Chapter 266: Side Story: The Adventures of Isaac Adler (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 266: Side Story: The Adventures of Isaac Adler (4)
“…Well, anyway, Gia really is kind-hearted. Don’t you think so?”
“……”
“Moran?”
“Ah, yes.”
Celestia Moran had been sitting in silence, her gaze fixed on Adler for some time. She responded a beat late when his soft voice finally broke the quiet, offering a small, hesitant nod.
“Yes, Miss Gia is indeed kind.”
“Right? Honestly, I didn’t think she’d actually step aside so willingly. What a relief.”
Adler was currently seated in the first-class cabin of a smuggling ship he’d bribed his way onto, flanked by Princess Clay and Silver Blaze. Wearing a satisfied smile, he idly swirled the liquor in his glass, nodding in agreement with Moran’s words.
“In any case, the threats have been dealt with, so there was really no reason for all of you to follow me this far.”
He spoke while pointedly ignoring the piercing glares of the three women, who had been staring daggers at him for a while now.
“Especially you, Moran. You’re still young—what if you get hurt and end up with a scar on that pretty face of yours?”
At his absurd remark, Moran’s lips curled into a faint scowl, while Princess Clay—who had been busy massaging his shoulders—narrowed her eyes until they were as sharp as blades.
“I have a scar on my face because of you…”
“Ah, but scars suit you, my fair lady. You are the vampiric sovereign who commands blood itself, after all.”
“…H-Hmph.”
At his follow-up, the Princess let out a deflated huff, her face flushing as she looked away.
“…You haven’t been fucked thoroughly yet, have you?”
“Ah, but looking at you now, Moran, you’ve really grown up.”
Moran muttered a cold retort under her breath at the Princess’s suggestive remark, but Adler paid her no mind. His voice dropped to a mischievous whisper as he continued.
“…At this point, you’re old enough to play with me.”
As that cheeky joke slipped from his lips, a heavy silence settled over the cabin.
“Did you mean that seriously?”
“…Hm?”
“I’m asking if you were serious just now.”
Amidst the silence, Moran’s eyes widened in disbelief before she fired off the question.
“No, of course it was a joke…?”
“Why?”
“Well, Moran, you’re still just a kid, and…”
When Adler answered with a detached, casual expression, Moran’s complexion darkened instantly.
“…Do you even know how old I am?”
“Good question. How old are you, anyway?”
“You little…!”
Just as Moran was on the verge of exploding at Adler’s genuinely curious response, he reached out.
Pat, pat…
“You’re such a good girl, my little Moran…”
Adler began stroking her head, his voice dropping into a low, teasing drawl.
“If you just keep doing as you’re told, I’ll take proper care of you.”
“……..”
“I mean, I’d love to start taking care of you right now, but dealing with the professor, Charlotte, and Gia is already more than I can handle.”
Moran, who had been glaring daggers at him, suddenly tilted her head as she processed his words.
“Especially Gia. Honestly, no matter how sweet she is otherwise, the moment she gets in bed…”
“Yesterday?”
“Yeah, yesterday. She even started choking me. I swear, every single time, she’s ridiculously rough…”
“But yesterday was your only day off, wasn’t it?”
At Moran’s genuinely puzzled question, Adler scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“…Since when have I had days off?”
“Every Sunday, sir.”
“Then what’s this? Look at these—handprints and bite marks, clear as day…”
As he partially unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the unmistakable evidence left on his skin from the previous day, something shifted.
Sniff, sniff.
Silver Blaze, who had been quietly nuzzling her head into a corner of the room, suddenly leaned in and started sniffing the nape of Adler’s neck.
“This smells like the little Lestrade, though.”
“…What did you just say?”
At her words, for the first time in his life, Adler’s drunken poker face visibly cracked.
“You know, Gia’s younger sister.”
“…Gina Lestrade?”
“Yeah. It’s her scent.”
Once again, a deathly silence fell over the cabin.
.
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.
.
As time passed, the sun dipped below the horizon and the world grew dark.
“…Master. We’re almost there.”
“……”
“Master?”
As the indistinct silhouette of a harbor began to emerge in the distance, Moran, who had been standing quietly by the window, turned and began shaking Adler. He had been sprawled lazily across the bed for some time.
“Utterly humiliating…”
“It’s not like getting raped is anything new for you. Now get up.”
At her blunt, cutting remark, Adler shifted his gaze toward Moran, muttering in mock hurt.
“Your tone has been a bit harsh lately, hasn’t it?”
“You won’t even remember this once you sober up anyway.”
“…Do you really think so?”
At his teasing response, Moran finally lost her patience, her true colors showing. Adler slowly sat up, narrowing his eyes.
“You know, I might just be pretending to be drunk right now… Hah!”
“Enough of that. Let’s just move. Once we dock, there will be inspections. We need to slip out before that happens.”
“Ouch.”
“Ha, there’s no point in putting up a front now. You won’t remember a thing once you’re sober, and you know it…”
However, when Moran reached out and yanked the tail that had somehow slipped into view, Adler let out a small wince, feigning pain.
“Why the rush to disembark, Moran?”
“…Ah?!”
“There’s still time.”
Suddenly, Adler grabbed her arm and pulled. Whether it was due to her momentary lapse in focus or Adler’s surprisingly strong grip, Moran’s body pitched forward, landing directly on the bed.
“Still upset about the joke I made earlier?”
“…Urgh.”
“You know, Moran, when I look at you like this, I can’t help but think you’re quite innocent.”
Adler gently began stroking Moran’s hair. She froze, her eyes going wide.
“I didn’t think you’d miss the signals even when I sent them so blatantly.”
“…….”
“A kid is still a kid, huh?”
As he leaned over her, whispering into her ear, Moran’s entire face and neck flushed a deep crimson. In a panic, she snapped her head to the side.
“Still, you’ve grown up quite a bit.”
“Hmph.”
The weight of Adler pressing down on her felt oddly pleasant. His scent filled her nostrils, intoxicating her senses. Her heart pounded violently against her ribs, as though it might burst.
“…I… I waited for so long.”
In a situation she had only ever dreamed of, despite having the strength to push him off, Moran found herself lying helplessly beneath him. She spoke in a tiny, trembling voice.
“Do you have any idea… how many years I waited for you to finally touch me?”
She gazed up at Adler, her eyes filled with a raw, desperate yearning.
“If… if you had waited just one more day, I might have… I might have been the one to pounce first… Hic.”
But before she could finish, something pressed against her lips, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
Ah…
Her first kiss had the faint, bitter taste of tobacco.
“……?”
No—to be more precise, what she thought was her first kiss tasted like tobacco.
…But Adler doesn’t smoke?
Sensing something was wrong, she snapped her eyes open. What she saw wasn’t Adler leaning in for a tender kiss.
“Good girl. You’re doing well.”
“……???”
Adler was smirking, a cigarette pipe held between his lips as a faint curl of smoke trailed upward.
“What is this…?”
“It’s a modified version of the Devil’s Foot, invented by the professor. No toxins or side effects—it’s just optimized for calming nerves and inducing sleep.”
“Hrk…!?”
Moran, listening in a daze, suddenly felt her vision begin to blur.
“The effects are strong enough to put an elephant to sleep, so you’re no exception, Moran.”
“Wait…”
“Sleep tight, my sweet little Moran.”
As she struggled against the heavy sensation overwhelming her body, Moran’s gaze shifted. She caught sight of Princess Clay and Silver Blaze already slumped lifelessly over a desk in the corner.
“This… this can’t… be… no… please…”
Finally realizing what was happening, Moran flailed desperately to rise, but it was too late. Her body had grown so numb that even Adler’s sober grip was enough to completely overpower her.
“You… you can’t just play with someone’s feelings like this…”
“Ah, Moran, that’s just because you’re still so young. Do you know how big the age gap between us is?”
As she clung to her remaining shreds of willpower, her voice heavy with emotion, Adler gave a faint, exasperated sigh.
“Hah… What’s so great about an old man like me anyway…”
“I… I don’t… care!!!”
“…Hmm.”
When Moran seemed to rally her strength and thrash about even more wildly, Adler shook his head with a resigned sigh and leaned in closer.
“…But Moran, your chest is smaller than Charlotte’s, isn’t it?”
The words Adler whispered pierced through her like a dagger.
“I’m not into kids, you know.”
“You son of a b—”
That final blow was too much for the little Moran to bear. Her eyes went wide as she tried to curse him, but her strength gave out. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and she finally succumbed to the darkness.
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A few hours later. In a dark alleyway fully blanketed by the night.
“Your Majesty, the wedding is just a few days away. Such escapades are…”
“…Shh.”
The Queen of Bohemia sat in a carriage, nervously biting her nails. Flanked by an unusually well-armed entourage, she suddenly opened her half-lidded eyes and stood up.
“Your Majesty… sniffle.”
“Ah, ah…”
Illuminated faintly by the pale moonlight, a figure appeared at the far end of the alley. It was a boy draped in a shabby, tattered robe.
“Who is that? Who goes there?”
“W-We should drive him away imme—Your Majesty?!”
“N-No, you mustn’t!”
The Queen leapt out of the carriage before the guards could stop her, her eyes wide as she rushed to grab the boy’s hand.
“For heaven’s sake, Adler. What on earth happened to you…”
“Sniffle… so many terrible things happened to me.”
The boy’s body was covered in crude, fresh wounds and dirt, looking as though he had just escaped a harrowing ordeal. In the Queen’s mind, a vivid narrative of a daring escape from captivity had already begun to unfold.
“I don’t have anywhere to go right now. Could you hide me for a while…?”
“Ah. Of course…”
The boy’s pitiful expression and quiet plea almost had her nodding immediately. However, the Queen soon faltered, her words trailing off.
“Of course……”
The wedding, just days away, was an event of monumental importance—one that could determine the fate of an entire nation. Naturally, any potential disruptions to the union had to be eliminated, regardless of emotion.
No matter how dire the situation of a former lover, as a Queen—and now the Empress of an Empire—she could not afford to let personal feelings dictate her actions.
“…You’ll hide me, won’t you, Lilia?”
“Yes!”
And yet, she could. She was a hopeless romantic, after all.