Chapter 315: Chapter 315

Of course, in the end, An Ning, who still didn't want to end her happy single life for now, decisively rejected his request.

Regarding this, the Holmes before her clearly wasn't very surprised. He simply spent the following time being particularly humorous yet tactful while introducing his family situation.

For example, a pair of open-minded parents who didn't like to interfere too much with their children's family lives or even work lives, and a "lovable" younger brother who was somewhat adventurous and troublesome, once causing headaches for the entire family including himself.

And the beautiful natural scenery of Holmes Manor.

"That's indeed a very good name!"

Thanks to her strong adaptability, An Ning could already pronounce this name quite naturally by then.

"Yes, Sherlock, though you might be more familiar with the surname Scott..."

Without any guilt about exposing his younger brother's secrets, Mycroft's expression remained equally natural at this moment.

It must be said that at a certain moment, An Ning did feel just a tiny bit tempted.

But the Sherlock era... Considering how London would later become filled with frequent sudden murders, with victims and even perpetrators everywhere. Abruptly, just as this dance was about to end, An Ning suddenly stood on her toes, leaned close to his ear, and asked a somewhat unexpected question:

"Dear Mr. Holmes, I wonder if you've ever dabbled in the art of swordsmanship?"

Not to mention how An Ning was subjected to triple interrogation by her mother and cousin after the dance ended. At that time in Holmes Manor:

By evening, in the living room, the maid downstairs skillfully brought up an assortment of tea and pastries. For a moment, the sweet aroma of cream and the fragrance from baking quickly filled the entire room.

Arriving home, Mycroft's footsteps subconsciously paused for a moment, but the next instant, he acted as if he hadn't noticed anything, briefly greeted the butler, and went straight up to the second floor.

Meanwhile, Sherlock, who had been too immersed in his own world and had perfectly missed both breakfast and lunch, was coming downstairs to search for food with huge dark circles under his eyes and an empty stomach.

Upon closer inspection, he seemed to be holding a crumpled piece of paper marked with numerous lines.

Unexpectedly, halfway down, Sherlock suddenly retreated back up in an extremely mechanical manner.

"Wait... you are... Mike!"

In the quiet room, the latter exclamation was undoubtedly particularly noticeable:

And then, as if seeing some astonishing spectacle, ignoring his stomach that was fiercely protesting, Sherlock, who had just been looking irritated, quickly closed the distance to his significantly changed older brother in a few swift steps.

Faint rose scent on him - definitely women's perfume. At this close distance, obvious wrinkles on his clothes - oh, dancing, and dancing at a noisy ball with a clearly younger lady...

The fresh and elegant rose scent undoubtedly indicated this was a young lady with quite good taste.

Clearly in a semi-starved state, yet completely ignoring the sweet pastries nearby...

Undoubtedly, this lady had rather high standards for appearance when choosing a partner.

After examining him from head to toe with hawk-like eyes, the still young Sherlock Holmes suddenly reached an extremely terrifying yet utterly absurd conclusion.

Because it was too shocking, after repeated verification, Sherlock in the room suddenly fell silent for a moment, followed by a scream that successfully enlivened the entire Holmes Manor:

"Oh, Mike, my dear brother, it's simply unbelievable - you've actually fallen in love!"

To be honest, one couldn't blame the still young Sherlock for being surprised. Anyone in his position would have been just as astonished as the future great detective.

But this person before him...

Mycroft in love? God as my witness, this was even more extraordinary than George Boole miscalculating algebraic structures.

Subconsciously pacing around the room a few times, momentarily, Sherlock - forgive this teenage version of the great detective for being unable to control his curiosity - began rapidly firing questions at his older brother:

"Truly unbelievable, Mike! Given your extremely lazy nature and aversion to trouble, you would actually go looking for trouble one day, allowing outsiders into your domain, and even attending boring dances for it!"

"Oh, and just tonight, that unknown lovely lady even rejected you..."

The man not far away fell into an awkward silence for a moment.

"The deduction game ends here. You can shut up now, Sherly!"

Shut up? Oh no! He was far too curious now.

What kind of person could make his older brother fall in love and suffer repeated setbacks!

Logically, even a romance shouldn't have degraded this Holmes' brain directly to goldfish level.

Thinking this, Sherlock circled around him again, eagerly wanting to gather more information from the other.

Clearly, Sherlock in his teenage version was far from as steady and gentlemanly as he would later become. His overly abundant curiosity inevitably made him particularly annoying at certain times.

Glancing at Mr. and Mrs. Holmes who were peeking not far away, even Mycroft, who considered himself highly cultivated, had to take a deep breath and force a smile toward his unlucky brother:

"Judging by the wear on that paper in your hand, if I'm not mistaken, Sherly, this partial score has been with you for at least over two days?"

"It seems that I, as your older brother, have somewhat overestimated your thinking abilities!"

As he spoke, Mycroft stepped forward, undid his cufflinks, and took the partial score that had been crumpled countless times and carefully smoothed out from his unlucky brother's hands.

Then, unsurprisingly, in less than an hour, this partial score that had troubled Sherlock for nearly two days had successfully found its most suitable solution.

"Oh, Sherlock, it proves that your brother hasn't become empty-headed because of love.

But Sherly, my dear brother, if you'd just use your brain a bit more, perhaps you should understand that this is undoubtedly the real reason Mr. Rosente has refused to meet with you countless times before..."

Lightly stuffing the remaining paper against his brother's chest, before leaving, this Holmes who shared the same surname didn't forget to deliver a knowing blow to his dear brother with a smile.

Oh, it seems Mike has truly fallen in love this time.

Behind them, the elder Mr. and Mrs. Holmes exchanged glances, thinking exactly that.