Chapter 126: Marriage (2)


    <i>- Screech...</i>


    After several hours of travel, the carriage finally arrived in London and began slowing down its pace.


    <i>- Knock, knock, knock...!</i>


    "Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our destination."


    A momentter, the coachman, having stepped down from the fully halted carriage, knocked on the door of the passenger cabin.


    "........"


    "Ladies and gentlemen? Is there anything amiss?"


    However, for some reason, despite his persistent knocking, there was no sign of a response or even any intention of anyone opening the door.


    "Hmm..."Scratching his head for a moment, the coachman soon retrieved a key from his pocket to unlock the door of the passenger cabin.


    "Haah, this is really..."


    In the poorly maintained roads of the 19th century, even experienced coachmen often gave their passengers an unpleasant experienceplete with nausea and motion sickness.


    This, of course, directly affected their reputation and ie, so coachmen had no choice but to invest a fortune in shock-absorbent mana stones for the carriage wheels or improve their driving skills.


    "... Having too much skill can also be a problem."


    The coachman, who had found a well-paying passenger on the journey from Baskerville to London that day, belonged to thetter group of exceptionally skilled individuals.


    Initially, due to his modest living conditions, he had no choice but to improve his skills since he couldn''t afford the shock-absorbant mana stones.


    With his exceptional abilities, he had now reached a point where he was exclusively catering to the upper-ss clientele and attaining remarkable results.


    "Maybe I should install a clock inside next time..."


    For him, it was not umon for passengers to fall asleep inside the carriage, so as usual, he unlocked the cabin door with a key.


    <i>- Creak...</i>


    "... Wait, what''s happening?"


    Just as he unlocked the door of the passengerpartment and was about to turn the doorknob, he btedly realized that the carriage was swaying ever so slightly.


    "Uh..."


    His confused expressionsted only a moment as he proceeded to turn the doorknob without much thought, and then he began to stare, dumbfounded, at the scene unfolding before his eyes.


    "Pro, Professor... ugh..."


    <i>- Slurp...</i>


    A delicately featured boy with his upper clothing half-removed, exposing his bare shoulders, was writhing on the floor of the passengerpartment, his arms held captive by the grey-haired woman who had been riding with him.


    <i>- Swish...</i>


    As the coachman continued to watch the scene with an utterly stunned expression, the woman who had been sucking and nibbling on the boy’s neck with intense sensuality suddenly lifted her head in silence.


    "........."


    In the next moment, the woman directed a piercing stare at the stunned coachman.


    <i>... A dream?</i>


    At that moment, thinking he might be seeing things due to overwork, he rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them once more when…


    <i>- Flutter...</i>


    "Professor, calm down..."


    Before him, sharp grey mana began to surge violently and behind that veil of raging mana was the boy, pulling the woman who continued ring at the coachman with a chilling expression as he sweated profusely from head to toe.


    "......."


    After observing that eerie scene for a moment, the coachman closed his eyes once more.


    <i>Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…</i>


    As he silently recited the Lord''s Prayer about five times, he opened his eyes again with overwhelming fear almost crippling his entire body.


    "".........""


    Fortunately, this time there was neither a situation where two people were shamelessly intertwined with each other nor one where his life was on the brink ofing to an end.


    "That was some impressive driving."


    "Th-That''s right, I suppose. Haha..."


    The woman and the boy simply sat modestly as if they were ordinary passengers while the boy spoke in a cheerful and bright tone.


    "... Th-That''s right."


    Of course, the sticky liquid drenching the cabin floor and the grey smoke permeating the entirety of the cabin were clear indicators that what had just happened was certainly no illusion.


    "Here, take this."


    "... What?"


    But soon, an event urred that made all those thoughts fade from the coachman''s mind.


    "This is for the trouble we''ve caused, and to ensure your silence about the recent incident."


    "... Ah."


    "Please, ept it."


    The boy was offering a sum of gold coins that would take the coachman six months of backbreaking work to earn, all the while smiling brightly.


    "Thank... you..."


    "... And one more thing."


    The coachman, who barely encountered such fortune only once a year from his dealings with the upper-ss clients, was about to greedily reach out when…


    "Forget everything that happened today."


    Came a voice, chillingly cold out of the blue and close to his ears.


    "It''s better for both parties that way."


    "...... What?"


    Lifting his head, the coachman''s gaze met the yful eyes of the boy, who now had a finger to his lips while his lips curled into a cunning smile.


    "You never met us."


    "What....."


    With those words, the coachman''s memory faded away like smoke.


    "A financial transaction is a contract after all."


    "........"


    "And a contract must be fulfilled, right?"


    An unknown timeter…


    "People these days are so open..."


    Upon waking he continued driving his carriage home, retaining no memory of the recent happenings, when he chanced upon a woman and a boy entangled erotically in an alleyway along the way.


    "... At that point, it can be considered public indecency, right?”


    "Pro-Professor... maybe we should stop... ugh...?"


    <i>- Smack, smooch...</i>


    It was the moment thest key to uncovering the truth behind the case disappeared forever.


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    "... Adler."


    "......."


    A few minutester, despite being lunch hours at the moment, an eerily quiet atmosphere lingered in the back alleys of London.


    "Can''t you hear me?"


    Walking down the alley with the professor, Adler turned his head to the side, pouting in response to the t voiceing from beside him.


    "Darling."


    Then, Professor Jane Moriarty whispered in a low voice right into his ear.


    "... Uh."


    "Honey."


    "Please, tone it down."


    Adler flinched at the tickling voice that caressed his ear. Eventually failing to resist the urge to reply and falling into her clear bait, he opened his mouth with an irritable voice.


    "I love you."


    A straightforward response came flying back, filled with the professor''s refreshedughter.


    "........."


    Adler''s face involuntarily reddened as he stared nkly at her visage.


    "... Do you really intend to marry me?"


    "It''s not an intention; it''s already done. Once we submit this paper with our handwritten signatures, we''ll be legally married."


    As he shook his head to ward off the daze and asked, she pulled out the marriage registration form from her pocket and answered with a bright smile.


    "And this is in my possession. So you have no choice but to give up and get married quietly."


    "Do you want to have a legal battle with your student?"


    "... And what do you think will happen if I win?"


    The professor''s gaze, gentle a moment ago, suddenly turned frigid at those words.


    "... You really n on doing housework, cooking, and having children with me?"


    "Housework and cooking are your jobs. I''ve never seeded at any dish other than milk tea."


    Adler stammered for a moment in disbelief at her response, asking again with an incredulous expression, to which the professor only replied in a calm tone.


    "However, I can promise to earn the money. That much I can assure you."


    Hearing those words, Adler murmured with a rather disappointed look.


    "... Charlotte said she would do the housework and cooking herself though."


    And with that silence ensued between them for a while.


    "... I''ll start attending cooking sses this weekend."


    "Are you serious?"


    "I should also buy an apron."


    After a long serious contemtion amidst the silence, the professor answered with a face full of resolve.


    "... What about the child?"


    Adler asked with a dazed look, his voice a mere whisper.


    "Wouldn''t she be adorable? A daughter with blonde hair and grey eyes, looking just like me."


    "Uh..."


    But the professor, as if anticipating even that question, began to whisper into his ear in a soft and mellow voice… like the whispers of a pleasant dream.


    "Adler, just stop denying it already."


    "........."


    "You''re already a married man now.”


    It was a statement so horrifying that it sent shivers down Adler’s spine.


    "If you understand, then start preparing for our newlywed life."


    "That''s..."


    "While I finish up the aftermath of this case, you''ll have toy low in the hideout."


    "But that''s supposed to be my role..."


    As he reached out with a confused look, the professor who had escorted him to the front of the hideout simply turned on her heels and started walking further and further away from the alley.


    "... Oh, by the way."


    Then, suddenly turning her head back, she whispered with a broad smile stretching her lips.


    "If you''re going to tame something, make sure to do it thoroughly."


    "What?"


    Caught off guard by her unexpected remark, Adler tilted his head, and the professor quietly pointed to a secluded corner of the alley before adding.


    "The Baskerville family''s demonic hound."


    "Oh."


    "As much as I''d like to kill it, you could use a few more loyal henchmen, so I''ll resist the urge."


    Only then did Adler notice the cerulean gleam that was lurking in the shadows of the alleyway and couldn’t help but look on with a bewildered expression on his face.


    <i>- Grrrr...</i>


    "Why are you here?"


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    <i>- Creeeak...</i>


    An unknown amount of timeter…


    "... Master!?"


    "Dad?"


    "Hmph."


    As the door to the hideout slowly opened after several days of silence— Silver ze, who had been sitting on the sofa with dead eyes, knitting something Celestia Moran, who sat beside her with a sullen expression, and Princess y, who had been cleaning the windows, each shifted their gaze towards the door while making a varied set of reactions.


    "Where have you been I''ve been so lonely master..."


    "Dad, I took care of the people you asked me tost time..."


    "Where have you been wandering off to without a word..."


    However, almost immediately, all three trailed off mid-sentence, their expressions turning nk.


    "Well, you see..."


    Isaac Adler was sitting there with a bright expression, holding something in his arms that glowed with a deadly blue gleam in its eyes.


    """..........."""


    To Adler''s eyes, it appeared to be a , but for some reason, to the eyes of the three women, it seemed to be a girl around the same age as Moran.


    "... Her name is Poppy."


    <i>- Woof.</i>


    As Adler gently stroked the creature''s belly and spoke those words, a deeper silence than ever before began permeating the /genesisforsaken