"I can't believe this! This is simply the most absurd of all things! This is a disgrace! An ignominy! A scandal! A breach of all nobility and decorum! What will the world say about me? That I raised some sort of a burglar? A night thief?"
An earful was prepared for me. Of course, but that wasn't daddy. That was Saskia.
Father read the evidence of Natasha's actions. He remained silent and then ordered the knights to lock down Natasha's villa and conduct a thorough investigation. As for me, he left me with a silent and menacing stare. He then had a conversation with Edith Black and Matilda Ambrose as he called for Robert and a healer.
Robert began by throwing a tantrum at me, almost accusing me blindly of things but it was Matilda who cleared my name. She said, and I quote…
"… I was trapped in Lady Natasha's mansion after having a disagreement about the work I was doing for her. If not for Lady Vivian noticing me getting escorted by Lady Natasha's guards and the bravery of Lady Edith and Lady Isabella, I am not sure I would be here tonight."
… word for word.
Like I don't know what is going on in the brain of that chick but I am grateful for getting me out of Robert's head for now.
Isabella was found playing unconscious in a room in Natasha's mansion. At first, she suspected that everything had gone horribly wrong and acted like an idiot but the moment she saw that the three of us were okay, she fixed her attitude and started to innocently act flirtatiously around Father right in front of Saskia.
How can this day get any worse for you, stepmother? Your friend was being accused of poisoning the ladies of high society, your stepdaughter broke into the house of your friend and fired her guns while trying to find evidence, and now this brat Isabella is trying to steal your husband in front of you.
Think, Vivian, think! You can make it worse for her!
Ah! I got it…
"I think by looking at the early evidence, this cosmetic Natasha provided to the ladies she was in contact with has already compromised their well-being. According to the testimony I heard from Matilda Ambrose, which made me act the way I acted, the substance that imbued the product with its miraculous effects has such severe side effects which would eventually lead to dangerous skin conditions. Addiction is a confirmed one but I imagine we are looking at the tip of the iceberg, there can be… I don't know… wrinkling…"
I said so while sneaking a glance at Saskia, who had a slight shiver as her eyes widened.
"… spotting…"
She closed her eyes and endured another shiver.
"… dryness…"
Her expressions became worse.
"… rashes…"
And worse.
"… discoloration…"
And worse.
"… scaliness…"
And worse.
"Skin peeling…"
"That is ENOUGH!"
Whoops! I got a little too comfortable with her, didn't I? Saskia was really upset now, glaring daggers at me, almost as if going to suffocate me.
"I have tried… God and all the Saints know! I have tried taking you in… loving you as my own… I didn't like your mother one bit but you were sinless… and I endured you more than I should… but no more!"
Things got heated up too quickly. We were in the drawing room along with Father and Robert, the others were in the room next door so I am sure everyone has heard Saskia's tantrum. Father didn't look pleased, he still kept silent as he scanned the evidence for the tenth time.
I could only endure Saskia on my own for now so I wasn't really bothered to reply.
"And such a good job you did!" I replied.
My reply was meant to be said in a soft and collected tone, almost mocking her, intending to make her lose her cool and make a mistake but the storm hit me instead.
"Vivian! You have said more than enough. You should stay silent."
Father stood up with a strong glare directed at me.
"Father, if you may…" Robert approached Father and started whispering to him from the side.
"You are right. I'll leave it to you." Father replied and handed the papers in his hand to Robert.
Something might have just gone horribly wrong.
"Father, if we…" I spoke, attempting to get back into action but Father silenced me.
"I've told you to stay silent, haven't I?"
His reply was cold and he didn't seem pleased with me now.
Not that I am complaining but Logan could have saved me and taken me back to the company instead of bringing me home. I could have thought of a cover story rather than having to go through all this.
However, I could see Robert staring at me with a big grin, I stared back unamused, and then with my fingers, I gestured that I will be watching. He frowned, probably that gesture wasn't still common in this era.
Father called in Logan and the knights and interrogated them about what happened and about the way we killed a Silver-ranked Knight. While Logan has exposed me for taking action tonight, he covered up the fact that we used advanced firearms and only mentioned that I was shooting out guns like a gun maniac… which is an established reputation by now.
Sir System, will I get the title High Priestess of the Gun Cult any time soon?
« … »
No reply? Dang it!
"In other words, if not for Mr. Voros getting in contact with you to tell you about Vivian's plan, you wouldn't have found out she went into Natasha's mansion with young Lady Edith and young Lady Isabella?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"For your loyalty to me, and not covering up behind Vivian like every time, I ought to reward you. Though it seems the task of protecting my daughter is becoming increasingly difficult."
While Logan has hidden the fact that Matilda was with us back at the company, which is the whole excuse why I marched back into the mansion to save her, Father looked at me and I could feel him thinking of something I don't want him to think about… like locking me up and putting a proxy in my place at the company.
"Vivian… you…"
"Father!" I blurted out of panic before he said anything.
He frowned. Knowing that I shouldn't have spoken, my body shivered a bit and my eyes ran across the room like crazy looking for something to distract him with as soon as it's humanly possible.
"I told you not to spea…"
As he was about to get angry, I found something going on right in the corner of the drawing room and immediately pointed.
"Look!" I said.
Angrily, Father turned as he saw me pointing out at Saskia. Saskia stopped what she was doing and looked at us with a frown of her own.
"What?" Father turned to me asking… angrily.
Of course he couldn't see it when I was pointing that vaguely. After all, we are all used to the sight of Saskia applying the balm on her face every now and then.
"Stepmother… she is… applying that thing…" I said.
Immediately, everyone discovered that she was indeed applying something on her face from a tin round container. That was the very same container Natasha distributed tonight at the party.
"Saskia! Have you gone mad?"
Facing the wrath of the Count, Saskia was scared out of her wits in second and the balm container fell from her hand on the ground. She looked scared but then looked at it without uttering a single word for a few seconds.
After that, she looked up and faced the people looking at her.
"I didn't realize I was… I did it out of habit…" She spoke while shaking her head with her eyes closed.
I can see now, that this is what Matilda was talking about.
"That's not good. It's clearly addictive, and she needed her fix when things got emotional." I said facing Father.
The entire room became silent. They have heard of the situation, they have seen the evidence on paper and heard the testimony of Matilda, but now… it is right in front of their eyes and it is affecting a family member.
"This is most troubling, my Lord. We need a professional's opinion." Old Theo stepped beside my dad and said so.
"That's true, Father. For Mother's sake, I'll find the best skin physician in Archester." Robert stepped up ready to search the whole town upside down.
"Alright. Robert, you do that. Quickly!" Father replied, apparently fearing for Saskia's health.
I cleared my voice to gain their attention before speaking out of term this time. As they turned to me, I spoke.
"That would be a dermatologist, what you are looking for, Robbie." I said.
"A what?" Robert frowned.
"A dermatologist. The term… for skin physicians."
"… Whatever!"
"To be specific, the dermatologist you're looking for is called Doctor Herest Ainsworth. He'll be at our front door in less than 15 minutes." I said.
"You have already invited him?" Father asked.
"Yes, as soon as I returned, I asked Sir Fabian to invite him over under the pretext of an emergency." I replied then cunningly added, "I knew Stepmother may need to be checked on so I did it… out of concern despite all… the feelings."
I indeed invited the dermatologist since I have connections to him and a cure would need to be developed as soon as possible in order to fix this mess. Natasha is a family associate and so her actions would reflect on the Moores. Unless this situation is fixed in an instant with the most competent experts in the field coming together, I'd say we'd be in a huge pickle.
As for the thing about Saskia, I was just trying to win Father back. He somewhat stopped looking at me angrily now.
"That was sensible of you, Vivian." Father praised me and turned to Stepmother, "Saskia, make sure to never touch that thing. Old Theo, keep an eye on her."
Saskia was now an addict to Gratia, something that is both sad and enough for me to gloat but let's not do that openly. Father has shown how much he cares for her so let's not act stupidly.
Robert then stepped up to speak.
"Father, if we asked young lady Matilda to take a look at Mother's condition. She is the one who created Gratia, she is also a competent healer." He said as if he was trying to beat my connection to the dermatologist with his connection to Matilda.
"That commoner girl… she has indeed brewed that poison. Get her here." Father spoke angrily and pointed for a footman to go.
"Wait, Father! I'm sure there is an explanation for that. Young lady Matilda is not a wicked person… and she is connected to His Highness Prince Liam… we simply just can't…"
Oh, no! Bad move Robbie.
At first, he wanted to curry favor with Father but now in order to protect Matilda, he subtly threatened Father with the Prince.
Father kept staring at him with hidden anger but no matter the situation, Father couldn't say treasonous words and must be very careful while handling this. Robert seemed to understand what he's done so he bowed and spoke.
"If you excuse me, I'll go bring her here."
"Have you lost your damn mind?"
But contrary to what I thought, Father spoke harshly at him:
"Do you want to enter a room that has three unwed maidens, two of which are daughters of Elgard's noblest, as an unwed man? Have you lost all your sense?"
See that? That's Father completely turning against you, you dumb moron. Now, every breath you take in this house will be an excuse for him to lay it down on you, idiot.
Robert's face was now as red as a tomato, I don't even want to gloat anymore, he brought it on himself.
"Old Theo, fetch that girl, please!" Father then turned to Old Theo and asked him to bring Matilda.
The old man looked at Father and sighed before replying.
"Your grace, make up your damn mind already. Do you want me to watch the wife or bring the girl?" Old Theo lashed back at Father, leaving everyone speechless.
HA!
I could barely hold it this time. Even Father can no longer deal with this lich.
"I'll go bring her, Father. If you excuse me."
Finally, I volunteered and Father didn't say anything.
Wow! That was an intense scene. I was on the short end of the stick for some time there but I am glad I dodged a bullet from Father… for now at least.
As I arrived in front of the next room, the ones who were guarding its door were Ray and Rusty, Father's most trusted bodyguards. With encouraging looks in their eyes, the two bulky macho men let me pass and so I entered the room to see the most unexpected of scenes.
Edith was sitting on a sofa shaking her head and Isabella was standing and holding Matilda against a wall with nothing but her… ehem… personality.
The poor heroine's back was to the wall and Isabella was less than an inch against her with a domineering attitude and villainous behavior.
"Well well well!" I said as I couldn't hide my curiosity.
"Hey, Viv!" Isabella turned to me with a smile.
"Thank the Saints! Put a stop to this, Vivian." As for Edith, she immediately requested my aid.
"What are you doing, Bella?" I asked.
"Nothing. Just bullying her a little." Isabella replied as she looked at Matilda with eyes that could eat her.
I couldn't help but rest my back on the wall behind me and match Bella's energy.
"Well… bully me next!"
"Ha! You got it." (Isabella)
"You two… that's so unhealthy." (Edith)
"Can I please go now?" (Matilda)
The scene was wrapped with a light conversation. I then told Matilda to come and see Father after getting our story straight. Just as I was about to head back with Matilda, Logan met me outside and spoke.
"The investigation team just found something out." He said as he pulled me to the side.
"Let's hear it."
"The Knight we killed was called Igor Ivanov."
"What's the big deal?"
"Ivanov! As in Natasha Ivanov."
"Are you saying they are siblings?" I asked them and shrugged, "What's wrong with that? It looked strange since she had her brother acting as henchman…"
"Yes. Now that we killed him and the truth about him came to light, we tried to track their family members but it seemed that they all had fled Elgard."
"That's natural."
"Over 200 years ago…"
"Come again?"
I don't know what is going on but I don't like to keep getting bite-sized news one at a time.
It seemed like an interesting story and Logan started telling me a tale, one that nothing could have ever prepared me for.