Forbidden Flower of Moriarty || Moriarty the Patriot Fanfiction ||

Chapter 21: Old and new comrades

A/N: I don't own the pic used. Credits to the owner/s.

Again, I'll be using the masculine pronouns in addressing Bond in respect to his wishes to be treated as a man. Just a little reminder in case there are some who gets confused.

Happy Reading!!

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While Elise was tending the garden, she came across Louis and Bond as the former is giving him a brief tour around the house.

Now that "Irene Adler" is dead, he had taken a new life as man and named his self as "James Bond", a combination of the given name that Albert has given him and the last name he chose to symbolize his new life with them.

His overall appearance is impeccable as a man, even with his posture, voice and the air he carries.

"Good morning, Louis-nii-sama." Elise smiled in greeting to the two. "Good morning to you as well, Mr. Bond. Are you giving him a tour around the house, nii-sama?"

"Good morning, Elise." Louis smiled back in reply. "Yes. Is it all right to show him around here?"

"Of course. The garden is welcome to everyone."

Bond stepped inside the rose observatory and smiled at the variety of roses in the garden. "This is a beautiful garden house. Are all of these tended by Lady Elise herself? Ah, good morning to you as well, Lady Elise."

Elise laughed softly. "No, Fred and Louis-nii-sama are also tending this garden but recently, Fred's doing all the hard work in taking care of the roses. Should I show you around for a moment, Mr. Bond?"

"Lead the way, milady. Please drop the formalities since you are older than me."

She explained to him briefly the various roses in the observatory and the area around it for Bond to be familiar with. When they were done, Elise came along with them until they are finished the house tour for their new comrade.

"To the east of the second floor is Albert-nii-san's bedroom and study." Louis gestures at the end of the hallway. "To the west are William's room and study. The room in the middle belongs to Elise."

"Hmm... this is a nice estate." Bond says as a compliment. "I can see that every nook and cranny of it has been taken care of with much love from the both of you."

"Yes, though..." Louis emanated a dark aura as he glared at his side disapprovingly. "Elise, William-nii-san and I often spend half of a week in Durham, so we never have the time to clean this place up properly..."

"I am sorry about that." Elise apologized while sweat dropping at Louis who is grumbling about a certain hitman and his terrible habits. "Moran-san is usually the one staying here and he has the habit of smoking here so..."

Bond smiled in amusement. "Moran-kun, you say? I couldn't quite believe him coming from a prestigious family myself."

"Even though I have warned him multiple times not to do it for the smoke is dangerous for Elise...!" He grumbled even more before sighing in exasperation. "But still, at least he has the decency to use one room as a smoking area."

"Dangerous?" He asked.

Elise placed a finger on her lips in a small smile as she explained. "This is a secret between my family and to everyone in this estate. I have an unknown respiratory illness and I suffer attacks a few times but they are bearable thanks to William's medicine. Nobody knows this fact outside the family and I prefer to keep it this way."

Bond's electric blue eyes widened from the revelation. He did not expect that the woman he respected is actually silently suffering and fighting. Looking at her then and now, Elise just looked so flawless and perfect and so healthy that it's hard to believe she's sick all these years.