Chapter 142: A Koala’s Embrace
It would have been better to send Iris out from the start.
If things continued like this, Iris would find out all the secrets of the Ring.
Now, there was no way to let Iris, who was hiding under the desk, out in front of Laika.
Laika would never let her go peacefully after hearing about the Ring.
In the worst case, Laika might even try to attack Iris.
Iris, of course, wouldn’t just stand by, and if that happened, her true identity would surely be exposed.
Lost in thought, Abellus inhaled sharply as he felt a strange sensation from below.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
He bit his lip hard.
Peeking under the desk, he saw Iris clinging to his leg like a koala hanging from a tree.
The soft flesh pressing against his leg made his excitement impossible to calm.
Sensing Abellus’s gaze, Iris lifted her head, rolling her eyes as she licked her lips with her tongue.
At her tempting expression, the tips of Abellus’s ears turned red.
His arousal was so intense that it was almost painful.
Suppressing a groan, Abellus waved his hand with a barely restrained voice as he spat out a dismissal order.
“Haa, just get out for a bit… No, just wait outside…for now.”
“What? You expect me to wait outside when the Ring has lost its power? The Ring, it’s acting strange! If Project X is about to fail, why are you reacting like this?”
“Ha….”
Abellus massaged his temples, frowning.
His head throbbed because Laika kept running his mouth, not even knowing what was going on.
Just then, Iris suddenly leaned her head against his thigh.
It was dangerously close—if she came any closer, she would touch his swollen arousal.
‘Is she seducing me openly? Of all times, now….’
Looking down again, Abellus sucked in a sharp breath.
Iris’s head finally brushed against his erection.
It sent tingles through his head.
Even in this situation, he found himself hoping Iris wouldn’t stop seducing him.
Just then, Iris shifted her head slightly, pressing down hard.
Abellus bit his lip so hard it almost bled from the pressure on his member.
“Ugh….”
“What’s wrong with you? Ha….”
The front of the desk blocked Laika’s view, so he couldn’t see what was happening.
Frustrated by Abellus’s lukewarm response, Laika finally took out the Ring.
No matter how much they hated each other, on the surface, Laika and Abellus were allies.
There was no benefit to acting like this, so he couldn’t understand why Abellus was behaving so oddly.
Laika slapped the Ring’s box down onto the desk with a thud and spoke, fuming.
“I have to check if it’s really lost its power.”
“How… do you know it’s lost its power? Besides, you know you can’t test it here. Are you telling me to touch this Ring with my bare hands?”
Abellus asked, panting.
His excitement made his voice come out hoarse and unsteady.
Noticing Abellus’s strange state, Laika tilted his head in confusion.
Why was that guy acting like this?
He could just drink a Magic Potion to recover, but instead he was pointlessly toughing it out with some second-rate Ointment on his wound.
No, it was impossible for a criminal to understand a psychopath’s mind.
Maybe he even enjoyed the sting in his arm.
Glancing at Abellus’s wounded arm, Laika took out the Ring and slipped it onto his finger.
When the Ring didn’t adjust its size to fit, Abellus’s eyes narrowed.
“It really lost its power. See, the Ring isn’t responding.”
“It certainly seems that way.”
“It certainly seems that way?”
If his father found out the Ring had lost its power, he would surely be furious.
He might just scold his own son, but as the person in overall charge of Project X, Abellus would greatly disappoint him.
If the project failed, the person in charge would have to shoulder all responsibility, so why was Abellus so indifferent, as if it was none of his concern?
Contrary to Laika’s thoughts, Abellus wasn’t actually indifferent.
He just couldn’t focus because there was something even more urgent at hand.
Thanks to Iris continuously stimulating his sensitive spot, the heat in his body wouldn’t subside.
Even a genius scientist was still just a slave to his lower desires—it was hard to overcome lust.
Glancing at Laika’s narrowing eyes, Abellus massaged his temple and spoke in a suppressed tone.
“Haa, fine. I’ll take a look at it. Once I examine it closely, I should be able to figure out what happened….”
“…Fine. Then check it right now. I have to know what’s wrong with the Ring immediately. And I get it, you’ve mastered even the Masochist thing, so enough already—just drink a Magic Potion. You’re not a normal person, so why use Ointment?”
Unable to stand Abellus’s obviously unusual state, Laika spoke up again.
At first, he’d meant it half-jokingly, but now he was starting to think Abellus really was a tremendous pervert.
Not just an ordinary pervert, but something truly out of the ordinary.
He couldn’t understand why Abellus kept leaving his wounds untreated when he could recover instantly with a Magic Potion.
Abellus’s brow furrowed again at Laika’s sneering.
He felt like hitting Laika, who kept talking without even understanding the situation.
Rubbing his brow with his fingers, he once again ordered Laika to leave, repeatedly.
“…Haa. Fine. I’ll step out first. I’ll change clothes and come out.”
“The Ring’s lost its power, and you have time to change clothes…?”
“Hoo, do you want to see me naked? I didn’t know you had that kind of taste.”
Laika’s anxious foot-tapping came to an abrupt stop.
He could endure a lot, but being mistaken for having an interest in men was hard to tolerate.
And to hear that from no one else but this pervert.
Scowling, he gathered up the Ring and its box, then turned to open the Lab Director’s Office door.
As he left, he called back.
“Damn it, I’ll be waiting in the Reception Room next to the Fourth Floor Examination Room, so get over there quickly.”
With a slam, the door closed and a sigh of relief escaped Abellus’s lips.
Laika had said a lot of things he shouldn’t have, but at least he’d left at this point.
If he’d stuck around running his mouth and let slip more about the Ring’s secret or the Villain, it would have been impossible to keep up the pretense of ignorance.
He pushed his swivel chair back and spoke up.
“Hoo. Miss Iris, you may come out now.”
“Aah… Aiyo, ngh.”
“Are you alright?”
Iris stood up unsteadily, then bent over.
Abellus caught her arm, asking in a low, husky voice.
A storm of unquenched desire still raged in his violet eyes.
Iris massaged her legs, awkwardly straightening up.
“My legs fell asleep from crouching so long.”
“That’s understandable. Miss Iris, just now, why did you hide?”
“I just, didn’t have time to think. I hid right away. I was doing something a little… embarrassing.”
“Aha….”
That made sense.
He’d been asking whether she’d recognized Laika, but now that he thought about it, it wasn’t easy to identify someone just from the sound of their footsteps.
It was more likely she’d panicked from doing something indecent and hid out of embarrassment.
With a soft laugh, Abellus wrapped his strong arms around Iris’s waist.
Iris didn’t seem flustered at all by Abellus’s sudden touch.
They’d already crossed some boundaries, and just moments ago she’d been seductively clinging to his leg.
With a teasing smile, Iris licked her upper lip.
‘Should I take his power today?’
She started to lower her head toward Abellus, who was sitting in his swivel chair, but stopped herself.
Now wasn’t the time for such nonsense.
She had to escape quickly while Laika was still on the Fourth Floor.
If she wasted time doing lewd things, Laika might burst into the Lab Director’s Office again, just like earlier.
‘And besides, if I want to get that necklace… I’ll have to come back.’
The Choker Necklace hanging from the neck of the Statue of the Knight.
She wasn’t sure yet if it was a Relic, but it definitely had power.
To obtain it, she would have to return here.
Lifting her head again, Iris stroked Abellus’s arm suggestively and spoke.
“Not today… There’s a visitor. I’ll come back next time.”
At the mention of a visitor, the desire clouding Abellus’s eyes cleared.
His lost reason had returned.
Impatient as he was, Laika would never wait for Abellus to have private time with Iris in the Lab Director’s Office.
If he waited a bit and nothing happened, he would likely barge back in, asking what was taking so long.
‘Damn that Laika, barging in at a time like this….’