There is an island called Trisichellia a little further south from Adelunia Peninsula.

　A little further south from the island, there is a country called Pofenia.
　It's a republic with a senate of nobles who run the country.

　　Pofenia is a large maritime state, and there is a large economic gap between the aristocracy, which is engaged in maritime trade, and the commoners, who are engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, and the aristocracy and commoners are clearly separated.

　A concrete example is the political participation of commoners.
　Only the aristocracy can become a member of the senate, and commoners cannot become a member or vote.

　There is also a difference in the number of land and slaves allowed to be owned by the nobility and commoners.

　And nobles and commoners cannot marry.
　I'll say it twice, on important matters, etc.
　A nobleman and a commoner cannot marry.



　Alexios Barca was a nobleman of Pofenia.
　He is a soldier himself, and comes from a distinguished family that has produced a number of soldiers.

　His first battle was at the age of twelve. Since then, he has made numerous military achievements and commanded troops in fifteen.
　After that, he participated in many naval and land battles and won many victories, and now, at the age of twenty-three, he is one of the leading generals in Pofenia.

　When people see him for the first time, their attention is always drawn to his right eye.
　He wears an eye patch over his right eye.

　He has been wearing an eye patch over his right eye since he can remember.　　
　His two names are "One-Eyed Knight".

　He is handsome, strong-willed, promising, and has one eye.
　No woman would leave him alone.

　A number of Pofenia's noblemen's daughters made advances toward him....
　He turned down all of them.

　Even the matchmaking arranged by the house kicked off with one word: "I'm not interested".

　When asked why he didn't marry her, he said

　'I'm not interested in women. I'd prefer a pretty boy.




　There's a Pofenian sorceress named Melia.
　She has no last name. She is a commoner.

　She has three partners.

　A wolf-dog crossbreed.
　An owl about 50 serica long.
　Lastly, a huge hawk that can be as long as 120 serica (120 centimeters).

　Her falcon is unbeatable in aerial combat and has good eyesight, which makes it useful.

　Although she is only twenty-two years old, she has made a great contribution to the Pofenia Army and is known as 'The Falconer'.

　She receives applications for marriage proposals almost every day.
　It's natural.
　It's no wonder that she is a promising sorceress, and no man would leave her alone. Especially if it's a beautiful woman.

　It's said that witchcraft talent is inherited.
　Hence, she is very popular.

　But she kept turning down all the offers of marriage.
　Even from the richest of the commoners, from families that might have been ranked among the nobility, she turned them down.

　Someone asked her.
　Why don't you marry?

　'I'm not interested in men. I like animals.




　Midnight.
　The crescent moon, the symbol of Pofenia, shines in the night sky.
　While most of the Pophenians are asleep, there are two people who are moving stealthily.

　Alexios and Melia.

　'We've missed you, Melia!
　Me too, Alexios!

　They embrace and kiss each other so passionately that an onomatopoeic word seems to stand up, "Hush".
　The crescent moon shines brightly around them in a witty way.

　They flirted with each other for about five minutes and then they got down to business.

　'There's a ship to Trisichellia staying in the harbor tomorrow morning. When we arrive in Trisicelia, we will travel on foot to the Cilician colony of Trisicelia, and from there we will take the boat back to the Adelian peninsula. Good?
　'I know. And that's why I've been called a bestiality-loving pervert.
　I guess I'm supposed to be a bromanticulturist too.

　They laugh at each other.

　It was during the war that they met.
　Melia was sent to be the resident sorcerer for Alexios' troops.

　The two were immediately attracted to each other and loved each other.
　They are a nobleman and a commoner.
　They can't get married.

　They would really like to marry, but even in their position as a side-keeper, marriage is impossible. Bigamy is forbidden in Pofenia by law.
　But it is a general rule that you can't marry a commoner, so you can't marry a commoner even if it's allowed.

　If their relationship was known, they would be separated.
　So they lied to each other.

　But lately, that still didn't fool them.
　So they planned an 'elopement'.


　First, the place to elope, but the home country of Pofenia was out of the question. A colony in Pofenia's overseas territory was considered as a candidate, but the two men's appearance is conspicuous in many ways, so they were dropped from the list.

　The second candidate was the Persis Empire.
　It's a superpower in the east, and it's also the country that destroyed Pofenia's former suzerainty.
　So it is not an enemy relationship with Pofenia........

　It's because the Persis Empire protects the foreign trade of the Pofenians.
　The two countries have good relations.
　That's why there are so many ships going to Persis, so the chances of success are high.

　But in any case, it's too far away.
　As expected, it takes courage to defect to a place where the language and culture are different.


　The third candidate was Cilicia.

　Pofenia and the nations of Cilicia do not get along well with each other.
　This is because they are hostile to each other in maritime trade.

　However, Alxsios had fought with the Cilician army as well.
　Therefore, they thought it was dangerous to flee to the home country of the Cilicia countries.

　So the two men decided to seek asylum in a colony city on the Cilician Adelian peninsula.
　The Adelnian peninsula was a distant country and few people would know their names.

　That's what he thought.

　'But are you sure that's a good idea?　I'm not much of a family man, so that's fine but you do have a proper family, don't you?
　'What's the point now ... I'm supposed to be a bestiality lover?　Who else will marry me but you?
　'Ha, that's true too. You're the only one who would marry me in a male chauvinist setting.

　The two men were ready to go.




　The next day, news of the disappearance of the noble and commoner men and women swept through Pofenia.
　A massive search was conducted by the Pofenia military and a wanted list was circulated to the city of Pofenia, a city in Pofenia, but they were unable to find them.