Ch.142Chapter 142 – The Groom’s Identity (5)

“Adler. Why have you suddenly changed like this.”

“……..”

“Don’t do something you’ll regret…”

“…Sigh.”

As I was dragging Lupin, who was disguised as Professor Moriarty, into the cathedral by his leash, I sighed and turned around at the voice behind me.

“Stop whining.”

She looked at me with her mouth open for a moment, then hung her head with a dejected expression.

“…Is this how you act now that you’re married?”

“Good grief.”

I don’t understand why she’s so brazenly acting again after already being caught once.

Of course, her disguise and acting are so perfect that I might have been fooled again if I wasn’t careful. If my body wasn’t that of a wizard, I probably would have fallen for it completely.

But the truth is, Lupin could never successfully disguise himself as the Professor to trick me.

Of course, it’s not some simple method like “calling out the name.” That’s just a one-time trick, and Lupin himself already knows about it.

So how did I figure out that this person is Lupin?

“Honestly, I find this slightly offensive…”

“And what do you want me to do about it?”

The method is actually quite simple.

I just need to directly feel the mana that the Professor possesses when I’m near her.

Her mana is so dense and vast that even being slightly close to her, you can feel its overwhelming pressure.

Moreover, since I’ve had about half of my body forcibly implanted with her mana, I can sense that pressure even when the Professor is somewhat distant.

“Adler…”

“So are you going to kill me? Burn me with gray magic?”

But from this thief in front of me, who’s looking at me with quite a hurt expression, I don’t feel anything like that at all.

Just to be sure, I approached closer and asked her to call my name again, but it was definitely a bust.

“You can’t kill me, can you?”

“……..”

In other words, this person isn’t the Professor but a mischievous masochistic thief.

Right now she’s making that pitiful expression, but once Watson’s wedding is over and we’re alone, she’ll probably be drooling and trembling with excitement.

Even without experiencing it directly, I can easily tell from my past experiences.

“Good girl.”

*Stroke, stroke…*

Still, not wanting to continue abusing her, I approached her slightly and began stroking her reddened, swollen cheek.

*Tremble…*

She flinched at first, thinking I was going to slap her again, but then began accepting my stroking like a baby bird.

‘It feels a bit strange doing this to someone with the Professor’s appearance…’

Thinking about how the strongest person in England and the epitome of terror, Professor Moriarty, was trembling while being stroked by me after getting slapped, I felt somewhat strange.

It’s a bit awkward to say, but I almost felt a peculiar sense of conquest.

Well, I suppose anyone would feel that way if they succeeded in training someone who could erase them from existence with a single finger to be this submissive.

“Stop complaining and let’s get going.”

“But, my dear…”

“Hey.”

However, realizing that the Professor before me was actually a perverted masochistic thief, that feeling instantly shattered.

“How many times have I told you to speak properly?”

“But you, you…”

When I whispered to her in a stern voice as she was trying to creep up on me again, she stammered and spoke in an awkward tone.

“…This is cheating.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Ugh…”

As I mercilessly pulled on the leash, not intending to play along with her, the thief disguised as the Professor gritted her teeth and followed behind me again.

“If you were the real Professor, you would have knocked me down by now.”

“…I couldn’t do such a thing.”

When I whispered in a low voice while glancing at her, a melancholic reply came back after a moment.

“How could I hurt my husband…”

“……..”

“And in my current condition…”

Just as I was quietly listening to her murmuring, feeling my heart flutter slightly for some reason, that’s when it happened.

“Darling.”

Rachel Watson’s cold voice came from beside me.

“How exactly did you subdue the Professor…?”

“Hmm?”

“You two seem too close…”

At her dark voice, as she had been arm in arm with me the whole time, I turned to Watson with a slightly bewildered look.

“…I’m just curious.”

“………”

“There wasn’t some kind of deal, was there? You’re not being forced to cater to the Professor’s hidden preferences under threat?”

“No.”

At her quite reasonable deduction, I quietly shook my head and began making excuses with an awkward smile.

“Actually, Adler is the one who made a contract. That’s why this is possible…”

“…So the Professor was indeed Adler’s subordinate?”

“Ahaha… I suppose you could say that…”

But thinking about it, even such excuses seem futile.

[London’s Casanova: Being Exposed for Fraudulent Marriage by Rachel Watson]

Because in the near future, I need to be exposed by her for this fraudulent marriage.

Honestly speaking, I have no idea how to handle the aftermath.

In fact, the way to minimize damage would be to confess the truth even now, but unfortunately, that method doesn’t seem like it will work.

[It’s better to stay quiet until the wedding is over.]

[Just, I think so.]

System-yang, who had been acting tsundere for the past few days, had just given me a hint.

‘…Thank you, System-yang.’

[Don’t call me System-yang as you please.]

Considering the strange friendship I’ve built with the System and my experiences so far, it seems best to follow this advice.

But if so, how can I reveal to Watson that Neville is actually me without being killed by her?

“Darling.”

As I was lost in thought, Watson, who had been quietly watching me, called out to me again in a slightly shy voice.

“We’re here.”

“…Ah.”

Only then did I realize that we had completely entered the cathedral.

“Are we having our wedding here…?”

“Well, you see…”

“If it’s okay with you, I wanted to make it grand and invite all the family…”

As I awkwardly looked around the empty space with no priest in sight and started to move forward, Watson began to mutter in a slightly excited voice.

“Should we postpone it a bit…?”

“…But I think a secret wedding like this is nice too.”

I was about to suggest postponing the wedding to buy some time, but Watson immediately grabbed my hand and started pulling me forward.

“”……..””

As I was being pulled by Watson, and Lupin, transformed into the Professor, was being pulled by me, creating a bizarre situation, that’s when it happened.

*Step, step…*

A nun who had been quietly watching the situation from afar began to walk slowly toward us.

“Are you here for a wedding?”

“Ah, yes…”

At the question posed in her quiet voice, Rachel Watson, who was clinging to my side, nodded with a nervous voice.

“But how did you know…?”

“People who want to marry quietly, away from prying eyes, often visit this quiet cathedral.”

“Ahhh…..”

At the nun’s explanation, Watson nodded in understanding.

“Darling, so from the beginning, you planned to marry me here…”

“This way, please. We have simple wedding dresses prepared.”

“Huh?”

“You can’t get married dressed like that, can you?”

“Y-you’re right. Hehe…”

She began heading toward the cathedral’s dressing room at the nun’s gesture.

“And the groom, please follow me.”

“…….”

“The suits are upstairs. I need the key.”

“I see…”

As Watson entered the room with a blush, the nun naturally began leading me to the second floor.

“…Stay here.”

“Adler…”

Somehow it didn’t feel right to keep holding the leash next to the nun, so I tied Lupin’s leash, who had been method acting until now, to a nearby pillar.

“Who is that person?”

“Ah, the marriage witness.”

“………”

Judging by how her expression momentarily changed to one that the Professor would make just before killing someone, she must have really put effort into her research.

“…Hmm?”

As I was climbing the stairs with such thoughts, I quietly tilted my head at the sense of déjà vu that began to creep in.

‘That nun’s habit, I’ve seen it somewhere before…’

It looked similar to the outfit that Sharlotte wore when she disguised herself as a young nun during the Bohemian Scandal case.

No, now that I look at it, it’s identical.

“…..Aren’t you coming?”

“Oh.”

That’s when I felt a chill run down my spine.

.

.

.

.

.

“Hi~!”

“Uh…..”

It wasn’t just because of the exquisite ‘coincidence’ that occurred with the nun in front of me.

“…Is everything going well?”

It was because Lupin, hanging upside down from the window right next to me, was whispering in my ear while caressing his trademark monocle.

“I don’t know what you’re plotting between three women… but you have a plan, right?”

“……..”

“Anyway, hurry up and marry anyone, then let’s play kidnapping as per our contract. Okay?”

Then.

“Adler…”

Who is the person tied to the pillar behind me with a leash, calling me in a soulless voice while caressing their reddened, swollen cheek?

[Incompetent. Fool. Idiot.]

“…….”

From that moment on, a fear I had never felt in my life slowly began to choke me.

“…Hiccup.”