Ch.108Chapter 108 – Proposal

“Sign here.”

“But, Officer…”

“Just write your name here and it’s done.”

“I know that…..”

Issac Adler, sweating profusely while staring at the marriage registration form presented to him, forces a smile as he looks at Lestrade.

“This is a marriage registration form…”

“And?”

“If I sign this, you and I will officially be in a marital relationship.”

At that, Lestrade tilts her head as if to say ‘what’s your point?’

“I know, so just sign it.”

“Um, you do know what marriage is, right?”

“Of course I do, that’s why I proposed, isn’t it?”

She begins to speak to Adler with determined eyes.

“As I said earlier, honestly, I don’t think I can defeat you anymore.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Sharlotte Holmes is more competent and talented than all the officers in the London Police Department combined. But even she is just a plaything to you, isn’t she?”

“I think you’ve been exposed to some exaggerated information…”

“That’s rich coming from someone who used Sharlotte Holmes as merely one component in this case.”

When Adler falls silent at those words, Lestrade stares at him with eyes that say ‘I knew it.’

“I suspected as much, but Sharlotte Holmes’s guess was right. You truly are a frightening person.”

“Silence doesn’t always imply consent, as you should know better than anyone, Officer.”

“That’s right. As an officer, I can easily distinguish between meaningful silence and meaningless silence, Mr. Issac Adler.”

“…Hmm.”

“Honestly, I was hoping you’d die naturally, but Dr. Watson told me you have the means to restore your lifespan. To think you could even obtain tears from an extinct Dragon—truly remarkable.”

“………”

As she continues speaking without backing down, she notices Adler unconsciously lowering his gaze upon hearing about Dr. Watson’s lifespan, and begins to look at him with slightly questioning eyes.

“…Right? What I heard from the doctor.”

“…That’s correct.”

“Hmm.”

But when Adler nods casually and answers her probing, she returns to her original cold gaze.

“Anyway, after much thought, I realized there’s only one way left to legally restrain you before it’s too late.”

“…And that would be ‘marriage’?”

“Exactly. That’s the only legal means I have to bind someone like you who tramples England’s judicial system like it’s nothing.”

After confirming the determination on Lestrade’s face, Adler, with a slightly pale face, hastily begins to speak.

“But if you marry me, your surname will change to Zia Adler. You’ll no longer be called Lestrade, and from now on, you’ll have to go by my surname.”

“My academic grades may not have been great, but I know that much.”

“Um… that’s not all. After changing your surname, you’ll have to live with me in the same house.”

“I suppose so.”

“You’ll have to wear an apron every morning and prepare meals. But can someone like you accept that?”

“Can’t I just work and earn money while you wear the apron and cook?”

“Oh, well…..”

Momentarily speechless at Lestrade’s spot-on reply, Adler makes a dumbfounded expression.

“Well, if you really dislike it, I’ll take care of all the cooking.”

“………”

“If you want, I’ll do the laundry and dishes too.”

In front of him, Lestrade, who has just made an offer that almost every man in London would desire, points to the corner of the contract again.

“So sign it.”

“…We’d also have to sleep in the same bed.”

Despite everything, Adler lowers the pen he was holding and says this.

“S-sleeping in the same bed is a marital duty. If that’s a problem for you, I have no choice but to…”

“I’ll sleep with you.”

“…Pardon?”

When Lestrade, who had been staring at him blankly, answers again in a calm voice, Adler, who was trying to end the conversation quickly with a disappointed expression, doubts his own ears.

“I’ll sleep in the same bed with you.”

“………”

“It would be ridiculous for me not to fulfill my marital duties after being the one who proposed first.”

But she says this without changing her expression at all, and quietly sighs.

“Officer, do you understand what you just said… what it means?”

“What do you mean? I’m literally talking about sleeping in the same bed.”

“…I’ll be direct.”

After hesitating for a while, Adler finally speaks with a determined expression.

“Can you have children with me, Officer?”

At that, a moment of silence falls between them.

“If your proposal isn’t just a joke, eventually you’ll carry a child we created together in your womb.”

“………”

“Officer. Can you really mix flesh with me and bear a child who will probably have my blonde hair and your silver eyes?”

Until then, Zia Lestrade’s face, which had maintained a calm expression, begins to slowly contort for the first time.

“You would have to breastfeed that child and love it. Without a mother’s love, a child cannot grow properly.”

“…….”

“For your information, I prefer twins. I’d like the daughter to have silver hair and golden eyes.”

After saying that, Adler leans in toward Lestrade, who is quietly bowing her head with her lips tightly bitten, and whispers a question.

“Can you bear all that just for the sake of protecting London from me?”

“………”

“…I suppose that would be too much to ask.”

However, when she doesn’t answer and starts trembling with a physiological rejection, Adler mutters with a look that says ‘I knew it.’

“Let’s pretend today’s proposal never happened. Officer, in the future, please be more careful with such decisions…”

“…I will.”

“Pardon?”

As he quietly turns to leave with Moran, who had been standing beside him with a blank expression, he turns his head at the small voice coming from behind.

“What did you just say…?”

“I will have them.”

Then, looking at him, Zia Lestrade speaks more clearly.

“I will have children with you.”

“……….”

“…That’s what marriage is about.”

At her determined answer, Adler’s mind once again turns as white as a snow field.

“I don’t know how children are made, but I’m sure you know well, so let’s skip that part. I will carry your child in my womb and give birth to it.”

“………”

“Of course I will breastfeed and love it sincerely. Moreover, I will take care of the overall childcare. I’m confident in that area since I’ve been taking care of my siblings as the head of the family since I was young.”

Zia Lestrade quietly drives the point home to him.

“Do you really have to go that far…?”

“To protect London from you, my life’s greatest and worst enemy, I can endure even more than this.”

“But…”

“Are you feeling guilty?”

When Adler stumbles over his words at her question, Lestrade tilts her head and mutters.

“Isn’t it too late for that?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Pathetic person.”

“Are you really willing to dedicate your entire life just to stop someone like me?”

At that, Lestrade stares into Adler’s eyes blankly.

“I have no choice.”

After staring at Adler for a long time with an expression half-tainted with clear disgust and moral duty, but the other half with something even she couldn’t understand, she finally answered in a low voice.

“…Because I love you.”

With those final words, she handed the marriage registration form to Adler and turned around.

“It seems difficult to get an answer right away, so I’ll give you some time.”

“……..”

“Please make up your mind by our regular date next weekend.”

With that, she begins to walk down the corridor with steady steps.

“Officer…”

“……….”

“Do you realize we haven’t even kissed once yet?”

However, she flinches and stops walking for a moment at Adler’s astonished voice from behind.

“I mean, shouldn’t we get used to physical contact first…”

“Don’t say disgusting things.”

With that reply, not giving Adler a chance to respond, she quietly disappeared beyond the corridor.

“…What does kissing have to do with making children.”

And then came the silence.

“Sigh…”

“Dad, I don’t want a new mom with a bad temper.”

In that silence, Celestia Moran, who had been quietly observing until then, whispers in a small voice to Adler, who was sighing.

“…Just live with me.”

At that, Issac Adler gently strokes her head and answers.

“I’d like that too.”

“………”

With his attention completely focused on Lestrade, he failed to notice Moran’s eyes darkening momentarily upon hearing those words, and then he quietly began to walk away.

“…Miss Moran, please wait here for a moment.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just to the restroom.”

As he answered, his gaze briefly turned toward Rachel Watson’s office in the adjacent building.

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Meanwhile, at that time.

“…Hmm hmm.”

Rachel Watson, who had returned to her office after being examined by Professor Moriarty, was humming a tune with a flush on her cheeks instead of her usual tired face, caressing the pocket inside her coat.

“Since I received the engagement ring…”

– Rustle…

“…I should give the wedding ring.”

In her hand gleamed a proposal ring that she would surprise her fiancé with, whom she felt like she hadn’t seen in months, though he would enter her office in just a few minutes.