Chapter 269: Side Story: The Bohemian Queen's XXX Scandal (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 269: Side Story: The Bohemian Queen's XXX Scandal (2)
“… Ugh.”
My head throbbed as I forced my eyes open.
Right, what happened this time? Honestly, I’ve been through every kind of crime and catastrophe imaginable at this point. I doubted anything could truly faze me anymore.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“… Ah. Haha.”
I steeled myself with that thought, but the moment I saw the scene before me, I had to fight the urge to squeeze my eyes shut again. Instead, I forced a hollow smile.
“Are you feeling alright?”
The Queen, who was scheduled to marry a prince from another kingdom in just a few days, lay stark naked beside me.
… It couldn’t be helped.
To be honest, I’d half-expected something like this the moment I’d hastily downed that wine.
To think that even on a journey meant to escape my plight, I ended up selling my body in exchange for sanctuary—is this really how my life is supposed to go?
Am I even a man anymore…?
At this point, I was starting to wonder if I was truly Isaac Adler, or if I’d just been deluding myself into thinking I was someone else entirely.
“Ugh.”
As I sat there lost in these existential thoughts, the Queen—who had apparently been staring at me intently until I woke up—finally sat up and stretched, muttering to herself.
“… My stomach feels so queasy.”
Watching her rub her lower abdomen like that made my face heat up for no reason.
… Does this woman just not age?
I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed since I first got caught up in this mess, but the Queen’s face looked exactly as it did when she was still a princess.
Well, I suppose it’s nice to have someone beautiful taking care of me, especially since I’ll be indebted to her for a long time.
[This idiot still hasn’t come to his senses, has he?]
“……!?”
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a familiar translucent window flickered into existence before my eyes.
[You’re really something, you know that?]
… Miss System?
The System, which hadn’t appeared once since I cleared the game, had suddenly popped up after years of silence.
Why now…?
[I was planning to leave you to your own devices, but seeing the way you’re living, I couldn't help but feel sorry for you.]
As much as the reason for its sudden contact irritated me, I realized I desperately needed the System’s help in this situation. And honestly, the only reason the System would contact me out of the blue like this was probably because of that.
[Well then, let me show you your fate for old times’ sake.]
Warning!
I had expected it, but seeing the probabilities laid out so starkly was still a shock.
“W-Why…?”
[Even if we ignore the Professor and the Detective, you’ve turned even your closest allies into enemies, and now you’re having an affair with the Queen. And you’re asking why? Wow, you really haven’t learned a thing, have you?]
The System’s tone, now filled with emotion and biting sarcasm, made me actually miss its old, robotic way of speaking. But that wasn’t the issue right now.
I needed to get out of this country immediately. If I didn’t…
Even the Queen might get swept up in this madness.
Thinking about it now, the only people on the side of "justice" in this terrifying conspiracy were Charlotte and Gia. The rest were villains who would likely kidnap me and dispose of the Queen without a second thought.
I couldn't stay here any longer. If I did, it wasn’t just the Queen who was in danger—this entire country could be at risk…
[Wow, look at you, ready to abandon everything the moment you find a convenient excuse.]
… Why have you become so much more aggressive than before?
[Shut up. You’re the kind of person who’d make even an incubus weep in defeat.]
Just as I was about to get up and start packing, I shot a silent, annoyed glare at the System, which continued its verbal assault.
[Wait, what are you doing?]
I’m closing the System window.
[No, wait. Are you serious?]
The moment I reached out to swipe it away, the System window dodged to the side in a panic, its voice flustered.
[I-I might have been a bit harsh, but I can still help you in plenty of ways…!]
As I suspected, even though I didn’t know what kind of entity was behind the System, I had a pretty good handle on its personality. The System was an extreme tsundere.
I have a plan, you know.
[W-Wait a second…]
And I hate being controlled by others more than anything in the world.
The problem was, I wasn't in a position to manage a difficult personality while planning an escape.
Especially by women.
With those words—spoken only in my mind, of course—I grabbed the System window and swiped it shut. Then, I slowly stood up and sank into thought.
If I want to end this, I have to return to the Auguste Detective Academy. The special resources there are my only hope.
The problem was that the Auguste Detective Academy was in London—the very place I had fled from. In other words, to go back, I’d have to somehow slip through the clutches of the madness-driven conspiracy of deranged women surrounding me.
“… Hey, Adler.”
Just as I was about to take a step, the Queen’s lonely voice drifted from behind me.
“Are you leaving?”
“Ah, that’s…”
“You don’t need to make excuses. Just looking at your face, I think I know what you’re about to do.”
I tried to offer a hasty explanation, but it seemed the Queen had already seen through me.
“Perhaps… this will be the last time we see each other?”
“……”
“Even so, I’m satisfied. Now I have a way to remember you.”
To be honest, for someone like me who had spent his life being obsessively hunted, the Queen’s reaction was quite unexpected.
“I had a carriage prepared in advance at the exit of the palace’s secret passage. If you leave now, you should be able to reach the border before nightfall.”
If I weren’t trapped in this nightmare, I might have liked to stay by the Queen’s side a little longer. But I couldn't. I had to leave this place quickly, both for her sake and mine.
“Your child… whether it’s a boy or a girl, I’ll raise them well and make them the ruler of this country.”
Watching the Queen stroke her lower abdomen again as she spoke, a bitter smile escaped me.
Could it be that this woman was raised so sheltered that she never received proper education? The probability of conceiving during a fertile window is only about 20 to 30 percent. In this world, especially with different races involved like myself, the odds were even more abysmal.
Even the Professor had to develop a special magic just to solve the racial compatibility issue. So, the Queen’s chance of getting pregnant from a single encounter was 1 percent at best.
“… I love you, Adler.”
I remained silent. Leaving the Queen whispering those words behind me, I headed for the door.
Yes, this was the best ending for both of us. If this relationship were discovered, the Queen would be ruined. Instead of letting that happen, I hoped she could find peace in the fact that her first love had been the one to take her first time.
“B-But, I have one last question.”
Just as I resolved to leave and gripped the doorknob, a slightly trembling voice called out.
“This golden tattoo… how do you erase it?”
“…….”
“Oh dear. If my fiancé sees this, it’s going to be quite troublesome…”
I turned my head at those words and finally noticed the golden seal that had appeared on the Queen’s belly. For a moment, my mind went blank.
… Wait, could that be?
Originally, the seal I engrave doesn’t have a heart filled in the middle. Because a filled-in heart meant…
“W-Wait a minute. Adler?”
“… Ha. Haha.”
“H-Hey!”
I really needed to leave this country. Right now.
*
About a month after Adler fled the Austro-Hungarian Empire at breakneck speed.
“Y-Your Majesty! Please, look at this!”
“… W-What is it?”
The Queen, who was sipping herbal tea in the garden with heavy dark circles under her eyes, was startled by the maid rushing toward her.
“It’s about the prince who came for the marriage talks—the one who suddenly lost contact! It’s in the newspaper…!”
The Queen took the newspaper with trembling hands. After staring blankly at the page for a moment, her eyes widened.
“… He was caught in a storm and fell off his ship to his death?”
“Yes! And apparently, he was the only casualty. How could such a thing happen…?”
In fact, unbeknownst to her, she too had been born with a Curse, much like the other women in Adler’s orbit.
The Queen’s curse was that it led anyone who proposed to her toward death as payment for her own absurd luck. It wasn’t a coincidence that so many of her marriage prospects ended in fatal accidents, or that she had risen from being the queen of a minor state like Bohemia to the head of the Empire. She only succeeded in relationships she initiated herself—like the one with Adler.
“This is terrible… how could this be…? Wait, maybe…”
Naturally unaware of the truth, she began to harbor rational suspicions as she recalled Adler’s face.
“Ugh.”
“Your Majesty? Are you alright?”
Suddenly, she began to retch violently.
“G-G-Guhkkk… Ah?”
She gestured for the panicked maid to stay back. Breaking out into a cold sweat, she muttered under her breath.
“I’m in big trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
Her curse—that absurd luck—had been triggered a month ago on that fateful night with her beloved. In exchange for that trigger, she had swallowed the life of the man who had tried to possess her against her will, along with the engagement ring he had painstakingly obtained for her.
“… If things keep going this way… there won’t be anyone left for me.”
Thus began what would later be known as The Bohemian Queen’s Pregnancy Scandal, an event with the potential to ignite World War I.