Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 329 The Mysterious Script
After completing his investigation with Mobis, Levi left directly. Of course, before leaving, Mobis cried and made a scene, fearing that the other party would come to kill him again. Levi, however, seemed very calm.

"You're not going to die."

"how do you know?"

"The note said, 'If you keep playing the role of Nuoan, you'll die, right?'"

"Yes."

"Look at you now, how can you still act?"

As Li Wei spoke, he looked at Mobis's legs, which were in casts, and the latter paused for a moment... Well, it seems he really can't act anymore.

"Then, I shall take my leave."

While Mobis was distracted, Levi decisively slipped away.

The next day, Li Wei went to the Golden Mead Club's library again, and soon he found the petite figure who always huddled in a corner reading.

"Hello, Miss Matilda."

Li Wei sat opposite the girl and greeted her. Upon hearing Li Wei's greeting, Matilda was taken aback for a moment, and then hurriedly put down her book.

"Ah, you, hello... Sir Levi... good morning?"

As she spoke, Matilda glanced out the window, seemingly checking the time.

Good morning, I have something I want to ask you.

"Wha, what's the matter?"

When questioned by Levi, Matilda appeared quite nervous—this would have been suspicious for anyone else, but Levi knew that Matilda was always this timid and hesitant, no matter who she was dealing with.

"Did you write the new script for the Eyes of the Goddess Theatre Troupe?"

"Ah, um..."

Matilda's expression was somewhat complicated upon hearing Li Wei's question.

"It is...and it is not..."

"Could you tell me about it? After all, this accident happened while filming a new script, so it might be related to the script."

"Is it related to the script?"

Matilda tilted her head slightly; clearly, she couldn't understand how an accident could be related to the script.

"But the newspaper said it was caused by a props management error..."

"That's what the newspapers say. Anyway, I'd like to hear your explanation of the situation."

“……………………………”

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, Matilda lowered her head and remained silent. After a long while, she began to mutter softly.

"Actually... I didn't write a script for them."

"……………Um?"

"The script is adapted from my work; I only granted them the authorization to adapt the script... but I didn't write the script..."

As she spoke, Matilda sighed.

"Besides, I don't like that script either; it's completely different from what I wrote..."

"Then why did you still grant them the authorization?"

"The other party came to me with a very sincere attitude, and he was also the leader of Qiong's group... I couldn't refuse at the time..."

It seems this person is easily deceived. If they encounter a pyramid scheme or similar scam, they might be immediately drawn in.

"Jung didn't know about this?"

"Joan only found out afterward, and she was very happy to be acting in the script I wrote, so I was really embarrassed to say... I didn't really like the script."

"why?"

"………………………"

Faced with Levi's question, Matilda remained silent again. Then she looked around for a moment, got up from her chair, ran to one of the bookshelves, took a book, and placed it in front of Levi.

"This is the original work; you'll understand once you read it."

"Um……………"

Li Wei took the book and looked at the cover; the title was "Mask".

It's not "Moonlight Flower"...

Li Wei mentally scoffed, then opened the book and started reading.

To Li Wei's surprise, the plot of the book "The Mask" was quite different from the script he had read before. Moreover, in Li Wei's opinion, the original script was more like a suspense drama.

The story begins with Anna attending a masquerade ball, where she is drawn to a masked man who calls himself Noan. Despite his concealed face, Noan's eloquent speech catches Anna's attention. During the ball, Noan invites Anna to stroll in the garden. Unsuspecting, Anna follows him.

Unexpectedly, when the two arrived at the garden at night, Noan revealed his true colors and forcibly committed a violent act against Anna. Afterwards, Noan warned Anna not to tell anyone. He claimed to be a member of Anna's rival family, knowing which school she attended and which class she was in—cough cough, he knew which family Anna came from. He threatened to expose everything if she dared to speak out, bringing shame upon Anna's family.

Anna could only endure this, knowing that if her parents found out about it and it spread, her family would suffer unimaginable shame.

But to Anna's surprise, the masked man appeared before her several times after that, even in her own home and room. To keep the secret, Anna had no choice but to comply with the masked man's demands and let him do whatever he wanted to her.

The only person who could offer Anna solace was Otto. He was gentle and kind, and although he didn't know why Anna was troubled, he always comforted her. This gradually drew Anna's heart towards Otto.

However… Anna soon discovered that she had changed. Although the masked man appeared in front of her again and again, Anna’s feelings had changed from initial fear to a vague expectation.

There's a saying that goes, "If you can't resist, then enjoy it."

Anna has that feeling now.

Emotionally, she saw Otto as her pillar of support; his gentleness and kindness soothed Anna's wounded and fearful heart.

But physically, Anna felt she couldn't live without Noan. She was familiar with every part of his body and every movement. When she was with Noan, Anna felt she could forget everything, leave all unpleasantness behind, and fully enjoy the pleasure.

Even just thinking about Noan makes Anna feel her body react instinctively.

This put Anna in a dilemma, unsure of what to do.

However, the truth will eventually come out.

Anna is pregnant.

She didn't know what to do, and she couldn't even explain it to Otto. So, Anna had no choice but to tell Noan her situation. But to Anna's surprise, Noan wanted her to marry Otto, saying that would solve everything!
This caused Anna immense inner turmoil. Of course, she felt guilty towards Otto, but Anna ultimately decided to... marry Otto.

Because this is the task Noan gave himself, this is his master's task!

Even as Anna thought about how she was pregnant with Noan's child but had married Otto, who knew nothing about it, she felt a mix of guilt and pain, yet also a sense of... excitement and enjoyment?
The two got married, but Otto was always busy with family matters, leaving early and returning late, leaving Anna alone at home, feeling very lonely. Only when Noan came could she escape this loneliness.

However, that very night, as Anna was having another secret rendezvous with Noan, they suddenly heard the sound of a door opening outside.

Otto is back!

Noan hurriedly left, while Anna anxiously leaned against the door, listening outside. She then heard Noan and Otto arguing, followed by a physical fight. After a moment, Otto let out a scream, and then there was silence.

Otto is dead!?
Anna lingered in the room, afraid to leave. After an unknown amount of time, Noan returned and told Anna some shocking news.

Otto has already killed himself! He's already disposed of the body!
This shocked Anna immensely, after all, Otto was her pillar of support! Now that Otto was dead, what was the point of her living?
After Noan left, Anna was alone in her room, sobbing. She felt sorry for Otto, that she was the cause of everything, and so Anna finally decided to... hang herself.

Anna died and was buried in the cemetery. After the funeral, Noan went to Anna's grave and removed the mask he always wore.

Beneath the mask lies Otto's face!
That's right, Otto is Noan, these two people are the same person!

Otto had always loved Anna, but he knew that Anna was the daughter of a high-ranking nobleman, her status utterly incomparable to his own. Gradually, Otto developed an idea. Since Anna was so noble, pure, and beautiful, if he could simply destroy all of that, she would fall from the clouds, no longer a high-ranking fairy, but a mortal like himself!

So Otto made a decision to disguise himself as "Noan" and attack Anna.

Seeing the woman who was usually so aloof and whom he couldn't even touch, now begging for mercy in front of him, Ot felt incredibly excited and thrilled.

Throughout the entire process, Ott thoroughly enjoyed himself. On one hand, he could be Noan, able to manipulate Anna at will, leaving her no choice but to play with him and unable to resist.

On the other hand, out of guilt, Anna became completely obedient to Otto. It can be said that, in either case, he had completely taken Anna, the once high and mighty fairy, into his hands and made her his pet!

Her body and soul belong to herself!
There's no escaping it!

Looking at the grave, Ott revealed a sinister smile that belonged to Noan, then he drew his sword and committed suicide in front of Anna's grave.

Even if it's hell, you'll always be with me!
End of the full text.

"………………………"

That's right, that's right.

After finishing the original novel, Levi patted the book. He hadn't realized before that *The Moonlight Flower* was Matilda's work because the ending didn't fit. From the books he'd read before, Levi had noticed a typical characteristic of Matilda's works: there were no perfect victims.

The saying "every pitiful person has something hateful about them, and every hateful person has something pitiful about them" is a consistent characteristic of all the characters in her book.

Even the most pitiful person has a hateful side. Even the most hateful person has a pitiful side.

Everyone there is a psychopath or mentally unstable person; there are no normal people at all.

This is the most distinctive feature of Matilda's novels.

The biggest difference between "Moonlight Flower" and "Mask" is that in "Moonlight Flower", Otto is an unlucky kid who gets cheated on from beginning to end, but in "Mask", Otto is not only not that unlucky guy who gets cheated on, but on the contrary, he is the mastermind behind it all!

No wonder Matilda said she didn't like the script; the changes completely altered the core spirit of the original work.

Originally intended to explore the core of the spiritual and inner changes in men and women, it was somehow turned into a farcical and fabricated drama about Romeo and Juliet's promiscuity.

But there's nothing we can do about it. Novels are written in words, so they can describe characters' inner thoughts at length, but stage plays are different... Well, I guess so, since Li Wei hasn't seen one either.

But after reading the script, Li Wei suddenly had an idea.

Could it be Otto who sent the threatening letter to Mobis?

In the stage play script, Otto is an honest man, but not in the original novel. In the original novel, Otto is a ruthless person! And he is extremely possessive of Anna, to the point that he is almost driven to a mental breakdown!
But this is, after all, a fictional character… Although Li Wei knew that some things in stories would gradually take shape, would such a thing happen in reality?
If that's the case, then the more famous the story, the more characters will appear? Will they all come from reality? That's impossible, right?
Thinking of this, Li Wei immediately became serious.

What was originally just an ordinary case has now turned out to be something I might really need to figure out!
(End of this chapter)