The sweet venom Chapter 45: 44

Read chapter 45 of The sweet venom by aspa201 on NovelPedia.

The hours that followed unfolded in a sequence so relentless it felt almost unreal. Helia was escorted directly to the imperial palace, where she was required to deliver a full and detailed report. She recounted the disappearance of the notebook, its contents, and the precise circumstances under which it might have been stolen. Page after page, she explained every note, every hypothesis, every calculation she had recorded. The authorities examined each element carefully, attempting to determine whether any of the information could pose a threat to the Empire. By the end of it, several new security measures had been decreed. Among them, permanent guards would now be stationed at the laboratory, and all entries and exits would be subjected to far stricter scrutiny. When she finally left the palace in the late afternoon, she was exhausted. The situation weighed heavily on her mind. The antidote research had already been progressing far too slowly, and now she was forced to worry not only about the integrity of her work, but about her own safety as well. She dreaded returning home, where her father’s silent disappointment and her brother’s reproaches would surely await her. When she had committed herself to this research, she had never imagined it would become a source of such anxiety for her family. And yet, she was far too deeply involved now to consider turning back. Before returning home, however, she resolved to stop by the laboratory. She needed to know how the analyses had progressed. She had left her samples in Cédric’s care that morning before being escorted to the imperial palace, along with her most recent notes and hastily given instructions. She had not wished to waste time, the samples were too precious to be left unattended a whole day. The sun was setting when she stepped back into the laboratory, her pace measured. The argument from earlier still clung to her thoughts. Yet she refused to allow further tension to fester between them. There was too much at stake for pride to interfere. She understood why he had been affected, even if she did not approve of the way he had allowed it to manifest. She had simply decided to behave as though nothing had occurred, in the hope that time would dull whatever resentment remained in him. She crossed the laboratory toward his workstation. The few remaining researchers were too absorbed in their own work to pay her any attention. Cédric stood bent over his bench, wearing his gloves and lab coat, focused on analyzing the results. She heard him sigh the moment she stepped inside. A second later, she saw him shove a rack of tubes aside with a weary, almost violent motion. One of them contained venom extracted from a boar that had ingested the bait. It was one of the sample she had instructed him to analyse that day. "Is everything all right?" she asked cautiously. He turned, irritation evident. "The analysis revealed yet another structural variation." Of course, it was always the same. Despite the faint hope she had allowed herself, the bait changed nothing. They remained trapped at the starting point. He looked drained, as though he had reached the limit of his patience. Helia stepped closer. That was when she noticed the tube on the bench. "You fixed them in paraformaldehyde?" "Yes," he replied curtly. "I thought it worth attempting. It yielded nothing conclusive." He lifted the rack, clearly intending to discard its contents into the waste container. "Wait— no. Don’t throw them away." He paused, startled. "They are useless." She was no longer truly listening. Her gaze had gone distant, her thoughts racing. "No… quite the opposite." She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly alight. "They are extremely valuable," she said, her voice solemn and steady. Her gaze was so intense it nearly made him blush. He hesitated. "…You believe so?" There was the faintest tremor in his voice, as though, for a fleeting second, he imagined she was drawing nearer to him. But she had already turned slig