Chapter 165: The Tea Party and the Snow Princess’s Ambition

“Stop making such a sour face. It’s a good thing, isn’t it, that the girls you like also like you?”

The Mad Hatter suddenly snapped his fingers, and the soul fragments that had appeared at his fingertips instantly returned to Alice Liddell.

“You truly have no grasp of another’s troubles,” Alice Liddell grumbled, looking at the Mad Hatter with dissatisfaction.

“Are you agonizing over whom to choose? Or perhaps you’re distressed by the realization that your heart yearns for both, making you quite the scoundrel? Ah, or should I say ‘scoundrel-ess’?” The Mad Hatter continued to tease her.

“Please, no more!” Alice Liddell covered her face.

“Regardless, I’m certainly rooting for you two to be together.” The Mad Hatter suddenly gave them both a thumbs-up.

“To see two star-crossed lovers, once facing separation by death, now reunited and able to confess their feelings, brings me great joy. Not everyone in this world gets the chance to be with the one they love, so don’t ever let yourselves have any regrets.”

Alice Liddell and Jeanne Decker exchanged glances, both shyly averting their eyes.

“However…” The Mad Hatter’s tone suddenly shifted.

“Personally, I think you shouldn’t refuse Her Majesty, the Red Queen.”

“Though it might sound a bit odd coming from me, whose side are you on, exactly?” Alice Liddell frowned, scrutinizing the Mad Hatter with a look of surprise and uncertainty.

“I’m just worried that if you refuse the Red Queen, she might hold me accountable, and I could lose my life.” The Mad Hatter awkwardly took off his hat and scratched his head.

“When it comes to being a scoundrel, you have no right to lecture me!” Alice Liddell retorted with a disdainful tone.

“I’m merely more straightforward.” The Mad Hatter laughed heartily.

“However, I imagine I certainly had far more girlfriends than you when I was younger!”

“What are you talking about now?” Alice Liddell frowned, looking at the Mad Hatter.

“Aside from the March Hare, I haven’t seen any other girls around you, have I?” Alice Liddell pressed, her brow furrowed as she stared at the Mad Hatter.

The Mad Hatter merely raised an eyebrow lightly. “As it happens, all my former lovers and friends died long ago.”

“Oh?” Alice Liddell’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I once led a rather radical anti-imperial national liberation organization. It was suppressed after only three years of activity, and most of my comrades were killed by the Inquisition and Temple Assassins,” the Mad Hatter explained, his voice as calm as if discussing someone else’s affairs. “A revolution without capital is merely a fleeting performance.”

Alice Liddell and Jeanne Decker exchanged bewildered looks, unsure of what to say.

“But, it is precisely because of those past failures that the Tea Party will not repeat its mistakes.” The Mad Hatter’s eyes suddenly grew serious.

“Speaking of which, what exactly kind of organization is this?” Jeanne Decker looked between Alice Liddell and the Mad Hatter.

If she were to join this organization, she at least needed to know its purpose.

“If we were to delve into that topic, it would be a long story. We could brew a pot of tea and discuss it at leisure,” the Mad Hatter said with a smile, spreading his hands. “Ladies, it’s time for the Tea Party!”

****

Meanwhile, in a villa on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, the Snow Princess of the Winter Kingdom sat in a basement serving as a wine cellar. Before her stood a puppet, its face inlaid with a rhomboid metal crystal that shimmered with an eerie glow.

“Your Highness, it has been confirmed that the Empire has indeed withdrawn a portion of its troops from the northern border,” the metal crystal embedded in the puppet’s face vibrated, emitting a voice. “The news of Duke Alençon’s military authority being restricted is likely true.”

“Well done, Magna.” The Snow Princess nodded impassively.

“What do you make of this situation?”

This puppet was currently being controlled by Magna, the Royal Mentor of the Winter Kingdom, from thousands of miles away.

The puppet itself was an ordinary golem; any Fifth-Order Archmage or higher could animate a golem. However, operating it from such a great distance required an additional threshold.

Magicians of the Divine Order, such as the ‘Mage’ class, could also create magical artifacts using special materials. The echo stone embedded in the puppet’s face was precisely such an item, forged through alchemy by Magna, who held the Third-Order ‘Stormbringer’ class.

Echo stones were paired artifacts. Magna held one, and whenever she cast a spell to interfere with her stone, the other would manifest a weakened interference effect. Through the echo stone, she could transmit sound and a portion of her spells.

This artifact allowed her to maintain constant contact with the Snow Princess and even provide a certain degree of combat support.

The Snow Princess’s journey to the Empire, personally fulfilling the Winter Kingdom’s treaty to cultivate mages for the Empire, was not merely an opportunity for her to appear on the diplomatic stage.

As an ambitious individual poised to grasp power in the Winter Kingdom, she felt it imperative to personally observe the continent’s most powerful nation.

The Winter Kingdom had always been an ally of the Empire, but in truth, it was merely the largest among the Empire’s many dependents.

This state of affairs for her homeland was insufficient to satisfy the Snow Princess’s ambition.

Upon returning to the Imperial Capital, she had continuously leveraged the Winter Kingdom’s established intelligence network to gather information.

The news of Duke Alençon, the Empire’s renowned border marquis, being arrested due to his adopted daughter’s alleged conspiracy, had also reached the Snow Princess amidst the wave of political victories.

Furthermore, Jeanne Decker had uncovered intelligence that the Inquisition’s execution ground had been raided during an execution. The Inquisition had desperately tried to conceal the incident, but with so many Inquisitors defeated, numerous well-informed factions quickly learned of the humiliating event.

“The Dragon’s Back Kingdom, supported by the Empire, has been rather turbulent these past few years. While no significant threat is apparent yet, reducing border garrisons now seems overly hasty,” Magna offered her opinion.

“It’s simply that the position of the Northern Duke has encroached upon too many people’s interests. The covert struggles behind this are, in some ways, quite spectacular, yet also rather laughable. Even more interesting is that the Saintess, used by the Church for propaganda, was exposed as a heretic, and then the Inquisition’s execution ground for the Saintess was raided. My informant also tells me the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition has recently been severely wounded and is recuperating. Hmph, Magna, do you think ten years ago, anyone would have dared to slap the Holy Church’s face like this?”

“Your Highness, did you… just laugh?” Magna sounded surprised, faintly detecting an almost imperceptible hint of amusement in the Snow Princess’s final words.

“Laughter from the Snow Princess truly is a rare thing. It’s very interesting. Just by staying here for less than two months, one can clearly feel that this nation is in decline,” the Snow Princess mused softly.

“What are you contemplating, Your Highness?” Magna inquired.

“Have you ever imagined, Magna? What if one day the Empire truly reaches its breaking point…” The Snow Princess replied calmly. “Perhaps an era belonging to our Winter Kingdom… might just dawn?”