Ch.34Chapter 34 – The Trusted Axe

Charlotte, who approached Adler while revealing her true form, whispers to him in a low voice.

“I won’t eat you, Mr. Adler.”

“…Really?”

Adler, who had been backing away with a slightly frightened smile, brightens at her words.

“But even if I did try to eat you, do you have anywhere to run?”

“…No.”

After hearing Charlotte’s meaningful words, he sits down in a nearby chair with a resigned expression.

“Please be gentle this time.”

“I told you I won’t eat you.”

“After you pounced on me in the basement last time, Miss Holmes, you’ve lost my trust.”

Adler glares at her and mutters under his breath.

“…Beast.”

Charlotte stares at him, speechless.

“Well, anyway, how did you see through my disguise?”

Adler smiles slightly as if it was a joke, then scratches his head and asks the question.

“It was quite a perfect disguise.”

In truth, he was busy analyzing whether Charlotte showed any signs of pouncing on him.

“I filled it with my essence, so it was impossible not to notice.”

“…That sounds a bit suggestive?”

“Now you can’t escape me no matter where you hide.”

Charlotte continues making eerie comments to Adler.

“…How long have you been following me?”

“Don’t misunderstand. You appeared where I was.”

Hearing this, Adler narrows his eyes momentarily.

“Why were you in this dangerous place?”

“I was investigating a case.”

“It’s about my partner, Watson.”

Charlotte sighs and begins to explain.

“She didn’t directly request my help, but I can tell. She’s having man troubles.”

“You mean Miss Watson?”

“I think the person she was dating has been missing for about a month? So, as a friend, I’ve been making personal inquiries.”

Her eyes quietly shine.

“There’s no better place in London for people to disappear overnight than here.”

“………”

“Now, will you tell me, Mr. Adler?”

She suddenly moves closer to him.

“Why are you here?”

Adler reflexively hugs himself and answers with a slightly awkward smile.

“It’s a personal matter.”

“What kind of puzzle are you creating this time?”

“I said it’s personal. This has nothing to do with puzzles.”

Charlotte leans in toward Adler and whispers with dark eyes.

“Then, you wouldn’t mind if I stay with you?”

“…No.”

“Why not?”

Adler looks at her with troubled eyes, then turns his gaze away and answers.

“Because I have someone to meet privately.”

“………”

And then silence falls.

“Hmph.”

Surprisingly, Charlotte makes a snorting sound for the first time in her life and quietly turns her head.

“…Yet you once said I was your favorite.”

She mutters in a cold voice.

“I guess you have someone else to meet besides your master, the Professor?”

“Miss Holmes, I…”

“Forget it.”

She pouts, gives Adler (who is scratching his head) a glance, and walks out of the room.

“Try to manage without me.”

And then the door closes.

“…You’ll regret it.”

As she adds this final comment, the corners of her mouth quietly turn upward.

‘In relationships between men and women, push and pull is important, Holmes.’

‘Push and pull?’

‘Yes, you’ve only been pulling.’

It was a good opportunity to use the advice she had received from Watson a few days ago.

‘Time to push a little?’

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“When is he coming anyway?”

Quite some time had passed since Charlotte Holmes left the room, but the doll maker had not knocked on the door.

Thanks to that, I, who had been lying idly on the bed, finally got up with a yawn.

“…Hm?”

At that moment, something caught my foot.

“Ah.”

As I lowered my head instinctively, I couldn’t help but make a dejected expression.

‘When did this get here?’

A cat doll that had been placed under the bed was lying on its side after being kicked by my foot.

Seeing this, it seemed the doll maker had already been here.

‘…Well, I paid the deposit in advance.’

I was a bit dumbfounded, but this clean approach was better for me.

Besides, there was something more important.

[Wait.]

“……?”

As I was thinking this and about to remove the ring from my finger, a voice began to be heard from somewhere.

[Stop.]

“…Is that you, Princess?”

When I asked uncertainly, the ring began to vibrate violently.

[You’re going to put me in such a pathetic body? You must be out of your mind.]

And a much fiercer voice began to ring in my head.

It seemed she could also use telepathic magic.

Yet she had hidden it all this time and was only using it now, which meant she really didn’t want to become a cat.

[I warn you, return me to my true form right now. Then perhaps your life…]

“…Our Princess still doesn’t understand the situation.”

However, I couldn’t not use the doll that I had spent a fortune on.

Thinking this, I quietly raised the corner of my mouth and removed the ring from my finger.

[Wait, what are you…]

“Hup.”

And with that, I put the ring into my mouth, cutting off her voice.

– Munch, munch…

[…..Eek?]

As I rolled the ring around with my tongue, strange moans began to echo in my head.

[Stop. Stop it. What is this…]

“…Should I swallow it?”

After rolling her around in my mouth for a while, I whispered this while still holding her in my mouth, and Clay Princess became quiet again.

“You wouldn’t be able to resist at all while being slowly digested in my stomach.”

[You…]

“Or should I throw it into the river you can see? I don’t particularly care either way.”

I took her out of my mouth and opened the window facing the river, waving her around. The violent vibrations of the ring gradually subsided.

Apparently, being treated roughly for the first time in her life had quite shocked her.

Or perhaps she had finally succeeded in understanding her situation.

“Princess, you should know you’re lucky.”

Whichever it was, it was favorable for me, so I smiled and pushed the now docile ring into the doll’s mouth as I leaned against the windowsill.

– Zing…

Then, the cat doll began to glow, enveloped in a red light.

“…Instead of eating or abandoning you, I’ll raise you with my own hands.”

– Shiver…

As soon as I finished speaking, the kitten doll that had been struggling in my hand began to tremble all over.

“But in return, you are no longer a noble princess or a proud vampire.”

“……!”

As she glared at me with hateful eyes, I squeezed her in my hand and pressed her belly firmly, causing the Princess to open her eyes wide.

“Just a pet cat.”

When I whispered softly to her, the Princess, who had momentarily stopped resisting, looked down at her body, which had completely transformed into a cat, with an astonished expression.

“Come on, say ‘meow.'”

“………”

“If you don’t, there’s no blood for you.”

When I whispered to her in a low voice, she made a cat sound in a shrinking voice, wearing a shameful expression.

“…Meow.”

“That’s right.”

Only then did I relax my expression and extend my hand, and she bit it with eyes full of defiance.

“Ouch.”

As I was stroking the deep wound on my palm, the arrogant creature began to lick the blood with her rough tongue.

“…You’re an ill-mannered vampire cat.”

“Meow.”

Since it was the first day, I just offered my hand, and she settled in, licking my blood while giving me a haughty glance.

“…..Huh?”

But not long after, her pupils began to dilate gradually.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

“……!”

When I removed my hand, she looked at me blankly with an expression of deprivation.

“From now on, blood will only be given as a reward.”

There was a separate reason why I had allowed her to continue sucking my blood while in ring form.

My blood, as a true vampire, was like a drug to her.

She probably unknowingly developed a serious dependency on my blood.

“As I said earlier, if you act unlike a cat or rebel, there will be no blood for you.”

What if I used blood for training in such a situation?

“Of course, in the opposite situation, I’ll give you a reward.”

“……!”

“You’re smart, so you understand, don’t you, Princess?”

The result was obvious.

– Shuffle…

The Princess, who had been grinding her teeth and rolling her eyes, squeezed them shut and walked toward my leg.

– Rub, rub…

And then, with an expression full of shame, she began to rub her cheek against my leg.

“…Meow.”

She looked up at me and made a fairly convincing cat sound.

“That’s right.”

When I pushed my finger into her mouth, I immediately felt a tingling sensation.

– Rub, rub…

The Princess, whose eyes had become dreamy again as she sucked on my finger, began to wag her tail and rub her cheek against my leg.

‘…This is working.’

Bringing down the arrogant vampire princess was easier than expected.

‘What is this?’

Maybe I have a talent for this kind of thing?

– Bang bang bang!!!

“…Eek?”

Just as I was smiling bitterly at the absurd fantasy that had popped into my head.

– Open the door.

“What, what is it?”

From outside the door, someone’s cold voice began to be heard.

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Meanwhile, at the same time.

“………”

Still with a sulky expression, Charlotte Holmes was hiding among the addicts to see with her own eyes who Issac Adler’s guest was, someone important enough that even she was driven away.

“Huh?”

An unbelievable sight unfolded before her eyes.

“…Watson?”

Her only friend, Rachel Watson, whom she never expected to meet here, was knocking on the door of the room where Issac Adler was staying.

“Excuse me.”

As soon as the door opened, Watson entered.

– Creak… Creak…

After a moment, creaking sounds began to be heard from inside the room.

‘…You told me to push him away.’

Charlotte’s eyes, which had been blankly standing in place, began to slowly die.