Usagi looked around in amazement. "Oh, wow! Naru, isn't Paris just amazing? Ooooh, I think I'll bring Mamo-chan one of those souvenirs..."
"I can't wait to see the Louvre," Naru exclaimed. "And the Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame, and..."
"Calm down there, girls," Haruka chuckled. "We're here to find the amulet, remember? French culture has to wait..."
Usagi pouted. "You're a spoilsport, Haruka..."
Luna shook her head. "She is just concentrating on our mission... as you and Naru should do."
Haruka smirked. "Hey, I'm pretty sure it won't take long. Setsuna said it would be pretty easy..." She pulled out a map. "According to the pendulum, the amulet has to be inside a certain mansion in Paris... and according to what I heard, a Comtesse Carlotte is the owner of that house."
"So she would be the current owner of my amulet, right?" Naru asked. "I hope she is willing to give it to us..."
The three girls and their cat took the metro - or subway - to reach their destination. The mansion of the comtesse (countess in french) was lying in the middle of a neighborhood where mostly rich people were living.
Naru and Usagi just gaped when they saw the big mansion, surrounded by a big garden... no, make that a whole park!
"That... is no mansion," Naru stuttered. "That looks almost like a PALACE!"
"Well, the comtesse is pretty rich from what I heard," Haruka said. "She owns several factories and estates."
Usagi grinned. "Well, if she is that rich, it won't be a big problem to give us just one little golden pendant, right?"
They approached the main gate. Behind it, a broad path was leading through the park to the front door of the mansion.
Haruka pressed the bell button. A short time later, a man dressed in a butler's livery appeared.
"Oui...?" he asked in a bored tone of voice. Then he looked up into Haruka's face. "MON DIEU!" he shouted.
Usagi and Naru looked at each other. "What's wrong with him?" Usagi asked. Naru just shrugged.
Haruka surprised the two girls by saying something to the butler in French, and the man calmed down and answered something.
While the butler opened the gate, Haruka smirked. "He said the comtesse may have some time to talk to us."
"Haruka," Usagi said in a surprised voice. "You never told me you speak French!"
"Well, you never asked. And besides, how else would we be able to talk to the people here?" Haruka asked. "Now come, we don't want to let the Comtesse wait for us."
The butler led them through the front garden and opened the front door of the mansion. Once again they were amazed by all of the valuable furniture, paintings, carpets and vases that were decorating the house.
"Come this way, s'il vous plait," the butler said in a heavily accented English and guided them through the halls. They entered a big room with several armchairs and sofas, and a big armchair was standing in front of a fireplace. The backrest of the armchair was that big that they couldn't see the head of the person that was sitting inside it. The Comtesse was rapidly speaking into the receiver of the telephone that was standing next to her, in French, of course.
After the Comtesse finished her conversation and hung up, the butler walked up to her and said something in French. She responded and laughed.
The butler nodded and stepped back. The Comtesse stood up. They could see she had short, blonde hair. "Excusez-moi," she said. "But I still had one of my friends on the phone..."
And she walked around the chair.
And everyone gasped. "WHAT THE...?" Usagi and Naru shouted.
"MON DIEU!" the Comtesse gasped. Her finger pointed at Haruka. "You... you look exactly like..."
And indeed, Comtesse Carlotte looked nearly identical to Haruka. They only had different clothes and hairstyles.
When everyone calmed down a little, the Comtesse looked closer at Haruka. "It's astonishing," she murmured. "We really look identical."
"Yeah..." Haruka weakly replied. "Just as if we were twins..."
"Ah, twins..." The Comtesse snapped her fingers. Her butler brought a small wooden chest. "Albert told me the reason of your visit. You were coming all from Japan because of this little pendant, non?" And she opened the chest and pulled out the Gemini Amulet.
Naru smiled at Usagi. That really was too easy...
She was right...
"I'm willing to give it to you," Comtesse Carlotte explained. "But, I just got a little idea..." She grasped the surprised Haruka's hands. "Please, do me a favor... Please stay in France for several days and act as if you were me, the Comtesse Carlotte!"
"I beg your pardon?" Haruka murmured. "Me, as a noblewoman?"
Naru smiled. "Do it, Haruka! It won't be hard, right?"
"Oh, non," the Comtesse replied. "She only has to be present at several boring meetings, that's all... the rest of the time, you can just live here in the mansion, and do what you like!"
Haruka sighed. "But... if you don't mind my asking: Why? There is a reason behind all of this, is there?"
"Oh, of course there is," the Comtesse answered with a sigh. "You see, the life of a Comtesse is not as simple as it may look... You know that I'm the owner of some companies, right? And, you see, my business rivals always are alert... they instantly see when I plan something new, and they always try to launch their own products before I'm even finished producing my first exemplars. And right now I'm working on something big... And I'd like to finish it without my rivals finding out anything about it. You understand?"
"Aaah, I guess I see," Haruka nodded. "If I play the comtesse, everyone will concentrate on me, while you have enough time to finish your own products, right?"
The comtesse smiled. "Yes, exactly! So, do you agree with my conditions? After two or three days, I will be back, and your role as comtesse will be over. My new products will be finished... and I'll give you the Gemini Amulet. What do you say?"
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Sun, 10 Sep 2006 14:10)
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