CHAPTER 4: Sweet Transvestite
Oreldo had been the luckier of the two sub-lieutenants. Solice was definitely the nicer and gentler of the lieutenant's sisters. She had done a fine job of disguising Oreldo: With his golden hair lightly curled and clad in a simple yet elegant white dress shirt and a fancy dark blue coat with embroidered golden cuffs and collar, the outfit made the laid-back, womanizing sub-lieutenant appear to be a proper noble.
"Would you wait here for a moment, Oreldo?" Solice requested. "Elis and Martis should be done any minute now. I'm going to go tell Alice you're ready."
"Sure thing," Oreldo replied sweetly, "Anything for you!" Despite Alice's warnings, he couldn't help but flirt at least a little… it wasn't every day he got to spend time with a beautiful noblewoman! Well, he technically did, now that he thought about it, but Alice was a completely different case. She was not the kind of girl you wanted to flirt with.
The sudden sound of footsteps on the stairs caught the sub-lieutenant's attention.
"No way," Oreldo exclaimed upon seeing the girl coming down the staircase, "You didn't say we were gettin' dates for the ball!" The womanizing sub-lieutenant put on his best smile. "She's beautiful!"
The girl's placid expression turned to disbelief instead of the expected smile. "Shut up, Oreldo," she snapped in a very familiar voice.
Oreldo's face fell. "Oh, shit."
Elis, who'd been watching from the top of the staircase, giggled.
The girl crossly tromped down the staircase with increasing anger in every step.
"Oreldo… I... I swear I'm going to kill you!"
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Oreldo thought frantically. That can't be—did I just think Martis was beautiful? "It wasn't my idea!" he insisted and prepared to defend himself or flee down the hallway—whichever would be quicker—from the inevitable attack from Martis. Ah, dammit, think Oreldo! His mind was racing. I can't run in this getup! I need an excuse, and a believable one!
"It was the LT's! Her and the captain! I knew nothing about it, I swear!" Considering Alice's strange reaction when Elis had taken Martis away, it seemed like this whole thing probably was their idea. Thankfully, this response quelled his friend's rage and instead of throwing Oreldo to the ground, he stormed over to the mirror.
Martis crossly folded his arms. "I can't believe I am doing this," he grumbled as he scrutinized his appearance.
For once in his life, Oreldo was at a loss for words. "Uh… me neither?" Martis looked so much like a girl it wasn't funny…
…at least for him it wasn't.
"Oh my goodness!"
Both sub-lieutenants spun around at the sound of the lieutenant's voice to see both her and the corporal entering the hall, led by Solice. Randel was covering a grin with a huge hand and Alice looked to be trying her hardest not to burst out laughing.
The lieutenant quickly composed herself, though. "Thank you for your help, Elis, Solice, they look terrific! I barely recognized them," she said, with a quick childlike grin towards Martis.
The dress-clad sub-lieutenant clenched his gloved hands into fists and resisted the strong urge to tell off his superior officer. "Uh, Lieutenant? Why do I have to do this? If you needed a girl to go, why not send Stecchin?" he asked, barely able to keep his frustration suppressed. "I'm sure she'd love this kind of stuff, too!"
"The captain and I didn't think it was good idea to send the sergeant major on an undercover mission. She's not the most… subtle member of the unit," Alice responded.
Horrible memories of a certain day in the mess hall resurfaced in Martis' mind.
It had been a long and tedious morning for Section III. Grateful for the break from work, Martis was standing in the lunch line and about to put condiments on his meal when Stecchin abruptly turned around. She began staring at him.
"What now?" he asked wearily.
The sergeant major eyed him for a moment more.
"You're not a jerker!" Stecchin then proclaimed. Loudly.
Just about everyone in the mess hall gasped then fell silent and all eyes fell on Martis as he stared, frozen, in terror as the sergeant major continued.
"No sir, Mr. Martis, I bet you've never jerked anyone in your life!"
Martis shuddered as the flashback ended. That had to have been the most embarrassing day of his military career. It seemed like this mission would be a close second, though.
"We couldn't risk her accidently blowing our cover. I have the utmost confidence that you and Sub-Lieutenant Oreldo will maintain your disguises just fine."
"But lieutenant, that still doesn't explain why I have to be a girl!" Martis complained.
"A couple is a perfect disguise for a ball," the lieutenant explained.
"Couple?" both sub-lieutenants shouted in unison.
"You mean… me… four eyes… a couple?" the wide-eyed Oreldo sputtered. "No freakin' way! Couldn't we have just risked having our cover blown by sendin' Stecchin instead?" Martis nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Of course not!" Alice rebuked. "Plus, if you'd have gone separately, you wouldn't be able to work together as easily. Not to mention that you may have been easier recognized as members of Section III… I'm sure not many nobles have forgotten when you drove our unit's car right into the ballroom," she pointed out.
That had been quite memorable, as had been the driver and passengers of said car.
"This is just for one night, okay? I know it's embarrassing, but it's not as bad as you think, and no one will know who you are—besides us, at least. It'll be just fine," the lieutenant reassured. "The only thing you have to worry about is finding out if my fiancé is part of the Silver Wheel. That's the objective of the mission, remember? Just focus on that."
Martis sighed. "Alright…"
Despite what the lieutenant had said, Martis had a feeling that he'd be worrying a lot more about this evening besides Lionel Taylor and the Silver Wheel. He glanced at Orledo, who quickly averted his eyes. Martis could've sworn his friend was blushing, but he decided it was just his bad eyesight playing tricks on him. Or was it…?
One thing was for certain: tonight was going to be a long, long night.
