Free Web NovelChapter 570: Chapter 570 Bad Past_1
Two days later, at noon, a café near the Rose Iron Prison.
"Daisy? That’s my nickname," Deborah stated, holding her coffee cup, "My mother always called me that. Mr. Aiden, how did you know?"
"So, it’s your nickname," Aiden nodded thoughtfully.
Yesterday, Deborah had invited Aiden in advance to discuss the investigation, and Aiden had set the meeting at a café near the prison, taking advantage of lunch break to come out.
He also had some questions to confirm with Deborah and not long after meeting, he brought up the name Daisy to see if she recognized it.
But he got an unexpected answer.
It turned out Daisy was actually Deborah’s nickname, which further supported the hypothesis that Daisy in the book was modelled after Deborah.
However, from Deborah’s response, it seemed she wasn’t aware of the newly introduced character Daisy in "The Hound of the Baskervilles."
"You acted in the play that’s adapted from ’The Hound of the Baskervilles,’ haven’t you followed the original novel?" Aiden tried asking.
"I read the first three volumes. The play I’m in is a new adaptation, not entirely faithful to the original. The theatre company didn’t make it a requirement to thoroughly read the novel; knowing the script well was enough for me," Deborah answered, "I’m not particularly keen on it, to be honest. After all, compared to the fictional characters in the book, my own parents are closer to me."
"I see, so can you tell me how exactly you met Mr. Duboman?" Aiden continued to inquire.
"Well, it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I grew up in an orphanage in the pioneer lands, where the culture was not that great. I ran away from the orphanage when I was fourteen because there were rumors that the principal was secretly selling kids to human traffickers—the security in the pioneer lands was quite concerning. At first, after escaping, I planned to survive through pickpocketing, but I bumped into my father almost right away and was caught by him on the spot." Deborah spoke with a nostalgic look on her face, then shook her head, "Then I was seriously lectured by my father, sigh, the old man was really harsh with his hits, I still have somewhat of a psychological shadow from it."
"What kind of lecturing was it?" Aiden couldn’t help being curious.
"He grabbed me, who was resisting non-stop, and used a knife to scrape off a tuft of hair on the top of my head, you know, the kind that looks like... a bald spot," Deborah gestured a circle atop her head, "Imagine that, although I was only fourteen, at least I was a young girl. He went ahead and did it without hesitation, and even mocked me mercilessly afterwards."
"That is indeed a bit..." Aiden couldn’t help but smile upon hearing this. Duboman’s disposition certainly was quite... direct.
However, being caught for pickpocketing was indeed similar to the situation described in the book.
"After he had his fun, he offered to buy me a meal, and at first, I wanted to refuse, but I was just too hungry by that time. I asked him for his hat to cover the top of my head, and he actually refused me!" Deborah said with a bit of a bitter smile, "Later during the meal, my mother appeared and after hearing the full story, she suggested to my father that they adopt me. At first, that wasn’t his intention, but he couldn’t withstand my mother’s persistent persuasion..."
"So it was your mother who initiated the adoption. Speaking of which, didn’t they have any children of their own?" Aiden asked.
"No. That has always struck me as odd. If they did have children, they should be middle-aged or even elderly by now, considering their age. But I’ve almost never heard about it. It felt a bit awkward, so I never asked," Deborah explained.
"I see..."
"Regardless, meeting them was the luckiest thing in my life," Deborah said nostalgically, "If it weren’t for them, my life could have been completely ruined."
"If you lived by pickpocketing, you would have become a habitual thief sooner or later," Aiden nodded.
"No, perhaps something worse," Deborah’s expression grew a bit more serious, "As a child, I was actually quite a terrible person."
"Terrible?"
"As I mentioned before, the atmosphere at the orphanage in the pioneer lands was not good. To put it plainly, bullying among the children was very common. And I used to be one of the bullies. Since I was good-looking, many boys would listen to me. During my time at the orphanage, I did some... rather excessive things to other kids," Deborah said expressionlessly.
Noticing Aiden’s intention to probe further, she added, "Sorry, I really can’t bring myself to detail it in front of you, you would definitely dislike me. After all, even I detest my younger self. To think back, it’s unbelievable that my heart once contained such a terrifying darkness. If I had started with pickpocketing, I probably would have fallen into organized crime sooner or later, given the gangs prevalent in the towns of the pioneer lands."
"So it was the Duboman couple who changed you?" Aiden asked.
"Correct. They educated me and completely transformed me. To this day, I can’t recall exactly when my state of mind began to change, but one way or another, under their verbal and physical guidance, I gradually began to respect and idolize the justice they held dear," Deborah spoke slowly, "Though I probably can’t fully atone for the wrongs I committed in the past, at least it allows me some peace of mind."
"I hadn’t realized you had such a complex past," Aiden nodded. freewebnσvel.cøm
Deborah, who came from an orphanage, and Daisy, who grew up in the slums, were both caught for pickpocketing by the hunter Duboman and adopted (as an apprentice) with the help of Liv.
Clearly, there were connections, but Deborah’s mention of her checkered past wasn’t noted in the book.
"Mr. Aiden, why have you suddenly taken such an interest in my affairs?" Deborah looked at Aiden with a smile in her eyes, interpreting his questions as an attempt to get to know her better.
"Well..." Aiden thought for a moment but decided to generally explain the parallels he had found between the novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and her life.
"Modelled after me!?" Deborah was slightly shocked, "Could it be that my mother told the ’Illusionist’ something about me?"
"I’m afraid it might not be that simple, considering the communication costs between the Southern and Northern Continents. The information he received would likely be quite outdated," Aiden analyzed, "Yet the things he writes always seem to mirror reality... By the way, this book also mentions the Double Identity murder case."
"You think... the content of the book is related to the real-life cases?" Deborah was a bit surprised.
"That’s what I believe, at least," Aiden nodded towards Deborah, "If you have time, perhaps you’d like to analyze the book’s content from your perspective?"
