Embers of Embers

Chapter 423 Error
"So you calculated this from the beginning?"
"It's not really a calculation, just a hunch."
There was a sound, it sounded like two men, they seemed to be talking about something.
"What's the premonition?" the man asked.
"I have a feeling that Irene Adler will not be such a simple person. She must want to do something else, but we don't know yet." Another man answered.
"So this is a trap set by you? You bastard are using me!" The man's voice became louder.
"It's not taking advantage, it's just preparation. I guess if Eileen wants to do something, time alone with you is her only chance. We are not here, only you, the defeated subordinate, are here." Another one. The man continued.
"What do you mean by a defeated general?"
"Didn't you get deceived by her once? If it were you again, this would make her relax her vigilance."
"Let down your guard? She almost killed me!"
"But I changed the bullets, specially for you, otherwise she might have used live bullets when she hit you, and now you would be a corpse."
"In total, I still have to thank you, right?" There was anger hidden in the man's words.
"You can thank me if you want." The other man said still shamelessly.
"Lorenzo!"
Kestrel's voice became louder. He was about to greet Lorenzo, but was interrupted by Lorenzo.
"She seems to be awake."
After he finished speaking, a big blurry face appeared in his field of vision. He couldn't see his appearance clearly, but then he felt a slight pain in his neck.
"The Florund potion should help you wake up... Wow, Kestrel, you are so cruel, can't you be gentler to the lady?"
"She almost killed me! Lorenzo! Almost, just that close!"
As the two of them quarreled, Irene gradually woke up.
She didn't know what the so-called Florund potion was, but the effect after the injection was obvious. She felt like her head was taken out of her skull, and then soaked in cold water. After cooling, she was violent again. The ground was stuffed back.
Erin blinked hard and finally saw her surroundings clearly. She was lying on the bed and tried to move, but her limbs were obviously tied up with something. Next to her, Lorenzo and Kestrel were standing on the left. Sit right on either side of yourself.
Kestrel's arm was completely tied up with a bandage, and there was an extra protective gear hanging on it, hanging around his neck. There were many more wounds on his face. Erin remembered that they were just beaten by her.
Lorenzo on the other side was the same as usual. He was looking at him seriously, but there was some teasing in the depths of his gray-blue eyes.
He won, but Irene couldn't hold back after all, and showed her weakness in front of Lorenzo.
"Although you said you were here to help us, how could I possibly believe what someone like you said?"
Seeing that Irene had regained consciousness, Lorenzo spoke slowly.
"Did you do all of this on purpose?"
Eileen's voice was a little weak, and she felt her head hurt, but thinking about it, the blow from the kestrel was powerful enough. In order to bandage the wound, the doctor cut off Eileen's long hair and put it on her head. Wrapped around and around.
"Yes, your solitude with Kestrel and the weapons in the piano case are all prepared for you. If you really have any other ideas, you will definitely not let this opportunity go."
Lorenzo continued.
"You are already an enemy of the Iron Law Bureau, and after this operation, you are bound to become an enemy of me. This is not good, and you are not completely sure that you can escape, are you?"
Lorenzo continued to analyze Irene's thoughts, and the more he delved into them, the more interesting they became.
"So what is the reason? What kind of thoughts would make you willing to take such a big risk?"
Facing Lorenzo's questions, Irene acted as if nothing was wrong. Just like Lorenzo, she was very good at concealing her inner thoughts.
The two looked at each other briefly for a while, and Lorenzo said helplessly.
"Kestrel, you go and rest first."
"Rest? I can still do it!"
Kestrel was stunned for a moment, and then replied that although he only had one hand left to move, he could still continue to gesture with Irene. Inexplicably, Kestrel wanted to compete with Irene today.
Seeing this, Irene smiled helplessly. She felt that she was stupid for being overthrown by such a guy. Lorenzo stood up and said seriously.
"Then to put it another way, go out, understand?"
"Ah... okay."
Unable to beat Lorenzo with two hands, let alone one hand, Kestrel looked at the two of them, and then walked out. Looking from the door, Eve and Haybold were tidying up the living room. During the battle between Kestrel and Erin, the two of them almost overturned the entire living room.
Lorenzo followed and glanced at the living room.
"Has Hercule not come back yet?"
"No, but Poirot was sent back."
Eve said, pointing to the big rat running all over the ground. After they came back, the staff sent the big rat back. As for where Hercule went, no one knew.
"Is that so..."
Lorenzo is not worried about Hercule. This guy has no strengths except his weird brain. Therefore, this guy has a very clear understanding of himself. It is too simple for him to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
After closing the door, only Lorenzo and Irene were left in the room. He sat back in his seat, looked at Irene and whispered.
"Are you afraid of Heybold?"
Irene's expression paused for a moment. Although it was short-lived, it was extremely obvious in Lorenzo's eyes.
She looked at Lorenzo, not knowing what to say for a moment, and finally asked helplessly.
"When did you find out?"
"From the first time you met Hebold, your reaction was funny, like a mouse meets a cat...you were scared."
Irene did not continue to explain anything. Her expression became relaxed. The disguise she had been wearing was removed at this moment. She finally became more relaxed. Although she didn't want to be like this, in Lorenzo's eyes, she continued to pretend. Just embarrass yourself.
"The main purpose of driving away the kestrel is to isolate Haybold, right?"
Erin looked at the closed door and realized then that she had avoided Hebold in every conversation she had with Lorenzo.
"Yeah, I'm more worried about that guy than you."
Lorenzo stared at Eileen closely, and his gaze made Eileen a little uneasy.
"Heibald is Ivar's personal guard." Eileen said.
Lorenzo thought for a while.
"A love triangle?"
"?"
Somewhat unable to bear Irene's contemptuous gaze, Lorenzo apologized repeatedly.
"Sorry, I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere."
"Is there any need to be active in this atmosphere?"
Irene almost laughed in anger at Lorenzo.
"I thought that was the case, at least that's how it seemed to me." Lorenzo continued to explain.
"After all, you are the famous Irene Adler. Haybold warned me countless times before coming here. In his eyes, you are like a cold poisonous snake. And you have also seen the look of the kestrel. .
You captured his mind so easily. To be honest, it's hard not to make people wary. "
As if she didn't expect that she would look like this in Lorenzo's eyes, Irene shook her head. She was beaten by the kestrel, and her whole body hurt. The pain interfered with her thoughts.
"Do you smoke?" Lorenzo asked. "You look a little bad."
Erin nodded and continued.
"You also know my job. In order to get closer to the goal, I am also versatile. I can even repair steam engines, although I learned it temporarily."
As Erin spoke, she thought of those terrible things.
"At that time, my target was a captain who managed an arms smuggling route. I boarded the ship as a repairman. He thought he would have an unforgettable journey with me, but I threw him into the combustion chamber and burned him. There’s not even ashes left.”
"Whoa, that sounds really bad."
Lorenzo said as he handed the cigarette mixed with mandrake to Irene and helped her light it.
"Hallucinogens?"
Irene immediately realized the problem with the cigarettes, Lorenzo answered.
"It's almost the same. I usually use this when I'm under a lot of pressure. It pretty much relieves the pain."
"really."
Irene also felt it, the pain was diluted, and gradually she couldn't feel anything anymore.
Leaning against the bed, she seemed to realize that she could not change anything. Her red eyes finally burst. She raised her head, trying her best to prevent Lorenzo from seeing this embarrassing scene.
"So if it's not a love triangle, what is it?"
Lorenzo tacitly understood that he did not look at Irene, but casually picked up the book on the side and read it. After a few glances, it turned out to be the damn "Victoria's Secret".
In fact, he was also very curious about the ending of this story.
"Actually, I have read this book."
Erin squinted at the book, not knowing who she was talking to.
"A lot of the time I could only hide in my room. I was very bored during that time and just read these weird books. In fact, my ending was similar to this."
"What do you mean?"
"I had a chance, a chance to escape."
Erin said as she thought about it, puffing away her breath.
"Ivar asked me if I was interested in leaving here. Although that guy always acted like someone owed him money and was very gloomy, he still liked to go out for a walk. In his words, he hated the cold north. He I want to see a warm land.”
Perhaps it was the mandrake grass taking effect. Irene didn't know if it was a hallucination or what. In her blurred vision, she saw the long-lost face.
"But he is the descendant of the King of Ice Sea. Although he was born with deformities, his status is still higher than many people, and the meaning he carries is also extraordinary. He said that what he misses the most is when he was a child, when his father was nothing. The King of Ice and Sea did not regard him as a deformity and would take him out to sea with him.
Although the burden was heavy, Ivar could still roar against the storm, but with the blessing of the crown, there was no going back. "
Lorenzo asked in a low voice as he felt that he was close to touching the deep secret.
"Then what? What happened then? Did you design to kidnap Ivar?"
Erin was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"It was an escape that had been planned for a long time. I planned a route and we would travel around the country. Everything was beautiful. Even his bodyguard Hebold was moved by me."
"Actually, Hebold is a nice guy. He once told me privately that he sympathized with Ivar. Although it felt a little pitiful for him and seemed disgusting, he felt that Vikings should not die in wheelchairs like this. Not to mention that the man still bleeds the blood of the Ice Sea King. He couldn't bear to watch Ivar continue to become depressed like this.
So under my instigation, he let us go and let us leave. "
Irene took a deep breath and burned out one cigarette. Lorenzo handed over another one very cooperatively. The mandrake made Irene very relaxed. In such a tired situation, this was the time when she relaxed her most vigilance. Lorenzo has the best chance of knowing the secret.
"and then?"
Lorenzo continued to ask.
"Then? Then as you can guess, everyone was happy at first, just like the story in "Victoria's Secret", the boy and the girl escaped, heading for the unknown journey, and Highbould covered us whereabouts, took all the blame, and then...then I let him down."
Erin's eyes were a little dull, staring straight into nothingness in front of her.
"The happiness did not last long. We were intercepted by a pre-ambushed Iron Law Bureau warship on the high seas. Ivar was captured. He acted silently as if he knew all this would happen."
Lorenzo looked at Irene, and he suddenly realized that his guess might be true. He couldn't help but feel a sense of panic, and... ridiculous.
"This is really a low-level mistake. How could you make such a mistake? Erin." Lorenzo asked.
Irene turned her head and looked at Lorenzo. She knew that she had been seen through by Lorenzo, and she asked with a smile.
"What about you? Lorenzo Holmes, have you never made a mistake in your life?"
Lorenzo was taken aback, while Irene continued.
"Maybe this is the bad nature of human beings. I think Mr. Holmes, you have killed many people, too many to count."
Lorenzo nodded stiffly, Irene asked.
"Then can you still tell whether you are simply killing or enforcing the so-called justice in your heart? Can you tell the difference?"
Erin smiled to herself.
"Just like me, just like us, we all wear masks, but sometimes we still remember the existence of the mask, but more often the mask is stuck to our face and can never be taken off."
"This is too bad, Erin."
Lorenzo was saddened by all this, and he pitied Irene.
"Are you in love with him?"
Silence, I don't know how long this silence lasted, Irene started laughing, she couldn't stop laughing, and in the end she even coughed, which affected the wound.
"how could be?"
It seemed like this was some funny joke, she almost burst into tears laughing.
(End of this chapter)