“T-T-The p-p-person w-w-who f-f-first s-s-smells the s-s-scent e-e-emitted b-b-by the p-p-person w-w-wearing the p-p-pheromone b-b-becomes s-s-sexually e-e-excited. I-I-It d-d-doesn’t a-a-affect o-o-other p-p-people.”

“Oho. In that case? I understand. I’ll make sure to spray it on the First Division Commander.”

“T-T-T-Thank y-y-you.”

Edner told a lie without even wetting his lips.

* * *

Lea was currently with the Third Knight Division. This was because the Emperor had brought them along on his visit to the North. The Emperor went to the North training headquarters with just one guard knight, and Lea faced the Commander of the Third Knight Division after a long time.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s been a long time.”

The Commander of the Third Knight Division was a middle-aged man with graying hair. Lea clasped his outstretched hand and recalled the days of the war. In truth, those memories weren’t very clear. Even the face of the Third Division Commander was blurry in her mind. Partly because she had been in a daze back then, but perhaps also because it was a time when she had almost given up on everything. All she could remember was having intense fantasies.

“I really wanted to bring you back to the capital. May I ask why you chose to stay in the North?”

“I have family here.”

“You could bring your family along too.”

The Third Division Commander clicked his tongue in regret. He had kept an eye on Lea since the war. Her movements were so fluid, seemingly one with her sword, enough to captivate his attention. Her skill in accurately striking vital points and bringing down opponents even while fighting multiple enemies and being reduced to rags was extraordinary.

That’s why he had actively tried to recruit Lea into the Third Knight Division. He had even sent her personal letters, putting in his utmost effort. But Lea had always sent back letters of refusal.

Lea shook her head after a slight delay.

“The truth is, I have something I need to do in the North.”

Lea had a reason to stay in the North. Despite having no good memories here, she couldn’t leave yet.

When Lea’s eyes clouded slightly, the Third Division Commander stepped back, seemingly resigned. She was a valuable talent, but there was nothing he could do about Lea already being the vice commander of the First Division. It had also been done by the Emperor’s order.

“I see. Still, it’s good to see you again.”

“I’m glad to see you too. But is it alright to send His Majesty to the headquarters with just one guard knight?”

“We have no choice in that matter. He gets angry if we try to follow him secretly.”

“I see.”

Lea erased the hazy war memories and tried to recall the Emperor’s face. The Emperor she saw for the first time had black hair like Allen. But unlike Allen with his golden eyes, the Emperor’s eyes were red. She had heard the previous Emperor had red eyes. It seemed the Emperor had inherited that trait while Allen took after his mother.

Anyway, the two didn’t look much alike except for their hair color. While the placement of their facial features might be similar, their eye shapes, impressions, and overall auras were distinctly different. Above all, Allen was more handsome. From Lea’s perspective, at least.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t spoken a single word with Allen today. Every time she tried to talk to him, he quickly ran away. Perhaps because she was thinking of Allen, the fantasy of grabbing him and throwing him to the ground naturally crept up. The flow of consciousness, always the same, picking up the nearby scabbard to……

“Is the commander treating you well?”

“Yes, he treats me very well.”

Lea nodded without hesitation. In her imagination, Allen was treating her extremely well.

Meanwhile, the knights standing behind were so shocked they gaped, as if they had heard something absurd.

‘After being driven so hard… she says he treats her well?’

‘Is this the power of love…!’

They were astounded that she hadn’t even broken a sweat during that hellish training. While thinking ‘that’s our vice commander for you,’ they couldn’t help but be terrified.

Evan covered his mouth with his hand and hung his head. Though he felt sorry toward his godlike commander, joining the Vicetop faction had been an excellent choice. While Allen had good stamina, considering he was once rumored to be impotent, Lea must be the top with her tremendous stamina and skills.

“I heard the First Division Commander drives his knights hard at every opportunity. He must have changed quite a bit since going to the North.”

“Yes. It seems so.”

Lea answered vaguely while mentally rolling Allen around. Once on his right side, once on his left side, once face down, once face to face.

The more vivid her imagination became, the cloudier Lea’s eyes grew. Not noticing this, the Third Division Commander thought Allen must have become docile after going to the North, while Evan and the other Vicetop faction knights quickly shook their heads.

They were still exhausted, and just thinking about the morning training made them want to vomit. Seeing Lea agree with the Third Division Commander’s words without changing her expression left them dumbfounded. Lea was increasingly appearing less and less human to them.

“Hey, Evan. Has the First Division Commander’s personality mellowed out?”

A Third Division knight who had been friendly with Evan in the capital patted his shoulder.

Evan replied in a daze,

“Mellowed out in a different sense.”

“Huh?”

He thought the commander must be going back and forth between heaven and h＊ll daily because of the vice commander.

* * *

At the same time, Allen was cooling his head in his office, unaware that Edner had come to the North.

Just thinking about the morning made his bl＊＊d boil.

Lea was no ordinary human. He had felt it before, but she was even more extraordinary than he thought.

He couldn’t understand how someone could imagine having s*x a thousand times while doing a thousand wooden sword strikes. He wondered if Lea had any limits at all. He had specially increased the intensity of the training to prevent her from thinking, but it had backfired.

Fighting almost one-on-one with Lea’s fantasies, he finally surrendered. And like a defeated man, he had to expel white liquid in the bathroom.

No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out what else to do to make Lea stop her fantasies. If things continued like this, something like what happened at that strange shop might occur again. If such a thing happened one more time, he wouldn’t be able to leave Lea alone. Allen banged his head on his office desk, then went outside for some fresh air.

And then…

“Why are you here?”

He encountered the Emperor’s guard knight.

“Oh! Aren’t you the Grand Duke? His Majesty said not to be discovered… eek.”

The guard knight covered his mouth, seeming to have made a slip. Allen’s face soured.

“His Majesty said what?”

“Well……”

“Is that how you greet someone you haven’t seen in a while, with such a stiff expression?”

“Your Majesty!”

The guard knight’s body turned, and Allen shifted his gaze.

「You’re dead now.」

Edner was looking at him with a mischievous expression.

Since coming to the North, nothing had gone right for Allen. It wasn’t that his official duties weren’t being resolved, but his personal life was becoming tangled.

If Edner hadn’t sent him here in the first place, he would have been spending his usual boring days in the capital. Allen thought that even if it was somewhat dull and tedious, being in the capital would have been better, and he narrowed his eyes.

“Why are you here?”

“Isn’t it also my job to check on the North?”

Edner spoke with a glossy face. Allen disliked how he maintained formality in front of the other knights while inwardly laughing.

“Is the work in the North manageable?”

「I heard you’re dating the vice commander!」

Dating?

Allen shot a fierce glance at the knights fidgeting behind Edner. The knights flinched consecutively, seemingly guilty about something. This made him even angrier. He wanted to sew up the mouths of the knights who couldn’t keep quiet and had already spoken to the Emperor.

Allen suppressed his rising anger. Anyway, Edner had heard nonsense from the knights, and that was already an irreversible fact.

He decided to ignore Edner’s thoughts and answered,

“Yes. It’s manageable.”

“And you’re treating the vice commander well?”

「How badly must you have treated her for the vice commander to have an affair with a woman.」

Affair? Woman? What absurd talk was this? Allen’s expression became subtle. The vice commander having an affair with a woman… This was news he had never heard before. If the vice commander had met someone, he should have already known. There was no reason for someone with such lewd fantasies not to think about bedding a lover.

Even today, Lea imagined having s*x with Allen a thousand times. If another woman appeared in her mind, that woman would make the bed creak with another man, but never do anything with Lea.

Above all, the premise of that statement was wrong. Allen and Lea were merely superior and subordinate. They weren’t lovers or anything else. And so far, whenever Lea fantasized about herself, her partner was always him. No other man had ever appeared.

“I don’t treat her badly.”