*Author's Note: Update time! I will try to add a chapter section once a week, most likely on Tuesdays. Thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoy Fate/Romantic!

IV.

As the sisters returned to their apartments later that night, Louise found the streets eerily quiet. A light rain was falling on the city, causing a strange haze to gather at the further reaches of her vision. The whole scene cast a strange melancholy on what had been a rather cheerful day exploring Paris.

The evening streetlights caught the dark mist of the night in an unsettling manner. Louise tried to reassure herself that it was simply the feeling of her first night in a new and strange city, but was unable to put the uneasy feeling out of her mind. As her and Camille entered the hotel they found a much lighter staff than when they had set out earlier. A young man with short brown hair, pale complexion, and childish features was manning the front desk, though he seemed more absorbed in the paperback book he was flipping the pages of with one hand, as he propped his head up with the other. A young red headed woman, with freckled cheeks and soft features cleaning up the lobby was the only other employee they encountered besides, and much like the fellow at the desk, didn't seem too keen to pay the two young women much mind. Louise approached the desk and gave the young man a reserved, but friendly wave.

"Good evening monsieur, my sister and I arrived earlier today, but have been out in town all day. I wanted to see if perhaps we had any missed calls or messages."

The young man looked up from his book with a somewhat curious expression. "No messages have arrived since my shift began madame. However I can check if anything came before my shift started. Name and room number?"

"Saint-Hermine, room number 34."

"One moment." He pushed himself back from the lowered part of the otherwise high reception desk and stepped into a small back room with a multitude of mail slots and some overloaded binders on a strained shelf. As she watched him shuffle through papers and boxes, Louise got a strange sensation and turned sharply around. The first thing she noticed was Camille staring out the glass of the front door with a deeply concerned look etched into her features. The condensation outside looked to be almost rolling by, and a strange energy charged the air with an electricity that put both sisters on edge. Even mages with less training than the Saint-Hermine siblings would be able to tell there was a strange magic in the air. Louise was not yet sure what it meant, but was convinced it had something to do with the reason for their visit.

"Here we are madame."Louise snapped out of the malaise she had momentarily fallen into and her head shot back around to face the receptionist. She must have had an oddly intense look on her face, because he made one that was equally confused back at her. "Looks like a... um, letter arrived for you both at some, point, today. Uhm, are you alright Ms. Saint-Hermine?"

Louise took the letter from his outstretched hand. "Yes monsieur. I must have had a few to many glasses of wine at dinner. I feel a bit off suddenly. Camille? Won't you help your dear little sister to bed?" Camille suddenly came out of her own distracted state as Louise called out to her. She looked abashedly between the receptionist and her sister for a moment before walking over to Louise.

"I swear Louise you always get carried away whenever we visit somewhere new." She gave the young man a quick once over, and after devoting his face to memory and checking his name-tag Camille put her sister's arm around her shoulder. "Excuse my sister Alan, she can be too jovial at times. Her propensity for over celebrating has clearly caught up with her. I'll escort her to our room. Thank you for your help."

As the sisters departed upstairs Alan looked to the cleaning lady with a dumbfounded expression. "Did those young ladies seem more distressed than drunk to you Eloise?" The young woman looked up from the rubbish she was scooping up off the floor and shook her head at her companion.

"They were probably put off, as most woman are, by your melancholy. I know I always feel put out when I'm in your company." She chuckled at her own jab at her coworker and returned to her work. Alan, clicking his tongue at his coworker, sat back down and continued to pour over his book. Outside, unnoticed by both of them, the light rain continued to swirl by and slowly thicken into a dense fog.

Camille and Louise reached their room quickly enough, having given up the inebriated act as soon as they were out of sight of the front desk and strolled in through the door. Clicking on the lights they were greeted by a tidy and orderly room rather than the disarray they had left it in. "Can't think of many hotels I've stayed at that had midday room cleanings." Louise mused over the odd situation as she sat on the bed to take off her shoes. Though more comfortable than the uniform boots, she was ready to get out of the tennis shoes after a long day walking the streets of Paris. "Did you see any address or name on the letter that was left for us?"

Camille turned the envelope over in her hands. It was held closed with an old-fashioned wax seal. A signet of a goblet, with a snake in a ring shape above it was pressed into the red wax. "It simply says 'Saint-Hermine' on the front, I'm assuming to imply it is addressed to us." She snapped the seal open and pulled a letter from within. She flipped the folded paper open and read it over several times before looking over to Louise. "It appears to be a message from our contact. Have a look." Louise took the letter from Camille and read it over herself.

Dear Sisters Saint-Hermine,

I am happy to hear of your safe arrival in Paris today. We are very quickly

approaching the time when all preparations for the upcoming contest will

need to be finished. I do not mean to rush, nor do I want to be putting any

undo pressure on either of you. I will give a full explanation tomorrow

at our meeting. Please come meet me at the Church of Saint-Pierre de Montrogue

at 7:30 AM. I hope I will be able to answer any questions you may have,

and hopefully have some of mine answered by you. It is always a pleasure

to work with the Saint-Hermine family, and I have heard that both of

you are as fine of examples of that exemplary family as any who have come

before you.

Best regards to you both,

The Abbe Armand Gautier Busoni

"He's not short on the compliments and formality is he?" Louise mused as she handed the letter back to Camille. "What do you think he meant by having his questions answered?"

"It is likely that he is concerned about the fact that the family has sent two representatives. From what I understand it is an uncommon practice for this event. It matters not though. That is exactly what father armed us with our letters of introduction for. Those, our own skill, and the Saint-Hermine reputation will be more than enough to put this Abbe in his proper place." Camille crumpled and tossed the letter into the trash bin on the other side of the room, and immediately began to undress, having already put the Abbe's words out of her mind. "If its all the same to you Louise I'm going to take the first turn with the shower."

"All fine Cammy. I think I will do a little reading and head to bed. I'll use the shower in the morning." Louise was still turning over the Abbe Busoni's words in her head, searching for some hidden meaning, as she disregarded her sister.

"Just make sure you give yourself enough time in the morning then. You have a tendency to linger in the shower. God knows what thoughts you get lost in in there, but we need to make sure we're timely for our appointment with the 'good' Father Busoni." Camille noted the last bit with a biting tone.

"I try to figure how a pedometer would calculate steps for an insect. So many extra legs, so many extra steps to account for." Camille gave her sister a deadpan look before turning away shaking her head and stepping into the bath.