Another professor was supposed to arrive later, which meant I had some time to myself. With nothing else to do, I followed Ava to her laboratory. She really hadn't lied—she was already engrossed in preparing some tests with the dragon blood I had just gifted her.
I coughed to make sure she knew of my presence, but she was so focused that she never glanced at me. She was in her element, not wasting a single second.
I had no clue what she was doing, but it was enticing. Alchemy had never been a subject I was particularly interested in, and it was also one of the few subjects where my talent was subpar. So, I had never bothered learning it.
Instead of trying to get her attention again, I just watched her movements. Everything was amazing—the execution, her accuracy, her knowledge. The director hadn't lied. She really was passionate when it came to alchemy.
She even got me to like it in a few seconds.
Time passed quickly as I watched her work. Before I knew it, an hour had already passed.
"Ah...done!" She held the golden potion in her hands with a smile. However, it wasn't a normal smile; it was borderline creepy, as if she was obsessed with what she had just created.
She turned toward me and gasped. "AHH! When did you get here?"
Her face turned bright red.
"Not too long ago." I noticed dragon blood on her face and took a step forward, my hand getting closer to her cheek.
"W-What are you doing?"
I gently wiped the golden blood from her face. "Ah, you had something on your cheek. Sorry, I should've asked for your permission."
She put her hands in front of her face and shook them. "No, no, it's fine. Thank you." She bowed right away.
"Ah...it's no problem. So, what did you make there?" I asked, pointing at the potion she hid behind her back.
She looked around, seeming ashamed of what she had concocted. She placed it behind her discreetly as she started fidgeting.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious."
I wasn't the type to force answers out of someone—most of the time, that is. After all, the dragon blood was only a gift; she could do whatever she wanted with it. It was none of my business.
Looking at her for a few more seconds, I had to admit she was cute. The fact that she was so shy she couldn't even look me in the eyes had its own charm.
Seeing that she was still hesitating, I decided to push her toward the right decision.
"How about this?" I grabbed the golden vial from behind her. "I won't tell anyone what this is. It'll be our little secret."
Still the same reaction. At this point, I had no clue why her shyness hadn't been mentioned in the book about all the professors. It seemed to be a very important trait of hers.
"I-I, this is...a love potion."
"Dragon blood can make love potions?"
I couldn't believe it. Something considered extremely powerful was being used to make love potions.
When I asked her a question about alchemy, the look in her eyes changed as she maintained eye contact with me.
"Yes! Dragon blood is the most potent ingredient for love potions. That's what most people do with this resource." Her eyes glimmered as she continued. "It might not look like much, but a small potion like this could cost a literal fortune!"
Hm, I seemed to have noticed a pattern in her behavior.
"I see, and why is it the most potent ingredient for love potions?"
She adjusted her glasses, and a serious look appeared on her face. There was no trace of redness as she spoke, confirming my suspicion.
I knew how to make her feel comfortable around me—I needed to make her talk about alchemy. I had noticed it when I handed her the gift back then, the change in her eyes. It happened again when I asked her a question. The pattern wasn't so complicated to figure out, to be honest.
"Dragon blood is the most potent ingredient because of the overwhelming charm that bonds itself in their blood. You see..."
She continued to talk for a full minute. I won't lie; I stopped listening after the third sentence.
Coming out of her stupor, she seemed to notice she had sidetracked from the original question and bowed to me once again.
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to talk for so long." She kept her back bent. "It-It's just a thing that happens when I start talking about alchemy. It won't happen again! I promise."
I laughed. "Don't worry, it was interesting."
I lied to her because I wanted to be nice. After all, she looked sorry enough; I didn't need to add anything on top of it.
-Swoosh!-
My head turned sharply as I heard the door swing open, revealing the silhouette of yet another stranger. All I could see at the moment was a shadow, but I quickly made out his face.
Derek. Professor of Close Combat, and from what I read, he liked "testing" new professors, just to verify their qualifications.
Basically, he liked beating up new professors. That was his favorite hobby, I didn't quite understand, but everyone can do whatever they want, it's not like it matters to me.
"Hey Ava! Been a while." He gave her a beautiful smile. However, surprisingly, Ava didn't turn red, she didn't even say anything to him in response. Derek gritted his teeth and turned in my direction.
"Who are you…?"
His words were laced with disgust as he looked at me.
"Is my tuxedo that disgusting?" I looked at myself, acting like I had no idea why he was acting this way. "Hm, no it looks just fine. So, why are you looking at me like that?"
However, just as he was about to answer me, Ava got between the two of us, stopping us from getting closer to one another.
She stared at Derek, and finally said something to him.
"Leave him alone."
'She's worried…how sweet.'
Still, getting a quick look at Derek, the chances of him beating me were…uh, null?