Ch.138Chapter 138 – The Groom’s Identity

“…tsk.”

The warm morning sunlight arrived after the weekend ended.

“Why is the sunlight so dazzling from the morning…”

While this warm sunlight was good news for London residents suffering from the sudden drop in temperature caused by all sorts of monsters suddenly flocking to London, there was one woman who was in such low spirits that even this was an eyesore.

“If only it would shine like this normally…”

This was none other than Rachel Watson, heading toward her office at the hospital with a gloomy expression.

Until recently, she had been filled with happiness at the thought of becoming a married woman by submitting her marriage registration form, but the reason for her current mood was quite simple.

‘…What’s the point of it getting warm now? It doesn’t make me feel any better.’

Her fiancé Neville’s “marriage registration form,” which she had firmly believed would arrive by this weekend, had not arrived even after the weekend had passed.

“Sigh…”

This meant that she had been rejected.

The happy married life she had been dreaming of for the past few days, the baby items and cookbooks she had excitedly purchased over the past week—all had become useless.

Judging by the atmosphere that day, she had thought she would spend the rest of her life with the one she loved.

It was only natural that Watson, who prided herself on living an elite life that was second to none, received one of the most shocking blows of her life.

“Ah, I don’t want to go to work…”

An ordinary person might have drowned their sorrows in alcohol, but Watson, whose profession involved saving lives, couldn’t even resort to such tricks and had to bear the stress entirely on her own.

“…I wonder if Holmes will forcibly drag me away saying there’s a case.”

Thus, Watson continued walking, in a state where she could explode at the slightest provocation.

“Ex-excuse me…!”

“….Huh?”

It was at that moment that an urgent voice called out to her from beside her.

“R-Rachel Watson. Right?”

“…Who are you?”

A girl approached her and spoke to her while catching her breath.

“Y-you need to come with me right now.”

“What?”

“It’s, it’s urgent. If you don’t come, there’s a critical patient, so hurry…”

“What are you talking about?”

This was slightly bewildering for Watson.

While it was true that she was an elite doctor working at London’s largest hospital, she wasn’t renowned enough for patients to seek her out personally like this.

Unless she was running a private practice, there was absolutely no reason for someone to seek her out when the hospital was right in front of them.

“Who is this patient…?”

The remaining possibility was that the patient was an acquaintance of hers.

Even then, there was no reason to seek her out so secretly and personally, but it was the most rational guess.

“…I, I can’t tell you that.”

“What?”

“Given the situation, I can’t tell you the patient’s name… but we’ll pay whatever amount. Quickly…”

“Hmm…”

As the girl said this with a pale complexion while glancing around nervously, Watson looked at her with a troubled expression.

‘This seems a bit suspicious…’

If a familiar name had come up, she might have been willing to skip her relaxed morning shift to help, but not even revealing the name?

In this situation, it could be a trap.

Over the past few years, she had encountered quite a number of criminals while working with Holmes, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.

And even if that wasn’t the reason, it could be a trap set by that damn Issac Adler.

Or if not that, it could be an illegal organization connected to Neville trying to take her hostage…

‘…Wait.’

Watson’s heart sank as that thought crossed her mind.

‘Neville…?’

It was because an unexpected possibility had occurred to her.

‘What if the patient looking for me is Neville…?’

Come to think of it, it was strange that there had been no response so far when she, an elite doctor in her early twenties, had proposed with a wedding ring.

Now that she thought about it, despite his promise to contact her frequently, there had been no communication at all over the weekend, not just infrequent contact.

The kind Neville she knew wouldn’t have disappeared like this if he was rejecting her proposal; he would have at least contacted her somehow.

‘Could it be…’

A possibility arose in Watson’s mind as she broke into a cold sweat.

Neville, who had chosen to marry her after much deliberation, going to confront Professor Moriarty who had been using him.

The image of him being silently eliminated by the professor, or barely escaping with fatal injuries.

“I-I can’t tell you who it is… but I was told I must bring you…”

“……”

“H-he said it has to be you…”

The girl’s chilling encouragement reached Watson’s ears as she was imagining this scenario.

“Neville…..”

After trembling for a moment, she hurriedly turned her steps in the opposite direction.

“Neville…..!!!”

“W-wait, you need to hear where we’re going…”

She was heading toward Neville, who might be covered in blood, desperately waiting for her, unable to call a doctor for fear of his location being exposed.

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“…Ta-da.”

Several hours later.

“………”

Watson, who had burst through the door of the mansion the girl had guided her to with a tearful expression, began to look dazed.

“Actually, it was Adler all along.”

This was because the person lying in the living room of the mansion with a pale face and coughing up blood was, ironically, not her fiancé but Issac Adler.

“Are you kidding me?”

“I’m not kidding. I’m really sick and feel like I’m dying…”

“Die.”

After looking dazed for a while, her expression turned as cold as it could get.

“Just die.”

“Isn’t that too harsh to say to a patient…”

“Die, die, die…”

Her curse continued for quite some time.

“…Where is Neville?”

“Your fiancé, you mean?”

To her question as she grabbed Adler’s collar and shook him violently, Adler scratched his head and replied.

“He told me the other day. That he’s leaving England.”

“…You’re lying.”

“It’s true. Why would I lie about that?”

“You’re lying!!!”

At that, Watson shook her head while crying.

“Here, your wedding ring.”

“Ah…”

“He asked me to give it to you. Well, this is unfortunate.”

But when Adler handed her Neville’s wedding ring, Watson’s complexion darkened rapidly.

“This… was the ring I gave him…”

“…A ring that’s hard to buy even with a doctor’s annual salary, right? If it were me, I would have accepted it. Too bad.”

“Ugh, uuu…”

Pearl-like tears began to form in her eyes.

“Uuugh… uuu…”

“…Oh dear.”

As Watson collapsed with weak legs and burst into tears, Adler, still coughing up blood, muttered with a regretful expression.

“Rejection is always painful.”

“Uuu, uu…”

“…Excuse me, but I feel like I’m dying, so could you please examine me?”

But ignoring Adler, Rachel Watson took out a small bottle from her pocket.

“Hey…”

– Glug glug glug glug…

By the time Adler realized it was brandy, the 19th century panacea, and reached out to stop her, a large amount of alcohol had already gone down her throat.

“Love… who needs it anyway…”

“……”

“J-just go and… live well… hic…”

After a few minutes passed like that, Watson began to ramble with a dazed look.

“I think that’s enough.”

After waving his hand in front of her face, Adler quietly got up and started walking to the corner of the living room.

“…Hey.”

“Good job.”

“I’d like an explanation of what’s going on here…”

Then Arsène Lupin, who had been coldly staring at him from the corner of the living room until then, quietly spoke up.

“I’ll let you know in advance that your future treatment may change depending on how convincingly you speak…”

“Here you go.”

“…Huh?”

She, who had been whispering with slightly intoxicated eyes, received the paper Adler handed her with a blank expression.

“This is……”

“A contract. Stating that I’ll be your treasure permanently.”

Leaning close to her ear, Adler whispered in a low voice.

“…If you grant me one favor, I can sign it right away.”

Lupin’s eyes began to darken as he watched Adler, who had his hands behind his back, smiling at her and wagging his tail.

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– Creeeeak…

“Hic… sob…”

How much time had passed since then?

“Neville… Neviiiille…”

“Excuse me.”

Watson, who had been lying face down on the desk crying bitterly and calling her runaway fiancé’s name, raised her head with bleary eyes at the voice from in front of her.

“Why are you calling me…”

“…Hehe.”

“…Huh?”

The next moment, Watson began to blink at the sight before her.

“Wha…”

Her face began to freeze for a different reason than before.

“Darling.”

Her fiancé, Neville St. Claire, whom she believed had returned the wedding ring and left for abroad, was kneeling in front of her desk with a bright face.

“It’s actually me.”

“…You’re lying.”

As he spoke with an awkward smile, she shook her head after her gaze wavered for a moment.

“You’re Issac Adler in disguise.”

“Hmm?”

“I-I won’t fall for…”

But the next moment, she stopped speaking and looked dazed.

“Do, do you really think so?”

“……..”

This was because Adler, wearing somehow loose clothes, walked out from inside the room with a slightly flushed face.

“I-I think differently…”

As he pushed the slightly exposed men’s underwear back into his pants and muttered with a somehow reddened face, a deep silence began to flow through the villa.