As soon as I laid out the plan, Leonardo's expression hardened.
"Isn't that exactly what Godric wants?"
"Which is why it's perfect for a distraction."
I responded cautiously, not surprised by his pushback. Raul, who had been listening from the side, looked increasingly bewildered.
"What the hell are you two talking about? No — I knew something was off the moment you started fussing over ceremonial outfits, but… this is insane."
Raul rubbed his forehead, looking like a man burdened with a tangled mess he didn't know how to untangle. I didn't even want to imagine what was running through his head.
Leonardo, however, paid no mind to Raul's confusion and continued the conversation.
"If you claim the honour of the subjugation battle, the captain of the royal guard position comes with it. He won't let you go so easily, Isaac."
"I know. That's why I'm setting the plan in advance. I'll make sure to escape at the right moment."
Situations that required taking risks weren't new. This wasn't the first time — yet Leonardo was visibly anxious, his hand running through his hair in frustration.
Like a man caught in the grip of fear.
Fear was the last word anyone would associate with Leonardo. Even when he was slowly bleeding out in Sinistra's underground labyrinth, composure had always come first.
But now, I was seeing something different.
Something that hadn't existed before. Something that surfaced recently — like the uncertainty a lost child might feel when faced with an unfamiliar path.
The thought circled my mind again: as if I'd inflicted some kind of flaw on him. The idea that I could affect someone else like that made my stomach churn.
Is this what it feels like to become someone's significant presence? Like I was stomping around Leonardo's carefully guarded territory without permission.
And yet, he didn't stop me. He didn't push back, didn't defend his space. He just watched. That made me feel even more unsteady.
"…Commander. I understand why you're against this, but the First Field Army doesn't have much time left. They're weakened — if we miss this chance, things will only get worse."
Yeah. And this time, we need to pull our forces together properly — once and for all.
By the time Act 3 ends and the final Act 4 begins, I don't want to be caught off guard, falling for Godric's schemes over and over again.
More than anything, if Leonardo gains more allies he can truly rely on, maybe — just maybe — he'll find more stability.
I placed a gentle hand on his arm, trying to soothe him.
"We're not diving in recklessly. We'll plan this properly. There will be variables, but we'll prepare for as many as we can. Right?"
Leonardo placed his hand over mine, giving it a light but firm squeeze.
Raul, still looking torn, ran his hands through his hair in frustration, muttering under his breath.
"Damn it. It's risky as hell, but… this is the surest way."
Exactly what I was saying. I nodded quickly, only for Raul to shoot me a half-exasperated, half-wary glare.
"You're just like him. Do you two have a death wish or something?"
It didn't seem like Raul knew about Leovald's past, and Leonardo had told me I was the first person he ever talked to about what happened when he was "Isaac" — so this wasn't about that old sacrifice. He probably meant Leo's nature.
Like how he always throws himself forward when a crisis hits, no matter what.
"Well, what can you do? They say people start to resemble each other when they spend enough time together."
I shrugged lightly, and Raul looked like he was about to clutch the back of his neck and pass out. Maybe I should dial it back a bit.
"Anyway, let's get back to the plan. I picked up something interesting while mingling with the nobles yesterday…"
"You actually managed to have a conversation with those thick-headed idiots?"
…Yeah. Raul's officially banned from any meeting that involves nobles.
「A wise decision.」
Leonardo chimed in with a strangely serious tone, piecing together the fragments of my words like a lover indulging in a secret rendezvous.
The only minor issue is that one of us technically occupies the body of a noble count's son, and the other is a fake noble who got their title overnight.
But since we're both fakes, I'm sure Raul can overlook that little detail.
For now, it's better to skip over those trivialities — we've got bigger problems to deal with.
"At least we know what we have to do now."
Godric's already planning to make me the 'victorious hero of the Leap Year Great Hunt,' whether I try or not. That's the whole reason he invented a noble title and slipped me into the ranks in the first place.
So, we let his plan unfold — just as he expects. Meanwhile, we move behind the scenes where he won't suspect a thing.
"What's the next deployment site again?"
"Thorn."
Leonardo pointed toward the jagged mountain range, its peaks jutting out like a dragon's spines.
***
On the second day of the campaign, Vittorio was the first to wake to the clatter of knights bustling about, tidying the outpost.
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a broad back.
Still wrapped in the warmth of the blankets, he wriggled closer and pressed his ear gently against it. A steady, powerful heartbeat thudded beneath. He stayed there, cheeks warming from the comforting heat, until he finally slipped quietly out of bed.
Glancing at the two men huddled together on one side of the bed, Vittorio noticed Leonardo was already awake.
Their eyes met.
Leonardo, likely awake around the same time as Vittorio, greeted him with a faint, gentle smile. After all, only one person in that bed was truly a late sleeper — a sight they'd grown used to.
Vittorio never asked why Leonardo pretended to sleep in lately.
There wasn't really a need to.
'He looks happy.'
Vittorio gave a small wave for a quiet morning greeting, then silently slipped out of the tent.
Fetching water for washing, helping feed the horses, and shooing away the knights who hovered awkwardly around the tent asking, "Are the young master and his companion awake yet?" — that was Vittorio's usual morning routine.
The last part was especially odd. For some reason, the knights seemed determined not to go anywhere near the tent the three of them shared.
They could've just asked from outside.
Vittorio tilted his head, puzzled.
Sometimes, a passing knight would stop him and ask strange things like, "Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night?" or "If you, uh… need somewhere to stay, you can tell us."
Vittorio decided a while ago that all knights were probably like Raul — people with too much random stuff cluttering their heads. Most adults were like that anyway.
And to the boy's eyes, Leonardo and Isaac seemed to have a lot of tangled-up thoughts lately too.
'They've been going out a lot, day and night…'
Even though there weren't any monsters to fight, they still looked busy.
The man people called "Duke" came by often, and sometimes new adults he'd never seen before. They were always nobles — he knew because they were called Viscount, Baron, or Count.
When he asked what was going on, Isaac just ruffled his hair with a soft smile and whispered something to him.
[We're gathering allies.]
Each time Isaac said that, Vittorio felt the distance between himself and the back alleys of Sinistra grow even more vast.
The narrow alleys of Sinistra were so small that if he stretched his arms wide, his fingertips would brush against both walls, enclosing the entire world within his reach. Everything that mattered happened within that cramped space.
But now, Vittorio slept beside a building once called a palace, and his eyes struggled to take in the endless stretch of snowy mountains around him.
Once, that would've felt like an impossibility — a distant, unreachable world. His old world had been a single, simple canvas. But somewhere along the way, it had expanded so far and wide that getting lost felt easy.
Between narrow alleys and grand palaces lay a gap that couldn't be bridged. Vittorio knew that better than anyone. Yet, he didn't shrink back from it.
Isaac still tied his hair for him every morning. Leonardo would hold up a polished brass plate as a makeshift mirror, crouching awkwardly to make sure the angle was right — even though it clearly didn't fit him.
During their travels, Isaac taught him numbers and letters. Vittorio could read longer passages now. Leonardo showed him how to read maps and often pointed out where dangers might lurk.
And every night, whether Vittorio was awake or not, they both whispered, "Sleep well," in hushed voices, careful not to wake him.
So, even though his new life was unfamiliar and vast, it never felt scary.
Every morning, he fetched water, fed the horses, and trained himself. Even as his desire to be more helpful grew day by day, he held it down, pressing it back into his chest.
He had learned how to curb impatience during his time in the back alleys. He knew how to want less, how to endure more.
So even when dukes and counts passed through the camp, and it felt like everyone else was more useful than he was, Vittorio didn't let it get to him.
Instead, he stuck to his daily routine — fetching water, tending the horses, training. He believed that if he kept at it, a day would come when he could truly help.
Lately, the bucket felt lighter in his hands. He headed down to the river, where a group of squires had gathered. Some were fetching wash water, others scrubbing clothes.
He tipped his bucket into the water and perked his ears. He never forgot what Isaac had taught him:
[Errand boys are treated like they're invisible. People expect them to stay silent. But when no one's watching, their tongues loosen. Rumours always travel through the quietest mouths first.]
And sure enough, Vittorio picked up on the hushed voices of the young squires.
"Did you hear? There's a curse in the mountains… the Dragon's Curse…"
"No, that's not it. I heard a demon wanders the mountains every night, searching for a live sacrifice."
Vittorio blinked, lingering as long as he could without drawing attention. Then he dashed back to the tent to report what he'd heard.
Isaac, half-awake and still half-curled against Leonardo, yawned before giving a crooked smile.
"Hmm. Don't worry. It just means things are going according to plan."
That familiar, suspicious grin told Vittorio there was nothing to fear after all.
He shrugged, then held out the tie for his hair, wordlessly asking Isaac to fix it for him.
In the end, it was just another ordinary day.