On the second morning in Paris, Naoki was awakened by the sound of knocking—or rather, pounding—on his door.
"Who the hell... this early in the morning..."
Yawning and scratching his still-clothed body, Naoki shuffled to the door and opened it. Just as he did, Riddell, who hadn't had time to retract her fist mid-knock, stumbled forward from the sudden lack of resistance.
Quickly, Naoki grabbed the collar of Riddell's shirt and steadied her before she could fall. With an annoyed tone, he asked, "Knocking this early... what's the matter? Some kind of disaster, Miss Achelotte?"
"Early? Do you even know what time it is?"
"Huh? What time? Isn't it just eight?"
"It's noon!" Riddell pointed at the wall clock and scolded him. "Seriously, do you have no sense of time? Your lifestyle is so lazy and careless—has Lord El-Melloi never taught you that a Magus' time is always limited?"
"Nope, never. Besides, I'm not lazy, I just didn't sleep until five this morning, hoam~"
Naoki let out a long yawn mid-sentence.
"So, what do you want? If it's nothing important, I'm going back to sleep. Still tired."
"Wake up, you slacker! Do you think I'd come looking for you if it wasn't important?" Riddell was seriously considering slapping Naoki to snap him out of it.
Just as she was about to, Gray suddenly appeared at the door, carrying lunch: "Miss Riddell? Why are you—ah, Brother, good afternoon, you're awake?"
"Oh, Gray... sorry, just leave the food there for now. I'm going back to sleep. Still drowsy."
"No more sleeping!"
In one swift motion, Riddell grabbed Naoki's collar and dragged him into the bathroom.
"Brush your teeth and wash your face properly!"
"No, let me sleep! I only got seven hours!"
"Only seven? How much more do you need? If you're a Magus, get used to six hours a day!"
"Are you trying to kill me? After college entrance exams, I swore off that hermit lifestyle!"
Listening to the commotion from the bathroom, along with the occasional splashing of water, Gray suddenly felt like she was back in their London apartment.
"Huh... Miss Riddell and Brother's dynamic is kind of similar to Miss Mary's..."
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Several dozen minutes later.
With a gloomy expression and his desire to sleep now thoroughly crushed, Naoki glared coldly at Riddell: "So, what is it? Miss Achelotte."
"If I'm looking for you, it's obviously important. You haven't forgotten our deal from yesterday, have you?"
"Ah, about disguising as you to draw the reporters' attention?"
"Not drawing, just diverting."
"Same difference." Naoki glanced at the large bags near her feet. "By the way, you said you'd prepare clothes for me. These?"
Riddell nodded and began pulling out outfit after outfit from the bags: "These are all the jackets and skirts I usually wear. There are stockings too, and since our builds are different, I also brought bras and padding. Pick what you like."
Seeing the array of pretty women's clothes spread out on the table, Gray couldn't help but blush.
"She's just laying out her clothes like this... Miss Riddell isn't embarrassed at all? And is Brother really going to crossdress?"
"Hmm... just asking, are these all your used clothes?"
"Are you a pervert?"
"Where did that come from? And how does that make me a pervert?"
As he spoke, Naoki picked up one of the outfits and held it up to the mirror.
"Nope, this is too short and tight. It'll definitely burst if I try to wear it. And your skirts are too short—they'd definitely ride up if I put them on."
"You're a guy, why do you care about that?"
"Because what people will see is May Riddell Archelot." Naoki pointed out. "Since I'm disguised as you, it's not me they'll see, but you. Even if it's fake, if a reporter catches it, headlines like [Popular Idol Dressed Inappropriately] or [Vulgar Idol Flaunting Herself] would spread like wildfire, right?"
Hearing this, Riddell immediately realized how serious the issue was!
"You're right. Then should we adjust the sizes now?"
"Can you sew?"
"No, can you?"
"Why would I know how?"
Placing the clothes back on the table, Naoki pointed at Riddell: "Just give me the pink jacket and skirt you're wearing now—they should work for the disguise. Oh, and you wear stockings every day, right?"
"Yeah."
"Any specific pattern? Like certain colors on certain days?"
"No."
"Good, then I don't need you to take off the ones you're wearing now."
"If you dare try that, I'll socially execute you." Riddell's gaze and tone turned icy in an instant. "So, you're going to wear my current outfit to distract the reporters?"
Naoki nodded. "Based on my research last night, this is the outfit you wear most often—seven out of ten public appearances. It's practically your signature look. So, to disguise as you, wearing this is the best option."
"How do you even know this is my most-worn outfit?"
"Why do you think I only slept at five in the morning?" Naoki yawned again. "If you're going to disguise as someone, you have to pay attention to the little details, right? Reporters have sharp eyes. If something's off, they'll notice immediately."
This statement stunned both Riddell and Gray.
He stayed up all night just for this?
"You're... weirdly serious about this?" Riddell was impressed despite herself. "And I've been meaning to ask... you don't seem bothered by wearing women's clothes? Do you have a crossdressing fetish or something?"
"I'll admit I have plenty of fetishes, but crossdressing isn't one of them. I just don't particularly mind it."
Besides, thanks to that bastard Merlin's nightmare training, Naoki had been forced into women's clothing countless times. While his body might still resist, mentally, he was long past caring.
"Anyway, go to the bathroom and change out of your clothes so I can wear them. Oh, and about makeup—you have a professional team, right? Have them do my face until it's seventy percent similar to yours."
"Why are you so skilled at this!?"
The sheer professionalism radiating from Naoki made Riddell deeply uncomfortable.
Your competence is too excessive!