The instant Joseph Bonanno heard Vizet mention the word "object," he gave a sudden shudder, as if a chill had shot up his spine to the back of his head.
For Vizet to bring up the word "object" with such precision could only mean one thing: when it came to the truth behind the Magic Contract, he was not simply probing or guessing. He had already formed a relatively accurate deduction.
That was why Joseph Bonanno felt as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar. He truly could not understand what details he had leaked that had allowed Vizet to piece together the answer.
It also left him trapped in a dilemma. What kind of reaction was the right one?
He only felt that every move he made might influence Vizet's judgment.
If he denied Vizet's deduction, would Vizet think... that he was in a hurry to cover it up?
If he remained silent, would that behavior, in Vizet's eyes, be the same as admitting it in a roundabout way?
Thinking also took time. Even if he hesitated for a single second, Vizet might be able to gather new evidence from it, thereby further verifying his deduction.
Joseph Bonanno had to admit that he seemed to have walked into a dead end.
Perhaps every struggle he made, every breath he took, was proving one thing to Vizet—that Vizet's deduction was correct.
He even began to doubt himself, wondering whether his own body, his own instinct, had betrayed him.
At this moment, he even felt somewhat grateful—grateful that he had closed his eyes just now, using that method to block Vizet's "Legilimency."
That was the only move in which he had been one step faster than Vizet. It proved that he had not failed completely yet, that there was