Chapter 26

– beep

As the door closed again, Alexis Rainier grabbed my hands and said,

“Come here, I’ll give you a necklace.”

“You brought one?”

“Of course, I also brought earrings.”

“Haha… . you’re amazing.”

He must have liked my compliments. I should have praised him from the beginning, because his face looked kinder now.

“Your ears aren’t pierced.”

“Oh.”

“Would you like me to pierce you?”

“Oh, no. I am afraid.”

“Then will you pierce me?”

“Ah… .”

Somehow, I thought it would be better to have my ears pierced than to have his ears pierced.

“Next time.”

“Yeah, next time.”

He seemed to be in a good mood. It seems that something good happened when he met the deputy director.

“You know what?”

“What?”

“I have to leave for work now. I have to go out on a mission.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Will you stay here until I come back?”

I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want to.

“Ah, well….… I-I’m comfortable in my room.”

“That’s too bad. Alright, then. I’ll wait until you’re comfortable here.”

“Thank you.”

It was hard to make eye contact when he was talking kindly like this.

I felt a cold touch on my neck; he hung the necklace. The shiny jewels looked very expensive, so I felt burdened and worried.

“It’s pretty.”

“Thank you.”

He stared at me as he beckoned for me to look in the mirror in the distance.

The necklace with stunning jewels went well with the evening dress.

“This necklace.”

“Um?”

“This is yours now.”

“Oh… thank you.”

But I didn’t need a necklace like this. I would have to leave the lab for it to be of use. It was of no use in the lab, especially with my disguise.

Even so, there was no reason to refuse.

Alexis Rainier was a dangerous man, so I couldn’t afford to offend him.

***

It seemed as if Kalisten really started to comply with the researchers, because the way they treated him completely changed.

Of course, there was the case where they brought in Alexis Rainier to catch him and take him to his room, but he seemed quite free with the restraints around his neck as if he had completely forgotten about it.

“Here it is, Kal.” [t1v: random interesting fact—his nickname “Kal” in Korean is also the word for “knife” or “blade”]

I was holding a plate trying to approach him.

His body was free, but his eyes looked hazy. He was probably drugged and experimented on.

Judging by the fact that the effects of the arousal agent were still there, it was clear that they had used a strong enough drug only applicable for a Z-classer. I sighed and sat quietly.

Then he looked at me blankly.

“To me… .”

“Yes?”

“Don’t say anything to me.”

“Uh, why?”

“They gave me a truth-telling serum.”

It felt a bit strange to me that he was speaking so bluntly. It was common for researchers to use confession-inducing narcotics. They must have been testing whether he was lying or not during the experiment.

“Kal.”

“I like it when you call me that.”

He didn’t even seem to know what he was saying.

I blinked at him, and seemed like he was comfortable.

A harmless question came to mind while I was scooping out the sweet potato salad:

“Do you actually hate sweet potatoes?”

“No, I don’t hate them.”

“Then why did you say you didn’t like it last time?”

“You were hungry.”

Judging by the fact that the truth-telling serum is still working so well, it must have been about ten minutes since he was brought back here.

I don’t remember it well because I didn’t read the original story properly, but I think after the truth-telling drug leaves his system he won’t remember anything when he wakes up.

“Did it bother you that I was hungry?”

“Yes.”

I shoved the spoon with the salad piled on it in front of his mouth. Then, he ate it quietly. Slowly, as if he was being fed by a mother bird.

So I mixed the pills I had been given in the sweet potato salad and fed him. It was easy for him to digest because he chewed it and swallowed the food.

I spread the jam on the bread to try and make it more enticing. He chewed on it without complaint.

“Kal.”

“..Yea…?”

“I’m glad you’re not in pain.”

“Yes.”

He laughed. My heart fluttered, it was like I had glimpsed his smile for the first time. My chest tickled.

As he continued to stare and smile, my movements became stilted and rigid. The red eyes beneath his long black eyelashes were as beautiful as jewels. His black hair, pale skin, and bright red lips were so pretty.

“Aselia.”

“Yes?”

“Aselia.”

“Yes, Kal.”

I scooped out some soup to feed him. He sipped it and quickly finished it off. When I handed him today’s soft bread he instead stared at my hands blankly for a while, and then finally took it and ate it.

After he emptied the tray, he looked at it and said to me:

“Aselia.”

“Yes?”

“I ate it all.”

“Yes, you ate it all.”

“You have to compliment me,”

he declared and then rested his head on my shoulder. He started to rub his hair like a puppy begging for praise.

“How should I praise you, Kal?”

“I want to bite you.”