Drip, drop.
The sound of water droplets falling from wet hair onto the chin echoed in the quiet bathroom. Iberis stared blankly at the rippling water before entering the bathtub.
Splash.
As he submerged himself until his face was half-covered, water overflowed from the tub. He brushed back the hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks, then tilted his head back.
“Sigh…”
Iberis exhaled as he gazed vacantly at the misty air above. Even though the bubbles had settled and the fragrance of the bath additive had faded, he couldn’t bring himself to get out.
Glancing.
Iberis side-eyed the tightly closed door and sighed again. After receiving guidance in the car, he had become much more conscious of Lucas. Because of this, he no longer felt confident in treating Lucas as usual.
In fact, while undergoing tests and eating at the base after their return, Iberis couldn’t properly make eye contact with Lucas. As soon as they got back to their quarters, he fled to the bathroom.
‘I want to open the most intimate part of your body and fill your insides with my thing.’
Iberis groaned, “Nngh,” as he recalled Lucas’s words, covering his face with both hands. It was truly embarrassing to remember. The place where Lucas’s fingers had touched also bothered him.
“Doesn’t he feel any shame…”
Iberis grumbled, repeatedly stroking his flushed cheeks, wondering what kind of nerves Lucas had. Unlike Lucas, he hadn’t yet developed specific desires. He had been too busy following the pleasure Lucas gave him to think beyond that.
Perhaps because of this, he felt embarrassed and shy whenever Lucas openly expressed his desires without hiding them. Lucas should also be unfamiliar with intense skinship and sweet words, so why was there such a difference? By now, he should have gotten used to it, but somehow every day felt new.
‘You suit being loved.’
Iberis flinched at the voice echoing in his ears as he tried to guess the reason.
‘Giving love to the person I like until I’m satisfied – that’s my way. That’s also why I want to embrace you. So get used to it from now on.’
Ahhhh! Iberis silently screamed, curling up tightly to escape Lucas’s words that kept buzzing like an echo. Resting his chin on his folded knees, he focused his gaze on his right ankle.
What was it that he felt earlier?
Iberis fingered the protruding ankle bone, recalling the sensation when Lucas bit his ankle. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the name engraved on his ankle seemed clearer than usual. It still seemed to throb.
“He said he was a distant relative of the Blake siblings…”
Iberis traced a memory from some time ago. Recalling how Lucas had spoken affectionately on the phone with Regina Lowell Blake, it seemed he was quite close with the Blake siblings. The tender tone and warm content of their conversation had even led to a momentary misunderstanding.
Well, it wouldn’t have been difficult for them to become close, given that both sides had lost their parents at a young age and had General Bismarck as their guardian. Being distant relatives, they probably knew each other from childhood.
Iberis let out a deflating sound, “Phew,” as he thought about Lucas’s friendship with the Blake siblings. It was a small world indeed for connections to intertwine like this.
What would Luke say if he found out that his distant relative could be my name match?
Iberis imagined Lucas’s reaction when he revealed his name, tracing the name engraved on his ankle bone with his finger.
He’d probably be very surprised, right? Would he wonder why I hadn’t searched for him until now? He might even be jealous.
If Duke Blake is indeed my name match, it means he’s also a guide. His matching rate would naturally be higher than the captain’s.
…Then what happens?
A shallow furrow formed between his neat eyebrows at the sudden question. Even if Lucas Lowell Blake turned out to be his name match, he had no intention of dragging him into the bloody battlefield. He just wanted to get done with what he had been putting off. It seemed like that would help properly establish his relationship with the captain.
“This is complicated…”
Iberis sighed softly, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. There was no need to make a fuss when it wasn’t even certain whether Duke Blake was his name match or not.
“…I should check, though.”
Iberis stared at the name engraved on his ankle with a complex gaze. Ten years ago, when the name appeared on his body, he had suspected that “Lucas Lowell Blake” might be his match. But he hadn’t dared to confirm it.
Instead, hoping that his name match wasn’t Lucas, he had secretly inquired about guides named Lucas. He never found one, though.
Later, when he learned that Duke Blake was a normal person, not an ability user, he felt relieved. He didn’t want to put the son of the Armand couple, who had shown him pure kindness, in danger.
But recently, he began to suspect that Regina, Duke Blake’s sister, might be an unregistered ability user. If she was unregistered, there was a high possibility that Lucas Lowell Blake was too. Moreover, he seemed to have some kind of relationship with Luke Illum, Iberis’s exclusive guide.
‘…I don’t want to deceive you, Major, so I’ll tell you that I also have personal resentment towards former General Logan.’
‘Although I lack evidence and only have suspicions… there’s a high possibility that he’s my enemy.’
‘Like you, Major, I’ve also experienced losing someone precious because of former General Logan. I can’t say more than that as it’s a private matter.’
‘I don’t want to burden you, Major. I originally had no intention of confessing my feelings. I’m telling you this because I think you’d find out eventually during guiding. I also have aspects of myself I’m not proud of, so I can’t just ask you to accept my confession outright.’
‘I enlisted in the Defense Force to achieve a certain goal. Because of that, I’m inevitably deceiving those around me.’
The silver-gray eyes darkened as they recalled Lucas’s words one by one. Piecing together Lucas’s story, the precious person he lost to Livio, his suspected enemy, was likely his parents or the Blake siblings’ parents. Perhaps even both.
While he wasn’t sure exactly what Lucas meant by deceiving those around him, including Iberis, if Livio truly was the one who took Lucas’s loved ones, it gave Iberis one more reason to seek revenge against him.
Considering how Lucas had occasionally spoken about Livio, it was apparent he had been tracking him for a long time. If they exchanged information and actively joined forces, they might be able to deal with Livio more quickly.
Iberis stroked his right ankle with a troubled expression. Whether he accepted or rejected Lucas’s confession, it seemed he needed to resolve this issue first.
* * *
Flip.
Lucas, sitting on the sofa, turned the pages of the medical report with a serious face. He had been worried about the first mission after Livio’s assassination attempt, but fortunately, the test results weren’t bad.
Many indicators, including anemia, cholesterol, blood sugar, and liver function, were within normal range, and the mana circulation and internal mana contamination levels had noticeably improved.
The problem, as expected, was the body damage rate. Although it had dropped from critical to severe, it was still far from being considered okay, causing Lucas to sigh involuntarily.
“Does this mean what’s already broken can’t be fixed…”
Lucas muttered in a dejected voice, feeling a heaviness in his chest. While cracks can be mended, what’s completely dead can’t be revived no matter what. If Iberis’s body was damaged beyond the point of recovery, a complete cure would be impossible to dream of.
“No, that’s not it.”
Lucas repeated to himself, as if pushing away the negative thoughts filling his mind. With many methods still untried, it was forbidden to show weakness so soon. If a doctor shows uncertainty, the patient becomes more anxious.
Gathering his scattered thoughts, Lucas stared intently at the report, deep in thought. If Iberis continued to receive regular guiding and medication as he was now, his health could maintain its current state without further deterioration.
This meant he could live much longer than the doctors who had given him a terminal diagnosis had predicted.
However, this was just maintaining the status quo, not a complete cure. Lucas wanted Iberis to be healthy enough that nothing would go wrong even if he stepped away briefly, not just a potential terminal patient who could relapse at any moment if he overexerted himself. For this, Iberis needed to completely escape his terminal condition.
81%
Lucas smiled faintly as he checked the matching rate written at the end of the report. It seemed like just yesterday they had crossed the 80% mark, and now it had increased by another 1%.
Just 2% more and they would reach 83%, the condition set by the leadership for official pair approval. Then they could remove the annoying “temporary” label.
It was common knowledge that as the matching rate and guiding level increased, the effects of guiding improved.
In fact, after conducting level 2 guiding, Iberis’s body, which had been on the brink of death due to mana overload from excessive ability use, recovered rapidly, and various indicators improved dramatically.
This was where Lucas placed his hope. If their matching rate increased further and their relationship deepened, perhaps they could aim for a complete cure through the highest level of guiding.
