Goddess Kaleidoscope

Lude then laid out the contents of the sack on the table, categorizing them one by one. Among them, the dozen or so Soul Beads were placed on a wooden tray. Lude had just been listening to Dick recount his experiences, so he called the two of them over and pointed to the beads, saying...

“We also brought back some Soul Beads last night, but I’m currently busy. Dick, do you have any other means to check these beads for dead slaves and see if any of them contain Trin’s mother?”

"Yes, yes!"

Hearing Lude assign him tasks, Dick nodded hastily, afraid of appearing useless and being disposed of like a piece of trash. Although his strength was greatly reduced due to the issue of physical compatibility, he could still barely exert about 30% of his full potential, making it perfectly feasible to simply examine the Soul Beads.

Upon hearing that these strange beads might contain the spirit of his imprisoned mother, Trilling immediately became tense and stopped fighting with Dick.

Dick flexed his wrists slightly, then picked up the Soul Beads from the wooden tray one by one and placed them on his forehead to sense them. His face showed a mixture of surprise and envy, much like a novice mobile game player seeing a whale's character list for the first time.

"Holy crap, holy crap... Where did Hu En get so many top-tier items? They're all rare finds with special abilities... Oh wow! There's even a legendary lich here, awesome!"

"Don't jump to conclusions, have you found it yet?"

"Oh, I found it, it really is there."

Because he had seen the dead slave transformed from Trin's mother in Hun's laboratory, Dick actually found it among a pile of beads and immediately presented it to Lud with both hands.

"Master, this is it, there's no mistake!"

Taking the bead from Dick's hand, Lud thought for a moment, then tossed it to his eldest sister, Atropos, asking her to take it back to their hometown and use the Labyrinth Heart's ability to absorb the resentment of the dead to "restore" the undead slave within the bead.

The "Heart of the Labyrinth" has not yet shown any signs of awakening self-awareness, but every time Lud sees it, he can clearly feel that it is growing rapidly. This makes Lud, who does not know enough about it, slightly worried. Therefore, he plans to limit its growth rate to prevent it from getting out of control.

However, it should still be possible to use its abilities occasionally.

After handing the bead to his eldest sister, Lude patted the worried-looking Trilling and said that he had a way to remove the vengeful spirit from the dead slaves and restore their rationality to the level of Elijah and Lacey.

Although, in reality, the mother and son are separated by death, it is still a reunion after many years of separation. Being able to say a few words to his mother is a comfort that Terlin dares not hope for now.

End of this chapter

At Kanna's flight speed, a round trip to her hometown in the north would take about half a day. Taking into account rest time and possible weather conditions, she could basically return with the purified undead the next day.

In order to have a place to stay when they return, Lude borrowed Elijah's pendant to use as a transport container. So Elijah and Lacey were temporarily without a place to sleep, but a day or two was nothing to the undead.

Out of respect for the deceased, Lud asked Trilling about her birth mother's name and learned that her name was "Lindy". Before marrying Huen, she was the eldest daughter of a declining viscount family in the south of the kingdom, and her former surname was Fuller.

As soon as he uttered the name, Lacey, who had been chatting and laughing with others, suddenly froze, then rushed to Trin in astonishment and asked in an impatient tone.

"What did you just say your mother's name was? What was her last name?"

"Lindy, Lindy Fuller, what's wrong?"

"Lindy...Lindy from the Fuller family..."

As if possessed, Lacey muttered to herself. Lude was somewhat surprised to see this, as Lacey's reaction suggested that she had remembered something.

Lacey was once Dick's slave, her soul tortured and losing almost all of her memories. After her resentment was purified, she could only recall her original name and some fragmented memories; she couldn't even remember when she died. This left Lud, who had once wanted to help her find her past, at a loss due to a lack of clues.

As a result, after searching high and low without finding anything, Lacey was unexpectedly reminded of her birth mother's name.

"Lassie, what did you remember?"

“I remember now…Lindy…is my daughter.”

"Huh!?" xN

When Lacey said this, everyone present was stunned, especially Trillin, who was so dumbfounded that he couldn't say a word.

"You're my mom's... mom? Then you're my maternal grandmother?"

Trilling thought about it carefully and realized that his mother had indeed mentioned his grandmother when she was still alive. Her name was Lacey. She had passed away from illness when his mother was very young, and her family had gradually declined after that, eventually having no choice but to accept a marriage alliance with the Navarro family.

"Incredible! Could it really be such a coincidence?"

With the Soul Bead in hand, Atropos returned to Pine Town overnight, while Lacey kept asking Trin questions. Her memories were like a jigsaw puzzle, and each piece she found helped to piece together a part of the picture. Just the name Lindy reminded her of many things.

The more the man and the ghost verified the information, the more certain they became, while Dick, feeling guilty, tried to hide behind Ludd. After all, he had a personal grudge against the grandfather and grandson, and was terrified of being retaliated against by them.

At that moment, Lacey shouted excitedly to Lud.

“Master, I’ve confirmed it. This child is indeed my grandson, and his mother is my daughter. Now I remember where my home is.”

Thanks to the considerable amount of "memory fragments" provided by Trilling, Lacey believed she had recovered almost half of her memories from her previous life. Her full name was Lacey Fuller, Fuller being her husband's surname. She was originally the wife of a minor lord in the southwest of Flamewood City. She married at seventeen and gave birth to her daughter, Lindy, at eighteen, but due to her weak constitution, she passed away less than three years after giving birth, leaving behind her husband and daughter.

Lude thought to himself, "No wonder you look so young. You're a 21-year-old ghost woman, less than two years older than Elaine who died at the age of 19. It makes one sigh that beauty is often short-lived."

Trin's biological mother, Lindy, passed away three years ago at the age of forty-seven. If you do the math, Lacey has been dead for a full forty-seven years. Her husband also passed away thirteen years ago and never remarried after Lacey's death.

The following evening, Atropos brought Lady Lindy, now freed from her vengeful spirit form, back to Flamewood City. Upon seeing her mother, now a ghost but with the same voice and smile as in life, Trinn knelt and wept bitterly, pouring out her longing for her mother over the past three years and her remorse upon learning the truth. Lacey then joined in, reuniting with Lindy and her mother in a scene both bizarre and touching.

"A 21-year-old grandmother, a 47-year-old mother, and a grandson using someone else's body—this three generations of grandmother and grandson are truly pitiful."

"Well, at least we still have a chance to get together again."

Looking at the Terlin family in front of him, Lud felt envious. Even though their loved ones were separated by death, at least they could still see each other again. On the other hand, he, a lonely transmigrator, would never have the chance to reunite with them again.

In fact, Lud often deliberately kept himself busy, not because he didn't want to stay in his old home on Earth, but because he dared not think about it!

Having released the vengeful spirit from the dead slave's form, Lude immediately questioned Lindy about the Navarro family. Although Lindy, as Huen's legal wife, didn't usually participate in family affairs, it didn't mean she was immune to them.

By combining the ledgers and research notes they stole from the study and laboratory, Ludd can gain a more comprehensive understanding of Hun and the Navarro family, which he has ruled for generations.

While reading the notes, Lud discovered that Huen's actual age was probably far more than fifty. Trin was not the first body he possessed, nor was the aging "Huen".

According to the research notes alone, this guy has changed his body at least seven or eight times and has survived for more than three hundred years in this way. He is a survivor of the war of gods.

For a creature that can hardly be considered human anymore, kinship and love have probably long since become meaningless in his mind, and marriage and having children are merely preparations for the next possession.

When talking about her husband, Lindy seemed to have some reservations.

Before discovering the other party's secret, Lindy actually had a very good impression of Hu En. Although she didn't communicate much with him on weekdays and he spent most of his time working or doing alchemical experiments, he treated her and the other concubines very well and never beat or abused her.

Especially during their pregnancies, he unusually put aside all his work and devoted himself to taking care of them every day. So at that time, Lindy naively thought that her husband was just a serious person who wasn't good at expressing his feelings.

One day, Lindy wanted to take Hu En to the study to bring him a bowl of soup she had made herself, but she accidentally wandered into the laboratory and saw those notes. Only then did she realize how deeply she had been deceived by this beastly "monster" for more than 20 years!

End of this chapter

Juan had been quite depressed these past few days because of the theft. When Terlin returned from the meeting, he flew into a rage and berated Juan, his tone just like that of Juan who had been kidnapped. Juan remained silent for the entire time, not daring to even breathe.

Subsequently, Terlin personally oversaw the matter, ordering the family forces to conduct a full-scale search. He told them not to worry about losing face, since their very core had been ripped out, what was the point of saving face?

So the Navarro family's henchmen were all mobilized, and such a large-scale operation naturally attracted the attention of various local forces. Some were gloating, mocking the Navarro family for losing face so badly, that even the retired patriarch had been arrested—it was truly laughable.

However, some people are worried, believing that they have sensed a conspiracy in the Navarro family's actions and fearing that the other side is using this as an excuse to attack them, which has caused widespread anxiety.

This matter quickly alarmed Duke Krud, the city lord. As the ruler of Yanmu City, his stance may not be entirely on the side of justice and fairness, but he is definitely a defender of order and cannot allow the Navarro family to act so recklessly on his fiefdom.

Krud arranged to meet with Bishop August of the Church of Light, asking him to act as an intermediary and convey a message to the Navarro family, urging them to stop.

Augustus, naturally, dared not neglect the task personally arranged by the Duke. He knew that the Duke himself could not handle such matters, which was why he, as an intermediary, was needed. Although he, as a dignified bishop, had seemingly accepted a menial task, with the most powerful Grand Duke on one side and the wealthiest mafia family on the other, there were actually many benefits to be gained from this matter.

So August specially invited his "good friend" Juan to go to the theater together, intending to talk to him about the matter in person.

The two parties chose to meet at the Tianlai Opera House, the number one opera house in Yanmu City, which used to be so popular that tickets were hard to come by. However, business was now terrible. The hall, which could accommodate 2,000 people, was less than a quarter full, and the private boxes were more than 70% empty.

The reason for this dismal situation is nothing more than the immense popularity of "The Count of Monte Cristo" and the advent of projectors, which brought an almost earthquake-like shock to the traditional performing arts industry in Yanmu City. The subsequent impact was both good and bad. Many practitioners were forced to make changes under the pressure of survival, and were able to find their own place in the new era. For some, their living conditions even improved considerably.

But there are always victims, such as former industry leaders like Tianlai Opera House and Feixia Dance Troupe who are unwilling to change.

Katie has been feeling quite down lately. Her former enemy has taken her place, and despite her desperate pleas and attempts to use every means at her disposal, nothing has worked. She can only watch helplessly as the theater grows increasingly deserted and her influence in Yanmu City diminishes day by day.

The Feixia Dance Troupe is currently in decline, not only being crushed by the rising Rainbow Opera Troupe, but also facing a growing sense of alienation from its own members, many of whom are secretly planning to seek other opportunities. Even the Tianlai Opera House, with which they have always enjoyed a pleasant partnership, is seeing its owner struggling with the low attendance. He's secretly visited the Tianji Opera House several times behind Katie's back, seemingly ready to back down.

In addition, because Katie had misjudged and driven Sans away, they couldn't find any other reliable playwrights to write scripts for the time being. They could only rely on the two stolen works to barely keep the show going, but they couldn't do the same kind of cool stage effects as "The Count of Monte Cristo", and they were no longer able to satisfy the local audience whose tastes had become more discerning.

Sometimes Katie even considered hiring a hitman to kill Servis, but then she couldn't help but recall that day when the young man named Hugo used a strange spell to turn a well-dressed man into a withered old man right in front of her. This hit Katie's sore spot; she was afraid that the other man would turn her into that as well, which would be worse than killing her.

After much deliberation, the best way out for the Feixia Dance Troupe right now is to leave Yanmu City as soon as possible and continue performing elsewhere, so that they can at least survive for a while. However, Katie's pride does not allow her to leave the stage in disgrace like a loser, so she can only persevere.

The performance was similar to the previous days: the hall was almost empty, with only three or four hundred audience members scattered around. For a typical small opera house, that would be quite a lot, but at the Tianlai Opera House, it exuded a desolate, almost hopeless atmosphere.

Moreover, Katie could tell that the audience was not only significantly smaller than during her most glorious period, but the "quality" of the audience had also dropped by more than one level.

Back then, the Feixia Song and Dance Troupe was a guarantee of box office success. Whenever they had a new play, the tickets for the premiere would often be scalped to more than five times the original price. The audience members who came to see the play were all rich and noble, and even the ordinary seats were filled with well-dressed and respectable people.

However, the situation is not as good as before. Tianlai Opera House has lowered its ticket prices several times due to the current situation. This has indeed improved the low attendance rate to some extent, but it has also caused the audience to change from the "respectable people" of the past to the "common people" of today.

A significant portion of the audience members were not there to watch a play; they simply wanted to experience the Tianlai Opera House, which they previously couldn't afford.

Looking at the group of unsophisticated locals below the stage, Katie even felt a sense of laziness, as if she didn't want to perform anymore.

However, two important figures have arrived at the theater today, which is quite rare for them, and both of them have a close relationship with Katie, having had "in-depth" conversations with her.

So, during the preparation time before the performance, Katie made a special trip to the VIP box to greet the two big shots she hadn't seen in a long time. But when she arrived, she found that the two had entered the same VIP box, while she was blocked from entering by their subordinates.

"Holy crap! What's going on?"

Seeing two grown men, neither of whom were young, sneak into a private room and insist on being "alone," Katie's mind almost instinctively flashed through a series of graphic images. While such situations were rare, Katie had witnessed them before, and more than once.

But she quickly realized that neither of them were into that kind of thing, let alone that they were attracted to each other. Their secretive entry into the private room meant they probably had something they didn't want to talk about publicly.

Realizing that this situation was probably not suitable for her to get involved, Katie turned to leave, but she was stopped after only a few steps. The two big shots seemed to have something to talk to her about.

End of this chapter

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Katie entered the private room. August, dressed casually, greeted her with a smile and waved.

“It’s been a while, Miss Katie.”

"Greetings! Lord August, Lord Juan."

Unsure why these two had summoned her, Katie outwardly smiled broadly, but inwardly she was quite uneasy. From a survival perspective, knowing too much was not beneficial for someone in her position.

As if sensing Katie's worries, August said with a smile.

"Don't be so nervous, I just invited you in for a casual chat. There should still be a while before the performance starts, come, sit next to me."

"..."

Although she was not very willing, Katie did not dare to show the slightest dissatisfaction on her face. She obediently sat between the two big shots and let these two old men, who were old enough to be her father, grope her all over.

This was also why August specifically called Katie in—to lighten the mood with this woman so they could get down to business. In fact, if he weren't worried that the Silver House was Snake Woman Shirley's territory and that they might be overheard, August would have preferred to call Juan over there to talk.