After the Saintess-nim had completely robbed me of all my clothes, I was left in white underwear, so embarrassed I felt like my face was about to explode.
"Here, there's a mirror here, so take a look."
The Saintess-nim grabbed my shoulders and led me towards the full-length mirror.
I remembered that there wasn't a mirror in this room when I saw it before, but it seemed Armand had even prepared a mirror.
When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I forgot my embarrassment and just stared blankly at the mirror.
When my blue eyes met the eyes in the mirror, embarrassment washed over me again.
The white underwear reflected in the mirror definitely suited me very well.
It felt strange to see the image of a woman I had only dreamed of become my own reflection before my eyes.
"Now, all that's left is to put on the dress."
The Saintess-nim was humming a tune, excited to dress me up, and picked up the dress.
Seeing the dress with the hem reaching below my ankles made me feel complicated.
'Do I... really have to wear that...?'
"Hoo..."
I sighed quietly and waited patiently for the Saintess-nim to finish dressing me.
"There, now take a look."
As the Saintess-nim stepped aside, I went to the mirror and examined my appearance.
"Wow..."
The dress, decorated not with jewels but simply with fabrics, was quite to my liking.
Of course, wearing a dress and feeling the hem flutter, the sensation of bare legs, and the emptiness of my legs were slightly unpleasant, but I resigned myself to the fact that I had to get used to this now.
"Now, put on this coat too."
"Coat?"
Why a coat all of a sudden?
The Saintess-nim was holding a blue buff coat in her hand.
"Isn't this a buff coat?"
It was definitely a buff coat, but the length of the hem was quite short.
"The Cardinal-nim said he designed it especially for his daughter... Don't you like it?"
"No... I like it."
What on earth is Cardinal Roang trying to do by adopting me as his daughter and going this far? I shuddered, wondering if he might later use this support as an excuse to force me into marriage with someone from his family.
I put on the blue buff coat and fastened the buttons.
The hem of the coat only came up to just above my navel; I wondered if I should even call it a coat.
After putting on the buff coat, which was shorter than a jacket, and finishing getting dressed, I thanked the Saintess-nim.
"Thank you. For going through all this trouble, Saintess-nim..."
"No, it's nothing. I used to wear this all the time about 50 years ago, but it was fun to dress someone else up in it after so long."
"Yes?"
She used to wear this all the time 50 years ago? A dress like this...?
"Um... what's your name...?"
"Julia. Seongdo-nim."
The Saintess-nim smiled kindly and answered.
"No, could I know your name before your baptismal name?"
"That might be a bit difficult? Ohoho."
The Saintess-nim covered her mouth and laughed.
"Ah... I'm sorry."
"No, why would you be sorry? I was as young as Seongdo-nim 50 years ago, too."
Imagining the Saintess-nim 50 years ago, which was hard to picture, I left the room.
Armand, Lotos, Aramis, and Laurent were staring at me as if time had stopped when they saw me.
"Cardinal-nim."
"What."
"What are you planning to do with Marie..."
"Hey, you."
At Lotos's words, Armand threw a quill pen at the center of Lotos's forehead.
"Ah, that stings."
When the pen tip stuck into Lotos's forehead, Lotos rubbed his forehead.
"I did come out after getting dressed... but this is quite awkward."
I scratched my cheek and smiled sheepishly.
"Marie-nim."
Laurent called me in a serious voice.
"You're the best..."
Laurent gave a thumbs up and bowed his head.
"Um... thanks."
I felt a strange feeling being praised, but I thanked him anyway.
Come to think of it, the other three had also changed their clothes; their shabby clothes were gone, and they were all neatly dressed.
"I'm not the only one who changed clothes."
At my words, Lotos straightened his collar and showed off his clothes to me.
"How is it?"
"Yeah, you look more like a person now."
At my words, Aramis and Laurent chuckled.
"If you all have time to chat like that in front of me, go and solve the case already."
Armand pointed to the door with his quill pen.
"Yes, we'll be back."
"I'll be waiting for good news."
Armand nodded and continued to focus on the documents.
While walking down the hallway of the cathedral, the Saintess-nim from earlier approached with a feathered hat.
"Oh my, I forgot to hand this over."
I put the blue feathered hat with white feathers that the Saintess-nim handed me on my head.
"How is it?"
"It suits you very well."
The Saintess-nim smiled at me and answered.
"Then I'll be going."
"May God's blessings be with you."
We and the Saintess-nim exchanged greetings and parted ways.
#
We decided to gather in front of the fountain after collecting money and equipment from our respective homes.
I went into my room and started reloading my pistol.
I checked the condition of the flint, put gunpowder in the powder pan, and closed the cover.
Click
A crisp sound was heard as the cover closed.
I shook the gun to check if any gunpowder was falling out.
When no gunpowder fell out, I put gunpowder for the charge into the muzzle, tamped it down with a ramrod, then put the bullet in again, and then crumpled paper and put it in the muzzle and tamped it down.
I lifted the hem of my dress and attached the fully loaded gun to my right thigh.
Just as I was about to look for a belt to wear my sword, Mine opened my door and came in.
"My father said that Young Lady came in wearing amazing clothes, and oh my... Young Lady's clothes are oh my oh my!"
Mine saw my clothes and started making a fuss.
"You were a noble after all. You definitely look like a noble when you wear those clothes, oh my! Oh my! What am I going to do!"
Mine squealed and touched the dress I was wearing.
"The fabric is so soft."
"Mine."
"Yes?"
"I might be coming back late today, so don't wait for me and sleep in your room."
"Yes? Are you going to be very late? Please come back early and play with me."
Mine clung to my leg and looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
"Uh...? What's this hard thing on my thigh...?"
Mine reached into my skirt and pulled out the pistol attached to my right thigh.
"Gu... Gun! Heeek?!"
Mine dropped the gun and stepped back.
I picked up the gun, checked if the gunpowder in the powder pan had fallen out, and then lifted my skirt again and stuck it back on my thigh.
"Ah... Young Lady. Are you perhaps going to kill someone...?"
"No, it's for self-defense."
I answered casually and patted my skirt to dust it off.
"And Mine."
"Yes... Yes?!"
Mine was startled and answered when I called her.
"This one is worth more than this entire inn."
I pointed to my right thigh and said.
"Hiccup!"
Mine, having learned the price of the pistol attached to my right thigh, hiccuped.
"Th... I dropped it earlier... Do I have to pay for it...?"
"Shhh..."
I put my index finger to my lips.
"If you keep it a secret that I have a gun, you don't have to pay for it."
At my words, Mine made a bright expression and nodded vigorously.
"Then, I'll be going."
I put on my belt with my saber and went out of the room.
"Yes! Be careful!"
Mine followed me out and greeted me.
The people who were enjoying food and drinks in the inn lobby stopped moving when they saw me coming down the stairs.
"What are you looking at?"
"Ahem!"
When I snapped coldly, they all pretended to be doing what they were doing just now and watched me carefully.
I didn't care and left the inn and headed to the fountain where we were supposed to meet.
As I walked down the street, people glanced at me as they passed by.
Ignoring the gazes directed at me, especially the gazes directed at my chest, there were people who whistled at me as if calling a cat.
I felt quite offended by their attitude, which was like calling a prostitute, but I just passed by because I had to gather at the fountain.
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
Bam!
"Agh!"
Suddenly, I heard screams from behind, so I turned around.
"Young Lady, I've come to escort you."
Laurent scratched his black hair and approached me.
The men who had whistled at me earlier were rolling on the ground after being punched in the face by Laurent.
"Okay, let's go."
As I walked down the street with Laurent and arrived at the fountain, Lotos and Aramis started clapping.
"Whee~!"
Lotos put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.
"Laurent, you succeeded."
"Succeeded? In what?"
When I asked at Aramis's words, he smiled and didn't answer.
"Lotos, what happened? What did you suddenly succeed in?"
"There are things like that. Manly things."
"Bullshit, I've been with you guys for over 10 years and there hasn't been anything like that."
Aramis said, looking at me questioning Lotos.
"No, well... that... haa... okay, I understand."
I was about to retort, but I couldn't think of anything to say.
"So, which gambling house are we going to go to?"
"If you want to catch a dragon, you have to go to the dragon's lair, so how about going to the biggest gambling house in Paris?"
"Conquista?"
"Yeah, there."
When I answered Aramis's words, he nodded.
"We've never been there even once. Isn't it possible that we might get cut off at the entrance?"
"There's something you always overlook. Just looking at your name and your appearance, you've already secured your entry."
"I'm okay, but what about Aramis, Lotos, and Laurent?"
"Well, if we can't get in, we can just lie and say we're your escort knights."
"Hmm..."
"Well, don't think about it so deeply. When have we ever thought that deeply?"
"Well, that's true."
"Come on, get in the carriage quickly. I'm dying to see what the inside of the Conquista gambling house looks like."
Lotos got on the carriage and gestured for us to come quickly.
"Geez, you're so impatient."
Aramis slapped Lotos's bald head, who was fidgeting in the carriage and calling us, once with his palm and got on the carriage.
"Laurent, let's go quickly."
"Yes."
I took Laurent, who was standing still, and got on the carriage.
#
They say gambling is a sin.
We, who were always drunk and gambling, actually knew that gambling was a bad thing that went against doctrine.
However, as nobles, we always had to show a glamorous appearance, and the moment we showed a poor appearance due to lack of money, our reputation as nobles would be shattered.
Therefore, we, who couldn't work, always increased our wealth by gambling.
That's why we gambled while self-hypnotizing ourselves that we were showing noble behavior while gambling.
Of course, now we're just addicted to gambling, but that's another story.
However, seeing the building in front of us, which was larger than the cathedral where Armand was, made us question, "Is gambling really a dishonorable thing?"
We stood there blankly, admiring the building, which was brightly lit with magic on the outside.
The noble ladies looked at us blankly staring at the building and laughed as they entered Conquista.
We braced ourselves and entered the building.
We had prepared in advance what to say in case the people guarding the entrance of the building stopped us, but they let us into the building without any restrictions.
"Have a good time. Young Lady."
They even greeted us, wishing us a good time.
"Marie, what did I say? Didn't I say that your name and face would get you through without any problems?"
Thanks to this face, I was able to enter so easily, but I felt strange after entering.