Chapter 27

Beatrice glanced around at her surroundings. Fortunately, the place she had hurriedly escaped to with Julian was somewhere people rarely passed by.

“I’ve gotten used to it now… You really don’t have to keep worrying about me like that.”

A week had passed since that day. Because Julian continued to hover around her, she had to experience being trapped in the room twice more.

Contrary to Julian’s words that the room’s conditions would change, both times the room was a <room you can’t leave unless you cure the illness>. As a result, she had to go through acts that were hard to even speak about two more times.

Just recalling those embarrassing days made Beatrice’s face turn as red as a ripe carrot. Even if it was an alternate space, not reality, it was still difficult to undress and be n*ked in front of Julian, to have her chest and lower body touched by him, and each time, to hear the strange sounds that escaped her lips. She could never get used to it.

Her encounters with Julian pushed her to the brink of exhaustion. Julian would observe her condition and adjust the intensity accordingly, so she no longer fainted midway as she had before.

Yet, because of that, Beatrice always reached her peak, and afterwards, a deathlike fatigue would come over her, someone whose stamina was never high to begin with.

“I’m doing this because I want to. So I hope you won’t feel burdened, Beatrice.”

“How could I not? It’s really, really burdensome.”

Beatrice lowered her voice and whispered to him.

“Julian, haven’t you noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

“The way other people look at me and you.”

Julian’s expression flickered in surprise for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

Of course, Julian had noticed. Though fewer in number than the female students, there were male students who looked at him with envy when he was with Beatrice.

To Julian, men other than Malek had always been no different from lifeless objects. He had no reason to talk to them, didn’t attend classes properly, and thus never mingled with them. But by staying close to Beatrice and keeping an eye on the men, he ended up noticing things he hadn’t wanted to know. There were more sharp-eyed pests than he had expected.

Of course, not all of their interest in Beatrice was the same dark kind Julian felt. Most of them had more practical motives, wanting to build connections with Beatrice, who would soon become a high-ranking Priest. But whether it was this or that, Julian couldn’t help but dislike it all.

‘In fact, there were a few who tried to approach Beatrice while I was away from her.’

Looking back, it was a dangerous mistake. And Julian was not a fool who would make the same mistake twice.

He knew Beatrice found his changed attitude uncomfortable. But if he didn’t act this way, he worried someone might try to get close to her.

However, Beatrice, unaware of Julian’s thoughts, was cautioning him about something else entirely.

“Julian, these days you hardly talk to anyone but me, right? That’s not good.”

In Beatrice’s mind, Julian was someone who loved women so much that he’d earned the nickname ‘Rag.’ She didn’t want to monopolize him and make other female students unhappy, nor did she want to make him unhappy.

“Please spend time with other people. Don’t neglect your relationships with others just because you’re worrying about me.”

Unlike the first potion-making class, the female students’ reactions toward Julian had softened considerably. They hadn’t even told him about the change in class time, though they had let Beatrice know.

“If you approache first, everyone will be happy.”

“Beatrice, doesn’t it bother you at all?”

“Me? I… um, I don’t know what you mean, Julian.”

Beatrice truly looked as if she didn’t understand. Then, suddenly, she let out a small ‘Ah!’ of realization.

“Of course I’m happy. After I leave, you’ll be attending classes with the others at the Academy, right?”

She was referring to the time when she’d been asked when her thesis would be finished, and she had replied that she probably wouldn’t be able to complete it before the year was out.

“I’m genuinely glad if you get along well with others, Julian.”

Beatrice waved her hand, insisting she had no desire to monopolize Julian and that he shouldn’t worry about her at all.

“…I see. I understand what you’re saying, Beatrice.”

Julian gazed at her for a long moment, then spoke with a small sigh and a powerless smile. Beatrice’s face brightened. But then, Julian added something disappointing.

“But I want to treasure the time I spend with you, Beatrice. You’re someone I can only be with this semester.”

“Julian, you do understand what I mean, right? I really don’t mean to monopolize you…”

“I know. You don’t have to stress it.”

He knew all too well. Beatrice had no special feelings for him. She was simply kind and warm to anyone, regardless of who they were.

Unlike Julian, who treated only Beatrice as special, she did not treat him more specially nor harbor any special feelings for him.

He knew this fact all too painfully well.

***

“Hngh…! Hah, nn…”

Squish, squish. The finger that had invaded the narrow opening pressed firmly against her delicate walls. Though she had started out standing with her legs spread just enough, the trembling in her thighs was making Beatrice’s body collapse.

Barely holding on by gripping Julian’s shoulder, Beatrice was subjected to his merciless search for her weakness.

“J-Julian… ah, nn!”

“Hold on, Beatrice. You can’t give up so easily, can you?”

Once again, it was a <room you can’t leave unless you cure the illness>. They had been suddenly trapped in an absurd space. This time, the place they were locked in was the tiny cleaning supply closet attached to the laboratory.

More precisely, it was more like a very small storage room. While making potions, Julian’s concentration had wavered as his mind drifted elsewhere, and he dropped a flask from the desk. As Beatrice went to get a broom to clean up the shattered glass, Julian immediately followed her in. That was all it took.

As soon as the door closed, they were trapped inside the cleaning supply closet.

“Hngh… So, why did you close the door…”

At Beatrice’s words, which sounded as if she was blaming him, Julian moved his fingers inside her even faster. As his fingers curled like hooks and scraped along her walls, Beatrice couldn’t even finish her sentence, letting out more moans.

“Who knows. Why do you think?”

Why it happened, Beatrice would never know.

After the potion-making class, Julian was upset by Beatrice’s words telling him not to worry about her and to get along with other women. Even though he understood that she said it for his sake, Julian still felt hurt by her.

Julian, who had lived his whole life in a position of power, found it awkward to be emotionally at a disadvantage now.

When someone falls in love, even expressing their feelings becomes hesitant. Unlike his own desperate longing, the other person could end the relationship at any time.

“Ah… Julian, please, gently… Please, no more…”

Her head shook, as if she couldn’t take it anymore, and in the darkness, it felt like the scent of her shampoo was trembling. In the dim cleaning supply closet, Julian skillfully undressed Beatrice. He slipped his hand into her blouse after undoing the buttons, lifted her bra up over her chest. In this state—neither fully dressed nor undressed—he kneaded her br*asts, put them in his mouth, and sucked.