Chapter 145: Chapter 141: A Catkin Rogue attends A Gala.

 

Because Eric didn't have money, he never really purchased clothing beyond what was necessary. It was only with working for the brothel that he managed to get some coin recently. As such to act like a lady's maid, he had to borrow a dress from Brandy. Given how limited the timeframe was, Brandy was quite apprehensive so she quickly picked out a plain looking dress that would fit a servant attending her mistress.

Eric had no complaints about the look of it, yet whatever it was made out of caused him to itch like mad. Not only that given it was for Brandy it was also quite loose in the chest area. Pinning the dress could only help so much so he had to stuff his own bra to make it appear that he had larger breasts then he really did. When that was finished, he came to the conclusion that he needed to look within the mirror to make sure his disguise was on point.

Already he could feel a sharp pain in his stomach and he braced himself and then looked at himself in the mirror next to Brandy's wardrobe. At first it seemed like it would be okay, but as he began to examine himself he began to feel increasingly uneasy, like he was falling down and yet a light headiness pulled him up at the same time. This then turned into rising levels of a panic as his mind screamed that the thing in the mirror was not him. He was not the woman that was shown in the mirror, it's not him oh god why is it moving like him. He could feel his gorge start to rise as a severe sense of disconnection began to take over then he forced himself to look away. Feeling his hands shaking he clenched and unclenched them a few times to get blood flowing back into them.

This feeling had always bothered him, but it really had gotten way worse in recent years. Ever since he had escaped his slave bonds, he could stand to hardly look at himself in a mirror. While the feeling followed him constantly, it only tore him really up when he looked into a mirror. Some days he could stand looking at himself for a short time, though it seemed like today would not be one of those days. He had first felt it when he caught his appearance in the silver cup of the slaver bastard who had caught him and his family.

Brought before the fatass for his perusal, all Eric could do was concentrate on the image in the cup. All he saw was a weak dirty little girl, and he hated her almost as much as he hated the slavers. He vowed he would do anything to get stronger and often got into fights. This only drew the attention of that fat fuck who began to use Eric as thief and assassin. He hated having to follow his orders, but the asshole held his parents' life over him. On his missions he took to dressing up as a boy to avoid attention and found it helped to lessen that sickening feeling he got when he looked at his image.

Though even dressing up as a boy did not get rid of that awful feeling. It was no longer that sharp stab in his gut, instead it turned into a dull ache. Despite this he had learned to cope with this agony, yet it was lately threatening to overwhelm him. Eric could not let this happen as this job was too important. Taking a deep breath he eyed himself as best he could making sure the disguise was a good as he could make it as he could not afford to make a mistake.

It was from the Empire that he had escaped, so he knew firsthand the horrors these mage elitist assholes reveled in. If this Viscount wasn't lying, then he could not allow them to gain a weapon with such terrible power. It would let them expand their reach beyond this continent's shore, to his long distant homeland where the majority of Beastkin lived. Even so he also did not trust the Viscount either, this man knew too much and felt way too dangerous for someone of his rank to be.

He was interrupted from his darkening thoughts when he heard Brandy say "Hey Eric what do you think of this dress?" She pulled out a long dark green velvet dress. "I picked this one up a while ago, but it never fit me right. The figure of Lady Lamant's body would make this dress pop out more I think."

After getting his nerves under control, he took a closer look at it and found while it wouldn't have suited Brandy, it would look good on Lady Lamant. The dress had a deep neckline and was sure to draw in Mark attention. He nodded and said "I think it will do the job. Be sure to make sure you store a backup outfit in your inventory. Once we get down into the vault a dress like that will not be good for doing thievery work."

"I have a pair of clothes that will work for that." Brandy said, beginning to slip out of her clothes to put the dress on. She stopped when she looked at Eric and said "Are you okay Eric? Your face looks like you just saw a ghost?"

"Yeah. Yeah, just give me a moment." Eric said and took another deep breath and said "I think after this job I will seek help from our allies in the Etiquette school. I don't trust this Viscount and think having them look into him will be a good idea. I want to make sure leaving the crystal with him is a good idea. If not we might just have to take it for ourselves."

"Wait are you serious about taking it?" Brandy said. "I agree he is very suspicious, but I don't know if it's a good idea for us to have the crystal. I'm not entirely certain we can protect it."

"We do know someone who could keep it protected. Jack, who has expressed a strong desire to protect this world to us. Now I'm not suggesting we take it from him tonight, but we should definitely keep a close eye on him. I don't want him to be actually in on this just to sell the crystal to another kingdom or worse actually be planning to use it."

Brandy nodded and said "I agree with you on that. I still have many questions for him. For instance just how exactly does he know so much about the Lamants? How did he get the locket? Also if he was tasked with guarding the tomb how did it get robbed in the first place?"

"I've known several men like him who like to work with secrets. They tended to be some of the more dangerous people I've ever met." Eric said. "Not only did they know where to strike you at your most vulnerable moment, but they rarely let their guard down even in the company of their friends. Still he seems at least honest that he wants to get this artifact and since he says he's against the Empire then I will grant him the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise."

Brandy nodded while Eric helped get her into the dress and adjusted it. "Even if he is honest about this, I really don't like that he knows so much about our secrets. Hopefully, our night friends can find out some of his secrets as well. I prefer being on more even footing with him, so it doesn't feel like he's hanging a dagger over us. Though speaking of trusting him there is something I think we should also consider as well. Since his land directly borders the kingdom of the Elves, he might very well be sympathetic towards them. Maybe he might give the crystal to them to use in their war against the Empire?"

Eric frowned and said "That could be a possibility. Though if that's really the case then he isn't as smart as he appears. The Empire has too many spies throughout the continent, in the Empire there was a saying that the only thing more common than a road in a city was spies of the Empire. I would say that the Elven kingdom likely has dozens that would rat out at a moment's notice that he's planning on giving a weapon to the Elves. "

"Once they are aware of the potential of such a weapon, they would then launch the entirety of their forces to either retrieve or destroy the crystal. Even if he could give it to them, I don't think it's a good idea to leave it with the elves either. There we go." Eric said, tightening the last part of the dress. "So when do you plan on changing in Lamant's mother?"

"I can't hold the shape for the entire night, so I think it's best to wait until we meet Viscount Edwards." Brandy said.

"Alright. What about your makeup?"

"Not necessary, as a feature I can simulate makeup in my new form."

"I see." Eric nodded as there came a knock on the door. Going over to it, he opened to find the Guard Sam standing behind the door. Eric liked this guard, he seemed to take his job more seriously then the other ones.

"Evening Miss Erin, there is a rather testy driver here to fetch you and Miss Brandy for a Mr. Readds." Sam said.

"Alright. Let him know that we will be down in a moment." Eric said.

"I will do so." Sam said and left back down the hall.

"I'm good to go, do you have everything?" Eric said looking over at Brandy.

She nodded and said "Yeah, it's strange but I'm getting butterflies in my stomach. Even if this is just a job to steal something, I am still going to be acting in front of a bunch of people. I've always wanted to act, though I guess I didn't expect to do it quite like this."

"Life doesn't always turn out as you expect it to." Eric said, shrugging. "But I have to say my life right now is better than it has been in a long while, and it's thanks to you. I know you've been working hard Brandy, don't forget to take time for yourself."

"I will do that." Brandy said beaming at Eric and the pair of them headed down to the courtyard.

Upon seeing the carriage that was meant to pick them up Eric could only remark "Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised given who owns it. Yet I'm still at a loss for words on how that man has an eye for picking out very average things."

Indeed not only was the carriage very average in appearance, but it looked like just any carriage you might find on any corner in the city. The only way it could have less distinct was if they had painted it yellow. Not only was the cab lacking style, the horse themselves were also generic. Though Eric had a hard time telling in the dark. The lights from the mansion only showed so much, and the full moon overhead was behind some clouds. In any case it appeared that the Viscount took deliberate pains just to make sure he did not stick out in any measure. Yet that did not appear to also apply to the driver, as an annoyed looking gnome sat at the reigns glaring down at them.

He spat off to the side and spoke with a mouth full of something in a thick accent that Eric struggled to understand. "You the bints I'm supposed to pick up?"

"Er, yes, we are the ladies you are supposed to pick up for Mr. Readds."

"Blimey, look at ye. I thought he went and cocked it up, poor old Edwards had lost the plot entirely from that whole affair that went down. When he told me he was coming to a brothel to get some ladies, I assumed he was on the pull. Here you are though looking right like a proper toff. Well then get in, haven't got all night or are ye a bunch of daft cows?"

A little confused and miffed at the driver's words, Eric opened the carriage door and helped Brandy to get in and followed inside. He had barely gotten in and closed the door when the carriage took off. Losing his balance he fell into the seat beside Brandy. The carriage dashed towards the gate of the city and stopped surprisingly just as fast. He could hear the guards asking for identification and the gnome said "Ah just a sec, don't get yah knickers into a twist lad. Here ye go my paperwork."

"Everything is in order here. Let him through."

The carriage rolled through the gate and once it was on the streets beyond the carriage took off. The carriage slammed into every bump causing the pair of them to bounce around inside until they gripped on for dear life as the carriage sped through the city. It took corners so hard that it lifted off onto two wheels as it turned. At some points during the ride Eric feared that they would tip over only for the carriage to fall back down and continue it's mad race through the city. The averageness of this carriage must have been a disguise for no regular carriage could have reasonably lasted under the intensity this gnome put it through.

They could not even speak to one another as it was incredibly loud, and they simply held on to some handholds on the inner carriage walls. Eventually the carriage came to a screeching halt in front of an inn. After collecting himself, Eric looked out the carriage window. He could see that the inn they were in front of was neither the most expensive nor the cheapest in the city. Coming out in front of it was a man with a cane, and he realized that this man was in fact Viscount Edwards though in disguise. He had dyed the sides of his hair gray making him look older than he really was and changed his appearance slightly.

The outfit he was wearing made him look like a wealthy merchant, though Eric could not place where this merchant was from. He stepped forward, and the gnome said "Ah Mr. Readds I got the dames like you requested. You ready to go mate?"

"I am indeed Urual." Edwards said in a rather posh sounding manner. He went to the door and opened it and before he climbed in said to the gnome "Do take it easy to the gala. We are in no rush to get there." Edwards took a seat closing the door and gave the pair of them a smile. The carriage began to roll at a far slower pace. "Why you look incredibly lovely in that dress Miss Brandy, and you look like the perfect lady's maid Mr. Eric."

"Why thank you." Brandy said. She reached out and pulled out the contract she had written earlier. "As I don't know how long I need to hold onto the form I decided to wait until you sign the contract before changing."

"Understandable." Edwards took the contract and looked it over and then nodded. "Looks good. I will sign it. After we get the Artifact and out, I will pay you the rest of what I owe you." He pulled out a golden pen and quickly signed it. "I forgot to mention the names the pair of you will be using tonight. Brandy you will be under the name of Dannica. We met on one of my trips for my business and fell into a quick relationship. You also never go anywhere without your Lady's maid Alissa. We got engaged a few months ago, but you are now getting quite cold about our relationship."

"So you want me to be aloof with you. I can do that." Brandy said nodding. "I will shift into Lady Lamant now, and you can tell me if it looks close enough to work."

Curious Eric took a closer look at Brandy as she began changing. It was strange to watch his friends skin and muscles begin to change in front of him. Her face shifted and Eric found it quite unnerving to watch. Eric could not even begin imagining how someone would find this arousing to watch. When Brandy had finished, Eric said "I really don't understand how people would want to pay for that. It's a little disturbing to watch and you were fully clothed. I can only imagine how weird it would look if you were nude."

Brandy laughed and said "Yeah, it weirded me out the first time I did it too. Usually, the client will just tell me what they want to see, and I will do it before meeting them. Though a few actually liked to watch it. As weird as it looks, it ain't nothing to how weird it feels."

"Well that was an experience." Viscount Edwards politely said and then went on "I do have to say though you look as if you could have been sisters with Lady Lamant."

"That is good. I can do small modifications after the change, but I won't be able to completely change for at least twelve hours." Brandy said.

"So while we are on the way to this gala, I would like to ask you a few questions to make sure I got a full idea of this job." Eric said.

"Ask away. I will answer what I can." Viscount Edwards said.

"This Urual seems like quite the character. Is he part of your original group? Do you want to tell us what exactly happened?" Eric asked.

"Ah yes, Urual is part of the original group. I'm afraid he isn't much of a people person. Rather he is in fact one of the best carriage racers in the world. He will be acting as our getaway driver tonight." The Viscount said. "As to what happened to my previous group, well, a number of artifacts was stolen from the tomb. Before I traced the crystal to Earl Lamant, I had hired a small group to assist me to recover the artifacts. Most of the jobs went okay, but the last one ended with one of the members betraying the others and me."

"What happened then?" Brandy asked.

"We were barely able to escape, and the others except for Urual went their own way. The betrayer was killed, not by me but by one of the others. Given the timeframe I didn't have enough time to make a new team, so I had to rely on your help." Edwards said.

"I see." Eric said. "Let's move on to this job, you said Earl Lamant is interested in the power of the well. Do you know why?"

"Ah that is simply because he fervently believes that he is impure, filled with corruption. He fears that should he die his soul will be condemned to destruction. Though he is lacking any corruption within himself as far as I can tell. The only thing I think he should fear is going to hell for some of the thing's he's done."

"Why does he believe that?" Brandy asked.

"Well he keeps it a secret, but I found an old journal of his which explained some of his thoughts. I then verified this information from the midwife of Lady Lamant. There is additional evidence that I found which supports it though all minor. I do suggest you take it all with a grain of skepticism as I cannot verify it in person. Lady Lamant was in fact a hermaphrodite."

"What is that?" Eric asked.

"It is a person that was born with both sex parts of a man and a woman. It's incredibly rare from what I have found, most will never encounter someone like them. Even rarer are the ones that have both sexual organs that are completely functional." Edwards said.

"Wait a sec, are you implying that Lady Lamant actually impregnated herself with her own seed?" Brandy said in disgust.

"That is what I read in his journal, Earl Lamant claims to have found it out directly from Lady Lamant. Given that Lady Lamant did not have a known lover at the time, nor did any man ever claim the Earl and Mark as his sons gives this claim some credence. The midwife did tell me Lady Lamant did in fact have male genitalia in addition to a vagina. Though I do have to mention that as this was kept secret. The most common belief of who exactly the father was is a stableman who was reported to have been Lady Lamant's lover. He disappeared shortly after the birth of the Earl."

"You don't believe that to be the case?" Eric asked.

"No. I did manage to track down the stableman. He was never Lady Lamant's lover. What he was was in fact a victim of her abuse. Lady Lamant looked down at everybody, and made sure they knew it. Even the Earl she viewed with cold disdain, Mark got the worst of it though I believe. As you can imagine this parentage did not make for the healthiest of babes. Both Earl Lamant and his brother were born sick and frail. They would have likely died had it not been for the intervention of a passing noble of the Empire who saved them with magic. Which is perhaps why the Earl is so favorable towards the Empire, as they saved his life."

"I have no words for how disturbing that sounds to me. Why would this Lady Lamant do something so wrong?" Eric said.

"Lady Lamant from all that I have found was unwell in the head. She hated everyone, the closest she ever got to liking someone was the Earl who she was just cold too. Though she might have had some affection for Mark, which she expressed through abuse. I can only guess at her reasoning, but I speculate she wanted to keep her bloodline pure as she thought suitors were lacking so she impregnated herself. You can see similar instances of nobles wanting to keep bloodlines pure through incest, though this does take it to another level."

Brandy grimaced and said "Does not sound like someone I want to meet. How did she pass?"

"They claim she passed due to an illness." Edward shrugged.

"You don't believe that?" Eric asked.

"No. I suspect that one of her sons did away with her. Mark being the most likely given the abuse she poured on him, not to mention he likes to get his hands dirty. I found several hints that he has killed people, so it's not a stretch to assume he was the one who killed his mother. I can't rule out that the Earl did it too as he had an argument with her the day she died."

"If Mark is willing to kill then you must take extra care against him Brandy. I will be closeby to protect you, so give me a signal if you feel you are in danger.." Eric said.

Brandy nodded and asked "So how did you come to find this journal and the midwife?"

"I only found out that Earl Lamant had the crystal from the thieves, not where he kept it. So it took me sometime to track it down to the vault underneath his mansion in Keston. As such I searched his other residences in his lands first given their proximity to me at the time. Which is where I found the journal and the locket. Upon learning of the events of their birth, I looked into it to solidify the plans I was making to get the artifact back."

"Speaking of plans, if I am to be your fiance I would surely know what you do. You should at least give me an overview in case I need to answer questions about you." Brandy said.

"Mr. Readds work deals with imports and exports of goods. He is at the party looking for an investment into opening up an office here in Keston. He has not told you the specifics, as he has grown distant from you. How you chose to tell people about his job, I leave up to you."

"Is there anything we need to know about the path to the vault on our end?" Eric asked.

"There will be a lever on a wall. Next to it are two mana crystals. Both will light up when the levers on both paths are pulled. If you are there and neither crystal is lit, wait twenty minutes. If it does not light up, assume that I failed to make it and leave. You can exit out the garden on the west side, and Urual should be there." Edwards said. "However, I foresee no trouble, and the light should be lit by the time you are there."

Eric nodded and said "Alright."

Satisfied with the answers, the three of them continued to have a peaceful chat for several minutes along the dive. The carriage entered a driveway of a large mansion. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Eric got the impression that the mansion had seen better days. Several other carriages had parked in front and when the carriage stopped Edwards got up and opened the door lowering himself to the ground below.

He then turned around and helped Brandy and then Eric down from the carriage. Despite not appearing to have great strength, Eric could feel just how solid Edwards hands were as he was helped down. The outside was barely lit with minimal mana lights making it hard to see, as they stepped towards the entrance of the mansion Urual took off down the driveway presumably to head to the meeting place around the side.

A servant at the door said "Good Evening Sir, may I see your invitation to the gala?"

Edward pulled out a card and handed it to the man and said in an authoritative posh manner "Here is my invitation, has the gala begun in earnest?"

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"Not yet Mr. Readds, sorry for the hold up. Please enjoy yourself at the party." The servant said and opened the door for them to enter. Passing him Eric took note of the fact that the servant's clothes while clean had obvious repairs made to them. Which was odd for a noble party, usually they wanted to put their best appearance forward. Having old worn clothing for a servant indicated just how poor this Earl Lamant must be.

It did not get much better as they entered the great hall. Eric could see that perhaps once this place would have screamed opulence as the manalight chandeliers were surely the most expensive things in this place. However, the rest of the place had obvious poorly made repairs done to them. Cracks in the wall had paintings covering them, and the floor was cracked and chipped. Still the place at least looked clean, even the spots usually missed by the staff looked clean.

Eric kept behind Brandy acting as a diligent servant. Looking around he recognized a few of the face here, mostly small-time nobles who lived in the city who fawned on the royalty like parasites. The ones he didn't recognize were probably more low level nobles who had come into the city to welcome the arrival of the First Queen. Some of them were customers of the brothel. As part of his duties to the brothel, he was required to check into specific customers who visited the brothel. Usually, it was just a cursory inspection to make sure that they weren't up to no good, and was reserved to suspicious customers or nobles.

So far they have had only a few suspicious customers. Eric checked them out and found they weren't a threat to the girls. The nobles were typically checked out because they posed a threat to both the girls and the brothel. Since the brothel was gaining popularity and coin, a lot of nobles smelled the profit in the air and were looking for a chance to take over the brothel. Whiley in theory they had both the Duke Adam's backing and Jacks in reality that fact was kept on the down low. So Brandy had been approached by numerous offers to either gain a backer or a partner whether she wanted one or not.

Eric was to keep tabs on them to make sure they weren't planning on something dangerous for the brothel. Already he had to step in and stop three plans. These were simple to stop as they were sloppy legal actions that were not hard to stop in their infancy. This was done by the poorer nobles who lacked the resources to really pose a threat to them, and in this room Eric spotted a few of them. Of the nobles Eric was far more worried by the other dukes and the more behemoths hiding in the ranks of the nobles.

The attendees were all gathered in small groups here and there. Edwards took them around the room speaking with each briefly introducing himself and gossiping with each group. When asked what he did Edwards went in detail about the odds and ends of importing goods from another continent. Eric ignored the conversation mostly as it struck her as dull and Brandy simply stood by his side with a thin smile nodding occasionally to Edwards' words. As they moved to the next group Edward leaned over to Brandy and Eric heard him whisper "Do you see that man that just entered the room? That is Mark Lamant."

Brandy casually glanced in the direction Edwards indicated and Eric looked from the corner of his eye at the man who had entered. Mark Lamant was not a handsome man, he was far too thin and a sickly paleness that made his skin look clammy. He also had a severe grimace to his look made worse by the scar that went up and cut through the mans thinning hair. Yet he bore a striking resemblance to Lady Lamant, which given what Eric heard from Edwards gave increased likelihood that it was indeed the truth.

Mark had entered glaring at people and grabbed a glass from a passing waiter. He downed it and tossed it back at the server who barely caught it from hitting him in the face. Mark nodded to some people as he passed and Eric spotted the moment that Mark spotted Brandy. His entire body stiffened and an intense look of pure rage encompassed his face before he managed to recompose himself. Despite his attention clearly being on Brandy he did not make his way towards them. Rather he began to speak with some of the other nobles at the party while glancing towards Brandy.

"Ok, so where is the Earl then?" Brandy asked Edwards.

"He should be out in a moment. He likes making a grand entrance at his parties. I suspect he does it to stroke his own ego, which makes him as blind to his own faults as he is in reality." Edwards said.

Indeed not only a minute later the band which had been playing a casual tune suddenly changed pace and began trumpeting. A pair of double doors in the back slammed opened and a man came in riding a rather large bear. He rode it directly towards the middle of the room people scattered away from the bear which despite wearing a muzzle growled towards the partygoers. The man slid off and said "I am Earl Lamant, Welcome to my Gala. I have invited all of you here today as both a celebration of the return of the First Queen, and for the announcement of my nuptials! Please come over dear let me introduce you!"

A woman came over smiling at the Earl. Notably she was wearing a mage outfit, similar to the ones that Empire Nobles wore. Which likely meant she was from the empire, which made Eric's skin crawl. The Earl hugged her and said "May I present to you Emelia Astonia, soon to be Emelia Asonia-Lamant. She is the love of my life."

She smiled and waved at the crowd who politely clapped. Several small explosions occurred that sent small pieces of paper into the air and over the crowd who were startled yet amazed. Several banners unraveled announcing the engagement with two large pictures of the Earls head and Emelia's head smiling over the party. After the excitement calmed down several servants came out and nervously brought the bear away. The party then seemed to really start in earnest and the band began to play a dancing melody causing the people to fall into dance. The Earl then took Amelia onto the dance floor and began to dance.

Brandy said to the Viscount "Did you know he was getting engaged?"

"No. This is complete news to me." Edwards frowned. "I can't imagine why an empire mage would deem to marry an Earl, especially one as impoverished as Earl Lamant. Even so this should not affect our plan."

"Maybe it's love?" Brandy asked.

"Maybe." Edwards said. "As you can see the Earl likes to appear larger than he really is. He had numerous health issues when he was growing up causing him to have to remain inside most of the time. Even with the help of the Empire, it wasn't certain he would have survived to see adulthood. Now that he is older, he has taken on an attitude that makes him almost fearless towards death, which is strange given his fears about his soul. Do be careful, his parties are not for the faint hearted. When you go out, I will make my move."

The Viscount at that point stated loudly "Ah Dannica I believe I see a fellow that I simply must speak to. Please excuse me for a moment."

With that the Viscount left, leaving the two of them alone briefly. Seconds later Mark appeared from the crowds coming up to brandy with a smile on his face. If he hadn't seen the pure malice on the man's face earlier, Eric might have thought he was a kind gentleman. "Hello Mademoiselle, I am Mark Lamant, please excuse me as we have yet to be introduced, but I simply could not stand by without speaking to you. Would you grant me the honor of your name?"

"Why yes good sir." Brandy said, fluttering her lashes at Mark. "I am Miss Dannica. You said Lamant? Are you perhaps related to the Earl?" Brandy said.

Mark smiled at that and nodded "Yes, I am his brother. Was that your husband who just left?"

"My Fiance in actuality. He seems to be more interested in doing business than accompanying me, I'm afraid." Brandy sighed.

"Yet it grants me the pleasure of speaking with you." Mark said putting on the charm that nearly made Eric gag.

Brandy flirtatiously smiled and said "Well now Sir Lamant you are making me blush. As I am new to Keston, perhaps you could tell me more about your kingdom."

"I would quite like that, would you do me the honor of a dance?" Mark said grinning.

"Why I would love that." Brandy said and turned to Eric. "Alissa do be a dear and hold onto my purse while I get to know Sir Lamant better." Brandy handed her purse to Eric who took it and made his way to the sidelines as the pair of them moved onto the dancefloor and began a rather intimate dance. In another corner of the large room, Viscount Edwards was chatting with a group seemingly oblivious that his fake fiance was clearly flirting with another man.

Eric made his way to the other ladies maids who were talking with one another. He politely nodded at them and took a spot on the wall where he could keep watch on Brandy and Mark as they danced. This spot placed him close to one of the buffet tables that dotted the room. Glancing over he could see that the quality of the food was clearly not the best. Some of the fruits on the table were clearly on the verge of going past ripe into rotten. Yet that didn't seem too off-put a woman who came up to the table with her eyes aglitter at the selection.

Her ancestry clearly placed her from the far kingdoms. Her clothing was dark, and obviously meant to be foreboding, however it had clearly been patched up recently. She briefly glanced around failing to spot that Eric was watching her and took some of the small sandwiches and stuffed her face with it. Her stomach growled at her attempts to feed it. After she had stuffed her face, she opened up her purse and began to dump plates of food within her purse. She had nearly filled it by the time she realized that Eric was in fact watching her.

She swallowed the mouthful of food she had and let out a nervous laugh. She approached Eric and said "Do please forget what you saw please. It is unfortunate, but the Great Madam Lian has fallen onto hard times and must resort to desperate measures to keep my figure."

Eric nodded politely and glanced back at the dancefloor. Brandy and Mark were clearly whispering back and forth. Both of Mark's hands were running down Brandy's back. Eric said to this starving woman "It is alright.The food is free, and one must do what they can to survive. Within reason of course."

"Of course. I don't believe we met before?" She asked.

"No, I am Miss Alissa, Lady maid to Miss Dannica. We are new to Keston." Eric said.

Lian smiled and said "Before I became a great Soulamancer, I was in fact a Lady's maid as well. It was on one of my Ladies journey's that I found I have the Gift!" She said with a flourish.

"The Gift?" Eric asked.

"Yes I was blessed with being able to stare into one's soul and I eventually settled up shop here in Keston. I came to this party on the request of the Earl to view his soul. In addition I hope to find a sponsor for my services. Do you think that your Lady would be interested in my services? I can provide guidance on numerous subjects such as speaking with lost relatives, spiritual forecasting, and even soul searching."

"I am not sure, I will have to ask my lady." Eric barely said listening to the prattling woman. He was watching Mark cup Brandy's ass in the full view of everyone clearly marking his territory. Brandy herself was whispering seductively in Mark's ear. It looked like he had been falling for the bait so far.

"Are you sure we haven't met before? I swear that your aura has a very familiar feeling to it." Madam Lian said. "It kinda has the taste of someone I recently met not too long ago. Do you happen to know of a man named Jack? He is quite the extraordinary individual."

This brought his full attention back to this woman with alarm. Somehow this woman had connected him to Jack. It didn't necessarily mean it blew his cover, but it was a threat to it. He kept his face as blank as possible and said "I've met a lot of people traveling with the Lady. I might've met him, but I honestly don't recall doing so. What does this Jack look like?"

"Well I can't go into too much detail, client confidentiality you must understand. He was a tall man, wore strange clothes like I never saw before but in great make. Radiates an aura of power and control. Though given who he is, you may not have recognized him." Madam Lian continued on for a few minutes just describing what an inspiration this Jack was to her.

During this internally Eric was debating what to do. He obviously could not allow this woman to blow their cover. Obviously Eric had to throw this woman off the trail, or it might lead back to them despite them being in disguise. Still he didn't want to harm the woman as she was clearly innocent if a bit strange. He was interrupted in his thoughts when she placed her hand on his shoulder and said "You know, now that I get a closer look at you. Are you okay?"

"Excuse me?" Eric said, confused.

"I do not mean to but in on something that's clearly not my business, yet I cannot help but sense that there is something clearly wrong happening within your soul." Madam Lian said looking at him with concern.

Eric narrowed his eyes and said "And what exactly would that be?"

"Well I'm not sure, I don't think I ever saw anything like it." Madam Lian said. "It feels like your soul is fighting itself, I cannot say much more without taking a closer look at it. Which should be done in private, I would suggest my home but a recent incident there has made soul work dangerous."

"I guess this help of yours would not come for free I assume?" Eric asked.

"Well I'm afraid not. Given I was a Lady's maid, I know how little you make, so I wouldn't charge you an arm and a leg for my help." Madam Lian said.

Eric smirked and said "So just an arm then?"

Madam Lian let out a giggle and shook her head "You are quite funny Alissa. To be honest I am curious about the nature of your soul as I haven't felt anything quite like it. Tell you what if you come to my place I will only charge you ten big copper coins for my services. Plus I've gotten inspiration lately and want a subject to test my theories on, so if you accept I won't charge you at all."

"I will have to think about it. I don't know how long we will be in the city. Mr. Readds my lady's fiance likes to be on the move."

"Alright, Here is my card with my address. Please do consider coming to meet me Miss Alissa. I have to say your soul feels really torn up, and I am confident that I can help find the cause." Madam Lian said.

Taking the card, Eric put it away at the same time spotting that Brandy was following Mark out one of the side exits of the mansion. "I believe I see that my Lady might require my assistance, so please excuse me Madam Lian."

"Do take care Miss Alissa." Madam Lian waved and moved away.

Eric nodded and left discretely towards the door that Brandy went through. He would just have to take care not to meet this Madam Lian again lest she be able to recognize him from the party. Slipping outside into the night air, he found it had taken a chill. Winter was on its way, and the clouds overhead made the garden pitch black. Even the full moon could barely be seen through the dark grim clouds. Snow would be on it's way likely in a few weeks.

Making his way around the garden looking for Brandy, Eric found that the garden was a complete mess. Plots of the garden looked so overgrown that it must have not been touched for years. Flower pots were broken and the odd gardening tool here and there threatened to trip him as he moved. He silently spotted Brandy and Mark who were sitting on one of the only clean benches next to a weak manalight. He was fondling her rather roughly and had already pulled her dress down grabbing onto her breasts. When Eric got closer, he could hear him sucking disgustingly on her lips.

Brandy eventually broke the kiss with Mark and said "Why Sir Lamant you are quite the kisser."

"I'm sure I can show you a great many things about me." Mark said nipping Brandy's ear.

"I'm sure you can." Brandy said smiling. "I'm feeling parched myself, would you care for a drink?" Brandy said, pulling out a flask from her dress.

"You carry a flask of liquor with you?" Mark said amazed. "You are quite the special lady."

"I'm particular for gin. Sometimes one needs a nightcap." Brandy said, taking a swig from the flask. Mark laughed and took the flask from her and downed it and resumed his ferocious makeout session and was starting to move his hand under her dress when his movements began to slow.

He shook his head and said "I don't...huh?" With that he fell onto his side.

Eric came out into the open and said "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Brandy said spitting and rubbing her mouth. "Asshole tastes like fucking shit and desperation. I wasn't sure you were out there, so I was getting nervous. He was getting really forceful, and I don't think he would have stopped." Brandy said.

"No I don't think he would've. Did you get him to drink all of the potion?" Eric said patting down Mark's body and finding the Key Ring. The pendant that was the key to the vault was around Mark's neck.

"Yeah, I put it into the flask. He was already drunk, so he probably didn't taste the difference. Grab his arms. I'll get his feet."

Eric grunted and lifted Mark up and the pair of them carried Mark to an even darker section of the garden. Eric carefully pulled some of the branches and leaves from plants and covered him up. Eric doubted anyone would come this far out at night, but they needed to make sure no one ventured too close so moved some of the more prickly potted plants in the paths that lead to Mark.

After that they quickly headed to the hedge maze which like the rest of the garden was overgrown. Yet despite that a portion of the maze had clearly been maintained if only slightly. Plus, despite it being originally a maze a path had been cut to the center of the maze. Someone obviously didn't want to bother with the maze. In the center they found an old wooden shack like Edwards had said. Eric pulled out the keyring and tried several of the keys until one opened the door. In the center of the shack on the floor was a clear trap door which was locked and using the key ring was soon unlocked.

Underneath the trap door was a descending metal staircase. Each of the steps looked like a metal grate and as Eric stepped on them sent a clunking sound. The walls of the pit they climbed down were a series of old brick contrasting with the obviously new metal staircase. When they reached the bottom of the staircase, they were at the end of what appeared to be a tunnel carved out of rock.

"Before we go any further we should change into more rigorous clothing." Eric told Brandy who nodded.

Brandy quickly changed using the Equipment screen into a pair of leather pants and a leather jacket over a shirt. Her long hair had been tied up into a ponytail. Eric envied her ability to use the Equipment screen with ease. Like the mirror Eric hated using the Equipment screen to change so he was forced to quickly change. When he was down, he was wearing his usual get up for missions like this. He had even put on the mask that he had gotten from the Nyx agents.

With that done the pair of them quickly moved down the tunnel. Soon they came to another door this time it was a sturdy looking metal door. Finding the right key on the keychain it opened up with a loud thump. They entered the room beyond and found it was pretty empty save for another large metal door and on one wall was a lever. Two mana lights that were off were next to it. "Looks like Edwards hasn't made..." Brandy hadn't even finished the sentence when the light on the right lit up. "Guess he made it."

Eric grabbed onto the lever and pulled. It barely budged and He had to pull even harder gritting his teeth as the lever finally started to move. Then with an extremely loud clunk the other mana light turned on and the large metal door swung open. Stepping beyond that was a large yet mostly empty room. In the center of the room was an incredible sight, a massive circle of stone floated. It was maybe fifteen feet across and had a series of concentric rings within it. A metal staircase was positioned near it allowing a person to get to the center of the stone circle.

Across the edges of it, was a language carved in it that Eric did not recognize. Yet at the very top was a symbol that when he looked at it screamed a raw emotion of greed at him. Shaking his head, he looked around and spotted Edwards coming towards them from another entrance on the opposite side of the room. He looked a bit disheveled so Eric asked "What happened you alright?"

Edwards nodded and said "I got into an altercation with a guard. I subdued him and placed him in a place where he won't be found for the night. Still we don't have much time. Did you get the pendant?"

"Yeah." Eric nodded. "Is this stone thing the vault?"

"Yes. Follow me, and I will show you where you need to put the Pendant." Edwards said and went up the stairs. Eric followed with Brandy and they came to the edge of the floating stone vault. In the center of the stone circle was a small indentation with an inscription nearby.

"Do you know what it says?" Brandy said.

"Vaguely. It's an old script, but I believe it describes how to create a key to the vault. Just place the pendant in there and it will open."

Eric nodded and did as the Viscount said. The instant he placed it inside of the slot, the stone began to make a grinding sound and the circles began to spin and then they fell backwards into a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a door with a number on it. "Okay Eric, you're up." Viscount Edwards said.

Eric nodded and stepped forward onto a stone platform that had arisen.

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