༺ The Three Garridebs (4) ༻
“What on earth are you doing?”
Charlotte, walking quietly down the corridor after slipping out of the drawing room with Adler in tow, couldn’t help but furrow her brows and speak…
“Look here, Mr. Adler. Don’t pretend like you didn’t hear me.”
“……….”
“No matter how you look at it, isn’t this a bit too much?”
Muttering to herself, Charlotte looked up at Adler, who was moving forward in silence while holding her in his arms; her body bound tightly in the vestiges of his outer coat.
“It’s suffocating, really…”
– Kooo-oogh…
“Ugh…”
But Adler, paying no heed to her words, held her even tighter, and Charlotte, pretending to be defeated, closed her eyes and spat out in a sulky voice.
“You usually act so nonchalant, why are you suddenly being so assertive today?”
“……….”
“Just act as you normally do. It’s annoying…”
Despite her words, Isaac Adler said nothing, not a single thing. Simply, he gazed down at Charlotte with an intense light in his eyes as she stood there, tucked inside his tight embrace.
“Why are you really doing this?”
Charlotte, staring at his eyes – which were dyed a dull black, the same shade as her hair color – soon averted her gaze and started murmuring under her breath.
“Do you think I’d be pleased if you suddenly act like this…?”
“……….”
“I’m not like those foolish women bewitched by you, whose hearts flutter at your merest touch.”
The faint blush coloring her cheeks was a direct contrast to her blunt words, however.
“So let go of me…”
– Kooo-oogh…
“It’s interfering with the investigation, Mr. Prospective Criminal.”
An uncredible claim, considering her own eyes were dyed in the same hue as Adler’s golden blonde hair.
“Let me go…”
– Badump, badump…
Add to that Charlotte’s rapidly beating heart that could be easily felt by Adler as she struggled against him, and what little credibility she had left was shattered in its entirety.
“……. Ugh.”
Knowing these facts all too well herself, Charlotte eventually gave up resisting and quietly surrendered her body to him.
“Why did I end up falling in love with this odd man?”
She sighed quietly and murmured under her breath, her voice low.
“Somehow, it feels like I am far crazier than when I was living buried under the side effects of drugs and magic stones 24/7…”
“… Miss Holmes.”
Finally, Isaac Adler started speaking, his voice… low, heavy, and utterly solemn.
“Shall we pretend this case never happened?”
“What?”
“If you get hurt, I think my heart won’t be able to take it.”
Hearing his voice filled with sincerity, Charlotte looked into Adler’s eyes, which were now trained at her with an unusually possessive gaze; a gaze far different than the usual one he would direct at her.
“What’s your ulterior motive? Weren’t you the one who called me here?”
“That’s true. However, upon some introspection, I realized that this case is just too dangerous. It was a misjudgment on my part.”
“What do you mean…”
“I don’t want to see Miss Holmes get hurt. So, let’s just step back this time.”
Caught by his intense gaze, Charlotte unknowingly swallowed hard.
“If you turn away in the face of danger, can you even call yourself a detective any longer?”
“… I may not die even if I’m slashed to pieces, but you aren’t like that, Charlotte.”
“Now you’re even speaking informally?”
As he stroked the small scar on Charlotte’s cheek, a remnant from her last encounter with Jill the Ripper, she couldn’t help but twist her body in discomfort, feeling ticklish inside. Soon, Charlotte posed a question with an oddly calm expression, different from the one she had been showing.
“Do I mean something to you?”
“Of course, I love you.”
“Your professor would be quite upset if she were to hear that.”
“You’re not as strong as her.”
“I can tolerate a lot of things, but I can’t let that remark slide…”
“Charlotte!”
Abruptly, she looked at Adler with a slight shock on her face as he subconsciously raised his voice and pushed her against the wall of the corridor.
“Listen. To. Me.”
Adler, holding Charlotte’s arms and leaning in close, whispered in a low and dangerous voice, his breath ragged and emotional.
“This case is too dangerous…!”
And with that remark, total silence ensued.
“… I’m sorry.”
After seeing Charlotte’s wavering eyes staring blankly at his face, Adler regained his composure, returning to his usual demeanor, and loosened his grip on her arms.
“I’ve been unable to control my emotions lately, might be due to all the stress catching up. I apologize if I startled you.”
“It almost felt like a playful dog, always wagging its tail excitedly, suddenly bared its fangs and jumped to bite my neck for a second there…”
“That’s quite the extreme analogy…”
“Is that your true nature?”
Quietly observing the handprints on her arms, she tilted her head as she posed the question.
“Quite the opposite actually.”
“Opposite?”
“Only with you or the professor… no, only when I look at you, do I become like this. It’s quite odd.”
Charlotte gave Adler a frosty stare for a second, prompting him to correct his statement. Soon, she narrowed her eyes and whispered in his ears.
“Do you prefer me, or the professor?”
“… It’s you, Miss Holmes.”
“Why did you pause at the start?”
“You must be mistaken… Probably.”
Even though Adler was quick to explain, Charlotte’s eyes remained narrowed as she nodded her head in understanding.
“Looking at you now, your right iris seems to have become a bit pale somehow?”
“………”
“It appears to be slowly turning grey, doesn’t it?”
At that very moment, as her voice grew ominously dark while speaking to Adler and caressing his iris with her hands…
“Is this also a figment of my imagination, Mr. Adler…”
“Of course, it’s not a figment of your imagination.”
From behind the duo, came a voice laced with mockery.
“… Oh, really.”
“That eye of his is being tainted in color.”
Charlotte Holmes, turning around, frowned heavily and muttered as she saw the person coming in through the end of the corridor.
“Isn’t that so, Isaac Adler?”
Professor Moriarty, hands clasped behind her back and her head bobbing from side to side, had finally revealed herself… Her eyes shone with a mysterious gleam as she watched the scene unfold.
.
.
.
.
.
“I’ve been smelling the scent of an old maid around here for a while now…”
“No matter how much you spread false information, the fact remains that the color of Adler’s eyes is gradually changing to my color.”
“… Mr. Adler, let’s just leave. If we’re not careful, the smell will cling to us too.”
Charlotte Holmes, looking at the newly appeared Professor Moriarty with a sickened gaze, quietly grasped Adler’s sleeve and stepped forward.
“……”
“Mr. Adler?”
However, for some reason, Isaac Adler stood there motionless… no matter how much she pulled.
“What are you doing?”
“Miss Holmes.”
As Charlotte Holmes looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, Isaac Adler, still motionless, opened his mouth and spoke in a whispery voice.
“In fact, the one who called Professor Moriarty here is me.”
“What?”
“Isn’t that right, Professor?”
Jane Moriarty, who was looking at her assistant with a puzzled look on her face, quickly agreed with his words.
“… That’s right.”
“And do you know why?”
As she nodded quietly in affirmation, Adler threw another question.
“I’m not entirely sure about that.”
“Come here, then.”
Taking her hand, Adler pulled her to where he was standing.
“Hold hands and do a handshake.”
“”……..?””
As he grabbed the hands of Charlotte and the professor and made them do a handshake, both women couldn’t help but look at Adler with unconcealed incredulity in their eyes.
“This is a temporary alliance.”
“What do you mean…”
“This mansion is really, really dangerous.”
However, Isaac Adler, ignoring their gazes, continued to speak with a grin on his face.
“There are many hidden secrets. So, since it’s come to this, let’s not fight among ourselves and instead uncover the secrets hidden within the case together…”
“Mr. Adler…”
“Adler, that’s…”
“Shh~“
He covered the mouths of Charlotte and the professor with his hand, smiling slyly with his eyes.
“… Won’t you do it? For me?”
“”………..””
For a moment, both of them gazed at each other, a frigid, hostile look in their eyes, before eventually muttering in a cold voice.
“Sorry, but I don’t see how a greenhorn way below my level would be of any help in uncovering secrets.”
“I’m also reluctant to have the smell of an old maid cling to my coat…”
“Rather than an accursed body that can’t even nurse a baby properly, a slight age difference is preferable, I would say.”
“A baby would want fresher milk rather than that from someone ‘slightly’ older, don’t you think?”
Just as their verbal fight was about to intensify…
“I was going to offer you both a wish each if you helped. though”
Isaac Adler suddenly mumbled to himself, twirling his foot on the ground, eyes cast downward.
“”…………””
About a minute later, the two women dramatically came to a temporary agreement and started walking down the corridor of the mansion. With Adler in the middle, they walked side by side, coursing through the winding mansion.
“… Ladies?”
And soon, Adler found himself being wrapped in chains of grey and black… even as they continued their silent march.
.
.
.
.
.
“Pardon me, bu…”
“Endure it. Given the abrupt actions you’ve taken thus far, this is an extremely lenient treatment in comparison.”
“Be thankful I have not incapacitated you yet and carried you around in a bag.”
Even though I had been stripped of my physical freedom, bound by these magical chains as I am, and flanked on both sides by these dangerous women, I still believed the situation had improved, even if a little.
With Charlotte and me, it might have been uncertain, but with Professor Moriarty joining us, I was sure that literally nothing could threaten us.
However, I came to learn that… it was just my delusion.
The terrible probability –which had, by some unknown and incredulous means, increased further – appeared before my eyes, starkly visible amidst the mana of the two women binding me tightly. An absolute sense of dread surged through my whole body at such a sight.
– Creeeak…
“… Huh?”
With a faint creaking noise, the door of the room, which we had been informed of being unoccupied, had opened. And from within the room, I was able to see a faint glow leaking out.
“Wait a minute…”
The unidentifiable glow seemed to be visible only to me, which only added to the dread and uncertainty I felt.
“… Eeek.”
It was good that I called up the system every night for entertainment.
