Chapter 137: The Abduction Play and The Play within The Play
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 137: The Abduction Play and The Play within The Play
“Good morning~”
“Mmm…”
The fierce thunderstorm that had begun days ago was still raging.
Several days had passed since Isaac Adler was kidnapped by the Phantom Thief—Lupin.
“How is it? Are you enjoying your life as a kidnap victim?”
“…I have a few thoughts on that.”
“Oh? Like what?”
Lupin, wrapped in a plush bathrobe, stepped out of the bathroom and into the cottage’s living room. She addressed Adler in a playful, affectionate tone. Adler, who had been sitting on the sofa for some time lost in thought, scratched his head with an awkward expression.
“Is this… really a kidnapping?”
“………”
On the small desk in front of him sat a breakfast of fine wine and steak—his now-standard fare. He was flanked by maids who bowed their heads in respect; they were clearly Lupin’s subordinates.
“Then what do you think this is?”
“It feels more like you’re raising a pet…”
“…Eh? What are you even talking about?”
“Isn’t a typical kidnapping supposed to involve being tied up and shoved into a cabinet or something?”
As a maid silently served him piping hot tea, Adler finally voiced the question he could no longer suppress.
“That’s what you do when you need information about a treasure’s location, or when you’ve taken the owner hostage.”
“………”
“But when you already have the treasure itself, is there any reason to treat it so roughly?”
Lupin answered softly before gesturing for the maids to withdraw. She gracefully took a seat across from him.
“There should still be some limits…”
“My usual routine involves lovingly cleaning and kissing my stolen treasures, but I’m skipping that for now. Do you want me to start?”
“…No, thanks.”
As she narrowed her eyes and leaned in close, Adler sighed and shook his head.
“Well, the point is, you are now a treasure under my management.”
“……..”
“You can’t leave this cottage, which I’m maintaining under a false identity, and you’ll have to live like this forever. If this isn’t a kidnapping, what else could it be?”
“…Marriage?”
As his faint voice struck the heart of the matter, Lupin’s eyes—which were inches from his as she leaned in—flickered for a split second.
“…I’m not a pervert who marries her possessions.”
“But this is basically a honeymoon.”
“Uh…”
Adler’s remark hit the mark perfectly. Surprisingly, Lupin’s poker face crumbled, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks as she averted her gaze.
Swoosh—
A moment later, she stood up, glanced around briefly, and sat down right next to Adler.
“…Darling.”
Finally, she buried her flushed face near his ear and whispered.
“When are we going to have a child?”
Silence filled the living room.
“…What, no reaction at all?”
“……..”
“Thinking about it, you’ve always been like this.”
Lupin, who had been playfully observing him with her head still tucked against him, muttered slowly when Adler failed to rise to her teasing.
“Isaac Adler—a gentleman who is kind to all women and never raises a hand, no matter what.”
“……..”
“But you were never kind to me. From the very beginning, you seemed to have an outright dislike for me.”
A trace of disappointment surfaced on her face.
“This whole kidnapping fiasco wasn’t because you wanted to be taken by me, right? There must be a reason you’re enduring all this. No matter how much you try to hide it, it’s written all over your face.”
“………”
“Did I do something to offend you? If not, why do you dislike me the most out of all the women?”
Adler looked away, avoiding her eyes.
“I’ll change if you tell me, okay? We have to stay here for the rest of our lives, so we can’t keep being this awkward, can we?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes. Just tell me. No pressure.”
After hesitating for a long moment, Adler finally sighed under Lupin’s urging.
“…Herlock Sholmes.”
“Huh?”
“No, Harlot Sholmes.”
Upon hearing Adler’s sharp remark, Lupin looked bewildered, as if the answer was completely outside her expectations.
“Is it because of that? Because of the name that appeared in the novel written by my friend?”
“……..”
“That wasn’t my intention. I didn’t even know about it until Leblanc turned it into a novel on his own.”
However, Adler’s cold gaze remained unchanged.
“…Honestly, I wasn’t very famous at the time, so I needed the name recognition. I was the one who suggested it first, but still…”
“Oh, I see.”
“Can you not… look at me like that?”
Lupin broke out into a cold sweat.
“Originally, Leblanc used her real name, but I changed it myself. Shouldn’t I be praised for respecting copyright?”
“………”
“And technically speaking, I would’ve won if we had actually clashed anyway…”
Fidgeting with her fingers, she mumbled while glancing up to gauge Adler’s mood.
“I’m sorry.”
Finally, she muttered in a timid voice.
“I’m sorry… From now on, I’ll respect the copyright and promote it properly.”
“…….”
“So, please don’t leave, okay?”
When Adler’s expression remained unamused, an anxious Lupin desperately knelt before him.
“Do you want to hit me? Like, seriously hit me?”
“What?”
“I… I have this compulsion. If I lose or get robbed of a treasure I’ve stolen, I fall into a depression for about a year…”
“…….”
“So, hit me until you aren’t angry anymore. Let it all out… and then stay with me a bit longer, okay?”
Lupin bowed her head and closed her eyes.
Brrrrrrr…
With a frightened expression, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
“…….”
Isaac Adler frowned slightly. The sight evoked a sense of pity; it was a far cry from her usual masochistic demeanor.
Swoosh—
As he reached out his hand, Lupin bit her lower lip hard, bracing for the impact.
“…….?”
However, when his hand merely gently caressed her cheek, she looked up in confusion.
“…It seems you are truly reflecting.”
Subtly avoiding her gaze, Adler continued to stroke Lupin’s cheek.
“I’ll hold off on hitting you for real.”
“…….Hey.”
Feeling his warm touch while kneeling before him, she unconsciously grabbed his hand.
“Shall we date?”
“…I must decline.”
When Adler immediately refused, she stood up, her eyes wide.
“I think I’ve just fallen for you.”
“…Your acting is too obvious.”
“It’s true!”
She squeezed back onto the sofa next to him, leaning her head on Adler’s shoulder.
“A man who usually treats you like a puny insect, but becomes gentle and kind when things get serious? If that isn’t a confession, what is?”
“…That, young lady, is called perfectly rational behavior. You were the one who demanded I assault you in the first place.”
Glancing at her briefly, Adler asked, “Is there a reason your personality became so twisted?”
“………”
“Come to think of it, you mentioned that you have a curse.”
“…That’s a secret.”
She lowered her eyes, her gaze turning distant—a look that suggested a thousand untold stories that could be felt, but never spoken.
“Thieves have many secrets… secrets they can never divulge to anyone.”
“Hmm…”
“But one thing is for sure.”
In the next moment, her eyes began to shine with a different light.
“You’re the only person in the world who neutralized my curse, even if only by a small margin.”
She slowly lifted her gaze, scrutinizing Adler.
“…But now that I think about it, it’s a bit strange.”
“What is?”
“I’m the one who insulted Harlot Sholmes, so why are you the one who’s angry?”
At that, Adler fell silent.
“…Also, those eyes.”
Only then did Lupin realize Adler’s left eye had turned black. With a slight smile, she caressed the corner of his eye.
“Ah, I see.”
“……..”
“I haven’t completely stolen you yet.”
Lupin gently climbed onto Adler’s lap.
“If there’s a surefire way to steal a married man, it would be…”
“Uh…”
“It seems I almost put a gem I worked so hard to obtain into storage without even processing it.”
Adler watched her reach a terrifying conclusion faster than he could process it. Beads of cold sweat began to form on his forehead.
[Let me remind you that the return ticket is only valid until you reach the ending.]
Fortunately, a warning message popped up just in time.
[By the way, you do know that being raped results in an immediate Bad Ending, right?]
“…I’ve said it many times, but you’re the one who seduced me first, okay?”
As Lupin spoke, she shrugged off her top, revealing a body covered in bruises. Adler’s mind began to spin faster than ever before.
.
.
.
.
.
“…… Cough.”
“Uh…?”
In a split second, Adler’s mind raced at superhuman speeds. In the next moment, blood suddenly erupted from his mouth.
“Cough, cough…”
“What—what’s going on? Why are you like this?!”
Lupin, who had been unbuckling the belt of her bathrobe, stared blankly at Adler. His face grew increasingly pale with every cough as he continued to vomit blood.
“……Ugh.”
“Adler…?”
.
.
.
.
.
.
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden…? Hey, come to your senses!”
“……..”
It is often said that a crisis is also an opportunity.
“A doc—a doctor. I’ll call a doctor, just wait a moment! I’m going to the city right now and—”
“…Rachel.”
Now that it had come to this, it was time to clear the last quest he had been putting off.
“Call Rachel Watson…”
“…What?”
A sham marriage while kidnapped, conducted secretly behind the backs of both a wife and a girlfriend.
『Lady of London』
– Description: Complete one sham marriage with Watson.
– Progress: ???
It looks ridiculous no matter how I see it.
…Just how did I end up in this mess?
[Are you seriously feeling wronged right now? After everything you’ve done?]