Chapter 550: Chapter 551: Awakened Something Strange_1
Aiden had finished inspecting the cells inside and returned to the door of Cell Number Thirteen, where Fille was already slumped against the door, as if all the strength had been drained from her body.
"Stop, let her go," Aiden commanded the mercury alloy golem.
As soon as the mercury alloy golem let go, Fille immediately slid down, grasping the bars weakly and knelt on the ground.
"Have you had enough?" Aiden asked, looking down at Fille.
"You were too harsh, Lord Aiden!" Fille lifted her head, her eyes blurry, her voice unclear, "My... my back is so soft, I canāt even stand up straight."
"You really are a natural at making lewd jokes," Aiden shook his head and commented.
Sometimes, things that were perfectly ordinary would sound particularly lecherous when they came out of Filleās mouthāin some ways, this was a talent of its own.
"But...I donāt dislike such intense play, ehehehe... It feels, unexpectedly satisfying. You are really amazing, Lord Aiden," Fille giggled foolishly against the bars.
"Are you sure you havenāt actually broken?" Aiden frowned.
"I think sheās just awakening new preferences under your āguidanceā, Warden," Daili interjected from the cell at the back.
"Donāt pin the blame on me. Even if that were the case, it would only mean that this guy is a genuine pervert at heart," Aiden replied calmly.
It seemed that this succubus would only become more outrageous as she played, and one could only hope that she wouldnāt return after her release in over two months.
Aiden walked back to the entrance and turned to call out to the corridor, "It seems that in the few days I was away, everyone has been behaving nicely in prison, and I am glad. I hope you will all continue to do so. I sincerely hope you reform and get out early, so I never have to see you again, especially Prisoner 3307 of Cell Number Thirteen. Until next time."
...
An hour later, Aiden sat in the meeting room, across from Sophie Carter, who had been brought from the cell block.
"So, what information does the Warden seek this time?" Sophie asked straightforwardly, sitting in the chair.
"Do you know the name Deborah Awen?" Aiden asked just as straightforwardly.
Since Deborah was a person involved with authority and power, it was very likely that there would be information about her at the Smile Libra.
"Of course, Iāve heard of her," Sophie nodded vigorously, "Iām surprised youāre interested in her, Warden."
Just as Aiden thought that... he heard Sophie continue, "She is the new star in the Empireās opera circle."
"What?" Aiden was taken aback.
"You didnāt know, Warden? Sheās the Empireās Rainbow Theaterās latest hit actress, the one who made her debut two months ago with her portrayal of the Chameleon Thief Liv..." Sophie said, suddenly realizing something, and after pondering for a moment, she began to piece information together, "Wait, the woman who proposed to you before, thatās her?"
"At least, thatās what she claimed," Aiden answered.
An actress? Indeed, that face. The probability of being an actress or a model was very high.
In an era where the film industry was still not well developed, theater remained the mainstream form of film and television entertainment. This meant that an actorās influence was limited to the cities where they had performed; an actor from the Empire wouldnāt necessarily be famous in the autonomous regions, let alone a newcomer who had just debuted two months ago.
Sophie was a singer and had also performed in operas, so it was not surprising that she was knowledgeable about her peers in the industry.
"Deborah Awen canāt be easily disguised; her fame is due to her beauty, which can be called flawless," Sophie emphasized.
The perfection of appearance, indeed, was the first impression most people had after seeing Deborah.
Such a visage would indeed be very difficult to fake using ordinary disguise techniques.
The "Substitute" power of the "Existence" authority could, in theory, perfectly forge the observable appearance of a target, as long as the user of the authority has a memory of the observation results.
But Veronica had already helped Aiden confirm that Deborahās appearance could not be replicated by this power. After meeting Deborah in person, Aiden himself had tried, and indeed, the result was just as Veronica had said.
The woman who visited was highly likely to be Deborah Awen herself; the question was why her appearance couldnāt be mimicked by divine speech.
"Does she have a connection with the power of the authority?" Aiden asked.
"This... I havenāt received any information of the sort," Sophie shook her head somewhat helplessly, then turned the question back to Aiden, "Sheās actually connected to the power of the authority?"
Seeing this reaction, Sophie seemed genuinely unaware of the link between Deborah and the authority.
"Itās just my personal suspicion," Aiden said, "So what do you know about her? You mentioned just now that she debuted with the role of the Chameleon Thief Liv?"
I remembered Deborah mentioning that she was adopted by Duboman, and her adoptive mother was the chameleon thief who Duboman had traced to the Northern Continent.
In other words, was Deborah performing in a play based on her fatherās story, and portraying her own adoptive mother in it?
"Yes, the Empireās Rainbow Theater has been restaging the āHound Hero Seriesā, and she was cast to play the Chameleon Thief Liv."
"Thatās a bit of a waste of her face," Aiden remarked.
In the story, the Chameleon Thief Liv mostly appeared as a masked female thief or was disguised as someone else. In theater, the role of Liv often required several actors to prepare, with the main actor being masked.
"Not at all, Miss Awen is said to be very skilled in disguise and makeup artistry, and she can take on all the roles of the Chameleon Thief Liv by herself."
"Isnāt that just like the original?" Aiden widened his eyes slightly.
"Yes, if it werenāt for the fact that sheās much younger than the real Chameleon Thief, she would have been the first to be arrested and interrogated," Sophie agreed with the opinion.
The Chameleon Thief Liv and Duboman were contemporaries; if she were alive today, she would probably be a hundred years old as well.
"Wait, if the Chameleon Thief Liv is still alive, perhaps she could also disguise herself as a young person," Aiden suddenly realized.
"That would definitely be possible, because according to the intelligence of the organization, the Chameleon Thief Liv actually possesses an authority similar to those we reception people have," Sophie explained slowly, "Her ability to disguise may well be the effect of the āSubstituteā power."
Aiden pondered, if Deborahās disguise talent was, in fact, the effect of divine speech. Then there were two possibilities, one is that she is actually the original Chameleon Thief Liv herself, and the other, as she claimed, is the adoptive daughter of Duboman and the Chameleon Thief Liv. Perhaps during this process, Deborah herself learned the "Substitute" divine speech.