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"Leo, try this. Doesn't it taste good with the duck?"
Leonardo felt several stares boring into him. Celestina, Ferdinand, his father, Duke Marchez, Duke Marchez's retainer... Even the servants didn't bother pretending that they weren't watching. He couldn't eat in peace with them like this, nor could he just leave. His family wouldn't let him, and the rumors would surely worsen if he did.
'The scoundrel was so heartbroken over being abandoned that he couldn't last a single meal facing his former lover's old flame!'
'The prodigal son stormed out of the dining hall because he was dropped for the commander... No matter how bad he was, I can't help but feel pity for him...'
'He worked so hard, but people really can't win against the dead, huh? The dead even came back, too...'
—People would probably say something like that.
Then again, the rumors were already pretty bad, so what did it matter if he left? Not even a week passed, but he already heard all sorts of things. He heard more than enough of them day-in, day-out from his family, the knights, the servants, Duke Marchez, Duke Marchez's knights, Duke Marchez's servants... Leonardo even overheard something about a betting pool over whether he would fight for that guy's affection the other day.
The only ones who didn't say anything were those field army soldiers who had faith that it was their commander the whole time. Rather, they talked about how wild Leovald was for seducing the apostle while in his body.
...Somehow, that was worse than everything else.
Honestly, he felt like he could vomit blood from the sheer injustice of it all. He wanted to glare at the two troublemakers who caused this mess, but everyone would probably take it the wrong way. The two of them, one of them unaware and the other uncaring of his plight, happily kept on feeding each other.
"I told you to hurry up and sit over there first, but you didn't listen. Hmph!"
Leonardo moved his foot away before Celestina could stomp on it again. He's had enough of that, too. He wanted to be free of being the third wheel, and she wasn't helping.
"My son, I know it must be hard, but you must take these chances given to you to fight for yourself!" His father looked at him mournfully.
"Leonardo... You should at least try. If you give up from the beginning, then there really will be no chance for you two!"
Even that empty-headed silly brother of his was joining in. Of course, it was only because Leovald decided to bathe naked with Isaac in the middle of a church, and Ferdinand interrupted them during their absolutely platonic, completely normal naked hugging session.
At that point, Leonardo had already given up on any idea of stopping the rumors from getting worse. After all, those two hooligans held hands, fed each other, hugged, and whatever else without thinking about how things looked like it would kill them to be two feet apart.
'Knowing that guy, it would probably kill everyone around them, actually.' Leonardo thought back to the way Leovald watched Isaac throughout the night.
'Actually, I'd rather not think about that.' He really wished Isaac could use those powers from before or whatever he has going on now to erase Leonardo's memories, too. He really did not want to remember what Isaac looked like naked, and really really did not want to be near Leovald whenever that crazy guy's jealousy boiled over again. He was lucky that Isaac liked him enough for Leovald to not do anything.
...He was also lucky that Isaac didn't like him too much either. Leovald definitely got jealous whenever Isaac talked to anyone else for a minute too long.
Leonardo sighed (internally, there were too many watching for him to sigh like a normal person) as he stabbed a carrot with his fork.
'Wasn't this supposed to be a dinner to discuss reconstruction efforts?'
Munching, Leonardo let the words from his siblings, his father, and every servant nearby in one ear and out the other. If he just focused on his food, even those two who kept staring at each other and holding hands and feeding each other with every bite despite having functioning hands, even they could become just background noise...
He saw Duke Marchez whispering to that retainer of his, who walked over to whisper to him, too.
"The duke says that he and Isaac plan to discuss the weaknesses of monsters and other critical information every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 in the West Wing's main guest room and that you are welcome to join as someone local to the area."
Leonardo let those words become background noise, too.
He wasn't Leonardo, the victim of those two menaces who liked to sleep together and let everyone see it. He didn't know any Isaac or anything about monsters. No, he was just a normal person eating his peas and carrots like his mother told him to, a normal person thinking about how the steak felt a bit overcooked compared to the usual.
Celestina and his father, who both leaned in to listen to a message not meant for them, stared at him. Celestina, helpfully, kicked at him when he didn't reply. Ferdinand, too far away to hear anything, looked like a kicked puppy when no one explained what was said.
The servant returned to his master, whispering a bit too loudly, a bit too excitedly.
"He was too heartbroken to even reply; he must not think he even has a chance!"
Background noise. It was all just background noise.