"The Hall Family..."
"My cat actually started hanging out with the Hall Family's dog... heavens..."
On his way back to Williams Street, Lorne still felt as though he were dreaming.
He truly hadn't expected Lucky to be friends with the golden-haired big dog Audrey Hall kept!
Whenever he recalled the ridiculous sight of Susie trembling and desperately hiding behind the orange cat for comfort, the corners of Lorne's mouth couldn't help twitching.
Still, the two Beyonder animals did seem to get along well. The dog was timid, but her thoughts were genuinely simple and innocent.
"It's just..."
Lorne hadn't directly agreed to Susie's request that he help Miss Audrey, nor had he shut down the possibility. He had merely explained tactfully that the matter involved politics at the Kingdom's highest levels, and there was very little he could do.
Naturally, Lorne knew about the Hall Family's recent troubles.
Rather, at this point, he couldn't avoid knowing even if he wanted to. Every major newspaper in Backlund was flooded with news about the Hall Family. Some featured political enemies furiously accusing and smearing them, while others carried whitewashing and clarifications Earl Hall had paid for. The two sides were locked in a fierce battle for public opinion.
Lorne didn't know much about finance. But if someone claimed Earl Hall was completely innocent... he wouldn't believe that either.
He believed bankers were fundamentally the same creatures in every world, willing to trample anything for profit.
The news reports might have exaggerated the facts to attract attention, but Lorne was inclined to believe the acts of profiteering amid disaster had actually happened.
Besides, Lorne genuinely had no interest in power struggles among nobles. Right now, he just wanted to quietly make money without getting dragged into anything. Quite a few members of parliament