Chapter 7: The Scandal of the Bohemian Queen (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 7: The Scandal of the Bohemian Queen (4)
“Hello.”
“...?”
Anxious and weary, the Queen—who had been waiting for Holmes and Watson—turned her head slightly at the voice coming from her side.
“You... you are...!”
Her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and sheer terror.
“Should I say it’s been a long time?”
The nurse standing before her shed her uniform and brushed her hair back. In an instant, a presence so terrifying it made the Queen’s very soul tremble appeared before her.
“Ah, Isaac.”
Isaac Adler. A boy who, even if dismissed as a mere childhood indiscretion, had left a permanent, jagged mark on the Queen’s life, was now standing right in front of her.
“How... how did you get in here...?”
“I sent Holmes and her assistant away. I wanted to speak with you privately.”
As if something were bothering him, Adler idly picked at his ear for a moment before taking the seat opposite the Queen.
“...What?”
“Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”
Adler’s cold gaze pierced through her.
“In the end, Your Majesty, you chose to disappoint me until the very last moment.”
The Queen looked at him, her expression frozen in fear.
“Why... why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice trembling and thick with hurt. “Why are you putting me through such trials?”
The dignified, majestic monarch was nowhere to be seen.
“To inflict such unbearable pain on me...”
All that remained was a young woman in her early twenties, naive to the world’s cruelty, caught in a trap meticulously laid by the man before her over a very long time.
“...It’s simple.”
If Adler had shown even a hint of sarcasm or malice at that moment, the Kingdom of Bohemia might have lost its Queen forever.
“I did it out of jealousy.”
However, instead of his usual cruelty, a blunt, almost nonchalant confession fell from the boy’s lips as he stared out the window.
“...What?”
The Queen tilted her head, confusion warring with the tears pooling in her eyes.
“I wanted to stop Your Majesty’s marriage,” Adler confessed.
“What does that even...”
“As you know, I’ve had my fair share of experiences with women,” Adler said, finally turning his intense gaze back to her. “But the only person I ever truly loved was you. Only you.”
“Lies!”
“It is no lie, Your Majesty.”
Isaac reached into his coat and pulled something out.
“That is why, when I heard the news of your engagement to the second prince of Scandinavia, I couldn’t contain my despair.”
“...”
“Thinking about you married to that old man—a man thirty years your senior—I felt I had to do something. Anything.”
“It was for the national interest. What would you know of such things...?”
Murmuring her defense, the Queen took the documents Adler handed her and began to skim them. Her entire body stiffened the moment she saw the contents.
“What is all this?”
“Hard-earned evidence of the Scandinavian prince’s depravity.”
The Queen scrutinized the papers with an incredulous look.
“According to these records, the prince is a drug addict who brings his habits into the bedroom.”
“This is a fabrication! You think I’ll be swayed by forged evidence—”
“He has been divorced three times. The fact that his previous spouses all ended up as drug addicts is a matter of public record.”
At that, her gaze began to waver.
“If you want to call it a forgery, go ahead. I won’t stop you. But did you truly want to marry a man thirty years older than you in the first place?”
“For the nation’s...”
“Forget the nation for a second. Tell me what you truly desire.”
The Queen fell silent, unable to respond. Seeing this, Adler let out a long, weary sigh.
“Well, it seems my role here is finished.”
“...”
“My threats have reached their limit as well.”
“...What?”
Suddenly, Adler pulled a familiar photograph from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
“Ah—!”
Upon seeing the photo of herself stripped bare and sprawled out like a dog, the Queen snatched it up and clutched it to her chest.
“Now that I’ve handed over the evidence, there’s no need for further threats.”
“You...”
“Whether you use that information to break off the engagement is up to you. But please, take a look at this first.”
A faint, quiet smirk graced Adler’s features as he pulled one last item from his belongings.
“That is...”
It was the slave contract from years ago—the one she had handwritten in a drunken stupor while wrapped in Adler’s embrace back when she was still naive and immature.
“Your Majesty, if you would be so kind... would you please sign this contract?”
“You call that a request?”
“It is the final wish of my life, Your Majesty.”
The Queen’s face turned ashen at his words, but as she processed them, her expression shifted to one of bewilderment.
“As you know, in my attempt to protect you, I recklessly gathered evidence against powerful people. I’ve made countless enemies.”
“Is that... is that true?”
“I doubt I’ll last long once I enter August Academy. So, before it’s too late, I wish to receive one last gift from the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
The Queen’s resolve wavered again.
“...After all, a signature can always be called a forgery later. You could at least do this much for me.”
It was only then that the Queen truly noticed the burn scars covering Adler’s body.
“Well, if you don’t want to, that’s fine.”
“...”
“Even without it, the fact that Miss Lillia loved me will remain in this world forever.”
When the Queen continued to hesitate, Adler gave a bitter smile, stood up, and whispered in a tone heavy with sorrow.
“That is enough for me.”
“Wa... Wait...”
“If only our statuses weren’t so different, I would have wanted to spend my entire life by your side.”
With that, Adler turned to leave.
“Wait! Wait a minute!”
Her desperate voice echoed through the hospital lobby.
“Just wait a moment, Isaac!”
Isaac halted and turned around. The Queen, her eyes filled with immeasurable guilt, looked at him.
“I have something to give you.”
She pulled a pen from her bag and began to sign the contract.
“...I will cancel the engagement with the prince.”
Years ago, they had written that slave contract as a joke. Now, she etched her official signature onto it. She approached Adler, handed him the document, and whispered softly.
“Isaac. How wonderful would it have been if we were of the same rank?”
“...”
“But as the ruler of a nation, this is the only thing I can offer you.”
As Adler accepted the contract, the Queen hesitated for a moment before pulling him into an embrace.
“Isaac. Although this is merely a symbolic document, I—”
Just as she closed her eyes to finish her sentence...
“Kneel.”
Adler’s command was a soft, cold whisper in her ear.
“...Huh!?”
Almost instantly, a chilling sensation surged through her body. Before she could even process the thought, the Queen found herself involuntarily dropping to her knees, prostrating herself at Adler’s feet.
“What... what have you done?”
“It’s simple. I placed a spell on the contract.”
“What does that mean...?”
“People’s hearts can change at any moment.”
As the coldness of the floor seeped into her, the trembling Queen’s eyes widened in realization.
“In this perilous world where even the few mages of Europe are subjected to daylight terror, shouldn’t a man have some reliable means of self-defense?”
Adler’s exclusive seal, now magically engraved on the Queen’s lower abdomen, cast an ominous glow across the hospital floor.
“I hope you’ll forgive my rudeness.”
The dazed Queen, staring blankly at the scene, began to chuckle softly as Adler started to stroke her head.
“Ha... haha.”
Only now did she realize the futility of her efforts to escape him.
The situation was far graver than before. The ruler who should have held all of Bohemia under her thumb had now become Isaac’s eternal slave.
“Hahahaha...”
But strangely, it felt right.
The guilt of being unable to offer him anything more than a meaningless piece of paper vanished. Her face flushed, and her heart raced faster than it ever had in her life.
“Whichever prince I marry... my child will surely have blonde hair...”
It was the moment the sun of Bohemia finally sank below the horizon, leaving the skies in darkness.
*
To Miss Charlotte Holmes.
From the moment you threw yourself at the church disguised as a young nun seeking salvation, I suspected you were Miss Charlotte Holmes.
Who else would save a notorious scoundrel like me in London? Not to mention, I’ve been warned multiple times to be wary of London’s prodigy.
Hence, upon waking in the hospital at dawn, I resolved to verify the truth with my own eyes.
Acquiring a nurse’s uniform was easy. Altering the length of my hair is a simple feat for a mana user like myself.
Disguised as a nurse, I sneaked down to the lobby at dawn and saw a young girl nodding off on a sofa with sleepy eyes.
Having confirmed that I was being pursued by London’s most competent detective, I realized I stood no chance.
Therefore, I have decided to move my residence to the August Academy dormitory.
Even the great Charlotte Holmes cannot enter August Academy without mana.
However, I will hand over the photograph—my original target—to the client before I leave this hospital.
In truth, I had planned to use it as a more... definitive method.
But from now on, it will be used for self-defense rather than a threat, based on a mutual agreement.
Being targeted by London’s best detective, I shouldn’t cross any more lines, should I?
Well then, I wish you a good day, Miss Holmes.
After reading Adler’s letter several times, Holmes closed her eyes and placed it gently on the table.
“He’s truly an exceptional man, isn’t he?”
Beside her, the Queen, her face still flushed, continued to mumble to herself.
“If only we were of the same status, I would have done anything to keep him by my side...”
“In my opinion, Mr. Adler belongs to an entirely different class than Your Majesty,” Holmes said sarcastically.
“Is that so? Do you see it that way as well?”
The Queen only agreed more fervently, looking like a teenage girl smitten with her first love.
“I wonder what kind of conversation you had with Adler to make you react this way,” Watson muttered.
“Sometimes, Watson, ignorance is bliss,” Holmes replied quietly. She then gave a slight bow to the Queen. “I deeply apologize for failing to resolve the matter you entrusted to me in a satisfactory manner.”
“That’s not true. You did your best.”
The Queen shook her head, seemingly eager to reassure Holmes.
“So, what would you like as compensation?”
“...Compensation? I didn’t think I was entitled to any.”
“You worked hard for me. And this is also the cost of our collaboration. Please, ask for whatever you wish.”
As the Queen offered a kind smile, Holmes fell into deep thought.
I just can’t understand.
According to the letter, Isaac Adler knew her identity from the start.
She was a detective employed by the Queen, someone trying to seize his leverage. She was a threat—so much so that he felt the need to flee to August Academy. To him, she should have been an obstacle to be removed at all costs.
Then why did he save me?
Why on earth did he risk his life to save her?
According to the servants, the path to her room had been incredibly perilous. It was so dangerous that the professional staff had given up and turned back to save themselves.
Yet, Isaac Adler had endured the flames for ten full minutes to rescue her. He was the very last person to leave the burning mansion, only after ensuring everyone else was safe.
Unless Holmes herself was Adler’s most valuable possession, the act made no sense.
I don’t know.
It was a first for her.
To a woman who had always treated the world as a collection of simple puzzles, an inscrutable enigma had finally appeared.
“If you can’t decide, how about the ring I’m wearing? If this ring appeals to you...”
“Your Majesty possesses something far more valuable than that ring.”
Holmes, still turning the unsolvable puzzle over in her mind, made her decision.
“...And what might that be?”
“The photograph that was our target.”
“What?”
The Queen was taken aback as Holmes requested the photo as her payment.
“Are you out of your mind? I certainly cannot give you that.”
“Didn’t you say you would give half your kingdom?”
“That photo is mine.”
Naturally, the Queen refused.
“Is it because you are in the photo?”
“Well, of course. No matter how much I trust you, that is a bit much...”
“Then, let’s do it this way.”
“...Huh?”
Before the Queen could react, Holmes snatched the photograph and tore it clean in half.
“I don’t need this part.”
“...”
Holmes handed the half showing the Queen back to her.
“This should resolve any concerns.”
“You want the half with Adler? May I ask why...?”
“Watson’s hobby is writing and publishing novels about our cases, Your Majesty,” Holmes said smoothly.
“...Ah, I see.”
With a slightly reproachful look, the Queen cleared her throat and rose from her seat.
“If that is what you truly desire...”
“Also, I have one personal favor to ask.”
“...A personal favor?”
Holmes stood up as well.
“Could you write a letter of recommendation for August Academy?”
“What are you talking about, Holmes?” Watson asked, her eyes wide with surprise. “Just a few months ago, you were criticizing them, saying you’d never associate with such people. Why the sudden interest?”
Holmes, her gaze fixed on the half of the photograph in her hand, responded in a soft, determined voice.
“The mystery I need to solve has fled to that place, after all.”
Reflected in her deep grey eyes was the image of Isaac Adler, looking down from the window in the photograph.