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Hahahaha!
The Mad Hatter’s hearty laughter echoed throughout the room.
Alice Liddell sat in her chair, a bewildered expression plastered across her face, still trying to process everything.
Then, the Mad Hatter, standing behind her, clapped her firmly on the back.
“You’re quite popular, my student! Congratulations, you little rascal!”
“Ow! That hurt!”
Alice Liddell stumbled, turning to loudly complain.
“What is a little pain compared to the sweetness in your heart right now?”
The Mad Hatter rested one hand on Alice Liddell’s shoulder, while the other gestured towards Jeanne Decker, who sat opposite them.
“Look, just look! Such a wonderful girl likes you! And a peerless queen is smitten with you. Is there anyone luckier in the world than you?”
Alice Liddell blinked, gazing at Jeanne Decker.
Jeanne Decker sat with her hands on her knees, her head bowed, hiding her crimson face as she dared not meet Alice Liddell’s eyes.
Only moments before, Jeanne Decker had relayed her conversation with Queen Isola to Alice Liddell.
In a way, this was a direct confession of her feelings to Alice Liddell. She hadn’t intentionally concealed Queen Isola’s affections either, as Queen Isola had insisted on being open, and Jeanne Decker didn’t wish to break that unspoken promise.
“Levi, how do you feel about me?” Jeanne Decker asked softly.
Just as Alice Liddell was about to speak, she suddenly felt a strange chill.
Before she could react, her mouth involuntarily opened, giving an answer.
“Of course I like you too! I always have, from the very beginning!”
Jeanne Decker looked up, gazing at Alice Liddell in surprise. This answer brought her more astonishment than joy, for Alice Liddell’s reply had been too swift, too direct. She had expected Alice Liddell to ponder it carefully.
Alice Liddell clapped a hand over her mouth, realizing something was amiss, and turned to glare at the Mad Hatter.
The Mad Hatter, standing behind Alice Liddell, stroked his chin, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
“What did you do to me?” Alice Liddell demanded of the Mad Hatter.
“Why are you smiling so terrifyingly?”
“I smile because I recall something joyful,” the Mad Hatter said, grinning.
Then, as if by magic, he conjured a soul fragment from between his fingers.
“See what good thing I found?”
Alice Liddell instantly understood the situation—the Mad Hatter’s pat earlier had clearly involved some extra trickery.
“Give it back!” Alice Liddell immediately rose, intending to snatch it. However, the Mad Hatter, like an alert gazelle, instantly darted to Jeanne Decker’s side.
“Hehe, no,” the Mad Hatter snapped his fingers, and the soul fragment vanished, concealed by him.
“What did you take from me?” Alice Liddell felt a sense of dread.
“It’s nothing major, really. Just a person’s ability to keep their thoughts hidden. This will make you an even more honest and upright person! No need to thank me; it’s what ‘I’ should do as a mentor!” The Mad Hatter puffed out his chest, his face radiating an air of righteous integrity.
‘What honest and upright? Isn’t that just turning someone who can keep a secret into a blabbermouth? You clearly just want to have fun!’ Alice Liddell shouted in her mind.
“Miss Jeanne Decker, your beloved can now only implicitly agree or tell you the truth. That’s all I can help you with,” the Mad Hatter said, patting Jeanne Decker’s shoulder.
“Mr. Mad Hatter…” Jeanne Decker turned her face, glaring at the Mad Hatter, and spoke with righteous indignation. “We are not your toys. Please don’t do such things again!”
“Oh, I’m being lectured,” the Mad Hatter said, scratching his head with a hint of surprise. “So, should I give it back?”
“Really…” Alice Liddell looked at Jeanne Decker, her eyes filled with gratitude.
“So, don’t let it happen again!” Jeanne Decker turned her face back to Alice Liddell, her gaze intense.
“Jeanne Decker!?” Alice Liddell’s eyes widened.
“Alright, alright, never again!” The Mad Hatter clapped his hands, laughing maniacally.
‘I can never trust anyone again,’ Alice Liddell thought.
“Forgive me, Levi. I hope we can be completely honest with each other,” Jeanne Decker said, looking at Alice Liddell.
“Sigh…” Alice Liddell let out a helpless sigh. “Ask whatever you wish.”
“Do you truly like me?” Jeanne Decker asked the same question again, a little shyly.
“Of course, it’s true,” Alice Liddell replied.
Jeanne Decker took a deep breath, covering her mouth in disbelief, lost in the happiness of the moment.
But then she realized the question of Queen Isola, and cautiously asked, “Then, do you like Queen Isola?”
Alice Liddell’s eyes widened unexpectedly. At the same time, her mouth, acting on its own accord, blurted out her true feelings: “Yes, I like her too.”
Such a straightforward answer even surprised Alice Liddell herself.
She hadn’t not considered the question; she simply hadn’t reached a definite conclusion about her own heart. Not everyone in this world has a clear self-awareness of whether they like someone or whom they like.
Yet, after speaking it aloud, Alice Liddell found the conclusion not so strange. She and Queen Isola had faced life and death together. The Duchess Liddell’s tales of the servants’ devotion and concern for Queen Isola, as well as Queen Isola’s own extraordinary beauty and witch’s charm, made it difficult not to be moved.
However, this ‘normal’ emotion, when spoken aloud in front of the two people involved and a mischievous spectator, became a bit awkward.
“Oh!” The Mad Hatter exclaimed, looking as if he were watching a captivating drama.
Jeanne Decker’s eyes immediately took on a hint of resentment.
“Can you two please not be like this! You’re forcing me to tell the truth. How is this any different from an execution?” Alice Liddell felt as if thorns were piercing her back.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. When I was young, I often fantasized about being surrounded by beautiful women,” the Mad Hatter said, nodding with an understanding expression. “Although you’ve become a girl, I know your inner self remains unchanged. I remember a great literary figure once said that the number of girls an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy without a partner can hold in his heart could fill an entire village, and the filth of his fantasies could surpass a public latrine. But this doesn’t prevent him from holding lofty ideas about love, from finding a soulmate and having a sweet and pure romance with her… Hehe, I don’t think it’s strange for girls to have similar thoughts either!”
“Please, just shut up!” Alice Liddell glared at the Mad Hatter, displeased.
“This is truly interesting; it makes me ponder a very philosophical question,” the Mad Hatter said, stroking his chin, completely unconcerned.
“Is this question you’re pondering a serious one?” Alice Liddell eyed the Mad Hatter suspiciously.
“You and Miss Jeanne Decker were mutually attracted in the past, but then circumstances led you to form a bond with Her Majesty, the Red Queen. Then, you were unexpectedly reunited with Miss Jeanne Decker. So tell me!” The Mad Hatter raised a finger, highly amused. “Who exactly stole whose beloved? What do you think, my student?”
“I don’t know! I don’t want to hear you speak anymore!” Alice Liddell closed her eyes, protesting loudly to her mentor.
You’ve got to see this next! You’re My Baby [Rebirth] will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : You’re My Baby [Rebirth]
