Ch.176Chapter 176 – A Fake That Seems Real?

“Cough, cough…”

– Creeeeak…

“…Huh.”

I was hunched over coughing up blood when I heard the door open, and I quickly inhaled and straightened my back.

“”……….””

And then came the silence.

“…Are you sick?”

“What? Oh, no…?”

Hastily covering my palm as I sat down to hide any traces of blood, I gave an awkward smile to Sharlotte who had opened the door and entered the hospital room.

“I smell blood somewhere…”

“W-well… that’s because I’m a fearsome Vampire, you know?”

“…Hmm.”

I thought I had deflected quite cleverly, but Sharlotte, with her narrowed eyes, didn’t seem to think so.

– Swish…

“H-hey, what are you touching?”

“…Shut up.”

“Yes…”

She reached out and grabbed my arm, forcibly opening the palm I was hiding.

“……..”

After confirming my blood-stained palm, her expression turned cold.

“Are you still going to refuse to speak properly?”

“……….”

“Even someone with no medical knowledge can see you’re not normal right now.”

I tried to avoid her eyes, but Sharlotte leaned in and forced eye contact as she continued.

“When I asked Watson about your condition, she just had a dark expression and wouldn’t answer at all.”

“That’s…”

“You might fool others into thinking you’re faking, but you can’t fool a doctor like her or me.”

“…Miss Holmes, think about it.”

So I had no choice but to come up with another excuse.

“I’m a terrifying Demon straight out of a fairy tale. Does it make any sense that I would die from a mere illness?”

“………”

“Absolutely not. A being who is both a Demon and a Vampire dying from disease—that makes no sense…”

“How can a Demon know less about themselves than I do?”

But Sharlotte interrupted me mid-sentence and climbed onto the bed.

“What do you mean?”

“If Demons truly couldn’t die, how could they have gone extinct during the Crusades?”

“……..”

“…You’re dying right now. Not your body, but your soul.”

Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but fail at maintaining my composure.

“Demons can survive most physical and magical attacks without dying… but there are always exceptions.”

“How would you know that if you’re not a Demon yourself…”

“I blackmailed my sister with photos of you wearing a dog collar in your basement and went through British classified files. So shut up and listen.”

I was disturbed not only by the fact that she knew more about Demons than I did, but also because information I didn’t want revealed was coming to light.

“Things that can harm Demons are… crosses, silver bullets, religious artifacts, contractual restrictions…”

“….I know that much.”

“Of course, if that were all, I wouldn’t have brought it up. But the most important cause remains.”

“And what’s that?”

But the next word that came out of her mouth was information I didn’t even have in my head.

“Love.”

While I was staring blankly, Sharlotte bit her lip and lowered her head.

“Love?”

“…Stop pretending you don’t know.”

She whispered with a slightly excited voice.

“The most dangerous act for a Demon is love, isn’t it?”

“………”

“Especially love for a contractor is multiple times more fatal. Am I wrong?”

Since this was a fact not in my information, I just stared with a dumbfounded expression, and Sharlotte, with her head lowered, began to mutter in a low voice.

“And knowing that, you still…”

“……?”

“You loved me?”

“N-no?”

Her gaze was quite unhinged, so I instinctively shook my head in denial.

“Why did you do it?”

“What?”

“Why would someone like you, who could live eternally, like someone like me and end up with a terminal condition?”

She was already beyond reasoning.

“That’s…”

“Answer me.”

“……..”

“I said answer me!”

And since I wasn’t feeling well and was in a daze, the words that came out of my mouth were unfiltered.

“…I can’t help liking what I like.”

“What?”

“I just like what I like, what am I supposed to do about it…”

And then came the silence.

“…After seducing so many women, you’ve never truly loved anyone.”

“……?”

“If you had truly loved someone, you would have died long ago.”

In the silence, her cold voice echoed through the room.

“You don’t even love the professor. Because you’ve been mentally and physically brainwashed by her. I can tell…”

“…That’s not true.”

“Shut up. I’m talking!”

Finally unable to contain herself, she grabbed my collar.

“…Why do you love me?”

“……..”

“Why do you like me enough to throw away your life…!”

Even if someone asked me, a fanatical Sherlockian, why I liked Holmes, there would be no way to explain it.

Besides, I didn’t think System would let me explain the truth of the world to her, the protagonist.

“Don’t love me.”

“……..”

“Rather than dying, it’s better not to love me at all!!”

So I just sat there with a slightly sullen expression, hearing her desperate cry.

“…Hmm.”

Somehow her words made sense, so I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate for a moment, but it was meaningless.

“…I can’t do that.”

“What?”

“How can I not like you?”

As someone who had spent half my life as a Sherlockian, it was impossible for me not to like her.

“…….”

So I just scratched my head, and Sharlotte, who had been staring at me blankly.

– Swish…

Eventually embraced me with a tearful expression and quietly kissed me on the lips.

“…Mmph.”

“…….”

That day’s kiss was somehow a bit bitter.

.

.

.

.

.

“…I promise you right here.”

“Yes?”

“No matter what it takes, I will definitely save you.”

After our brief kiss ended and I pulled back, she stood up and began to mutter in a low voice.

“Dragon’s tears. With that, I can save you.”

“…That’s impossible.”

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at her words.

“Why is it impossible? Don’t tell me dragons went extinct in ancient times.”

“………”

“The only one that still remains is right next to us, isn’t it?”

Yes, I know that fact.

As the developer and story consultant, I couldn’t possibly not know the twist that Professor Moriarty was actually a Dragon.

“…It’s still impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because…”

But impossible is impossible.

“The professor cannot shed tears.”

“What?”

“Professor Moriarty will never shed tears. Not even until the moment I die.”

Compared to others, the professor has an extremely limited ability to empathize with emotions, though she can feel anger or happiness to some degree.

But I can say with certainty that she will never understand the word ‘sadness’ in her lifetime.

Perhaps the word ‘love’ as well.

“Well… she’s a shameless person who didn’t change her eye color even once while repeatedly raping you, so that makes sense.”

“………”

“But the difference between her and me is that my eyes are dyed with your color.”

As I was thinking about this, Sharlotte Holmes began to mutter in a low voice.

“…If that’s the case, the solution might be surprisingly simple.”

“Is that so?”

As I was intrigued by her words and leaned in to listen.

“If I were to disappear from this world…..”

“No.”

Hearing words that should never be spoken, I stood up for the first time and got genuinely angry at her.

“If you bring that up in front of me just once… our relationship is over.”

“…….”

“Because the moment you die, I’ll commit suicide too, so don’t even dream about it…”

Sharlotte, whose arm I had grabbed and pushed back, nodded with a momentarily bewildered expression.

“…I’ll look for another way.”

“……..”

“So, would you let go of me now?”

Only then realizing I was using unnecessarily excessive force, I quickly released her arm.

“Doing things you don’t usually do, what’s going on?”

After staring at me with narrowed eyes for a moment, she turned on her heel and walked out of the hospital room.

“As I thought, you were just pretending to be weak…”

“………”

As the door closed, silence began to flow in the room.

“Haah…”

As I sat on the bed and quietly sighed in that silence.

[Excuse me.]

“…….?”

Seeing the somewhat timid font of the message that appeared before my eyes, I quietly tilted my head.

[I’m sorry to ask suddenly, but you are a possessor, right?]

Why was System suddenly asking such an obvious question?

“Then what else would I…”

[Probability of true identity being exposed: 50%]

“Ah.”

Cold sweat began to pour down my forehead as I realized the reason a few seconds later.

.

.

.

.

.

“”…….””

Meanwhile, outside the hospital room.

“…Ha.”

Sharlotte, who was about to walk away after closing the door, spotted Professor Moriarty standing blankly next to the door and snorted as she turned her head.

“Why are you making that expression?”

“……..”

“It looks like the expression of someone who thought they were really in love and just realized the truth.”

Of course, the professor, with Adler’s words still echoing in her ears, didn’t care about what Sharlotte was saying.

“…My assistant is terminally ill?”

“Tsk.”

At the low mutter that escaped her lips, Sharlotte clicked her tongue with a contemptuous look and quietly walked down the corridor.

“That can’t be…”

In the corridor where the professor was left alone, only her hollow voice quietly echoed.