“I’m truly sorry. It’s all because of my inadequacy…”
Yuki apologized for what felt like the umpteenth time, suppressing the rising feeling of defiance within her. At times like this, she had to appease Livio no matter what.
“I don’t need your insincere apologies. What’s important now is to find a clever solution to turn this unfavorable situation around. What’s our countermeasure?”
“How about using Anna Judith?”
“Anna Judith? Ah, the villain we captured recently?”
Livio quickly recalled who Yuki was referring to. ‘Anna Judith’ was one of the villains who had come looking for them after realizing it was Livio who had ordered Iberis’ assassination. At that time, he had killed the man accompanying Anna but spared her.
“Yes. We make Anna Judith the mastermind the military investigation bureau is talking about. If we stage it as if she committed suicide, unable to withstand the closing investigation net…”
“That’s not enough. The investigation bureau might be fooled, but Major Hyun’s side will still suspect us. Judging by the money launderer’s arrest, it’s likely that some of the captured villains, like Anna Judith, have noticed something and spilled everything.”
Livio cut off Yuki’s words with a small snort. With past scandals being revisited and the military investigation bureau announcing a separate mastermind behind the terror incident, rumors were circulating that “Livio Logan tried to kill Iberis Hyun.”
In this situation, a villain’s statement implicating Livio? Not only Iberis but also the media and the investigation bureau wouldn’t sit still. They would try to link this terror incident to Livio himself somehow.
He could easily guess how things would unfold from here. He would have certainly acted the same way if he were in the opposite position.
“Do you have any other method in mind…”
“We’ll admit to some involvement in the incident but wrap it up as an individual’s misconduct.”
“What?”
Yuki’s head snapped up at these unexpected words. Admit to their involvement in this incident? To her, it seemed like scoring an own goal.
“If it’s revealed that you, Guild Master, instigated the assassination, wouldn’t it create an even bigger uproar? Isn’t that why we’ve been erasing traces all this time, to avoid Major Hyun’s pursuit?”
“You’re talking nonsense again. From the moment the money launderer was caught, perfectly erasing our traces was as good as failed.”
“Ah…”
Yuki felt her face heating up as Livio criticized her in a tone that suggested he found her pathetic.
“Anna Judith isn’t a very famous villain. She doesn’t have a reason to hold a grudge against Major Hyun either. If we present her as the instigator of the assassination, there will be people who won’t believe it. To silence them, we need to give them a culprit and a story that everyone can accept.”
“You mean…”
“What’s Isaac up to these days?”
“The Information Team Leader?”
Why him? Yuki’s expression turned puzzled as Livio suddenly asked about the Information Team Leader. Isaac Miller was the head of Mars Guild’s information team and had worked with Yuki on this Iberis assassination operation.
Currently, he was on suspension, taking responsibility for the operation’s failure. And to prevent any possible incidents, he was staying in a safe house provided by the guild. It was essentially a confinement measure.
“Don’t tell me… you’re planning to sacrifice Team Leader Miller?”
Yuki’s face turned pale as a thought crossed her mind. She carefully asked, hoping Livio would deny it. However, the answer that came back was cold as ice.
“That’s right. Isaac is someone who was kicked out of the military like me. He harbors quite a grudge against Major Hyun. What if we say that, angered by N-0 unit’s cold shoulder to us, he passed information he happened to obtain to Anna Judith, with whom he had a personal acquaintance, and instigated the assassination? Doesn’t that sound plausible?”
“…”
“When the terror attempt failed and a full-scale investigation began, Anna Judith, feeling psychological pressure, was about to turn herself in. In the process of Isaac trying to dissuade her, a fight broke out, and they ended up killing each other. How about that? It’s common for ability users to die fighting each other, isn’t it?”
“That’s…”
Yuki fidgeted with her lips, seemingly at a loss for words. Her eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck.
It was understandable, as Isaac was from the same defense force background as Livio and had been loyal to him for the past 10 years. The idea of discarding such a person as a sacrificial pawn made her shudder at Livio’s coldness.
“If we spread the word that the information Isaac passed on was Iberis Hyun’s medical record showing he had fallen into a coma, we can kill two birds with one stone by letting people know about the Major’s poor physical condition. Perfect.”
Livio smiled wickedly, seemingly pleased with the plan he had devised. He would have to take responsibility for negligent management of his subordinates, but the investigation bureau wouldn’t find concrete evidence that he had ordered Iberis’ death. How could they find something that didn’t exist in this world?
Of course, Iberis’ side would continue to suspect that Livio had cut off his tail. As the incident was caused by a guild member, he would have to respond to the investigation bureau’s summons as the Guild Master and undergo questioning as a person of interest.
But that would be the extent of it. When people who were obviously the culprits were found dead with clear evidence, the investigation would have to end.
“It’s only a matter of time before tracing the arrested money launderer’s movements reveals a connection to our guild. Before that happens, we need to fabricate all the evidence to make it look like Isaac acted alone. We don’t have time to spare, so start on it right away.”
“G-Guild Master.”
Yuki was taken aback by Livio’s attitude, giving orders as if he wouldn’t listen to any objections. There wasn’t even a hint of regret in his voice as he cast aside a long-time colleague.
“I’ll have to make a public apology to Major Hyun to calm public opinion, tsk… Well, it can’t be helped. I was too hasty this time.”
Livio clicked his tongue, frowning. He saw Iberis and Winfried as the biggest obstacles to his return to the defense force. This was the result of his impatient actions, wanting to quickly resolve at least one of them.
The reason Livio had recklessly escalated the situation was partly because Iberis was someone who could potentially target his life at any time, but more significantly because the current Defense Force Marshal’s term was ending next year.
While the current Marshal was from the conservative faction, the next one was likely to come from the reform faction. On top of that, Winfried was being mentioned as a potential candidate for the following term.
If the Defense Force Marshal changed, Livio’s chances of returning to the military would greatly diminish. Not only that, if Winfried gained even more power than he had now, he might dig up past incidents. Livio needed to return to the Defense Force and secure his position before that happened.
Fortunately, the current Defense Force Marshal was favorable towards Livio, who was once called his successor. Conservative faction members, feeling threatened by their gradually weakening power, had also promised to actively support his return.
However, things had become complicated due to an order given in a moment of unchecked emotion. Even if he used Isaac as a scapegoat, with the scandal from a few years ago still on people’s lips, it would be difficult to completely shake off suspicions of involvement in this incident. He would have to lay low for a while until public interest waned and things quieted down.
I shouldn’t have gone there.
Livio regretted visiting the N-0 unit at that time. But it was water under the bridge now. He vented his rising frustration on Yuki.
“What are you standing around for? This isn’t the time to be leisurely. Go and tell the Vice Guild Master to deal with Isaac as quickly as possible.”
“…Yes.”
“Ah, and what about the reinvestigation on ‘Luke Illum’?”
“It seems to be taking some time. With Team Leader Isaac’s suspension… Should I ask for an interim report?”
“No, forget it. Let’s clean up this mess first.”
Livio gestured for her to leave while still staring out the window. His red eyes reflected in the glass glimmered ominously.
* * *
…Why is this happening again?
Iberis bit his lower lip at the strange sensation he felt below his waist as he opened his eyes. It had been fine for a while, but…
This is all because of this guy.
Iberis grumbled internally as he side-eyed Lucas, who was breathing evenly. At some point, waking up in Lucas’s arms had become a daily occurrence. He had tried sleeping separately on purpose, but the result was always the same.
Whether Lucas was embracing him, or he was unconsciously seeking warmth in Lucas’s arms, or both, he wasn’t sure, but he had gotten quite used to it by now. He meant that he no longer felt flustered when he opened his eyes to see Lucas’s face or chest. Lucas had successfully integrated into Iberis’ life to that extent.
The biggest change was, of course, that he now maintained a near-normal body temperature. Thanks to this, it had been quite a while since he’d used winter items like electric blankets or heat packs, apart from the heater in the bedroom.
To be precise, he hadn’t needed them since he started sleeping in the same bed as Lucas. As Lucas had once said himself, he was fulfilling his role as a human heater perfectly.
However, not all changes were positive. Iberis lifted the blanket slightly and sighed as he confirmed his lower region, which showed no signs of calming down. While he could handle other things, morning erections every few days were really troublesome.
Glance.
After a moment of contemplation, Iberis side-eyed the sleeping Lucas’s face and slowly began to move his waist backward.
When the body is warm, arousal is bound to persist. In such cases, washing his face in the bathroom or drinking a glass of cold water in the kitchen would naturally lower his body temperature and calm things down. He had already resolved the situation this way several times.
Iberis, wanting to end this situation before Lucas woke up, naturally planned to do the same today. He absolutely didn’t want Lucas to discover his condition like last time.
Unfortunately, Iberis’ wish didn’t come true. A hand suddenly reached out and wrapped around his waist as he was trying to turn and leave the bed, pulling him back. Soon, hot breath brushed his nape, and a voice lower than usual wrapped around his ear.
“Where are you going?”
“Hah!”
Startled, Iberis inadvertently let out a moan at the soft sensation touching the back of his neck. In response, the arm embracing his slender waist tightened its grip.
“W-When did you wake up?”
“Just now.”
Smooch. Lucas naturally kissed Iberis’ nape and languidly rubbed his nose against it.
