Lea looked around the boutique. The interior was bright with good lighting, and it had a more diverse selection of dresses than the places they had visited earlier. Lea’s eyes lit up seeing the dresses displayed in sections according to body type.

Michelle proudly shrugged and pointed to the dresses with her hand.

“We have many sizes here. Take your time looking around.”

“Just give me anything that fits my size. I don’t care.”

“Come now, you should wear something that suits you.”

Michelle joked and brought a dress from the large size section that she said was selling well these days.

The dress, embroidered with daffodils, covered all the way to the neck, cinched in at the waist, and had a full skirt. Allen felt dizzy looking at the elegant yet flamboyant dress with frills attached here and there.

He really wanted to take back what he had said in the office.

“I think it will suit you very well, commander.”

“No, it would suit you better, vice commander.”

“You two look so good together.”

Michelle laughed softly and actively encouraged Allen to try on the dress.

“Unlike the simple design of the upper body, the fullness below gives a more delicate impression.”

Allen grimaced at the dress held out to him. The eyes of Lea and Michelle were very burdensome. He snatched the dress and took out his money.

“I don’t need to try it on. Just take the money.”

He didn’t want to make a spectacle of himself in front of Lea, let alone a familiar resident of his territory.

Michelle clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“But you should check if the size fits……”

“It should fit well enough. No need for that.”

Allen left the boutique almost like he was fleeing.

* * *

The square’s alley seemed rarely visited, with silence all around. The walls on both sides were old and tall. It looked like a place where no one would notice if someone did something once darkness fell.

“The guy frequently appears around here.”

At Lea’s words, Allen pouted. He had forcibly put on the dress over his shirt and pants, which made it quite uncomfortable. Allen looked around and folded his arms. This was the place where he had almost been stabbed in a bad spot by Lea before.

“Come to think of it, what about the guy who was following you back then? Was he just a pervert?”

Allen asked Lea while tucking his wind-blown wig behind his ear.

Lea wore an ambiguous expression.

She hadn’t yet figured out whether that guy was a pervert or someone else. The only thing certain was that the presence of the pervert she met last time and that guy felt slightly different, but it was hard to tell.

“I don’t know. I think he might have just been someone going the same way.”

“Really?”

Allen stared at Lea for a moment before looking away.

It seemed like they could think about who that guy was after catching the pervert. For now, Allen closed his mouth seeing that Lea seemed reluctant to mention the guy.

“It looks like it’s going to burst.”

“W-what?”

Allen flinched at Lea’s sudden remark.

“You should have taken everything off before putting it on.”

Allen finally let out an “ah” in realization.

The shoulder and chest areas of the dress were stretched almost to the point of tearing. Though the problem could be solved by removing the clothes underneath, Allen insisted on wearing them together.

“I can’t become a pervert while trying to catch one.”

If there was any advantage to the dress, it would be that it perfectly covered his lower half. Allen cleared his throat and shook his head.

In fact, because Lea was fantasizing even in this situation, he had an er*ction under the dress. He had truly become no different from a pervert, but Allen grabbed the hem of his skirt, avoiding acknowledging himself.

While they were talking, the sun set in the west, casting a sunset glow. The shadows falling in the alley created an eerie atmosphere.

“Vice Commander, you should go now. I’ll catch the pervert myself.”

“Yes.”

Lea answered as if she would leave, but instead hid her body around the corner, pretending to exit the alley.

Allen seemed quite embarrassed about cross-dressing. To her, he looked fine either way—he was handsome regardless. The long wig suited him so well that she personally wanted to recommend he grow out his hair. But since Allen didn’t want to be noticed, she had to protect him. Lea watched him from a distance with a sense of duty to hide the cross-dressed commander if any other knights or civilians passed by.

Allen sighed softly at Lea’s fantasies and thoughts faintly reaching him.

“Why is she still standing there when I told her to go?”

Lea thought he hadn’t noticed her presence, but for him, it was impossible not to know. Lea’s mind wasn’t at the normal clarity level that would become invisible with some distance.

What good could come from encountering a pervert? Allen was listening to Lea’s intermittently heard thoughts and moving his steps toward the sound when suddenly, Lea jumped out from the corner and rushed at him.

* * *

“D＊mn, I think we took the wrong path.”

The two knights were having a very important conversation. It was a matter that would determine their future life in the North.

“Would it be too late to join the Vicetop faction now?”

“Of course it’s too late, you idiot. Just keep bringing food that’s good for virility to the commander. He might seem submissive now, but who knows? The commander might become dominant at night.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Submissive at day, dominant by night. Such strange terms.”

“I heard it from the Northern guys. We should hope the commander becomes a man who wins at night, you know.”

These days, the Comtop faction was in charge of night patrol. From evening to night, from night to morning. The complaints of the Comtop faction, forced to work during times they wanted to rest and sleep, were reaching the sky. The two yawned repeatedly as they went deep into the alley. Since the pervert had been appearing frequently in this area recently, they were also checking this place while they were at it.

“Besides eel, what else would be good to—AHHH!”

The knight who was pondering what else to bring to Allen suddenly screamed. The knight beside him jumped in surprise and looked around.

“What is it? Did the pervert—oh!”

And the knight saw it.

Lea trapping a large mysterious woman in her arms.

The two knights’ mouths fell open. Lea’s and the other woman’s legs were intertwined. It looked so intimate. They felt like they had seen something they shouldn’t have.

“What about our commander!”

One knight stomped his feet and covered his eyes with both hands.

Our commander who gave his body and heart to the vice commander. Was it all for nothing, even after struggling to bring him eel? Seeing Lea cheating on Allen with someone else, a woman no less, in such a shady place was beyond shocking.

Somewhere, the sound of the Comtop faction’s power crumbling could be heard.

* * *

Allen gulped and rolled his eyes. He had only wanted to tell Lea to “just go.” Then he saw two knights appearing in Lea’s mind, and in that moment when he wondered if knights were passing by behind them, Lea instantly pounced on him.

He was currently trapped in Lea’s arms. But whether due to the awkward posture or Allen’s large build, Lea’s face kept touching and moving away from Allen’s chest. Allen looked at the top of Lea’s head before quickly turning his face to the side. He remembered the incident at the Colosseum. There had been a similar situation then too.

‘But she didn’t embrace me like this then.’

One of Lea’s legs had come between his spread legs. Thanks to the dress fabric, their skin didn’t touch, but that somehow gave an even more sensual feeling. The rustling sound of fabric against fabric grated on his ears, making him unnecessarily conscious of his thighs.

“Commander, are the knights gone?”

The knights had left long ago. He had clearly seen them backing away before running off. But Allen couldn’t speak.

He couldn’t move, as if caught in Lea’s demonic beast trap.

In truth, when Lea had rushed at him and pushed him against the wall, he could have easily stopped her. He was strong enough for that. The reason he didn’t was because Lea had come running while silently shouting, “I must protect the commander!” He was taken aback by those words. Throughout his life, he had protected many people, but he had never been protected like this. Lea’s figure, rushing with all her might to protect him, looked brilliant for a moment. And now, with their bodies pressed together, his feelings were all mixed up.

“Commander.”

“Huh, what?”

“I think there’s a stone inside your dress.”

Allen snapped back to reality.

It felt like he had been in a fantasy and was suddenly pulled back to reality. Allen looked at Lea with wavering eyes.

Lea stared at him blankly and moved her thigh higher. It seemed like she was trying to find the mysterious stone. A moan escaped Allen’s lips.

“Ugh.”

“Oh no, we need to remove the stone quickly……”

“No, that’s not it.”

Allen bit his lower lip. Lea’s lower abdomen was touching his sensitive area. The dress, made with a thin layer of fabric and designed to spread widely, failed to properly conceal his hardness. Allen urgently pulled his hips back, but it was useless. Unfortunately, there was a wall behind his back.

This disaster happened because he was too close to Lea.

“The knights are gone, so we should separate……”

“I think we should remove the stone first.”