Free Web NovelChapter 593: Chapter 592 Fantasist_1
Several days later, at a coffee shop near Rose Iron Prison, Aiden was browsing through the latest issue of "Adventurer". freeweɓnovel.cøm
"...Daisy was bound by an ancient curse cast by a witch. She felt weak, and death had become her shadow. Although it was only following her for now, she could no longer shake it off.
She turned to the hound knight, Jeno, and saw that his face held only seriousness, without any needless sympathy or sorrow—this somewhat relieved her. It was her own choice, and she didn’t want to end things in a mournful atmosphere.
’Mr. Hound, do you know how to dance the Northern Continent’s social waltz?’ she asked, raising her voice and waving at him.
’Yes,’ Jeno replied steadily, ’I can hum the tune from the beginning to the end.’
’Then, please, dance with me.’
...
As the dance reached its climax, a black fog appeared before Daisy’s eyes. Distracted for a moment, she stumbled, but fortunately, her dance partner held her firmly and led her through this phase.
She struggled through the hardest part, spun twice, and then to her delight, she found her body feeling lighter, as if the curse had simply vanished.
Her steps became more graceful, and she even began to lead the dance. Both Jeno and she were aware that this was just a fleeting resurgence, yet both tacitly immersed themselves in the dance.
...
The tune Jeno was humming was soon coming to an end, and Daisy finally felt the fear of the approaching death. She wished the dance would never end.
But the moment she met Jeno’s gaze again, she forced her eyes to brighten. This was her finale; she wanted to leave in the way she had chosen, with a smile, just as she had said before.
...
Yet, the dance still ended, and the sunset that had shone on them finally set, staining the western sky a bloody red.
Daisy felt a chill; she knew the night’s cold was far off—it was her body that was growing cold.
With her last moments, she curtsied to Jeno: ’Thank you, sir. Let’s dance together again next time.’
’It would be my honor,’ Jeno replied, bowing. He then reached out to catch Daisy, because she suddenly collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
He felt that Daisy was very light, like she was made of foam, and might disappear into the sunset at any moment..."
At this point, Aiden closed the book.
This issue of "Adventurer" had suddenly continued with several new Chapters of "The Hound Knight" after a two-issue hiatus, bringing Daisy’s story to an end.
In the story, Daisy was depicted as an unwitting tool used by a mad witch to resurrect the Ancient Evil God, with a malevolent spirit that could transform into physical form having split from her soul, going on a killing spree to sacrifice for the Evil God. This malevolent spirit was the murderous double identity, and Daisy, who carried the blood of ancients, was the vessel for the eventual resurrection of the Evil God.
To stop the ritual, the spirit had to be killed, but because the spirit and Daisy’s own spirit were bound together, the death of the spirit meant Daisy’s death as well.
At the story’s end, the double-identity murderer took a victim hostage. After hesitating, Daisy ultimately chose to personally kill her other half, bringing about the end of her own life.
It seems that this is the ending "The Dreamer" had prepared for Deborah.
Even if Aiden had changed the story’s ending, in the end, "The Dreamer" continued to write according to his own plan.
"Mr. Aiden," a call made Aiden lift his head, and Deborah took a seat in front of him, "Sorry I’m late, packing took a bit longer."
"What time is your train?" Aiden asked.
"At one o’clock sharp, the carriage for the luggage will be outside in half an hour. I will go to the Empire first to take care of the work at the theater, and then head to the north shore to catch the overseas ship," Deborah said.
"Still planning to go back to the Northern Continent, huh."
"Yes, I want to talk to my mother. Also, I have many conflicting thoughts right now, so I’m planning to go back to re-investigate my past, and then think carefully about what to do in the future. We might... not see each other for a while." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Today was the day Deborah came to say goodbye.
Just yesterday, Deborah had finally received a reply from her foster mother Liv, sent from the Northern Continent.
Liv had not directly answered Deborah’s questions in her reply, offering only one line: "If you are still alive, please give me a chance, I would like to talk to you."
Clearly, the phantom thief Liv indeed knew about the "Fantasist’s" planned ending for Deborah. Ultimately, Deborah decided to go back to the Northern Continent to see her; the dominant half of her spirit still had feelings for her foster mother.
"I see," Aiden said with just that.
"To be honest, I really don’t want to leave you," Deborah said with a smile, "but I think as long as we are both alive, there will be chances to meet again in the future, so you don’t need to see me off."
"How have you been feeling lately?" Aiden asked.
"Not so great, I still have nightmares occasionally, reliving the memories of me killing people. I always feel a bit uneasy when I wake up." Deborah shook her head lightly, "But it’s just that, I guess."
At least she felt repulsed by the memories of her own killings, which meant that the just part of her was still in control. These days Aiden had used The Codex to question Deborah several times and had ultimately determined that she no longer possessed the antisocial tendencies of a dual-personality murderer.
However, after merging with the dual-personality murderer, Deborah had also lost her obsessive dedication to justice. The direct memories of the criminal acts committed by the murderer haunted her, preventing her from behaving as she once did, with head held high, proudly administering vigilante justice. Doing good deeds had become more like an act of atonement for her.
She had also lost the grand ambition to recreate her foster father’s legend on the Southern Continent. She no longer felt much attachment to this land, having only a bit of affection for Aiden, but compared to the life she planned to explore, that was not enough to keep her there.
The benevolent justice advocate Deborah had changed, or perhaps just a part of herself remained in this world.
"Then have a safe journey," Aiden said.
"I’ll write to you as soon as possible," Deborah replied with a smile, standing up and extending her hand, "Don’t worry, I won’t attack you this time."
Aiden stood up and kissed her extended hand.
"Goodbye," Aiden said.
"Goodbye," Deborah turned around, "and thank you."
As she said this, she walked out of the shop under Aiden’s gaze.
As she was leaving the shop, she almost bumped into a man who was entering.
"I’m sorry, sir," Deborah apologized politely.
"No, it’s my fault," the man nodded and then suddenly began to smile, "Ah, it’s my first time seeing such a beautiful girl like you. Could I have the honor of buying you a drink?"
"No thanks, I’m in a hurry. Besides, I already have someone I like," Deborah waved her hand and boarded the hired carriage.
She did not see that the moment the carriage left, the man performed a hat tip gesture toward the departing carriage.
"Bon voyage, my little mermaid," the man said quietly, then pushed the door and went inside the shop.
He walked straight to Aiden’s seat.
