Laboratory
of the Kanista Kingdom 5 (Ashren's POV)
When
I saw her at the evening banquet, I intuitively thought that she was the one
who made the new medicine.
Eyes
trying to find the truth, an unwavering figure. It was already something akin
to intuition. People doing the same job can somehow just tell. I let my gaze
run to her fingertips just like that, and I was convinced that my intuition was
correct.
In
that case, I thought, and looked at the man standing next to her. Is he her
co-researcher? No, that's not it; he doesn't have the scent of a researcher.
As
I strained my ears, the conversation went in an unexpected direction, and she
left the venue. I hurriedly chased after her, and after hesitating on how to
call out to her, the words that came out were,
「Um, excuse me. Could you spare a
little time for me?」
What
is this light tone. Isn't this just picking up a girl. To think the price of
avoiding young ladies up until now would come around like this.
As
expected, she looked at me with a puzzled expression, and I forcefully led her
to the corner of the hallway, saying, 「Please give me just five minutes.」 This is bad; this will just make her even more cautious.
Trying
to make even a slightly good impression, I smiled with a somewhat confident
face, but she already only directed deeply suspicious eyes at me. On top of
that, she even called me two-faced.
Thinking
it was desperation at this point, I brought my face close and told her, 「The research results are yours, aren't they?」 and she finally changed her expression. After that, when I
got to the main topic and told her my purpose for calling out to her, she
widened her large eyes even further and blinked as if in surprise.
Just
as I thought I could wrap up the conversation like this, an interruption came
in.
The
man who stole Layla's research results despised and made a fool of her.
I flared up at that tone, and before I knew it, I had twisted his arm up.
However,
you never know what will work out.
It
seems she judged me worthy of trust, and Layla ultimately agreed to come
to the Kanista Kingdom.
Since
we started working together, I have been nothing but amazed by her talent.
Honestly, as a fellow researcher, there are times when I feel envious and have
a sense of inferiority, but seeing her earnestly devote herself to research
blew such thoughts away. I honestly began to feel that I wanted to help her
talent grow.
But,
what I was looking at was only the very superficial part of her.
When
leaving the Jilgista Kingdom, and even on the ship, she was calm and
composed. Layla, who wasn't timid even at a new workplace, spilled large
drops of tears.
「Hic...」
She
raised her voice like a small child and shed tears in large drops from her big
eyes.
「Th-Thank you very much. Because no
one has ever said such a thing to me until now.」
Seeing
her wipe her tears with the back of her hand and tremble her slender shoulders,
I realized the magnitude of the wounds in her heart, even though it was too
late.
There's
no way she wasn't hurt. I don't even have to think about how much time and
effort is needed to produce research results of that magnitude. Even though
there must have been blood-curdling effort there, she was never acknowledged by
anyone for it. Just how sad and painful must that be.
I
am pathetic for only paying attention to how indifferently she spoke and not
even realizing such a thing.
Before
I knew it, I was hugging her slender shoulders. I stroked her fine, soft hair
as gently as I could.
「You've done well working so hard up
until now.」
No
clever words came out. I just wanted to say that much. That Layla is a
splendid researcher.
「Ugh, sob...」
Layla's slender fingers clung to my back.
When I put even more strength into my arms, she began to cry as if a dam had
burst.
How
long were we like that? The people from the Medicinal Herb Department
were considerate and gave us the room. Seeing them all leave the room together
made me a little embarrassed, but the thought of letting go of the trembling
body in my arms never even crossed my mind, and I just kept holding her.
Layla, who is reliable and has the
disposition of a genius, seems like just a helpless woman. Although there have
been times when I felt women who follow me around and cling to my arm were
annoying, I have never wanted to hold them.
I
want to protect her; it was the first time I felt that way.
When
I brought her to this country, I promised that I would do anything I could for Layla.
I said it from the bottom of my heart back then too, but now I truly mean it
from the depths of my soul.
「...I am so sorry.」
Sniffling
sniff, sniff, Layla loosened the arms she had wrapped around my
back and separated from me. Her downward-facing face was red to the ears, and I
somehow suppressed the urge to pull her into an embrace again.
「Do not worry about it, you had
bottled up quite a lot until now. Crying can be refreshing sometimes, right?」
「Yes, thanks to you, I feel
refreshed.」
With
red eyes that still had traces of tears, but with a radiant smile, Layla
showed her face. I'm glad, I thought, and as I gently scooped away the
tear tracks with the back of my finger, she shyly let her gaze wander. What is
with that cute reaction.
「Oh, where is everyone?」
「It seems they were being considerate
of us.」
「Oh, my goodness! I have caused
trouble for the people of another department.」
Layla stood up in a fluster with her
hands on her cheeks, and I calmed her down and made her sit back down.
「It is fine. This is a warehouse, so
everyone is continuing their work elsewhere. They probably aren't particularly
troubled.」
「Is that really true?」
「Yeah.」
Well,
there are probably some guys who are feeling troubled, wanting to go to the
warehouse to get medicinal herbs but unable to do so, but they'll just have to
endure it. Since we brought an unbelievable document over, this much is just
small change in return.
「Ashren-sama, I am alright now, so shall we
head back soon?」
「Right.」
「Also, thank you very much.」
Being
told that, I looked at Layla, and she smiled softly like a flower
blooming while looking up at me with moist, copper-colored eyes.
「Thank you for calling me a
researcher and praising me for working hard. I felt as though everything I have
done up until now was rewarded.」
「...I only said what I thought.」
「But, those words saved the past me.」
If I was able to save her. If she would be happy with such a thing. I will say it as many times as it takes: Layla is a magnificent researcher. I'm glad I brought her back with me; I felt that from the bottom of my heart.
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