Chapter 140: A Case of Identity (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 140: A Case of Identity (3)
“Hehe…”
Lupin stared intently at the bush emitting black smoke, a puzzled look on her face for a moment before a mischievous grin spread across her lips. She began to giggle.
“Hellooo~?”
“…….”
“Is anyone there~?”
Turning on her heels, she began to slide subtly toward the bush with her hands clasped behind her back.
“Where is that strange noise coming from?”
Rustle, rustle…
“Could it be a stray cat in heat that snuck inside…?”
As she reached the edge of the thicket and murmured with a smile, covering her mouth to hide her playful expression, the bushes began to shake violently.
Whooosh!
“Oh my.”
In an instant, a girl with disheveled black hair and a hollow gaze lunged out from the greenery. Lupin, her hand still over her mouth, burst into a fit of sonorous laughter.
“Not a stray cat, but a detective, eh? Well, the ‘in heat’ part seems accurate enough.”
“…….”
“So, what were you doing in there?”
Noticing the slight hitch in the girl's breathing, Lupin pressed for an answer, but Charlotte remained silent.
Thud, thud…
“Hmm…?”
Charlotte stood there for a long moment, her blank gaze fixed forward, before she began walking toward Lupin—who was still disguised in Adler’s clothes.
“Wait, just wait a second.”
“……..”
“Are you planning to pounce on me?”
Slightly flustered by the unexpected approach, Lupin gestured frantically with her hands.
“I’m not actually Adler, you know? I’m just wearing a disguise.”
Goooooo…
“Did you really mistake me for him? Are you truly Charlotte Holmes? Huh?”
However, as a billowy shadow suddenly bubbled up from behind Charlotte, blocking any hope of escape, cold sweat began to trickle down Lupin’s forehead and back.
“M-Miss Thief, save me…”
“…Enough with the nonsense. Just answer my question.”
In a frightening display of skill and physical prowess, Charlotte Holmes lunged forward, fiercely grabbing Lupin’s wrist. She leaned in and whispered chillingly.
“Where is Adler?”
“You already knew I wasn’t him?”
“I don’t even need to track the mana I implanted in Adler’s body to know you’re a fake. Your scent alone is enough.”
A hollow laugh escaped Lupin’s lips.
“Are you two so close that you’ve memorized each other’s scents?”
“……..”
“Or is that knowledge strictly one-sided?”
A mischievous sparkle returned to Lupin’s eyes.
“Adler didn’t even seem to realize you were lurking here, even when he came out of the closet after we changed clothes. We were quite intimate, if I may add…”
Grit…
“To be honest, you seem less like a detective and more like a heavily obsessive stalker.”
The next moment, the black smoke leaking from Charlotte’s body surged upward, wrapping tightly around Lupin’s throat.
“…Cough!”
“Stop spouting nonsense when you know nothing.”
A cold voice rang violently in Lupin’s ears. Her whole body trembled as she was choked, gasping desperately for air.
“He was the one who liked me first.”
“What?”
Lupin tilted her head in confusion, wondering if she had misheard, but Charlotte’s indignant voice pierced the air again.
“I’m saying that Adler was the one obsessed with me first.”
“……..”
“I simply accepted him at some point. It’s not like I was the one following him around, infatuated like a little girl, as you seem to think…”
“Oh, I see. My mistake.”
Realizing that any further sarcasm might literally result in her neck snapping, Lupin nodded quickly in agreement.
“…But why have the roles reversed now?”
Lupin couldn't help herself. Despite the danger, her genuine curiosity about the 180-degree flip in their dynamic forced the question out.
“That’s because…”
Charlotte trailed off, quietly lowering her gaze. She murmured softly.
“…Because I like him.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s because I ended up liking him more than he likes me…”
As she spoke, Charlotte’s face turned a deep shade of crimson, though she seemed unaware of it.
…Interesting.
Lupin watched the change in demeanor with growing intrigue.
I thought she was like me. One of my kind…
“Now, answer my question. Where is Isaac Adler right now…?”
“…I think you should answer my question first.”
With a silent snap of her fingers, Lupin threw a question back at the detective.
“The curse—you have it too, don’t you?”
The atmosphere shifted dramatically. Charlotte gave a subtle nod, her body tensing as she prepared for combat.
“I thought as much.”
Lupin murmured in a low voice, a knowing smile on her face.
“Adler… he really is the key to our curse.”
“…Key?”
“For those of us born with a curse, he is a treasure beyond compare.”
Charlotte’s expression darkened.
“Explain yourself. What are you talking about…?”
“You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you?”
“…….”
“That only Isaac Adler can neutralize our curse.”
For the first time since leaving the mansion, Lupin’s face took on a frighteningly chilling look.
“…Listen, I don’t know what your specific curse is, but I honestly don’t see you being any less unfortunate or unhappy than I am.”
“It would be wise to take that back.”
“Heh. At least on the surface, you seem to be living a normal life, right?”
An unusually dark tone crept into Lupin’s voice.
“I never even got to enjoy a life that looked normal. Not even on the surface.”
“……..”
“From what I see, your obsession with Adler suggests you’ve lived a life unable to love anything. Am I wrong?”
Charlotte stopped mid-sentence, staring at Lupin with renewed intensity.
“Seems about right. It must have been a truly sad life.”
“…Don’t speak as if you understand.”
“True. There’s no way I could understand.”
Every trace of a smile vanished from Lupin’s face.
“My curse is the exact opposite of yours, after all.”
“…The opposite?”
“A curse that makes it impossible for anyone to love you. Isn’t that cruel?”
A myriad of complicated emotions flickered across Lupin's face.
“…As a child, I thought getting beaten was an expression of love.”
“……”
“Until the day I turned eight and they abandoned me, my parents beat me daily.”
The feelings she usually kept hidden—sadness, melancholy, and resentment—spilled out.
“Wandering the streets of London like an orphan, getting beaten by everyone I met… I thought the world was beautiful. I thought everyone loved me.”
“……..”
“…Then, after collapsing and vomiting blood, I was left ignored on the street for half a day. I nearly died before the realization finally dawned on me.”
Tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes.
“I was never truly loved by anyone.”
As a single tear trickled down her cheek, Lupin leaned toward Charlotte.
“…Since that day, I started to hide.”
“…….”
“I realized that if I turned myself into someone else entirely, the curse might somehow elude me!”
Quickly, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and her voice returned to its usual cheerful, lively note.
“You know every curse comes with one enviable ability, right? Mine was disguise and escape. Thanks to that, I could change my identity effortlessly.”
“But then, why…”
“Why was it that whenever I thought I found my true self, the curse would inevitably strike again?”
Lupin sighed, scratching her head in frustration.
“…Because of that, I’ve been changing identities for far too long. Now, I’ve reached a point where I don’t even know who I truly am anymore.”
“……..”
“Driven to my limits, I was becoming incapable of even loving myself.”
She paused, her eyes brightening.
“…But then, I snuck into Britain to acquire a long-desired jewel. To think I would receive a treasure as a gift instead.”
“Oh…”
“That was far more surprising than having my disguise unveiled. Don’t you think?”
With incredible speed, Lupin slipped out of Charlotte’s grasp. In the blink of an eye, she was sitting on the roof of the cottage, shrugging her shoulders.
“It was the first gift I ever received. Even when I was foolishly trying to live righteously, I never got a proper paycheck, let alone a gift.”
Charlotte watched, dumbfounded by the thief's agility.
“I always had to forcibly snatch what belonged to others to survive. The more I did, the more infamous I became. That was the miserable life I lived…”
Lupin’s expression turned solemn.
“But then I realized… every time he hit me, he looked so worried.”
“……..”
“Seeing someone make such an adorable face while hitting me? That was a first. Not to mention, he’s as handsome as they come. How could I not be interested?”
She suddenly yelled out loud, her voice echoing.
“The only person in the world who could love me also happens to be the handsomest guy in London! Why wouldn't I go for him?!”
“…Adler is mine!!”
The thief’s eyes filled with a hint of villainy as she looked down from the roof.
“That’s exactly it…”
“What?”
“I want to snatch what belongs to someone else and make it completely mine…”
Charlotte remained silent, her aura darkening.
“That’s my way of life, detective.”
“……..”
“So, I’m really sorry, but I can’t tell you where Adler is.”
A murderous aura, more intense than anything Charlotte had ever exuded, began to leak from her body, mixing with the ominous dark smoke permeating the area.
“Hm, it must be about time, right?”
Lupin tilted her head, murmuring in a subtle voice.
“By now, the marriage certificate must have been submitted. He might already be the husband of either the doctor or the professor…”
“………!!!”
Mere seconds later, Charlotte’s face went pale. She began sprinting, the ominous smoke retracting into her body as she bolted.
“Keep it up, detective…” Lupin whispered.
Charlotte was heading toward the nearest church.
“…Everyone, keep enhancing the value of my treasure.”
Watching the detective’s receding figure from the roof, Lupin inhaled the scent of Adler’s clothes once more and murmured with a perverted smile.
*
Meanwhile, at the only church in this remote rural area…
“………”
Rachel Watson reached the front of the small church, tightly clutching the arm of her lovely fiancé. Her face was pale as she instinctively caressed the pistol hidden in her bodice.
“I really don’t understand why London is overflowing with people who have the bad habit of fondling pistols inside their clothes.”
Rachel’s miserable expression was due to the person blocking the entrance—the very last person she wanted to encounter. The woman’s steely grey eyes were locked onto the couple.
“…It’s useless against me anyway.”
A tense standoff began between the Professor and Dr. Rachel Watson, neither yielding an inch.
I’ve just had a brilliant idea, Miss System.
[What is it?]
In the midst of the staredown, Adler murmured under his breath, a bright gleam in his eyes.
…Instead of letting them fight, how about I make them both my wives?
[Just die already.]