Ch.91Chapter 91 – Intensifying Battle

“Answer the question, professor.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about.”

As Lestrade, who had been staring ahead with a cold expression, raised her voice and demanded an answer, Professor Moriarty opened her mouth with a relaxed smile.

“You know better than anyone that I’ve been nursing Adler without taking my eyes off him for the past few days, don’t you?”

“I know that. What I’m asking is…”

“Unlike someone who chose work over her boyfriend when it came down to it.”

At those words, Lestrade stopped mid-sentence and gritted her teeth.

“My job is to protect London’s justice. Don’t simplify it like that. And it was me who saved him in the first place, not you.”

“…But despite being right nearby, you couldn’t prevent Adler’s chest from being torn to shreds.”

“Are you going to keep nitpicking?”

“It’s not nitpicking. I’m simply instilling the correct truth into a foolish officer who mistakenly believes she saved Adler, when in fact it was my late arrival that allowed Gil the Reaper to escape and barely protected Adler.”

Their cold voices echoed through the hallway.

“It’s truly amusing. If you couldn’t protect him despite being so close, why make such a contract…”

“What contract are you talking about?”

“Adler gave up half of London for you, and you gave up yourself for half of London. Wasn’t that the contract?”

“…Don’t speak so carelessly.”

“You’re not denying it, I see. That you and Adler are merely contract lovers pursuing each other’s interests.”

Lestrade was about to respond but then quietly closed her mouth.

“Still, you seem to be fulfilling your part somewhat diligently. That strange-looking dress instead of your usual police uniform, and that basket full of fruits that have become rare due to the heavy snowfall these past few days…”

“…I told you not to speak carelessly.”

“Why are you suddenly upset? I don’t think you’re angry because you’re embarrassed about buying a fruit basket…”

Professor Moriarty, who had been muttering while looking down at Lestrade clutching the fruit basket quietly, narrowed her eyes and asked:

“Did Adler buy that dress for you?”

“……….”

At that, Lestrade quietly lowered her gaze.

“Although you were recently promoted to officer, I heard your family circumstances are still quite poor…”

“…Professor.”

Just as the professor was about to continue her interrogation while looking at her with a cold smile.

“Please don’t speak carelessly about Zia.”

Adler, who had been quiet until then, muttered in a low voice.

“…….”

At that small but clear statement, Lestrade momentarily looked at Adler with a blank expression.

“…I understand.”

Meanwhile, the professor, who had been quietly tilting her head, soon looked down at him with gentle eyes and said:

“I’ll be more careful in the future.”

As the professor wrapped her arm around his waist again, Adler quietly bit his lip.

“Remove your hand.”

“…This is truly strange.”

As Adler, who still had clear handprints on his neck, made a dark expression while being held by the professor, Lestrade began to growl lowly as she watched.

“Surely you’re forcibly staying as Adler’s lover to protect London.”

“Baseless nonsense…”

But Moriarty muttered this while wrapping her arm even more deeply around Adler’s waist.

“…Why has your killing intent doubled since the moment your dress was insulted?”

Lestrade’s eyes, which had been poised as if about to leap forward, suddenly became blank.

“If I had to become the lover of the person I hate most in the world to stop them, I might pretend to be nice on the outside, but I would always be sharpening my knife on the inside.”

“………”

“But the knife in your heart seems to be getting duller and duller.”

The mocking voice of Professor Moriarty reached her ears.

“Are you perhaps under the delusion that you’re acting, like someone I know?”

“…I don’t know who that is, but no.”

“Is that so?”

“My unchanging top priority is to protect London’s justice. For that, I would gladly oppose Issac Adler…”

Lestrade’s voice, which had been answering firmly after steadying her wavering gaze, gradually faded the next moment.

“Ah.”

“……..”

It was because Professor Moriarty had bitten Adler’s ear and was gently nibbling on it.

“What… are you…”

“…Stop it, Professor.”

As Lestrade, who had been staring blankly at the scene, muttered in a dumbfounded voice, Adler spoke with a cold voice.

“It feels unpleasant, so please stop…”

Lestrade’s complexion grew increasingly pale at his expression and voice, which seemed to contain genuine sincerity rather than his usual sly demeanor.

“No.”

“…Ugh.”

“I’ll continue.”

But despite this, Professor Moriarty was being more forceful than usual.

“…If you resist, there will be no thesis review this week.”

“………”

When Adler lowered his head as if resigned after hearing those words, Professor Moriarty began to stroke his head.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…You’ve crossed the line, just now.”

Lestrade’s voice, filled with killing intent, flew at her.

“Whatever the case may be, I am currently Issac Adler’s lover…”

“Unfortunately, not anymore.”

But Jane Moriarty looked at her without blinking, with a mocking gaze, and said:

“…Adler is currently accompanying me as my assistant.”

Lestrade’s complexion grew even paler upon hearing those words.

“That’s..”

“You know roughly what that means.”

“………”

“Of course, with your dull deductive abilities, you probably can’t even figure out exactly what’s happening.”

Professor Moriarty’s voice became even clearer, in contrast to Lestrade.

“…The important thing is that Adler is now someone you should consider an enemy.”

The moment those words ended, Lestrade began to glare at the professor while biting her lip tightly.

“What’s wrong?”

The professor, who had been glancing at her while moving forward with Adler, tilted her head and asked:

“Is something still bothering you? Are you planning to cause a commotion here?”

“………”

“This would be a very good opportunity to completely bring down the symbol of justice whose reputation is already precarious due to her recent relationship with Adler.”

Nevertheless, Lestrade was about to move toward the two who were heading toward the exit, with her mouth shut and eyes darkly gleaming.

“…….”

But then she stopped moving and made a blank expression.

“…There are reporters nearby, Miss Lestrade.”

It was because Adler, who was passing right by her, had whispered in a hushed voice while shaking his head from side to side with a dark expression.

“I’ll be fine, so please don’t intervene..”

“Look at me, Adler.”

“…Yes.”

But at the cold voice of the professor from beside him, Adler turned his head.

– Rustle…

As the professor, who had been caressing his cheek, applied pressure, Adler’s tilted head rested on her shoulder.

“What a shame for your vacation.”

A very pleased-sounding voice flowed from the professor’s mouth as she left the hallway in that state.

“…Instead of your boyfriend, you encountered a criminal.”

As that quietly echoing voice faded and their footsteps grew distant, a quiet stillness began to flow through the corridor.

“………”

After standing still in that stillness for a long time, Lestrade chewed her lip even more fiercely.

“Please…”

“To think that your true self was this prickly when you’re always so slick, it’s truly adorable.”

“…stop.”

In the distance, Adler kept pushing away the professor’s hand as she persistently tried to caress the back of his hand, with a troubled expression.

“Be satisfied with this.”

“…Hmm.”

“No more.”

It was because he had finally extended his pinky finger with a resigned look.

– Crunch…

A stream of blood was flowing from Lestrade’s lips as she watched their retreating figures with dark eyes, their pinky fingers intertwined, without her even realizing it.

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Meanwhile, at 221B Baker Street.

“…What are you doing, Holmes?”

Watson, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes and about to leave for work, asks Sharlotte, who was sitting at her desk as usual, deeply absorbed in something.

“What is that you’re reading so intently?”

But she gave no answer, apparently quite engrossed in whatever reading material was in front of her.

“There’s been word that Adler will wake up soon. Don’t you want to go see him together?”

“………”

“Hey, rookie detective.”

Watson narrowed her eyes and tried to provoke her, but Sharlotte remained silent.

“Fine, I’ll go ahead then.”

But already accustomed to Sharlotte’s eccentric personality, her partner answered like that and left the boarding house.

“But what kind of book has no cover?”

As her muttering drifted through the early morning London streets and was about to be swept away.

“Phew…”

Sharlotte, who had been reading intently until then, closed the book and muttered in a low voice after letting out a deep sigh.

“…So that’s how babies are made.”

The fight over a trophy in London was growing increasingly fierce.