“Please sign here.”
“But, Inspector…”
“Just write your na and it’s done.”
“I know that much…..”
Staring at the marriage registration form that had been pushed in front of him, Adler started sweating profusely. Soon, he looked at Gia Lestrade with a forced smile on his face.
“This is a marriage registration form…”
“So?”
“If I sign here, you and I will officially be married.”
Lestrade rely tilted her head as if to say, “Isn’t that obvious?”
“I am aware. Just sign the form, please.”
“Um, you do know what marriage is, right?”
“Of course, I know. That’s why I proposed, didn’t I?”
A determined look could be seen on her face as she spoke those words.
“As I said before, to be honest, I don’t have any confidence that I can beat you.”
“Why do you think that?”
“There’s no one in the London tropolitan Police Departnt more competent and talented than Charlotte Hols. But even she seems to be a re plaything to you, isn’t that so?”
“I think you’ve been exposed to so exaggerated information…”
“It doesn’t seem like the person who used Charlotte Hols as a re tool in this incident has the right to speak those words.”
At those words, Adler was unable to retort for a mont. Seeing Adler in such a state, Lestrade looked at him with an I knew it expression plastered on her face.
“I had my doubts, but Charlotte Hols’ speculation was correct after all. You are indeed a very frightening person.”
“Silence doesn’t imply consent. You, of all people, should know about that clearly, Inspector.”
“You’re right. As a police officer, I can easily distinguish what soone’s silence can imply, Isaac Adler.”
“… Hmm.”
“Frankly, I was expecting that you would be dying soon, but Dr. Rachel Watson ntioned that you have the ans to restore your lifespan. To be able to obtain even the extinct Dragon’s Tears, you truly are remarkable.”
“………”
Not backing down, she continued the conversation, pressing Adler further. However, upon hearing her ntion the conversation he had with Dr. Watson regarding his lifespan, Adler’s gaze lowered unconsciously… which elicited Lestrade to don a puzzled look on her face.
“… Isn’t it? I’m sure that’s what the doctor said in the room.”
“… Yes.”
“Hmm.”
But when Adler nodded nonchalantly in response to her probing, her deanor returned to its original frigid state.
“Anyway, I’ve been thinking long and hard about this matter… and there seems to be only one way to legally bind soone like you before it’s too late.”
“… And that would be marriage?”
“Precisely. It’s the only way I can legally bind you— soone who manipulates the British legal system as you wish.”
With a pale look plastered on his face, Adler started to speak in an urgent tone upon seeing the resolve on Lestrade’s face.
“But, if you marry , your last na will change and you’ll beco Gia Adler. You can no longer be called Lestrade; from now on, you will be called by my surna.”
“I wasn’t exactly the top of my class, but I’m aware still of that much common sense.”
“Uh… And that’s not all. After changing your na, you’ll have to live with in the sa house.”
“I would imagine so.”
“And you’ll have to put on an apron and cook for every morning. But can soone like you really accept that?”
“Why don’t I just work and earn money, and you wear the apron and do the cooking?”
“Uh, that’s…..”
However, at Lestrade’s sharp response, Adler was left montarily speechless; even his face went blank and donned an expression of utter perplexion at her reply.
“Well, if you don’t want to, I’ll just take on the cooking as well.”
“………”
“If you wish, I’ll do the laundry and the dishes too.”
Finally, Gia Lestrade, who had made an offer to him that nearly every man in London desired, pointed to the corner of the registration paper once more.
“So, sign it.”
“… You’ll have to share a bed with , though.”
Gently, Adler lowered the pen and tried his best to dissuade her once last ti.
“Sharing a bed is a marital duty. If that’s troubling for you, I can’t help but…”
“I will.”
“… Pardon?”
However, Lestrade only replied in a calm voice after gazing at him for a few monts. Hearing her reply, Adler who was about to quickly end the conversation with a regretful look in his eyes couldn’t help but doubt his own ears.
“I will share a bed with you.”
“………”
“It would be ridiculous not to fulfill the marital duty when I was the one who proposed first.”
Lestrade’s expression was unwavering as she spoke those words, only leaking a faint sigh at the end.
“Inspector, do you understand the aning of what you have just said?”
“What aning are you talking about? It’s just simply sharing the sa bed, right?”
“I’ll be direct.”
After hesitating for a while, Adler finally opened his mouth with a look of determination in his eyes.
“Can you have a child with , Inspector?”
With those words, silence befell between the two.
“If your proposal just now was not rely a jest, eventually you will have to carry our child in your womb.”
“………”
“Inspector. Can you truly intertwine with and bear our child? A child who may have my blonde hair and your silver eyes? Can you really do it?”
For the first ti today, Gia Lestrade’s calm face began to gradually contort horribly.
“You will have to breastfeed that child and love it with all your heart. Without a mother’s love, a child cannot grow up properly.”
“…….”
“For your information, I like twins. It would be nice if the daughter had silver hair and golden eyes.”
Having spoken those words, Adler quietly leaned in towards Lestrade – the inspector was already looking down while biting her lips hard, her mind in turmoil – and whispered a question.
“For the cause of protecting London from , can you handle that?”
“………”
“… As expected, that’s impossible for you.”
However, as her body started to tremble visibly, showing a visceral rejection to such a scenario, and no answer ca back, Adler started murmuring in a low voice as though he knew sothing like this was bound to happen.
“Let’s consider today’s offer null and void. Inspector, in the future, such decisions should be made carefully…”
“… I will.”
“Pardon?”
As he quietly turned to leave, walking down the corridor with Moran – who had been standing beside him with a dazed expression on her cute face – he couldn’t help but turn his head swiftly as he heard the determined voice creeping in from behind.
“What did you say…?”
“I will do it.”
And then, Gia Lestrade looked at his eyes and spoke in a far clearer voice that left nothing for one to question.
“I will make a child with you.”
“……….”
“That’s what marriage is, after all.”
At her resolute answer, Adler’s mind once again turned as white as a snowfield.
“I’m not sure how to make a child, but you probably know about it, so let’s move on. I’ll carry the child we make in my belly and give birth.”
“………”
“Of course, I’ll breastfeed and love the child sincerely. Not only that, I’ll take on the duty of the overall childcare. I’m confident in that aspect since I’ve taken care of my siblings as a parental figure from a young age.”
Gia Lestrade quietly drove a wedge into his thoughts with her words.
“Do you really have to go that far…?”
“If that’s what it takes to protect London from you, my greatest and worst enemy, I’m willing to endure even more.”
“But…”
“Are you feeling guilty now, Isaac Adler?”
As Adler stuttered in response to her question, Lestrade tilted her head and muttered in a mocking voice.
“Isn’t it too late for you to feel that?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“You’re such a sorry excuse for a person.”
“Are you really willing to sacrifice your entire life just to stop ?”
Having heard those words, Lestrade stared intently into Adler’s eyes.
“I have no choice.”
Half in clear disgust and moral obligation, but the other half tinged with a feeling even she couldn’t quite understand, she looked at Adler for a long ti before finally answering in a low and calm voice.
“… Because I love you.”
With those words, she handed over the marriage registration form to Adler and turned to leave.
“It seems difficult to get an answer right away, so I’ll give you so ti.”
“……..”
“Please make up your mind by our regular date next weekend.”
She muttered those words and then calmly started walking away down the corridor, her steps asured.
“Inspector…”
“……….”
“You do realize that we haven’t even kissed once, right?”
However, she soon halted in her tracks, startled by Adler’s exasperated voice from behind.
“For now, shouldn’t we get used to physical contact first…”
“Don’t say things that make feel sick.”
With those words, she cut off any chance for Adler to speak and quietly disappeared beyond the corridor.
“What does making a child even have to do with kissing…”
And thus, silence ensued in the corridor once more.
“Phew…”
“Dad, I don’t want a an stepmom.”
In that silence, Celestia Moran, who had been quietly observing the situation all the while, whispered in a small voice to Adler. Hearing her words, he couldn’t help but sigh once more.
“… Just live with .”
Gently stroking her head, Adler replied to her in a faint voice.
“I wish I could.”
“………”
Caught up with thoughts of Lestrade, he inadvertently missed the brief flash of eerie darkness in Moran’s eyes as he quietly began to move.
“Miss Moran, please wait here for a mont.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just to the restroom.”
He replied, and his gaze briefly drifted towards the office of Rachel Watson in the neighboring building.
.
.
.
.
.
anwhile, at that mont…
“… Hehe.”
Rachel Watson, having finished her consultation with Professor Moriarty, had returned to her office. For so reason, instead of her usual tired expression, her cheeks were flushed as she humd an elegant tune and fondled the pocket inside her coat.
“I’ve received the engagent ring…”
– Swoosh…
“… So now, it’s my turn to give the wedding ring.”
In a few minutes, her fiancé, whom she felt as if she hadn’t t for months already, would enter her office. The surprise engagent ring she was about to present to the love of her life sparkled enchantingly in her hand.
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