Selena continued telling the story of what her brother had experienced.
The Luzens War. A rather fierce battle between the Empire and radical elves.
In the greed of old men, it's always the young who are sacrificed.
The result was the Empire's victory, but the process was filled with blood and wounds.
Her brother was also among those who bled and were wounded.
He almost didn't make it back. They could have received only a death notice.
His family could have wept before his corpse. Or even without one.
He was lucky. Heaven helped. God sent a savior.
Seeing that brave figure, the enemies were surprised and lifted their siege.
The savior, in the form of an ordinary soldier, rescued the unit members.
"...That's how my brother was able to escape from there."
Selena continued speaking while fidgeting with the coffee cup in front of her.
Her fingers trembled slightly, as if recalling just how close her family came to tragedy.
"I'm really grateful to that person. If it weren't for them, not only my brother but hundreds of imperial soldiers might have lost their lives. As my brother said, they were truly a savior sent by God."
Across from her, Leon sat stiffly, his expression carefully held in place.
He listened, but every word pressed against him like a weight he couldn't shrug off.
"Oh, yes... I suppose that could be true."
Leon forced the response out, trying to sound casual.
Leon asked with a slightly uncomfortable voice.
"Um, Selena. That soldier. Did your brother not get a good look at who it was?"
"Huh? Yeah. At that time, everyone was suffering so much that they couldn't even wash. As a result, everyone looked so terrible that it was hard to tell who was who. The same applied to that soldier, so my brother doesn't know exactly what kind of person they were."
"I see. That's how it was."
Gulp—
Leon took a sip of the coffee in front of him, still looking uncomfortable.
His hand, steady a moment ago, now held the cup just a bit too tightly.
Even afterward, he continued to show a somewhat uneasy expression for some reason.
His gaze wandered, unfocused, like he was trying to push down something heavy stirring inside him.
There was no way Selena, sitting right across from him, wouldn't notice this.
After all, he had been listening well to her stories until now, responding with interest and sincerity—but this time his reaction was strange.
It strongly felt like he was forcing himself to listen to something uncomfortable.
His posture stiffened, his shoulders tense, as if each word tugging at the topic was pulling at a hidden wound.
'Is he feeling burdened?'
The thought crossed Selena's mind immediately.
Ah, yes. That could be it.
Come to think of it, Leon was also a regular imperial soldier like that soldier.
It might be uncomfortable for him if she praised another soldier too much in front of him.
He might feel ashamed that he didn't do anything while that person did such things.
Even though that was completely unfair to him, it was a natural assumption she couldn't help but reach.
When her thoughts reached that point, Selena felt sorry again, thinking she had made another mistake.
Her expression softened with guilt, and she lowered her gaze slightly, unsure if she should apologize again or change the subject entirely.
Although he might not have made the same achievements as that soldier, Leon was also on the same battlefield.
He must have shown courage while carrying the same fears, and fought just like that soldier.
Though he was a different person from that soldier, he was equally an imperial hero.
"It's okay, Leon."
"Huh?"
"You fought just as hard as that person. For the Empire."
"Oh, um... did I?"
"So you're just as amazing as the soldier who saved my brother."
Selena smiled brightly and even added a gentle, encouraging "You can do it!"
The lightness in her voice made it clear she genuinely meant to comfort him, not mock him.
Thanks to that, Leon's uncomfortable expression improved a little bit.
His shoulders, stiff from embarrassment and awkwardness, lowered just a touch.
'Even though he says it's not because of me... I must have been part of the cause. So, doing this much is only natural.'
Selena's thoughts were complicated, but her expression remained soft.
How difficult must it have been for a noble's son to enlist as a soldier? And to even experience war.
The more she considered it, the more her heart tightened with a quiet sense of guilt.
So she was just doing this because she felt sorry. There were no other emotions involved.
Thinking this, Selena comforted Leon sitting across from her once more, encouraging him to stay strong.
She leaned forward slightly, voice gentle, as if trying to soothe a wounded friend.
"..."
Meanwhile.
Gulp—
Leon, who had downed all the remaining coffee in one go, slowly lowered the cup and thought to himself.
'No matter how I listen to this… that's my story, isn't it?'
His expression stiffened, eyes narrowing just slightly as he stared at the table.
The pieces were lining up far too neatly—every detail, every rumor, every vague heroic anecdote.
It wasn't just similar.
It matched.
Leon swallowed again, this time out of disbelief rather than the taste of coffee.
'Seriously… isn't this exactly what happened to me?'
The realization sank in like a stone dropping into a still pond, sending quiet ripples through his thoughts.