*4 days later*
Jane's POV
Noahtic was the most miserable ride I've ever had in my life. I could barely sleep after that letter. Whenever I closed my eyes, I got stuck in my nightmare. Now, that guy came back, the past trauma almost took over me. Hence, I barely sleep even my mom's special tea can't help.
I was getting restless thinking how much he knew about me. How did he recognised me? I've to find him before he wrap me under his fingers.
My bond with Steve was once again twisted for worse. At first, when my nightmare revealed our connections, I loathed Steve. On the other hand, when I finally came to trust him, that guy returned.
Steve, you're on my side, right?
Yes, I used to wonder what will I do if he were to appear again. So many questions bombarded me when it comes to him. No matter what, I've never thought about taking revenge. Despite knowing he's my worse nightmare, hurting him in anyway is difficult for me to think.
But when I think about it. Perhaps, Steve was right. This is a second chance for us. I must make up my mind. The past was full of lies. Remembering how he used me in the name of love, boils my blood.
Yes! He will face the consequences.
If things get more twisted, I have my plans.
*Near some place*
Steve and I stood at a specific place, probably an abandoned area you can say. After a carriage picked us from our home and left us here.
Finally another carriage arrived, sent by William, of course. The guy as I already knew was Fred. However, he was disguising as an old man with wrinkles on his face. I recognised him by his height since I've seen him on that ship. We got in while Fred put our luggages in and we finally left for Moriarty mansion.
So what actually happened was, on the second day of returning from Noahtic, I've got a letter from Steve that we are going for a small trip to France for 5 days. But looking at the writing I realised it wasn't from him. It looked suspicious. But inside the envelope, I saw a small chit. I took it out and read.
This is Moriarty, both Steve and you received the same message. We'll send a carriage to pick you up. From there you'll have your carriage switched and come to us.
Please burn the letter after reading it.
And that's how we are here!
Throughout the ride, no one spoke a word. Steve and I were preparing ourselves to meet William, the Crime Consultant.
What frightening me is him asking me how I knew about him being a Crime Consultant. He did have clues that I've always known his identity. But, right now, finding out about that bastard is more important.
Calm down, Jane! You can do it!
"Done cheering up?" Steve sneered.
"Reading my mind?" I just hissed.
"Your expression says it all. It'll go fine. We'll find him before he would." He put his hand on mine.
"Right."
"Don't be like that there." he whispered to me. I rolled my eyes but nodded anyway.
*Moriarty mansion*
"We have arrived." Fred announced in his old man voice. We got off the carriage. Fred led us inside the mansion. He opened the door.
"Follow me." He commanded.
"Yes." Two of us responded.
It was dark inside. Fred took a candle and proceeded to move forward as we followed him. We observed around the spaces. It was huge and calm. Almost terrifying, the deeper we go, the more clear our footsteps get, along with the sound of my heartbeats.
I was a little nervous but not scared. I know what I'm doing is not just for me but every person close to me. We both don't know what would be that guy's next step. He ain't no easy target. Only Moriarty have the key to our problem.
*Few moments later*
We three were standing in front of the door. We saw William immersed in his book as the door opened. He looked serene. His scarlet eyes were scanning the words inside the book not missing any details. He finally closed the book and turned to us.
"Welcome, Steve and Jane. Enjoying your trip to France?" He sent us his welcoming smile.
"Yes, so exciting." Steve straight ahead blurted out with a poker face.
"Never known that Moriarty's mansion is France." I jested.
William didn't lose his smile. "Haha, Come, take your seats." He intertwined his fingers and rested them on his lap. It felt like a Parents-Teacher meeting but without parents. I gulped.
Fred closed the door led us to the couch in front of William. We sat there. Then he left to remove his make up. Steve and I glanced at eachother for a second then looked at William.
"You two seems to be suffering from sleep loss." William noticed our eye bags. I noticed Steve suffered too. After that incident, the rate of my nightmare increased which gave nothing but anxiousness.
"...." We both kept quite. I peeked around to see where is Louis.
"Louis is preparing tea for you two." I startled to his response.
"She's an open book, isn't she?" Steve mocked. I know he's trying to make me less nervous.
"That sounds true." William frankly answered. I glared at Steve.
"Just like old days, Louis comes first for you." Albert said as he opened the door to enter.
"Haha, Hello Albert. Please stop teasing me like that." I gave a nervous laugh.
My eyes finally caught Louis who entered right after Albert. "Louis!" I sprung up and marched to him. He was going to put our teas and snacks on the table.
"It's been a long time, Jane. I'm glad to see you." He gave his adorable smile while setting our teas.
"Me too! I missed you a lot!" I held both of his hands.
"*Ahem* *ahem* Jane." I turned to see Steve acting up.
"Ah!" I let go of his hand. "Sorry, I got too excited (as a fangirl)." Albert and William had their silent chuckle. Louis was all flustered once again.
Fred did *tch* and Steve just facepalmed.
For some reason, I can't see them as dangerous people. At the moment, they look like a warm family. Most important thing is they welcomed the two of us. I can't help but feel happy about it.
"It's alright, Jane. Please sit." Louis said. "Have some tea." He told Steve and me, pointing at tea with his hand.
We took the tea. I was busy sipping the tea when the door opened again.
"Oh look Daddy Kuroo is here!" I sprayed all of my tea out of mouth as Steve said that. Fortunately, I didn't sprayed it on a person but midair.
"Daddy what?" Moran questioned. I was coughing violently.
"That's not what you called? Be she—aahhhhh!" I stepped on his toes. He bent down to bear the pain.
"Nothing sir, he's just crazy! Stop doing that, Steve. That's rude." I lectured. Damn! This guy is exposing me!
"But you—"
"Don't speak!" I know he's doing it on purpose. Wait! Don't tell me it's his revenge for the punch. I peeked at him to see a sneaky smirk on his face, and hence my suspicion confirmed. That idiot.
"Daddy kuro? But Why?" There William said it. Forget about that guy, now I want to kill this guy named Steve.
"No it's nothing. It's just he look like a character described in a book I once read. I—" before I could make any excuses, Da-*cough* Moran interrupted.
"Sebastian Moran, not Daddy Kuroo." He crossed his arms while leaning to the wall next to us. "Don't give me weird names." He glared at us.
"Yes sir!" Steve and I said in unison. Though I never addressed him that in the first place, but only to Steve when explaining something about them.
When all the fuss calmed. Everyone got serious. "Now, let's proceed with our discussion about that person." I declared.
"Well then...." As the word escaped his mouth, his eyes narrowed. "You asked us to investigate few men considering the suspicion on the letter Jane received."
"That's right! So have you got any clues?" Steve interrogated.
"Of course, we do."
"Tell us, please!" I pleaded.
"I see, you're anxious to find that person. I also understand that you are not planning to give us the whole story."
"It's hard to explain. But if we don't find him, he might start wrecking our lives. That's what I know." I explained.
"I see."
"We just want details, William! Just tell us already." Steve raged.
"Well, if you want to know then alright." He closed his eyes and opened again to look back at us. "All of them are corrupted nobles."
"Huh?" Steve felt perplexed. So did I.
"Yet they don't include the person you are looking for."
"William, if that's the case then you must have any idea about who he could be." I exclaimed.
"Not precisely but yes." I got more desperate to know now. "He may or may not be a noble because he didn't attended Noahtic as one."
"Stop puzzling around and tell us already." Steve was losing his patience.
"I can't, yet."
"What?"
"He disguised himself as a worker there." "We've found a dead body, near a lake. His face was similar to the one I've seen on the ship. But the man was killed way before than we attended the ship."
"So he disguised himself as him. For what purpose?" Steve questioned.
"We came to know that some nobles were poisoned to death the other day. Those were also the part of Noahtic; they were connected to a gambling casino. They had huge debts but they never bothered to pay it which resulted to their death."
At this point, I have no idea what's going on. My mind went blank, unable to connect dots presented in front of me. Everything spiralling inside my mind. However, I snapped back when I felt a hand on my right shoulder. It was Steve trying to keep a hold of myself.
"Mr. Loren Selmon." William announced capturing our attention. "Why did you gave his name, Steve?"
"He was asking a lot about her. As if he find her amusing. He was peeking at her at times. So I found it infuriating."
"Let me tell you. He's dead." William's reply gave us goosebumps. "Which is unconvincing"
"He's dead? And it's unconvincing? W-What do you mean?" I stuttered.
"Because out of 4 names you've given, he's the only person who got killed by the same person." William gave more puzzles.
"It seem like that guy also found it infuriating." Albert remarked while having his wine. Steve had his jaw dropped.
But before I get suspicious of Steve, William interrupted. "However, Steve is innocent."
"And Jane, we've got a little surprise for you." William stated.
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Yo readers!! I don't want this story to be too serious that's why I added my lame jokes in the middle.
Let me know how was this chapter. All of your feedbacks are welcomed here.
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Thank you for reading!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
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