"Cattleya sold you out? Why would you think that?"
There was a hint of surprise in Bernadette's voice. Things seemed to have developed somewhat differently from what she had expected.
"Is she... all right?" Lorne did not answer her question. Instead, he asked one of his own, his voice carrying a trace of dryness that even he had not noticed.
Bernadette nodded gently, then parted her lips. "I think you may have misunderstood something."
"..." Lorne said nothing, but his fists unwittingly clenched tighter.
What he had feared most had happened after all.
His troubles at sea had followed him all the way to Backlund.
The identity of Monkey Brando had never involved much of a disguise. He had simply changed his name. It was not impossible for someone to track him down. Lorne simply had not expected it to happen this way.
Beyonders of the Monster Pathway possessed powerful anti-divination abilities. The world was so vast that Monkey Brando could have been anywhere.
For her to have pinpointed Backlund so precisely, and even intercepted him right on the street, Lorne could think of no more reasonable explanation than someone in the know deliberately selling him out.
Lorne could sense that Bernadette was not lying. Or rather, with her strength, she had no need to lie to him.
That meant the letter was real. Cattleya really had told her where he was, and she had done so willingly.
Lorne clearly remembered solemnly instructing her before he left the sea: she must never reveal his whereabouts to anyone. Yet almost immediately, she had passed his information on to someone else.
I risked my life to save her from the Admiral of Blood, and she actually... turned around and harmed me?
Tracy...
The beautiful face of the Vice Admiral of Ailment suddenly