Year 1829...

Two men were talking in a club in London.

One was quite young and the other was of mature age, but both were typical wealthy gentlemen, decked out in frock coats and silk hats.

"Its popularity can only be described as explosive."

The older gentleman wearing a monocle said with a grin.

"The number of subscriptions to our magazine has doubled, and if we continue at this rate, it won't be just a dream to see the number increase fivefold within this year! Is there anything more our company can do for you?"

"Hmm, I've received enough consideration in the contract as is, so I don't think there will be much right now."

"I see, I must say, you write really fast."

"Nonsense! Shouldn't we make a lot of money when we're young and enjoy it comfortably when we're older? Besides I need to build up a lot of stockpiles so that if something unexpected happens suddenly and I go abroad or something like that, my readers won't have to wait."

"Brilliant!"

The editor-in-chief smiled while sipping the black tea.

"Originally, the boss was supposed to come in person, but something urgent came up and he couldn't make it."

"Huh, I wanted to see him one more time, but it turned out to be a shame."

"Didn't he see you at the party last time?"

"To be honest, we didn't even have time to properly say hello."

"Ah, that's a shame. Next time, I will arrange a table for you two."

The editor-in-chief gazed at the young gentleman with a serious expression.

Storm!

No, A storm.

The Sherlock Holmes series was truly causing a craze.

Baker Street, where Holmes's boarding house was presumably located in the novel, was overcrowded with tourists, and nearby post offices were having a hard time due to letters arriving at 221B Baker Street, believing that Sherlock Holmes was a real person and asking for help in solving their cases.

The problem was that there was no '200 address' on Baker Street in the first place. Thanks to this, postal workers were having a hard time returning the messages one by one and convincing the senders that Baker Street was an address without 221B.

Naturally, the fame and value of the author, Viscount Edward Gentian, was bound to increase as well.

It's not Arthur Conan Doyle.

He wasn't born yet.

The young gentleman smiled and drank his tea.

"The scones taste good."

"Haha, the Viscount has refined tastes I see."

well.

The young gentleman named Viscount Edward Gentian just smiled quietly.

"Could you possibly give me a sneak preview of the next plot in advance?"

"Well if you must know, I intend to give Holmes his first failure."

"Failure…?"

The older gentleman tilted his head.

"I'm not very versed in novels, but I don't think readers will like seeing Holmes fail."

"Oh, of course I will write it in a way that makes sense. The person dealing with Holmes this time around has not actually broken any laws, but at the same time, he is the person who holds the key to a very troubling problem."

"Could you please expound a little?"

"Sure. It's like this, Holmes receives a request as always, but the client is quite influential. A member of the royal family of a country to be exact."

"The royal family?"

"The man who claimed to be the Grand Duke's emissary. Sherlock, though, found out immediately It was the Archduke himself. The Archduke, when found out, quit his farce, and requested sherlock to retrieve a picture for him."

"A picture?"

"You see The Grand Duke is about to get married. And… some royal families demand strict conditions from their marriage partners. The Grand Duke is scheduled to marry a princess by convenience, and a commoner with whom he had a romantic interest in the past is furious. So, on the day of the wedding announcement, she was gritting her teeth to prove that him and she were close so as to break off the engagement. It wasn't that she had a child, or she was his mistress, but it was a situation that could be thought of as such, and the anger of the other royal family alone could be fatal to the archduke's position."

"Well, then…"

"It's kind of a platonic relationship, that's all you need to know."

"Yes, I see."

"The woman's name was Irene Adler, and she had two Leverages: a handwritten letter from the Archduke and a picture of the Archduke. Holmes could claim that he stole the paper for the handwritten letter and that he could just imitate the handwriting, but the Archduke and Miss Adler, the photo they took together was the core of the problem."

"Of course."

"The Archduke said he would do anything to get that photo. And after promising Holmes a huge reward and also giving him a hefty advance, Holmes offers to retrieve the photo for the Archduke. The Archduke told him about how he had already tried: twice to buy the pictures, three times to hire thieves to ransack her house, and once to send a robber to take the pictures from her while she was riding in a carriage, all in vain. Holmes points this out and says that he should have hidden the photo even more secretly since he was making a fuss for no reason and rebukes him by advising that he ought to have come to him right away. To this the Archduke had nothing more to say."

"Hmm."

"Somehow, Holmes succeeds in finding out where Irene Adler hid the photo. So, Holmes, Watson, and the Archduke went together, and Holmes climbed over the wall to get the picture himself, and the Archduke and Watson decided to wait in the carriage outside…. Unexpectedly, Holmes, who had climbed over the wall, came to the gate with a puzzled look on his face, holding a letter…."

"Ohh?"

"Turns out the house was empty, and when Irene Adler realized that she was being followed and that Sherlock Holmes was her opponent, she packed up her family property and ran away. The letter was addressed to Sherlock Holmes, and although she will not return the photo, she promised not to make it public but to keep it as a memory of his once immature time. And there was a postscript attached to the Grand Duke telling him that he could now marry the princess with peace of mind. The Grand Duke was amazed and said that if only her status were that of a noble, she would have been able to become his consort. Adler is a person who would definitely keep her word, so his request had been resolved. As for the payment. Holmes ends up choosing the photo of Irene Adler, which she had included in her letter, over any other price."

"Huh, very interesting. Holmes fails, but it's not a complete failure. Will Irene Adler appear again in the future?"

"I haven't thought about it yet."

The young gentleman who told the story of the scandal in the Kingdom of Bohemia, where he gave a massage, spoke with a natural tone:

"Well then, for the next Holmes and Watson adventure."

"For the next chapter of the Sherlock Holmes odyssey, editor!"

"CHEERS!!"

The two people laughed.

In any case, a thunderbolt of money was waiting for them.

___________________________________________