Chapter 3: Chapter 3: “I Know Everything.”

The tea and cake are here. After setting them down with some sugar cubes as well, Marquis dismisses the young maid.

"You may leave."

"Y-Yes, sir..."

The servant bowed, glancing over to my side for moment before leaving the room quickly, closing the door behind her.

She must've been anxious the entire time while serving us tea. Well... considering that she can't afford to mess up in her duty of serving me the right tea, I can't say that I blame her.

Unfortunately for the young maid, however, because of said spell of mine, she has served the drugged tea to the wrong recipient.

I then took off my mask and set it aside, revealing my face to the Marquis who gawked in admiration.

"Is something the matter, my lord?" I asked him, seeing what reaction I can pull out of the man.

"Oh, no, milady. I was just bewildered by your appearance behind the mask."

"Oh? Is my face that unsightly to you?"

"Not at all! If anything, I'm entranced by the beauty you possess. Such pretty eyes and luscious lips. If only I could meet you in my younger days, I would have..."

"'I would have...' what, my lord?"

"I-It's nothing. Forget it. But never mind me. Please, enjoy the tea while it's still hot. I hope the servant made it to your liking."

"I'm sure she has, my lord." I replied, placing a lot of sugar cubes into my tea cup before taking a long sip for the Marquis to see.

The man was surprised by the amount of sugar I added into my tea. But as he watched the contents of the liquid going down my throat, my eyes caught a faint grin forming on his face. Which reverted back to normal, once I was done.

"My lord, are you not going to drink your tea? It's going to get cold, if you don't." I suggested him to do the same, since his is the one that was spiked. Therefore, I wanted him to consume it to get a taste of his own medicine.

I do not know what he had the servant put in the tea. However, if I were to guess, then it would either be a sleeping drug to put the consumer to sleep or an aphrodisiac to make the consumer randy and lose all rationality. Either way, it's clear that the Marquis fully intends on raping me with this unknown 'you-know-what' drug, in order to make me his woman.

Disgusting, I would say... But typical as well, since he isn't the first nobleman to try this stunt on me.

Not wanting to seem suspicious, Marquis Anderson followed my suggestion and drank his tea in one gulp. All the while, he gazes and undresses me with those lustful eyes of his.

He has been doing that for a while now. And it was blatantly obvious while I eat a piece of my cake.

I wish to get this over with already. Fortunately, now that he had drank his tea, I just need to play the waiting game.

I wonder how long this drug of his requires to take effect...

"Mmm~! This cake is amazing, my lord. The soft and fluffy texture mixed with the sweet taste of strawberries and whip cream in it. Truly a wonderful delight in my mouth!"

"Hahaha! I'm glad you liked it, my lady. I'm sure my Head Chef who made this will be delighted to hear such a compliment."

"My~! Is that so? Well then, do tell this Head Chef of yours that I really loved the cake they made."

"Hahaha! I'll be sure to tell him that myself, milady."

Marquis Anderson then takes a bite out of his slice of cake, whereas I sipped down some tea before taking another bite of my slice of cake. Afterwards, we continued our lovely little chat which persisted for a while. Until...

"Oh? What's matter, my lord? You don't look too good."

"I'm... I'm alright... I just..."

Marquis Anderson stopped speaking midway as he attempts to keep himself up and not collapse in front of my presence.

I, however, was pleased to see that the drugged tea he drank is starting to take effect and said, "Oh my~ Looks like it was sleeping drugs mixed in the tea."

"W-What...?"

The Marquis took a second to comprehend what I'd said, realising soon enough that he was caught.

"You... knew?" he said, essentially admitting to his attempted misdeed.

"Why of course, my lord. I knew about it from the beginning. That's why I switched the cups while you were too focused on undressing me with your eyes." I chuckled while lying, before continuing my monologue to the drowsy Marquis.

"I must say though, Marquis... For the numerous crimes you managed to get away with, you sure are careless in this regard."

"W-What do you... mean...." the Marquis asked with a sweaty face, feigning ignorance despite it being obvious.

"Oh you know what I'm talking about, my lord. After all, this is you we're talking about." I stood up, walked over to the man and proceeded to list out the crimes he had committed.

"Julian Anderson. Age: 47. A high ranking nobleman with the rank of Marquis. Formally the second son of the previous Marquis, David Anderson, who was only made the next heir after the first son, your brother, was killed by you whom made it looked like he got into an unfortunate accident which resulted in his death. Later on, you poisoned your father, making it seemed like he died from an unknown illness, which then made you the next Head of the Anderson family right after his funeral. And once you became the new Head of the Household, the first thing you did was marry your brother's fiancée whom you were obsessed with since your first meeting with her. However, the relationship with your first wife did not last long as your interest later lies in the more younger types of maidens rather than the older ones. Leading to the multiple affairs you had with the maids, that was soon found out by your wife herself. So, you killed her. Made her death looked like an unfortunate accident, as that would be a smaller stain on your reputation than going through a divorce. In fact, her death gave you a lot of sympathy points from the other nobles, which you so graciously bathed yourself in."

As I lay out the Marquis's life story to him, more sweat started pouring from his face.

"You... How did you—"

"Ah bab bab bab! I'm not done yet, my lord~"

With my finger pressed against his lips, I continued.

"After becoming a widow, you immediately went through a second marriage at the age of 31. This time, with a much younger lady as your bride. However, tragedy befell the poor second wife like the first, as she was found murdered in the streets of the lower district of the city where she was supposedly assaulted and then killed with the criminal still at large to this day. Naturally, that was what the public was told, because there's no way in the world you could ever say that you killed your second wife by strangulation while going a bit too hard on the bed. Of course, that incident affected your reputation by quite a lot as no lady would dare to court the man who went through two marriages with both wives dying tragically somehow. Not without force at least..."

"S-Stop..." the Marquis began to beg, as he still tries to keep himself up.

"Now now, my lord. Don't be like that. Listen till the end, why don't you? We are just getting to the good part, you know."

His resistance to his own drug is something. However, it's nothing to worry about as all I needed to do was weaken his senses with my magic. Enough to lower his resistance to the drug, but not at the level to put him to sleep as I am not done speaking just yet.

"So, from then on after your second wife's passing, you went on a little escapade and abused your wealth, status and power to coerce every young woman you fancied into bed with you regardless of their consent. You even became one of the most influential figures of the Third Prince's Faction just to use a member of royalty as your shield. Numerous young women got pregnant with your child as a result. And numerous young women mysteriously vanished when they tried to report the matter to the guards. With that being said, we now reached the present with me listing out your crimes to you."

I cynically smiled then. Afterwards, I asked him, "Tell me, Marquis Anderson, what number would I be if our positions were swapped, hm?"

The Marquis looked up with much struggles, staring into my eyes for a brief moment before uttering, "Who... Who are you...?"

"Oh? I thought you already knew, my lord."

My smile grew even more cynical as I grabbed the Marquis's face and proceeded to answer his question.

"I am the watcher. I am the night. I am the Midnight Lady. And I. Know. Everything... Fufufu~"

Fear consumed the Marquis's eyes, as he falls to sleep with something unpleasant to dream about.

Finally, his own sleeping drug has fully taken effect. Marquis Anderson shouldn't be waking up anything soon. And by the time he does, I would be long gone by then.

I have taken too much time entertaining this man though. Time to do what I came here for.

Leaving the unconscious Marquis be, I opened the door and immediately spotted the young maid who served our tea and cake earlier, standing outside by the door. However, because I have marked her with my spell, the young maid is unable to "see" me standing before her eyes.

The nature of my magic is Hypnotism. With it, I can manipulate the five senses of anyone under my spell, allowing me to mess with their minds and perceptions however I please; making them hallucinate whatever I want them to perceive.

I have two ways of using my magic. The first is Field Hypnosis, which allows me to put anyone under my spell, only if they are within a certain range. It is also how I got into the party hall without anyone realising my entry until later.

I activated my magic, put everyone inside under my manipulation before entering the venue through the doors like a normal person would. All of the party guests were then made to perceive the doors remaining closed and my presence non-existent to them, as I casually walked passed them and went straight for the pastries on the tables.

The other method is Remote Hypnosis, which doesn't have a range unlike Field Hypnosis as it allows me to manipulate anyone's senses no matter how far away they are from me, on the condition that I maintain physical contact with my target for about five seconds in order to mark them. And that was what I did to the Marquis and this young maid before me.

However, as powerful my magic may seem to be, there are several weaknesses to it. Not that I will say them though...

So now, I have to think on what I should do with the maid before I go on my merry way and explore the mansion, as it would be bad if she were to enter the room to check on the Marquis and me, only to find me gone and the Marquis sound asleep.

Hmmm.... Yeah, I'm just going to do that.

With the snap of my finger, the young maid jumped surprised as she suddenly sees me in front of her face.

"Hello there~" I greeted her with a smile.

"H-How—"

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"How am I not asleep from the drugged tea you supposedly gave me? Well that's easy, my dear. You gave me the wrong cup." I gave the truth to her.

By switching my position with the Marquis in her point of view, I made her serve me the cup with normal tea, whereas the Marquis gets the drugged tea he deserved.

"What? T-Then..."

"Oh yes... The Marquis is peacefully asleep on his couch right now. But the same can't be said for when he wakes up though. After all, I'm sure he will very pissed that his terrible plan had failed and I'm sure that he will blame you for it. And I think we both know what will happen when that time comes."

The young maid trembles in fear, her face turning completely white, which pretty much tells me as to what sort of punishment the Marquis would probably give her.

"Say, my dear, do you like working here?" I then asked her.

"What?"

"I asked if you like working here? Has the Marquis been a good boss to you?"

"N-No... but—"

"Then I see no problem if you quit right now, hm?"

"Huh?"

The young maid looks confused. She seemed to have not understand what I'm saying. Therefore, I elaborate.

"If you dislike doing something, then stop doing it. If you despise how someone treats you, then stay away from them. And if you hate your job, then quit it and find another one that is better. Don't force yourself to do something that you don't like. You are only fifteen years old, are you not? Try to live a bit more freely for yourself, instead of taking orders from that disgusting man."

With my words sprinkled into her head, and with the use of my magic to make her see me dazzling, the young maid's eyes shined brightly for a moment then before she shied her face away in rejection.

"I'm sorry, my lady. But I cannot do that... I cannot quit my job."

Tsk. Persuasion attempt one failed. Going for attempt two now.

"Why not? No, wait. Let me guess... It's because the Marquis pays you a lot, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

"And you need the money for your family who are suffering from debt or poverty, correct?"

"Yes..."

"And in addition to that, the Marquis threatened to harm your family if you were to quit. He also made sexual advances on you because you fit his preference, am I right to say that?"

"Y-Yes... How did you know all of that...?"

"Fufufu~" I chuckled at the young maid's question. "My darling, you're not the first person I've met to have such circumstances." I answered, pushing her against the wall while lifting her chin up as our faces came close to each other.

"If money is all you need, then I'll hire you. If your family's safety is a concern, then I'll protect them. And if the Marquis still threatens you, then I'll have him disappear. So, what do you say, Little Maggie? How about joining me?"

Her's eyes widened in shock. "How did you know my childhood nickname?" she asked, as I moved next to her ear..

"That's a secret~"

I then backed away to give her some space. "So, what is your response?" I asked.

Little Maggie ponders for a moment. "Why are you helping me?" she then asked before making her decision.

"I'm not really helping you." I answered honestly. "It's just that it will be bad for me if you were to interfere with my business in this estate. And fortunately, you just so happen to be the only person I have to deal with here. So basically, yeah... This is all for selfish reasons only." I explained thoroughly to her.

"So anyways, your response?"

"I-I..."

The young maid hesitated for a moment. However, the choice between a dangerous man who preys on young women like herself and a mysterious young beauty who has offered her friendly aid. The answer was clear from the start.

"I understand... my lady. If my family can be saved, then... I will serve you from now on."

"Great! Then your first job, Little Maggie, is to stay inside of this room and watch over the sleeping Marquis. In case the man wakes up earlier than expected, knock him out with... whatever you can find in the room. Or if anyone tries to enter the room, shoo them away with whatever excuse you can think of. I'm off to fulfill my business on my own. So... kindly wait in there for me, all right?"

"I understand, my lady. I will... await for your return..."

Little Maggie, or Magnolia, then did as I instructed and went inside the room. Meanwhile, all I could think about was: Wow... That was easy. If only convincing someone to switch sides was that simple all the time...

Oh well. Now that I've been sidetracked for too long, time to really do what I came here for. No more distractions!

And so, with Field Hypnosis activated, I begin to explore around the mansion while making sure to put every servant and guard I came across in the house under my Remote Hypnosis spell. Because Field Hypnosis is automatically removed once a person is outside of my range. Whereas Remote Hypnosis can linger on for as long as I wish.

So, here's door number one! Nothing!

Door number two! Also nothing!

And next is door number three! Also also nothing!

My goodness. This place is huge! Not as huge as the palace though... But still, huge!

If I were to keep searching the place like this, it would take hours before I realise it. Therefore, I must think: Where would the Marquis hold his secret orgy party at?

The answer... is in door number four! Bingo!

No, wait... Huh?

What is this? Where is the orgy? There's only dudes here lounging around in this widely spaced room with... something lingering in the air?

Are they burning incense here? No... this sweet scent is...

In the next instance, I use my magic on myself to heighten my senses against the fumes in the air.

It's a type of narcotics. What kind? I don't know... But in any case, it would seem that the Marquis wasn't holding a secret orgy party, but a secret drug party instead.

How disappointing...

I looked around the room, observing the many guests of the secret drug party. One of whom is the man I was looking for: Karl Hendrickson, the Earl and husband of Lady Hendrickson, whom she had requested me to investigate for possible adultery.

But from the looks of it, I believe it's safe to say that the man isn't committing such a thing. He's just committed to doing drugs. Raising his arms high in the air like he is carrying something, along with that wide creepy smile on his face.

I wonder what he's hallucinating about...?

But there is something not yet explained... If the man isn't cheating on his wife, then why are there so many hickeys around his neck?

Wait, no. It's not just him...

I checked the other intoxicated guests. And sure enough, they have the same hickey-like markings around their neck. Leaving me to believe that they aren't hickeys, but a side effect of the drug they are taking.

Then, I noticed one of the guests holding onto something. "Let me see that." I said, snatching a small bottle from his hands, which is presumably the container that held the drug.

The content has been drunk and there is no labelling on the bottle itself, so I can't say for certain as to what drug this is. But there are still some small droplets of the contents left in it, so that's a start.

The next are the guests. As mentioned, they all have multiple markings around their necks that resemble hickeys. And they seem to be hallucinating something pleasant which makes them smile creepily all the time.

A hallucinogenic drug that can either be drunk from the bottle or inhaled when heated in an incense burner. With a noticeable side effect that forms strange markings around their neck, resembling hickeys unless inspected closer.

This purely based on my speculation. But if I'm not wrong, the drug they are taking is.....

. . .

"Lady Hendrickson, I fear that your request may be more complicated than I expected."

But first, I should get the heck out of here.

Time to leave! Ah, wait. I should fetch Little Maggie before that...

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