Chapter 51: Karma
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 51: Karma
“Miss Gia.”
“……..”
“Wake up.”
“…Hmm?”
Startled by the sweet whisper vibrating in her ear, Gia Lestrade opened her eyes and looked around in a daze.
“…Oh.”
She spotted Isaac Adler sitting on the bench beside her in the empty lot, a faint smile playing on his lips. Her expression immediately turned icy the moment she saw that handsome face.
“Why the cold shoulder?”
“…I was hoping it was a dream.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but this is very much reality.”
Hearing that, Lestrade lifted her dress slightly to look down at the golden seal etched onto her stomach. She couldn’t suppress a heavy sigh.
“…You can’t just have your way with me like this.”
“But you already like me, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. But now, I’m starting to hate you, too.”
She glared at Adler with a resentful gaze, her brows furrowing.
“Didn’t you enjoy yourself yesterday?”
“I didn’t enjoy it in the slightest.”
“Haha…”
Adler, watching her with a pleased expression, leaned his head onto her shoulder and whispered in a gentle voice.
“…Still, my intention to become a good person is sincere.”
“Move your head.”
“You let me use your shoulder all night; why the sudden change of heart?”
She tried to push him away with a frown, but after hearing his words, Lestrade’s gaze softened ever so slightly, and she offered her shoulder once more.
“I like you.”
“Please, just close your mouth…”
“Because you saved my life yesterday.”
“…What?”
Adler began to whisper softly into her ear.
“You felt it too, didn’t you? The eyes following us yesterday.”
“There wasn’t just one or two of them…”
Lestrade was right.
The greatest—and yet most notorious—child actor of all time: Isaac Adler.
And the heartthrob of British men, the unattainable dream, and the youngest Chief Inspector in history: Gia Lestrade.
The news of a romance between these two public figures had caused an uproar throughout England in just a few hours, creating a stir twice as large as the Silver Blaze scandal.
“It’s not just curious stares; some of them are filled with genuine ill intent.”
“………”
“I am constantly exposed to such looks.”
As Adler heaved a sigh and elaborated, Lestrade muttered coldly.
“You reap what you sow, I suppose…”
“…Do you know about curses?”
At the mention of that word, her eyebrows twitched.
“It seems you know a bit about them.”
“How would you know about…”
“I think I might be under one. A curse.”
The boy and girl locked eyes in silence at his remark.
“In just the past month, I’ve been officially attacked twice. Unofficially, there have been more attempts than I can count…”
“………”
“Surprisingly, every single attacker was a woman.”
For some reason, Adler’s smile looked rather pitiful to Lestrade.
“And now, as your lover, I’ll likely be threatened by men very soon as well.”
“…I’m not that popular.”
“Are you joking? You’ve been confessed to countless times.”
“That was just a ruse to tease me…”
“Haha, somehow it feels like I’m looking in a mirror…”
Adler burst out laughing and gently placed his hand on her knee.
“The point is…”
As Adler took her hand, Lestrade tried to shake him off with a look of disgust.
“It seems my curse doesn’t work on you.”
“………”
“That’s why I like you so much.”
Lestrade looked down at Adler, who was subtly rubbing his cheek against her neck.
“And…?”
“I might become obsessed.”
“How bland.”
With that, she finally pouted and pushed Adler aside.
“With you, at least, I can live comfortably.”
“………”
“Well, I hope we can continue to get along…”
As she rose from her seat, Isaac Adler flashed her a sly smile while bidding her farewell.
Warning!
– Probability of being Imprisoned — 80% → 99.99%
– Probability of being Tamed — 50% → 99.99%
“…Oh.”
At that exact moment, a message flared before his eyes.
“Excuse me…”
“……?”
Dripping with cold sweat at the sight of the message, Adler hastily grabbed Lestrade’s arm just as she was about to leave.
“What is it?”
“…Please, come with me.”
Shivering in fright, Adler whispered to her in a low, desperate voice.
“I have to report to the police station right now.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
“Ugh.”
Observing him, Lestrade sighed deeply and wrapped her arm around his.
“Since I like you, I suppose I have no choice, do I?”
“Uh… I didn’t ask you to link arms with me, you know?”
“Keep your mouth shut.”
With an annoyed expression, she pulled Adler closer to her side.
“It’s my responsibility if something happens to you. So, I have to do this.”
Lestrade averted her gaze, her voice softening for a moment as she spoke.
Probability of being Imprisoned — 99.99% → 80%
Probability of being Tamed — 99.99% → 50%
“…How about a date at the police station?”
“I decline.”
However, the sheer terror in Adler’s voice—which had turned pale—made her tone grow cold once more.
Swish…
Behind them, two shadows followed closely in their wake.
.
.
.
.
.
A few minutes later…
“We’re almost at the police station.”
“Haha… I see.”
Adler, who had been clinging to Lestrade while drenched in sweat the entire way, flinched and came to a halt at her words.
“……..”
Silence enveloped the duo.
“…If you have some free time, perhaps we could get a coffee nearby?”
Whirl… Swoosh!
Just as Adler was about to break the silence with a suggestion, a cloud of dust suddenly rose from behind them.
“What the…?”
Lestrade turned her head, her eyes sharp with alertness. A group of ragged young girls came into view at the end of the alley.
“Wait, you kids…!!”
The sight of suspicious gold coins and expensive food in the hands of girls who looked like mere vagabonds triggered Lestrade’s instincts as an inspector.
“Stop right there!”
“Hmph!”
“Blehh!”
The moment she raised her voice, the little miscreants scattered into various alleys as if they had been waiting for the cue, sticking out their tongues defiantly.
“Tsk…”
Observing their suspicious behavior, Lestrade hiked up her long skirt and gave chase with astonishing speed.
“Um, excuse me…”
“I’m currently on official duty, Mr. Adler!”
And once again, silence filled the air.
“At least take your police uniform with you…”
Adler, who had been carrying her uniform since picking it up from the tailor the day before, mumbled and scratched his head as he tried to offer it back. But she was already gone.
“…It’s okay.”
At that moment, a chilling voice echoed from behind him.
“I’ll deliver it for you.”
A shiver ran down Adler’s spine. He turned around and instantly froze in place.
“By the way, Miss Lestrade still seems to have poor instincts.”
“…Miss Holmes.”
“Still, no one is better at apprehending criminals than her. I suppose I’ll have to reward the Baker Street Special Forces separately for their hard work later.”
Charlotte Holmes approached quietly, her eyes fixed intently on him.
“So those kids earlier were…”
“But Mr. Adler, I really had no idea…”
Her eyes shone darkly, appearing out of focus even as she stared straight through him.
“I never thought your ‘just a moment’ would actually last an entire day.”
“………”
“And all this time I spent sitting in that coffee shop, waiting until evening… for what?”
Seeing the terrifying look in her eyes, Adler swallowed hard and took a step back.
“I was so worried about you, my dear assistant, that I came out immediately after my lecture ended.”
However, from the opposite direction, a familiar, neutral voice resonated in his ears.
“By the way, isn’t London abuzz with news about your very first girlfriend?”
“Professor, you are a bit out of the loop, it seems…”
“Mr. Adler, I have just one question.”
Professor Jane Moriarty, wearing a frigid smile, ignored Charlotte Holmes’s dark warning and posed her question.
“How does it feel to be in your first official relationship, hmm?”
“…Uh, that’s not it.”
In his desperation, Isaac Adler scrambled for words.
“We’re not in a relationship…”
In his fluster, an absurd excuse slipped out.
“Relationships during one's student days are mere child’s play…”
“”………..””
“…So it doesn’t count.”
The two women smiled simultaneously and took a step toward Adler.
“A relationship should at least wait until university…”
Adler, trapped between the two, trailed off and lowered his gaze.
“Here is a train ticket.”
Charlotte Holmes pressed a freshly issued ticket into his hand.
“Do you remember when I said I was going on a vacation?”
“……….”
“Today is the day.”
Before Adler could even process the ticket, she seized his other hand.
“I’ve got yours too. Let’s go together.”
“……….”
“It’s going to be a very fun experience, I’m sure.”
Just then, the pale hand of Professor Moriarty reached out from behind.
“Hmm, this is truly surprising.”
“……..?”
“Actually, I took a vacation today as well. I wanted some time alone.”
In her hand, she held a train ticket identical to the one Adler held.
“So I booked a ticket for a convenient time slot. I chose a seat where I presumed I would be all alone, as I didn’t want any disturbances.”
“……..”
“But now, it seems that seat is right next to yours. Even the boarding time and destination are somehow the same.”
A sly smile curled the corners of Moriarty’s lips.
“What a pleasant coincidence…”
“That is quite the astonishing coincidence indeed, Professor.”
Their steely grey eyes—eerily similar yet distinctly different—locked onto each other fiercely.
Warning!
– Probability of being Imprisoned — 80% → 99.99%
– Probability of being Tamed — 50% → 99.99%
“Um…”
Isaac Adler, trembling in fright, asked in a barely audible voice.
“…Can I bring Miss Lestrade along?”
The cold, vicious gazes of the duo snapped toward him in unison.
“No.”
“It’s not allowed.”
“Please save me…”
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile…
“Eek…!”
“…But, this is strange.”
Lestrade, who had quickly arrested all the members of the Baker Street Special Forces and forced them to their knees, tilted her head and mumbled to herself.
“Miss Mycrony told me about Adler’s curse, but I was quite certain it had nothing to do with his relationships with women…”
She crossed her arms and put on a cold expression.
“…Well, it’s none of my business anyway.”
Contrary to her indifferent tone, a faint blush remained plastered across her delicate cheeks.