While Dr Archer was speaking, Kyle had removed his silk tie, tails, and waistcoat and opened his shirt to his navel. The raven black strands fell over his eyes and covered the otherwise clear blue of his eyes. His slender neck was visible without the high shirt collar, flowing in soft lines into the narrow shoulders that Crowford usually hid carefully under his clothes.

He was just about to push the last button of his shirt out of the placket. The sprint had taken its toll, and the air felt uncomfortably cold on his slightly damp skin. Goosebumps crept inexorably across the back of his neck and arms, raising the fine hairs as he sighed deeply and finally pulled the shirt apart to make it easier to see the injury.

When Kyle lifted his head, he realized Ben had turned to face him and was staring at his body. Inevitably, Kyle's gaze slid down exactly where the doctor had been looking. But there was nothing there except bandages wrapped tightly around his chest—bandages that he put on himself every morning and that hid one of his greatest secrets.

'What the...?'

For nothing in the world would Kyle have admitted that his pulse quickened at that moment, and the pounding in his chest became a thunderous gallop. Instead, he raised an arm to cover himself, almost ashamed, and the mage's narrow eyebrows formed an indignant expression before he cleared his throat very deliberately.

"You're staring again. I thought we were past this?"

Benjamin winced as if he had just been caught with his fingers in the biscuit tin. Caught off guard, the tweezers with the cotton ball dipped in iodine slipped from his fingers and fell onto the side table among the utensils with a thud. But the doctor quickly caught himself again.

"I apologize; that was extremely improper and unprofessional. That's not how to behave..." Ben swallowed briefly, "...towards a lady."

They were both quietly aware that the doctor knew the truth. It was one of those strange topics that was better left untouched. Despite Archer's expert eye and his experience of human anatomy, it had taken him a surprisingly long time to realize that Kyle didn't have Adam's apple. Or that, despite being in his mid-twenties, he never needed to shave...

Kyle Crowford's real name was Kaylee Ashcroft - and 'he' was, in fact, a young woman.

Open and exposed, her secret, usually carefully concealed under layers of clothing, ties, or scarves, was right before the Doctor.

Benjamin Archer had a unique talent for consistently ignoring things that made him uncomfortable for long periods. However, when a matter was so unveiled under his nose, he was inevitably overcome by the urge to address the obvious, regardless of whether it was his business or not.

"I just can't believe that no one but me has noticed," the doctor said, shaking his head. But you had to give her credit; Kaylee's disguise was excellent: her slender physique and feminine forms, bound with bandages and concealed under straight-lined men's clothing. Always meticulously groomed and, in the eyes of others, simply a vain cock. Scarves and the demeanor of a dandy and money. A lot of money. She was also helped by the rigid social norms: no self-respecting gentleman or lady would dare to say aloud that the gentleman might be a woman.

"You really should be used to it by now," Kaylee said dryly.
Nevertheless, Ben could not ignore the slight blush that had spread across the magician's cheeks.

Of course, Ben should have gotten used to it. After all, they had been working together for a year now. Secretly, he even found it fascinating to observe how other people dealt with Kaylee and how she dealt with them in her role. It was like watching a much-loved play that you went to repeatedly and always discovered new details: in the scenery, the actors, and their behavior.

With these thoughts in mind, the doctor's gaze fell once again on her shamefully covered chest, on her tightly fitting bandages, which were wrapped firmly around her ribcage, and on the wounds that the slipped bandages had left on the pale skin, not just since today. Some had been rolled up by running and fighting, criss-crossing her slender upper body. Long, red welts appeared at the edges where the skin had already been rubbed open. Some of the marks were older; many were still sore, and others were already fading.

Ben didn't have to wonder if it hurt.

"You know that this practice is incredibly unhealthy for you," the doctor said calmly and resolutely, pointing with his finger at the bandages that were tied far too tight. His voice took on the hardened tone of a doctor who knew the consequences of such constant strain and was worried about a patient and friend.

"You reach your limits in almost every chase. The lack of oxygen and the strain on your body should not be underestimated. The bandages cut off your air supply and compress your muscles, chest, and lungs."

At these words, Benjamin saw Kaylee's expression become harder. To appease the sorceress, he approached her and placed his hands on her slender shoulders. As a doctor and as a friend, he had to say what had been on the tip of his tongue for far too long:

"Crowford, this is dangerous. You could collapse during a pursuit. And then you're an easy target for thugs... Or worse. All this trouble and stress... Is it really worth it?"

"Enough!" Kaylee rumbled warningly in a vain attempt to interrupt him.

The older Seeker could literally feel the ice cracking beneath his feet as he took a few steps too far onto the frozen lake this delicate subject represented with this discussion.

Kaylee took a deep breath once, twice. "Your concern is touching, as always, but inappropriate and unneeded!"

Now that they were alone, she slowly dropped her façade, and Ben could recognize her voice's softer and higher tone.

"Why do you think I'm doing this to myself?" she finally asked in a sharp tone. Do you think I enjoy it?" Crowford turned her full attention to the doctor, and a dark glint entered her blue eyes, which on some days were reminiscent of a cloudless summer's day but at that moment looked more like an ice-cold glacier.

"How blind you are, Doctor." Kaylee shook her head and made a sweeping gesture as if the truth were before them. "Tell me, Dr Benjamin Archer, how many female members are in the Royal Hermetic Order of Seekers of Truth and Knowledge? How many ladies sit at the pretty teak tables in the Hall of Silence and drink whisky with the gentlemen?"

Benjamin groaned softly. Ever since a certain Madame Jäger, an old lady with a knowledge of the occult, had been rejected by the Order despite Kaylee's efforts, the sorceress seemed to have become remarkably firm in her rejection of social norms - which worried him more and more. If this continued, she would end up joining those crazy suffragettes and protesting for women's suffrage.

"Crowford," he tried to intervene, "the Order checks the suitability and usefulness of applicants. Unfortunately, there are only a few female candidates."

"Oh?" Kaylee replied, her voice tinged with sarcasm. "Couldn't one of the reasons be that ladies are generally excluded from sophisticated reading and equivalent education?"

Indeed, sometimes, a woman joined the Order. However, these were rare occasions, and Benjamin did not know how difficult it was for such individual cases. Kaylee, however, knew quite well. She could count the number of women in the Order of Seekers on two hands. These women were constantly swimming against an endless tide of criticism, resentment, and contempt. They had to deal with patronizing attitudes and looks, were almost exclusively deployed in trivial or harmless cases, or were only tolerated on-site if they had the right connections.

Due to their low status, women were rarely able to make themselves heard by authoritarian officials. The fashion imposed on them by society proved impractical for investigations and prosecutions. Kaylee had witnessed many situations involving women trying to assert themselves. But what annoyed her most was that Ben didn't understand this.

"So we're treated equally, yes?" she asked again, teasingly.

Benjamin hesitated - because he knew he couldn't just confirm that. He felt like a fly caught in a spider's web, wriggling in vain.

"I didn't say that," he began hesitantly. "I just meant that the Order would certainly not disrespect them if they accepted their true identity as a woman. After all, they've already done for the Seekers."

"Do you know the case of Lidia Poet?" Kaylee interrupted the doctor, her eyes narrowing. "The Italian Lidia Poet was the first woman to graduate from law school in 1881. I can only imagine the hurdles she had to overcome at that time. After all, we women are supposed to have a dull mind and a hysterical disposition, aren't we?"

Kaylee's tone became sharper and harsher with every word. A flashing blade shot out menacingly. "But she succeeded. And what happened? The world of men felt insulted and exposed. Her license to practice law was revoked on ridiculous grounds. It was an insult to the profession and the court to admit a woman. Women should not be distracted from their household responsibilities... What a sh-"

"Crowford!" Benjamin interrupted the young woman sharply, and Kaylee bit her lips. ' Kyle' usually reminded Benjamin of his propriety when he behaved more like a soldier than a nobleman. "Neither as a lady nor a gentleman should you express yourself like that!"

The doctor exhaled profoundly and ran his hand over his face.

"So you're using this... disguise to prove to the Order that women can do just as much as men?" Benjamin asked, searching Kaylee's eyes for the answer to a question more complex than Kyle Crowford's clothes. "That's a lot of effort for a simple protest."

¹) There is an interesting and excellent drama series about "Lidia Poet" on Netflix called "The Law According to Lidia Poet." If you have the time and inclination, you can watch it - it shows the position and struggle of women at the end of the 19th century very well.