The 'REAL' question.. is why does the Warden give a damn about how abused or taken advantage of the gentle spirited Bern is being treated by the Arena controllers?
What's SHE getting out of helping Bern? I've never really understood that. Why would she care if Bern was not ready for fighting in the Ranks above "D"? What's it to HER if Bern gets wacked in her first fight? That's part of the "spectacle" that the Audiences come to see anyways {sick bastards everyone of them}!
I'm still thinking there may be some blood-relation between the Warden and Bern that she does not know. Maybe the Warden is an older sister or an aunt or her mother even? We've never heard {afaIk}..anything about Bernadette's mother!
I believe she does. Look back at both of her deals. They involve some serious stuff, but at the end of it...
- Bern learns to fight on her own
- Bern goes from D-Rank (no battles) to A-Rank, paying down a significant portion of her debt
- Bern gets a pair of awesome magical swords, when before she was at a major disadvantage
- Bern gets bed fun-times and in exchange pays off her friend's debt
All of this for a lot less effort than would be the case if Harker (in the absence of a name, that's it) set the agenda for battles. She would still be struggling through D-Rank, and likely not get fed by now. Oh wait, I thought the question was "does she really give a damn?"
As to the WHY part, I have a theory. I don't think it's actually said, but I think those running the arena are effectively running a prison, not somewhere that someone is allowed to escape. Warden probably was the best fighter there, the top S-Rank or even Super S-Rank. She got to the point where she would have paid the marks off, but then there was something where friends she made were forced into S-Rank. She made some kinda deal where she could (a) watch them die from being outclassed, or (b) take their marks and work for the Arena forever. So she freed alot of people, but officially hates the arena now, because she is stuck there due to her sacrifice. She figures that Bern has a shot of screwing up the Arena once and for all, so she's backing her.
Warden knows Bern is tough, from their spar with each other. She knows Bern can do stuff, and she knows she isn't like the others, tempted by promises of hurting other people. This makes her a bit of a wild card because she is not interested in battles for their own sake, she just wants to leave. So yea, I think she actually feels the Arena is messed up, and she is backing someone that she thinks has potential to do something about it.
As for... family resemblance, well, let's take a look at them.
...
Noses don't look the same.
Bern has what looks like a Greek Nose, Warden has what is called a Turn-Up. Noses usually are a good way to determine genetics. Neither do ears.