༺ Caroline Augustus Milverton ༻
“I’m not sure if you fully understand the implications of what you have just said.”
Amid the chilling silence, a stern voice peeked out from behind the veil.
“Are you perhaps underestimating the power of the royal family? It seems to me that Miss Mycrony didn’t properly explain what transpires in the shadows of the British government to you.”
“Excuse me, but I believe I understand the implications perfectly well.”
“Then I assume you’re also aware of what will happen if you leave this room as it stands?”
“I’m not so sure about that though.”
As I scratched my head and said those words, the woman behind the veil slightly tilted her head to the side.
“You just need to understand that, no matter how hard you try and what power you use, if you walk out of this room right now, you won’t be able to live past today.”
“What if I just take you hostage right now, Princess?”
“I’m not sure what makes you say that, but I’m not a princess.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that when the royal knights and guards are surrounding the building with their senses sharp for any signs of oddity, and there are numerous snipers with their weapons locked on me as we speak?”
The moment I said those words, she straightened her back and sighed.
“And you’re telling me that you, with that knowledge, still chose to act so in front of royalty?”
“All the more reason for me to take you hostage right now, don’t you think?”
“That’s too reckless.”
“Please note that if I see you raising your hand or sending a signal, I will attack immediately. So, please consider your next actions.”
Hearing me whisper so with a slightly stern expression, a small laugh emanated from behind the veil.
“Indeed, you are a savage, just as I’ve heard.”
“……….”
“But if you keep running wild, as you have, you might end up as a display showpiece in my room someday.”
The fairly relaxed voice that followed was filled with the unmistakable dignity and authority of royalty.
Judging by her words and attitude, her confidence seemed to be well-founded, quite unlike the opponents I’ve been dealing with so far.
“Isaac Adler. Apologize for insulting Her Majesty immediately and obey her command.”
“………”
“The royal family is already aware of everything you and the professor have been up to. Of course, we’ve already prepared a countermeasure.”
Sure enough, seeing my momentary silence, she began making some dizzying remarks, all directed at me.
“With a simple command, all the military power that the British Empire can mobilize will trample you down and crush you completely. We’ve already come to an agreement with the prime minister regarding this stance, so you must make your choice with utmost haste.”
“………”
“As a British citizen, choose who to serve as your queen right this instance.”
I felt a chill run down my spine and cold sweat began leaking out of my body.
“… But, I have only one queen.”
Still, my response was the same as ever.
“No matter how many times you ask, my answer will be the same.”
And thus, silence ensued for a while.
“… I don’t understand.”
Sitting in my chair, I swallowed dryly, completely ignoring the killing intent surging from behind me. At that moment, the princess’ voice, a mix of confusion and frustration, leaked out from behind the veil.
“Just saying that you’ll follow Her Majesty would have been enough to save your life.”
“……….”
“Weren’t you forced to join that professor? Why would you miss such a good opportunity to get rid of her, that too with the support of the royal family?”
Quietly gazing at her silhouette, I replied in a low and deep voice.
“I can’t betray the entity I’ve created.”
“Pardon?”
Simply speaking, I was unable to summarize the myriad of strange feelings I harbored toward Professor Jane Moriarty.
“As a creator, I can’t betray my creation.”
“… Is that how it is?”
Therefore, as I blurted out the most trivial reasoning that came to my mind, the voice before me grew far chillier than before.
“Perhaps I have been misreading this scenario from the very beginning.”
“… What are you talking about?”
“The one that needs to be eliminated has been you. You were the mastermind behind everything all along.”
The hostility in her voice was so palpable that my body began to tremble on its own.
“An average university professor who had shown no noteworthy movement, until recently of course, suddenly became a notable figure in the mathematical world, and at the same time, she started making a name for herself in the criminal underworld.”
“……….”
“Her sudden appearance was so abrupt that my informants couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. But now, I fully understand the reason behind everything.”
Suddenly, it felt like the thick killing intent surrounding the building was now focused all on me.
“The one who shaped her from a raw gem, it was none other than you, wasn’t it?”
“… Hmm.”
“You were the orchestrator, not the professor, from the very start. Since I misinterpreted the origin, no matter how much I moved people it wouldn’t have resolved anything.”
I felt like vomiting due to the extreme tension in the atmosphere, but still, I merely responded with a leisurely smile.
“You have a pretty good head above your shoulders, don’t you, Princess?.”
“Should you be accepting it that easily?”
“The professor is just following my orders. Even if you kill her, unless you kill me too, London will turn into a war zone sooner or later.”
Though her expression was hidden, I could imagine the princess’ eyes narrowing behind the veil.
“It appears to me now that we should be capturing you instead of the professor.”
“Well, why don’t you try it right now? Let’s see if I can attack you, escape from this place, by using you as a hostage, and then mobilize my colleagues scattered all over London before I am captured or annihilated. I am dying to find out if I can pull it off; seems quite thrilling.”
“………”
“If you don’t want to start a game of tag with the fate of London at stake, let’s negotiate, Princess.”
Calculating all possible reactions of the princess to my threat, I silently threw a gambit.
“Surely we can find a compromise that satisfies us both.”
And then, silence descended between us once again.
“Hmm…”
As I desperately tried to hide the frantic beating of my heart, the only sound echoing inside the silent room were those coming from behind the veil…
“… I apologize, but I don’t think that would be possible”
A moment later, the princess’s firm response made me close my eyes tightly.
“Therefore, it is probably time for me to deliver Her Majesty’s real orders to you.”
However, her subsequent words were quite different from what I had expected to come out of her mouth.
“Are you saying that the Queen didn’t order to eliminate the professor?”
“That was actually a personal request of mine. I am the only one in the royal family who noticed your suspicious activities.”
“……….”
“Of course, since it was a personal request, I couldn’t mobilize the royal army against you. At least, it’s fortunate that I now have the assurance that you are definitely planning something behind the scenes.”
Momentarily, I couldn’t help but feel stunned by her words.
I wasn’t sure which princess she was, but wouldn’t Britain’s future be quite bright if she became the next queen?
“… So, what are the real orders?”
“Hehe.”
When I asked the question, my ego slightly bruised due to being played like a puppet, the princess chuckled and seemingly put her hand into the pocket of her dress.
– Rustle…
A moment later, a slender, pale hand slipped out from the veil, placing something before me.
“This…”
As the hand retreated back into the veil, a photograph immediately came into view.
“Who is this?”
“I didn’t think that you wouldn’t recognize her.”
As I gazed at the unidentified figure in the photograph and asked said question, the princess responded with a faint hint of disbelief in her voice.
“Caroline Augustus Milverton. Don’t you know her?”
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize the identity of the figure in the photo.
“Of course I do.”
Caroline Augustus Milverton.
In the Sherlock Holmes novels, she was a villainous character known as Charles Augustus Milverton— a heinous manipulator who controlled the weaknesses of the elites of London’s upper class.
In the original story, he manipulated Holmes and Watson’s plans, and even blackmailed them, forcing them to break into his mansion. A formidable and intimidating villain indeed.
Because of this backstory from the original story, the gender-bent version of him, Caroline, was adapted in the gal game being developed by our company as one of the top mid-bosses.
“Of course, you should know. There’s a famous joke that if half the women in London belong to Isaac Adler, then half the men belong to her, isn’t there?”
“Is there really such a rumor going around?”
“The problem here is that it’s not a joke or a rumor, it’s a clear fact.”
Of course, having originally targeted the famous women in society, the gender-bent version of the villain was thus targeting the male counterpart, as the princess just described.
“Anyway, I believe that you have slowly realized by now as to why I showed you her picture.”
“… You want me to take care of her?”
“One of Her Majesty’s honorable acquaintances is in quite the predicament because of her.”
With her background information in mind, I asked the question and the princess’ cold voice returned in response.
“Judging by the honorifics you use for this acquaintance, the person must be royalty as well?”
“… Don’t bother digging deeper into this matter.”
“Well, understood.”
Nodding my head quietly, I picked up the photograph that was put on the desk.
“What exactly should I do with her?”
“Neutralize her. Don’t worry about the means, you can do anything you see fit to take her out.”
“I never imagined that I would be asked by the royal family, of all people, to advise on a crime.”
“As long as you carry out the orders of Her Majesty, your actions will not be deemed as a crime.”
At her words, I chuckled and got up from my seat, as did the princess.
“… Keep this in mind…”
The woman, seemingly wearing a long robe, glanced at me and spoke from behind the veil.
“That I’m keeping a close eye on your suspicious activities in London.”
“…………”
“You will have to correct the impure schemes you are harboring as soon as possible.”
Hearing her, a question immediately popped into my head.
“If you’re so wary of me, why haven’t you revealed my secrets to anyone yet?”
“If it weren’t for the business regarding Caroline, I would have reported your activities to Her Majesty the Queen long ago.”
“If it were me, I would have still told her, just in case, you know?”
To that question, the princess merely replied in a calm and dignified voice.
“I have the perfect card in my hand, a card I can use to control and keep you to myself. Why would I let others have a piece of it.”
“Are you planning to use me in the internal power struggle of the royal family?”
“Not necessarily for that reason alone, though you aren’t inaccurate in your reasoning.”
And with that, she began walking towards the secret door beyond the veil.
“Then, is there another reason?”
“Well, you’re quite handsome, aren’t you?”
As the princess left those words behind and stepped through the secret door, her figure hidden throughout, the palpable tension in the surroundings quickly vanished as though it were a lie.
“… The last statement must be a joke, right?”
Thinking about how the princesses of the 19th century were also good at making jokes, I silently headed toward the door at the back of the room.
“……..?”
As I opened the door, I was taken aback by the sight before me, my eyes widening and head tilting to the side.
“Professor?”
Professor Moriarty was awkwardly standing there, receiving the icy gaze of Charlotte, who was sitting on the sofa across from her.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t follow us?”
“……….”
As I looked at her in clear confusion and moved toward her, Professor Moriarty subtly averted her gaze, avoiding my eyes.
– Swish...
In her slightly awkward state, she imperceptibly extended her hand to me. As I casually extended my palm as well, she gently placed something on top.
“… A gift, for you.”
There were as many as three pieces of sugar cubes, which she loved to eat, placed on my palm.
“Thank… you?”
“… Mr. Adler.”
While I was scratching my head, putting it in my mouth while smiling awkwardly, I heard Charlotte’s icy tone from behind.
“What is that picture on your hand?”
She was looking at the photo of a rather elegant woman, placed in my other hand.
“This is…”
Immediately, a light bulb lit up in my head.
“… It’s the subject of a bet.”
The eyes of both Charlotte and Professor Moriarty began to glow ominously at the same time after hearing my words.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that moment…
“… Miss, Count Winston has contacted us to request a meeting with you.”
“Decline it.”
In a darkened room, a woman sat in an armchair, resting her chin on her hand as she stared blankly at the picture in her hand.
“I have been informed that if you refuse to meet him, there will be troubles regarding your safety, miss…”
“I don’t care.”
Soon after, a cold voice leaked out of her lips.
“… I have already chosen a new target.”
Reflected in her eyes was the image of a boy with golden hair.
“Surely, you don’t mean Isaac Adler now, do you?”
“… Hehe.”
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