Valentino continued to speak, but Leo couldn't hear him past the deafening buzz within his mind.
Pierre was dead.
Even if he didn't necessarily like the old man, he was still Charlotte's father.
And his own father in a way, once.
A hand firmly shaking his shoulder snapped him back into focus.
"Leo? Have you been listening to me?"
He looked back up towards Valentino.
"Sorry, I was just… taking it in. What were you saying?"
Valentino shoved Leo into the room, hurriedly closing the door behind them before continuing.
"Listen to me carefully, Leo. The Reveurs stationed at the wall claim you request access into section two the same night Pierre was found dead. Is this true?"
Leo thought for some moments, recalling the night he visited Pierre.
He replied with hesitance after a while.
"I… I did. I went to speak with him the night I was reinstated."
Valentino sighed and sank into a nearby chair, rubbing his temple. That clearly wasn't the answer he was looking for.
"This isn't good, Leo. I don't know how we're going to build a case for you."
"So… am I going to be arrested? Interrogated?"
Valentino shook his head.
"No, probably not. None of us think you killed him, so there would have to be glaring evidence pointing towards the idea that you did for any of us to actually consider it."
Leo fell silent as he turned to look outside the window.
Thoughts swirled in his head as Valentino continued to talk.
How could it be called a justice system if someone could be let off that easily just by position?
And… What exactly happened to Pierre?
He could hardly remember the night they spoke. The blurriness of the memory filled him with a doubt.
What if he did kill Pierre?
Why would he?
Begging the question in thought, a memory resurfaced.
"You aren't even Augustinian! And neither is that dying brat you killed her with!"
Those were some of the last words he could remember Pierre shouting at him.
A realization crept up on him, no matter how bad he wanted to shrug it off.
His breathing began to speed up as he felt himself grow dizzy, disgust churning in his stomach.
He couldn't have, right…?
Leo came back into focus as the door to his apartment slowly opened, Valentino following his gaze towards the entrance.
There, just beyond the doorframe, stood Caspian.
Leo's eyes widened as he welcomed him.
"Caspian! Thank god you're here. I take it you heard about…"
He froze as he saw the expression on his face.
A small drill hovered just above his shoulder, humming as it spun.
Valentino immediately stood.
"Stop it, Caspian! This isn't your call to make!"
Caspian flicked his wrist, shooting the drill before Valentino could stand between the two.
The drill snapped forward, embedding itself into Leo's eye with a sickening crack.
He reeled back into the wall holding his face, a guttural noise escaping as blood streamed through his fingers.
Clutching his face, Leo fought to stay standing.
"Caspian," he choked, "I'm sorry. I don't remember what happened that night, but I swear I…"
Leo's words were halted once more as Caspian dismissed him with a hand.
"See the injury he left you with? Clearly self-defense."
A moment later, Caspian left the room.
Leo and Valentino stood in silence, one bleeding, the other stunned from what just happened.
Valentino looked back at Leo several times before ultimately leaving the room to catch up with Caspian.
Leo was left sitting against the wall, his eye badly injured and blood drying all over his face.
Valentino had caught up with Caspian who was walking down the hall, leaving the apartment building.
Valentino leaned in and hissed in a low, furious voice,
"What the hell was that?!"
Caspian remained silent for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly.
"He's an asset that we can't lose. We're low on capable Reveurs as is."
"Caspian."
His voice caused Caspian to turn.
"What?"
"Did Leo do it?"
Caspian stared on and said nothing.
It felt like minutes had passed before he responded.
"You're genuinely asking that?"
The larger man scoffed, rubbing his neck as he looked away with guilt.
"Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just stressed from everything going on. Don't get me wrong, I do trust him… I just…"
"Does it matter?"
Valentino's face slowly fell, his expression unreadable.
"What?"
He continued after a moment, "Let's say Leo did do it. What would you do? Would you testify against him? Prove to the people what a monster he is?"
The hall had grown silent for some time now as the two continued walking, leaving the apartment.
He gulped loudly before responding quietly.
"I don't know."
Caspian turned to him, continuing.
"I think he did it. With Pierre's murder considered, his entire family is either dead or in the process of dying. It was only a matter of time before something cracked."
Valentino's lip quivered as he gulped, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"How could you say that? After Raymond fled the country, you're all he considers a friend… Yet you can stand here and speak about him in such a way?"
Caspian finally stopped walking, his fists clenched at his sides.
"You think this is easy? To watch the one man who you looked up to fall apart?"
He spun around, raising his voice.
"I notice because I care! I remind him what he's becoming because I care! And I kept Henrik from sending him to the ICF for the exact same damn reason!"
He breathed heavily as he slowly let him go.
"The Insomniac Correctional Facility? King Henrik was going to send Leo there…?"
Caspian said nothing, his jaw tightly shut.
Valentino hesitated before continuing.
"Isn't that good? The Correctional Facility, I mean. They could get him the help he needs. Isn't that what it's for?"
Caspian's mouth opened slightly before closing again.
He turned his head, kept walking, and said nothing at all.
Back in the apartment, Leo was washing his face off in the sink, trying his best to soothe the swelling.
He stepped out of the restroom after a while, silently scanning the apartment for a bit.
It most definitely wasn't the living space of the average Professor, especially one in the position he just previously had.
He turned, eyeing the cheap coffee maker beside his rickety fridge.
The apartment wasn't much, but coming with a coffee maker was an upside.
Many times after Charlotte's passing he would make an extra cup of coffee.
The only reason he lost the habit was due to his morning schedule tightening as a professor.
Burned out from the recent back-to-back chaos, he thought a cup could clear his mind, even for just a moment.
Moments later, he found himself seated on the bedside, sipping from the mug as he stared out the window.
The absence of the usual thoughts and doubts swirling in his head made for a peaceful moment.
It was actually quiet.
Not just silent in the room, but genuinely quiet for once.
Many hours later, Leo found himself sprawled out over his sheets, drenched in sweat.
Sitting up as he wiped his eyes, looking down to notice he was still in his uniform.
His eyes turned to the clock beside his bed. It read a little past six.
He sighed, standing up and walking to the kitchen to wash the mug that was now stained with marks from the coffee.
The apartment was still silent, this time perhaps in a less comforting way than before.
An occasional moment of quiet was good for his mind, especially given the situation.
But with nothing occupying his mind it was only inevitable for something to resurface.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, a few knocks at the door had distracted him once more.
Unlocking the door and opening it lightly, he was met with Valentino once more.
Valentino eyed his appearance, looking him up and down for a moment.
"You look like shit."
Leo was slightly thrown off by this, maybe a little glad to hear something so lighthearted.
"I suppose I slept a little too well."
"Good, you'll need the energy. We're having a public statement about your innocence."
Leo went a bit stiff from this.
"This early on? Do most people even know of his death?"
Valentino nodded.
"It's only been a little over a day and it's already in the front of every newspaper. It's best we get ahead of it."
He caressed his jaw in thought for some moments, feeling the light stubble.
Valentino looked back, having already walked halfway down the hall without Leo realizing it.
"You coming?"
He snapped out of it, looking up and following behind without a word.
Leo thought of several things as they walked down the streets, eyes attracting to him like magnets.
He was fortunate to skip out on the usual morning bustle due to being out so late.
He felt his palms and forehead begin to dampen with sweat, along with a strange weight behind his eyes that refrained him from lifting them.
He had always felt like this in larger crowds. Maybe not quite this bad… but with tensions this high, who wouldn't?
Then again, it wasn't just the tension anymore.
Things had been spiraling out of his control for a while now.
Internal thoughts he couldn't always trust, emotions that came as fast as they left, and that gnawing sense that people were watching and judging…
Even when no one was there.
As the crowd around him had begun to draw their attention from him, he felt the weight leave his eyes.
Looking up, he spotted some high-ranking Reveurs making announcements near the entrance of City Hall.
City Hall was confusing to Leo, being someone who didn't really dwell all that much into politics.
He had already accepted that his personal opinions weren't really considered.
After all, he was a Reveur. His only purpose here was his strength.
If most—if not all—decisions were handled between Henrik and Augustine's Reveur unit, then what was the use of a government building?
Ultimately, Leo chalked this up to a matter of simple ignorance.
He didn't even know what taxes were before becoming a Professor, since most Reveurs didn't have to pay them.
Suddenly, a sense of social awareness came over him.
` Why the hell am I thinking about the government and its workings when we're about to debrief General Pierre's murder? `
Valentino had given him a light elbow to get his attention, nudging him to go stand with Caspian and the two remaining Generals.
With a deep breath, Leo walked up onto the temporary platform, stopping as he stood beside Caspian.
Caspian muttered under a breath,
"Don't say anything. Let me handle this."
After a moment, Leo nodded.
"Understood."
His eyes carried forward, gazing upon the crowd of blurry, almost conjoined, faces.