Chapter 31 - Alice in Trouble-2 (1/2)

Chapter 31: Chapter 4 Alice in Trouble-2

Wonderland's three rules weren't always kept. If they had been, then Dee would not have gotten attacked by his inferior assistant, and March would not have wandered out of the slums and mugged people in the neutral zone. What this meant was that even in the neutral zone, where crime was forbidden, dirty deeds were bound to happen.

The first person to realize the changing atmosphere of the neutral zone was SoYoon, who obsessed over maintaining Alice's safety.

The people here were not as menacing as Heart or as well known as Mad Hatter or as great as the Twins, but they were all able to take care of themselves. It meant that there was no purpose in causing trouble among these people. Cheshire's men, however, broke the delicate peace they had established.

In the original story, when Alice started to get accustomed to Wonderland, Cheshire found out about Alice's healing powers. As a result, he sought to bring her into his circle, and his method of choice was kidnapping.

SoYoon thought there might be a bit of time left, but she was mistaken. She didn't account for the time it took for Dee to recover under SoYoon's care. If Alice had healed him as was the normal flow of the story, it would have taken only a matter of seconds. With SoYoon, it had taken a week. Obviously, the time calculation was wrong.

With Cheshire's prudence, he would most likely spy on Alice and kidnap her at night. SoYoon, unable how long he had been spying, prepared for the worst by staying close to Alice's house. It was one day before Alice would receive her second hint.

Alice was annoyed by the crying she heard at night. It wasn't real crying, but it was progressively getting louder each day, until it sounded more like screaming. Plus, she knew it was approaching the time where Cheshire would attempt to kidnap her, so her emotions were on edge.

Cheshire was one of the only characters who did not fall for Alice. Actually, he did fall in love with her, but refused to admit it and instead aimed to kill her. Because of that, Alice cut him out of her prospects, but she knew she couldn't avoid the kidnapping. As a result of the kidnapping, she would meet the Twins for the second time.

As Alice was lost in thought, White Rabbit came to visit. Alice hurriedly looked into a mirror. Knowing it was the day to receive her second hint, she had changed into a blue dress, which complemented the golden walls.

Truthfully, Alice's taste in clothes was simple and luxurious. However, based on how White Rabbit reacted up until now, she wanted to look lovely and adorable. As expected, upon seeing her smile, White Rabbit greeted her sweetly.

”Welcome!”

”Have you been well, Alice?”

”Yes. It's been so long. You should visit me more often. Should we eat together sometime?”

”Sure. Um, you know why I've come today, don't you?”

Alice nodded seriously. She folded her hands in front of her chest and stared at SoYoon with big eyes. SoYoon felt uneasy.

”...The second hint is Henry Liddell.”

The moment Alice heard the hint, her blue eyes widened.

Henry Liddell was Alice's father, and he was also one of the researchers at the facility where SoYoon had been. When people started to find out about Alice's skill, the pressure rose to bring her in. And one of them worked alongside him.

SoYoon knew the meaning of the second hint based on her memory of the original story. She didn't realize that Henry Liddell's workplace was the same place where she had been captured. He didn't care what he did to the other people he experimented on, but he cared for the safety of his daughter. SoYoon laughed coldly at the familiar man she saw in the picture.

Alice had sulked and pretended to cry continuously, but White Rabbit didn't make one attempt to console her. He's supposed to be infatuated by me, so why is he such a rock? She continued to weep and turned away from White Rabbit.

”I'm sorry...Hearing my father's name is so painful…”

She rubbed her eyes to make them red and turned to face White Rabbit. She had even practiced this while looking in a mirror so that no man could resist coming to hug her. She wanted to test it out before using it on Heart.

And this time, White Rabbit didn't stray from her expectations. SoYoon held the hand that had been rubbing her eyes and said in a small voice.

”Don't rub too hard. You'll hurt your eyes.”

”But, but…Do you know, White Rabbit? Why is my father a hint?”

”That, um—that is.”

When SoYoon sighed and hesitated, Alice stuck to her and begged. She smelled the sweet scent of flowers coming from Alice. Typical of the main female lead, she thought, and eventually decided to tell her.