It was the same with her meeting March. Even though SoYoon had spent all that time patrolling the slums, worried that Alice would be attacked, it had all been for nothing because she arrived at March's without a scratch.

I guess this was fate, SoYoon thought, as Alice became ecstatic over the fact that she would get her own house and allowance.

He called his minions to take Alice home. Heart went into the bathroom attached to his office. Through the door, Heart's voice was heard over the sound of the shower.

"What should I do?"

"About what?" SoYoon asked blandly as she read the novels from his filled bookcase.

Heart must have been so concentrated on was.h.i.+ng that he didn't answer. The sound of water stopped, and she heard the sound of flapping. Heart came out of the bathroom and walked toward her.

He was only wearing a gown as he leaned over to look at the book she was reading. Drops of water from his wet hair spotted the pages.

SoYoon scolded lightly. "You're not a child."

SoYoon spread out the book on the desk and brought over a dry towel. Heart was now on the sofa, dripping water onto the expensive leather. SoYoon stood next to him, pushed his head down, and rubbed his hair dry.

After his hair was relatively dry, he hugged SoYoon's waist and lay down on the sofa. SoYoon shoved the towel between herself and his bare chest. Heart moaned quietly and threw the towel and the mask on her face away from them. And as punishment, he shoved her face into his chest.

"I asked what I should do?"

"Abou— wha—?" she mumbled.

Heart laughed at her muted words. His moving chest was hard, so SoYoon hit whatever part she could reach, and it made a slapping sound. It must have been his thigh because Heart wrapped his legs around her tight.

"Let go. It hurts."

"Hurts? The almighty Whitey, hurt from this?"

Heart pulled SoYoon up and looked at her face. They were practically nose to nose.

"Or were you taken aback?"

Heart smiled with his luscious lips. His auburn eyes were aflame. SoYoon covered his eyes with her hand.

Heart stayed still for a moment and then released her. SoYoon hurriedly unraveled from him and sat up. Heart got up halfway, leaning on the armrest, and watched SoYoon. His clothes looked a mess, but his eyes were calm.

"About what?" SoYoon asked, trying to continue the conversation. Heart answered without resisting. "Should I tell Alice Liddell why her parents got murdered or not?"

"Didn't you say you were going to let her know?"

"Well, I only said it wouldn't be difficult to find out."

"Villain."

"Thanks for the compliment," Heart answered, smiling. Heart didn't like the fact that SoYoon was so interested in Alice. SoYoon a.s.sumed that telling him to "let her know" would be the wrong answer.

She pretended she didn't care. "Whether you do or not is your decision."

"Then should I not?"

This guy! As SoYoon glared at him, Heart, laughing, held his stomach. If he hadn't raised both hands surrendering, she might have kicked him.

"Give her the info. Do it."

"Okay, okay. I got it. I was going to do it anyway."

SoYoon got up from her seat. But before she left the office, she remembered the mask that Heart threw and went to look for it. It was crumpled in a corner with the wet towel, so it was moist. She was contemplating whether to wear it or not when Heart plopped his arm over her shoulder.

"It's about lunchtime, so why don't you stay? You have to dry that off anyway."

SoYoon sat benignly on the sofa. When Heart started laughing again, she kicked him.

"Wear some clothes."

SoYoon finished eating lunch at Heart's place and left holding the snacks he gave her. Her destination was March's house.

Alice must have moved to her new house because only March and Dor were there. Hearing that they had not eaten lunch, SoYoon gave them her pound cake and, carrying the clinging Dor, went to sit at the dining table.

March brought over warm milk for Dor and a gla.s.s of water for himself, and the three of them sat to eat. SoYoon cut the cake and fed Dor, as she was still unable to control holding the fork to feed herself.

"Delicious! I've never eaten anything this tasty! Thank you, Rabbit!"

"Seriously. Where did you buy this? I've never seen such bread before."

"Heart gave it to me."

The fork from March's hand dropped. Dor looked confusedly at her brother, having only heard that Heart was a strong person.

"R-Really? Uh, hey, are we even allowed to eat this?"

"Of course you eat it. Did you think we were going to throw it away? I told him I was going to go see Dor, so he gave it to me."

March felt threatened by Heart and so thought hard about whether it was safe to eat. Seeing that SoYoon brought it, he figured it would be all right.

The appet.i.te of an 18-year-old boy was scary, and March ate practically the whole pound cake by himself. It was drastically different from Dor, who said she was full after one bite, since her stomach had shrunk.

After eating heartily, they got lazy. March leaned back in his chair. Dor was nodding off. SoYoon petted her soft hair and asked quietly.

"Do you want to take my induction oven?"

The drowsy brown eyes shot open. March leaned close to SoYoon.

"What? Really?"

"Now that Dor's woken up, there will be a lot of times you need fire. All I do is warm milk with it. You need it much more than I do."

"But that's expensive. Won't you regret giving it away like that?"

"Mine was a new invention, so I got it for free."

Oh, of course. March snorted, feeling deflated.

"Forget it. I don't want to get murdered by Mad Hatter."

"Mad Hatter wouldn't do that. He's a little cold, but he has a soft side. I don't think he'll get mad over that."

To you.

March remembered what he had seen when he was younger: Covered in blood, Mad Hatter had propped up the heads he'd decapitated and was decorating them with necklaces made of stones. He placed several different hats on the corpses and smiled contentedly when finished. His red lips looked b.l.o.o.d.y. That's when March realized that the higher-ups in Wonderland had different levels.

"Plus, that uses the magic capsules. I can't afford to pay for them."

Even though the induction oven was useful, the reason it wasn't for sale was that it required the expensive magic capsules to maintain its use. SoYoon didn't offer it to him again.

SoYoon ate the dinner March bought from Central, helped him bathe Dor, then left. The next destination was Alice's house.

SoYoon followed the map that Heart gave her. Alice's house was further inward in the neutral zone. It was a bit farther away from SoYoon's and March's houses.

SoYoon knocked and heard someone coming to the door. Alice opened the door slightly and poked her head through the crack.

"Who is it? Oh? You were with Heart before…"

Her blue eyes surrounded by gold lashes grew wide. SoYoon thought she looked disappointed. Was she imagining it? Maybe she was hoping it was March. Because being alone in an unknown city made you like that. SoYoon spoke softly to her.

"May I come in?"

"Yes, of course."

Alice opened the door wide. Even if they were in the neutral zone, the action was foolish. SoYoon noted that she should let March know to warn her, then stepped inside. It was small inside but well kept.

"I haven't been able to do any shopping yet, so there isn't anything I can offer you. Sorry. But what brings you here?"

"Heart wanted me to relay a message, and I also wanted to introduce myself. I'm White Rabbit."

"I'm Alice Liddell. Nice to meet you."

Alice, with a ravis.h.i.+ng smile, put out her hand, SoYoon shook it. Alice's hand, unlike SoYoon's, was soft as silk. Reminded of an old friend, she stayed frozen for a long time until Alice asked awkwardly.

"Could you let me go…"

"Oh, sorry."

SoYoon let Alice's hand go. Alice put her head down and ma.s.saged her hands. Alice had a.s.sumed SoYoon was a man. She didn't think there was any pending need to correct her, since the original White Rabbit had been a man.

Although it was silly to bring up the original story, she thought it would be best to not change the narrative too much. She pretended not to know and asked.

"Alice? What's wrong?"

"Oh, no. It's nothing. Um, what's Heart's message?"

SoYoon debated for a moment. If she relayed Heart's message word for word, the girl Alice would probably be scarred for life. What did the White Rabbit say in the original story? However much she tried, she couldn't remember it in detail. As if she was explaining it to Dor, she worded it as nicely as possible.

"Alice, you know you have a rare gift, right? Heart thinks that it's best not to let others know about your powers. Who right now knows about your abilities?"

"March, Dor, Doctor, Heart, the person I healed a while ago, and you—White Rabbit."

"Then, other than those people, try not to let your powers be known to anyone else."

For every two weeks she survived, a hint regarding the information about her parents would be given, so if she wanted it, she'd better stay alive.

"Wonderland is a dangerous place. If you aren't diligent, you won't survive. Heart wanted to add that in as a condition."

"Condition?"

"To stay alive. Every two weeks, he will give you hints regarding the information you asked for. So be diligent. If you think you are in danger, you can call for me."

As SoYoon talked, Alice's eyes shook and she hung her head. Her face was hidden beneath her hands, but her voice seeped through.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"There really isn't a reason. It's just…"

That's how I get this story to end quickly. SoYoon hesitated but stroked Alice's hair, then stood up.

"I'm leaving. Make sure to lock the doors."

"Okay. Thanks."

Alice closed the door behind her and laughed quietly. She was already happy to have met Heart without much trouble, but she couldn't believe her luck in finding that the White Rabbit, who was such a pain in the original story, was so nice to her!

Her presence was changing the original story. Alice spent the rest of the day joyfully counting the fish that would have to be put in the aquarium later.