Like clockwork, Carmen’s eyes fluttered open before the sun rose in the sky. The sky was still totally dark. During her time as a templar, she would always wake up around this time every day to practice her magic and bladework, working up a sweat before breakfast to ready her for the day ahead. The habit dies hard.

Blinking slowly, the blurriness in her eyes cleared and she regained her vision. As her mind woke up, she began to process what she saw.

Her heart jumped. Right next to her, with her violet eyes staring straight at her without blinking, was the face of Kagriss. Stray strands of her black hair fell across her face, some of it stuck to her lips.

Those lips that had been pressed against her own the night before. Carmen’s hands flew to her mouth as her eyes widened. “Ah…”

Kagriss blinked. “You’re awake, Mistress.”

“Ah…yes, I am,” Carmen said, looking away from the lich. She shivered as she remembered the waves of pleasure that had crashed through her body over and over, leaving her drained and exhausted, and she had fallen right asleep. She rubbed her thighs together awkwardly. It felt sticky as the strange fluids that had leaked from her dried on her skin. 

And then there was that hole in her dress right around the crotch area. “About yesterday…”

Kagriss interrupted her, holding Carmen’s face with both of her hands. “I like that way you acted then, Mistress. It was very…” she searched for a word. “Cute. I want to see you like that again.”

C—cute? Her? Carmen felt her face heating up again. “No. Absolutely not. Last night was an exception, okay? You’ve had your practice, so you're satisfied, right?” She brushed off Kagriss’s hands and rolled away, rising to her feet.

Her legs felt weak and it took her a while to stop trembling. Kagriss stood up behind her, acting as nonchalant as she usually did. When comparing herself and Kagriss, Carmen realized that Kagriss didn’t get anything out of what they did last night. She had been the only one feeling good, and she didn’t do anything for Kagriss.

Shame filled her, and she thought that she should apologize, but on the other hand if she did, Kagriss would definitely ask her what she was apologizing for. Then she’d have to spell out what exactly she meant—and if she wasn’t careful, Kagriss might talk her into another round. The lich plainly said she wouldn’t mind doing it again!

But did Carmen mind? She touched her index finger to her lips, tracing from one end to another. The tip of her finger was soft, but it felt nothing like how Kagriss’s lips felt. Already, she was missing the girl’s touch, and it hadn’t even been a full night yet. Her head was filled with the lich’s ethereal beauty when they embraced each other.

She didn’t even love that lich...probably, yet just based off that superficial physical attraction she felt for Kagriss, she had given in and went for a round of sex with her. It felt a little forbidden, doing what they did, for some reason. 

Just where did Kagriss learn all this anyway? She claimed to be practicing and studying, but she doubted a beginner that was merely curious would be so insistent, and as it turned out, skillful. Was it from the essence of her body? Just who had Kagriss’s body been thousands of years ago?

She took deep breaths to calm herself. It wouldn't do to get flustered here. Although the sun was still below the horizon, it wouldn’t be for long. The sun will rise and then they’ll have to be on their way.

The problem was, both she and Kagriss were a mess. Dirt, leaves, and twigs stuck to their bodies and clothes. She hadn’t mind last night, but now, she felt gross and disgusted with how filthy she was.

If she ever did it with Kagriss again, it was definitely going to be in a proper bed—wait, what was she even thinking about? 

“Let’s go clean ourselves off in the stream,” she said.

Kagriss bowed. “As the Mistress wishes.”

As Carmen began her walk toward the stream, she felt magic activating behind her. She turned to see wind lift Kagriss off the ground, sending her flying. While such a conspicuous method of travel wasn’t one that Carmen would have chosen, who was she to tell Kagriss off when the situation didn’t call for such caution?

She was about to continue when Kagriss turned in the air and dove down toward her, arms outstretched. A bad feeling washed over her, and all of Carmen’s senses told her to bolt. Against her better judgement, she stayed where she was.

In the blink of an eye, Kagriss reached her. As Carmen finally began to dodge aside, it was too late. Kagriss scooped her up, one hand behind her knees and the other supporting her back. 

A bridal carry.

“What are you doing? Put me down!” Her heart quickening in excitement from a place she didn’t understand, Carmen nonetheless pushed up at Kagriss’s face, trying to get the lich to drop her. 

However, her pushing was too light, since she was holding back her strength. The lich didn’t seem to mind. 

Was it just her, or was the lich getting a bit bold? What happened to her status as the lich’s mistress?

But wait, that word had a second meaning other than a female master, didn’t it?

“Put me down, Kagriss!”

“But isn’t it faster this way?” Kagriss asked. “We’re almost there.” 

She leaned forward slightly, allowing Carmen to see the ground, but at the same time tipping her forward precariously that made Carmen’s heart pound in fear.

Putting aside her feelings, they were rapidly approaching the stream. They were indeed fast, but Carmen felt if she allowed Kagriss to land with her in her arms, she would be losing something important, and she struggled harder.

“This is the last time I’ll be asking!” she lowered her voice to a growl.

Kagriss paused, slowing her flight, before looking down at her sadly. “Really? You don’t like flying with me?”

“You didn’t ask,” Carmen said. “Down. Right here. Just drop me.”

The lich looked a bit confused. “Right here? But you’ll fall…”

“Right here.” 

Although Kagriss looked confused, Carmen’s tone booked no arguments. Reluctantly, the lich adjusted the way that she was holding Carmen so Carmen was righted.

There was a feeling of shame as Carmen felt how easily the lich was handling her body. It was an undeniable truth that she was short, and the lich was much taller than her.

Finally, after a countdown, Kagriss let go, letting Carmen drop straight down. However, unlike when she was held in someone’s arms against her will, Carmen wasn’t afraid since she was under her own control now. Wings that had been pressed against her body tore out of the sides of her already ruined dress with the help of mana reinforcement. Blood mana poured into her wings, flowing through the spells that were permanently inscribed into the very structure of her wings.

With the ease of a fish taking to water…and partially because she already had some practice…her descent slowed right, stopping her right before she plunged into the trees.

Fluttering her wings, she flew up to join Kagriss in the sky. The lich had an apologetic look to her, replacing the worry, and Carmen felt her heart soften as she reached up and patted the girl’s head. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone makes mistakes. Just ask beforehand, okay?” she said. “Let’s go.”

The lich nodded and followed her, diving down toward the stream and landing on its banks. Snapping her fingers, the clothes on both of them melted off their bodies and formed twin streams of blood that poured into a cut on her fingers. Dirt and sticks that had been stuck to the clothes fell onto the ground, their support gone.

With their clothes gone, Carmen and Kagriss were both completely naked. Carmen found her eyes drawn to Kagriss’s body, her gaze moving up and down whenever she lost focus. The night before, despite what they did, Carmen never had the chance to really look at what Kagriss’s body was like, and now she knew.

Smooth, flawless skin without blemish. The way the gurgling stream reflected the moonlight casted everchanging caustic patterns of light on her body. Long black hair that stood out against her pale skin. 

Kagriss had large breasts and hips that formed tantalizing curves that Carmen felt blessed to witness, but it was her thighs that caught Carmen’s eyes the most. 

She felt as if she could sink her fingers into them and they’d be impossibly soft. She wanted to sit on them, to lay her head on them… Something stirred between her own legs, deep inside her. 

At the same time, she felt a tingle on her skin as Kagriss stared intently at her as well. The more Kagriss looked at her, the more she wanted to hide herself. Compared to Kagriss, her body was pitiful—small, half developed. Flat, even. 

She had been relatively tall and handsome when she was a templar, but now, she didn’t even have her female charm. Inadequate.

“L—let’s not waste any time,” Carmen said, turning away and covering her breasts and crotch. She stepped into the water, barely registering how cold it was. The stream wasn’t very deep, only coming up to just above her knees. In that case, with how long Kagriss’s legs were compared to her own, it would be even shallower for Kagriss.

Still, it was deep enough. Splashing the cold water onto herself, Carmen began to clean off all the traces and evidence of the previous night from her body. When the water touched the stickiness between her thighs, the feeling became slippery, sending tingles up her spine and into her mind. Doing her best to ignore it, Carmen began to heavy-handedly scrub at her skin. 

Although Kagriss continued to stare at her, Carmen did her best to ignore the lich’s lecherous gaze.

Along with her lower body, she also washed her chest and shoulders. Thanks to her pulling open her shirt, those places had gotten dirty as well. She lingered on her breasts for longer than she wanted despite herself. 

She washed her hair last of all, paying extra attention to it. She temporarily dispelled the illusion that hid her true colors as she ran cold water through her hair and rinsed all the dirt and scraps from her hair and scalp. When she was done, her hair felt heavy and laden with water. It was so different from the weight of her hair when she had been a templar that she wasn’t used to it at first.

Even trying to squeeze out most of the water still left her head heavy. 

Finished, she looked over to check how Kagriss was doing and she momentarily forgot herself again as she saw how the beads of water clung to the girl’s skin and hair, glistening.  

Shaking her head to chase away the thoughts, Carmen waded up to the lich. “Are you done?” she asked.

Kagriss shook her head, scattering water from her hair everywhere, before she nodded. “Yes.”

Although the mix signals that Kagriss gave off was slightly confusing, Carmen understood in the end. She was about to use the gentle warmth of holy magic to dry herself off before she realized that it might be a bad idea. She froze…what was she supposed to now?

“How do we get dry?” she asked, hoping that the lich will have an idea, but Kagriss shrugged, lowering her head apologetically. Carmen groaned. They were going to have to do it the old fashioned way, and they could only wait. Although there was cloth she could use to speed up the process at the horses, there was no way she was going back to camp naked.

In the end, she just summoned up some dresses that she thought felt absorbent to dry herself and Kagriss before she called them back, leaving the water behind. Her hair was much more troublesome, but as long as her body was dry, it was fine.

By flying, both she and Kagriss made sure that their feet didn’t touch the dirty forest ground while they waited for the air to dry off the last of the moisture. Finally, she clothed them both, giving Kagriss a long, flowing black dress that covered the entirety of her chest. It was rather loose too, rather than tightly fitting against Kagriss’s body.

However, when Kagriss looked at what she now wore, her eyebrows furrowed. Although Carmen could have ignored that tiny movement of displeasure, she sighed. “You don’t like it?”

“I like it less than the previous one, Mistress. It’s clean and not damaged, so can I have that one again?”

That one is precisely the one I don’t want to give you, Carmen said in her mind. It was so dangerous, so alluring. She couldn’t help but feel that if Kagriss had been wearing anything else, she wouldn’t have been charmed by Kagriss’s appearance…or so she tried to tell herself.

Whatever. If Kagriss liked it, she could have it. Kagriss’s dress was quickly replaced with her old red cocktail dress that so clearly accentuated the shape of her body and pushed up her breasts.

Sighing again, Carmen summoned again the armored dress, much to the lich’s delight. “Come on, let’s head back. Wait, what happened to the undead we made?”

Suddenly, Carmen realized that those four monsters were nowhere to be seen. She had been so distracted by Kagriss that she had no idea where they were, and the range her senses were too short to detect them. 

Kagriss bowed. “I’ve hidden them and their auras away, specifically so that they would not affect your journey,” she said.

“That’s…good thinking.”

Carmen sighed for what must have been the dozenth time…and she had just woke up. She really was out of it today. What happened last night was still fresh on her mind, and if she wasn’t careful, her thoughts continued to return to it.

If Kagriss asked her again, could she refuse? Would she refuse? She wanted to feel that pleasure and the embrace of another person once more. Casting a glamour back over herself, she headed toward the camp again. By now, the sky was turning light blue as the sun began to rise.

At a nod from her, Kagriss hid herself as well, disappearing into the treetops until she was just a tiny blip in Carmen’s senses that she wouldn’t be able to notice unless she focused.