Kaylee's eyebrows rose indignantly, her annoyance and bitterness visible on her features from the following words: "Do you think I would keep up this masquerade if I had been given the same opportunities as a woman?" Kaylee asked while shaking her head. "Wake up quickly. As a woman, I wouldn't even be allowed to have my own money. I couldn't rent a flat, let alone own a house. And I would hardly have been accepted into the Order of Seekers, no matter how talented I am." Her frustration was palpable, her voice trembling with the weight of her words.

Sighing, Dr Archer ran a hand through his brown hair, and his usually alert green eyes were tired, reflecting all the heavy thoughts that wouldn't make it past his lips. Even he behaved differently towards Kaylee whenever she put down the charade. Then what had been almost brotherly acceptance became a form of polite gentleness or even patronizing.

"You almost act like this has never happened in history, Archer! Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Margaret Ann Bulkley lived her whole life James Barry as a man." Kaylee continued. "She studied as a man, she practiced as a military doctor, and even surpassed her male colleagues," she hissed, becoming more agitated with every word as she became more aware of the injustice. "She served in many parts of the British Empire; she was also on the Crimean War front. Alongside men. She went through the same thing - even in combat!"

"Crowford..." the doctor resumed, careful to address the subject and his partner as neutrally as possible, pushing back his inner voice, which, as so often, advised him to remain silent. "...I can certainly understand that some women feel restricted in their freedoms and opportunities, even if I don't fully comprehend it. I can also understand that such women may resort to drastic measures to realize their dreams, even if it means denying themselves and risking shame and disgrace. After all, we live in a man's world."

He took a deep breath and looked deeply into Kaylee's eyes. She sat stunned on the treatment table, and she could feel the doctor's curiosity getting the better of him as he began to dig and probe.
"But what I still don't get is why you're doing this! All those women you mentioned before wanted power or freedom. But you? It's hard for me to imagine that you wanted to become a shareholder, and that's why you're going through all this trouble. No. You keep citing the order as the reason for your disguise. But that doesn't make sense! Why pretend to be a man to expose charlatans, chase after artifact smugglers, and defy occult creatures that pose a threat to spirit and life?"

Kaylee's expression slipped. She raised her left hand, and her gaze lingered on the white bandage that would soon be soaked with blood again. The hand that constantly reminded her that sacrifices had to be made to achieve one's goals. Goals that neither the Order nor Benjamin Archer knew about.
"I have my reasons. And for them, I will tear down all obstacles in my way. That is why I will keep up this charade until I have reached the rank of Magi¹," Kaylee declared with a steely determination that was palpable in the air.

Dr Archer's features slipped, and he stared at Kaylee with wide eyes.
"The Magi?" Benjamin wanted to reach into his hair or grab his head. "You can't be serious, Crowford," he groaned, and a rough laugh escaped his chest. Benjamin hoped Kaylee was only joking. "The Magi are a conspiratorial circle of Order members and the most powerful wizards in the entire Order.

And you are trying to lie to a community of intellectuals whose sole purpose is to discover the truth behind occult and mysterious phenomena and expose trickery and deceit. If it turns out that you... No! As soon as it turns out that you're a woman, and that's only a matter of time, there will be enormous consequences for you!" Benjamin gripped her narrow shoulders a little tighter as if he were about to shake her so she would come to her senses. "You'll be ostracised. Society will spit you out like chewing tobacco! A scandal of the highest order! And not only that: for this kind of betrayal, the Order will almost certainly strip you of your ability to use magic forever!"

But Kaylee's gaze remained fixed. Whether it was stubbornness or simply no choice, Ben couldn't say.

"You're not the first to underestimate me, Archer. And you won't be the last. So I'll tell you one more time, in the clearest possible terms: whether it's here in the Order or out on the streets, there will only be Mr Kyle Crowford as long as it's necessary. Is that clear to you?"
Kaylee's gaze lingered on Ben's features and then caught his eyes.

"So there are only two options for you, Dr Archer. You continue to keep quiet about my identity and help me, or you take the opportunity now to defame and disgrace me in front of the Order and bring the shame and dishonor you claim to want to save me from. If you fear the consequences, you can have another partner assigned to you."

She tried to sound cold and calm, but Benjamin recognized the hurt undertone beneath the feigned indifference.
"Damn. You're going to get us into terrible trouble," the doctor muttered in a rough voice. Then Ben turned to the side and reached with obvious resignation for one of the sharp, curved scissors among the medical cutlery.

As he turned round, he noticed Kaylee's stomach muscles tighten in alarm as he placed the scissors down on the edge of the bandages.

"I'm a doctor, Crowford. You're not the first woman I've treated; you certainly won't be the last. But you should let me reposition these bandages before you injure yourself with your amateurish work..." Kaylee could literally feel his suppressed anger at the whole situation here, but his movements were calm and precise.

The mage cautiously let him, even though her heart was beating much faster, and the feeling of shame made her almost dizzy. Never before had a man seen her so exposed without her protective bandages. She wanted all too much to cross her arms in front of her, to hide what needed to be hidden. But the doctor was doing his job.

Benjamin, in turn, hid his tension under a façade of professionalism. Honestly, he didn't know where to look and felt that his routine movements were both necessary and highly inappropriate. Benjamin Archer was not someone who did not appreciate the sight of a beautiful young lady. But their complicated relationship did not leave him the option of viewing his patient as a simple, human body or as the attractive creature she was for him.

He immersed himself in a melody he thought was part of Mozart's Don Giovanni and hummed it doggedly to himself as he tightly bandaged the young woman's chest. He cleaned the fresh cut and stitched it up neatly. Only when he had finished could he breathe a sigh of relief and resume his otherwise detached demeanor with complete conviction.

He disinfected the utensils and began to put them away while Kaylee carefully dressed herself again, layer by layer. The silence was almost worse than their previous argument.

Both were still so ashamed and angry that neither had the heart to step towards the other.

Benjamin thought long and hard about every word that passed Kaylee's lips. It wasn't about other women, their rights and opportunities. It was about her, about her alone! 'How many have they been let down and hurt by?' he asked himself but had the decency not to ask the question aloud.

Kaylee was no longer alone, whether she liked it or not. She no longer had to wait for things to happen alone. And maybe one day, she would trust him enough to let him help her.

"You won't get rid of me that easily," Benjamin said. Then he shook his head and put his hand on Kaylee's head teasingly as if she were a dog or a small child.

Back in her Kyle Crowford role, Kaylee hissed indignantly and grabbed his hand. Ben quickly withdrew it, ignoring the venomous glare that hurled a thousand daggers in his direction for messing up the oh-so-perfect hairdo.

It was time to bury this unpleasant topic for now and look ahead. So Ben reached for the tie Kaylee held, straightened the stiff collar, looped the dark blue cravat around his slender neck, and tied it into a neat ascot knot.

"Well, you're the best partner Kyle Crowford could wish for. It would be a shame to lose you to a lesser talented seeker than myself." Kaylee pulled on the leather gloves, smoothed the long frock coat, and walked past Archer, chin up, towards the door.

"Good work, Doctor!" she remarked, but Ben saw the soft smile on her lips and the slight blush on her cheeks. "Let's go back to work then."

Magi - "The Magi are a conspiratorial circle of Order members and the most powerful wizards in the entire Order of Seekers. Their knowledge of the occult powers of magic surpasses that of most other human masters."
Also, the Magi preside over the major occult rituals performed by the Order, uphold the spells and charms placed on the guilds, and manage obscure artefacts and forbidden magical writings recovered by Seekers during their missions and given to the Order.