Allen frowned even while speaking. Thinking about it, a new question arose.

‘But why does the vice commander only imagine doing it with me?’

Just because she sees his face? Why specifically him? It wasn’t something he had particularly thought about before. Whenever he faced Lea’s thoughts, he was always preoccupied with how to endure and get through it. For some reason, he couldn’t imagine Lea thinking about mixing bodies with someone else in his absence.

Allen felt his mood sinking strangely.

“Tsk, lying before the Emperor isn’t good.”

「Judging by your serious expression, what the knights said must be true.」

Hearing Edner’s voice and thoughts, Allen finally emerged from his contemplation.

Anyway, he had learned through Edner that strange rumors were circulating within the knight division, so he just needed to find the source of the rumors and punish them. Nothing else mattered. Whether Lea imagined doing something with someone, or actually did it, it didn’t concern him as long as it didn’t trouble him. He decided that his current bad mood was solely because he had seen Edner’s annoying face after a long time. With that thought, he opened his mouth to change the subject.

“But why did you come with just a guard knight, leaving the other knights behind?”

“Ah, our Third Division Commander really liked your vice commander. I left him at the border to catch up with her.”

He recalled briefly hearing about Lea from the Third Division Commander. Back then, he had expectations for the new vice commander. He had even taken note of her when he briefly saw her on the battlefield. But now? He sincerely wanted to send her to the Third Division if possible.

“Your Majesty, it’s not too late. If the Third Division Commander wants her so much, we could send the vice commander……”

“Tsk tsk, you’re not being honest.”

「He’s really upset.」

Allen was at a loss for words. Upset? His pride was shaved off by a layer.

“Have you two sparred yet?”

“Not yet.”

“My, the commander and vice commander haven’t even sparred yet? That won’t do. Didn’t you once say that people build intimate relationships by hitting and fighting each other?”

That was something Allen had said after beating someone up in his childhood. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this.

“In that sense, how about giving a sparring demonstration in front of the knights today?”

“That……”

Allen was about to say “I hate this” but turned his gaze toward the knights. Sure enough, many knights were looking at him with sparkling eyes.

「This time there will definitely be a clear outcome! The commander will surely attack first, right?」

「If the commander wins, the Vicetop faction won’t be able to make a peep anymore.」

「Those Vicetop guys were so happy about being assigned border patrol duty this afternoon. Too bad they’ll miss the precious sparring between the commander and vice commander, tsk.」

Allen clenched his molars. He couldn’t refuse to spar with the vice commander in front of the watching knights. In the end, he had to listen to the Emperor.

“Yes, understood.”

* * *

The Emperor sent his guard knight to order Lea to come to the sparring grounds. Lea was suddenly summoned to the training headquarters. There, she encountered Allen in casual attire. He was holding a wooden sword with a displeased face.

Lea looked at the brownish wooden sword and threw material into her mental fantasies. That thick girth always reminded her of something. Just thinking about it, she could do a thousand or even ten thousand wooden sword strikes.

“Your name is Lea, right?”

“Yes.”

Lea bowed her head and answered the Emperor’s question. The Emperor handed her a wooden sword while slipping the perfume out of his pocket with his other hand. Lea only saw the wooden sword extended toward her and took it without suspicion. The Emperor seized the opportunity to quickly spray the perfume on Lea and held his breath.

“Oh.”

Lea opened her eyes wide, wondering what had happened. Then she saw the Emperor covering his nose and casually shaking the bottle.

“This is a gift. A perfume that brings luck.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The Emperor’s behavior was very suspicious, but Lea had been taught from childhood not to question a king’s words. So while she was hesitating whether to ask specifically about the perfume, the Emperor quickly pushed her back.

“Your commander is waiting impatiently, so hurry along.”

“Yes. I understand.”

In the end, Lea had no choice but to go to the sparring without asking anything.

Edner watched Lea leave and smiled slyly. He was very much looking forward to seeing how Allen would react.

* * *

Allen reflexively brought his hand to his nose.

A sweet scent emanated from Lea. Despite not usually enjoying sweet foods, that sugary smell pierced his nose and stimulated him.

Though he had never gone hungry in his life, he felt he understood what hunger felt like now. Looking at Lea made him hungry and thirsty. He wondered if this was how it felt to have delicious food in front of you but being unable to eat it.

Allen barely managed to hold up his sword. In truth, another sword was trying to spring up. For the first time, he wanted to call off the sparring. Not because he might lose, but because he might cause an accident.

“Commander, what’s wrong?”

When Allen’s posture kept faltering, Lea tilted her head. His legs looked uncomfortable.

“Nothing.”

But Allen widened his eyes, fighting their cloudiness, and gestured for Lea to strike first. Quickly ending the sparring and getting away from Lea seemed to be the answer. With her imagination becoming more visible as she got closer, the lower part of his body was sending unfavorable signals.

“Then I’ll begin.”

With the knights’ attention focused on them, Lea and Allen’s swords collided. A loud sound rang out. The knights inhaled sharply.

This sparring could also be seen as round two of the confrontation between the Comtop and Vicetop factions. Who won wasn’t important. What mattered more to them was who made more attacks. There was a rumor that this applied in bed as well.

Anyway, the knights cheered for their supported side, even placing bets.

Currently, they were evenly matched. When one attacked, the other blocked and immediately counterattacked, then the opponent blocked again and attacked back. It was truly an exciting sparring match.

But Allen, one of the participants in this fight, was getting worse as time went on.

He had fought countless people before. But Lea was practically the first person he’d encountered who didn’t think about her next attack in advance. How could someone have fantasies during a sacred sparring match!

Each move was unexpected, and her movements were even agile. If he couldn’t see inside Lea’s head, this might have been the battle he had always wanted, but unfortunately, he was fighting not only Lea but also her fantasies and pheromones. If those two were ordinary enemies, it would be different, but his healthy body was honestly responding to the mental attack, driving him nearly insane.

He grew increasingly anxious. He felt it rising more and more, but he focused intently on the sword, thinking it would subside if he concentrated on the sparring.

With each attack, Lea brought her body almost flush against Allen’s. Even when he quickly knocked her away, Lea came at him without pause, showing him intense fantasies. Lea’s speed, powered by stamina different from others, only got faster, never slower.

Allen parried Lea’s fierce attacks and bit his lower lip. He felt urgent.

Although his shirt was long enough to cover his crotch, it was precarious. He didn’t know when the shirt might suddenly rise up and expose his shame to everyone.

Allen swung his sword toward a momentary opening Lea showed, trying to end the match quickly. Lea, in the middle of a heated fantasy, noticed the sword belatedly and hurriedly moved her body.

That’s when disaster struck.

“Ugh!”

“Oh.”

Lea blinked at the sensation that touched her hand. She had momentarily lost her balance and reflexively grabbed and released something. She couldn’t identify what it was. Something hard had pressed against her fingers and throbbed.

While Lea was pondering the identity of this object.

Allen suddenly grabbed his waistband and collapsed.

“Commander, what’s wrong?”

“Huh……”

Allen couldn’t breathe and was gasping. He seemed to be in pain, even sweating cold sweat. Lea frowned and put down her sword, bending her knees to check Allen’s condition. Then she realized she was holding a button in her hand. When had she grabbed this? It was truly perplexing.

Meanwhile, the knights had their mouths stretched open wide. Next to them, the Emperor contorted his face, seemingly unable to hold back his laughter.

They had seen it clearly. Lea had grabbed the enormous thing protruding between Allen’s legs and ruthlessly torn off a button.

“The vice commander…!”

“Looks like I’m on night patrol duty again today……”

“My money!”

The Comtop faction pulled out handkerchiefs from somewhere and bit them. The Vicetop faction, who had rushed over upon hearing about the sparring, witnessed only the crucial moment and gave Lea a thumbs up.

Right now, Lea was the only one who didn’t understand the current situation.

“Commander, what’s wrong?”

“Vice Commander… huff… wait a bit… don’t look……”

Allen said in a hoarse voice.