Chapter 26

‘Ash would never have left the lab or the room untouched.’

He’d already drained everything he could from her, so he may have trashed the lab. Erin’s rented room leaked water every day, and all her belongings had ended up in Ash’s house anyway.

He may have thrown all of that out too.

“…I liked him.”

Once again, sorrow swept over her.

At first, it was just a clinical trial.

She felt foolish for developing these feelings.

Drip, drop. Tears fell onto the letter Erin was writing to Duke Aston, but she didn’t have spare paper.

She wiped her eyes and continued the letter as neatly as she could.

When she wrote the part about Ash, the tears came again.

“Why did you have to be so good to me?”

If he was going to use her, he could have kept his kindness to a minimum. He could have made sure she never saw him as a man.

She could have continued the trials with other male applicants. He didn’t have to volunteer himself. Why did he help her so much?

Why did he eat with her, go for walks, shop for clothes, find things that suited her perfectly, and watch performances she liked?

Why did he, instead of embracing her passionately at night, gently hold her and fall asleep in the same bed? Why did they sometimes kiss like lovers…?

“Hng.”

Crying again, Erin stroked her belly.

The child would surely be pretty and kind, just like Ash.

But could Erin really raise this child alone?

‘With all this debt pressing down…’

She wouldn’t be able to get Duke Aston’s payment, so even her plan to pay off her debts was ruined.

She lacked the strength to support her family and herself—let alone a child.

‘…I’ll have to get rid of it.’

She thought it calmly, but her heart ached.

If she’d made the contraceptive properly, none of this would have happened.

A wave of guilt for herself and for the child crashed over her.

“Pull yourself together.”

But she couldn’t sit and mope forever. Even now, the child in her belly was growing.

Finishing the letter to Duke Aston and sealing it, Erin began to pack her meager belongings. Then she approached the decorative map hanging in the corner of the inn room.

“Let’s see.”

It wasn’t safe to terminate a pregnancy in the Empire. In a country where even contraceptives weren’t properly developed, abortion drugs couldn’t be safe for the mother. Surgery was even riskier.

Staring at the map for a long time, Erin finally made up her mind.

“…Let’s go to the Principality of Melsa.”

The Principality of Melsa was a small city in the southern continent, not the western continent where she was. It was known for its advanced magical technology.

On the continent, magic was still more relied upon than science, and medicine was often solved through magic as well. So if she went somewhere with advanced magic, there might be hope.

‘It’s irresponsible to give birth when I can’t take responsibility.’

Even so, she felt heavy-hearted. Erin suddenly realized what was on her finger as she stroked her belly.

‘…I’m still wearing this.’

The pinkish-red ruby ring Ash had given her.

She should have thrown it away long ago, but for some reason she couldn’t get it off. She tried again, gripping it tightly, but the ring just squeezed her finger tighter.

“I wasn’t planning to give it back anyway.”

She decided that, if she had to, she’d go to a pawnshop and have it cut off. The gem looked expensive; she could just sell it. She needed the money, after all.

If she was going to heal her heartbreak from betrayal, she might as well do it financially.

“But…”

Didn’t it seem a bit redder than before?

Erin stared at the gem and sighed deeply. What did it matter if it turned red or blue?

“I’ll leave tomorrow.”

It would be a long trip to the Principality of Melsa. First, she’d have to take a magic train from the Imperial capital to the southern port, then spend two weeks at sea to reach the southern continent.

‘It’ll be even harder to travel while pregnant.’

She decided to move before the child grew any bigger and forced herself to sleep. In her dreams, a gentle voice kept calling her.

* * *

“Haa.”

The next morning, Erin was up before dawn.

She paid for her stay at the inn and went to the bank to withdraw all her remaining money. She’d saved it up carefully, paying off her debts little by little, not knowing when she’d need it.

Then she headed straight for the train station.

Unfortunately, because it was holiday season, tickets to the port were almost sold out. After some effort, Erin managed to grab a canceled ticket for a train leaving late in the afternoon.

‘It’s a ticket with lots of transfers, but…’

She was grateful to have it at all.

Just in case, she checked newsstands for articles about the stolen contraceptive, but found nothing. Not even anything about Duke Aston…

‘Oh.’

There was one article.

It said Duke Aston had dismissed several patron beneficiaries after the report meeting.

Among them was Viscount Talben, who had harassed Erin. He was even being sued to repay all the research funds he’d spent.

‘Why did the Duke finally kick him out?’

Up until now, the Duke had tolerated his scam research and only pressured Erin.

But that was no longer her concern.

Erin stopped caring about the newspaper and remembered the letter she’d written in tears last night.

‘Right.’

She got up from the bench and put the letter to the Duke in the mailbox at the edge of the train station.

‘Since it’s a letter to the Duke, it should arrive quickly.’

It was well known that the post office delivered faster to people of high rank.

Worries swirled in her head, then vanished, and came back again. Her fingers went cold and then hot. Her insides boiled and then settled.

‘At this rate, I’ll collapse first.’

Pale, Erin sank back onto the bench, uncaring if people whispered about her sitting with her legs spread…

“Ow, hot!”

Just then, the ring on her finger began to heat up.

Panicking at the sensation of burning, she tried to pull it off, but of course it wouldn’t budge.

‘Bathroom!’

Erin ran to the train station bathroom.

Luckily, it was empty.

She turned on the faucet and cooled her finger under the water until the heat faded. Staring at the ring, which was now perfectly calm, Erin felt bewildered.

Step, step.

She heard the unmistakable sound of heavy, gentleman’s shoes.

She swallowed nervously.

‘Probably someone entering the men’s room.’

But why did it sound like they were coming here?

Creak.

The wooden door opened.

“Gasp…”

Erin froze.

“Ash…”

She wanted to call his name, but for some reason she couldn’t breathe.

“……”

It was definitely Ash.

Though dressed in a fine suit like a high noble, there couldn’t be two faces like his in the world.

His ash silver hair, usually hidden, was uncovered today. Below it, thick, delicate lashes and sculpted, beautiful features. Most of all, those gem-like, beautiful red eyes.

But the look in his eyes was not one she recognized.

‘Why.’

His face was expressionless, but his eyes were full of emotion.

Anger, hurt, betrayal, despair…

‘Shouldn’t I be the one feeling that?’

Erin’s chest tightened. Ash’s voice came out, suppressed.

“Why?”

“……”

“Why, Erin?”

“What?!”

Even if he betrayed her, how could he—

‘So I don’t matter to you anymore?’

He called her by name, not “Doctor.” Instead of feeling flustered, Erin felt angry. She stiffened at Ash’s short, informal words.

Ash strode inside.

And then he dropped a bombshell.

“Were you planning to use me and toss me aside?”

…Wasn’t she the one abandoned and betrayed?!

Before she could even be shocked, Ash closed the distance. Erin instinctively backed away, shouting,

“Wait! This is the ladies’ bathroom! Get out—mmph!”

Hot breath sealed her lips.

‘What is this…’

Ash’s lips devoured hers, his tongue pushing between her clenched teeth. She tried to resist, but his hand pressed her jaw, forcing her mouth open.

Click!

Teeth clashed and Ash’s tongue was bitten, drawing blood, but he didn’t stop. Instead, he pushed in deeper, and Erin gasped for air.

‘Blood, the taste of blood…’

The metallic taste of Ash’s blood slid down her throat. Even so, his tongue pulled hers, biting and teasing as if scolding her, and Erin’s mind went blank.