The moment Lillie realized what that woman had just said, her fist slammed down hard on the table.
Yes, Lillie was usually very mild-mannered—but no matter how gentle she might be, there was no way she could put up with this kind of provocation.
Only Lillie is off-limits… Only Lillie is off-limits…
What was that supposed to mean?
All those other women get to eat meat, and she doesn't even get to sip the soup?
She, Lillie, was Haru's one and only official girlfriend, for crying out loud! The rest were just stray cats no one else wanted!
So who did Wicke think she was to say something like that?
This was just Lusamine 2.0—absolutely insufferable!
Wicke used to be a respectable elder. How the hell did she end up like this?
Lillie's first and overwhelming feeling was rage—uncontainable, boiling rage that made her want to punch Wicke right in the face.
But after calming down a little, she started to think more critically.
Something didn't add up. This whole situation—its timing, the setup—it was all way too convenient.
Wicke didn't have precognition. There was no way she could have predicted that Lillie would show up here at this exact time, and then prepare this whole performance around that knowledge.
But whether she could see the future or not… the result was that she had successfully pulled off a "prediction."
She had known Lillie would show up at that time.
Which meant Lillie had arrived just in time to witness Wicke throwing her strange concoction into the research lab's ventilation shaft—mocking her the entire time.
But precognition wasn't something humans could do. At most, Wicke could have manipulated future events.
Someone must have nudged Lillie toward being in the right place at the right time.
If so... who was that someone?
Lillie turned, almost automatically, to look at Lana—who had the most suspiciously innocent expression on her face.
After all, there weren't many people who'd recently had contact with Wicke, and of those, who was more suspicious than Wicke's old... cellmate?
Lana had been through Aether Redemption with Wicke, after all. Maybe she was just helping a former prison pal get her revenge?
Seeing Lillie's gaze turn to her, Lana panicked.
"Come on, girl—why are you looking at me like that?! This wasn't me!"
God as her witness, she really wasn't lying this time! At this moment, she truly was Lillie's Blade.
But the facts didn't help her case:
She was the one who'd stopped Lillie.
She was the one who brought Lillie here, causing her to miss a direct encounter with Wicke.
And she had some ahem prior convictions…
It all kept pointing back to one conclusion: Lana looks hella sus.
"…That's all you've got to say?"
"I-I-I didn't know it'd turn out like this!"
"I even had her restrained back there! I confiscated all the 'finished product'—I swear!"
"And besides, if I was working with Wicke, why would I show up in person? Doesn't that seem kinda dumb?"
"Because not many people know about your relationship with Wicke," the Mew doppelgänger cut in, deadpan. "And even fewer know about Lillie and Haru. If you wanted Lillie to trust you, you had to appear in person."
"That was the only way to make sure she'd show up at the 'right' time."
Mew smirked as she blew up Lana's alibi.
Heh, that's what you get for trying to steal my spotlight.
She kept her face expressionless, but her heart was dancing with glee. Moments like this were just too entertaining.
"That's not it! I'd never do something like this!"
Lana waved her arms frantically, more distressed than a Typhlosion blamed for arson it didn't commit. The last thing she wanted was for Lillie to cry as she executed her most loyal knight.
But even she knew how flimsy her defense sounded...
Yep. This scapegoat hat was definitely hers to wear.
How did it come to this?
How could my beautiful brain just... betray me like that?
Thankfully, Lillie didn't say anything else. She didn't even accuse her—just turned silently toward Wicke's front door.
She'd made up her mind: stop Wicke first. Lana's situation could wait.
If that bizarre drug Wicke created was really as dangerous as Lana described, then she had to be stopped now—otherwise, Haru might end up putting on a few more metaphorical horns.
Then again, maybe Lillie had just been through too many "trials" at this point. Just imagining more women being involved with Haru no longer even gave her an emotional spike.
Maybe... this was growth?
With that somber thought, she pulled open the door—
—and got drenched by a whole bucket of milk.
A creamy aroma instantly filled the room. Lillie herself looked like a life-sized walking milk candy.
"…" "…" "…"
The three girls stood frozen in silence.
Lana, who had remained at a safe distance, could only look at her with pure sympathy.
Mew, who'd also avoided the splash zone, was struggling so hard to keep a straight face. She chanted silently in her head, Don't laugh. Don't laugh. If you laugh, you're a terrible little gremlin.
Lillie, on the other hand, was already red-eyed with fury.
At least for now, Wicke had officially overtaken Lana as the #1 most hated person in her life.
Kill her! She was going to have Nebby take that woman out! That damned woman wasn't even human anymore—aaarghhh!
In a blind rage, she punched the doorframe.
Then, immediately after, she clutched her hand and hissed in pain...
Damn it, Lusamine... I hit it too hard!
---
Meanwhile, Iono, who had been hiding in the ventilation shaft, was also… kind of stunned.
Just moments ago, she had been planning to crawl back out when she saw Lillie and the pink-haired Mew doppelgänger turning away, figuring it was safe to resume her recon.
But as soon as she poked her head out halfway, she spotted a woman sneaking around from a distance.
Iono didn't know her, but she recognized the lab coat—standard issue for Aether Foundation researchers. This woman was probably one of Aether Paradise's staff.
Iono didn't know why a researcher would be sneaking around in such a remote area, but as someone with a deathly fear of public humiliation, she chose to stick with the "world of the weak" and retreated back into hiding.
She'd assumed the woman would be like Lillie—show up, snoop a bit, then leave.
But oh... how wrong she was.
That woman copied Iono's move, had her Pokémon lift her to the roof of the lab, then peeled off her lab coat to reveal—
—a black skintight suit underneath.
And worse... there was a glowing pink mark on her lower abdomen.
Even worse still… after tossing a canister of who-knows-what into the ventilation shaft—
Iono's brain started to feel... strange.
***************************
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