Chapter 211: Afterglow
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 211: Afterglow
Around the time the unexpected and heated encounter between Adler and Lestrade—which had begun for a rather absurd reason—finally came to an end…
“Ugh…”
Unlike the morning light bathing Britain, darkness was slowly settling over the United States. Somewhere within the States, at that very hour…
- Brrrt…
Having secluded herself in her room until nightfall, Lovecraft groaned for the umpteenth time and buried her face in her desk.
“Haah.”
After an unknown amount of time had passed…
“This… this lewd Oriental bastard…”
Slowly raising her head, she wiped the drool trickling from her lip with her sleeve and stared at the densely packed words in her freshly updated notebook.
“Just how many hours… did they…?”
With a flushed face, she mumbled to herself, clearly overcome with shame.
“Does he think he’s a monkey? An animal? To do such messy deeds for hours, and outdoors at that…”
In truth, she had no right to judge, having spent those same hours voyeuristically indulging in her own pleasure.
“…A monster of sexual desire. Die. Just kill yourself.”
However, since she was devoid of a conscience to begin with, she ended her tirade nonchalantly. She reached out to adjust the glasses she had discarded earlier, her hand still sticky from her own self-indulgence.
“Oh, now that I remember…”
Returning to her usual sinister expression as she slid her glasses back on, she seemed to recall something and immediately stood up.
“…The newspaper should have been delivered by now.”
With slightly trembling legs, she opened her bedroom door for the first time in days.
“Ah.”
After a brief, paranoid glance around the hallway, she snatched the newspaper lying in front of her door and dashed back inside.
“……..”
A heavy silence filled the room.
Breaking News! Famous child actor Isaac Adler announces marriage. The other party is the youngest Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police Department…
“Let’s see… what he actually looks like.”
In the silence, Lovecraft began unfolding the British newspaper she had ordered days ago, swallowing hard.
“He’s probably hideous… he must be using some sort of hypnotic magic to enchant people… That’s why the Inspector disliked him so much at first… Hmm.”
As she worked, her imagination ran wild.
“This despicable scammer, this sex fiend… this Oriental bastard must have threatened the woman with London’s safety after his hypnotic magic failed…”
However, Lovecraft’s creepy muttering didn’t last long.
“…..Huh?”
As the newspaper fully unfurled, the front-page photo of Isaac Adler and Gia Lestrade caught her eye.
“Huh? What?”
Staring blankly at the photo of the blonde young man, Isaac Adler—who looked quite perplexed by the swarm of reporters—Lovecraft became genuinely flustered.
“Is this… a person of mixed Asian descent?”
Her eyes trembled wildly.
“He’s so handsome…”
The words slipped out unintentionally. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
“………”
But it wasn’t long before she lowered her gaze again, her face beginning to melt into the expression of a girl falling in love for the first time.
“For someone who is half-Asian, he’s quite impressive…”
- Swoosh…
“It must be the superior Western traits manifesting… probably…”
Then, suddenly lifting her head to glance at the mirror, she whispered, “…I—I am also up to this standard.”
She began to murmur timidly while examining her pale face, which hadn't seen sunlight in far too long.
“A bit of a dark impression, but… I think I’m quite cute, too…”
- Swish, swish…
“I just don’t have any friends… If I actually went out… I’d probably attract a lot of guys…”
Her expression soon turned gloomy again as she bowed her head.
“…It’s just that going out is scary.”
Her gaze drifted back to Adler’s photo.
“Hmm…”
After a moment of contemplation, she quietly picked up the notebook lying beside her.
“Listen…”
She whispered to the notebook as if confiding a deep secret.
“Based on this photo… draw some illustrations of last night’s updates. Please.”
- Swoosh!
Before she even finished speaking, her quill pen began to dance in the air.
- Scratch, scratch…
Shortly after, vivid, explicit illustrations—almost indistinguishable from photographs—began to appear next to the text she had been obsessing over for hours.
“Anyway… you knew, didn’t you? That I could see you…”
She bit her lip, her face flushing a deep crimson as she slowly lowered her hand.
“But still… to do that without a care… you must have wanted to show me, right?”
- Swoosh…
“It’s like remote sexual harassment… no, it’s practically remote rape. You’ve already molested me… yeah…”
With that, she bowed her head and began rubbing her legs together.
“Ugh… Ahh…”
- Creak…
“You… you filthy beast… I’ll kill you… I'll kill you…”
In the solitude of her room, Lovecraft muttered in a feverish, delusional voice.
“…I’ll take matters into my own hands now. Just you wait.”
- Brrrrt…
“You’re dead now…♥︎”
.
.
.
.
.
“Hmm.”
Meanwhile, back in London…
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s just…”
As Isaac Adler emerged from a back alley into the park, hand-in-hand with Lestrade, he muttered with an inexplicably uneasy expression.
“It feels like something sinister is clinging to my body…”
“…….?”
“…Well, never mind that. Shouldn’t you be heading to the police station by now?” Adler asked, changing the subject. “You were in such a hurry earlier, weren't you?”
“…It’s too late anyway. I’d like to walk with you for a while.”
“Holding hands?”
At that, the Inspector smiled wryly.
“Just a few minutes ago, we were practically intertwining our entire bodies. What’s wrong with just this?”
“…I didn’t realize you were so bold, Inspector.”
“You must have changed me.”
With a sigh, she suddenly stopped walking.
“Oh, I forgot to give you something.”
“What is it?”
“…Take this.”
She pulled a bouquet from her coat. Adler looked puzzled.
“What is this?”
“…It’s a gift.”
“Uh… so suddenly?”
Blushing quietly, she avoided his gaze and answered softly.
“…Because I like you.”
Whispering those words, she gently kissed Adler’s cheek and then dashed away at breakneck speed.
“Uh…”
As Adler stood there dazed, enduring the cold stares of bystanders, he muttered in a low voice.
“…Alas, I cannot give you a child.”
Closing his eyes to calm his racing heart, he whispered sadly.
“This body will soon disappear from this world…”
Adler had made sure to use magic for contraception before engaging in intercourse with Lestrade. It wasn't necessarily because of the Inspector specifically; ever since the incidents with Charlotte and the Professor, he had maintained contraceptive magic on a subconscious level, preparing himself for any eventuality.
“I’m sorry, Inspector…”
However, there was one thing he had overlooked.
- Rustle…
The fact that someone had been secretly observing the entire act from beginning to end, hidden in the bushes behind the park.
“Ha…”
The identity of that individual…
“…Shit.”
It was Gina Lestrade, Gia Lestrade’s sister, who had chosen the exact same hiding spot as her sibling.
“I’m so jealous of you, sis…”
Gina’s curse was the ability to neutralize all supernatural abilities in her vicinity, except for those directed specifically at her.
“I can’t wait to grow up and pretend to be you…”
Naturally, the scope of her ability included Adler’s contraceptive magic.
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“…I feel that same sinister aura again.”
Unaware of the impending complication, Isaac Adler scratched his head and continued walking.
“I feel like I’ve forgotten something…”
- Swoosh…
“……?”
Sensing a presence beside him, he turned his head.
- Thump!
“Gah!?”
In the next moment…
“Cough, hack… Ugh…”
He clutched his stomach, his face turning pale as he gasped for air, slumping to the ground.
“…Forgetting something? That really is unfortunate, dear.”
“…….!”
His expression hardened at the sound of that familiar voice.
“The thing you forgot was the date you were supposed to gleefully enjoy with me in exchange for my help.”
“Pr-Professor…”
Professor Jane Moriarty, who had just delivered a brutal punch to his abdomen, crouched beside him and murmured in a freezing tone.
“But… Adler.”
- Swoosh…
“What is this?”
She gripped Adler’s chin, forcing his head up. For the first time in a long while, she radiated pure killing intent as she whispered.
“Why have the colors of your irises faded slightly?”
“……..”
“…It’s almost as if someone from the London Metropolitan Police Department has mixed some of their 'white' in there.”
Adler broke into a cold sweat, unable to utter a single word.
“If you don’t answer in five seconds, I’ll kill you.”
“Pl-Please spare me…”
“4, 3, 2…..”