Chapter 1944

It was unusual for the two to be together so harmoniously, yet silence filled the room. The data, numbers, and various liquids in bottles and jars were paramount. Still, Rhea felt a simmering resentment. The "boss" had been missing for a day, and there was still no news. She thought, I don't care about the boss's well-being, but this was all Lily's idea. And she sits here peacefully. Even Rick, usually so cold, treats her differently. Why? Rhea couldn't understand what the organization saw in Lily, why she was treated so differently.

She pursed her lips, swallowing her dissatisfaction. Only a few days left. I'll wait and see what tricks Lily pulls. Will she succeed? Even if she does, she'll never figure out the experiment's final step.

Lily, however, seemed less preoccupied. Focused on the computer numbers, she occasionally consulted her notes and previous records, seemingly oblivious to distractions, wholly devoted to the experiment.

Everyone else had left, but the two remained. Rhea's hands ached; she could no longer hold the tray. Lily, however, insisted on maintaining stillness and a constant temperature for stable fragrance data. This was their usual work style, so Rhea reluctantly complied. As Lily's assistant, she had to. Yet, Rhea suspected Lily was deliberately making things difficult. She was, after all, a layperson regarding fragrances, lacking the expertise Lily possessed.

Rhea had secretly tried studying perfumery, spurred by the organization's preferential treatment of Lily. Lily had only one advantage: fragrance formulation. Rhea was no less skilled in medicine. She believed she could compensate for her lack of knowledge through hard work, believing she could achieve what Lily had. Reality, however, proved harsh.

Perfumery wasn't as simple as she imagined. Distinguishing raw materials alone made her dizzy, resulting in a week of debilitating nausea. She never expected fragrances to have such an effect. Afterwards, she avoided them, feeling nauseous at the mere sight.

Perfumery wasn't a skill learned overnight; even if she mastered it, there wasn't enough time. She gave up. So here she stood, holding the tray, doing as Lily instructed.

Just as Rhea rolled her eyes in exasperation, the instrument beeped. "It's complete!"