I understood a while ago that Sir System is only interested in the game's plot and how to make me survive while still dealing some damage to the Heroine, the Prince, and their faction.

This thorny path of resistance can be dangerous and may lead to disaster but both Vivian and Nadia weren't the type of girls to go down without a fight. Granted that both died miserably at the end of their respective stories, I like to believe that even in the face of unstoppable odds, I can be as defiant as they were.

Back to the present, I stared blankly at the message that portrayed something rather disturbing, something I never wanted to even imagine, yet for the sake of doing what is right, it had to be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

In Natasha's personal laboratory in her basement, I found enough evidence to launch an investigation into the matter regarding Natasha's corruption and her use of harmful substances in her new cosmetic product. On top of that, there was a lead in this place that connects Gratia, the product in question, with Bliss, a new drug that is becoming prevalent on the streets of Archester.

This is worse than bad news, it is a disaster in the making.

House Moore has stood behind Natasha Ivanov ever since she came to Father with her ideas before I was even born. It was safe to say that she is close to Father on top of being a relative to Saskia and a successful businesswoman. Going against her will be a nightmare.

Still…

"We have to confront her."

"Is this girl right in the head? I just told you it is pointless."

"Then we go to the proper authorities."

"I am the proper authorities. When I say you keep quiet until the matter is dealt with, you do that."

Matilda's presence was vital to uncover this information but she isn't on my side. On the other hand, Edith is too inflexible and might act rashly.

Where is Isabella when I need her?

"Girls, this is neither the right time nor place to argue. Have you no sense of your surroundings?" I said as I glared at the two while keeping all the things I found in my purse.

"I agree. We should get out of here." Edith turned to me and nodded.

On the other hand, Matilda stayed quiet knowing that she needed us to get out. Unfortunately…

"We can't get out yet." I said and faced them with a solemn look, "The evidence is not enough to tie her to Bliss. She can claim that she's an addict to the Gratia product and the truth about the drug will slip away."

"This isn't the time for that. Once the Knights investigate what goes on in her company, they'll link it up easily to her." Matilda said.

"I am inclined to agree with the commoner girl." Edith also had the same idea as Matilda.

"No, it won't." I replied while shaking my head, "Bliss isn't being manufactured by Natasha. I have it on good authority that the Blackguards are involved and Bliss is their operation. Natasha may be their helper for all I know."

The two girls paused for a while then Edith spoke first.

"If it is you who says that, I will trust your words but we still need evidence." She said.

I turned to Matilda and she understood what I wanted.

"I haven't been around this place that much. I only took a workstation over there for the time I was hired." Matilda said.

"Alright. I want you to refresh your memories, though. Natasha is a crafty old witch, I assume she doesn't let outsiders in her den that much so your involvement was vital to her. Remember her actions exactly, what was the place she tried to keep you from getting near? What was the thing she said that would be off-limits?"

My question made Matilda think but I saw a glint of realization in her eyes. Faint as it may be, Matilda looked the other way immediately as she noticed I was so focused on her.

"I am not sure. I know she hid things from me but I wasn't planning to intrude on her privacy." Matilda said the line of a heroine.

Edith and I had the same look in our eyes, we just averted and rolled our eyes from Miss Good Girl over here and headed to where that workstation of hers was supposed to be.

"If I were Natasha, I'd position the commoner girl as far as possible from whatever I want to hide." Edith said.

"True. But I wouldn't also position her in a spot where she can have direct sight on it." I added.

As we looked at each other with affirmation, we turned in a certain direction where a large wooden cabinet was positioned in a corner.

As the three of us approached it, we kept looking at it with doubt until Edith took the first step and opened it.

There was…

"Nothing here." Matilda said and walked ahead to examine the cabinet's contents, "All of these are just ordinary lab tools."

"Well… at least we tried?" Edith said with a shrug.

I couldn't help but shake my head as these two girls, who are supposedly smarter than your average gal, missed the little detail that indicates that such a conveniently placed storage cabinet has.

"Look under your feet." I said as the two looked at me before looking at what I pointed at.

Their eyes widened at the same time and backed off a couple of steps to my left and right. On the floor were, of course, faint curved scratches of what seemed to be wood rubbing against stone.

In other words, the cabinet itself was a secret door.

The three of us inspected the cabinet from every angle but opening it wasn't an easy task. Even though I have seen many types of secret doors in my career, I wasn't familiar with ones that aren't based on electronics so this was a new experience for me. As for Edith…

"Let me give that a little shake. Vivian, observe the content of the cabinet."

I had a rough idea of what she was trying to do and as she gave the cabinet a little shove, all of its contents started to shake but the cabinet itself was fixed well to its place. After a couple more shoves, the vials and plates inside have gradually moved their place except for one unremarkable bottle with some dried black round fruits inside. That was what we were looking for.

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Since the secret door's lock is most certainly mechanical, a secret handle had to be placed inside and as all handles are, they are not easy to shake around.

I held that bottle immediately and tried to lift it but it felt like I could only move it up or down but not sideways. I moved it up all the way but when nothing happened, I moved it sideways and it did come to the left before finally getting down on its own in a free spot on the shelf.

Click!

"Mamma Mia!"

The mechanism was activated and the secret door opened. Edith pulled it outwards the best she could before it was about to make a nasty screech by scratching against the floor.

The way beyond that cabinet was now open and a small cramped room was seen beyond it. A strong smell came from inside that almost made us want to puke but we held the urge in and took a peek inside.

"Ugh! What is that?"

"Sulfur and some other chemical agents. Be careful, we can't use fire inside." Matilda said.

"Ugh!"

Searching through a chemical lab is no easy matter, Matilda was right since it was foolish to take risks.

"Use Magic." I asked her.

"It can be dangerous. Places like these may have traps if magic was used." She refused.

"She's not wrong." Edith agreed with her.

"No fire, no magic. Anyone wants to guess what the third best thing is?" I said and I opened the system shop and chose an item I never expected I would resort to.

"Your electric light?" Edith asked.

"I hope, sister." I replied and handed both Edith and Matilda what I bought from the shop.

For the cheap price of 50 points per piece, I spent 150 points for 3 Glow Sticks which are some soft transparent tubes with chemical agents on the inside. Once twisted…

"It glows!"

"Yep, it glows."

The girls were somehow acting like little kids who were suddenly given new toys and kept waving them around as the sticks let out a faint light that lit our surroundings.

As for the inside of the secret small room, I wasn't able to tell exactly what sort of complex chemicals were put all around the place. Matilda was muttering to herself as she was listing what she saw in front of her and as for Edith.

"Ouch! That's hot!"

Somehow, she managed to stumble all over the place and hit everything like a clueless puppy.

"Stay where you are. Don't touch a thing." I said as I spoke to her seriously.

"Yes. Sorry." She said as he gathered her wits about her and stayed where she stood.

"You said something was hot?" However, Matilda turned to her right away.

"Yes. That… pipe. I don't know." Edith turned and pointed at the contraption behind her but she hit her head on a pot hanging from a shelf as looked around.

"Alright. Walk towards me, slowly." I said as I intended to clear the cramped-up space for Matilda to investigate.

"I feel so useless." Edith said.

"If you were to become useful, it would mean we're in trouble." Matilda made a snarky comment.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Edith turned suddenly as I hurriedly held her head down so as not to hit the low pipe above her.

"I mean… you are the best fighter here. If you were to become the most useful person in the room, it would mean we would be found out and you know… fighting for our lives." Matilda replied as it was the most obvious thing.

"I'm not sure if the commoner girl is trying to praise or insult me." Edith turned to me.

"I'll say she is praising because the one to insult you would be me if you don't stop moving around too much."

"Sorry. Narrow places aren't my thing."

Claustrophobia! Perfect.

I urged her to stay back behind the door cabinet so that she could get out if she needed to. As for Matilda.

"These pipes connect to a distilling system. A rather big tank supplies a substance here that is boiled before it goes into these compartments. I'm not sure what this is but this machine does something as the hot substance passes in this room. Rather than making it all in one large space, she chose to put this contraption in one small area for a reason. What is it?"

"So much for not intruding on others' privacy." I said as I approached Matilda.

She stopped thinking out loud and didn't turn for me as she wasn't bothered by my provocation.

"Do you know what I like about contraptions?" I asked as I started to take out a small kit I use at work.

"What?" She asked back.

"I can disassemble the hell out of them." I said as I rolled open my toolkit that contained some screwdrivers, a multipurpose wrench, and other hand-dandy useful tools.

"You can't. It will cause a leakage. You may harm yourself."

"A leakage? Counting on that. As for harming myself, try to find a safety valve where the pipes start." I said as I pointed towards something I noticed a while ago.

"Alright… but… there may be pressure from the other side of the contraption. It may require more than one operation to stabilize it."

"Who said anything about stabilizing it?" I replied with a cunning smile, "We are dealing with Natasha here. A third-rate villainess like her needs a first-rate like me to ruin her bad deeds the right way. Do as I say, commoner girl."

Seeing that I was brewing nothing but trouble, Matilda backed away and put her hand on the valve. As for me, I examined the structure of the contraption and got my screwdrivers ready.

"Turn it." I said and Matilda shut the valve causing the contraption to quieten down.

Remove this bolt, remove that bolt, and it all laid bare in front of me. A beautiful glass container that had everything I was looking for.

As I carefully moved it, a lot of violet liquid started to flow down.

"This will cause a mess. She will know that we were here."

"Let her know. I only wanted to cause a leakage but isn't this worth it?" I said as I showed the glass canisters to Matilda.

It seemed like some sort of a filtering centerpiece in the contraption but what was inside it was what mattered.

"These are…"

"Seeds of the Spirit Lotus."

The three seeds – that Natasha received from my father – were the ones she was meant to develop in order to uncover the secrets of the Spirit Lotus.

"Now, open the safety valve just a little."

"Are you serious?"

"The mess it will cause will be uncleanable. It won't be hidden once the knights come to investigate."

Matilda could see what I was doing and what I was doing and just as I asked her, she let the valve open and the flow started. Soon, this place will turn into a pool of chemicals with traces of the basic formula all over the place. Once I tip the investigation to compare the chemicals with Bliss, Natasha will be done for.

"Guys! Hurry! Someone is coming down."

At that critical time, our little mischievous adventure deep into the chemical vault of Natasha Ivanov was interrupted. Edith whispered to warn us and I immediately dragged Matilda out with me.

"Hide! Quickly!"

The three of us started to spread around like rats and hid behind various pieces of furniture. The sound of heavy steps was heard as someone invaded the room quickly.

"Shit!" The voice of a man was heard cursing as he saw the vault's cabinet door open.

He rushed towards it immediately and I readied my push dagger just in case before switching my hiding spot to avoid his sight.

Matilda was not far from me and she saw me switch my spot and so she did the same albeit very crudely and of course…

Thwack!

THUD!

"Huh!"

The man turned around almost immediately and he saw the tail of Matilda's dress being dragged behind the corner.

"You rat! Come here!"

The man marched right past my hiding spot as he intended to catch Matilda. I only had a second to exchange a nod with Edith before moving right away.

As he rushed right to her, huffing and puffing, poor Matilda could only look up at the brute specimen of a man and her face turned yellow from fear but…

Stab!

… it was the perfect distraction.

I managed to drive my dagger deep into the brute's side and tried to subdue him by holding the nape of his coat but I overestimated myself and underestimated him for a second there.

"ARGH! Bitch!"

With a strong motion of his arm, I was pushed back over the table behind me and he endured the stab I delivered to his kidney like a champ.

Just as I was trying to recover, Edith jumped from the shadows with a swift attack with her sword aiming for his neck but the man held her blade with his hand as if it was nothing.

"Three bitches?"

As we were in this terrible situation, we could finally get a clear look on the man's face.

Natasha's so-called butler and most loyal subordinate, Igor.