Chapter 38: Put Yourself in Another’s Shoes
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 38: Put Yourself in Another’s Shoes
“Hands in the air—wait, what?”
Rachel Watson stormed into the room, pistol drawn and expression taut with tension. However, she froze the moment she saw the scene before her.
“…Holmes?”
Her one and only friend, Charlotte Holmes, was sitting quietly inside the room.
“Ha… ha…”
For some reason, Charlotte was drenched from head to toe in a cold sweat, sitting right next to Rachel’s fiancé.
“……?”
Unable to comprehend the situation, Rachel blinked blankly, her brown eyes wide with confusion, before slowly lowering her gun.
“Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “What on earth is going on here?”
“…My dear friend, Rachel Watson.”
Observing the peculiar scene, Charlotte Holmes took a moment to gather herself before resuming her usual composed tone. “The man sitting beside me is complicit in a crime I am currently investigating.”
Watson’s face turned pale with fright. “…It can’t be that serious, can it?”
“Unfortunately, it is very serious.”
“Is that true, honey?”
Watson turned to Adler—disguised as Neville—with trembling eyes.
“Ah, it seems… it seems so,” he managed.
When Watson addressed him as honey, Charlotte’s expression turned ice-cold. Adler quietly lowered his gaze, not daring to look up.
“………”
A heavy silence filled the private room.
“Watson, you might be disappointed when you learn this man’s true nature,” Charlotte said, a smirk playing on her lips despite the tension.
“………”
“So, if I may offer some advice—”
“I know,” Watson interrupted, her expression turning solemn.
“……?”
“I already knew he was involved in something.” Watson spoke with conviction. “It’s all because of Isaac Adler.”
“Listen—”
“This innocent man tried so hard to buy an engagement ring for me, and he got dragged into a crime because of that son of a bitch.”
Charlotte Holmes’s expression grew colder by the second.
“…I’m sorry for badmouthing your boyfriend, but it’s the truth,” Watson added.
“Regardless, the fact remains that he is complicit in a crime, Watson.”
Neither woman yielded an inch. An odd, sharp tension crackled between them.
“Just… break up with Neville St. Claire.”
“………”
“He’s involved in a massive criminal conspiracy that requires years of investigation. It has reached a point where only I can handle it.”
In this battle of wills, Charlotte Holmes seemed to hold the upper hand.
“So, just end the relationship.” She had a logical justification, after all. “In fact, I’m being quite considerate of you. The truth is rather shocking…”
Charlotte, wearing a mask of regret, reached out to pull Adler toward her as if to apprehend him.
“…I don’t want to.”
Rachel Watson shook her head vehemently.
“Watson, this isn’t a matter of being stubborn—”
“We can’t break up now.”
The words that tumbled from Watson’s lips flipped the situation entirely.
“You can’t break up?”
“We just got engaged.”
“What?”
“We are legally engaged now.”
Charlotte Holmes, who had looked so triumphant a moment ago, was struck dumb. “…What are you talking about, Rachel?”
“Do you remember the church we stopped by during our date earlier?”
Adler was equally stunned. “But that was… a date for a trial engagement, wasn’t it?”
They had only gone there for a unique experience to see what an engagement felt like; he had no memory of actually committing to it.
“That’s right. We followed the standard procedure, but since there was no witness, the engagement wouldn’t typically be official.”
“Yes, the priest explained it exactly like that…”
“However, look at this.”
Rachel Watson shyly extended the back of her hand toward Adler.
“”………””
Both Adler and Charlotte Holmes stared, speechless.
“This is the seal of engagement…”
Engraved on the back of her hand was an engagement seal, a magical mark symbolizing a binding obligation to marry as soon as possible.
“…Huh.”
Adler absentmindedly touched the seal. He soon realized a similar mark had appeared on his own hand. He was floored. “Why did this appear?”
“You still don’t understand?” Rachel Watson shyly took his hand in hers. “This is a miracle created by our love, Neville.”
“Uh…”
“If not, then it’s surely a divine message telling me never to let you go.”
Of course, that wasn't the whole truth.
‘…Ah.’
While Adler and Watson had been sharing a passionate kiss and whispering vows earlier, Charlotte Holmes—standing right beside them with vacant eyes—had unknowingly acted as the legal witness to their engagement.
Sizzle—
Realizing this too late, Charlotte Holmes practically emitted black smoke as she began to grind her teeth in silence.
“Neville, we are legally bound to each other now.”
Isaac Adler, stunned to realize he had accidentally reenacted a plot point from the original story, snapped back to reality at Watson’s whisper.
“…So, can you come to my side now?”
He stole a glance at Holmes and slowly rose from his seat.
“I’ll take responsibility for this man from now on, Holmes.”
“………”
“Also, you mentioned he’s involved in a significant crime, right?” Watson naturally leaned against him, nesting her arm in his. “I’ll help too.”
She smiled brightly, her innocence lingering on her lips. “The three of us working together… we’ll definitely figure something out.”
Charlotte, still grinding her teeth, lowered her head at the sight of her friend’s radiant expression.
“…I see.”
A moment later, she raised her eyes, glowing with a terrifying resolve. “…The three of us will figure it out together, will we?”
“Yep!”
As Watson responded enthusiastically, Charlotte stood up, her face a mask of cold determination. “Where are you two heading now?”
“Us? Uh, well…” Watson scratched her head. “If Neville is okay with it, I was thinking of going to the racetrack.”
“The racetrack?”
“There’s an exotic horse race tonight. I heard it’s the new trend.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “Well, instead of horses, demi-humans race each other. Isn’t that fascinating?”
“…Isn’t that illegal?”
“Come on, no way. Slavery was abolished long before we were born, regardless of race.”
“There’s a legitimate loophole these days called graduate students, you know?”
“It’s their own choice, though. Anyway, treating demi-humans as slaves is a thing of the distant past.”
Isaac Adler listened, feeling a flicker of intrigue.
“For instance, Silver Blaze, who is currently the most popular figure in the racing world, gets more attention than most actresses…”
“Silver Blaze?” Isaac’s eyes widened. “…Are you saying Silver Blaze isn't a horse, but a demi-human?”
“What was that, honey?”
“Ah, never mind.”
As Watson tilted her head in confusion, Isaac quickly shut his mouth.
“…Well, okay. Sounds good. Let’s give it a shot.”
“Hmm, sure. If you really want to…”
As he stood up, Watson flashed a triumphant smile, humming a tune as she prepared to leave the room.
“Let’s go together.”
“…What?”
Charlotte’s remark was like a bucket of ice water on their mood.
“We’re collaborating, aren’t we?”
“…………”
“Aren’t we? My dear assistant?”
A peculiar tension once again flared between the two close friends.
.
.
.
.
.
Just before Watson had burst into the room, I thought I had made a very wise decision. I had cast a preconceived enchantment on Charlotte—one that would obscure her use of black, smoky mana from the eyes of others, protecting her secret.
“”…………””
However, at this very moment, I dearly wished I hadn't. I wished her mana had been revealed right then and there.
Sssss…
As I walked toward the racetrack with Watson clinging to my arm, Charlotte Holmes, walking on my other side, was enveloping my body in invisible black mana. She was practically suffocating me with her power.
“…Ms. Holmes.”
The energy tightly coiled around me, wriggling wildly and brutally contorting my very essence.
“This is truly sexual harassment.”
“In that case, why did you put this enchantment on me, huh?”
“………”
Simultaneously, my mana was being rapidly siphoned away by Charlotte.
“…I think the transformation is going to wear off at this rate.”
“That’s the intention.”
Thanks to her—who had been mischievous at the café but was now being outright predatory—the duration of my disguise, which should have lasted hours, was being slashed to minutes.
“…What are you two whispering about?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Then why are you shivering?”
For some reason, Watson nestled closer to my neck, leaning her head against me while eyeing us with clear suspicion.
“…I think I’ve caught a severe cold.”
I couldn't bring myself to tell her that her best friend was currently draining my vital energy in real-time, so I made an excuse, my face flushed.
“Oh dear…” Watson looked at me with a sympathetic gaze.
Gulp…
As her pale neck pressed against my shoulder and a soft scent wafted from her, I felt a sudden, violent surge of bloodlust. It was likely a side effect of my rapidly depleting mana.
“Then, take this.”
Since I was scheduled to visit Ms. Mycrony’s house in a few days anyway, I clenched my eyes shut, suppressing the urge to taste blood. Then, Watson offered me a small bottle.
“…What’s this?”
“It’s medicine. It’s very good for colds.”
Trusting the doctor’s words, I took the bottle and gulped down the contents immediately.
“………!?”
A suspicious, searing heat began to spread through my body.
“Wha—Why did you drink it all at once?!” Watson grabbed hold of me, murmuring in a panic. “…I intended for you to take it slowly once we got back to the lodgings.”
Could this be the brandy that was considered a panacea in the 19th century?
“U-Uh…”
If it was, I was in serious trouble.
“…I—I need to use the restroom for a moment.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“I’m fine…”
My mind was becoming a hazy mess. I struggled to maintain consciousness as I staggered toward a restroom across the street.
‘…I really can’t handle alcohol.’
I still hadn't forgotten the blank stares of the female students who avoided my gaze after our college retreat—the day I got wasted off just half a bottle.
‘What should I do?’
I still didn't know what I had done that day.
.
.
.
.
.
A few minutes later.
“…Huh?”
Watson, waiting anxiously for her fiancé, suddenly widened her eyes and drew her pistol.
“Isaac Adler!”
For some reason, Isaac Adler—her newfound nemesis—was walking toward the spot where she and Holmes stood.
“H-How did you get here…!”
Watson aimed her gun, but she took several steps back, her expression tense as she watched him approach with a fiery, predatory heat in his eyes.
“Huh?”
However, Isaac Adler didn't stop in front of Watson. He stopped right in front of Charlotte Holmes.
“Charlotte.”
“…Adler?”
Charlotte Holmes, who had successfully broken his disguise as planned, tilted her head at his altered demeanor. “You’re calling me by my first name now…”
Squeeze—
“…Eh?”
Without warning, Adler firmly grasped her arm.
“Look up.”
He shoved Charlotte against the wall with a cold command. Staring at him with wide eyes, Charlotte subconsciously lifted her head.
Crunch!
“………!”
At that moment, Adler’s sharp fangs sank into her fair neck.
“…Ouch.”
As pain flared through her, Charlotte began to struggle, but Adler gripped her arms even tighter, pinning her ruthlessly against the wall.
“Ho—Holmes!”
At that perilous moment, just as Watson was about to scream and pull the trigger…
Swish—
“……..?”
Charlotte quietly raised a hand, gesturing for Watson to stop.
“…As expected, you’re stronger than me,” she whispered to Adler. For the first time in her life, she felt the sensation of being completely overpowered.
“Beast.”
Adler’s cold, predatory gaze met hers.
‘…Strange.’
Staring into those eyes, Charlotte Holmes quietly bit her lip and surrendered herself to him.
‘Even when being overpowered by a scumbag like this…’
An indescribable, eerie emotion surged within her.
‘…Why do I feel this way?’
For reasons Charlotte couldn't fathom, the sight of her dear friend standing right there, watching them with a dazed, horrified expression, only intensified the thrill a hundredfold.