[Machel’s POV]

“I appreciate your kind understanding, Ms. Tudor.”

With a gracious bow, the conductor closed the door to Room No. 12 and turned to face the gendarmes.

“That is the last of the passengers on board the train. Lieutenant, are you now satisfied with your inspection?”

One of the gendarmes whispered something into the Lieutenant’s ear, and he nodded his head curtly.

“We’ve found that one of the kitchen staff is missing,” he said, scratching his chin. “As expected, it is the sommelier.”

“It is not possible!” Headwaiter Peire adamantly retorted. “I have seen the sommelier serving the passengers during dinner service with my own eyes!”

He had known Peire since when he was first hired by the Company to work on the Orient Express, and he trusted that the headwaiter wasn’t the type of man to tell unnecessary lies for the sake of himself or others. If Peire insists that he had seen the sommelier on the train, he must have really seen the guy in person.

Besides, he swore that he had personally accounted for all the crew on board the Orient Express before it left Paris.

“Perhaps you and the conductor had a folie à deux?” the Lieutenant sarcastically replied. “The railway soot must be damaging to the health after inhaling it for so long—”

“The Orient Express cannot be delayed anymore beyond a window of fifteen minutes,” Machel interrupted. “If there’s nothing else, please make haste with your departure.”

The Lieutenant laughed.

“At any rate, we will be submitting our findings tonight in our report to the Wagon Lit company. Do expect a statement from the Director after this incident, Conductor. Thank you for your cooperation.”

[Violet’s POV]

After what seemed like an eternity, the voice of the conductor finally sounded from outside the compartment.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the dining car is now open again. As an appreciation for your patience, we have arranged for your meals to be brought to your rooms,” Machel announced as he walked down the aisle. “We will try to make up for lost time too, so please note that the Orient Express will stop at Épernay, Châlons-sur-Marne, Bar-le-Duc and Nancy stations for only one minute. I repeat, the Orient Express will make a one-minute stop at Épernay, Châlons-sur-Marne, Bar-le-Duc and Nancy…”

As if on cue, a whistle blew, and the locomotive chugged back to life.

“Persinette, you can get off me now,” I mumbled, trying to pull myself out of her death-like embrace. “Are you trying to suffocate me?”

“Aww, I quite liked hugging you like this, you know?” She gave a wistful sigh, then slowly rolled off my body and stood on her two bare feet. “Also, it’s fine if you just call me by my first name. But in return, I get to call you Violet, deal?”

“Sure, whatever…”

“I didn’t bring any luggage with me. You won’t mind if I borrow one of your clothes to wear, right?”

I didn’t have the energy to reply as I remained lying on my bed, breathing in and out deeply.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘Yo, that was close, too close!’

I wiped the beads of sweat dotting my forehead, willing the heat inside my body to die down quickly.

‘Although I have been reincarnated into a lady’s body, I’m still the same man from my past life inside, so it’s only natural to react in this way…yes, right, it’s just a natural reaction, I must calm down and keep my composure…’

“Violet, how do I look?” she asked, snapping me out of my frenzied thoughts.

“Does it really matter…” I trailed off as I turned my head to look in her direction.

Slipping into a midnight-blue satin gown, Rapunzel twirled in a graceful circle, the gaslight dancing on the sequins and beads of her dress as it billowed out around her legs. She caught my gaze, and with a pompous smirk, performed a mock curtsy in front of me.

“Well,” she said. “Voilà.”

“Voilà.” I gave a wry applause at her performance. “But that’s my dress, you know.”

“Hehe, it’s mine now~”

With a giggle, she motioned towards the door. “You didn’t order anything to eat just now, right? Come on, let’s grab something from the dining car to eat.”

“But the conductor already said that our dinner will be delivered here?”

“Oh, please. Dinner should be eaten in a place with a suitable atmosphere, you know?”

“Really…”

“Really, really!”

“Would there still be food left at this hour, though?” I asked doubtfully as I followed her down the aisle.

She tsk-tsked at me, “if you hurry, we might be able to catch the second service.”

We arrived in the empty dining car just in time to catch a busboy cleaning up the tables. Upon noticing our presence, he quickly bowed and rushed to the kitchen, apparently to find the headwaiter.

“Ah, Mademoiselle Guinevere, you have returned.” The headwaiter greeted us with a polite but somewhat tired smile. “And this lady is…?”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Rapunzel Persinette,” she answered, dropping a curtsy. “I’m Violet’s companion.”

‘Companion, huh.’ I smiled wryly at her introduction.

“Bonsoir…” The headwaiter’s eyes narrowed briefly at her.

“Is something the matter, Monsieur?” she asked, batting her eyelids.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to stare,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I just thought you looked familiar for a second. Have we perhaps met before?”

“Um, I don’t believe so?”

“Forgive me then, Mademoiselle. I must have been mistaken.” He showed us to the nearest table, which happened to be the table I had shared with Weinstein and Sternberg earlier.

“For now, we only have the coq au vin available for the main course. Will that suit Mesdemoiselles’ palates?”

“Oh, that sounds lovely!” she chirped.

“I’m fine with it,” I replied, though I hadn’t the faintest idea what the dish that the headwaiter mentioned was.

“And your apéritifs?”

“Kina Lillet with a slice of lemon, s’il vous plaît,” Rapunzel answered after a brief glance at the menu.

“I’d have…” I stared at the list of unfamiliar foreign-sounding names and faltered. “A pastis?”

“Very well then, I shall have your orders prepared immediately.”

She gave me an amused look after the headwaiter left.

“You ordered a pastis? What an interesting choice.”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“Oh, never mind. You’ll know when you see it.”

The headwaiter soon returned with a trolley stacked with bottles of alcohol and glasses. He prepared Rapunzel’s drink first, pouring a shot of golden liquid into her glass before garnishing it with a thin lemon wheel.

‘Woah, that looks super fancy! I should have ordered the same drink as her…’

“As for your pastis, Mademoiselle Guinevere,” the headwaiter said, holding a bottle which was labelled with a worrying number ‘45%’. “Would you like it diluted, or straight?”

“U-uh…this…”

Seeing my reaction, Rapunzel gestured at the headwaiter and whispered, “please excuse my friend, she isn’t too familiar with the names of alcoholic drinks. A glass of orange cordial will do for the lady.”

“Bien, Mademoiselle.”

I gratefully accepted the glass of orange juice from the headwaiter and flashed her a sheepish smile.

“Thank you, you quite literally saved my life.”

“No worries,” she said with a laugh. “When you’re in doubt next time, just order an orange cordial. You can’t go wrong with juice.”

“I see, I’ll take note of that…” I paused and tentatively asked, “on that note, what is a ‘coq au vin’?”

She raised her eyebrows this time. “You really don’t dine out often, do you?”