Back under the trees of the garden around Natasha's villa, Vivian, Matilda, and Edith walked in that order and approached the main building from the back. Many servants were coming and going as it seemed they were about to wrap up the party at any time.

They hid behind a tree and watched the place for any opening.

"That's too many of them. We can't enter from that area no matter what." Edith said.

"Indeed. We'll need to find a different way." Vivian nodded.

"Can't we just go, Lady Vivian? You can bring your house's knights tomorrow and search the place." Matilda said in dissatisfaction.

"I'm going to pretend we didn't just have the same argument five minutes ago." Vivian said and turned to Edith, "We'll need a distraction."

"How? The three of us aren't supposed to be here so the only thing we can do is…"

As Edith was saying that, a group of servants started approaching the back of the villa but this time, a commission was happening.

"Please, let us escort you back to the party, my Lady."

"This isn't where the party is supposed to be."

On the lead of that group was none other than Isabella who seemed to be not too keen on the subtle approach.

"I said… hiccup… that I know where I am… hiccup… going! Get… away!"

Struggling to walk in a straight line, speaking in a strange manner, and acting all sorts of crazy, it seemed that Isabella had drunk herself to the verge of sanity.

"Please, my lady. This way is the party."

"Nope! Hahaha! Can't catch me!"

As the servant tried to stop her, Isabella ran to the side and raced the servants beyond the villa to the back garden. While she seemed happy and giggling, she took a second to turn towards Vivian and the others before sending a wink.

"That Isabella…" Edith said and couldn't help but shake her head wryly.

"She's a genius." Vivian said with a wide smile, "Here's our distraction."

As the ladies were about to dart from their place to the backdoor of the villa which now had no one watching it, they could all hear a…

Thud!

… as Isabella fell down after stumbling.

Everyone from the servant to Vivian's party was stunned and all headed towards her. Vivian was concerned about her friend but Edith was smart enough to urge Vivian to move.

The three ran and reached the stairs leading up to the back door but as they were about to scale it, Vivian and Edith sensed a presence and the two of them dragged Matilda to the side of the stairs to keep out of sight.

"What's going on?"

At that time, a man walked down the stairs and his figure cast a huge shadow on the ground. Looking from their hiding spot, Vivian and the other two could see a burly guy almost as tall as Esmeralda.

"Sir Igor. This lady has drunk way too much and wandered before passing out." One of the servants reported.

"It's alright. I'll move her to rest in the guest room. Inform Madame Natasha about the situation." Igor replied with an emotionless tone.

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir." The servant replied in an instant and seemed to have started running back to the party hot on heels.

Vivian hid back behind the stairs and used her tactical umbrella as a cover to hide the three of them. Edith and Matilda didn't know what that umbrella did since from their side, it appeared like a normal umbrella but as soon as the guard passed by, he didn't even notice them to his right.

"The big guy?" Vivian turned to Matilda.

"Igor, Lady Natasha's bodyguard and butler." Matilda replied.

"That's one absolute unit of a man!" Edith exclaimed.

Vivian held her fist up and the other two girls quietened down. Igor the Butler/Bodyguard carried Isabella in his arms and walked back up to the villa with her. With another hand signal, Vivian ordered the two to walk ahead of her as she kept her umbrella ahead and covered them as they went up the stairs.

"The laboratory is straight to the main hall accessed by a door under the main stairs of the villa, that's what you said, right?" Edith asked Matilda.

"Right." Matilda nodded.

"Vivian, you cover the back." Edith said and walked ahead of the rest now that they were walking into the Villa.

Edith's senses were the most advanced among the three so she could traverse the place and notice others before they would notice her. Thanks to that, the group walked silently through the hallways of the villa and found themselves in the main hall.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The central stairway of the villa was busy with a few servants coming and going but as soon as it cleared up, Vivian covered a doorway with her umbrella and the other two snuck to the side of the stairway.

Matilda approached the wooden wall under the stairs and held a candlestick on the side that she had seen Natasha do it before but no matter how she tried to pull it, the candlestick didn't budge.

"I… I don't know what is happening. It should have…" Matilda said while appearing flustered.

"A double locking system." Vivian said and handed her umbrella to Edith, "Hold it and cover us."

Vivian took the lead and carefully inspected the place before finding an unusual keyhole on the wall. She tried peeking into the hole but the place was already dark.

"I can't figure this out in the dark. I need some…"

"Hold on." Matilda said and approached the keyhole with her finger, "Do you want it faint?"

"As much as you can but I want to see the inside too." Vivian replied.

"Luminix!"

Matilda whispered and a small sparkle of light formed into a ball and entered the keyhole. It then merged with the metal of the locking mechanism and made it glow from the inside.

"That's… impressive!"

Vivian couldn't help but think highly of magic but still gave Matilda the usual cold treatment. Still, she inserted a lockpick and the keyhole and fiddled with it for a couple of seconds before twisting it and hearing a click.

"Now."

Matilda pulled the candlestick and this time, it moved with her and a secret door opened under the stairs. Immediately, the three walked inside and closed the door behind them.

"Impressive work!" Edith said and handed back Vivian's umbrella, "This thing works like magic too."

"Don't mention it. Just a simple camouflage trick." Vivian replied and stored her umbrella away then looked at Matilda, "You're up."

Feeling nervous, Matilda walked ahead and descended the stairs ahead of them before finally arriving at a familiar place, Natasha's laboratory in her villa's basement.

The place was a typical basement at first and it seemed to be connected to several other rooms but none of which was active at the moment. Still, the laboratory itself was packed with all sorts of glass containers, chemical basins, herbs, oils, and fragrant perfumes.

It was the laboratory of the genius cosmetics maker, Natasha Ivanov, someone who designs her recipes on his own most of the time. Invading such a personal space would get them all in trouble if they were to be found here and of course, that was only a matter of time.

"Let's get the evidence we need then get out of here." Vivian said and urged Matilda to move.

Right away, Matilda went to the large desk on the other side of the lab and started searching for the paper on top of it.

"It was here last time. She probably moved it elsewhere." Matilda said nervously.

"The drawers." Vivian said while carefully watching over the other doors.

"They are locked." Matilda said.

Vivian moved towards her right away and Edith took Vivian's place as a lookout. Looking at the drawer, Vivian could only groan in frustration.

"These locks are too small. My picks won't even fit in them." She said then her intrusive thoughts couldn't help but mention, "Jane would have made a dirty joke out of this for sure."

"I'll take care of it." Edith said and joined the other two before holding a drawer's handle tight and tightening her fist around it. With the first pull, the small lock broke and the drawer was free.

"That will be hard to cover." Vivian said.

"Stealth is overrated." Edith said while Matilda started looking through the drawers immediately.

After popping a few drawers and messing with their inside, Matilda held up a journal and placed it on top of the desk.

"That's it?" Vivian asked.

"It is it." Matilda looked at her and nodded before opening it right away and taking a look inside, "It is all here… the side effects, the recipe… hell, even the cause of the problem… she has already isolated it? Then why didn't she…"

"Let me see." Vivian took the journal from Matilda and looked into it, "Rapid anti-aging side effects include psychological side-effects… subjects become very sensitive, quick to anger… psychological withdrawal effects may include depression… Physical effects reverse causes the chemical to form on the face due to the reaction between certain chemicals and the air… the regenerative effects of the Spirit Lotus seed can be unstable at times, causing strange layers of thick skin to form as a reaction for the dermal system to protect the rest of the face… Shit! This is a failed product from the start!"

"I don't understand. She knows the risks better than even me… why didn't she stop?" Matilda asked with a tragic face.

"There is more…" Vivian said and read through the recipe, "She was using it on herself. That damn witch!"

"So she's addicted?" Edith asked.

"Something worse." Vivian said and showed Edith the paper, "There is a different formula."

Edith and Matilda looked at what Vivian showed them and the two frowned.

"She improved the formula then?" Edith asked.

"No… this is much worse… she increased the potency. The side effects are almost the same but now…" Matilda replied before raising her face and looking at Vivian.

"She can control the side effects." Vivian understood.

"To what end?" Edith asked.

Vivian turned to the shocked Matilda but the latter shook her head.

"This is not a case of simple greed. We'll need to interrogate Natasha to find out." Vivian concluded and kept the journal in her storage purse.

This situation seems to be turning into a headache and she wasn't even planning to have more enemies within the conglomerate, but if this cosmetic was out on the market in association with the Moore businesses, it would be nothing short of a scandal, one that will be used against her family by their rivals.

Thankfully, Vivian left a note for Logan after she left ViTech's headquarters saying that she was returning to the party to investigate a case of corruption, and if she is not out by midnight, he must seek her inside Natasha's villa with a force of house knights.

In a way, this was her get-out-of-jail card if she was to ever be caught in some evil scheme inside Natasha's basement. Still, Logan would have to inform her father first which would turn into a bigger headache.

"Lady Vivian, what is that?"

But at that moment and from Natasha's other drawer, Matilda fished out something that looked like a violet liquid in a small glass container sealed with a cork.

"I don't know." Vivian said and received the vial from Matilda while facing it towards the light.

"Oh no!"

But it wasn't her who recognized it, it was Edith.

"Edith, you know what that is?" Vivian asked.

"I… This…" Edith struggled to find the right words but after swallowing her saliva, she spoke, "I have seen something similar to that in the Inquisition Hall in a confiscated narcotics shipment."

There was no need to say anything here.

If it is narcotics, it can only be one thing that would cause Edith to be this frightened.

"Bliss!"

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