“This is……”

The Emperor’s seal caught his eye first. Lea curiously looked at the letter.

“Who is it from?”

“His Majesty sent it.”

Allen went to his desk and looked for a paper knife. Carefully opening the letter, he found a single sheet of paper. Suddenly, he remembered what Edner had told him before leaving the North.

Didn’t he say he would hold a banquet soon? Reading the letter, it contained exactly that. It said that in two weeks, a grand banquet would be held gathering all the nobles of the Empire.

This letter was essentially an invitation. Allen touched his forehead. There was a postscript at the very end of the paper. An order to bring the Vice Commander as his partner.

When Allen’s expression became strange, Lea couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked:

“What does it say?”

“His Majesty asks us to come to the imperial palace for a banquet.”

“Oh— a banquet! You’ll get to eat lots of delicious food.”

“I suppose so.”

“Yes. Have a good trip. I’d appreciate it if you could bring back some delicious food that’s only sold in the capital.”

“I’m not going alone. You’re coming too, Vice Commander.”

“What?”

Lea’s eyes widened.

“Me too?”

“Yes. His Majesty wishes for the Vice Commander to attend as well.”

“Hmm, I’ve never been outside the North. This is too sudden.”

“You’ve never been outside the North?”

Now Allen was surprised. Lea nodded several times.

“Yes. I never had a reason to leave.”

“That must have been stifling.”

“Well, it wasn’t that stifling. I didn’t even have time to think about it. Oh, but I don’t know how to ride a horse.”

“You can learn. Don’t worry, you have enough aptitude.”

It took about four days on horseback from the North to the capital. One had to camp once and pass through two villages before reaching the capital. Considering this, they needed to depart about a week from now at the latest. They couldn’t attend the banquet immediately after arriving in the capital. As a Grand Duke, he had to pay his respects to the Emperor and Empress first. They also needed to arrive early to have their formal banquet attire tailored for both him and Lea.

There was still plenty of time before departure. He thought he could teach her horseback riding. Lea would probably learn to ride a horse easily. She had excellent balance and thigh strength.

“Let’s start special horseback riding training tomorrow.”

“Oh, will you teach me personally, Commander?”

“I’ll teach you quickly and efficiently.”

* * *

The next day, Allen took Lea to the stable within his mansion.

Lea looked at the horses snorting and blowing steam from their nostrils with curious eyes and asked:

“May I touch them?”

“By all means.”

Lea looked around at the horses and chose one with the same color as Allen’s hair, stroking its mane. The soft feel of the fur transmitted to her palm. The horse seemed awkward with her touch but didn’t mind it, moving its head up and down before calmly accepting Lea’s hand.

“It’s gentle.”

“You must be to its liking.”

“What’s its name?”

“Cheetah.”

“Hm? Why?”

“Because it’s fast but has low endurance.”

“Ah, the opposite of you, Commander.”

Allen’s face turned bright red at Lea’s casual remark. In the past, he wouldn’t have understood, but now he couldn’t not understand. He was someone who joined bodies with Lea almost daily. He would be a fool if he couldn’t understand such a comment.

Allen put a bridle on the horse in the stable and led it outside, pretending to be nonchalant as he spoke:

“Why, do you want it quick and short?”

“No.”

Lea shook her head firmly.

“Fast and longer, please.”

“You’ll die.”

“Commander, what do you take me for! I can handle it.”

“……This one is for you, Vice Commander.”

Allen lightly ignored Lea’s words and put a saddle on the horse’s back. If he kept getting swept up by the Vice Commander, they might abandon horseback riding altogether and head straight for the bed.

He demonstrated by putting his foot in the stirrup, mounting the horse, and extending his hand to Lea. She admired him, hesitated for a moment, then took his hand. Allen pulled her hand, gently grabbed her waist, and lifted her up.

“Whoa……”

In the blink of an eye, Lea was seated in front of Allen. Nestled in his arms, Lea rolled her eyes in wonder as she looked ahead. With her elevated line of sight, she could see the distant horizon at a glance. Her heart raced for some reason.

Lea had briefly managed nobles’ horses before but had never ridden one. In the North, only nobles could ride horses. This was partly because horses were expensive, and partly because nobles generally wanted to be above commoners. Because of this, Lea always had to run with large strides to keep up with the nobles on horseback during hunts.

“My heart feels so full.”

“That’s too early an impression when we haven’t even started galloping yet.”

Allen handed Lea the reins. Then he placed his hands over hers. Lea awkwardly fiddled with the reins, feeling his warm hands enveloping hers. Allen’s hands were quite large. Even though Lea’s hands weren’t small, they were completely enveloped and hidden in his.

Allen taught Lea how to properly hold and handle the reins. She followed along well, as expected. Lea smelled nice. Whatever perfume she used, the scent from her round crown tickled his nose. Every time the horse moved and their bodies swayed slightly, Lea’s head bumped against his chest. It didn’t hurt, but it was stimulating. Allen focused on teaching horseback riding more diligently to distract himself from Lea’s soft body and scent.

“This is called a walk. When you increase the speed from here, it’s called a trot.”

“Ugh, when the horse runs, my bottom keeps bouncing.”

“……If we go faster into a canter, it might get better.”

Lea’s bottom bounced up and hit Allen’s groin. Inevitably, Allen’s center rose to attention.

“Ah, Commander, there’s a rock!”

Allen quickly slowed the horse’s pace. Getting an er*ction on horseback? Allen wanted to deny himself.

“……Sorry about the rock. Let’s stop here for today and continue tomorrow.”

“We’re done already? I thought we were just getting into the real lesson.”

Lea was right. Allen had planned to teach her the full gallop and how to avoid obstacles while kicking the stirrups. But he couldn’t continue the lesson with an er*ction.

“If you want to learn horseback riding with a rock stuck in your bottom, we can continue.”

“Ah, on second thought, I think tomorrow would be fine.”

Even Lea seemed to judge that this was going too far.

After sending Lea away, Allen returned to his mansion and m*sturbated for the first time in a while. m*sturbating in the bathroom wasn’t easy. His c*ck, which had already thoroughly tasted the inside of Lea, couldn’t find satisfaction in ordinary stimulation. Even after gripping, pressing, and stroking with his hand, it took quite a while to extract the contents. While washing away the s*men pooling on the bathroom floor, Allen suddenly remembered that he hadn’t prepared travel caps.

He needed caps for a full two weeks. For the journey there, the stay in the capital, and the return journey. Allen secretly called a merchant while being mindful of his employees’ eyes.

“It’s been a while, Grand Duke!”

The merchant bowed deeply to Allen, who hadn’t forgotten to call him.

“Did you bring… what I asked for?”

“Hoho, of course. I also brought something even better.”

“Something better?”

Allen furrowed his brow. None of the items the merchant had previously described as “better” had been any good. The gel and ej*culation delay powder still lay dormant in Allen’s office drawer.

Unaware of Allen’s thoughts, the merchant confidently pulled out a bottle. The bottle was palm-sized, containing a thin liquid. Allen gulped. The merchant, flaring his nostrils with excitement about the new product, said:

“I’ve never seen a product as innovative as this. Is it a contraceptive! Is it an aphrodisiac!”

“Contraceptive…? Aphrodisiac…?”

“Yes! Grand Duke, this was made by a Southern mage for personal use, and rumors about it are rampant in the industry. I specially procured it for you.”

“The South again…? The South seems to make only strange things.”

“Hoho, not at all. It’s because there are many excellent mages in the South.”

Allen sighed, sincerely regretting having invited the merchant to his mansion. He should have gone directly to that adult store to buy caps, despite the embarrassment. He could have worn a mask to hide his identity there. The atmosphere there was such that even if people recognized each other, they pretended not to. He could have endured a little shame and gone there quickly. It wasn’t that he wanted to avoid recalling the previous incident. The merchant continued:

“The method of using this is simple. You apply it to both male and female g*nitals. One application lasts up to a month!”

“You’re saying applying that alone works as contraception? Is that possible?”

Allen looked suspicious. Even if the liquid contained magical power, it wasn’t like a cap that could hold s*men. Being effective just by applying it to the g*nitals? He couldn’t imagine it. He didn’t want to imagine it either.

The merchant raised his eyebrows and answered confidently:

“Yes! If you apply it thoroughly all over, it activates a specific magic on the s*men. What was it again? While ej*culation delay powder delays ej*culation, this liquid maintains the appearance of s*men but eliminates its function for a certain period. So even with internal ej*culation, pregnancy doesn’t occur!”

“So you’re saying… this drug makes people impotent?”

“No, no! Impotent? What a terrible misunderstanding! It’s completely different. This is literally just a contraceptive, so when you stop using it, the g*nitals’ function returns to normal. Trust me. It’s a highly reliable product that has undergone a year of testing in the South! It also has the special effect of inducing excitement, making it very effective. I’ve tried it myself, and it was ve-ry good.”

“I get it. I get it, so stop talking.”

Allen made a disgusted face as the merchant explained the contraceptive with flying spittle. After finishing his explanation, the merchant handed Allen the caps and the bottle with sparkling eyes. Allen accepted them in a daze.