"Sherly, the pudding today is exceptionally delicious, are you sure you don't want to try so?"
"There's also your favorite scones!"
On a spring afternoon, during the laziest ti of day.
In the small courtyard blooming with purple flowers, An Ning wore a simple, lightweight moon-white gown, leisurely enjoying afternoon tea, while Mycroft across from her appeared equally relaxed.
The two occasionally exchanged soft whispers, natural and harmonious.
Aside from the overly abundant desserts on the table, and a certain uninvited detective on the nearby sofa with a long face, everything was perfectly natural and harmonious.
Just like countless beautiful afternoons on Pall Mall.
Sherlock: Hmph!
"Dear Miss de Bourgh, my future sister-in-law, oh no, or should I address you by a more familiar na—Mr. Rosente?"
After a mont, soone finally couldn't resist speaking with sarcasm.
Oh, Rosente, shit!
Damn it, Sherlock rarely felt this frantic as he grabbed his hair. There had definitely been clues before!
"Believe , that's your freedom, Sherly!"
Taking a pleasant sip of black tea, An Ning showed no intention of denying it, even finding the mood to tease him:
"Actually, the fact that you only discovered it this late is what truly surprises !"
"I clearly gave you hints, didn't I?"
"Karl and that 'poor', 'weak' Mrs. Derris?"
Perhaps with her sarcasm skills fully activated, sprawled on a specially made beanbag chair nearby, a certain Hols showed no restraint in his mocking tone:
"A fool detective being completely deceived and spun around, and a deceitful young lady skilled in disguise!"
"Oh, believe , that's the most fitting hint possible!"
So fitting that the mont he heard that deduction at the banquet, in a flash of insight, this great detective instantly understood everything!
Including Mike's recent unusual behavior.
"So it seems, you're quite a considerate lady!"
"Mhm!"
Of course!
Pretending not to catch his sarcastic tone, An Ning nodded to herself, as if moved by her own thoughtfulness.
Sherlock: "..."
Giving a peculiar glance at Mike beside him, at this mont, a certain great detective had to admit one fact.
He was wrong!
"You two are truly a perfect match!"
The detective said with unconcealed complexity.
Hearing this, Mycroft's lips unconsciously curved upward slightly, speaking with unusual frankness to his younger brother:
"Actually Sherly, it really was quite an entertaining ga, wasn't it?"
Sherlock snorted coldly:
"Rumors outside say Mr. Hols fell in love with Miss de Bourgh at first sight, aning you knew her identity from the very beginning!"
"Yes!"
Facing the clearly frustrated expression of a certain great detective, An Ning blinked happily:
"Very regrettably, your elder brother saw through it at first glance!"
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, a certain detective's face darkened another shade.
Just then, soone nearby couldn't help but speak up:
"But darling, believe , even without that Mr. Rosente, whenever we might have t, my gaze would still have lingered upon you..."
An Ning: "???"
Wow, has soone been studying so strange things recently?
Or watched too many boring operas lately!
Sherlock: "!!!"
Oh, no!
"Actually Sherly, undeniable Annie's disguise was indeed clever, but your preconceived objective impressions are why you only figured it out now, aren't they?"
"Including that Mr. Rosente..."
After slowly finishing his small dessert at an extrely leisurely pace, Mycroft finally spoke unhurriedly, his fog-gray eyes—identical to Sherlock's—smiling as he looked at his younger brother:
"The sufficiently forceful handwriting, writing style, hobbies similar to ours, chess style—these are all reasons why you, Sherly, firmly believed in Mr. Rosente's gender."
"But in fact, these weren't completely without clues, were they?"
Common sense errors regarding customs could be explained as laziness or reluctance to go out, but familiarity with won's clothing, habits, and even psychology in such detail wasn't sothing an ordinary gentleman could achieve.
Of course, playboys who wandered through romantic affairs were another matter.
"And Miss de Bourgh, your sister-in-law—facts prove that romanticism and ticulous logical thinking can coexist, don't they?"
"Dear Sherly, I hope next ti, don't let habitual thinking affect your deductions..."
Finally, as an exceptionally responsible good British elder brother, Mycroft couldn't help but summarize for his younger sibling.
Sherlock:
"Mike, if I'm not mistaken, just now you've already consud more than two desserts."
Staring directly at the other's slightly stiff expression, Sherlock quickly leapt lightly from the sofa.
His movents were remarkably agile.
"Believe , dear brother, with your usual level of physical activity, you'll probably need a full two hours to burn off those extra calories..."
Standing up and efficiently straightening his sowhat oversized coffee-colored overcoat.
One second before leaving, Sherlock—who had already suffered nurous blows today—smiled equally at his dear elder brother:
"I'm sure you won't forget that your fiancée Mr. Rosente requires even his villainous characters to have nearly perfect faces and figures..."
An Ning: "......"
This great detective—regardless of his investigative thods—the sharpness of his verbal venom had increased exponentially.
However, one thing he wasn't wrong about—glancing at the empty cake plate in front of the person opposite, An Ning rested her chin on her hand, smiling beautifully at that mont:
"Darling, if I recall correctly, it's been quite a while since we last sparred with swords!"
As if completely forgetting yesterday's dismal defeat, picking up a napkin to lightly wipe his palms, Mycroft also looked up with a smile:
"Yes, indeed quite nostalgic!"
Without even needing to imagine what torture a certain brother was about to endure, the great detective's steps were undoubtedly light as he left the villa.
Facts would prove that mistakes are temporary, but the effects of terrifying chemical substances are long-lasting!
***
It had to be said that without the amusing and adorable Sherlock to tease daily, it truly was a great loss of entertainnt for the currently overly leisurely An Ning.
Unexpectedly, after this departure, it wasn't until their wedding day that a certain great detective hurriedly returned to Hols Manor.
Though he had tidied up, his hair remained disastrously ssy, his hands clearly showed marks from rope restraints, and faint scars were visible on exposed skin.
Without much thought, he had obviously gotten involved in so strange case again.
His appearance made even An Ning pause montarily.
Was her brother-in-law Sherlock Hols, or had so strange buff attached itself to him?
Like a certain elentary school detective!
Automatic case delivery service?
Or the chain reaction of activating detective skills prematurely.
Fortunately, facts ultimately proved that Hols had significant differences from certain protagonists. This ti he had been invited to solve a castle mystery, and as for why he ended up in such a state!
"Ultimately, this is still due to Sherlock's insufficient combat prowess!"
That evening, after finishing her bath and lying in the sowhat unfamiliar bed, An Ning couldn't help but click her tongue. Before she finished speaking, she was pulled into a slightly cool embrace by the person beside her.
It was the silk robe An Ning loved most.
A sowhat hoarse voice sounded in her ear:
"Dear Mrs. Hols, are you sure you want to discuss these matters at a ti like this!"
An Ning: "......"
Oh, well, matters concerning Sherlock could be discussed later.
In fact, by the ti An Ning rembered this matter again, several days had passed.
Married life wasn't much different from before. Thanks to the couple's highly overlapping daily routines, An Ning's life was actually more decadent than Mycroft's, who still had to wake early for work.
After their usual morning kiss, An Ning would always linger in bed for another hour or two before reluctantly getting up.
Even Lady Catherine, after visiting several tis, eventually reluctantly accepted that her clever, well-behaved daughter was actually an ultimate little lazybones.
Though inwardly, she couldn't help but feel more satisfied with this son-in-law.
After all, what she originally expected—that with her son-in-law holding an important governnt position, her daughter as his wife would inevitably need to attend various social gatherings and events—never happened.
Even the son-in-law himself clearly wasn't enthusiastic about such things.
"Mr. Hols is clearly the most upright gentleman!"
Lady Catherine declared proudly at that ti.
An Ning: "......"
Could it possibly be because he couldn't be bothered to deal with such things, and with his intellect, it simply wasn't necessary?
But Lady Catherine clearly preferred not to overthink this.
In her view, being able to maintain her precious daughter's good social standing and quality of life while allowing her leisure and comfort made him an excellent son-in-law.
In any case, seeing her precious daughter living contentedly after marriage and frequently returning to visit her, Lady Catherine—this noblewoman traditionally seen as strict—had even beco much milder in temperant lately.
Even when she later learned that her nephew Darcy was once again involved with that country squire's daughter from the Bennet family, even engaged, the lady rely nodded calmly.
"Though her family isn't quite proper, at least that Miss Elizabeth has so intelligence!"
Most importantly, her nephew liked her herself.
She was too old to ddle in young people's affairs!
Excellent, that's the right way to think. As elders, enjoying life is better than anything.
"Yes, as long as cousin likes her and can bear the consequences, that should be fine."
Leaning against her mother, An Ning couldn't help but say cheerfully.
Besides, after the previous incident, her cousin had indeed beco more decisive in his actions and developed better boundaries.
For a gentleman of inherently upright and kind character, this was already a good outco.
After all, precisely because of his fundantally sincere kindness, both in her previous life and now, he had almost unconditionally supported the original mother and daughter over the years.
Even though this aunt's temper wasn't particularly friendly, and so suggestions were quite excessive.
Also because of this kindness and consideration for close relationships, he could never bring himself to deal harshly with the only son of the deceased old butler, his father's godson.
So even before, though An Ning felt her cousin's thods were sowhat too indecisive, she only reminded him to avoid affecting Georgiana, without excessive criticism.
Because both the original and An Ning herself had genuinely received much care from this elder brother, and were beneficiaries of his inherent kindness.
Even Georgiana, when truly choosing, would select Ian—who though not particularly clever, was sufficiently sincere and kind...
In An Ning's view, uprightness and kindness were never derogatory terms.
But demanding soone to be both upright and kind, while also ruthless and decisive enough to cleanly resolve all surrounding troubles so you or those around you could live without worries—that was sowhat unreasonable.
"So host, throughout your several lifetis, you've basically chosen ruthlessly cunning partners, haven't you?"
Within her spiritual sea, the system couldn't help but muse.
Not to ntion this lifeti's truly terrifyingly clever politician, last lifeti's Chancellor Zhang was soone who could decisively eliminate even his own close relatives without hesitation—a truly ruthless person.
After all, later when Crown Prince Zhao Xi grew up, their relationship wasn't entirely secret to so extent, especially to the Zhang family at that ti.
As the future emperor's paternal family, even within the strictly disciplined clan, not everyone could resist such temptation.
But these people were all crushed before her host even needed to intervene...
That decisiveness, tsk!
Glancing at the system lost in mories, An Ning lightly snorted:
"I thought you'd say sothing about like attracting like!"
The system: "......"
Although, but, admittedly, that actually makes sense.
The dog couldn't help but scratch its head.
After seeing off the reluctant Lady Catherine, An Ning settled back into her newly custom-made beanbag chair.
She wore only a simple, lightweight, comfortable silk dress—if there was one greatest freedom after marriage, it was her ho attire.
Heaven knows how wonderful it was not to drag around thick, long skirts all day.
Only when familiar sounds ca from outside and she saw Sherlock did An Ning suddenly rember sothing.
"Oh right, Sherly, I heard from Mike you're quite good at fencing. Would you like to spar with later!"
That evening, after the family of three finished dinner, An Ning spoke quite naturally.
Since discovering the local cuisine, though consciously not as focused on culinary pleasures as a certain brother, clearly this great detective's visits had only increased.
Hearing this, Sherlock didn't find it strange, only giving her a suspicious look. His gaze lingered on An Ning's arms that showed no signs of training.
Then he cast an even more doubtful look at the still calm brother nearby.
"Swordsmanship, or the swordsmanship Mike taught!"
"Oh, well, I'll serve as your training partner from now on, Madam."
Considering how long she had studied swordsmanship, and a certain teacher's lineage, feeling he understood the situation, Sherlock nodded calmly and seriously promised:
"Just stating in advance, the person before you is not a particularly considerate gentleman..."
Mycroft: "......"
An Ning: "......"
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