Guelio maneuvered the carriage from the trails of the hills onto the cemented roadway that lead to Intramuros, Bagumbayan, Ermita and Quiapo. Again, following the river, he continued on for a around a half-hour.

Meanwhile inside the carruaje, everyone could feel a tenseness in the atmosphere. This, of course, would be the case, since two people threatened to kill each other just moments ago. Rodrigo even looked at Jazmin in a manner to tell that he felt unnerved about the situation. Renee kept to herself while the mysterious Adrienne just looked out the window.

The ice broke, however, when Sanchez struck up a conversation about firearms. Sanchez was randomly saying things about his bazaar stand in Spain. He talked about manuscripts, firearms and antiques in short sentences, though it elicited no response, from anyone. So, he decided to focus on one person in particular.

"So, back in Barcelona, I have a Lebel Model 1886 that I think the lady in the hood might appreciate."

Adrienne turned to Sanchez, clearly interested in the gun. Yet, she refused to give him any more than that and looked away immediately.

"Well, the gun is really good for people who want to be sneaky. The gun is lighter than normal rifles. holds ten rounds, and uses Poudre B. Smokeless, powerful and and leaves no traces."

Sanchez clearly got Adrienne's attention. Yet still, she remained inexorable. He thought to himself: 'This one's a hard one to crack, so I'll need to put the cherry on top'

"...et je le donne gratuitement [and without pay]"

It didn't take long until Adrienne's calm shattered, and she bellowed out, causing everyone to cower in fear and even make Guelio grind the carruaje to a halt.

"¿Estas bien, señorita? [Are you alright, miss?]" said Guelio, as he looked into the carriage, clearly distressed by the sound that came from the inside. Adrienne, realizing the ruckus she made, she covered her mouth with her hands.

She was clearly provoked, though not with guns, but with words, and she hated that. The placidity and apathy was part of her cover-up plan, so she could get out of this situation easily, though now that she's agitated, her identity became compromised, she couldn't leave as quickly as she planned to. She also felt that the anonimoty gave her a sense of security that she was comfortable with. She almost cherished it.

All her chances of keeping the mystery disappeared because her hood dropped, letting everyone see in detail the entirety of her face. Brown hair secured by a lazily-tied blue silk ribbon. A fair complexion and Brown eyes that twinkled like golden stars under the sun's rays. And most notably, a keloid scar scored horizontally below her eyes.

Adrienne was about to lose her calm, maybe lash out at Sanchez, and dramatically storm out of the carriage, when Rodrigo looked at her with an inquisitive look.

Rodrigo for his part, always thought that the lady looked familiar, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was something about Adrienne that made him remember his days in Madrid. He could see that she bears a semblance to one of his classmates, he was just a little too shy to point it out.

Adrienne was, in fact, a student of the Universidad Complutense. Under the influence of her persuasive patron and foster parent de Lefreniere, she were able to secure enrollment. The problem was, only males could actually enroll and study, since females were expected to be nuns, housekeepers and tutors in the 19th century. So, Adrienne decided to play with her androgynous advantage and keep up an identity as Monteviado de Lafrenier.

Adrienne faced Rodrigo. "You're Rodrigo, right?"

He responded: "Yes, I am Rodrigo Sanreal. Why do you ask?"

"By any chance, do you study at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid?"

Rodrigo was taken aback. He hasn't told anyone about where he studied, not even Jazmin and Renee. Yet this woman, familiarity regardless, knows more about him than his close friends, and that isn't normal. 

"Yes, I do. Tell me, who are you and how do you know my school?"

"Like I said earlier, I am Adrienne L'Etoile et je suis un enfant de France [and I am a child of France]. You might be surprised, but I actually come from your school."

"You? A student in University? As much as it's an injustice, no females are allowed to study, right?"

"Yeah, well..." 

Adrienne, to prove a point, removed the ribbon tying her hair and rearranged it so that her hair will look something like a bowl cut. Short, yet masculine in a way. In addition, she fixed her posture to a more masculine stance and suddenly Adrienne almost changed into another person. 

She introduced herself in a lower voice: "Hi Rodrigo. It's me. Monteviado. Monteviado de Freniere."

Then Rodrigo's mind went blank for a couple of seconds, until somewhere in his mind, the thought registered.