Winter Rabbit in Wonderland

Chapter 31

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.

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“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.

“It has to do with your father’s workplace.”

If it were another hint, SoYoon wouldn’t have minded, but she didn’t like having to explain this hint to her. Pretending she had a client to see, SoYoon left Alice’s house. Alice watched until she disappeared around a corner.

The moment Alice closed the door, immensely proud of herself, the crying started echoing through the air again. Who in the world is crying? Alice stomped inside, annoyed, but the crying got louder. She looked around the room and jumped in fright upon seeing her reflection in the mirror.

Alice closed her mouth, gritted her teeth, buried her face in a pillow, and pounded her head against the pillow, but it was no use. The crying wouldn’t stop.

Alice screamed in fear.

“What are you!”

The crying ignored Alice’s voice and continued to weep.

“Daddy....”

Daddy—Henry Liddell.

Alice Liddell—Alice!

Her face drained of color. She pressed her trembling hands into her legs.

“Who are you?” Alice tried to say in a calm voice but failed miserably. A sad voice mixed with crying replied.

“Who are you? Why are you moving my body without my permission?”

Alice replied in a weepy voice, biting her lips.

“This—this is your body?”

There were two sets of lips and voices, but one consciousness. Alice continued to talk without stopping, afraid that if she did, she would lose her body forever. She screamed at Alice Liddell menacingly.

“This is my body! Get lost! No one here will welcome someone as weak as you! This is my world! I am the star here! I will never give it up to you!”

She had yelled without even breathing and so suddenly felt lightheaded. She kept her balance by leaning on the bed. The crying was slowly waning.

Mentally tired, Alice tipped over and fell asleep. She didn’t realize that men had used the darkness of the night to come in and kidnap her.

***

A few hours later, Alice woke up in an unfamiliar place. It was a neatly organized office. She got up quickly and found a man observing her from close by.

He had golden hair cleverly styled to look casually swept back, gray eyes behind black chrome-framed glasses, dark-black designer three-piece suit, and finally a striped necktie.

Cheshire.

Like the other main characters, Cheshire was extremely good looking. Unable to speak, she looked up at him, and Cheshire smiled. If she had not known what his intentions were, he would have tricked her into thinking the smile was sincere.

“Are you Alice Liddell?”

He put his hand toward her. Remembering how Duke had almost tricked her, she put out her hand cautiously. Cheshire, seeing her trepidation, twitched his fingers and put his hand back down.

“You don’t have to be so careful. I have only come to ask for your cooperation. Do you understand?”

“And I believe you will help me,” Cheshire added. With his smile now gone, his face looked menacing. Unlike the original story, where Cheshire had failed in kidnapping Alice, she now feared for her life in front of this devious-looking man. She cursed Alice Liddell for putting her in this predicament by tiring her out.