Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Good News, Bad News

It is two hours past noon.

Eva Hendrickson, the Lady of the Hendrickson Household is currently having her late lunch on her own. Her husband, Karl Hendrickson, is still asleep in his room, after returning in the morning from a late night party he had attended.

"Haaah..." Eva sighed. She recalls the morning earlier when the Earl returned, noticing even more of those hickeys around his neck as she welcomed him home.

Her meal was left untouched after a few bites, becoming cold gradually as she sets her utensils down and stared blankly at the food in a daze. Heaving another sad sigh.

"The Madam isn't eating her meal again. It's been three days since she barely eaten anything already. I'm getting worried..." said one of the two maids standing behind the Lady, whispering to her co-worker standing next to her.

"The Earl must be on her mind again, I'm guessing. He has changed a lot recently. Going out for parties often, buying tons of expensive clothes which he don't normally wear, and smiling creepily everyday. I wonder what happened to him?"

"They say that the Earl is cheating on the Madam, as evident by his strange behaviour and those marks on his neck."

"That's just rumours though. It's not certain yet whether or not the Earl is really cheating on the Madam."

"But judging by what we've seen so far, isn't it clear that the Earl is—"

Suddenly, Eva stood up. Making her maids stop their chatting in an instant.

"I-I'm sorry. But I-I think I'm done e-e-eating now. C-Could you... clear the p-p-plates...? I would like to... r-r-rest now..."

""Understood, Madam."" the two maids responded together, taking away the unfinished meal from their lady's table as they left her be to rest in her own room.

Eva then lied on her bed, feeling tired from her worries... and possibly from her lack of nutrition intake, as she heaved another sigh and gazed at the ceiling in a daze.

Rumours have spread throughout the house like wildfire about the possibility of the Earl cheating on her, judging from his recent activities and the numerous markings around his neck.

Eva, however, wished not for it to be the case; wanting her suspicion to be wrong. Which was how she came to request the Fifth Prince Soluna for help when her friend suggested her to do so.

However, with each day passing after her request was made, her worries only grew heavier as she awaits for the result.

"What if... What if he really was cheating." she thought. "What shall I do then?" she pondered on her next move. Even though what she should do has already been told to her by Soluna, Eva was still hesitant about it. Feeling afraid that the Earl will want his money back from her family if she were to ask for a divorce.

As the young wife was lost in the spiral of her worries, she returned to reality upon hearing a knock on the door.

"U-Umm, w-w-who... is it...?" Eva inquired, getting up from her bed.

"It's Henry." replied her husband's butler. "I apologise for interrupting your rest, but there is a guest who wishes to see you, Madam." he said.

"A... A guest? Umm... w-who is it?"

"The Fifth Prince, my lady."

"Eh?"

"He is currently waiting for you in the second floor drawing room. Shall I tell him to wait for a bit longer?" the butler behind the door asked, unbeknownst to him that his lady inside is panicking at the moment.

"Madam?"

"Ah! Y-Y-Yes! P-P-Please tell His Highness to g-give me a few minutes!"

"Understood, my lady."

Acknowledging his lady's orders, Henry returned to the drawing room. Meanwhile, Eva is scrambling her clothes all over the place, rushing to get herself properly dressed before meeting the Fifth Prince.

"W-W-Why must His Highness come a-a-all of a sudden!?" she screamed while her mind is in a mess.

Fortunately, the two maids who were with her before, entered the room to see their lady in dismay. "Madam! Please let us help you prepare." one of them said, making Eva stop as she looked to her maids with a face full of relief.

"E-Ellen... Sarah... T-Thank God you two are here..." she said, crying with joy as her body relaxed itself upon seeing them.

Afterwards, with the help of her maids, Eva was able to quickly get dressed, before rushing her way to the drawing room as she had kept him waiting there for more than just a few minutes.

*******************

I have arrived at the Hendrickson Household, surprised the guards at the entrance with my sudden appearance and was promptly welcomed into the house, where the butler named Henry proceeded to escort me and Jonah up to the drawing room.

"My my~ What lovely milk tea this is. The rich aroma and sweet flavour is certainly exquisite beyond what I have tasted. Doesn't even require me to put many sugar cubes to match my sweet tooth."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I am pleased that you are fond of it. The Madam will be here in a moment, so I kindly ask that you'd be patient for a while longer." said the butler, Henry, who prepared the tea for me.

"Of course. It's my fault in the first place for visiting unannounced. So let the Lady take as long as she needs. In the meantime, let us chat for a bit, shall we, Sir Henry?" I replied, shifting the subject to the butler in front of me who is the Earl's most trusted subordinate, according to my intelligence.

"Henry Reed. If I recall correctly, you were once a knight before becoming a butler, weren't you?"

"Y-Yes! I'm surprised you knew, Your Highness, considering that it was a very long time ago."

"I've studied some history. That is why I must thank you and your comrades for facing those barbarians in the south when they invaded our country. Pity that the battle led you to ending your career early due to your injuries."

"Well, taking an arrow to the knee was a painful experience. However, if not for that, I would probably have not met my Lord and the Madam now, so... I can't say that quitting my life with the sword is all that unsatisfying."

"I see. I'm glad you are doing fine. I'm sure your past comrades will be happy to hear that as well."

"Yes, they are actually. Thank you, Your Highness."

My friendly little chat with Sir Henry ended there and then as not long after that, I could hear the footsteps of someone approaching the room in a hurry.

Looks like the Lady is here.

Sure enough, my guess was correct as Lady Hendrickson burst through the door in a frantic manner.

"M-M-My apologies for keeping you waiting, Y-Your Highness!" she said.

She is panting heavily. Her face is all red from exhaustion and shame. As she quickly regained her posture, two of her maids entered the room as well.

"Not to worry, milady. I hadn't been waiting long at all." I said with a refreshing smile to ease her tension. "Take a seat and drink some tea. You must be tired from rushing all the way here."

"Y-Yes, Your Highness. I a-a-apologise for my un-un-unsightly display."

Lady Hendrickson then sat across of me, as Sir Henry walked up and poured her a cup of milk tea. I waited for her to drink her cup and relax for a minute before proceeding with what I came here for.

"Now then, milady, I'm sure you know why I came to visit."

"Y-Yes..." Lady Hendrickson nodded nervously.

"Well, in that case, I have some good news and bad news for you." I said, litting the Lady's face with anticipation. "But before I say anything, I would this matter to be as confidential as possible. So, if you two would not mind..." my eyes glanced towards the two maids behind the Lady. Understanding my wishes, Sir Henry dismissed them both.

"Ellen, Sarah, you may leave."

""Yes, sir.""

They then exited the room.

"Well then, Madam, I shall leave you with His Highness now." he said, about to make his exit as well, but I stopped him before he could.

"Sir Henry, you may stay. I'm sure a formal knight like you will be able to keep a secret or two, no?"

"Of course, Your Highness." he said, making his way to stand behind Lady Hendrickson instead of the door next.

With no one else but the people here in the room to listen now, I am finally able to inform Lady Hendrickson about the matter of her husband.

"You may be at ease, milady. The Earl isn't committing adultery at all like you'd suspected." I said, putting a sense of relief on the Lady and Sir Henry, who seemed to have been concerned about the matter as well.

"I-I see... T-T-Thank goodness." she said, showing a subtle and relaxing smile on her face, knowing for a fact now that the Earl has been faithful despite his abrupt change in behaviour.

"Because it's way much worse than that." I then dropped the bad news onto them, changing that relaxing face of relief into a sudden look of terror.

"Y-Your Highness... What exactly do you mean by that?" Sir Henry spoke first in Lady Hendrickson's stead, who was probably about to ask the same as well.

His voice was shaky from anxiousness. His eyes were wavering in fear.

His concern for the Earl was genuine. Much like the Lady who is acting the same way.

"Lady Hendrickson, Sir Henry, I'm afraid that the Earl has fallen victim to an addictive drug known as Pleasure. This drug, once consumed, will cause the consumer to hallucinate happy dreams crafted from their deepest desires. Which in turn will make them smile euphorically all day and unable to differentiate fiction from reality the more they take the drug. In addition to that, each time the drug is consumed, markings that resemble blemishes or hickeys will form around their neck, which I believe was what you noticed on your husband's neck, milady."

"T-Then...!"

"Yes. The reason for your husband's strange behaviour is due to the drug. The parties he went to were most likely places that distributed said narcotics."

Lady Hendrickson is in shock. Whereas Sir Henry seems to be in disarray.

"W-Why... my lord... why..." Sir Henry muttered.

I then clapped my hands loudly, gaining their attention back on me. "My apologies but this isn't the time to be depressed over the matter." I  said, turning my gaze to Sir Henry.

"Where is the Earl right now?" I asked.

"M-My Lord is currently resting in his bedchambers. He had just returned this morning, so..."

"I see. Then is the Earl planning on going to another party tonight, or perhaps tomorrow?"

"Yes. He has plans to attend a party at Viscount Kir's estate on the next day."

Viscount Kir, huh...

"Do not let him attend that party. In fact, do not let him leave his room at all cost. Right now, your duty is to make sure the Earl doesn't attend any parties or take anymore of the drug. He will become violent, so restrain him if you must."

"Understood, Your Highness."

"In addition, do not let anyone asides from yourself and Lady Hendrickson enter the Earl's room. And make sure to test any meals served to him. I suspect that someone from this household was responsible for turning the Earl into a drug addict."

"Wh-What!? You're saying that one of the servants betrayed my Lord!?" Sir Henry bellowed out surprised.

"Yes. Servants, chefs and whatnot. All of them are suspicious. Naturally, that includes you as well, Sir Henry."

Earl Hendrickson is a serious workaholic who tends to do everything on his own with a straight face. For such a man who is always so absorbed in his own work, I highly doubt that he would voluntarily take the drug even if he doesn't know what it is. Therefore, someone must have forced him into taking the drug without his knowledge. Whether it be spiking his food with it, or burning it with an incense burner in his own room while he was asleep.

Whatever the method, there is a snake within the Hendrickson Household without a doubt.

"So I'm a suspect as well..." Sir Henry quietly commented.

"Yes, Sir Henry. However, while I may say that, I have my trust in you due to your history as a formal knight. So I hope that trust is not misplaced."

His face then lit up. "Of course, Your Highness. I thank you for your faith in me." he said, bowing graciously with the utmost respect in his words.

Judging from the way he acted, I don't think Sir Henry is the traitor.

Now that I was done speaking to Sir Henry, I turned to Lady Hendrickson next.

"Lady Hendrickson, do you mind if I take a look in your husband's office?" I asked her.

"I-I beg your p-pardon?"

"I said, may I take a look in your husband's office? I wish to see the account book in particular."

"T-That is..." Lady Hendrickson hesitated to speak. She then glanced to Sir Henry, asking him for help with her eyes.

"My apologies, Your Highness. The Madam does not have the key to my Lord's office. Hence, her lack of response." he said.

"So then I assume that you have the key, Sir Henry?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I can guide you to my Lord's office if you so desire."

"Good. Then let us go right away! Lady Hendrickson, I ask that you join us as well."

"Y-Yes, Your Highness! A-As you wish..."

Jonah, Lady Hendrickson and I then left the drawing room and followed Sir Henry to the Earl's office. Upon arrival, however, we found the door unlocked and opened the door.

""My Lord!?""

We found the Earl in his office whom was supposed to be in his room, doodling on some papers which I assume are work documents.

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Lady Hendrickson did mention that one of the Earl's strange behaviours was doodling on his work. But, I wonder what is he drawing...

Sir Henry quickly walked up to stop him. "My Lord, you shouldn't be drawing on such important documents!" he said, but was blatantly ignored by the Earl. Or rather, the Earl did not hear his butler's voice at all.

"Looks like he is still stuck in his own world." I commented, approaching the Earl along with Jonah and Lady Hendrickson, whom the latter was visibly concerned for her husband.

Oh. This is...

The moment I stood near the Earl, I see the "art" he has been drawing, noticing a correlation in them.

"My Lord, would you please stop drawing already!" Sir Henry attempted to stop the Earl again, but his were futile as the man was simply too absorbed in his own fantasy.

"My Lord!" He screamed once more. However, I stopped him then and turned to Lady Hendrickson next to me.

"Milady, would you be so kind as to stop your husband?"

"Eh? M-Me?!"

"Yes. I believe you're the only who can right now." I said, prompting the Lady to do so.

But as expected, she was hesitant.

In addition to her lack of self-confidence, Lady Hendrickson also believed that the Earl dislikes her. It makes sense why she's so afraid. However...

"Milady, there is nothing to worry. The Earl will listen to you, I'm certain of it."

"B-But..." Lady Hendrickson stared at her delirious husband. Knowing the truth behind his actions and seeing him in such a pitiful state, she took a deep breath in and out, calming herself down. "I-I u-understand... I w-w-will try..."

And so, despite her clear hesitation, Lady Hendrickson approached the Earl and called out to him.

"M-My Lord...?"

The Earl stopped his doodling all of a sudden. Hearing his wife's voice, he looked up and saw her standing next to him.

Then, he smiled.

"Ba...by...."

It's as I've guessed. The Earl was truly in love with his wife. It's a shame that he couldn't express that properly as her husband.

Lady Hendrickson mentioned that her marriage with the Earl was solely for his money, which was then given to her family who were in need of it. But the truth is, there was no reason for the Earl to go along with it. With him being of a higher noble rank, he could simply reject them quite easily. Unless of course, there was some sort of merit for him to give away his money like that, such as marrying the woman whom he had fell for. Otherwise, it would just be a huge loss for him.

And like I've mentioned, Pleasure is a drug that makes the consumer hallucinate happy dreams based on their deepest desire. Which means that in his dream, the Earl is fantasising about living a happy life with his wife and their non-existent child. The drawings he had doodled on the paper documents were further proof of that. 

Therefore, the reason why he can hear Lady Hendrickson and not Sir Henry was because she exist within his fantasy world, whereas Sir Henry does not.

"My Lord... Take a... r-rest, p-please..." said Lady Hendrickson, begging for her husband to stop.

Hearing her out, the Earl put the crayons down, stood up and hugged his wife all of a sudden. Surprising the Lady who let out a small shriek.

"M-M-My Lord?! W-W-What are you..."

"Baby.... Wife.... Love.... Protect..." said the Earl.

"Milady, take care of your husband. He's going to need you more than ever." I said, encouraging her to stay by his side.

 "B-But I..."

"Milady, Please..."

I know I am putting pressure on her. I know that this matter shouldn't be my business now that I am technically done with Lady Hendrickson's request. However, the situation isn't something that I could just let it play out.

For the sake of Lady Hendrickson and the Earl; for the sake of their fragile relationship, I am intervening to help them both.

"I... I understand." she said, taking the Earl out of the office and escorting him back to his room.

"Support her as well, Sir Henry. She'll need all the help she can get." I said to the butler.

"As you wish, Your Highness."  he replied.

But before I let him leave, I still need to look at the account book which was the reason why we're here to begin with. So, upon me asking, Sir Henry brought it out from the shelf and handed it to me.

Then, I started from the oldest entry. Flipping pages after pages in quick succession, processing all of the information within mere matter of seconds.

I stopped on one of the old entry for a moment. As it stood out like a sore thumb.

That one was dated back to 7 years ago. Around the time when the Earl got married to Lady Oriel, who would then become known as Lady Hendrickson.

According to the entry, the Earl had gave almost eighty percent of his household budget to the Oriel Household, just to gain the Lady's hand in marriage.

Perhaps the reason why they never spend their first night together after marriage was due to this. The Earl needed to work for those money back quickly, in order to provide for his household and his newly wedded wife. All because he didn't have the foresight to realise that giving away twenty years worth of his asset would be a huge deal in the long run.

The Earl was blinded by love.

Reminds me of a certain king who let his actions ran the same way.

"Haaah, I swear... people really need to think about the consequences sometimes..."

"Your Highness? Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing at all. Just thinking to myself aloud."

I proceeded to flip through the pages after that. Reaching the latest entries soon enough where I immediately spotted many errors here and there.

The handwriting are also different. I'm guessing someone else must've done the recent entries.

"Say, who was the one that did these entries recently?" I asked Sir Henry, showing him the book.

"That would most likely be the accountant we hired, Your Highness." he answered, curiously gazing into the numbers I am showing him. Where upon closer inspection, he quickly noticed they were off.

"Your Highness, this is...!"

I nodded. "Could you bring that accountant here? I would like to ask him some questions."

"Right away!" Sir Henry then dashed out of the room.

"Jonah, go with him. He might need some help."

"As you wish." Jonah then exited the room as well.

Meanwhile, I continued looking through the account book, as well as the documents handled by the Earl.

The man had been making a lot of progress over the past seven years. At this rate, he would have filled up that eighty percent hole he'd dug himself into. 

"If not for a certain embezzlement done by a certain accountant..."

And it did not take long before the said accountant was brought to me.

Seeing how Jonah had to drag him here, he must've tried to escape upon realising he was caught.

"Good job, you two. Now then..." I approached the accountant, taking out the Pleasure bottle from my pocket.

"Tell me, mister. Did you make the Earl drink the drug from a bottle similar to this?"

"T-That is..."

"Answer the question, mister." I said in a sterner tone, placing my fingers at his neck where the pulse is.

The accountant began sweating. His beating was getting faster. Seeing no way out of his situation, he had not choice but to admit to his crimes in the end.

"Yes... I did." he said, shying his head away in shame.

"Why?" I continued questioning him.

"I needed money... for my sick mother. But the amount I make wasn't enough for her medicine, so..."

"You thought about stealing the necessary money from the Earl. But because he always managed the budget on his own, which was supposed to be part of your job, you couldn't do that without him noticing, could you?"

"Yes, that's right..." he said.

"If that's the case, then who gave you the drug? Who told you to make the Earl consume it?"

"A man... It was a man... I didn't know who he was or what he looked like because of the cloak he wore. But he handed the bottle. Told me that if I snuck into the Earl's room and burn the contents with an incense burner while the Earl was asleep, I would be able to steal all the money I needed the next day."

"So you did as you were told because you were so desperate to save your mother, that you didn't even considered whether or not what you were doing was right or not. How pathetic. You make me sick."

"Shut up. Like hell would you know!?" the accountant suddenly yelled at me. "You're the Fifth Prince! You're royalty! You live up there in the palace with so much luxury and care! As if someone like you who never suffered a day in his life or know any hardship could understand people like us!" he spouted out, snapping something inside of me upon hearing those words he said.

Despite that, however, I retained my cool. Glaring down at the man's whining.

"Well... I can't really disagree with you there, Mister Richard. The tumor your mother is suffering from would more likely be worse than what I've been through." I said, calmly. But to the accountant, his face turned into complete bewilderment upon hearing my words.

"H-How do you know my name? And... And what do you mean by tumor?" he asked, making me appalled by his ignorance.

"You don't know what your mother is suffering from, do you?" I frowned to a greater degree, expressing my disdain even more explicitly to him.

Well, if he did knew, he probably wouldn't have done all this...

"Listen well, Mister Richard. Your mother isn't suffering from a disease but cancer. And unfortunately, no medicine can save your mother. Even with our current medical knowledge, there is no cure for her. So all of your attempts have been futile. In other words, your mother will die. And you won't be there to see her final moments. Because you will be in jail when that happens."

The face of Mister Richard the accountant then turned white. "N-No. Th-That can't be... Mom!" he dropped to his knees in despair after that, and was promptly taken away by the Earl's guards whom Sir Henry had called over.

...

Somewhere within that man's mind, he must had probably thought that as long as he can save his mother, harming another person would be a small price to pay.

That's why, he gets no sympathy from me despite his reasoning.

However, Mister Richard's mother is a different story.

I hold information on almost every citizen in the country. From their names to their faces, to their daily lives and their deepest secrets if necessary.

Marquis Anderson... Little Maggie... Mister Richard... everybody... their lives are like an open book to me.

Even Earl Hendrickson, Lady Hendrickson, Sir Henry, and those two maids, Ellen and Sarah. I hold information on every one of them.

Therefore, Mister Richard's mother's condition has already been known to me for quite some time. Unfortunately, like others who suffer the same fate as her, there was nothing I could do about them.

I'm not a doctor. Nor am I a researcher of medical knowledge. I'm just a prince of the nation. Or a princess perhaps...

I do not know... For my true gender still remains unknown to this day.

"Your Highness, thank you for all of your help." said Sir Henry with the utmost gratitude, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'll be sure to put Richard behind bars for his crimes." he added.

"No. Leave that job to the guards." I said. "You help Lady Hendrickson in taking care of her husband like I've told you to. My business here is done. I shall be returning to the palace now, if you don't mind."

"Of course. I shall escort you to your carriage, Your Highness. Thank you again for your help."

"You're welcome, Sir Henry. I wish you, the Earl and the Lady all the best."

Saying our goodbyes, we left the Hendrickson estate. Returning to the palace now.

Such a fast conclusion to this traitor mystery. Well, it's probably for the best since there will be so much more to uncover now. Especially with the new leads we've discovered.

First was Marquis Anderson. Now there is Viscount Kir and an unknown cloaked man.

The unknown man aside, both Marquis Anderson and Viscount Kir are part of the Third Prince's faction. Meaning it's possible that this matter has something to do with the Third Prince himself. Whether if that's really the case or not, I can't say for certain yet though.

Nonetheless, further investigation is required.

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