"Hmm," Fumihiko Kawa nodded.
"We are friends—keep that firmly in mind," Farosa said.
"Thank you for helping me root out all the rot," Lady Honma Noriko said, "to see that they didn't have a shred of value. Now I finally don't have to play charades with them anymore, nor guess which one still holds a loyal heart. It's a pity that technology can't see into a person's heart."
Honma Noriko realized that she had been manipulated by Farosa.
The betrayal of the children was inevitable; they were as ambitious as Honma Noriko herself. But Farosa had manipulated her into triggering the bomb earlier, thus giving her less time to react.
There were benefits as well.
That was its original function: to sift out the true loyalists.
Honma Noriko still couldn't afford to fall out with Farosa. Legend had it that Farosa wielded the twin powers of healing and killing, and the current Honma Noriko couldn't withstand either. Would she revert to being the old woman, or be truly killed?
