Chapter 29: The Secret of the Speckled Band (4)

Chapter 29: The Secret of the Speckled Band (4)

“...What are you looking at, Mr. Adler?”

Helen Stoner, sitting on Adler’s lap, noticed his eyes darting around with his face colored in a pale hue.

“Why are you looking at my employee?”

Then, Stoner carefully extended her hand to shift Adler’s gaze from Professor Moriarty to herself before adding.

“That woman is just someone I hired.”

“...........”

“Talk to me now.”

Though Professor Moriarty had began to intently watch the interaction between Stoner and Adler, he found himself unable to tell the girl on his lap that he wanted to speak with the professor first.

– Swoosh...

He was fully aware that if the knife pressed against his neck were to move just a fraction more, everything could come to an end.

“Yes, that’s it. That’s exactly it.”

As Adler began to look at Stoner with slightly quivering eyes, she started whispering in a voice filled with gentle warmth.

“If you can look at me like this now, why haven’t you done so before?”

“......What?”

“I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

Upon hearing her last words, Adler made a somewhat bewildered expression and tilted his head to the side. Professor Moriarty, who had been leaning next to him, began to whisper in a soft voice, clearing his confusion about this matter.

“Ms. Helen Stoner, here, has been a long-time fan of yours.”

“...My fan, you say?”

“Talk to me.”

Then, Stoner’s icy voice flew in without fail.

“Mr. Adler, do you remember who was the one that watched your debut performance from the very front row?”

“What?”

“Who was the president of your initial fan club?”

“.........”

“Who holds the most of your autographs in London?”

With her eyes deepening further with each word she uttered, Adler quietly averted his gaze to the side...

“That would be me.”

And in the next moment, suddenly advancing her head closer to his own, Stoner whispered.

“I enrolled in the August Detective Academy, which I had no interest in, all thanks to you. I even studied mind-control magic just in case I needed to use it for you.”

In that maniacal state, she asked him in a quivering voice while gently stroking Adler’s cheek.

“But then why didn’t you even spare me a glance, let alone a conversation?”

“........”

“You were always surrounded by women, so why only me?”

Avoiding her gaze till now, Adler finally frowned slightly and couldn’t help but ask.

“...Were you stalking me?”

In the world of the game, Stoner and Adler had no points of intersection. Hence, he had unconsciously asked the question to her.

“Stalking?”

However, Stoner only replied with a creepy smile on her face.

“That’s a harsh way to speak to your future wife.”

At the utterance of that statement, Adler decided to give up on gathering more information from her and simply closed his mouth. Meanwhile, Stoner continued the conversation with gleaming eyes.

“I have no intention of filling the mansion with vampires like my stepmother did.”

“...I see.”

“So let’s have just one son and one daughter and live peacefully ever after.”

As she was speaking, Adler, who had momentarily been at a loss for words and had interrupted her in a meek voice, soon regained his composure and posed another question.

“...So, did you orchestrate all of this?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Stoner then responded with an expression that showed she was genuinely curious why he asked that question.

“The conclusion has already been reached. You’ll live happily with me in this basement forever.”

“...I’m just curious how things unfolded.”

To understand the significantly altered developments, when compared to the original game, Adler began to employ all of his acting skills at this moment.

“...Shouldn’t I know how hard my wife worked to obtain me?”

Having said that, Adler added with a slight grin on his face.

“From the standpoint of a husband.”

“...Husband.”The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

Repeating his last word to herself, a curious warmth appeared in Stoner’s previously chilly eyes.

“Now that I hear it, you do have a point.”

“...Do I?”

“Then, let me explain from the start.”

A moment later, she began to explain the series of events— her face tinged with a faint blush.

“The first time I hatched the plan was a few days ago from now.”

‘...I figured as much.’

Ignoring the momentary sense of danger he felt from the gray aura emanating next to him, Adler was lost in thought.

“To be precise, it was when I tried to kidnap you as you were walking alone through the foggy streets of London at night.”

‘Of course.’

Upon hearing that, he smiled as if he had suspected this development already.

“At that time, while I was quietly following you with a leather sack, someone grabbed my arm.”

However, Helen Stoner, absorbed in her recollection of that time, didn’t notice Adler’s subtle reaction.

“That person was...”

“The one who advised her on this whole affair was none other than me, of course...”

Moriarty interjected, who had been leaning against the wall next to her until now.

“Surprisingly, you had already noticed that...”

She began to smile, a chilling smile of nightmares graced her lips.

“Amazingly, you came to this mansion voluntarily.”

“.........”

“...It would have been wonderful if not for the reason that you wanted to be trained by my mother.”

Then, she cautiously lowered the knife.

“However, none of that matters anymore.”

In the next moment, for some reason, she picked up a bowl of milk that had been sitting on the floor and started attempting to feed it to me while gently stroking my head.

“According to the foolish detective outside, Lady Roylott will be apprehended.”

“Huh?”

“Now that the obstacle is gone, I will give you a sweet suggestion.”

For some reason, unlike what Lady Roylott used to give me, the liquid she was offering felt like something I shouldn’t consume at any cost. Desperately, I turned my head away only to hear her voice turn colder.

“After the case is settled and a few months have passed, when everything calms down... quit the academy.”

“Ugh, heup...”

“And come back to this place, then we can live happily...”

Just as the sweet liquid began to seep between my lips and my consciousness started to grow hazy, it happened.

“...Adler.”

I began hearing the voice of Professor Moriarty in my ears.

“...Is it time to whisper those words yet?”

“Professor Moriarty, what are you doing?”

Hearing the softest voice I’ve ever heard from the professor and Stoner’s abruptly sharp words simultaneously, I began to tremble uncontrollably with my eyes closed at what followed.

“I have committed a grievous mistake toward you.”

‘What the hell is it, fuck...’

So this was the feeling of unknown terror.

.

.

.

.

.

“..........Huh?”

At that very moment, Stoner, who was just about to pour the milky liquid into Adler’s mouth with a shiver-inducing expression on her face, suddenly dropped the bowl from her hands and clutched her own throat...

“Heu... Heuk...?”

The spotted collar that was enveloping Adler’s neck just seconds ago began to coil around her neck like a snake in an instant.

“Yo-You...”

Pale-faced and clutching her throat, fighting for every breath, Stoner looked around frantically and was finally able to discover the source of her predicament.

“What are you... doing now....”

Professor Moriarty lifted a single finger, exuding a cold gaze, and emitted a gray-colored mana toward her.

“...I am correcting it.”

“Huh!?”

As she slightly bent her finger in that state, the not-yet-fully-coiled collar stretched even longer, beginning to crawl into Stoner’s mouth.

“Uh? Ugh....”

“Adler.”

As the room fell silent, Professor Moriarty flung Stoner, who had been sitting on Adler’s lap, onto the floor with a mere gesture of her hands.

“The basic and foolish mistake I committed against you ends now.”

With that, she began to whisper those eerie words, leaning her face just short of touching Adler’s face.

“You, who chose me.”

“Uh...”

“You, who rolled into my life which was as placid as a calm sea, and created powerful ripples that I have never witnessed before.”

“......”

“You, who are more precious than anything and whom I can’t allow to be taken away by anyone.”

Just as Adler, visibly distressed and at a distance where even his breath could be felt by Professor Moriarty, tried to avert his gaze, Jane Moriarty grabbed his face, forcing him to lock eyes with her.

“Like that witless detective, or rather, at an even more severe level...”

As she slowly climbed onto his lap in that state, she glanced at Stoner, who was struggling on the floor, and whispered to him in a sweet tone...

“I’ve made you dangerously uneasy.”

And then, silence began.

“...Isn’t that right, Adler?”

As Adler, trembling in Moriarty’s embrace, nodded his head, she began to gently caress his neck with a smile on her lips.

“I’ll correct it right now.”

– Swish...

Just then, Moriarty’s mana began to rapidly envelop the murky mana that had been lingering around Adler’s body.

“Stay still.”

“........Yes.”

And at that very moment, eyes mixed with shades of gray and gold were blankly staring through the gap in the partially destroyed basement door.

『Villain Maker』

Chapter 1 – Complete

『Love-Hate Relationship』

Chapter 2 – Begin

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