_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

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Havershel Estate

---

Lucrecia acknowledged Livia's orders with a silent nod. Watching her emploter walk away toward the refreshment table for a moment, she turned back to the church officials when they posed a question to Polina. She looked at Polina, curious as to how she would respond to an obviously loaded question.

Thankfully, Polina kept her composure and answered the question calmly and deliberately, not saying too much but also not saying too little. She should have expected nothing less from her Farisian comrade by now.

Truthfully. Lucrecia was beginning to tune out this talk of Orosian politics, only listening as part of her role as Polina's bodyguard and in the off chance that the information would be useful to know.

She was mainly waiting for the main ceremony to begin. She would've sneaked off to have the chance to listen to some of the other party goers for more info, but Livis ordered her to stay with Polina for now. Talking with these two ladies didn't seem to be going anywhere...

"Lady Lafayette." Lucrecia said, leaning in on Polina's shoulder. "Perhaps it's best we join Lady Livia at the food table. There are still some folk we've yet to introduce ourselves to, and I believe the ceremony is about to start. "

Location
Havershel Estate

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@Click This@AzureKnight

“Ah…I apologize,” The woman responded. “I have no or little care for politics. Only doing my duty as a priestess of the Eternal Serpent. We are allies after all, and it would not do for us to squabble.” While not wrong, it was certainly well known that among the general populace the Maison had gained popularity since its founding while the church had slowly, steadily been declining in such perception.

“I will not keep you if you wish to leave, but I would enjoy chatting a bit. I rarely get to leave the cathedral these days.” Madeline said nothing in response, merely keeping her stoic, mildly angry expression leveled at the two in front of her. “In a similar vein, I’ve heard lord Havershel collects many rare trinkets and items. He’s done well for himself, considering he seemingly showed up out of nowhere and started this business of his.”

“Speaking of the lord…”

Just as Madeline spoke, a tall man would make his presence known as he walked in from the opposite of the room. Short cut blond hair, a dark blue double-breasted coat with pristinely kept white pants. A long slender sword was held at his side, accompanying a severe, taciturn expression as his dark gold eyes glanced briefly in the direction of the two church women causing his pursed lips to turn downwards into a frown.

A woman with dark hair, dressed in a dark red, simple but elegant dress stood next to him.

Despite his severe expression, he paid the two of them no mind and instead addressed those in attendance.

“Glad to see everyone here could make it,.” Despite his stern looks there was an air of levity to his words that contrasted their sharpness .“Some uninvited guests spoiling the fun aside I do hope everyone can enjoy themselves this evening.” A few other nobles exchanged pleasantries and returned a greeting. Livia would not be far behind, approaching the Lord with a friendly expression. His expression in turn, soured only slightly but ultimately returned the greeting. “I look forward to spending more time with you here this fine day, but there is a slight issue I must attend to first.”

“Well, I won’t keep you for long, Lord Havershel. Just a routine business I assure you.”

“Well then, Miss Fiore shall we get this unpleasant business over with so we can both enjoy the evening a little more?”

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“Hmph, of course I’m his son! You act like you’ve never seen me before.” He’d narrow his eyes at the trio before huffing. “You must be new, huh…of course he’d be fine with it! There’s not a place in this manor I can’t get to.” He’d confidently state with a somewhat smug grin. “Now get lost, go clean the toilets or whatever it is you new maids do. I’ve got…things to do!”

The young Havershel ran off, proceeding to run off down the hallway towards a set of stairs running up towards the second floor.

“Ah, what are you three standing around for?” It was just as he did so, that the three were hurriedly approached by an older maid. “Follow me we need to make sure the gardens are ready for the next event already. ” She was quickly urging the maids along to follow her, though they would likely lose the boy for a bit if they went along with her.

Farisian Maid

---

Polina shrugged. “That’s understandable, given the divisive nature of your politics here, as I’ve come to experience. Things are far more pleasant in the north, I find.” Who said she couldn’t subtly but shamelessly brag about her princess as well?

She gave Cassandre a wry smile at her observations on the good lord. “Truth to be told, I think most of us are here for the snacks and other guests… and perhaps his business connections, rather than any real support for the lord Havershel. Us nobles have a bad habit of looking down on the newly made, although I can’t help but to see the validity of such views when it comes to the man in question.” Polina pronounced her judgment of the man freely. Aside from the ostentation that he presented in general, the subtext was obvious when both the Maison and the Church were here for his own missteps.

The Farisian maid in disguise paused as Lucrecia leaned in with some words. She gave a nod. “Speaking of snacks, I’m of the mind to sample some of the delicacies at the food table as well,” she responded, both to her fellow maid and to the priestess. “The two of you are certainly welcome to join us there as well if you’d like to continue our conversation,” she offered. Polina actually didn’t mind talking with the two churchwomen, despite her dislike of the church itself, but despite the offer, she doubted they would follow. They had been sequestered off in the corner after all, with the rest of the guests shunning them.

Giving another nod to Lucrecia, she made her way towards the food. “Try some of the food, too, Lulu. The other nobles might judge me for letting a ‘servant’ step out of line, but I’m not in a position to particularly care, hmm?” With that said, her eyes returned to the tasty Orosian snacks. She only paused in that endeavor when the Lord Havershel made his personage more widely known to the guests. Giving him a glance, she sized him up, but she returned her attention to the food as she made it her mission to sample each dish before the mission began in earnest.

Nonetheless, she could only dally with the food so long, so with a plate of food, she made her way towards the host, where Livia seemed to having a… discussion.

Oh dear. Polina hoped she would have enough time to enjoy the cooking before they had to throw hands.

That boy was quick at escaping. Quick enough that another maid had accosted them before they had a chance to escape. Help outside? That was the opposite of where they would want to be. "Apologies. We had just talked with the young master and he had already told us to clean up a mess upstairs." The firbolg maid gave a face of mild irritation and as if catching herself making such a face, hid it. "We'll clean it up as fast as we can and get out there." The firbolg lied, though, convincingly so. At least in her eyes.

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

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Havershel Estate

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Lucrecia bade a polite farewell to the Church officials with a bow and followed behind Polina. Making their way to the food table, it was of course stacked with the finest dishes afforded by noble wealth. Polina certainly did little to hide her enthusiasm in delving into the hors d'oeuvres. Lucrecia mentally shrugged and deciding to take her up on her offer.

Trying a bit of the dishes, she had to admit, they were quite delectable. The nervousness that plagued her from the start began to diminish somewhat. Her attention was soon averted, however, as an regal man and woman made their presence known from the opposite side of the room. Lucrecia deduced that this must've been the man himself: Lord Havershel, the master of the house.

It was funny, Lucrecia was a bit surprised at the man's appearance. He seemed not at all the pudgy and bumbling incompetent image she had first pictured in her mind. A young and well groomed man with sharp features, his weapon and manner of speech denounced some poise in the way he carried himself. He also, of course, didn't hide his disdain for the Church guests present.

Livia was going to go somewhere more private with him and discuss business. She still couldn't leave Polina's side without it looking suspicious, so she'd had to be patient for now. She'd love nothing more than to seize and interrogate the man for the Artifact.

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“Mhm, no that is quite alright but thank you for the offer.” Cassandre bowed her head lightly as Polina left for the tables. She seemed somewhat disappointed, if her expression was anything to go buy but it was hard to tell what else she was thinking. Madeline would whisper something to her, though, but she was too far away to hear. The pairs eyes lingered on Havershel before they both would quickly make an exit for a quieter part of the estate.

“Of course I do not intend to take too long…ah.” Livia glanced towards Polina and Lucrecia. “I suppose first…Lord Havershel, Paulina. She is my plus one for the evening.”

“Charmed.” The disinterest in his voice was quite apparent. “I do hope you enjoy yourself madam. I’ve collected quite a few relics over the years. Once this business with the mistress of the Maison concludes I intend to show a few.”

“Now don’t go stealing my date.”

“I have no interest in such a thing.”

“Happily married still? I do not see the lady of the house here this evening.”

“She has been feeling unwell lately so shes resting. She’ll be here for the ball later. My son, if you’re still probing for information, has been confined to his room…for” A noticeable pause. “...misbehaving.”

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“A mess? Upstairs?” The maid frowned. “Are you daft? The young lord of the house is supposed to be confined to his room. He’s not only thrown books at maids, or generally causing them trouble he was caught both in the lords private collection area and there was that incident with Lady Havershel too ugh,” The maid held a hand to her head. “Well don’t just stand there if he’s causing more trouble go find him and drag him back to his room. If word he’s out reaches his father that boy’s hide is going to be turned into a coat.”

The maid shooed the three of them off. Well, that was some useful information though there wasn’t really enough to figure out what was going on here yet. The maid herself quickly hurried off down the hallway towards the exterior gardens, a few more of them moving quickly by.

“Hmm…hey Kat? Eliz? Does something seem off about that kid to either of you?” Lyssa queried, starting to meander down the hallway and up the stairs where the kid had gone.

Thankfully it wouldn’t be hard for the three of them to find him. He was…trying to apparently pick the lock on a door at the far end of the hallway on the second floor.

Frustrated with it though, he’d merely growl and proceed to kick it open. The sturdy, wooden door would cave in surprisingly easily. He moved inside without checking if he was still being followed.

Well, that was that, then.

Not only was this child a problem-causer, but her sense of something off about him had definitely been correct. And now she had every justification to act on her instincts, chase him down, and kick him to the ground.

In fact, it was practically part of her duties as long as she was posing as this place's maid! Right?

The moment the door gave way, Elizstrazia leaned forward.

"You bet there's something up with that little brat, and I'm going to find out exactly what."

Even if someone caught sight of what she was about to do, it was obviously just part of her duties, right? It was clearly just her throwing all her physically ability into serving as this estate's maid, right?

If they didn't buy that for some reason, she'd just make them take a nice nap. Maybe when they woke up, they'd think it was all a dream.

The Scale Demon's legs tensed.

And then she hurled herself forward, reaching the doorway and going through it as rapidly as she could.

She was going to find this brat, and teach him a lesson.

... And then figure out what he was doing.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

Farisian Maid

---

Polina approached, curtsying when she stopped. She was, briefly, the very image of politeness as she was introduced, despite her personal distaste for the man. Since when did she find so many people unlikeable at this party?

She didn’t keep her politeness for very long. “A very great pleasure to meet you,” she responded dryly, answering in kind to the man’s obvious disinterest. Nonetheless, she shifted her tone, “But that I would be interested in,” she laughed, mostly for the benefit of Livia’s small joke. The short exchange aside, though, she stepped back as they made small talk, but the way the lord mentioned his son made her tilt her head.

“Ah,” she hedged, “A spirited child?”

Katherine was glad that her lie worked. It would have been annoying to have to resort to something else to continue what they were doing. "Something off about him? Well, plenty seemed off. According to that woman, he might be the first kid I've seen that's going to be turned into a coat." The firbolg mentioned, smirking at her own joke. Though, upstairs, she was surprised when she saw the small boy kick in a large, sturdy door casually. "Secondly, he seems to be quite a bit stronger than appearances would suggest." She continued after witnessing the sight.

It was then that Elizstrazia would dash forward to catch the boy in the act. Well, Katherine wouldn't say anything about that one. After all, she too was curious with the boy. "Hmm. How curious. We just witnessed the young lord destroying the house while he's suppose to be under house arrest. Lissa, don't you think this calls for an immediate intervention?" She had to ask, smirking as if things were going much better than expected. "I suppose we'll have to send him back there, will we not?" She continued, following behind Eliz's trail. She wondered if her dolls would have to be used.

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

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Havershel Estate

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"Buonasera, Signore Harveshel, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Lucrecia addressed the lord of the estate, making a polite bow. "I am serving as Madonna Livia's and Signora Paulina's escort for tonight's festivities. Thank you for having us."

Listening to her employer and Havershel further discuss business, which the latter didn't seem to be looking forward to, Lucrecia made note of him saying that he'd unveil some of his prized relics after their meeting had concluded.

Apparently, Lord Havershel's wife and son wouldn't be attending the ceremony tonight, with the former feeling under the weather and the latter having been punished for acting out. Not that it mattered much to her.

Location
Havershel Estate

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@Click This@AzureKnight

“Quite. He’s been a troublemaker since he was born.” A frown, if such a thing was possible, made the corners of his mouth turn further down. “Harassing the maids, burning things and generally being a menace.” Rather suddenly though, his expression changed to that of what seemed fondness. “But young boys will do as they do. Just the other day he managed to ride a horse on his own.” A small pause as his expression once again turned serious. “Now, Madam Fiore, if we can get this over with…?”

“Yes, lets.” Livia glanced towards her companions. “Entertain yourself for a bit Paulina.” Livia smiled, leaning over and whispering to her. “I’ll make it up to you later hm?” A playful kiss would be delivered to Paulina’s cheek as lord Havershel led her away.

“Crrk. He’s probably showing her the artifact privately so she can look it over. It will likely either be a fake or the demon will have been transferred to some other object.” Suddenly Lucrecia’s earpiece spoke, Myrillas voice coming in loud and clear for her. “ I don’t know what his plan is but we can reasonably assume he’s not showing her the real thing.”

“Excuse me…” A timid voice interrupted them. It was a maid, quietly approaching and trying not to draw too much attention to herself as she’d quietly speak to the two of them.“Excuse me…a-are you two with the Maison? May I request a moment of your time? Lady Havershel wishes to meet you.”

"Might be useful if we can speak to her, but it might also be a trap to distract us. I'd say tell her to shove it and interrogate some of these party-goers."

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

The young lord Havershel snickered in success as he found himself in what seemed to be a private study. He immediately went for a ladder so he could pull down a book from the higher level shelves - which was also right when Eliz decided to barrel into the room, causing the young boy to give a yelp, loose his footing and fall right off the ladder onto the ground, a few books following him and bonking him on the head as he hit the ground.

He looked briefly terrified before seeing it was Eliz and the other maids.

“Hey! What gives! I ordered you idiots to get lost!” He shouted, getting up and glaring at Eliz. Lyssa followed shortly behind the two, seemingly fine with just watching the events unfold as she…somehow managed to sneak some hard candy into the place and was now munching on it. “Grrr, I’ll have my dad put you in the dungeons and you'll never come back out!”

"Eeeh, why don't you tell us what you're doing! It looks like fun ya knows." Lyssa responded.

"Shut up. You just wanna drag me off back to my room!"

"Drag you off to your room? Only if you make us. We could be friends or we can force you back in your room. Your choice, really." Katherine mentioned with a smug smile. "We were ordered by someone who should be in their room to go clean up or whatever it is we do. We could make that the priority if you wanted. Only if you have a little chit chat with us. Otherwise, we'll be forced to strong-arm you back into where you belong.

The firbolg maid then pointed to Eliz with a smile. "I wouldn't even have to raise a finger myself since I believe she's more than capable... And willing... To take you back." Katherine would rather hope the demon would try to project an image of power. That's what she was hoping for. If they could get the child to spill information about where his father kept things, well, that made it a lot easier for them.

This little brat had the gall to threaten them?

It was with a considerable amount of power that Elizstrazia stomped the floor. It was perhaps a miracle she didn't cause any damage, but some things were definitely shaken from the shelves.

The growl that emanated from the petite girl's throat was considerably less threatening, however.

"Us? Thrown in the dungeon? You're the one who's breaking rules! Smashing that door down! We all saw you!"

She was advancing on the boy, now.

"Are you expecting not to be punished, when you were already told to stay put?!" she snapped, "Or do you want to go around thinking you're better then everyone that badly?! Better then me?! You're not better then me, not by a longshot! How can you be better then the pinnacle of-"

...

As much as she wanted to go on praising herself, it was at that moment she remembered that she was supposed to be posing as a maid.

Her anger at that fact renewed, one eyebrow twitching and her fists clenched at her sides, Elizstrazia gritted her teeth.

"... Y-you're not better than anyone... a-as long as you keep breaking the rules..."

Though she was fuming, she hoped that sounded somewhat appropriate.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

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Havershel Estate

---

Polina was well playing into her part as a affluent socialite thus far, chatting it up with various nobles and sampling foodstuffs. Both she and Lucrecia bade farewell to their mistress as she attended to business with the master of the estate. As they left, Lucrecia would hear a familiar buzzing sound in her ear. It was her favorite combat instructor, Myrilla; Lucrecia made sure to look as inconspicuous as possible as she listened to her words. It was to be expected that Havershel wouldn't show the mistress the actual artifact, or she'd demand that it be handed over on the spot.

Whilst listening to her drill instructor, a maid quietly strolled up and garnered their attention. She requested that the two of them follow her, as apparently the lady of the house wished to speak with them. "Odd, was the lady of the house not stated by her husband to be under the weather this evening?" Lucrecia whispered to the maid. She couldn't think of a reason as to why Lord Havershel would lie about such a thing. Perhaps it would be convenient for him to have everyone else think as such?

Myrilla continued to speak in Lucrecia's ear; She apparently felt that the maid was just there to be a distraction, meant to throw off their trail. If that were the case, that would mean that the house was already aware of their true aims. They would have to tread carefully from here on. She honestly didn't know how much information she could extract from the other nobles, but she supposed for now Lucrecia would trust the intuition of her instructor.

"Thank you, but if the Madonna of the house is under the weather, I doubt she'd want to see visitors at this time. I'd like to enjoy the festivities in the hall a while longer, if you don't mind." She responded to the maid. She wasn't sure if Polina would be in agreement, but eventually she may have to break off from her to accomplish her personal task anyway.

Farisian Maid

---

Polina didn’t care to make much small talk with the owner of the mansion, but she nonetheless dispensed some words of wisdom for helping with dealing with his son. As it was, most of her advice involved “discipline your son better,” although phrased in a more diplomatic way. It was clear, though, that neither of them were interested in talking with each other very much, so she gladly let Livia take over.

Playing the part of her partner, she gave her a playful smile of her own with Livia’s kiss. It wasn’t even a false one; she wouldn’t have minded if the woman made it up to her… as long as it didn’t involve dungeon time, that was.

She was surprised, though, to be intercepted by one of the local maids not long after on behalf of the lady of the house. She too thought that was strange; after all, in this guise, she wasn’t affiliated with the mansion. “You would be right,” Polina muttered back to Lucrecia under her breath.

She approached it differently. “Apologies, but I’m only Lady Fiore’s plus one, so to speak. I’m not with the Maison in the manner you’re thinking of,” she informed. “I understand Lady Havershel is feeling ill this evening, but perhaps I can help arrange a meeting with Livia later instead?”

Location
Havershel Estate

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@Click This@AzureKnight

“O-oh…I see.” The maid warily glanced at a few of the party goers. “I apologize for the intrusion. That will be alright. She will be busy the rest of the evening. I will tell the lady she was mistaken…” A quick curtsy and the maid would hurriedly leave. One of the butlers nearby would glance in their direction before following the maid leaving the two of them alone in the place once more.

For a time, they would have plenty of time to ask around or make smalltalk with the various nobles present. Most would be quite amicable and be more than happy for some friendly, idle chatter and gossip. Some mentioned a desire to see the lord's private collection - apparently where he kept his more unusual artifacts. Others gossiped about the son and his ill temperaments. Others regaled them with rumors of Lord Havershels own origins. Most outlandishly some claimed he wasn’t human while others said he was a spy or some other malicious sort.

Regardless, both the lord and Livia would soon return.

Livia looked rather amused while lord Havershel’s frown had deepened.

“Will that be all then, Madame Fiore?”

“Quite. I am satisfied with the results and can safely say our fears were unfounded.”

“Thank you, now if you could do me a favor and tell those dogs of the church that there is no reason for them to be here too in return for ruining my evening I would be quite grateful.”

“Ah, that sounds like a distinctly you problem, Lord Havershel. If you’ll excuse me I’ll enjoy the rest of the evening with my date.” Livia would quietly rejoin Polina, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Learn anything interesting from either of you?”

As the two spoke, Lord Havershel would address the room.

“I am glad to see everyone still in good spirits still,” He’d begin. “I apologize for the delay, the Lady of the Maison had to inspect the most recent acquisition of mine.” The Lord would call over a servant carrying a glass case covered in a cloth. “A relic, from an age past! When a lord of demons ravaged the land and was only defeated by a noble hero from the church back when the divine’s power was much stronger here.”

It was a wooden idol, about six inches tall. It was in remarkably good condition for its supposed age. It seemed to depict some sort of lizard, perhaps a salamander? With a slightly oval colored face with two fronds coming from its cheeks on either side. It was curled around what seemed to be a depiction of fire.

“I have had a historian and theologian take great care in examining it and I have been assured of its authenticity.”

”Alright, our works cut out for us. Myrilla’s voice chimed in Lucrecia’s ear. “We need to find the real thing now and see if we can’t swap it for the fake we have. I’d ask around about this private collection…I've heard the lord occasionally lets people in if they appear somewhat interested in more historical aspects...but that might be difficult to get on his good side.”

“I myself, am quite sure he thinks he’s pulled one over on us as that is clearly a fake.” Livia continued. “But where he’s stashed the real one, I’ve certainly no idea currently and we don’t have free reign to walk around the place.”

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“You idiotic maids! Fine, I’ll just-” He was stopped in his tracks by Eliz’s display, voice faltering and losing his voice as he’d cower, taking a few steps back away from the maid. “...T-tch…f-fine…whatever.”

“Ehe, now come on no need to be so mean Eliz.” Lyssa butted in, giving the demon a rough pat on the head and walked over to the boy. “Hoooow about you play with us? What are you up to anyways? Kicking that door down, while something I totally get behind since doors are silly, is gonna get ya in trouble.” She’d kneel next to him. “Buuut if you let us in on what ya doing we might be able to help.”

“W-well…r-really? Y-you guys are just gonna drag me back to my room aren’t you? I won’t buy it!”

“Eeeh, we’re slacking off too so we’d get in trouble if anyone found out so why don’t ya just do it anyways? Who cares what anyone else says. Especially that ornery white-haired lady, ehe.”

“W-well…I guess….uhm…I was looking for information in my dads study.” He’d pull a slip of paper from his coat, showing it to the maids.

It was a plain piece of paper, but on it was sketched what seemed to be a very simple design. Upon first look, It seemed to be an hourglass with a single red line running through its middle. An untrained eye likely wouldn’t have thought much of it, but for the three maids they would recognize the Bloody crest of a Blood Demon clan anywhere. It was a double drop of blood, both connected at the ends with what seemed to be an arrow through the center of it.

“Hey, Kat, Eliz…do you recognize this?” Lyssa frowned. “It seems…familiar but I can’t recall the specific family. Why are you looking for this, eh kid?”

“...uhm…no reason. I saw it on some papers my dad was going through in his private collection…A-ah! Not that I was there. I’m not allowed, ahahah…”

"Do I recognize this?" Katherine asked, "Of course. Crest of a blood demon clan. I believe it was the 'Silxtratch' clan. Low ranking within the first circle. They have the ability to manipulate metals in... some way. Of course, I'm not a demon so I couldn't tell you how that's done, Lyssa. Perhaps someone with more first hand experience could tell you." The firbolg mentioned, not specifying who she might possibly mean by that statement. "Really though, your father had that in his study? How curious. I wonder why that was there." The maid mentioned with a small shrug. "So were you here to try to figure that much out?" The firbolg asked, folding her arms across her chest.

_{@Rune_Alchemist@Click This}

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Havershel Estate

---

Having shoed away the maid, Lucrecia turned back toward the other party members along with Polina. While Myrilla's words did make sense, Lucrecia couldn't be sure if it was a trap or not. Hopefully they made the right decision, hopefully there were other parties goers who could provide some useful information that the maid could've.

Before she could ponder further, Lady Livia had returned with Lord Havershel back into the main hall, the man wearing an even more irritated expression on his face. Having been denied the removal of the church officials, Livia returned back to Polina and Lucrecia's side. "Temo di no, Madonna." Lucrecia responded. "We were hoping that you may have gleamed some insight into what the head of the house is playing at." She then turned as said Lord addressed the hall, showing off the prized relic they had all came for in the first place. The one he was currently showing off was a fake, of course. Unfortunately, they still had no leads on where the real artifact was being kept.

Myrilla let her voice be heard in Lucrecia's ear, yet again, offering some more suggestions as to how to tip the situation in their favor. Lucrecia agreed that a man like Havershel would probably enjoy having his ego stroked, especially by a woman.

"Madonna, if I may make a suggestion." She said to Livia. "Perhaps we could simply have Signore Havershel tells us what we need to know himself? He is a proud man who enjoys delving into the occult, and he just that, a man. Why not butter him up and lighten his mood, instead of running around like mice, let's have him lead us to the prize, no? I believe Polina would be well suited to this task, if you and she are in agreement that is. As her bodyguard, I'll also be sure to provide cover in case thing take an unexpected turn."

Location
Havershel Estate

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“Hmm…not a bad idea, Lucrecia.” Livia responded quietly so as no one would overhear. “But I doubt it’d be that easy. He’s quite suspicious of all three of us as you can likely assume. Do you think you could do it, Polina? You likely have the best chance of the three of us to pull it off.” Livia sipped quietly on a glass of wine, eyes scanning the crowd.

Curiously, some servants were starting to file into the room in greater numbers now despite the lack of any more nobles or nobility attending yet.

“I don’t suppose you saw where our friends from the church went, Lucrecia?” A couple of the nobles attending seemed to be having an argument about something. Lord Havershel seemed to be speaking to a group too, briefly discussing what seemed to be an old piece of clockwork, apparently from an ancient automaton or something that was dredged up from the ocean.

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“Eh? I dunno. Only thing i know about demons is how to break their bones.” Lyssa responded with a much too cheery grin for the implied violence.

“D-demons? Its…a demon crest?” The young boy frowned, before pointing a finger at Katheine. “Tch, yeah right! What would you stupid maids know! I bet you’re just playing a dumb prank on me! H-huh!?” Lyssa, completely unfazed by the kids outburst, proceeded to grab him under the arms and lift him.

“Eh, he looks like a cute little puppy like this. Hey, you think I can keep him?”

“H-hey I’m not a pet!” He didn’t try escaping Lyssa’s grasp though.

“So kiddie, where’s your dads private collection?”

“E-eh? Why would I tell you all…?”

“...Beccaaaause I’m mega cute and I’ll do something fun with you if you do?”

The boy seriously looked to be considering this offer before realizing that he was likely just being messed with.

“H-hey what do you take me for! I guess I could…b-but don’t tell dad! We’ll all get in trouble!” He managed to wiggle himself out of Lyssa’s arms, landing on the ground with a wobble and patting down his coat. “C-come on, this way.”

Farisian Maid

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Polina gave a nod at the maid before she resuming munching on the delicious party food. She suspected it wouldn’t be left at that, however, even as she began to mingle with some of the other nobles as well. Although she mostly made small talk, she did inquire more about the good lord’s affairs, and their opinions on the man. Eventually, Livia returned with the lord, and, a moment later, the supposed relic.

Nobody in the know believed it was the real thing.

She looked skeptical at Lucrecia’s suggestion, even after their mistress endorsed the idea. “I suppose I can try,” she finally agreed, after taking a slow sip of her own glass of wine. “The princess was far more of a historian than I ever was.” Polina had always been more focused on the now, than on things of the past. But all the same, she was hardly unlearned. “Let’s see how much I’ve learned through osmosis, and if it’s enough to hook Lord Havershel into letting me have a peek at his collection.”

She’d try not to let her distain for the man bleed through too much.