Chapter 189: The Detective's Devil
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 189: The Detective's Devil
Around the time Jane Moriarty and Gia Lestrade received the garbled, frantic message Adler had hastily composed—
Squeeze…
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Charlotte sat atop Adler’s stomach, a dark, predatory smile dancing on her lips. She abruptly seized his hand, her grip tightening as she questioned him.
“Oh, that… Well…”
“……..”
“My hand was just itchy. I was scratching it…”
Under her piercing gaze, Adler’s voice trailed off into a low, anxious murmur. Unease radiated from his every movement.
“…Really?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Look me in the eye and say that again.”
As Charlotte leaned forward, her voice turning icy and her shadow looming over him, Adler’s composure shattered. His eyes darted frantically, rolling in a fit of dizzying nervousness.
“Are you lying to me again?”
“No, it’s just…”
“Adler. Do you hate me?”
Observing his flustered response, Charlotte’s tone grew even darker. Her next words were heavy with a suffocating weight.
“Is your hatred for me so deep that you would cry out for that old hag? A woman who has lived centuries longer than you? Someone who doesn’t feel a shred of love for you, who violates you daily out of a twisted sense of possessiveness and a desire to dominate…”
“That’s not it…”
“Then why were you secretly sending messages with your hands hidden behind your back?”
Adler tried to twist his body to escape, but he quickly realized Charlotte was using her mana to pin him down. There was no way out. Frustrated and defeated, he closed his eyes and let out a resigned sigh.
“…Let’s be real for a second. What is the difference between you and the Professor, anyway?”
“…..?”
“It’s the same forced situation…” Adler’s voice trailed off weakly.
“Adler, what on earth are you talking about?”
Charlotte blinked, tilting her head with genuine curiosity as she looked down at him.
“Do you really not understand the difference?”
Adler watched her reaction closely, then slowly shook his head.
“Haa…”
Charlotte exhaled softly, leaning down to whisper directly into his ear.
“To start, the Professor doesn’t love you, does she? Yet she forces herself upon you just to prove you are her property.”
“That’s… actually a bit different…”
“Furthermore, you love me, don’t you?”
Charlotte’s voice was eerily calm, but her eyes were dark, abyssal voids that suggested a far more volatile emotion.
“Our relationship is nothing like the twisted bond you share with that monstrous lizard. I love you, and you love me, too.”
“…”
“Isn’t that right?”
Charlotte continued her logic, but when Adler failed to respond, her eyes narrowed into ominous slits, demanding an answer.
“Y-Y-Yes.”
“…”
“…I love you.”
With terror flickering in his eyes, Adler forced the words out. He turned his head away, a slight blush creeping onto his face. Seeing that, the light finally returned to Charlotte’s eyes.
Haaah...
“…Huh!?”
Without warning, she sank her teeth into Adler’s neck.
Nibble, nibble…
“Wait a minute…”
Slurp…
After burying her face in the crook of his neck and nipping at his skin for a while, Charlotte slowly raised her head, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.
“…Moreover,” she added, her gaze turning tranquil. “You were the one who seduced me first.”
Adler opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it and shut it.
“You were the one who approached me while I was investigating a case. Not to mention, you were secretly in love with me even before our first encounter.”
“…”
“You confessed your love to me before anyone else. It was you who stained my eyes with your color—just as your own eyes have been dyed in mine.”
Charlotte’s voice rose in pitch with every word.
“…And you were always up to something dirty. Pouncing on me, sucking my blood, biting my neck, and flirting whenever you had the chance. And the moment I showed a bit of sincerity, you would just smirk and run away.”
“Um, I didn’t do ‘dirty things’…”
“Shut up. And as soon as I started to like you, you began treating me like a ghost and paying attention to other women…”
Her eyes flashed fiercely. Adler, who had been preparing an excuse, wisely chose silence.
“But now… because I’ve found a way to bind you, you claim I’m no different from that monstrous lizard?”
“………”
“…Isn’t that a bit shameless?”
At that moment, Charlotte’s black aura intensified to an unimaginable degree.
“Right, right… how about we have a cup of tea and talk like civilized people?” Adler stammered, cold sweat breaking out as he felt the ominous energy seeping into his skin. He made one final, desperate protest. “I’ve just enrolled at August Academy this year. That means I’m legally an adult.”
“Hmm…”
“But Miss Holmes, you’re younger than me. Although I don’t know your exact age… So… uh, um…..”
Realizing the loophole in his own logic, Adler faltered. He eventually squeezed his eyes shut and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“…This is a crime!”
“A criminal consultant is using the law as an excuse?” Charlotte’s cold voice pierced his ears.
“Even criminals have a philosophy! I don’t mess with kids…”
“…And yet I see you’re doing a fine job raising Celestia Moran.”
“…….?”
Charlotte scoffed softly. Seeing Adler’s puzzled expression, she sighed and muttered, “Or perhaps it’s the other way around…”
“I don’t know what you mean, but you understand now, right? It’s just not possible…”
Charlotte smirked devilishly at Adler’s hopeful remark and began rummaging through his pockets.
Swoosh…
“What is that?” Adler asked, tilting his head as she pulled out something that looked like a business card.
“A student ID.”
“What?”
“I finally completed the enrollment process at August Academy a few days ago.”
As she reverted to her usual tone with a sly smirk, Adler froze completely.
“I almost wasn’t able to get in this year because of a certain meddlesome professor.”
“Uh…”
“But recommendation letters from two separate queens did the trick. Well, one of them is an Empress now, isn’t she?”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying…”
As he looked up at her in disbelief, Charlotte leaned in and whispered into his ear.
“…Since I’ve enrolled at August Detective Academy, I am now an adult as well.”
“That’s absurd…”
“The law says so, Mr. Adler.”
“I’ll file an objection! You must have forged the documents! It’s obvious the officials didn’t check them properly…”
“I didn’t want to have to say this, but…”
Despite Adler’s persistent nagging, Charlotte lowered her gaze and gave him a bone-chilling smile.
“I didn’t know you were so fond of the law. So, let me tell you an interesting fact.”
When her next words reached Adler’s mind, his brain completely shut down.
“…According to the constitution of the British Empire, you aren’t even considered human anymore, are you?”
“………”
“Whatever I do to you now… the laws that apply to humans don’t apply to you.”
He was left with no more excuses.
“So, do you still have something to say?”
“Sa—Sa…”
“…Save me?”
That was all Adler could muster as he stared at Charlotte. She began stroking his cheek, her eyes filled with a terrifying clarity.
“Please be gentle…” he uttered, his final plea.
“What to do…” Charlotte blinked for a moment, considering his pitiful request. “…I’m not sure I can grant that.”
The moment she began unbuttoning her coat with a sinister smile—
“Just a minute!!!”
“…….!?”
As if hitting a home run in the bottom of the ninth, Adler’s eyes went wide. He stretched out his hands, his voice urgent.
“I—I forgot something!”
“Why? Do you have another reason?” Charlotte’s expression twisted into a quiet scowl.
“I—I have a terminal illness! I’m going to die in just six months!”
“……”
“If you do this now, I won’t be able to take responsibility, will I?”
Silence drenched the room.
.
.
.
.
.
“…Have I not explained the final reason yet?”
After staring at Adler for a long while, Charlotte finally spoke.
“Unlike that lizard, who can hardly conceive because she’s an entirely different species, I can become pregnant with your child right away.”
“Did you… did you not hear a word I said? In six months, I’ll—”
“That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
Her voice was eerily calm.
“At first, I thought about killing myself to save you.”
“That’s—!”
“But then I realized you would just live in misery forever if I did that.”
Her expression, however, did not match the calmness of her voice.
“So, I will embrace you.”
Engulfed in a darkness deeper than any he had seen, yet wearing a smile brighter than any she had ever shown him, Charlotte continued.
“I’ll take your genes, combine them with mine… and give birth to a child who looks just like you.”
“Um…”
“And I will spend my entire life raising that child with all my heart, remembering you.”
“………”
“That is the ending I’ve chosen for us.”
Her speech ended, and a heavy silence descended between them.
“Shall we move somewhere else, then…?” Adler suggested, trying to buy time. “I was planning to mask our location to evade detection anyway.”
“Let’s do that.” Charlotte accepted the suggestion readily.
“And maybe we could go on a date for a day? Take things slow…”
“Haaah…”
Charlotte let out a quiet sigh at his transparent attempt to stall.
“Choose one of the two.”
“What… what do you mean?”
“…Do you want me to fuck you like a dog right here and now? Or shall we go to a love hotel and make love while we embrace each other?”
The statement was enough to completely fry Adler’s thought process.
“Please… be gentle…” Adler finally muttered, hoping for some unexpected miracle to occur while they moved.
“As I said before, I can’t guarantee that.”
Regrettably for Adler, no variables intervened. The two of them checked into a room at a nearby love hotel without further incident.