Chapter 30

Everything he said at that time was sincere.

‘Stay by my side.’

Daily life without her seemed unbearably dull now. In fact, he couldn’t even imagine it.

With that feeling, Ash subtly gave her one last deadline pressure…

But instead, it seemed to ignite Erin’s competitive spirit.

‘Well, she’s always been like that.’

She always looked like she was about to fall, but then got up again. She rarely gave up in the face of adversity, always struggling to find another way through, and in the end, she always made it somehow.

But when she said she’d do such things with other men, Ash couldn’t bear it.

Even if the most eligible bachelors like the Crown Prince came, it would be infuriating, but with those kinds of lowlifes?

Ash’s insides boiled as he smacked the face of a man he didn’t even remember with the menu.

‘How dare they.’

How dare such filthy men lay a hand on his Erin?

He couldn’t tolerate it.

“Please don’t tell me you volunteered as a test subject just to pick someone like that.”

He shot back coldly, and Erin scrambled to make excuses. Ash didn’t want to hear any of it anymore. He just…

He just hated the idea of her being with any man other than him.

“Then let me do it.”

So he volunteered to be the participant himself.

Just thinking of other men touching Erin made him sick. He couldn’t possibly watch that happen.

‘She’s mine.’

Her soft, fluffy pink hair, those pretty blue eyes.

Her cheeks, which had filled out a bit compared to before, her always sparkling gaze, her fresh voice calling his name.

‘I’m the one who’s cared for her.’

That’s how their relationship began, and truly…

‘D*mn it.’

He could barely hold back the curses slipping through his teeth, it felt so good.

“Ah, mm!”

“Haa, Doctor.”

Erin wasn’t just soft in the cheeks. Her whole body was soft.

Her small, slender frame contrasted with her large, dough-like soft chest, and her narrow, wet core wrapped around Ash like melting cream.

She really was a woman made of sugar and cotton candy.

Every time he pushed in and pulled out, Ash felt his reason snap.

“Ah, Ash…!”

“Breathe, Doctor.”

“Hng, hng, mm…!”

Ash found Erin lovable as she cried, laughed, and felt so much because of him.

Whenever her inner walls gripped him tightly, refusing to let go, he felt as if he was endlessly falling.

Even her flesh tasted sweet. Even the tears she shed in pleasure seemed sweet.

Of course, the thought of other men experiencing her body was deeply unpleasant. He couldn’t allow even the possibility.

So Ash monopolized Erin, feeling completely satisfied. The thirst he hadn’t even realized he had was quenched every time he touched and held her.

His heart, uncharacteristically, began to melt.

Then one day, he let his guard down.

“If they exist, children aren’t born.”

He said what he’d only ever kept to himself.

“Children who would only know unhappiness don’t need to be born.”

Unlike their usual heated moments, this time they lay facing each other, and the peaceful atmosphere made him honest.

It was so comfortable, it felt as if he could say anything.

Maybe that’s why.

He let out words he’d never intended to, feelings he’d planned to keep to himself forever.

“There are children who would have been better off never being born, aren’t there?”

After saying it, he wondered if it was too base and cruel.

Even if it was his own story, it was hardly something a woman like Erin would want to hear.

But Erin replied as if it was nothing.

“That doesn’t mean it’s the child’s fault.”

Then she declared,

“And Ash, there’s no such thing as a child who shouldn’t exist.”

As if she were speaking to him when he was young and wounded.

“They were simply born in the wrong circumstances, at the wrong place or time, maybe.”

She whispered,

“That’s not a reason to insult or *buse a child.”

“……”

“That’s just cowardice from the adult. Such people would have abused children for no reason anyway.”

For some reason,

Even though it was only a few words, when Ash heard them, dazzling rays of light seemed to fill his vision. All kinds of colors shimmered. Something he’d never felt as a child.

“And… children born in those circumstances aren’t doomed to unhappiness.”

He realized the light was coming from Erin, peacefully asleep.

Ash gazed at Erin, her eyes gently closed, for a long, long time.

And he realized something new.

A feeling that had always been there, but he’d put off recognizing.

“You…”

“……”

“You change me with just a few words.”

‘Nothing has really changed.’

But the world seemed different, everything seemed a little more beautiful.

Just a few strokes, a few unconscious gestures, and she saved him.

So now, he couldn’t let go of those gestures, that gentle embrace.

Just like a newly hatched duckling imprinting, Ash hugged Erin close.

Now, he couldn’t give her to anyone else.

Erin was his.

And he was hers.

* * *

Aside from his own feelings, Ash knew very well how much effort Erin had put into the experiment.

On the day of the report meeting, he personally ensured Erin’s results were separated from those of the other patrons.

‘She can’t be judged the same as the rest.’

Ash at least knew who was doing real research and who was just being lazy.

He planned to weed out the slackers this time.

Especially those who spread nasty rumors about Erin at the Academy—he intended to kick them out with a bitter lesson.

‘No way those people can cough up all the research funds they’ve received.’

Of course, there was also no way he could let Erin’s report be read by others.

‘How dare those men.’

He couldn’t let the judges look into their private life under the pretense of evaluation.

He knew what was in that report. What images of Erin it contained.

Even though it was written objectively and calmly, Ash could recall Erin’s pleasure under him just from seeing a single number in the report.

How she got wet under his hand, what sounds she made at his touch.

Would the judges be any different?

The thought of them imagining Erin like that disgusted him.

‘No way.’

So he kept the report and only handed over the medicine vial.

Even Ash admitted the experiment was a success, but verification was still necessary.

The secretary who received the vial spoke carefully.

“Thank you for your hard work. It’s time for you to come back.”

It was the kind of remark from someone who knew Ash had put aside his duties as Duke and information guild master to focus on Erin.

“I suppose so.”

Ash replied calmly, but he only thought about keeping Erin by his side.

‘I need another excuse to keep her.’

Now that the experiment was finished and he’d promised her a recommendation letter…

Erin might be planning to end her contract and move on. She might take her payment and leave the country.

‘But she won’t disappear that easily.’

To prepare for such a situation, Ash had already given Erin a ring.

As the secretary packed up the vial, he tilted his head.

“Your Grace, by the way, where did you put the Dukedom’s signet ring?”

“I used it as a shackle.”

“A shackle?”

“There’s such a thing.”

The Clebania Dukedom’s signet ring was enchanted with a tracking spell.

No matter where it went, he could find it instantly. He could know the location of whoever wore it. That’s how important it was.

And his prediction was right.

“Erin disappeared?”

“Yes. She’s not at the lab, her lodgings, or the Baron’s house.”

It was just faster than he’d expected.

When Erin vanished without a word, Ash’s insides were a mess.

‘But I can wait.’

He could wait a few days.

He didn’t know why she’d disappeared without a word, but after such a long experiment, she might just want to rest.

He didn’t want to be a petty partner who couldn’t wait a few days. If he was going to spend his life with Erin, things like this would happen often.

However…

“Your Grace. There’s news from the information guild.”

“What is it?”

“Lady Erin Leshamur has bought a train ticket.”