Chapter 4
The academy’s curriculum ranged from three to seven years, and since the heroine couldn’t afford the higher degree track, she graduated exactly in her third year, becoming an adult as soon as she finished.
‘And as soon as she graduates, she falls into the infamous “no, no, yes, yes” tragic romance trap.’
That would happen in ten months.
‘It must be finished before then!’
Afterward, Erin would sit on a pile of money and pay off her family’s debt at once. She’d also repay the Duke for his support.
She didn’t exactly feel grateful to the Duke, who had pressured her every day, but without his sponsorship, it would have been nearly impossible for a debt-ridden noblewoman to develop a new drug on her own.
Even now, she was using the Duke’s funds to help pay her loan interest and her family’s debts.
‘Just wait and see!’
She would flatten the Duke’s pride… No, she would repay his kindness!
Erin’s heart burned with motivation.
So, after dedicating her health and strength, and running herself ragged for several months…
“Now, all that’s left is to show this to the Duke!”
Today—finally, the long-awaited new drug was complete.
The results came much faster than expected, and Erin’s eyes sparkled with emotion. Ash, gazing at Erin’s shining blue eyes, turned his attention back to the beaker.
He tilted his head, carefully examining the mysteriously glowing liquid.
“The finished product.”
“…What’s with that reaction?”
At Ash’s oddly indifferent response, Erin unconsciously pouted her lips.
‘I thought he’d be happy with me.’
Ash, too, had suffered alongside her for three years as her assistant.
His reaction left her feeling a bit disappointed, and Erin’s lips stuck out even more.
Ash, noticing, gently pressed her lips back in and shrugged.
“I’m not doubting you.”
“Really?”
“Of course, you’re an excellent doctor.”
“Right, right!”
“This product is very likely the first truly successful finished piece.”
“Obviously.”
Erin nodded enthusiastically, her pink hair bouncing like cotton candy. Soft wisps waved between the small buns she’d twisted up like little loaves of bread.
Sighing, Ash tidied up her stray hair, then asked in a deliberately gentle voice,
“But… how will you prove it?”
“Hm?”
“How will you prove that this is a one hundred percent effective contraceptive?”
“Oh.”
With that sharp and important point, Erin’s mind snapped back from its pleasant daydream about her bright future.
‘Right. I have to prove it.’
She hesitated for a moment, then quickly smiled.
That was easy enough.
“Of course there’s a way.”
“What way?”
Ash’s eyes swept over her slowly, and something about his gaze felt mischievous.
Whenever that languid look appeared on his face, there was an almost electric sensuality to it.
Thinking that far, Erin flinched for a moment.
‘What am I thinking, about my assistant?’
Of course, Ash had a way of making her feel that way at random times.
Honestly, over the past three years, there were more than a few times she had to hold onto her reason to avoid seeing him as a man.
‘It’s not just my fault.’
Even when he went out in his baggy hood, women would approach him just from seeing his jawline. Erin had seen it herself while shopping with him. She could understand their feelings.
‘It would be stranger not to be attracted to a face and body like that.’
“What’s the method, Doctor?”
Just then, Ash’s hand, looking down at her like a lazy predator, rested on her waist, breaking her train of thought.
Only then did Erin notice how close their bodies were, and she quickly stepped away.
“Well, um!”
She could still feel the firmness of Ash’s chest against the softness of her own, and her fingertips tingled. Even the brief touch of his strong thighs lingered.
He was an assistant who could distract anyone if they let their guard down.
Erin took a deep breath, recalling the researcher’s ethics about not harassing or abusing people by rank.
‘Think good thoughts, think good thoughts.’
Above all, she had to focus on the new drug!
She shook her head quickly and shouted,
“We’ll do a clinical trial!”
“…What kind of trial?”
“A clinical trial. We test the drug we developed on people to see how safe and effective it is!”
“Hmmm.”
Since the concept of clinical trials wasn’t well established in this world, Ash’s reaction was lukewarm.
But Erin was confident.
“All we need are participants. We can prove it in just a few weeks of observation!”
“Participants?”
“Yeah. Just a few women of childbearing age should be enough.”
With contraceptives, there would always be demand, anywhere, anytime—even if it was just a clinical trial.
“We can do it!”
Erin nodded confidently.
* * *
…And soon after, she was discouraged.
“Uuuugh…”
Erin woke up again today buried under a pile of documents. Her appearance was hardly different before or after the new drug’s development.
Thud.
Only when she felt something fall off her shoulder did she realize Ash had covered her with his clothes.
‘Come to think of it, last time too.’
Even on the day she finished the new drug, something had been draped over her shoulder.
‘Was it Ash’s clothes that time, too?’
“He’s always nagging me for sleeping at my desk, but…”
He always took care of her anyway.
Erin grumbled as she picked up Ash’s clothes, which smelled fresh.
Was it true that handsome people even smelled different?
The scent from Ash’s clothes was worlds apart from the musty, hunched researcher smell of her academy seniors and classmates.
“Wow…”
Erin unconsciously pressed her lips to the collar, then quickly raised her head. Sniffing her assistant’s clothes—what kind of boss did that?
‘…Am I being too much of a pervert?’
Feeling awkward, Erin took a few more sniffs before setting the clothes on the chair.
Bang.
Ash opened the lab door and came in.
Erin’s heart thumped at the close timing. Ash, with his usual innocent face, set down a warm stew in front of her.
“It’s vegetable stew for your stomach.”
“…Uh, thanks.”
“I left out the carrots since you don’t like them.”
“Really, you’re the best.”
She smiled in thanks, and Ash returned a slight smile.
Erin struggled to regain her senses. He was always handsome, but when he smiled like that, he really looked like a work of art.
‘That’s why I keep acting weird…’
She couldn’t help it.
‘What else can I do when he’s so handsome and smells so good?’
Rationalizing to herself, Erin started eating the stew, using the documents she’d been reading before falling asleep as a pot holder.
Ash tilted his head, as if to point something out.
“Weren’t those important documents?”
“Well, sort of…”
Sighing, Erin put on her thick-rimmed glasses, reserved for reading documents, and complained to Ash, who was staring at her.
“I didn’t expect the responses to be so mixed.”
She’d boldly advertised for clinical trial participants in the newspaper…
But people’s reactions were all over the place, and positive responses were very few.
Religious people sent warning letters to her lab, saying she was defying the will of God, and the newspaper even sent questions asking if prolonged use of the drug would cause infertility.
It was a malicious attempt to sabotage her research.
‘And that’s not all.’
Sometimes, people even complained about the compensation she offered.
Why did women get paid twice as much as men, they asked.
Erin shrugged at that question.
Wasn’t it obvious?
‘The risk is much greater for women.’
Of course, Erin was confident in her contraceptive. But as a researcher, she couldn’t ignore the worst-case scenario—what if the drug failed?
In that case, it would be the women who ended up pregnant.
Besides…
“What am I supposed to do if there are no female volunteers…”
“…”
“Does this make sense, Ash? They’re all men!”
The few people who volunteered for the trial were all men.
Some even openly asked if volunteering meant they’d get a female partner provided.
Even when she doubled the compensation for female volunteers, she couldn’t find any. It was a real headache.
‘…Well. Thinking about it again, I get it.’
Before recruiting volunteers, she’d been sure there’d be plenty of demand…
But now that she considered it, even she herself wouldn’t easily sign up as a volunteer.
Not only was there the risk of failure, but single female volunteers would have to do… those things with complete strangers.
Translator
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Bunların hepsi sırf onlar sevişsin diye var anlıyorum ama bu ilacı kullanması için bekar kadınlara vermek tam bir saçmalık değil mi? Zaten birkaç çocuğu olmuş ve daha fazla çocuk istemeyen evli kadınlar daha mantıklı değil mi? Ya da hayatı boyunca hamile kalmak istemeyen seks işçileri? Hatta daha önce yanlışıkla hamile kalmış olan hayat kadınlarını daha kolay ikna edebilirsin. Paraya ihtiyacı olan evsizler de olabilir. Ve muhafazakâr bir toplumda açıkça gazeteye ilan vermek salaklık değil mi? Ve cidden öyle bir toplumda bekar kadınların gelip rastgele adamlarla para karşılığında sevişeceğini düşündün mü? (Harbi bu ilana neden hiçbir fahişe başvuru yapmamış merak ettim.)
Evet ben salağım ve sadece smut için yazılmış bir hikayede mantık arıyorum.