Not long after sitting on the bench and waiting, Grimo drove the carriage towards us.
We arrived at the cathedral in the carriage, only to find the main gate closed with a massive iron door.
"What day is it today?"
Lotos and Laurent shook their heads at my question.
"Today... I think it's Thursday."
"It's a day they close early, huh."
I got out of the carriage, holding my gleaming halberd, and approached the guard who was standing solemnly, guarding the main gate of the cathedral.
"Hey there."
"Ahem! The cathedral closes early today. Please come back tomorrow."
The guard glanced at my face and then spoke to me, averting his eyes.
"No, that's not it."
I took out Armand's letter and showed it to the guard.
The guard's eyes widened as he saw the Cardinal's emblem on the wax seal.
"Ah, please wait a moment."
The guard opened a small door next to the main gate and went inside.
"Marie, what did that guy say?"
"He saw the Cardinal-nim's emblem on the letterhead and was so surprised that he went inside."
At Armis's question, I pointed to the cathedral and said that.
Armis nodded several times and climbed back into the carriage.
Before long, the guard came running, making a clattering sound in his armor.
"I apologize for the wait. You are Cardinal-nim's guest. I will guide you to the back door."
At his words, the other guard looked at him.
"Please, get in the carriage first."
The guard bowed to me and approached the guard who was guarding the main gate of the cathedral with him.
"Hey."
"Yes!"
The other guard answered loudly to his call.
It seemed they were in a senior-junior relationship.
"Don't let anyone in, just tell them to wait, got it?"
"Really, no matter who comes?"
"No, if someone high up like His Majesty the King or royalty comes, of course, you have to let them through."
"Ah, I understand!"
The senior guard patted the junior's helmet and approached the carriage we were in.
"I will guide you to the back door."
We got off at the back door and, as before, arrived at Armand's office with the guidance of Bishop Veong.
"Tell them to come in."
Armand, who must have good hearing, noticed we had arrived and spoke before Veong could even say anything.
"Understood."
We entered the office and greeted Armand, who was sitting at his desk.
"Marie."
Armand called me, extending his left hand forward.
"Ah, understood."
I approached him and pretended to kiss his left ring finger, which had a large sapphire embedded in it.
"It seems you are adapting well to a woman's body."
"Not particularly, but I suppose I will adapt someday."
I thanked Armand and stepped back.
"I'm sure you were having a busy and faithful day, but... you came right away as soon as you received the letter?"
"Ahahaha... What could people like us possibly be doing? Just eating and drinking..."
I glared at him sharply, and Lotos, sensing my gaze, changed his words.
"And then always coming to the cathedral on Sundays to worship... that's... that's our routine."
"Hahaha! It's fortunate that you faithfully attend worship even on Sundays."
Armand laughed, slapping the desk once!
"That damn blue Orleans doesn't even come to the cathedral these days. I'm worried he might receive God's punishment."
For reference, the Duke of Orleans, uncle of Ange XIV, was approaching the age of 40.
But to Armand, whose hair was streaked with white, he still seemed like a young, green child.
"Yes, you will be guided together."
Armand looked at Laurent and gave him a kind smile.
"I... I greet you, Cardinal-nim. I am... Laurent de Bastogne..."
Laurent, seeing Armand for the first time, stiffened his body and answered in a trembling voice.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you, Laurent."
Armand accepted Laurent's greeting and looked at us, as if telling us to explain why we brought Laurent.
"Well... actually, around noon today, there was a dispute with Duchac and his men."
"Hoh? Duchac? Was Count Raschfort there as well?"
"No, he was not there."
"Continue."
"Yes, while fighting Duchac and his soldiers, this friend Laurent was the first to jump out and start the fight."
"And?"
"Later, fighting Duchac one-on-one, the young friend not only didn't get pushed back by Duchac but actually showed a side of overwhelming him."
"Oho, he seems to have quite the skills."
"Yes, that's right."
"Then... if Laurent were to fight one of you, who would win?"
At Armand's sudden question, the four of us stared blankly at him.
"Who would win?"
"Well... in my humble opinion... I don't think Laurent could beat us."
Lotos, who was insensitive to such things, stuttered, hesitant to say anything that might hurt Laurent's pride.
"Ahahahaha! Yes, how could a young man beat the legendary Three Musketeers."
I felt a strange feeling at his appearance, as if he were watching his grandchildren's antics, but I didn't say anything.
"Alright, let's stop with the small talk."
Armand put the quill in the ink bottle and got up from his seat, approaching us.
"I wonder if you can guess why I called you here..."
It seemed he had gathered some information and was about to tell us to start acting.
"Orleans has already started doing terrible things."
"If you mean terrible things... what are you referring to?"
At Armis's question, Armand shook his head.
"There are so many that I don't know where to start, so don't ask me, it gives me a headache."
"I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize."
Armand slid a document towards us.
"Here, read this."
I stepped forward and received the document that Armand handed me.
"Recently, there have been reports of illegal drugs being distributed among gambling dens."
At Armand's explanation, the four of us, including me, were all startled.
"Drugs... you mean?"
"The informant couldn't gather any more details. So, I think you'll have to resolve it autonomously."
We were about to start working without any information, so the four of us were at a loss even before we started.
We gathered in a circle and started a meeting.
"It's a difficult situation from the start. What's with drugs in a gambling den?"
"I know, right? We went to a gambling den the other day because we got some money."
"Well, we drank alcohol when we went then, but we didn't feel any signs of drugs, let alone drugs themselves, did we? This is really troublesome."
Lotos was in a panic, and Armis was thinking deeply.
"But... I haven't been in Paris for very long..."
"It doesn't matter. If it's too difficult, you can just go around to all the gambling dens in Paris."
Armand gave an answer while signing the documents to Laurent, who was trying to slip out of the job.
"Yes, we have no choice but to go around as Cardinal-nim said."
At my words, the three of them looked serious.
"Well, if we're going to start gathering information without knowing anything, we have no choice but to do it step by step from the beginning. So, where should we go first..."
Aramis quickly agreed and started working.
"Ah, right, I have some things prepared for you."
Armand got up from his seat and opened the door to a small room next to him.
There were various clothes in the room.
"You are people working on my request. You can't go around looking so scruffy."
"Yes?"
The four of us asked back at Armand's words.
"Well, Aramis is fine. Lotos, your fashion sense is too dirty, and Laurent, your clothes are so worn out, it looks like you've been rolling around in the dirt. Well, that's fine if you change your clothes. But the biggest problem is you, Marie."
At Armand's words, I looked around at my clothes.
"What's wrong with me?"
"You are a woman, so why are you still wearing a shirt and pants?"
"Yes?"
I felt dumbfounded at Armand's criticism.
What's wrong with these clothes? I thought I was dressed neatly.
"Well, I was wondering too. Young Lady, why do you wear a shirt and pants?"
I was speechless at Laurent's question.
Why? To be honest, I hadn't even thought about wearing women's clothes.
Even if I received the grace of God, who could wear women's clothes if they had lived as a man for half their life and were suddenly told to become a woman and wear women's clothes?
"Well... I'm someone who used to roll around on the battlefield, so frilly dresses are a bit uncomfortable for me. And they're also a bit expensive..."
Aramis looked at me at my words, but I tried to ignore him.
"Oh, yes, you said it well. That's why I prepared it."
At the place Armand pointed to, there was a fancy white dress hanging on a hanger.
Seeing the dress with a white background and blue accents, I couldn't help but frown.
"What are you doing? Don't just stand there frowning, hurry up and try it on."
"Do I really have to wear it?"
"Then, are you going to give up the job?"
Hearing Armand's words, I wondered if I should give up the job.
"Marie, please think carefully."
Suddenly, Lotos spoke to me with a serious face.
"Well... Planchet is a bit... no, a very unreliable guy, but isn't he the servant I take around with me? He has holes in his clothes. So, I'm going to help him out."
In short, he meant that he had to take on Armand's request and work because he didn't have money to drink.
I looked at Armis, and Armis shrugged his shoulders.
"The carriage wheels have been creaking lately."
"Didn't we just ride it here just fine?"
"I'm a bit sensitive about the condition of my things."
"I've known you for 10 years, and I'm just finding out now."
"Originally, you have to watch men carefully. Otherwise, they change in an instant."
"Haa..."
This time, I looked at Laurent.
Laurent scratched his black hair and smiled.
"Haha... I'll just follow the majority."
"2 for and 1 against, with 1 abstention, so go quickly and put on the dress."
"Cardinal-nim."
I turned around and looked at Armand.
"What is it?"
"Are you perhaps enjoying seeing me in trouble?"
"I guess that depends on how you see it."
Armand smiled brightly as I asked with a sulky expression.
"Understood. I'll go put it on."
Ding!
Armand rang the bell on the table, and an elderly nun came in.
"Go and help Marie put on the dress."
"Understood. Come, follow me."
The nun bowed to Armand and took my hand, entering the room.
The door slowly closed, and Armand's face was clearly that of someone who was enjoying this.
'Damn it...!'
I swallowed my tears and looked at the nun who was approaching me with the dress.
"Well... is it possible not to wear it?"
"Just as you didn't come in as you pleased, you won't be leaving as you please either."
The nun refused my words with a firm attitude and began to take off my clothes.
"Kyaak?!"
Tududuk!
The nun grabbed the front of my shirt with rough hands and tore it off.
The buttons fell powerlessly to the floor and scattered in all directions.
"You mustn't be so shy, Saint."
When I covered my chest, the nun grabbed my pants and pulled them down all at once.
For a moment, I almost kicked the nun, but fortunately, I endured with superhuman patience, so the unfortunate incident of the nun being kicked by my foot and flying away did not occur.
"Shall we change your underwear too, Saint...?"
"No... underwear too?"
The nun held up white panties with white lace in both hands and handed them to me.
Seeing the underwear, I really felt like I was going to die of embarrassment.
By the way, I don't know if the nun doesn't have a sense of shame, but she kept tilting her head from side to side and asking me which panties were better.
"Just... give me the white ones..."
I covered my face with both hands and said that.
"Oho... even though you're so shy that you say that, you seem to like white, don't you? Ohoho!"
The nun covered her mouth and laughed ohoho, approaching me.
Ah... I don't think this is right, I don't think this is right... Kyaaak!