Chapter 78: A Day in Radiance City

A week later, in Radiance City, the Imperial Capital, Alice Liddell stepped out of the coach station with the Duchess Liddell, her gaze flitting around with curiosity.

The capital’s coach station was on a scale that Maplewood City’s simply couldn’t compare to. Its exit opened onto a spacious roundabout, where the central island bloomed with exotic flowers of every color, overlooked by a towering angel statue. It was, at first glance, like a small park.

Carriages on the roads formed an almost unbroken procession, while the sidewalks on either side teemed with a jostling crowd.

“Mind your composure, Alice. Don’t act like a country bumpkin,” the Duchess Liddell whispered, her tone instructive. “Though, strictly speaking, we are indeed provincials. Now, this way.”

In this imperial city, any ‘provincial’ was, in the eyes of a local, merely a country bumpkin. Regardless of one’s origins, no central city from any province could ever compare to this economic, political, and religious heart of the Empire.

This city, the epitome of prosperity, served as the heart and mind of the Empire, the very center of the Holy Alliance, and the most flourishing land on the entire continent.

“Are we not going straight to the academy? Or our lodgings?” Alice Liddell inquired.

“Our destination is the commercial street over there. I need to procure some new attire for you first—clothes, shoes, jewelry, and cosmetics. Some high-end goods simply aren’t available in smaller cities. You understand how expensive it is for a woman to maintain her image and social standing in high society, don’t you?” The Duchess Liddell led Alice Liddell towards the commercial street.

“Couldn’t you have just sent someone to buy these things in advance?” Alice Liddell asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Some things you need to try on to know if they suit you. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve visited, and I also want to see if there’s anything suitable to bring back for His Majesty. We can just browse for a bit first. I know a wonderful dessert shop here,” the Duchess Liddell said, her face alight with excitement.

“Are you… perhaps enjoying this a little too much?” Alice Liddell observed, noticing the Duchess’s unusual enthusiasm.

“Aren’t you interested?” The Duchess Liddell glanced at her, surprised.

“I have no interest in shopping, and even less in meaningless expenses,” Alice Liddell replied honestly. “Let’s not forget we have a mission to complete.”

As ‘Levi,’ a man at heart, Alice Liddell couldn’t comprehend why women so adored shopping. Her humble origins also made her disdain the extravagance and formalism of the upper class.

However, the Duchess Liddell, Patra, was different. She had been a noble lady in high society within the Starry Night Kingdom, and the allure of shopping in the most prosperous commercial hub of the entire continent was utterly irresistible to her.

“Sometimes I forget you were just a poor boy from the slums,” the Duchess Liddell chuckled. “Listen, my dear ‘daughter.’ A spy’s mission is to play their role well. Our roles are that of a noble lady and a young duchess. Our roles do not preclude us from shopping for clothes together on the most bustling commercial street, do you understand?”

“You win,” Alice Liddell sighed, at a loss for how to counter her teacher. “But I promised the Mad Hatter at the tea party that I’d meet him at six tonight.”

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time!” The Duchess Liddell enthusiastically linked her arm through Alice Liddell’s. “For now, you’ll just have to keep me company.”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Alice Liddell conceded, a touch of helplessness in her tone.

Soon after they turned into the commercial street, Alice Liddell suddenly felt an inexplicable pang in her heart.

“Hmm?” Alice Liddell turned her head in confusion.

Behind them, the crowds remained dense.

‘Was that… a witch’s premonition just now?’

“Don’t bother looking; you won’t find them in such a crowd. You felt it too, didn’t you?” the Duchess Liddell remarked, her eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Are we… being watched?” Alice Liddell’s nerves tightened. “Could it be… that killer?”

To encounter the killer the Mad Hatter had tasked her with finding right after arriving in the city seemed almost too coincidental to be true.

Yet, upon closer reflection, the killer had repeatedly targeted upper-class girls, and this nearby commercial street was precisely where such girls were most abundant.

If the killer was indeed scouting for prey nearby, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had caught their attention, given her truly exceptional beauty. Walking down the street, nine out of ten people who passed her—both men and women—would turn to look.

Considering this, accompanying the Duchess Liddell here seemed somewhat ill-advised.

“It’s hard to say. It could also be ordinary bandits or kidnappers scouting for targets, and we are just two vulnerable women. You must understand that while this city is prosperous, the wealth gap is vast, and public safety isn’t particularly good. The premonition wasn’t overly distinct; it merely indicated a dangerous element nearby, but the threatening fate itself hasn’t solidified. You know, most premonitions are quite vague. But at least for now, I haven’t foreseen myself being harmed, so there’s no need to overreact; that could actually escalate the danger,” the Duchess Liddell stated calmly.

This was true, Alice Liddell immediately recalled her first encounter with the March Hare. At least for now, she felt no immediate threat of death.

Even if it truly was the killer targeting them, with the Sixth-Tier Duchess Liddell by her side, the assailant might not be a match for the two of them.

“Alright,” Alice Liddell conceded, reluctantly retracting her wandering gaze, but her guard remained high.

The surrounding crowd was simply too dense. Even with the witch’s premonition, she failed to notice a hunched beggar with a face full of whiskers across the avenue, watching them from afar, a sinister glint in his eyes.

Alice Liddell’s suspicions had not been unfounded.

‘A noblewoman, a young lady of means—damned aristocrats,’ the killer mused inwardly.

That young lady possessed a rare beauty.

‘How I long to see that exquisite, artistic face contorted in agony.’

He quickly concluded that this was a rare, prime target.

The truly opportune time for him was nightfall; his current disguise as a beggar was merely a waiting game for dusk. Among the patrons emerging from hotels and theaters, there would occasionally be upper-class women returning home alone late, those were his ideal victims.

However, fewer such targets were appearing at night now, which was unsurprising given he had already killed four women, undoubtedly causing some panic.

It was almost time to consider daytime street killings. Having stumbled upon such a prime target, he decided to attempt to follow them. Once the two reached a slightly less crowded area, it would be his moment to strike.

Killing, after all, required patience.

With that thought, he locked his gaze onto their retreating figures.

Just then, music began to play in the distance, and a ceremonial carriage, flanked by an honor guard, slowly moved along the main thoroughfare of the commercial street.

“What’s happening?” Alice Liddell, who had been vigilantly scanning her surroundings, was startled and looked ahead.

The surrounding crowd suddenly grew lively.

“Look, it’s the procession for Saint’s Day! That’s the Flag-Bearer Saintess recently chosen by the Church!” Alice Liddell heard someone shout to their companion.

“Oh my, it’s a Church procession. I believe today is some kind of Church anniversary, isn’t it?” The Duchess Liddell pointed to the fluttering banners in the distance.

Alice Liddell focused her eyes and confirmed that they were indeed the Church’s banners.

She instinctively let her gaze slide down the flagpole, then froze, staring at the girl holding the banner aloft in the ceremonial carriage:

“Jeanne Decker?”