"Mother, you arranged this, didn't you!"
Tracy's accusation, laced with grief and hatred, made the smile on Katarina's face stiffen slightly. For a moment, she even felt genuine confusion.
Arranged? What did I arrange?
I haven't done anything lately...
But she immediately caught on. Something had happened! Something serious involving Tracy's "little secret"!
She promptly put away her teasing expression and replaced it with a look of concern. Striding up to Tracy, she asked softly, "What's wrong, little Tracy? What happened?"
Tracy said nothing, her face dark.
The instant she had learned the news about Brando, she had clearly felt another large portion of the Demoness of Affliction Potion within her being digested. But right now, she had no interest in any of that!
Katarina studied Tracy, taking in her distraught expression and the way she seemed on the verge of collapse. She could already guess most of what had happened. With a faint smile, she ventured softly, "Don't tell me... something happened to your 'other half,' that interesting boy named Brando?"
At the sound of that name, Tracy shuddered violently. She raised her head, her eyes so red they almost seemed ready to bleed,
and stared fixedly at Katarina.
"Mother, did you do this!"
To her, it was all far too coincidental! Before this, she had mobilized every informant she had and still found no news of Brando. Yet the moment her mother arrived, Misor had immediately sent word of his death.
She knew all too well what Demonesses were like! Her mother might well have wanted her to digest her Potion, to taste affliction and despair,
and found Brando first, then had him-at the mere thought of that possibility, Tracy clenched her hands, her nails digging deep into her palms. Her whole body trembled slightly with rage.
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