“I didn’t come to the wrong place.”

So she answered with a touch of defiance.

Damon looked down at Nate with an impassive gaze.

“So you’re saying you came here of your own accord?”

“…That’s right. I came on my own.”

“To a place you never once set foot in while you were following me around.”

He added those words and let out a short, incredulous laugh. No matter how he thought about it, seeing Nate here was absurd. On top of that, she was dressed completely differently from usual, looking every bit like she came to Ombra with a purpose.

Nate held her ground and answered with forced composure.

“I wasn’t able to socialize properly all this time because I was following you around.”

Damon let out a low, scornful laugh.

“So you’ve come to Ombra, of all places, to finally socialize properly?”

“That’s right.”

“With your t*ts out like that?”

Nate was stunned by his last words, delivered without a care in the world.

What… did he just say? What is… out?

Without thinking, Nate’s face burned red as she covered her chest with her hands. Damon burst out laughing.

“Wasn’t that the whole point of dressing like that? To give the men something to look at?”

“Th-that’s not it. No, more than that, how can you just say something like that so carelessly……”

“Say what? T*ts?”

The word came out again just as casually, and Nate no longer knew how to react. Damon tilted his head slightly, watching her flustered expression.

“Innocent little Miss O’Hara. Making a face like a startled deer just because I said t*ts, and yet you thought you could come to Ombra?”

“That’s……”

“This isn’t a place for someone as innocent as you. Go home before you see something you can’t unsee.”

Damon gently wrapped his hand around Nate’s. She was startled at the unexpected contact.

He glanced at her briefly, then moved to escort her toward the ballroom entrance. Some of the nobles who noticed the exchange were looking over at the two of them. Lilia was among them.

Nate felt wronged. A strange resentment rose in her at the thought of why Damon could have women on both sides of him while she wasn’t allowed to be here. It might have been jealousy. She resolved to forget him, yet jealousy came to her as naturally as breathing. Nate forced herself to stop walking.

“I’m not leaving. Whether I’m at Ombra or not is none of your concern, Young lord.”

She shook off Damon’s hand. He wasn’t gripping tightly to begin with, so her hand slipped free easily.

Damon looked at Nate with a cold, set expression. In truth, Damon wasn’t in a particularly good mood right now either. Or more precisely, he was quite rattled. He never expected to run into Nate at Hotel Ombra.

On top of that, her refusal to leave made his chest feel unbearably tight. He couldn’t explain why, even to himself. Seeing Nate speak in that cool, detached tone, as though she truly meant to forget him, irritated him.

“How could I not be concerned, Miss O’Hara?”

Nate looked at him at the quiet words, her expression asking what he meant. Damon smiled.

“You said you couldn’t socialize properly all this time because of me. That’s what brought you all the way to Hotel Ombra. How could I not be concerned? Isn’t that right?”

“…I’m not sure what you mean, Young lord.”

“Since you say you have no intention of leaving Hotel Ombra, I won’t try to stop you any further. Instead, I’ll show you myself. How to enjoy yourself here.”

With that, he wrapped his hand gently around Nate’s once more. And while she stood there bewildered, he led her somewhere naturally. Nate looked toward where Lilia was, but Lilia didn’t seem inclined to stop Damon and Nate at all.

Damon walked past the table he was sitting at and headed toward a more secluded spot in the corner. Nate, caught in his grip, found herself moving along without quite meaning to.

Damon brought Nate to a table and sat her down on the sofa. Then he positioned himself over her in a way that felt like climbing on top of her. When she startled and leaned her upper body back, Damon bent at the waist and closed the distance further, looming over her.

“Y-Young lord Preston, w-wait a moment……”

Nate reached out urgently to push him away. Damon caught her hand naturally, brought it to his lips, and pressed kisses across her fingers one by one. Her face flushed red.

Damon dragged his wet tongue slowly up along her fingers. He held that position and looked directly into her teal eyes.

“Let me ask again, Miss O’Hara.”

“……”

“Do you really intend to stay here?”

Even after this?

His pale blue eyes cut toward her sharply. His expression looked exactly like he was saying she could never handle a place like this.

Nate’s mood sank in an instant. In Damon’s expression, she saw the reflection of all the other nobles and her parents who dismissed her over the years.

“Yes. I’m staying.”

Nate answered, holding his gaze directly. Damon gave a small smile.

“Oh, is that so?”

He licked her fingers more openly. His soft tongue rubbed each knuckle, pressed down on the raised bones, then worked insistently between her fingers. It felt like having some secret place licked by a tongue, and Nate swallowed without meaning to.

Damon sucked her fingers slowly, like savoring a piece of candy.

Slurp.

The lewd sound burrowed into her ears. Nate felt an itch stir between her legs beneath her dress.

“Innocent Miss O’Hara.”

“……”

“Do you even know what goes on here?”

Nate bristled at being called innocent.

“I can handle it.”

“Oh? You can handle it?”

Damon said it flatly and pressed a series of wet, sucking kisses to her fingertips. Deliberately, without a doubt.

He looked down at Nate with eyes gone slightly heavy.

“Handle what, exactly.”

Damon, who spoke in polite formal speech without fail, dropped it. For some reason that felt unbearably provocative. Nate met his eyes with a confused expression.

“Th-that’s……”

She couldn’t answer easily.

The truth was, Nate didn’t know much about Hotel Ombra. All she knew were rumors. But unlike the unsavory things she heard, the Ombra she saw today didn’t seem all that different from other parties.

That, however, was a mistake on Nate’s part. The party at Ombra hadn’t even properly begun yet.

“F*ck yes, I won! Everyone get your clothes off, now!”

One of the nobles at the center table Nate noticed when she first walked into the ballroom shouted out. Nate turned her head in shock and saw several of the nobles who participated in the card game making sounds of disappointment as they stripped off their outer garments.

Men and women alike undressed without the slightest hesitation. Elaborate dresses, formal suits, and even undergarments fell to the floor. In an instant, the nobles were completely bare.

What followed was even more outrageous. The ballroom filled rapidly with lewd m*ans and unrestrained laughter.

Nate stared blankly at the unbelievable scene, and Damon cupped her jaw in his hand. Her head was turned forcibly toward him. Damon leaned down close to Nate and whispered.

“Shall I tell you?”

“Y-Young lord Preston……”

“What happens here.”