Lips were peculiar. Lips were a significant part to observe when the other person spoke. When uttering harsh words, a pouting mouth couldn’t hide the hostility, and when smiling, it looked okay. What was commonly seen during speaking or smiling gave a completely different feeling when touched.

With her lips pressed against his soft and warm lips, Etienne tilted her head.

Instead of comforting Leharht with words, she gently enveloped his lips. The lips intertwined, embraced each other, and swallowed the warmth together.

The head, which had tilted without realizing, straightened. Sharing a hot kiss with Leharht, Etienne thought she would never forget this moment in her lifetime.

As the two lips slowly separated, Etienne took a deep breath. Leharht’s reddened lips seemed slightly swollen. In that case, her lips might be the same.

“I want to taste a bit more.”

As his red lips parted, a deeper red tongue emerged and licked the lips. Watching it happen, Etienne closed her eyes tightly, pressing her lips against his and releasing them.

It was almost like a clumsy collision. When Etienne pulled away and looked at him, Leharht, who had made a bewildered expression, burst into laughter.

“My lover’s love is quite simple.”

“It’s also rough and impulsive.”

Nodding as if she knew it herself, Etienne patted her slightly swollen lips. It seemed they were indeed swollen.

“This should change your thoughts about this place a bit, right?”
For some reason, the atmosphere felt awkward, so I said something random, but there was no response. Etienne sneakily glanced up and observed his expression. Then, she realized that Leharht’s gaze was fixed on a certain intense area.

“I’ve improved, but something else is the problem. I didn’t think about this.”

Leharht muttered, looking down at Etienne’s skirt. It was fine when she lifted it slightly earlier, but in the meantime, it had become dirty, swept along the floor.

“Oh…”

Etienne belatedly realized the state of her skirt and blushed. Despite intentionally choosing a noticeable dress, she couldn’t pay attention properly, making it worse than her usual clothes.

“You can shake it off.”

Etienne sat down as is to shake off the dirt on her skirt. While holding the hem, she shook it off. Then, Leharht’s voice was heard again.

“That seems more like sweeping the floor than shaking it off.”

Turning her head at his words, she noticed that the edge of her skirt not held in her hand was covering the ground. As much as she wanted to take it off and shake it at once, or just change into different clothes…

Normally, she would ask, “What’s wrong with a little dirt?” But in front of her lover, she couldn’t do that.

Etienne lifted her skirt with a disappointed expression, dropped it, and did it repeatedly. Then, suddenly, a large hand appeared. The hand grabbed the hand holding Etienne’s skirt.

“Even if you shake it off now, it seems like it’ll get dirty again.”

Etienne couldn’t deny it either. It was as he said.

“Let’s do it this way.”

“How?”
Etienne lifted her head and met eyes with Leharht. Were they leaving the walking path? Did he bring up something to talk about? She briefly wondered, but it didn’t seem like that either. If that’s the case, they should walk out, and she became curious about what a good way to do it might be.

At that moment, Leharht’s hand, which seemed like it was going to release Etienne’s hand, came around her waist.

Seeing his hand covering her side, Etienne grabbed it with a surprised expression. It was instinctive to try to remove his hand. However, Leharht was quicker.

He firmly held Etienne’s body and lifted her with force. Then, he placed his hand towards her legs.

Etienne still had a bewildered expression, but Leharht quickly embraced her.

“My lord…”

“It’s my fault for not telling you the location in advance, so we have to go like this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Etienne looked at her posture. Leharht’s hand supported her back and legs, turning it into what could be called a princess carry.

“I thought… if we had to embrace, there might be a better way.”

“If you suggest a better way, I’ll let you down.”

“Isn’t just sweeping off the dirt the best way?”

“I’m not a fan of that.”

Leharht, holding Etienne, slowly moved his steps. He was heading towards the inside of the walking path.

“If you don’t hold onto me, you might fall.”

Under his threat, Etienne urgently reached out, grabbing his shoulder. She managed to grab it, but belatedly wondered if this was appropriate.

“Leharht, perhaps this is…”
Trying to dry Leharht’s hair, Etienne turned her head and couldn’t continue her words.

Looking at his face from below felt strange. Dense eyelashes partially covered eyes that revealed unreadable thoughts. Below, a straight line of a sharp nose was visible, and the lips that used to be constantly smiling were now tightly closed. As Etienne stared at his face, Leharht’s atmosphere seemed different.

The Leharht I’ve seen so far has been a person who laughs a lot. He used to be different, but when I met him again, he laughed easily.