We arrived at the castle, but unfortunately, we couldn’t meet our target, the Queen of Hearts.
It wasn’t because of tight security or anything like that. We had simply missed her.
“The croquet grounds, huh… Seems like Her Majesty is quite active in social circles.”
“Indeed.”
The Queen of Hearts was away.
Apparently, she’d gone to the croquet grounds with the Duchess.
It wasn’t very far, but… with security heightened due to Lobelia’s intrusion, we had no choice but to proceed with caution.
Haah… Your Highness, really. You might want to tone down that personality of yours.
What was she thinking, causing such a ruckus in someone else’s country?
“By the way, Johan.”
“Yes?”
“Alice, was it? It must’ve been quite the ordeal having her around.”
“Well, yeah. It was.”
Lobelia let out a dry chuckle as she looked at Alice, who was out front checking the surroundings with Yuna.
Given her unpredictable personality, like a rugby ball bouncing who knows where, it was a fair assessment.
“Johan, what role are you playing?”
“I’m the Mad Hatter.”
“I’m curious…. what kind of character is that? Can you explain?”
“A coward, a madman, rude and dishonest.”
“That’s a harsh assessment.”
Lobelia shrugged, then inserted herself between Yuna and Alice who had started chattering ahead.
She began helping to keep the increasingly bold Alice under control while also keeping an eye on their surroundings.
As Lobelia moved ahead, Ariel who had been nervously watching Alice and Yuna quietly stepped back and came over to me.
“It was surprising at first, but now that we’ve been wandering around together, it feels kind of nice. Like we’re all on an adventure.”
“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that. I thought you might feel like you got caught up in something strange after coming to our territory.”
“No way. If anything, isn’t this happening because of us?”
“Normally, yes.”
We were, after all, quite the attention-grabbing group.
When something goes wrong, there may be many suspects. But if you look at the target of the trouble, the finger usually points in a clear direction.
The imperial princess and her entourage.
There was no better way to describe it. She was the very eye of the storm.
“But still, I don’t think this incident is because of us.”
“Oh? You sound confident. Do you have a hunch about something?”
“A little. That’s actually part of what I’m going to check now.”
“Hmm, then if something does happen, I’ll be relying on you, Johan. It’s kind of exciting. It feels like the usual roles have been reversed.”
Despite the situation, Ariel smiled brightly, as if she genuinely enjoyed it.
I could feel her trust in me.
“Let’s keep moving and not get distracted. If we fall behind, we might get caught by patrolling soldiers.”
“True. It wouldn’t look good if we’re the only ones fooling around while everyone else is trying to find the way.”
“Though I’m not sure who exactly is fooling around here.”
At least to my eyes, those three ahead constantly glancing around looked far more like they were messing around.
“Alright! Now’s the time! If we leave right now… We’ve been spotted! Everyone run! Hide! Waaah!”
Especially Alice.
***
Because of her reckless actions and repeated blunders, Alice was banished to the rear.
Not that it was much of a trade, but Ariel who had been having a rather pleasant moment with me was pulled back to the front again.
The three up ahead were scanning the surroundings.
The atmosphere was not just stiff. It was downright cold.
“Looking at them, I think I really have a talent for lightening the mood.”
“There may be other factors, but I can’t deny that.”
“Ahem.”
“…But for someone who got sent to the back for causing trouble, you sure are acting proud.”
“Aw, come on. You should still give me credit where it’s due. And Mr. Mad Hatter, you’ve never taken the lead up front, have you?”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re amazing.”
Even after being sent to the back, Alice didn’t stop chattering.
Was she always this talkative?
Or was she just genuinely enjoying the situation?
“Big brother Mad Hatter.”
“What?”
“I’m bored.”
“……”
“Don’t ignore me.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
Alice truly couldn’t sit still for even a second.
“Tell me something interesting. Like how you met Ariel. You’re engaged, right?”
“It’s a political marriage. There’s not much to say.”
“Doesn’t seem like just a political marriage to me. You two keep whispering secrets in the back. What are you talking about? Come on, just tell me. I won’t tell anyone.”
“No.”
“Tch, fine. Then I’ll just ask Ariel later.”
“Do what you want.”
After shutting Alice up who seemed like she’d go on endlessly once she started, we broke through the half-hearted, apathetic perimeter set up by the Trump soldiers and got away from the royal castle.
“Their discipline is a joke.”
As expected of Lobelia. She was more concerned with another country’s internal affairs than our current situation.
“I’m the one who shook them off…”
Yuna, on the other hand, looked noticeably worn out, much more sluggish than usual.
Well, if she were alone, she could’ve slipped through the net no matter how tight it was, but we were dragging along several burdens.
Myself included, and of course, Alice.
Considering Alice had been causing problems nonstop, it must’ve been exhausting.
If Yuna hadn’t repeatedly played decoy along the way, we probably would’ve run into Trump soldiers at least five times.
“Johan, I’m tired. Can you carry me on your back?”
“I’m more tired than you, Yuna.”
“That’s not my problem.”
Without waiting for a response, Yuna went limp and clung onto my back.
Seriously….she just said she was tired!
Why couldn’t I shake her off even though she was tired?
“Yuna.”
“What? Lady Ariel. Is this about how you kept tripping and got spotted like three times? If you’re about to apologize for making me run around for two hours to cover for you, don’t bother. I’m fine.”
“…I was just going to tell you to rest.”
A precise strike, delivered with perfect justification…. Yuna really knew how to hit where it hurt.
Ariel quietly averted her gaze.
She was too kind to stay harsh with someone for long, it seemed.
Still, her being nice was one thing… Why was I stuck in the middle of all this, suffering for it?
“Alright, let’s go, Johan.”
“…Yeah.”
In the end, unable to shake her off, I had no choice but to carry Yuna on my back.
Just as I had resigned myself to everything and was quietly walking down the road—
“Johan, I’m curious about something. Can I ask? I’ll whisper.”
Yuna whispered right into my ear. She was so close I could feel her breath.
“Johan, you know Alice, right?”
“I do. She’s the main character in a fairy tale.”
“Really? That’s it?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“No reason. Just felt that way.”
With Yuna, I’ve noticed it more than once. She always goes straight for the heart of the matter, to the point it’s hard to breathe.
“I don’t really feel like answering.”
“Yeah? Then I’ll just wait until you do.”
I was a bit surprised by how easily she gave up.
“What do you think? That was pretty good, right? I sounded like a really understanding girl, didn’t I?”
“If you hadn’t said that just now, I might’ve actually thought so.”
“Puhihi. No need to be so serious between us, right?”
“Yeah, true.”
Dropped into a world like this with only guesses about how to get back…No one has any real answers. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it like it was some grand adventure.
Maybe I was the only one who was anxious.
Is that why?
Yuna’s offhanded comment about not needing to be serious really stuck with me.
Because with her, I felt like I could talk about anything openly and honestly.
“Yuna, I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“That I’ll make the wrong choice.”
“I see.”
“That’s it? Aren’t you going to ask what choice?”
“Nope! You said you didn’t want to talk about it. Or I could just comfort you without saying anything? I’m pretty confident I’d be good at that.”
“No, never mind… Just stay the way you are forever.”
“Then I guess I’ll live the rest of my life hanging on your back.”
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
Just looking at Yuna made my own anxiety feel silly.
She probably did that on purpose, too. Say what you will, there’s no one like Yuna.
“Yuna, can you stay still for a second?”
“Why? Are you discovering a whole new side of me you didn’t know about? Well, I am wearing slightly thinner clothes than usual.”
“Watch what you say.”
…If we’re just going to stay “friends”, that is.
No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like this was going to end just yet.
***
It was when we were getting close to the croquet field, where the Queen of Hearts was said to be, with Yuna still on my back.
“Is that it…?”
Fortunately, we didn’t have to go all the way to the field to find the Queen of Hearts.
We spotted her and her guards already on the move, possibly because the match had ended.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be a world from a fairy tale? Why does it suddenly feel completely different?”
“I’m more curious how something like that even played croquet.”
Ariel muttered with a bitter tone, while Lobelia sounded impressed.
That’s how alien the Queen of Hearts looked compared to the other characters.
Or rather, to be precise, the style was the same. Just on a completely different scale.
“…No matter how I look at it, doesn’t she seem like some kind of final weapon from Deus Ex Machina?”
A massive form, grotesque in its structure.
She was merely moving, yet we could feel the sheer pressure radiating from her.
And more than anything…
“…So the foreshadowing is finally paying off.”
The air around her shimmered with demonic energy.
To my eyes, it looked like the same ominous aura we’d seen on the way to the Damus territory was now swirling around the Queen of Hearts.
If that was the case, then in the worst-case scenario, the Queen of Hearts possessed the power of three books.
“Johan, what do you think? Can we reason with her?”
“Honestly, it doesn’t look like it. But still, we’re civilized beings, aren’t we? We should at least try.”
“Very well. Go ahead.”
“How could I possibly take on the grave task of greeting a foreign king? Wouldn’t it be more fitting for Her Highness Princess Lobelia, a member of the imperial family herself, to graciously meet the ruler of a small nation…?”
“You really do have a way with excuses. Fine. I wasn’t expecting much anyway.”
With a shrug, Lobelia boldly began walking forward.
Why did she always make me do things she knew I couldn’t handle?
She was a strange person.
“…Big brother Mad Hatter, the more I see you, the more pathetic you seem.”
“Everyone has a role that suits them, Alice.”
“You don’t fight, and you don’t negotiate. What can you do, then?”
“.…….”
“Maybe I should’ve gone instead.”
“You really do have a death wish, don’t you?”
I smacked Alice on the head.
But this brat wouldn’t back down that easily.
So, without a word, I smacked her again.
“Wow! You really hold a grudge!”
Should I hit her one more time?
That thought crossed my mind just briefly.
Boooooom!!
With a deafening crash, Lobelia who had gone to talk returned.
No….more accurately, it would be right to say she was sent flying back.
But Lobelia got up and stretched as if nothing had happened.
“Mm, just as I thought. You can’t reason with her. She talks, but that’s all it is.”
“What did she say?”
“She ordered someone to cut off my head. Though she ended up going for it herself.”
“I see……”
It seems she’s sticking quite closely to the character of the Queen of Hearts.
Still, thanks to that, one thing has become crystal clear.
“We just have to take her down, right?”
There’s no avoiding a fight with the Queen of Hearts.
“I wish Your Highness the best of luck in battle.”
“So you’re not even going to pretend you’ll fight alongside me, huh? Well, that is just like you.”
Who’s the one always tormenting me, knowing full well how things will go?
I wanted to fire back with that. But the nice me held it in.
“I’ll go with you instead of the weak Johan, Your Highness.”
“So now you’re rushing to protect him just because you’re engaged, huh, Ariel? Back in the day, you’d just follow me without saying a word……”
“I have more to protect now.”
“I know. That’s why it looks good on you.”
With that, Lobelia clenched her fists that were crackling with lightning, and Ariel floated quietly by her side.
Since Yuna was nowhere to be seen, she was probably already acting on her own in her own way.
It was a scene I’d seen countless times before.
And just like always, I took a step back from it.
There was only one thing different this time.
“What are you doing here, big brother?”
“…My role is to protect you, the little kid.”
“Wow, is that so?”
“……”
“They say it’s all about how you phrase it, and I think this is exactly one of those times, right?”
The only thing that changed… was that there was a loud little brat next to me.
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