from the guide they work with…”
“What? A confession?”
Brenda inadvertently raised her voice at the unexpected story. For some reason, Lucas’s face flashed in her mind as she heard Iberis’s words. Surely not… She swallowed hard at the thought crossing her mind.
“Yes. So, this esper is worried about what to do… I don’t have experience in this area either, so I wanted to ask you. You have quite a bit of dating experience, right?”
Finishing his words, Iberis reached for the water glass on the bedside table, as if his throat was dry.
“Hmm, I see. So to summarize, Captain Illum confessed to you, Major?”
“What? *cough*!”
Iberis, who had been hastily gulping down water, was so startled by Brenda’s words that he choked.
“*cough* *cough*!”
“Are you alright?”
“W-why is the Captain coming up here? I told you it’s about an esper I know…”
Iberis sputtered, accepting the handkerchief Brenda offered. After finally stopping his coughing, he awkwardly tried to explain.
“Come on, you might fool others but you can’t fool me. Do you have anyone else you keep in regular contact with?”
“Well, it was really a contact after a long time…”
“What kind of lunatic would suddenly contact you after years to ask for relationship advice? Especially to you, Major, who’s famous for lacking social skills?”
Brenda challenged him with a look that said, “Where do you think you’re lying?” Then she pressed on with a confident tone.
“Stop wasting energy and just confess. This is about you and the Captain, isn’t it?”
“Ugh…”
Cornered, Iberis groaned and rubbed his face with both hands. His ears and neck flushed with embarrassment.
“…You’re right.”
A moment later, a small mumble came from behind his hands covering his face. Iberis admitted that Brenda’s guess was correct. There was no point in denying it now; he’d only invite her mockery.
“Well, well.”
Brenda let out an exclamation that could have been either a sigh or a gasp at Iberis’s confession. Although she was already certain, hearing it directly from him felt strange.
“When?”
“Not long ago. The day after the recent terror incident…”
“Ah, so that’s why you couldn’t focus on our conversation today.”
Brenda nodded as if finally understanding. If she were in Iberis’s shoes, she would have been distracted too.
“I sensed the atmosphere between you two was unusual… Honestly, I’m surprised.”
Brenda expressed her genuine thoughts. After all, the Lucas she knew was a person with strong pride and high self-esteem. He also strictly separated personal and professional matters, albeit in a slightly different way from Iberis.
He was extremely annoyed by people who showed interest in him or approached him actively, and he cut them off mercilessly, as if to leave no room for hope, regardless of who they were. Several unit members had already been harshly rejected after showing interest in Lucas.
For such a person to admit he likes someone he’s only known for a few months and even confess?
This meant only one thing: the rational and cool-headed Lucas had fallen head over heels for Iberis to the point where he couldn’t control his emotions.
That’s why it was so fascinating. While she had often thought Lucas’s behavior towards Iberis was peculiar, she never dreamed he would realize his feelings so quickly and confess to Iberis.
“Us? In what way?”
Iberis showed interest in Brenda’s comment about the unusual atmosphere between him and Lucas.
“Captain Illum took incredibly good care of you, didn’t he? From your meals to just about everything…”
“That’s because he’s my attending physician and guide…”
“It was too much to be just that. His attitude towards you was clearly different from how he treated others. Even I could feel he was giving you special treatment.”
“…Was it like that?”
“Yes, so…”
Others besides me suspected you two were in that kind of relationship. Brenda chose to close her mouth instead of voicing the words lingering in her mouth. She couldn’t bring herself to speak honestly as Iberis’s face grew pale with confusion the more she spoke.
“I didn’t know…”
“Well, you’re quite dense when it comes to these things, Major. Anyway, what’s troubling you so much? There are only two answers to a confession: yes or no. Can’t you just choose one?”
“That’s what’s difficult…”
Iberis pressed his temples with his hand as if a headache was coming on, groaning. Then he hesitantly asked.
“What do you think?”
“Me?”
“Yes. What do you think I should do?”
“Why are you asking me that… Well, I certainly welcome it. I fully support you two dating.”
“…Why?”
“Why? While his personality is a bit bad, Captain Illum is quite good as a romantic partner. He’s handsome, has a good physique, is highly capable, and even has Lieutenant General Bismarck as backing… He’d be a plus for you, not a minus.”
Brenda carefully expressed her opinion. While she rattled off various reasons, she particularly liked Lucas because he was sincere about saving Iberis’s life.
If they became lovers, Lucas would try even harder to cure Iberis completely. Additionally, with Winfried’s support backing Lucas, they might be able to strike a blow against those damned conservatives and work towards restoring Iberis’s honor. Brenda had no reason to oppose their relationship.
“But in the end, isn’t your will what’s important, Major? You won’t date the Captain just because I say you should.”
“That’s true…”
Iberis sighed, lowering his eyes. As Brenda said, this was a decision he had to make.
“…It’s not that I dislike the Captain.”
After a long silence, Iberis mumbled in a low voice. It was the first time he was expressing his true feelings since receiving Lucas’s confession.
“I was really surprised and quite flustered when he confessed… but I was also happy. I could feel that he truly likes me. His eyes, his voice, his expression…”
Iberis poured out his feelings to Brenda as if making a confession.
“If you don’t dislike the Captain, why not say okay?”
“I don’t dislike him, but… I’ve never thought of him that way. And I’m not in a situation where I can date anyone right now.”
“Is there a specific time for dating? If you like someone, you date them; if not, you don’t.”
“But I…”
I might die. The words that couldn’t be voiced stuck in his throat like thorns. Iberis bit his lip with a gloomy expression. Although his condition had improved compared to before, he was still a terminal patient.
Of course, thanks to Lucas, he had escaped the chronic state of guiding deficiency, so if he took good care of himself from now on, he might live a bit longer than the doctor had said. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t die.
