Timeline of Errors

Part 28 - The Lady's Imposter

I looked at the person standing in front of me in disbelief. Just about half an hour ago, the person was a tall young man with slim build and broad shoulders. His hair barely reached his neck. He was wearing a white high neck sleeveless top with a long dark brown coat. However, the person standing in front of me has now been transformed into a tall young woman with long wavy blonde hair. She was wearing a dark red knee-length A-line dress with beige ruffles on her chest and sleeves. A beige coat hung on her shoulders, covering her back. Her chestnut eyes were covered slightly by her volumous eyelashes, her cheeks were pink and rosy. Wait, why am I using the pronoun 'her'?!

"How do I look?" he asked with a slightly more girlish tone, and flipped his long haired wig backwards.

The two of us were up in the Flying Flower on the perimeter of the city, nearby the sea. My duffel bag was lying on the floor, opened, with some clothes spilling out. My hairbrush and make-ups were lying on the table in the centre of the room. A white high neck sleeveless top and a pair of black trousers were lying on a bed on the far end, along with a dark brown jacket and a dark brown fedora.

"You look a hundred fold prettier than I am!" I exclaimed in disbelief, "I never look that good in that dress..."

"I can't help that," he said and chuckled with his hand covering his mouth. Just like how a lady laughs.

"But what bothers me the most is that you look EXACTLY like the lady who hired me," I said.

"Well, that's the whole point of a disguise..." he said, twirling around, "there's a ball tonight and the lady's invited. That's our best chance to sneak in without breaking and entering,"

"And how do you know about that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I stalked Xavier's social media," he said with a finger put to his lips, "there's a list of invitees, it was a no brainer,"

"Well, but what if the real lady comes and finds an imposter in her place?" I asked.

"Then, please tell her not to come," he said, "now that you mention it, you don't seem to communicate with anyone from their house at all..."

I can do that, yes... but... I thought, how am I supposed to explain everything?

That a young man who seems to know so much is helping me in Matias's stead? They'll know I had broken the contract of secrecy... and to a seemingly random stranger too?

Sure, I have my reasons, but...

"Sigh... she won't come," he said suddenly, in his usual voice, "why would she come to a ball held by her enemy? The only thing Xavier wants is to embarrass her and pressure her into spilling information on the lord's whereabout. Surely the lady must have known that, I was just messing with you,"

"Well, that's... true..." I said.

"Don't worry about it too much," he said, "I'll be fine,"

"Alright, whatever," I said, "I'll keep an eye out for you,"

"Oh, you don't need to come," he said, "the Gris hate the house you work for. People might try to spike your drink or something. And the whole room would most likely be siding with the host - if something happened to you-"

"Excuse me, sire, I think you're forgetting that I'm the main investigator here," I said and folded my arms, "I will see the end of this case and follow through with my contract,"

"Well, yeah that's true, but-" he said.

"Surely invitees can bring a chaperone with them," I said, "the lady's chaperone would have been Matias, but I'm not tall enough to crossdress as him. But hey, Matias is hospitalised anyway, it makes even less sense for him to be at the ball,"