Chapter 45: His Tenderness
She’s been hit!
That was the only thought in Vivian Lowell’s mind. After a quick glance to make sure no cars were coming down the narrow path, she rushed toward Eleanor Rhodes.
"I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t see you coming out from here. Are you okay?"
The student felt a little guilty. Seeing Eleanor Rhodes fall to the ground, he wanted to reach out and help her up, but then he saw Vivian Lowell approaching and held back, afraid Eleanor wouldn’t want him to touch her.
"Tanya!"
Vivian Lowell was truly scared.
The student had been riding quite fast at first. He wasn’t on a shared bike, but his own personal bicycle, which looked like a racing model.
A bike like that would be much faster than a shared bike, and a collision would be more serious.
"I’m fine."
Eleanor Rhodes was in so much pain that tears were about to well up in her eyes. She let Vivian Lowell help her to her feet. When she lifted her pant leg to look, she saw a bruise forming on her shin.
"You’re hurt!" The student saw it too. He frowned and asked, "Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
Eleanor Rhodes had never been a fragile person.
After all—
Some of the feral stray cats out there were quite fierce. The fact that she, a young woman, persisted in catching them showed that she was both mentally and physically resilient.
"I’m fine."
Eleanor Rhodes rolled up her pant leg, then took a clip from her hair and used it to hold the cuff in place so the fabric wouldn’t fall and rub against the wound. "It was my fault," she said.
"I was standing here where you couldn’t see me from your angle. You were going fast at first, so it couldn’t have been easy to stop in time. Look at you, your shoes are covered in mud."
After she spoke, the student looked down.
He hadn’t actually noticed it at first.
Just now, he remembered trying to brake. Just using the hand brakes wouldn’t have been enough, so he had to try a "foot brake" as well. Luckily, the bike stopped.
The front of his brand-new white sneakers was now dirty and covered in mud.
Seeing his dirty shoes, the student didn’t show any sign of distress. He just said, "Ultimately, I was the one on the bike, and you were the pedestrian. I should have yielded."
"I’m sorry. What department are you in? Can I buy some medicine and bring it to you later?"
"There’s no need."
Eleanor Rhodes shook her head and smiled at the student. "I’ve already graduated. I came back today to catch cats. Uh—"
At this, Eleanor Rhodes quickly pulled out her phone to check the time. Seeing that it was time for her appointment with Henry Sterling, she hurriedly said to the student, "My time is up, I have to go!"
"You don’t need to apologize to me, I’m really fine!"
"You—"
The student seemed to want to say more, but Vivian Lowell was already helping Eleanor Rhodes walk away.
Only after watching Eleanor Rhodes and Vivian Lowell walk away did the student belatedly remember something.
’Catching cats?’
’Wait, could she be the upperclassman who’s three years my senior, the former president of Aethelburg University’s Animal Protection Society, Eleanor Rhodes?’
’No wonder!’
’When I had just started at the university, Eleanor Rhodes had been a prominent figure. I’d seen her around, though of course she didn’t know me.’
"I can’t believe I ran into her."
The student gave a cheerful laugh, glanced at his muddy shoes, bent down to give them a quick wipe with a tissue, and then continued riding toward the sports field.
’That would explain it.’
’She’s already graduated, so of course she wouldn’t recognize me.’
「At the lab.」
When Vivian Lowell arrived helping Eleanor Rhodes, Henry Sterling was in the lab conducting an experiment with a few students. Vivian saw him there, dressed in a white lab coat.
He was tall and a bit thin, with black-framed glasses. He had a very scholarly air about him, but not in a way that made him seem frail.
On the contrary, his aura was somewhat similar to Julian Faulkner’s. When he stood there, the students around him were all very well-behaved. Clearly, the renowned Professor Sterling possessed a great deal of authority.
After Eleanor Rhodes entered, she noticed that Henry Sterling didn’t seem to have noticed the time, unaware that she was a few minutes late. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tanya, you should sit down first."
Vivian Lowell helped Eleanor Rhodes find a place to sit, then looked around for some antiseptic and gauze.
Eleanor Rhodes’s wound really needed to be treated.
Just then, after exchanging a few words with his students, Henry Sterling walked out of the lab.
"Professor Sterling."
Vivian Lowell greeted him. Henry Sterling nodded, and his gaze shifted to Eleanor Rhodes. He was just about to speak when he noticed her rolled-up pant leg.
"..."
Eleanor Rhodes clearly didn’t want Henry Sterling to see that she was hurt.
Now, she guiltily turned away, trying to hide her injury.
But her attempt to hide it was a dead giveaway.
Henry Sterling had already walked over. "What happened?" he asked.
His tone was flat, making it impossible to tell if he was actually concerned, but he still turned his head and said to Vivian Lowell, "There’s povidone-iodine solution on my desk."
"Her wound needs to be disinfected. Vivian Lowell, could you please get it for me?"
"Okay."
Vivian Lowell agreed at once. As she turned, Henry Sterling sat down next to Eleanor Rhodes.
He didn’t say anything, and Eleanor Rhodes was too embarrassed to turn and look at him. The two of them just sat there in silence.
After reaching the office, Vivian Lowell quickly found the povidone-iodine solution. She came back out with the solution, some cotton swabs, and some gauze, handing them to Henry Sterling.
Henry Sterling took them, dipped a cotton swab in the solution, and carefully brought it toward Eleanor Rhodes’s wound.
His movements were very gentle, as if he were holding a feather, as he slowly swept it across the injured area on Eleanor’s leg.
It stung a little, but the stubborn girl just bit her lip.
"*Sigh*."
Seeing the two of them sitting there not speaking, Vivian Lowell felt it was awkward to just stand there, so she got up and walked over to where they had temporarily placed their cat-catching equipment.
She took out a can of cat food to put in the trap, which would make it easier to catch the cats and take them to be neutered later.
Just then.
Henry Sterling’s voice came from behind her.
His tone was gentle as he asked, "Does it hurt?"
"Mm... no." Eleanor Rhodes was stubborn. She shook her head, even though she felt like crying.
Henry Sterling seemed at a loss with her. Then, as if by magic, he pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket and handed it to Eleanor Rhodes.
"Eating something sweet helps when you’re in pain."
Henry Sterling said with a completely serious expression.
Eleanor Rhodes froze for a moment. Her mind was a bit slow to react, but her hand made the decision for it, accepting the chocolate.
Then, Eleanor Rhodes asked, "Why do you have chocolate?"
’If I remember correctly, Henry Sterling doesn’t like sweets, does he?’
’He wouldn’t even drink the milk tea I brought him before!’
"Mm... a student just gave it to me."
’So a student gave it to him.’
Eleanor Rhodes didn’t say anything. It made sense when she thought about it. There were plenty of female students at the university who liked Henry Sterling. It was only natural that one would come specifically to give him chocolate.
’But, is it really okay for me to accept chocolate that someone else gave him?’