"Mirror, mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?"
—Grimm's Fairy Tales
Even now, the Admiralty was still the naval ministry of the French Republic. Though its exterior was being renovated, guards still stood watch outside. Alessandro circled the naval ministry before discovering a side entrance, through which several senior officers crossed the street to dine at Maxime's restaurant.
Through the glass windows, he could see the restaurant was packed. Many people in uniform were eating there, as though it were their "canteen."
Through the open side entrance, he could glimpse a courtyard inside the French Navy headquarters. White lines were painted on the ground, seemingly parking spaces, though not a single car was there now. The first-floor lobby and some rooms on the second floor glowed with warm orange light, while the rooms on the third and top floors were pitch-black. It seemed these "civil servants" had already gone home for the day.
Alessandro regretted it terribly. He had assumed the Admiralty had been abandoned. If he got caught here, he would be sent to prison.
So he took out his phone. He had just found Monica's number when a fragrant scent rushed over him. Turning around, he found the beautiful Egyptian goddess of love, Hathor.
"Need help?" Hathor asked.
"Do you have an Invisibility Cloak?" Alessandro asked without much hope.
Hathor tapped her chin with one finger and thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't have anything like that."
"Then how can you help?" Alessandro said impatiently, preparing to pick up his phone and make the call.
"But I know a secret passage inside. It's beneath the square," Hathor said. "Didn't you see? There are stairs beneath every city statue."
"Where do they lead?" Alessandro asked.
"A secret passage. Louis-Philippe would