Ch.109Chapter 109 – Proposal (2)

“Excuse me, what is this?”

“Neville.”

Isaac Adler, who had entered Rachel’s office in Neville’s form to avoid suspicion due to their recently reduced contact, responded to her request for a meeting.

“What does this look like to you?”

“Hmm, well…”

He stared blankly at the flowers and candles adorning the floor of the office, tilting his head in confusion.

“This is…”

A path of candles stretching from the exit to where Watson was sitting. And at the end, a giant heart shape made of flowers.

Anyone with even the slightest interest in romance or special events would immediately understand what it meant.

“Are you preparing a birthday party for a fellow doctor?”

“……..”

“No?”

Sadly, Adler, who had never received a normal proposal or confession in his life, only asked with a bright expression.

“”……….””

Thanks to this, a brief silence fell between them.

“Come to think of it, you’ve been like this since we first met.”

Watson, who had been looking at her fiancé tilting his head with innocent eyes amid the silence, shook her head and stood up, muttering with a sigh.

“No sense of awareness, lacking common sense, and no matter how many signals I send, all you do is hold my hand with that bright expression…”

“……..?”

“I thought you’d improved a bit recently, but you’re still so Neville-like.”

Then, crossing through the decorations she had spent hours making with her clumsy skills while sweating profusely, she approached the one she loved.

“…That’s why I love you.”

“Uh, umm…”

As she pulled out a small box from her chest, Adler, finally grasping the situation somewhat, began to break into a cold sweat.

“Why? Were you planning to give me the wedding ring?”

“Well… that is…”

“Come on, that’s too unfair. Despite appearances, I’m an elite doctor.”

But Rachel Watson, who had already approached right in front of him, slowly knelt on one knee and began looking up at him.

“…I can support just one of you by myself.”

Adler’s mind went blank as he saw the obviously expensive diamond ring shining in the box on her hand.

“You don’t need to do dangerous work like before, Neville.”

“………”

“It’s okay to just be a house husband. I’ll take care of all the housework…”

But whether she knew his feelings or not, Watson began pushing the ring onto his finger after taking it out of the box.

“I’ve already found a house. We can’t live in a boarding house after getting married. A mansion in the London suburbs will probably be our newlywed home. Of course, I’ll purchase it, so you just need to show up.”

“Um…”

“Since we’re engaged now, the marriage procedure will be quite simple. Just showing the mark on the back of your hand will…”

As she muttered while stroking the back of his hand, Watson suddenly trailed off and opened her eyes wide.

“……….”

And then, Watson’s gaze turned cold.

“Neville…”

“Wh-what’s wrong, Rachel?”

“…What is this?”

Adler, who had briefly shown a puzzled expression at her sudden change, lowered his gaze with a look of realization.

“I asked what this is, Neville.”

“………..”

The engagement mark they had inscribed on the back of his hand together a few months ago had risen slowly at Watson’s touch, revealing that it was damaged and tinged with gray.

“Ah…”

Adler let out a short sigh as he finally remembered that the mark had been mercilessly destroyed by Professor Moriarty the day after their engagement.

“………..”

Meanwhile, Watson, who had been staring blankly at the damaged mark with a serious expression, silently rose from her seat and headed to her desk.

– Click…

Eventually, she took out her favorite gun from the drawer and quietly began loading it.

“W-wait…”

“Just wait here for a moment, Neville. It’ll be over soon.”

“Wait!!”

As she was about to leave the room with a crazed look in her eyes, a panicked Adler urgently grabbed her shoulder.

“…What is it?”

“I have a confession to make.”

And then, after hesitating with an uncertain look at Watson, Adler quietly opened his mouth.

“I have a secret I’ve been hiding from you.”

“…A secret?”

“I intended to keep it hidden until the end, but now I think I should tell you.”

Hearing this, Watson turned her head and began to stare quietly at Adler.

[London Lady: Completed 1 fraudulent marriage with Watson]

[Progress: ???]

At that moment, a system message appeared before Adler’s eyes.

[If you don’t achieve this, it will be a bad ending.]

[Are you okay with that?]

“…Ha.”

Adler, who swept the message aside with his hand, muttered inwardly with a rather cold expression.

‘And what happens after I achieve it?’

[That…]

‘What will happen to Watson, who married me solely for love, after I die?’

At that, the translucent window was at a loss for words and displayed no message.

‘…I’m already terminally ill with a confirmed bad ending, so what does it matter if I don’t achieve it?’

After coldly pushing away the window again, Adler glanced at the system window that had flipped upside down in mid-air and turned his gaze back to Watson.

‘It’s time to end the deception.’

[Are you really going to reveal your identity?]

[You could be killed on the spot.]

In response, the system message flew to him urgently with scribbled writing after flipping his body back to normal.

‘…I have a plan, so don’t worry.’

After that final remark, Adler completely blocked the message and began whispering to Watson, who had been looking puzzled, in a sorrowful voice.

“Honestly, haven’t you noticed?”

“…What?”

“That I’ve been hiding a secret.”

“………”

At that, Watson maintained silence for a moment before quietly opening her mouth.

“You’re unreachable every time something important happens, yet you’re not often in contact normally either, and your complexion keeps getting paler…”

“……….”

“Your every move is truly full of questions, but…”

She muttered with a slightly resentful voice before suddenly smiling brightly.

“The love between us is real, isn’t it?”

“………”

“That’s why I can accept anything.”

As Adler’s eyes wavered at those words, Watson added with a slightly playful voice.

“As long as your true identity isn’t Isaac Adler.”

“……..”

“That I couldn’t accept, and I’d shoot you right away.”

Adler’s spine chilled as he detected the sincerity and killing intent hidden somewhere in that playful tone, and he began to mutter with his gaze lowered.

“It’s not that… but there’s a reason I can’t accept your proposal.”

“Tell me. I’ll listen first and then judge.”

“You’ll regret it, though?”

“…It’s fine, go ahead.”

As Watson urged him by leaning in closer, Adler finally let out a deep sigh and began his story.

“Please forgive me.”

In the room where tension began to build, Adler’s small voice quietly echoed.

“…The truth is, I seduced you on Professor Moriarty’s orders.”

After muttering that, Adler continued speaking while watching Watson’s reaction as she looked down at him.

“I think you already know what kind of person Professor Jane Moriarty is from your partner, Sharlotte Holmes.”

“……..”

“My true identity is that of a long-time confidant of the professor.”

The height difference between him and Rachel Watson, who was looking down at him with dark eyes, seemed particularly pronounced today.

“You should understand by now. Professor Moriarty’s greatest enemy is Sharlotte Holmes, and her assistant and partner is Rachel Watson. The reason why the professor’s long-time confidant approached her.”

“……….”

“…My mission was to seduce you and separate you from Sharlotte.”

Adler deliberately avoided Watson’s gaze and continued in a shrinking voice.

“And the ultimate goal was to gradually corrupt you and eventually bring you under the professor’s command.”

After saying that much and taking a brief breath, he finally let out a deep sigh and met her gaze.

“Do you understand now? The love we shared was fake. From beginning to end, it was just my one-sided deception.”

– Tremble…

“Now that you know, let’s end this relationship.”

As Watson’s hands began to tremble after reading the sincerity in his gaze, Adler coldly said this and turned away from her.

“The Neville you loved never existed in the first place.”

As he moved toward the exit of the room, he concluded in a low voice.

“…Just think of it as a midsummer dream.”

“I don’t understand.”

But just as he was about to turn the doorknob, a trembling voice came from behind.

“If that was your goal, weren’t you just about to succeed?”

“……..”

“Why reveal the truth when you were on the verge of completing your mission?”

At that question, Adler briefly gave a bitter smile before quietly opening his mouth while still holding the doorknob.

“I could no longer deceive you one-sidedly.”

“Why?”

“…It’s a very simple and childish story.”

Eventually, a sorrowful voice flowed from his lips.

“A relationship that began with deception and lies somehow became genuine—that kind of obvious and childish story.”

“Ah…”

Watson, realizing the meaning of his words, began to mutter with an expression as if struck by a hammer.

“Come to think of it, your attitude suddenly changed a few months ago…”

“…Rachel Watson.”

Adler turned to look at her with a dark smile.

“I can no longer deceive you.”

“Neville…”

“Therefore, I can no longer maintain this relationship.”

Upon hearing those words, Watson’s complexion, which had stopped trembling, darkened as much as possible.

“I am the professor’s person. Now that the deception has become genuine, I can no longer stay by your side.”

“……..”

“Don’t try to find me. I’ll probably be gone from this world in a few days.”

In contrast to his words, Adler’s figure glowed softly in the sunlight coming through the window.

“Rachel Watson.”

After quietly looking at her for a moment, Adler turned his head again and began to offer a sincere farewell.

“Try to gamble a bit less.”

His face, turned away, was filled with some strange emotion despite not needing to act anymore.

“…It’s been fun.”

But soon he quietly shook his head and quietly grabbed the doorknob.

.

.

.

.

.

– Click, click…

“Huh.”

However, for some reason, the door wouldn’t open no matter how much force he applied.

“Why won’t this open…”

As Adler looked puzzled while continuing to turn the doorknob, he noticed a shadow cast over him and slowly raised his gaze.

“Huh?”

“……..”

Rachel Watson, who had somehow approached right behind him, was quietly looking down at him with her right hand on the door, preventing it from opening.

“…Rachel?”

Just as his body naturally reacted to that dark gaze that seemed familiar from somewhere, a system message slowly appeared before his eyes.

[I still don’t know if you’re smart or stupid]

The next moment, Adler’s vision flipped 180 degrees before he could do anything.

“Excuse me?”

After briefly looking dazed, Adler carefully opened his mouth as he realized he was lying on the floor with Rachel Watson on top of him.

– Swoosh…

“Uh?”

But as Watson, who had been quietly looking down at him, revealed her snow-white skin by removing her top before he could stop her, his expression turned to confusion and bewilderment.

[Why do you never consider the possibility of getting eaten when you do something?]

“….Huh?”

At that moment, as the system sent a message that seemed to regretfully block the perfect view of her upper body.

– Click…

Adler’s belt was undone by Rachel Watson’s rough hands and fell to the floor.

.

.

.

.

.

“That’s strange.”

Meanwhile, at that time.

“She said she was going to the bathroom.”

Celestia Moran, who had been standing quietly right in front of Watson’s office until then, muttered with a cold expression.

“Why is she creating a new stepmother.”

“…Indeed.”

But then, an eerily calm voice came from beside her.

“Who are you?”

“…Your real stepmother.”

Sharlotte Holmes, who had returned from court earlier than expected, answered the question and quietly began walking past Moran toward the door.