Chapter 19

“What did you say?”

It must be a lie.

Even as Erin thought that, she found herself asking back without meaning to. The excited reporter gripped Erin’s wrist even harder.

“I’ve told you this much, so you should share some information too!”

“Ow! Let go! This is just unreasonable!”

She looked around for help, but everyone in the shop only glanced their way without saying a word.

Even the shop owner subtly got up and locked the door. Erin sighed.

‘They’re all in on it.’

She’d more or less expected it, but seeing it play out for real felt almost hollow.

‘Of course, I didn’t come empty-handed.’

Erin had a self-defense spray disguised as a perfume bottle in her pocket.

She’d prepared a spicy potion before coming here, just in case. It was strong, and she’d sprayed a different scent on herself ahead of time, so it wouldn’t affect her.

‘Come to think of it, this would probably sell better than regular perfume.’

There was no self-defense spray in this world yet.

She thought about patenting it as she reached into her pocket.

“Aagh!”

Bang!

A loud scream and commotion erupted from the entrance of the shop.

“Huh?”

Erin turned in surprise…

“Ash?”

She met eyes with someone she hadn’t expected.

“…….”

Ash was radiating a menacing aura as he stormed into the shop.

Maybe he was using a magic tool like the one for moving bathtubs—the supposedly tightly locked door was already smashed open.

“Hey, who the hell are—urk!”

The men in the shop who rushed at Ash were knocked out one by one, sent flying across the room. Erin stared wide-eyed at the whole scene.

‘Ash…’

Was he always this good at fighting?

Well, he was unusually sturdy and masculine for an assistant.

Whenever he held her down, Erin couldn’t help but think about his solid chest and well-defined abs.

‘…Even so, this is too much.’

Even if he had magical help, Ash’s movements looked far too professional.

When he quickly subdued a man who’d tried to attack him with a chair, it was like watching a bodyguard or a knight…

‘Why does someone doing assistant work know self-defense like that?’

Instinctively, Erin remembered the reporter’s words:

‘Who knows? Maybe another noble sent your assistant as a spy to steal your experiment.’

The thought flashed through her mind before she could dismiss it as nonsense.

“…Doctor.”

Ash’s fierce red eyes rolled toward Erin.

But the first to react was the reporter who’d been holding her.

“Eek!”

“Ow!”

Whether it was Ash’s intimidating aura or something else, the reporter let go of Erin’s wrist and fled, forgetting he’d ever cornered her.

Thanks to that, Erin staggered…

Whoosh.

A refined, cool scent approached her—a perfume far too luxurious for an assistant.

Smash! Clang!

“Ouch!”

Ash pulled the staggering Erin gently into his arms, then threw a heavy glass from the bar.

The glass struck the reporter’s head; he screamed and collapsed, writhing on the floor.

It felt like it took less than a few minutes for everyone except Erin and Ash to be knocked down.

Erin looked around at the devastated scene and gasped for breath.

“Ash! This is serious!”

“…….”

“You hit a noble before, but this time…!”

He hit a reporter, of all people. This time, it might not just blow over!

Erin panicked, but Ash was calm.

“Does it matter?”

With those words, Ash grabbed Erin’s wrist and started leading her out of the shop.

His grip was firm, but unlike the reporter’s, it was careful and not painful.

“Ash? We can’t just leave like this…”

“We can. I called the city guard—they’ll handle it.”

“If the city guard comes, it’ll be worse! You’ll get arrested for *ssault!”

“It’s self-defense.”

“What?”

“I’ll just say they tried to kidnap you first.”

That would never work.

Erin wanted to protest, but Ash’s face was icy. She caught the subtle reproach in his eyes and closed her mouth.

“Coming to a dangerous place alone.”

“…….”

“Without even letting me know.”

Only then did Erin realize something else.

‘Right. I came without telling him.’

How did he even know to come here…?

But she couldn’t ask.

Ash’s expression was just too serious.

“Let’s go, Doctor.”

“…….”

“Sorry, but if you argue with me now…”

“…….”

“I’ll be honestly upset.”

Because of that, Ash started walking silently. Erin didn’t even think to shake off his grip, just followed his steps.

* * *

Thud.

The sound of the lab door opening and closing was louder than usual. Ash roughly threw off his hood and loosened his cravat.

“Whew.”

Only after being pulled inside by Ash did Erin feel like she could breathe again.

For some reason, she hadn’t even been able to breathe properly while walking, too busy watching Ash’s mood.

‘Why is he so angry?’

Sure, she’d left without telling him, but she wasn’t a child. She could take care of herself…

But instead of questioning him, Erin just stared at Ash with a heavy expression, busy recalling the reporter’s words.

‘I thought it was nonsense…’

The more she thought about it, the stranger it felt.

‘Even when I first hired an assistant…’

Very few people responded to Erin’s job posting.

Her offered salary was… not great for a lab assistant.

She herself was living on a single piece of black bread a day, paying research bills and family debts.

Those who were desperate for work turned and fled as soon as they saw the rundown lab.

Just seeing the condition of the old lab, anyone could tell there was no future in it.

But Ash had taken the assistant position as if he’d been waiting for it, without a single complaint.

‘He didn’t even try to negotiate his contract.’

Instead, he worked harder than expected and quietly looked after her.

That wasn’t all.

‘Even for the clinical trial…’

When Erin, desperate for research, was about to pick a terrible candidate, Ash volunteered himself.

‘I absolutely cannot stand the thought of you messing around with filthy men out there.’

‘Filthy.’

That particular word stuck in her mind.

Now, it sounded less like he was talking about impurities that would interfere with the experiment and more like… something else.

‘Could it really be…’

Did he have backing after all?

Erin’s stomach settled quietly.

She knew the reporter’s words were nonsense, but all these questions swirled in her mind, making her uneasy.

‘To be shaken by this now…’

But Erin understood.

To be shaken by such words and search for possible evidence…

It meant…

‘I’ve come to care about Ash.’

If this suspicion turned out to be true, it would hurt too much…

Tap.

As Erin got lost in her complicated thoughts and stared at the floor, her chin was gently lifted.

“Ah.”

She met Ash’s red eyes.

Still visibly angry, those eyes under the ashen hair trembled.

“Honestly, Doctor…”

Ash stared at Erin intensely, his lips looking redder than usual.

“Why is it that every time I take my eyes off you, you end up somewhere strange?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t you know how dangerous and disgusting that man is?”

“Wait, he’s just a reporter…”

“Those ‘just reporters’ have said all sorts of things about your experiment and you. You almost got hurt just now.”

Hearing that, Erin had nothing to say. Ash’s eyes sharpened.

“Or… was there another reason?”

“Uh, huh?!”

“I’m asking if you had a reason to meet that man.”

Hearing that, Erin oddly felt she needed to make some kind of excuse.

“No, Ash. This is, um…”

But honestly, she hesitated to answer.

If she said she went out because they threatened her with Ash, he might look at her as weak and foolish…

‘If I say I went out because they offered to tell me about you…’

…he might be disappointed in her.

And if she told him what she was really suspicious about…

She was even more afraid of how Ash would react.

She hoped he would just laugh it off as a silly suspicion, but in this mood, it didn’t seem likely.