Chapter 257: 3P
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 257: 3P
“…Hey.”
“…….”
“Hey, Adler.”
A few days had passed since James Moriarty, who had nearly reclaimed control of London, was sealed away by Adler’s hand.
“What exactly did you want to discuss that required dragging me to a place as secluded as this?”
“……….”
“And going so far as to send me a secret letter, no less?”
Charlotte, having received Adler’s discreet message, had poured all her mana into casting an anti-scrying spell before arriving at this shadowy hotel. Now, standing at the entrance wrapped in her cloak, she questioned Adler in a hushed tone.
“Is this a trap, perhaps? A plan to incapacitate me and escape from London?”
“…How could I even possibly do that?”
“If you took me down, shaking off the rest of those fools would be child’s play for you, wouldn’t it?”
“That was back when I was still a devil. Besides, the Professor is still very much alive, and she’s watching everything with wide, alert eyes.”
At that, the suspicion etched onto Charlotte’s face finally softened a little.
“Well… that’s true. Though I don’t appreciate the implication that the Professor and I are evenly matched.”
“Ahem…”
“So, why exactly did you call me to such a quiet place?”
Finally reverting to the sharp tone she had used two years prior, she threw the question at him with a haughty air. And yet, perhaps due to her recent traumas, her voice carried a subtle unease that hadn’t been there before.
“Uh… it’s nothing much… I just have something I need to tell you.”
“What could you possibly need to say that requires all this secrecy?”
Still, perhaps conscious of the vulnerable side she had shown just days ago, she maintained an air of indifference, giving Adler a sidelong glance.
“Well, um… I found a solution.”
“A solution?”
“To the matter we discussed recently… you know, how to deal with the Professor’s father.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “And what is it, exactly?”
“It’s, uh… s-simple. Actually, it’s something we can resolve right here and now.”
But as Adler began to stammer and avoid her gaze, his face turning a deep shade of crimson, Charlotte grew visibly more bewildered.
“It just… it just requires a little… just a tiny bit of assistance from you, Miss Holmes.”
“…And what exactly do you need me to do?” Charlotte asked, her expression wary, staring at him with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.
“Ah, ahhh… ah…”
“…….?”
“A b… baby.”
Blushing furiously, Adler stumbled over the words, forcing them out in a barely audible tone.
“A baby?”
“With you, Holmes… I mean… well, in other words…”
Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Adler blurted out the rest of his sentence all at once.
“We need to make a baby tonight. Here.”
“………”
A heavy silence fell between them.
“N-No, I’m not joking! I’m serious. Our child is the key.”
“……..”
“You might not believe me, but…! The child born from the two of us is destined to be the only one capable of facing James Moriarty. So… so, uh…”
As the silence stretched on, Adler’s words became frantic, trailing off at the end.
“Today, in this place… we must shoulder this great burden… for the peace of the world…… uh… umm…”
Charlotte, who had been staring at him blankly, was now visibly flustered, her ears glowing a deep red.
“…So, you’re saying…”
“……..”
“That for the sake of saving the world… I have to conceive your child tonight?”
As she clenched her fists tightly and asked the question, Adler, unable to overcome his embarrassment, lowered his gaze and gave a quiet nod.
“I see…”
“You might find it hard to understand, but… please. This is like a prophecy of sorts…”
Finally, with a voice that was trembling uncontrollably, Adler pleaded for her understanding.
“…Alright.”
“What?”
He lifted his head in surprise at Charlotte’s unexpectedly calm response.
“I think I understand the situation. To save the world, I need to carry your child. Is that correct?”
“But… you’re just accepting this so easily?”
“Of course.” Charlotte gazed at him, her lips curling into a thin smile. “I trust you.”
“Ah…”
“And even if I didn’t, I would’ve given in and gone along with your plan anyway.”
But as Adler still fidgeted nervously, unable to ease his anxiety, Charlotte tilted her head and pointed to her eyes, whispering in a barely audible tone.
“Why are you making such an apologetic face? Can’t you see these eyes?”
“………”
“To be honest, from the moment you swayed me for the first time—someone who couldn’t feel interest or passion for anything—everything was already set in stone.”
She then leaned in close, her lips brushing against Adler’s ear as she whispered.
“You don’t need to feel any guilt about eating me up, understood?”
The fragile, neurotic light that had filled her eyes just days ago had completely vanished.
“Ah, or maybe it’s not guilt toward me, but guilt toward the other women?”
“N-No…”
“Or perhaps, guilt toward those spritely little children?”
What replaced her previous vulnerability was a gaze sharper, darker, and far more predatory than it had been years ago.
“Even so, you’re still going to impregnate me, aren’t you?”
“M-Miss H-Holmes…”
“Just like I once had you pinned down, this time it’ll be you who has me pinned beneath you, won’t it?”
“……”
“Just for the purpose of planting a child inside me?”
With an unnervingly cold smile, Charlotte loomed over Adler, her aura coiling around him like a serpent ready to strike its prey.
“…Irredeemable. Scum. Worthless beast.”
“……..”
“You truly are the worst kind of villain.”
Adler flinched under her overwhelming presence, his body trembling slightly.
“…Do you remember what I said to you once upon a time?”
“…….”
“I told you I’d be the one to bring your end.”
Her hand brushed against his cheek before she grabbed his wrist and began pulling him with surprising force.
“You had a chance to escape. You actually did run away once.”
“……..”
“But in the end, you came back.”
And so, Adler—still taller but utterly helpless against the strength of the petite Charlotte—was dragged into the hotel.
“What that means… well, I’m sure you understand better than anyone else.”
“…….!”
His eyes widened at the resolute, almost damning declaration she made.
“And I’m sure you’re also fully aware of what you’re about to face.”
“……..”
“But it’s better to make it clear now, isn’t it?”
Charlotte glanced at him, her voice dropping into a low, almost teasing whisper.
“…Isaac Adler, I hereby place you under arrest.”
Her face was radiating with the satisfaction of victory.
“The transfer will be processed inside the hotel.”
Her words were in stark contrast to Adler’s resigned, utterly defeated expression.
“…And the detention facility will be my womb.”
“Haaah…”
“The sentence is life imprisonment, of course.”
It was the quiet conclusion to the brief yet fierce struggle of one man.
“This is your defeat, Isaac Adler.”
.
.
.
.
.
A few minutes later.
“My, for someone defeated, you’ve prepared quite diligently.”
“…Ugh.”
“It looked ominous from the outside, but inside, it’s rather impressive.”
Charlotte muttered quietly, dragging a sulking Adler forward as they arrived at the VIP suite located on the very top floor of the completely empty hotel.
“By the way… if I’d known things would turn out like this, I wouldn’t have bothered with the branding…”
“…What?”
“Oh, nothing.”
She brushed it off vaguely and came to a stop.
“…Well then, let’s get on with the preparations to make that baby.”
Wrapping her arms around Adler’s waist, she reached for the doorknob of the VIP suite.
-Creak…
Moments later, the door slowly began to open.
“Wow. The room is much bigger than I—”
Leaning her head against Adler’s shoulder as they stepped inside, Charlotte took in the unexpectedly lovely sight before her—only for her eyes to widen in shock as she froze mid-step.
“…What the hell?”
“Hmm.”
Because there, sitting on the bed that was supposed to be their private space, was someone draped only in a bathrobe, holding a glass of wine.
“Why… Why are you here…?”
“…Isn’t it obvious?”
The figure, bobbing her head from side to side and revealing golden eyes identical to Charlotte’s, was none other than Professor Moriarty.
“Did you really think I’d just sit idly by while knowing full well what both of you were going to do tonight?”
“P-P-P-Professor…”
As she slowly stood and began walking toward them, Adler started trembling violently, his fear palpable.
“Adler.”
“I-I mean… I… can explain…”
“Isaac.”
Choking under the oppressive weight of her chilling aura, Adler’s stammering was cut short, silenced by the Professor’s piercing gaze.
“My memory is still fresh, you know—of holding you in my arms, sobbing until I fell asleep, just a few days ago.”
“……..”
“And swearing eternal love to each other, with an uncharacteristically girlish face that I could never imagine myself making before that night. All of it happened just two days ago.”
Sweat poured down his face as the Professor, now mere inches from him, spoke in a voice that sent chills down his spine.
“And if I recall correctly, we promised to at least be good parents to the children, no matter what. That was, what, just yesterday?”
“…………”
“And only hours ago, I was breastfeeding the children while composing a love letter for you with all the affection I couldn’t convey for the past two years when I noticed something was off.”
Her voice was eerily calm as she continued, step by step dismantling his composure.
“Suddenly, this fledgling detective here vanished from London without a trace.”
“…..Tsk.”
“As if she had just erased her very existence.”
Her gaze flicked to Charlotte, who was chewing on her lip nervously beside Adler, and her tone dropped even further.
“And my darling husband, acting as suspicious as could be, was doing circles around the outskirts of London before slowly heading somewhere specific.”
“…….”
“So naturally, I calculated where you’d end up and got here first. And voila, here you are.”
The Professor paused, letting a chilling, serpentine smile creep across her face.
“Oh, don’t worry.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“…I won’t bother with flimsy threats like saying I’ll kill you anymore.”
Her voice turned sweet and light, as if she were whispering a secret into Adler’s ear, making his already hunched shoulders stiffen further.
“Instead, I’ll just kill myself. How about that, Isaac?”
“…Pardon?”
“If you don’t stop this instant, I’ll hang myself right here, in front of you.”
“W-Wait a second…”
“Or should I start with self-harm first?”
At her words, Adler, thoroughly panicked, reached out to grab her arm, his voice trembling in desperation.
“I-I was wrong…!”
“Just kidding.”
However, with a soft laugh, the Professor waved off her own words, her fingers trailing gently along Adler’s cheek.
“What kind of mother would abandon her adorable little ones like that?”
“………”
“And, to be honest, I overheard the conversation you two were having at the entrance.”
At this, both Charlotte and Adler flinched simultaneously.
“Dragons have sharp hearing, you know.”
“Ah…”
“I understand it’s something that can’t be helped.”
“Then…”
Adler began to speak, a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes, only to be cut off by her next statement.
“But as your one and only wife… I can’t help but feel jealous.”
Her words left him deflated, his lips shut tightly in resigned silence.
“…So, I’d like to make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
Moriarty spoke in a calm, measured tone, her golden eyes fixed on him as she continued.
“Include me.”
“Pardon?”
What followed from her lips was perhaps the most devastating and ludicrous statement he had ever heard her make.
“Not just tonight—include me in every bed you share from now on.”
“…..???”
“…Grant me the exclusive privilege of unrestricted participation.”
The Professor, having delivered her absurd decree, now simply watched Adler, who was frozen in place, utterly dumbfounded.
“If you do, I will graciously tolerate your debauched lifestyle as your proper wife.”
“Who do you think you—wait, no, that’s not the point. Are you out of your mind?!”
“Pray tell, why might you have made such an assumption?”
Charlotte, regaining her senses before Adler could even respond, erupted in fury, her voice rising sharply.
“You’re telling me to strip naked and lie next to you? That’s revolting! I’d rather have dirt thrown in my eyes than…!!!”
“I’ve always believed we could become the best of friends, Charlotte.”
“You’re actually insane, aren’t you?!”
“…And honestly, Adler—don’t you find this idea even a little enticing?”
The Professor’s gaze remained glued to Adler, unyielding and intense.
“The chance to lay two mortal enemies side by side and take them both at once.”
“……..”
“Would you really pass up this golden opportunity?”
Her voice dropped to a hushed, almost seductive whisper, and a heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room.
…But no matter how I look at it, it feels like I’m the one about to get devoured by two mortal enemies.
As Adler stood there, his dazed expression betraying the chaos in his mind, that fleeting thought crossed his head.
However, as always, it was already far too late for him to do anything.