Abellus brushed aside any lingering regrets, swept his bangs back, and stood up.
Though the heat still hadn’t faded below, his desire made itself known, but there was no reason to hide it from Iris.
After all, Iris had already seen everything under the desk, had even nuzzled her head there, and perhaps, it was simply his instincts wanting to prove that he was always ready to take her.
He staggered over and opened his locker.
Feeling Iris’s gaze fall to his lower half, a thrill ran up his spine.
Truthfully, he wanted to say, ‘You raised it, so take responsibility,’ then push Iris down and unleash his desires as much as he wanted.
But, playing the dignified Research Director, he swallowed his crude words.
As he pulled out a clean lab coat and put it on, he spoke—tossing out a suitable bait for Iris, so she could pretend not to know and bite.
Unlike his lewd thoughts, his face wore a calm expression.
“Would you like to? You said you’re job hunting, right? If you want to make some extra money, you could join a clinical trial next time…”
“No. Not the clinical trials. I’ll do other part-time jobs, like cleaning…”
What was it about those damned clinical trials that he kept recommending them?
As Iris flatly refused, Abellus smacked his lips internally.
If Iris agreed to participate in a clinical trial, he wouldn’t need to entrust her to another assistant—he’d join as a test subject himself.
He could invite Iris into a locked room and try as many things as he pleased—shameful or otherwise, even all those experiments that had been bumped down the priority list.
Dressed properly in his lab coat, he smoothed his messy bangs and looked back at Iris.
“Alright. We have enough cleaning staff. But I do know a part-time job that suits you, Miss Iris.”
“What kind of job?”
With her hand resting on the desk, Iris tilted her head.
Both pretended innocence, but they knew the part-time job was just an excuse.
The real reason Iris would return here was obvious.
Abellus approached her, gently tapped her rosy cheek, and whispered secretly.
“I’ll contact you later to let you know. Whatever it is, I promise you’ll be more than satisfied.”
“Will I? I hope it’s… satisfactory.”
Iris caught the fingers tapping her cheek and gave him a captivating smile.
Her eyes flicked over the armored neck of the Statue of the Knight behind Abellus.
It seemed that next time she came here, she would gain quite a lot.
After escorting Iris to the Elevator, Abellus headed toward the 4th-floor Examination Room.
Perhaps because he’d stopped his fun with Iris halfway, the excitement wouldn’t fade.
Staggering through the corridor, he suddenly stopped in the middle.
Even if his lab coat hid everything below, it would be troublesome if the assistants saw him like this.
He didn’t mind if they discovered his cruel side, but if word got out that he was walking around like this, rumors would haunt him forever.
He silently recited the solemn national anthem several times, trying to calm his still-swollen center, before finally arriving at the Examination Room.
Laika was so nervous that, rather than waiting in the Reception Room, he sat on the bench outside, legs trembling.
Upon spotting Abellus, Laika jumped up, venting his anger.
“What, are you tailoring your own clothes? How can it take you so long just to put something on? I thought I’d die waiting.”
“My arm hurts, that’s why.”
Abellus slowly raised his injured arm.
Laika looked at him as if he couldn’t believe it.
He couldn’t understand why Abellus insisted on not drinking a Magic Potion.
As far as he knew, there were always Magic Potions stored in a corner of the Director’s Office.
Maybe Abellus injured his head along with his arm?
If that were the case, it was actually a windfall—Laika could immediately tell his father and get Abellus kicked out of the Laboratory.
Laika looked Abellus up and down, his lips sticking out in disbelief.
A psychopath acting strange wasn’t anything new.
It was a joke, but maybe he really did enjoy pain by injuring himself.
Anyway, for the purpose of checking the state of the Ring, he needed Abellus’s uninjured arm.
“If you just drink a Magic Potion, you’d be fine. Jeez.”
Laika tossed him the Magic Potion he always carried.
Abellus received it with his good arm and gulped it down.
Watching him, Laika made a face full of exasperation.
“What are you doing… After slathering yourself with ointment, now you drink a Magic Potion? Enough already. Hurry up and check. I dropped all my plans to rush here for this.”
Once inside the Examination Room, Abellus used various inspection devices to examine the ring in detail.
Laika sat watching him, legs jittering.
After a while, Abellus took off his silver-rimmed glasses and pressed his eyelids with both hands.
Then he sighed and looked at Laika.
“This… isn’t a Relic.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Laika’s eyes went wide as he hurried to Abellus’s side.
Abellus removed the ring from the microscope and held it in his hand as if nothing was wrong.
When nothing happened as Abellus held the ring, Laika’s blue eyes widened in shock.
“It hasn’t lost its power—it was never the same ring from the start. Its composition is different from the Ring of the Goddess. It’s a completely different item.”
“That’s impossible. It looks exactly like the Ring of the Goddess. You’re saying this is something else?”
Laika pointed at the ring, excited.
Abellus shrugged and continued.
“Yeah. Where did you keep this? Looks like someone swapped it with a fake… Even if it doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t. The Ring of the Goddess is something no one but me can touch. Anyone else who tries gets strangled to death instantly! Damn it, does that make sense?”
“It doesn’t make sense, but maybe someone out there could touch it unharmed. Is there anything impossible in Gyodam City?”
“Hah…”
Laika sighed toward the ceiling, then raised his head.
His face had hardened.
He’d hoped it was just his imagination, but it wasn’t.
The ring hadn’t just lost its power—it was a fake all along.
Of course, the only suspect was Iris.
After Iris visited his house, she’d blocked his messages, and the Skill he’d gained from the ring disappeared.
As Abellus said, in Gyodam City, you can’t jump to conclusions.
It’s a place full of people with the most bizarre Skills.
For the person unharmed by touching the ring to be Iris—how could he have predicted that?
If he’d known, he never would have left the ring in the living room display case.
He wouldn’t have invited Iris to his home at all.
‘Wait. If Iris took the ring, that means she sensed the power inside it.’
Unlike everyone else, Iris was unaffected when she touched the ring, and she even realized the power inside.
What could that mean?
His icy blue eyes shone coldly.
Maybe Iris really was ‘the one who will gather the Relics and save the city’ from the Legend of the Savior.
‘I always doubted the legend’s credibility… but now, I have no choice but to believe it. I must find Iris.’
Now there was no need for pride.
He wasn’t looking for Iris because she’d cut off contact—he had to recover the Ring of the Goddess.
There was no need to borrow J Corporation’s information network.
Gyodam City was full of criminals who’d dig up every detail about a young girl, A to Z, for the right price.
While Laika tried to contain his anger at Iris, Abellus pressed him.
“Anyway, I’m asking—where did you keep it?”
“The living room display case… at home.”
“Hah… looks like your house got robbed. Check the CCTV.”
“There’s no CCTV at home. It could be hacked.”
“There’s got to be one at the apartment entrance, right? Whatever. Make sure you find it before Lord Kaisar finds out.”
Without answering, Laika wiped his face with both hands.
There was no need to check the CCTV.
He knew the culprit was Iris.
It was the first time he’d ever invited someone not family to his home.
Was it a mistake to trust someone so easily?
He’d been completely blindsided.
If his father found out, he would never leave Iris alone.
Laika wanted to take care of this himself, before his father learned anything.
Feeling suffocated, Laika loosened the front of his dress shirt and let out a deep sigh.
Then, noticing Abellus tossing the ring into the trash, he asked absentmindedly,
“Wait. Why are you throwing that away?”
“It’s just a fake. If you want, fish it out and keep it as a souvenir.”
Abellus spread his hands and shrugged.
Laika, dazed, started breathing heavily.
Thinking about Iris, he’d momentarily forgotten the ring was a fake.
Suddenly overcome by irritation, he kicked the trash can hard.
“Ha… damn it!”