The Detective's Damsel

v.

AS HUNGARIAN NOBILITY, Corinna was quite used to the presence of clothes, but it was nothing compared to what the wardrobe contained. When Ryan had opened the doors, the room seemed to expand in front of her and all around her until the horrific idea of drowning in clothing pulled her out of her stupor.

"This is what we call the Studio," Ryan explained, leading her into the space. The room brightened in a split second, and Corinna had to blink the stars out of her vision. Knight had gone back to do 'damage control', as he had called it. According to Ryan, meal hours were over, and people who knew nothing about this room's existence would soon find out the longer the door was left open.

"We've done research on the clothing for nearly every era and have created picture-perfect versions of such. For example, here's 16th century Europe." His gesture led her gaze to a rack filled with dolmáns, culottes, shoes, and fur coats for men. She recognized the attire Ivan and Knight had worn the night they had kidnapped her. "Since this is an all-male academy, most of our clothing is fit for men. However..." He rummaged through the clothing before pulling out a satin dress with embroidered silk fabric. It was fit for Hungarian nobility, that was for sure. "We do have a limited supply of clothing for women such as yourself."

Corinna had to remind herself to breathe as she ran a hand along the fabrics. She tracked her way along, pausing at nearly everything. The racks stretched down both sides of the wardrobe, all of them meticulously labeled by time period. She rubbed the thin material of a garment in the Roaring 20s section and gaped at the smoothness of a suit on the rack labeled Han Dynasty. It was like the entire history of the world was surrounding her in one room; it was like she had been sleeping in 1585 and had just woken up to see the whole universe above her.

She walked until the racks stopped, after a label named World War II. Corinna turned to where Ryan was watching her, blue eyes sparkling with curiosity. She could practically see the excitement oozing out of him, but whether it was because of her or the machine in the other room, it was hard to say.

"There were two world wars?" Her voice felt small in the grand expanse of the room.

Ryan nodded. "As the boys have probably told you, we are currently in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is a coastal city on the southeast corner of the United States, which is in North America. Just above Mexico." That explained the heat, then. "The United States started out as 13 colonies owned by Great Britain until we battled them for our independence and became states in 1776. Florida became a state in 1845, number 27 out of 50." He paused to let that sink in, but Corinna's focus had sharpened at the word 'colonies'. Corinna remembered hearing about the discovery of the colonies, but they were able to beat Great Britain in battle? There were fifty states? Head spinning, Corinna nodded at Ryan to continue. "World War I was a four-year war that took negotiation of several nations to end, including the United States. World War II last six years, when a German man named Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party attempted to eradicate all Jewish people and make his beliefs universal."

"Is..." Corinna hesitated, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer to her question. "Does my kingdom still exist?"

To her extreme relief, Ryan nodded. "Hungary does, but it's no longer a kingdom. They have a parliamentary system now, meaning they are led by what we call a prime minister. We have a presidential system in the United States, though, so we vote for a president who leads the country." Corinna must have looked like he had just pummeled her in the face because he laughed. "Don't worry, I can explain the details later. Come on, you haven't even seen the best part yet." He stepped up to a door partially hidden beneath the Ancient Egypt rack and pressed his thumb against a black box to the side of the door—the same type of machinery as Knight had used to enter this building. Now that she was closer to the device, she could see a red light on the top turn green, and the door unlocked with a click. Ryan stepped into the room clapping his hands excitedly, and the lights flashed on above her.