It was a small room, but one that held signs of everyday life. A sword and coat were neatly hung on one wall, and a makeshift desk and chair stood by the window.

Only, what was strange was the opposite wall. There, a small iron-barred cell that could barely fit one person was attached to the wall, and inside it there was only a single bed.

And on that bed, Bellian was sitting, waving at Mikhail as if he had been waiting for him.

“Baron? Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d talk about how things are going for a bit and then sleep?”

“Are you worried because of the grand duke of Leonhart?”

As Mikhail came through the iron bars and sat beside the bed with him, he smiled and counted on his fingers.

“It’s already been nearly a year since Sir Mikhail came to Nightrow. I was thinking about whether I should throw a party or not.”

“Your lord really does know how to joke.”

“When I first met Sir Mikhail, I really thought he would die within a few days, but now he helps me with my work so smoothly, I was just thinking how grateful I am.”

“I thought you were busy with the Red Prairie matter, but it seems you have some free time.”

“They’ll be arriving here within a few days anyway. Given the grand duke of Leonhart’s personality, he’ll certainly send three knight platoons, so I have to prepare in my own way. He must be quite angry by now.”

The baron babbled like a child, saying it was amazing that a mercenary band could handle three hundred soldiers with only fifty men.

But Mikhail, who knew that the barony was so small and had no food stockpiled, making it impossible to hire a large mercenary band, felt a little sorry that Bellian had no choice but to bring in a difficult foreign mercenary band.

Even so, Bellian’s talent for gradually developing a dead territory that had become little more than ruins was something to admire.

“So what is this about internal conflict in Red Prairie over a succession issue?”

“Red Prairie is a mercenary band descended from the foreign Timus warriors. The young man most trusted by the members becomes the captain, the Red Horse, and leads the entire mercenary band, but the previous captain died not long ago. So a new captain has to be chosen, and there’s been a bit of trouble.”

Bellian picked up one black pebble and one white pebble from the floor.

“For now there are two candidates for captain. Men named Rakan and Ruslan.”

Mikhail glanced at the pebbles, then moved his gaze to Bellian’s hand. It looked like he had been making something, because there were small cuts there. Bellian, who in his younger days had supposedly lived immersed in geometry, chemistry, and metallurgy, was also skilled at making tools himself, so these days he even supervised building construction and repaired farm machinery.

Maybe that was why he seemed a little gaunt lately because he had so much work……. Is he eating meals on time? As Mikhail seemed to think that with a worried look, Bellian looked at the pebble in his hand with interest and said.

“The problem is that Rakan is the son of the previous captain, and Ruslan is the son of the captain before that.”

“So the factions have effectively split. Still, wouldn’t the influence of the previous captain be stronger than the one before him? Ruslan, was it?”

“But Rakan is said to be a pure Timus bloodline, and Ruslan is a mixed-blood imperial. There seem to be quite a few people supporting Rakan. No, there may actually be more.”

“So Count Windsor gave you a heads-up that internal conflict might break out.”

“Which horse would be sturdier, hm? Sir Mikhail, which one do you think will become the Red Horse?”

As if looking forward to something fun, Bellian half-lidded his eyes beautifully and weighed the pebble in his hand. Mikhail did not like that, so he changed the subject bluntly.

“Whichever one it is doesn’t matter. It will be midnight soon. I should also prepare to sleep.”

“Ah, is it already that late. Actually, I came today to play with the ‘dog.’ I feel like I haven’t played with you properly because I’ve been busy bringing in new livestock lately.”

“……!”

At Bellian’s words that he wanted to play with a dog, Mikhail’s body stiffened for a moment. And his gray eyes, which had never wavered, began to tremble greatly.

“It’s almost midnight…….”

“It’s fine.”

“You might…… get hurt like last time…… hngh.”

Mikhail suddenly seemed to be in poor condition, or maybe he had to urinate, because he twisted his body as though he could not hold something in and could not properly steady himself. Soon he rested his head on Bellian’s shoulder and shook it slightly, his face turning red.

“Aaah……. Once, midnight passes, it will be dangerous…….”

“Why did you lie that you were born and raised in Nightrow?”

“That is……. Ah……. Hngh!”

Sweating cold sweat and suffering, he looked up at Bellian and exhaled shallowly. When Bellian’s white fingers opened the neatly closed uniform collar, a dog collar studded with metal studs appeared inside. Hanging from the end of the collar was a silver heart ornament, and engraved on it were the words bitch Mikhail.

“Inside, you wear things like this, and in front of others you act like a pure knight whose expression never changes.”

“Ugh.”

Mikhail, who had been leaning against Bellian’s shoulder, finally collapsed onto Bellian’s thigh. Bellian whispered while his shoulders trembled and, on his lap, helped him take off each piece of clothing as he curled up.

“Even though someone who knew you has finally appeared, you act like you know nothing.”

A finger slipped inside the belt, feeling the hollowed-out hip bones and pulling off his pants and underwear. Along the lines of his pelvis, which was somewhat lean but firmly muscled, white hips and thighs came into view.

“Haa, haaah…….”

Mikhail breathed out harshly as if he were burning up. The corners of his eyes, as though he were trying desperately to endure something, were red. His gray pupils, moving this way and that, kept rolling upward and showing the whites of his eyes.

Tap. Tap.

As the shirt buttons came undone one by one, a sharp yet slender body became visible through the gaps. The long inverted triangle of his torso had a good balance, slender but quite sturdy, and in the middle of it six abdominal muscles were neatly lined up.

“What should I do with this bad bitch?”

As Bellian reached farther inside the open shirt and stroked the thick silver pubic hair, his thigh suddenly jerked and squeezed that hand, rubbing hotly against it.

“Haaeh……. Heht.”

Mikhail’s tightly closed mouth parted, and his tongue stuck out long in welcome. Slowly, his crouched body turned, and his flat stomach and red nipples were exposed facing the ceiling.

When Bellian stroked that stomach, Mikhail bent both clenched fists and pressed them tightly against the sides of his rib cage, then started panting.

“Hek, hek, hek……!”

“Bitch Mikhail.”

At the low call of his name, Mikhail’s eyes widened, and his cheeks, already flushed bright red, twitched as saliva streamed down his chin. Then, unlike his usual restrained and blunt way of speaking, he shouted in a highly excited voice.

“Yes! Juinim! Bitch Mikhail is here……! Woof! Woof!”

Mikhail imitated a dog, not even with a smile, but with his eyebrows so exaggeratedly arched that it looked like he was grinning widely.

“Dog pussy Mikhail has missed master so much! Hek, hek! Please pet me quickly! Woof! Woof!”

His cheerful barking echoed through the narrow room. On Bellian’s lap, he raised and lowered his waist wildly as if he had a tail attached and made a commotion.

“Aah, lately you’ve only been playing with the dairy cow, the canary, and the other livestock……. Hah, master, this bitch was so lonely!”

He looked at Bellian with passionate, no, even more fervent eyes than if a god had descended, and thrust his waist. In normal times he had been the reserved one who supported his lord with not a single emotion showing, but not a trace of that remained in the Mikhail of now.

“When master was fucking the dairy cow’s pussy, Mikhail had to play alone, just touching his bitch cock……! Hiiing. Master, didn’t you want to fuck Mikhail’s dog pussy? Kiiing……!”

Each time he thrust his waist forward, a bright red, long cock dangled at the center and bounced rhythmically. As if some instinct that had been suppressed for a long time had burst out all at once, his movements were rough and blatant.

“Haha. Since I came to play with you today, will you forgive me?”

Bellian found the Mikhail like that cute and stroked his silver hair. Then Mikhail rolled his eyes back from excitement and started pissing right there.

“Mmhng……! Our master is the bestttt……!”

Yellow piss shot and dribbled from the tip of the knight’s cock, who was infamous for being so stern that people feared him inside the barony. But Bellian and he and no one else cared about it. It was not strange for a dog to piss anywhere.

“Play with mee…… hiiit, please play with me. What shall we play with today? Shall we play cock-sucking with master’s cock? I can really suck it well! I’ll put it in deep, all the way to my throat, and suck it for you! Haaang, I want to smell master’s cock……!”

Unable to stay still for even a moment, Mikhail moved his body and soon buried his face in Bellian’s groin and started sniffing. Then, with both fists, he dug into the gap of Bellian’s pants like a dog digging at the ground and even stuck out his tongue to lick. The fabric between his thighs became more and more soaked with Mikhail’s saliva.