“Really, mmm.”

As Serena opened her mouth to scold him in surprise, Licht’s breath descended upon her parted lips. Their lips met softly, quickly growing accustomed to exploring each other’s warmth. 

The sensation of their pliant lips pressing and rubbing against each other resonated warmly in their chests. Licht’s hands moved up to cradle her neck, cupping her jaw and cheeks. 

His tongue slipped between her lips, gently embracing hers. Their slick flesh intertwined, bodies twisting as they exchanged saliva.

“Mmm, mm…”

Serena, her eyes now closed, lightly gripped Licht’s shoulders. The shy lady who had just insisted this was inappropriate for a public place had vanished, leaving only a lovely lover melting into the kiss. 

Stroking her back and lifting her slightly, Licht surveyed over her shoulder with open eyes.

The prying gazes that had been darting their way all vanished like scurrying cockroaches. The blatant display of intimate physical contact had caused everyone to avert their eyes. 

Had anyone continued staring and accidentally made eye contact, the burden of embarrassment would fall on the observer, regardless of who initiated the display.

“Since we have time until the party ends, we should go inside and rest for a while.”

Looking at Serena’s dreamily unfocused eyes, Licht instantly led her into the corridor inside the party venue. The space was intended for changing clothes or taking breaks, but its use was up to the occupants. Since Rosalia had even given them a key, there was no need to hesitate.

* * *

After slipping away from the banquet hall, the couple entered the nearest lounge in the corridor. Their legs tangled and they stumbled, yet they refused to separate their tightly embraced bodies. 

Serena wrapped her arms around Licht’s neck, standing on tiptoe and making small moaning sounds as he kissed her passionately.

The door closed loudly behind them. Encircling her waist with both hands, he lifted her in one motion and quickly carried her to the couch.

“Mmm…”

A strand of saliva stretched between their barely parted lips, glistening in the light. Licht gripped the back of the couch with one hand and stared intently at Serena’s face, which glimmered with desire.

“It’s all smudged.”

“Your lips are a mess too.”

The light red lipstick had smeared faintly around both Serena and Licht’s lips. Licht gently rubbed away the red smudges around Serena’s mouth with his finger. As he bent down again, about to bite her neck, Serena urgently grabbed his face.

“Don’t leave marks! They’ll be visible even with the dress on!”

“Hmm…”

“And this dress is a gift from Rosalia, so we need to be careful.”

His eyebrow twitched with displeasure that she was concerned about such things at this moment, but Licht obediently pulled back. 

When Serena stood up and twirled around, he slowly began untying the ribbon from her back. The mermaid-line dress risked damage during their intimacy unless removed.

As the ribbon loosened, the dress that had fit tightly to her body gradually began to slacken. With its shoulder-baring design, the dress slowly flowed downward as the tension from behind decreased.

“Ah! Wait!”

Serena, who had been quietly receiving Licht’s touch, suddenly remembered something and desperately tried to catch the falling dress. But the ribbon had already been untied down to her waist, and the fabric slid down like shedding skin.

“Oh…”

The short exclamation of admiration from behind turned Serena’s neck and earlobes completely red.

“I had no idea you were wearing the dress in such a daring state.”

“B-be quiet.”

“Were you trying to seduce me?”

“This is how this dress is supposed to be worn!”

Serena’s voice grew pouty at Licht’s deliberately teasing tone, though he clearly knew better. She felt his gaze slowly traveling over her body. A tingling sensation bloomed wherever his gaze passed, his eyes carrying their own temperature.

When the dress came off, what appeared was her completely n*ked body. A fully bare form without any of the multiple layers of complicated undergarments normally required. 

When his fingers traced down her smooth back, unobstructed by any clothing, her body flinched and curled inward.

“Is this a new fashion trend?”

“If I wore underwear, the seams would all be visible through the, ah, fabric…”

The dress, which fit tightly to the entire body except below the thighs where the skirt flared out, was the most fashionable design in the empire recently. 

Since it accentuated the body’s curves, wearing undergarments would ruin the dress’s elegant lines due to visible seams and fabric overlaps.

“So you used these instead.”

The basic approach was to wear no undergarments except for the dress’s own lining, and instead attach thin, round covers slightly larger than the *reolas directly to the skin to prevent the n*pples from protruding. 

Licht embraced Serena from behind, his fingernails lightly scratching at the edges of the n*pple covers adhered to her skin.

“They’re quite firmly attached. How did you stick them on?”

“Ah, there’s a special adhesive. They come off easily later when soaked in hot water, ah!”

As he scratched the smooth covers with his nails, making it seem like she had no n*pples at all, Serena’s head tilted back at the unfamiliar sensation. 

Licht supported her head against his chest so she could lean back comfortably, his eyes gleaming like a child with a new toy.

“It’s disappointing not to see your pretty n*pples that always greet me so nicely.”

His large hands cupped her full br*asts from underneath, kneading them. 

Though generally slender, her body had luscious flesh in areas like her br*asts, thighs, and buttocks, always leaving observers hungry for more. When his large hands fully grasped her, the flesh quivered. 

Between his rhythmically moving fingers, her br*asts deformed like bread dough.

“Ah, mmm, nnn…”

Serena’s pleasured m*ans flowed out like a purring cat. While nibbling on her earlobe instead of her neck, Licht teased her br*asts with both hands. 

Feeling slightly dissatisfied, he firmly pressed his thumb where her n*pple should be, feeling the hardened bud compressed beneath the surface.

“Your n*pples seem to want to come out.”

“That’s because, you keep, ah, touching them…”

Until this point, Serena thought Licht was just fiddling with the covers to tease her. Until she felt a sudden electric sensation.

“Licht? What are you doing, ah! Wait!”

“If we’re going to undress anyway, might as well do it completely.”

He silenced her protest with a kiss as she urgently turned her head. Serena pounded his rock-hard thighs roughly, but Licht didn’t budge. Gently scratching around the cover with his nails to create a gap, he instantly ripped off one n*pple cover.

“Ahh! Mmm…”

A searing pain electrified her mind. Since the material wouldn’t come off easily without soaking in water, her br*ast stretched with the cover before bouncing back dramatically. 

Serena screamed and staggered from the pain and an inexplicable excitement. The skin where the cover had been was red in the shape of the cover, and slightly swollen from the stimulation.

“Ah, ahh…”

The stinging sensation turned into a burning heat that wouldn’t subside, causing Serena to lean completely against Licht, trembling. 

The pain was intense enough to bring tears to her eyes. But the tingling pleasure that accompanied the pain was so unfamiliar that it made her heart pound even harder.

“This is much cuter and prettier.”