༺ Refusal ༻
– Clatter, clatter…
Inside the carriage rattling forward to an unknown destination, Jane Moriarty, hand quietly resting on her chin, was lost in deep thought.
“… It would be better for you to not open the window.”
When she reached out to the window, sealed with boards and nails, the deep voice of the coachman echoed out from the front.
“The place we’re heading to is one of the secret rendezvous points of the royal family. Naturally, it’s a state secret, so if by any chance you find out…”
“I don’t need to look out of the window to know that we’re heading to the Western regions of London.”
Nevertheless, Professor Moriarty, not caring a bit about his threatening remark, replied with a gleam in her eyes.
“To be more precise, we’re probably heading towards Windsor, the royal residential area. But let’s pretend that I didn’t say anything regarding that.”
“……….”
“I’m not curious about the destination, I just want to breathe some fresh air. It is congested in here.”
Saying so, she concentrated mana on the tip of her fingers and touched the board… instantly, a small hole was carved.
“Much better now.”
Leaning her head next to the hole, Professor Moriarty flashed a broad smile.
“You can see the Windsor Castle quite clearly from here.”
However, when the coachman didn’t react any further, her gaze, now bored and dull, turned to the side.
“Hmm.”
Immediately, her eyes narrowed sharply.
“”……….””
Charlotte, who had not slept for four days to keep an eye on Moriarty, and Adler, who had been harassed by the thief all day, were fast asleep, their heads touching as they leaned against each other.
– Swoosh…
Observing them for a while, she quietly reached out her hand and pushed Charlotte’s head toward the opposite window.
“………”
Gently, the professor then proceeded to lean Adler’s head on her shoulder instead; she couldn’t help but chuckle and murmur to herself as she watched Adler’s sleeping figure.
‘… What am I even doing right now?’
Leaning back in her seat, feeling her strength draining away, she recalled the memory of the Reigate incident that took place a few weeks prior.
Back then, she had been the one asleep, although she was just pretending to be, while Charlotte and Adler were wide awake.
Moreover, until that very instant, she had the upper hand in this game of theirs.
But now, everything had somehow flipped and reversed.
The one awake was her, and the game was in Charlotte Holmes’ hands, not hers.
The very same Charlotte Holmes who, up until a few days ago, she had scoffed for being a child and an amateur.
‘… What did you realize from that incident?’
The professor – coldly staring at Charlotte as she pouted, eyes furrowed, sensing the disappearance of Adler’s warmth – murmured to herself.
‘What changed you to this extent?’
In truth, the professor knew the answer all along.
Beneath Charlotte’s closed and furrowed eyes, her pupils were permanently dyed in the golden hues of Adler.
And reciprocating to her own, Isaac Adler’s pupils were dyed in the black hues of Charlotte, not the grey hues of her own.
And that… was the fundamental reason why Charlotte was now overwhelming her in this game of theirs.
“So, you’ve finally fallen for her, huh?”
Moriarty, who had been quietly feeling Adler’s warmth as he leaned against her shoulder, murmured with a slightly melancholic expression.
“So, the pawn wasn’t her, but me all along…”
It was supposed to be a simple observation, a game, for her amusement…
From the beginning, he was merely a stand-in for the sugar she consumed.
Adler wasn’t the only one who had the right to end this relationship— perhaps the most peculiar relationship in the history of London.
She too, if she wished, could end this little game of theirs at any moment.
“………..”
She was certain of this fact.
Then why? Why was this strange feeling, the likes of which she had never felt before in her life, taking control of her body and mind from her for a while now? Why was this happening to her?
– Lick…
“……….?”
The eyes of the professor, downcast in silent contemplation of her bizarre circumstance, widened at the ticklish sensation she suddenly felt from her hand.
“Mr. Adler.”
Isaac Adler, who had seemingly awoken from his sleep, was licking her hand with his eyes tightly closed.
“You’re not a puppy… What are you doing?”
The professor, watching his antics with wide eyes, noticed the blood dripping from her hand; she couldn’t help but leak out a bitter laugh once more.
“… Mr. Adler?”
A temporary state as her eyes soon narrowed into thin slits.
– Lick…
Adler’s face, as he devotedly licked the blood from her hand and even sunk his teeth into it, looked somewhat pale and sickly.
“Are you feeling sick?”
The professor, tilting her head at his abnormal behavior of drinking blood as if he had lost his sanity, asked that question, her eyes still narrowed.
“… Hmm.”
But when her assistant didn’t answer, the professor, her head still tilted, cautiously extended her other hand toward him.
“Hah.”
“………!”
In the next moment, she swiftly snatched Adler’s protruding tail and started sucking the tip with her mouth.
“Pr, Professor.”
As the professor sucked the tail in her mouth, Adler’s body started convulsing in response; finally able to regain his senses due to the shock, he stopped drinking her blood and gazed up at her.
– Bite
“… Ah?”
At that moment, the professor, gazing at him with a slightly cold look, bit the tip of his tail that she had been sucking till then.
“Let’s, let’s t-talk. We…”
“……..”
“Ahhh…”
As Adler, holding onto her shoulder with his body constantly twitching and squirming, let out a sound as though the wind had been knocked out of his lungs, Professor Moriarty, observing the scene from start to finish, lifted his chin with her hand and said.
“Not much life left in you anymore, huh?”
“… What?”
“I’ve heard that when a vampire’s life is nearing its end, their bloodlust intensifies.”
Her cold gaze, tinted in the notes of grey, intersected with Adler’s blood-stained eyes.
“Why didn’t you ask for my help, even though your condition has already gotten so severe? ”
“………”
“Do you think I wouldn’t be able to find a way to extend your life?”
The professor’s voice trembled as she spoke, sensing something building up within her crumble into dust, and shifted her head toward the window, donning an expression she had never made in her whole life.
“… Hmph.”
From the mouth of the professor, a voice that she never believed she could have uttered just a few months ago leaked out.
“Umm, Professor…?”
Adler, deeply familiar with such reactions from women, asked a question with an almost incredulous look on his face.
“Are you, by any chance, upset…?”
“Shut up.”
However, a voice, laced in endless chill, responded before he could even fully pose his question.
“Excuse me…”
“Just live the rest of your life with your little detective. I don’t care anymore…”
And thus, silence ensued…
– Squeak…
Adler, who had been fidgeting and leaking cold sweat from all over, widened his eyes at the feeling of the carriage abruptly stopping.
“Hmm…”
At that very moment, Charlotte Holmes stretched her body and got up from her seat.
– Yawn…
“I feel recharged after finally getting some sleep for the first time in ages.”
Naturally linking arms with Adler in that state, she opened her mouth with a smile on her face.
“Then, shall we go out now?”
“… Professor.”
Then Adler, glancing at the professor whose head was still turned to the side, opened his mouth to speak to her.
“I’m not going to follow.”
“…..?”
“You go with the little detective you like so much.”
However, when her sulky voice leaked out, Charlotte couldn’t help but ask with a puzzled expression on her face.
“Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?”
“… Haha.”
Hearing that question, Adler could only leak out a wry laugh while scratching his head, unable to answer Charlotte’s question.
“Apologies, but from here on, Mr. Adler will have to go alone.”
“… Yes?”
“I ask that Mr. Adler’s companions wait right here, where we can see them.”
Listening to the words of the guard as he opened the carriage door, he couldn’t help but get lost in thought.
“Why can’t we follow?”
“It is for security reasons.”
“How many times have I acted for the sake of your master, and you’re now talking about security? With me?”
“… We also have to follow orders; there’s nothing we can do, unfortunately.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte Holmes began to quarrel with the guard with a chilly expression on her face.
“Allow me to accompany him to the building, at least.”
“… Very well, we can provide that much convenience.”
Moriarty, whose head was turned to the side, now glanced at them.
– Flicker…
And a moment later, her left eye began to glow in a greyish haze.
“……..”
It was the moment when her secret act of voyeurism – which had been transpiring for the last few months, coming to a stop only in recent times – began anew once more.
.
.
.
.
.
The old building that Charlotte entered along with me, after descending the carriage, was slightly worn out and shabby. However, it exuded an atmosphere that was hard for anyone to ignore.
“You can go inside now.”
Perhaps overwhelmed by such an atmosphere, the guard bowed his head before pointing toward the door of the building.
“If anything happens, run out. Don’t needlessly endure it.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
After taking a slight deep breath, I turned the doorknob and cautiously stepped inside.
“… Hmm.”
Immediately, I could see a giant veil at the center of the room.
“Should I sit here?”
“… Yes.”
As I approached the chair placed in front of the veil, asking the blurry silhouette beyond the curtain, a faint voice replied.
“Who are you?”
“You can think of me as the representative of the greatest authority in England.”
When I asked another question – finding no peculiarities, unable to sense any magical interference in the voice, and unable to determine whether it was even real or not – the expected answer came back from beyond the veil.
“And for what purpose would such a high and mighty individual summon me in such secrecy?”
Feeling my mouth drying up, I asked the being beyond the veil in a faint voice.
“I wanted to meet you.”
“Me?”
“I’ve been quite a bit interested in your actions since a long time ago.”
I strained my ears to listen, but all I could figure out from the voice of the being beyond the veil was that it was surprisingly distant, as though her mind was reminiscing something as she spoke.
“So I asked Her Majesty the Queen herself.”
“… I see.”
And from the information I had just gathered, it was suffice to say that the person in front of me was royalty at the very least.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense as there are only a handful of people who could ask for such a favor from the Queen and have it granted.
Perhaps it was someone with considerable power among the royalty, close to the right of succession?
However, it seemed unlikely that such a person would call me so secretly just to meet with me like this.
“Then, shall we cut to the chase?”
As I quietly tilted my head, the figure behind the veil slightly leaned forward and began to whisper to me.
“I have a proposal for you.”
As I stared quietly at the entity, who seemingly had something she wanted from me, a sweet voice echoed in my ear.
“Please remove Professor Jane Moriarty.”
“Do you mean my supervising professor?”
“In the name of the royal family, I am entrusting you with this secret request.”
As I read the message that appeared before my eyes at the same time, I couldn’t help but realize what was going on.
Right now, I was standing at a very important crossroads.
“In fact, it’s better to call it an order rather than a request.”
“……….”
“You have been appointed in the name of Her Majesty the Queen. Therefore, consider it an honor.”
Of course, there was only one answer I could give to her.
“I’m sorry, but I only serve one queen.”
It was too late for me to play the role of an apostle of justice, having crossed too many uncrossable lines already.
“Go to hell, Princess.”
I had grown too fond of Professor Moriarty, who was probably bobbing her head from side to side with a lonely expression in the carriage by now.
“You’re quite amusing, you.”
A cold chill began to seep from behind the veil, but I had no regrets.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that moment…
“Apologies ma’am, but won’t you be getting off?”
The coachman, who had descended from the driver’s seat, opened the door of the carriage and tilted his head as he asked the question.
“……….”
Then, there appeared Professor Moriarty, wearing a distraught expression unlike her usual self.
“I can’t understand you, even though I thought I did.”
Her eyes, which were quietly flicking from side to side, perhaps in response to someone’s words, shone golden for an instant, illuminated by the sunlight rolling in through the open door of the carriage.
“To serve only one queen, isn’t that too childish of a line.”
The faintest hints of a blush on her cheeks were just a bonus.
Translator’s Note: I would like to apologize for not posting anything for a week and a half. I had both exams and sickness to deal with so I wasn’t able to do my duties for Genesis. I will try to amend them this month and stick to the 12-a-month schedule, maybe more. I don’t have any fixed dates but 3 chapters a week, starting from Friday as the first day of the week as it was the first day this month, will be guaranteed from now on. I again apologize, but life was lifeing, couldn’t do anything about it. I hope everyone understands.
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