Chapter 579: Chapter 579: Sleep in the Same Room_1
"Are you sure you didn’t follow me that day?" Aiden asked again to confirm.
"Of course not! How could I possibly joke about something like that?" Deborah said earnestly.
"Which means..."
"I’ve been targeted by that murderer again!" Deborah’s expression turned grave.
"Is that really the case?" Aiden furrowed his brows, deep in thought.
The doppelganger murderer had set his sights on Deborah?
It wasn’t impossible, after all, he had targeted her before. Perhaps the murderer who was originally preparing to commit a crime in Silvertown switched his target to Deborah after seeing her news.
But something felt a bit off.
"Do you find something amiss?" Deborah asked.
"There are many doubts." While thinking it through, Aiden said, "Firstly, when he committed crimes in the Empire, you were also there; why didn’t he find you then? Moreover, he always commits crimes on the night of a full moon, and only transforms into his targets the day before acting. But it has been at least three days since we last met. Lastly, and most importantly, how can he take your appearance? It’s clear that our ’substitutes’ cannot replicate your appearance at all."
"..." Deborah fell silent for a while, then chuckled awkwardly, "Mr. Aiden, I’m not very good at reasoning, could you summarize for me?"
"Simply put, I believe that this doppelganger murderer has some special connection to you; to her, you are not simply prey," Aiden explained, and added, "On this matter, perhaps your mother knows something."
Moreover, it surely had something to do with the tales of the "Imaginarium" and the Hound Knight.
"Why do you say that?"
"Have you forgotten? Your mother can also use a ’substitute’ to imitate your appearance, you told me this yourself."
Initially, Aiden thought that Deborah’s appearance could not be replicated due to some kind of interference at a certain point in time, but now it seemed this was not the case.
The doppelganger murderer could still replicate her appearance, and Deborah had also mentioned that the phantom thief Liv could do the same, and Liv was an old acquaintance of the "Imaginarium".
This further confirmed Aiden’s initial speculation.
Thoughtful, Deborah cast her eyes down and then glanced up at Aiden a few times before gathering the courage to speak, "Mr. Aiden, would you... stay with me tonight?"
"Hmm? What?" Aiden, engrossed in his thoughts, didn’t immediately grasp what she had said.
"You see, I might be targeted by the doppelganger murderer now, and I’m not sure if my whereabouts have been exposed. To be honest, I’m a little... unsure," Deborah said without looking directly into Aiden’s eyes, looking somewhat embarrassed, "And, if we stay together, should he appear, we might have the chance to catch him. That’s what I mean."
Aiden pondered; the doppelganger murderer had not shown himself to attack Deborah in these three days, so the likelihood of him appearing tonight was probably not very high. But as with all things, one must fear the unexpected.
Of course, if only taking Deborah’s safety into consideration, they could simply let Deborah hide away in Rose Iron Prison for a while. But should the doppelganger murderer make an appearance, it would indeed be a rare opportunity to capture the adversary, and this matter might then be simply brought to a close.
"Alright, if that would make you feel more at ease," Aiden agreed for the time being.
Late that night, at the Bauhinia Hotel.
"A double room, thank you," Aiden said to the proprietor behind the counter.
"I’m sorry, we only have king-sized rooms available now," the proprietor said, somewhat apologetically, "Would the two of you like separate rooms? I can give you a discount."
Aiden exchanged glances with Deborah who was standing behind him—without a single room, there was no point.
Aiden had decided to stay at the hotel with Deborah mainly because he considered that the doppelganger murderer might have targeted Deborah once more and thus came to act as her guard.
They spent the night wandering around areas of the city with few people and encountered no one suspicious. In the end, they decided to check into a nearby hotel for the night.
Considering that the murderer might attack while Deborah was asleep—after all, he had made an unsuccessful attempt before—leaving Aiden with no choice but to stay with her.
"Could you two manage with this? Don’t worry, the king-sized bed is absolutely big enough for two," the proprietor reassured.
Currently using a ’substitute’ to change his appearance, Aiden appeared to the proprietor as simply a companion traveling with a lady.
Upon hearing these words, Deborah, standing behind Aiden, couldn’t help but let her imagination run wild: "A room with only one bed available, this is like a scenario straight out of a novel, perfect for the male and female leads to develop their relationship..."
Of course, she promptly curbed her wild fantasies; the upright Mr. Aiden wouldn’t possibly make such a brazen choice. They could simply switch to a different hotel.
"Then we’ll take a king-sized room," Aiden suddenly declared.
"Eh?" Deborah was astonished.
"What’s wrong?" Aiden turned around, his expression calm.
"No..." Deborah felt her face heating up.
Why would he so nonchalantly book such a room? Did Mr. Aiden truly want to share... share a bed with her?
At the thought, Deborah couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Could it be that they were going to cross that line tonight? Although she did harbor feelings for him, she had hoped that their relationship would develop a bit deeper before... such matters.
But if it meant affirming a solemn and earnest relationship, then perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea. It wouldn’t be reprehensible for Mr. Aiden to be first interested in this body since her appearance was indeed charming.
However, why was Mr. Aiden so adept at this? Besides, he had emphatically claimed he hadn’t considered such things before, and his sudden move... it was somewhat unsettling.
When she came back to her senses, she realized she was already standing in the room.
Gazing at the soft, white king-sized bed, her mind went blank.
Should she... take a shower first?
"There’s a table and chairs in the room, that’s good," Aiden nodded, "How about this, I’ll keep watch the first half of the night, and you take the second... Right, I’ll also ask the owner for some magazines to pass the time, what do you say?"
"Keeping watch?" Deborah was stunned.
"Of course, we can’t both be asleep at the same time, can we?" Aiden replied matter-of-factly, "Sorry, I’m not really in a position to stay up all night, I have work tomorrow."
"Yes, yes! We do need to keep watch, don’t we!" Deborah realized, forcing a stiff smile.
Right, that was only to be expected, what was she even thinking about...
Deborah breathed a sigh of relief.
"What’s the matter?" Aiden noticed her reaction.
"Nothing at all!!" Deborah shook her head vigorously.
