Chapter 6: Liddell Family Troubles

 

 

 

Chapter 6: Liddell Family Troubles

 

LONDON was always quiet and tranquil in the early morning.

White smoke billowed from the sleepy city, carrying the scent of freshly baked bread toward the sky. You could run into just about anyone on the streets of London in the morning. Unless, of course, they were trapped in eternal slumber.

Arriving in Mayfair, I stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the giant mansion before me. It still bore the crescent moon seal on its gate.

The white walls caught the light of the sun and reflected it back into my eyes.

As I held up my arm to protect my vision, the old butler appeared in the entryway.

“Oh my, what a surprise to see you, Miss Liddell. Welcome to the Knightley residence.”

“Is Dark home today?”

“He just finished his breakfast and is now in the library. You may wait for him in the lounge.”

“Actually, he doesn’t know I’m here today. I’d like to go see him directly. Could you show me the way?”

“Why, of course. This way, my lady.”

He smiled at me despite my unorthodox request.

Together we walked down the hallways lined with paintings of crescent moons until we arrived at the same room I had been taken to during the ball. I bid the butler farewell and opened the door without a knock of warning.

Inside, the window destroyed by Jack had since been repaired, and the white furniture showed no traces of burns. Even the blue roses had been refreshed and arranged neatly. In the cold light of day, they almost looked artificial.

Dark was sitting at the desk underneath the window, holding a newspaper up in front of him. I couldn’t see him directly, but under the bright rays of the morning sun, I could make out two horns sticking up on the shadow his head cast against the paper.

“Gramps, take a look at this article. They’re speculating that the Sleeping Beauties were ‘taken to the land of slumber by a fairy with a taste for fair noblewomen.’ Can’t we ask them not to print these absurdities?”

“I see you’re at it bright and early today, Dark.”

Dark lowered the newspaper once he heard my voice. His blue eyes went wide as he looked at me.

“Alice…?”

“Good morning. I came here today to discuss something with you. Is this a good time?”

He quickly grabbed his nearby hat and placed it on his head. My best guess was that it was supposed to be playing-card themed, as a deck of cards had been stitched into the fabric in diagonal lines. They were separated by a pattern of tiny swords. A string of frilly lace hung over the brim.

“And what a glorious morning it is to be graced by your presence here in my home! How should I express these profound emotions? What say we declare today our anniversary?”

“Do as you please. But may I take a look at what’s under here?”

I strolled up to Dark and lifted the hat off his head. Though I rummaged through his glossy silver hair with my hands, I couldn’t find the signature mark of a demon.

“…They’re not here…”

“What’s wrong? Did you see something strange on my head?”

“I thought so. But I didn’t get much sleep last night, so perhaps it was actually a dream.”

Dark saw me clutch at my forehead with my hand. He stood up to close the curtains.

“Not only is sleep deprivation bad for your skin, but it’ll take its toll on your mind as well.”

“It certainly seems so. I’m sure I imagined that demon last night too. There’s no way a demon would leave something behind at the scene of the crime.”

“…Leave something behind?”

Dark turned around when he heard this. His face was unusually stiff.

In my mind, I was laughing. I knew I finally had him cornered.

“An intruder dropped this while trying to get into my room. Have you seen it before?” I unpinned the brooch from my dress. “You’re quite well-known for your love of fine clothes. Always waltzing around with all those accessories… They’re quite nice, but I bet you wouldn’t even notice if one of them slipped off your outfit, would you?”

I approached the desk and set the brooch down in front of him. Dark still didn’t respond.

“Your outfits are purchased on Savile Row, from the most popular shop of them all: Rupert Henry. Jack spotted the label when he tried to take your coat.”

I had visited the tailor last night. When I told him we were looking for the owner of the pin, he stroked his hair and told us it was a custom brooch made for Earl Knightley.

“The tailor said he always takes great care when he works on your creations, and that you come in with the same request each time. You bring him a uniquely made hat and ask him to design an outfit that it will suit.”

“…All my hats are made by a hatter I employ. I don’t want to ruin his carefully crafted pieces, so I plan my outfits around them. What of it?”

He was keeping his cool. In other circumstances, he probably could have talked his way out of it, but this time, I had an actual piece of evidence.

I stuck the brooch to his hat and, ever so slowly, stroked the brim.

“Your hats are covered in ribbons and decorations that make them tall and lumpy. I’m sure they’re quite hefty, and yet you continue to put up with that weight for each and every hat…because of this!”

“…?!”

With the force of all the anger I’d been carrying, I yanked down on the brim as hard as I could. Dark’s shoulders leaped up as his eyes were suddenly covered by the hat. I whisked open the curtains and lowered myself onto Dark’s lap.

The morning sun beamed down and cast Dark’s shadow over the desk. It was lumpy from the shape of the decorations on his hat, but I saw the outline of his true form when I lifted up the hat.

Stretching up and out of his head, in the shape of rabbit ears, was a pair of horns.

It was absolute proof that Dark was a demon.

“Since you can’t hide the shadow of your horns, you wear those outrageous hats as camouflage, and the flashy outfits are so that the hats don’t seem out of place. As long as you kept up the appearance of a fashion aficionado, no one would think twice about how eccentrically you dressed.”

“Looks like I’ve been beat… You’re brilliant, you know that?”

Dark threw his hands up in resignation.

“To lose something at the scene… That was a failure on my part. Hisui informed me that you were injured, so I went to the Liddell property to check on you. I wasn’t wearing my hat so that I wouldn’t stand out, but I see now that it was a mistake. You didn’t hesitate to fire… Or did you know it was me when you shot?”

“I didn’t hit you, did I?”

“Is that really the issue? You didn’t need to shoot in the first place.”

“If you didn’t want to be shot at, you should have come through the front door. I can’t have you sneaking through my window just because you think you’re some kind of Romeo.”

“Still as stubborn as ever, Alice,” Dark responded with an awkward smile. “It was your father who taught me how to hide my horns, since he knew about demons. The horns don’t appear to the outside world anymore, but there’s no way to stop them from showing on my shadow. This was the only way I could be a part of high society. Ridiculous, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not. I’m sure you would have preferred to stay hidden under your sheet, but you managed to overcome your fear and step out into the world.”

I put my hands on Dark’s cheeks. The sight of my face reflected in his bright blue eyes filled me with a soothing sense of nostalgia.

“I’m glad to see you again, Rabbit.”

“…I’ve missed you.”

Dark leaned his forehead against mine and smiled shyly, making my heart skip a tiny beat. The morning sunlight enveloped and warmed both my body and soul.

At that moment, as I sat there feeling complete, I realized something important.

I bet I just scored romance points with Dark!

This was bad. Dark was a first-time love interest for Alice, and I had no idea what kind of story his route entailed.

Not to mention, he was actually a demon.

This seemed like the perfect opportunity for the developers to go all out with one of their perilous stories.

Wh-Wh-Wh-What do I do?!

“Still… I do love girls who are bold, but it’s hard to decide if I should make the next move here or not,” said Dark.

He leaned his head away from my forehead, which was now covered in a cold sweat.

“I can’t say I’m used to women crawling into my lap. Here you are putting yourself out there, so it would almost be a waste if I didn’t respond. But I don’t think it’s right to steal a woman’s sacred chastity before we have a chance to pledge our holy vows.”

“Ch-Chastity?!” I fired back in shock. “Don’t get the wrong idea! You and I are nothing more than friends!”

“I thought you didn’t have any friends?”

“!”

He snickered as he saw me lost for words. I didn’t know he was the type to hold a grudge.

“I was sad to hear you say you didn’t have friends. In fact, it formed a crack right through my heart. But perhaps a kiss of friendship could prove to me that you really do care.”

“You just want to kiss me, don’t you?!”

He wrapped me in his arms to keep me on his lap.

Dark held me in a strong embrace. His eyes were locked on mine, filled with passion and intensity.

“Yes. I do, if you’ll let me.”

“You’ll just do it either way…”

It wasn’t a very romantic response. I slowly closed my eyes, feeling Dark’s face approach mine. My pulse was racing. I knew I was on the verge of having my heart stolen, but there wasn’t a single part of me that was afraid.

Because I want this too…

“So close. Yes.”

Just before our lips met, I heard a familiar accent close to my ear. I moved away from Dark to look in the direction of the voice. There sat Hisui, intensely staring at us, with his elbows on the desk to prop up his head.

“H-How long have you been standing there, Mr. Hisui?”

“A while. Please go on.”

“That…isn’t very encouraging.”

Dark’s lap was now an embarrassing place to be, so I stood up again. He was staring at his servant, disappointment written all over his face.

“Hisui, please be a bit more subtle next time…”

“Aww. It is over?”

“I appreciate the sympathy. Why aren’t you working?”

Hisui clapped his hands together, appearing to have remembered something.

“That is right. An announcement. Something is here.”

“…A guest?”

This felt like an immediate death flag as a result of earning romance points with Dark. He stood up and Hisui grabbed his jacket from the nearby coatrack.

“The butler is holding them off. You must go now.”

“Understood. I’ll have to remember to give Gramps a raise on his next paycheck. I’m going to leave for a while.”

“Have a good trip.”

Hisui pressed his hand to his chest. Just then, multiple pairs of feet pounding against the floor could be heard from the hallway.

Dark grabbed hold of my arm and started to leave.

“We can’t take the hall. Where are we going?”

“There’s an emergency escape.”

He was heading toward a heavy-looking shelf filled with leather-bound reference books.

“W-Wait, that’s a bookcase!” I shouted.

Dark showed no sign of slowing. He just continued to pick up speed.

We’re going to crash!

I squeezed my eyes shut to brace for the impact, but what I felt was the two of us spinning in a circle on our toes, like ballerinas onstage.

A cold breeze against my cheek prompted me to open my eyes again. Somehow, we had jumped into an entirely different room.

“Wh-What?!”　

I turned around in shock and saw the bookcase rotate back around to its original position.

“A trick door…!”

“Seeing you so surprised makes me glad I had it made. It’s one of those trompe l’oeil pieces that are so popular these days. The door to this hidden room is made of leather strips that look like the spines of books, perfectly disguising them as part of the library. Not unlike a ninja’s trap, no? Though, this one was my idea.”

Dark was busy singing his own praises when we heard the footsteps rush into the library behind us.

“Come with us, Lord Knightley! As the main suspect in the Sleeping Beauty cases… Wait, he’s gone!”

We peered through the trick door. The man who had burst into the room was one of the policemen Dark was investigating. He was surrounded by several other officers, all gripping their batons.

Once they saw that Dark wasn’t in the room, they began to question Hisui.

“Oi, you there. Where’s the earl?”

“Oh gosh. I no speak English!” Hisui shrugged his shoulders very dramatically.

“Mr. Hisui…!” I cried.

I was nearly moved to tears, seeing Hisui so cleverly taking on the role we needed.

“I guess Hisui deserves a raise too.”

Dark knelt down and pulled open a trapdoor on the ground. He reached his hand out for me.

“There’s a passageway underneath here.”

Everything under the hole in the floor was pitch-black.

For a moment, I felt as if that darkness was going to swallow me up. I gulped.

“You can’t see a thing down there.”

“Are you scared?” he asked me.

“We don’t have time to hesitate.”

Dark would be arrested if the cops managed to find us. Since he was being treated as a suspect, they wouldn’t allow him to wear his eccentric outfits, for fear of him hiding a weapon on his person. If that led to them noticing the shadow of his horns and discovering his identity as a demon, his life would forever be drastically changed.

“Let’s go, Dark. Anywhere but here.”

“Then I shall take you to Wonderland, my fair lady. May I have your hand?”

I wrapped my fingers around Dark’s outstretched hand.

“Please be gentle.”

“But of course.”

He placed the palm of his hand over my mouth.

I let out a yelp of surprise, but by then, we had already jumped into the escape hatch.

I did my best not to scream as we tumbled upside down into the darkness.

♥♥♥

“IT’S too sweet. I can’t eat this with clotted cream or jam.”

Everyone was gathered in the conservatory of the Liddell estate. Jack had bitten into one of the scones in the center of the long dining table.

But Alice was not sitting in her designated chair. She was still sound asleep in her bed, later than usual for her.

The Tweedle brothers munched away on slices of chiffon cake drizzled in honey.

Leeds sat across from Jack. He was drinking a steaming cup of coffee and appeared to still be half-asleep, despite the time of day.

“All-nighters are simply the worst…” He yawned.

“You did good, Leeds!” “You did good, Leeds!”

He managed a wink in response to the twins’ synchronized praise.

“Thanks, my dear boys. My heart is light as a feather as long as I can protect you and our sleeping lady.”

The staff at the Liddell estate took turns patrolling the grounds at night. The routine included standing watch in the tower on the roof, then patrolling the inside of the house to defend against intruders.

“I’m glad nothing happened last night. I was awfully frightened that some hoodlum would sneak into Miss Alice’s room.”

“Hoodlum…”

Jack thought back to the previous night.

Alice had fired at the Peeping Tom outside her room, then found something the intruder had left behind at the window. Right away, she knew where she needed to go. The address was for a gentleman’s clothing store that made outfits for Lord Knightley.

Alice had thoroughly questioned the tailor about the earl.

Jack felt agitated when he remembered that earnest look on her face.

“…Why is Miss Alice so curious about Lord Knightley, anyway?”

“Well, that’s an easy one. It’s all so she can solve the Sleeping Beauty cases.”

Leeds smeared jam over a cracker and took a bite. The dough had been coated with butter to give it a nice crunch. Delicious as it was, Leeds was scattering crumbs with each bite.

But what bothered Jack wasn’t the dirty floor. It was Leeds’s response to his question.

“All she needs is information on the culprit. The earl has nothing to do with that.”

“Maybe he has something to do with Alice’s life, instead?”

“Maybe it’s a desire of Alice’s heart, instead?”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

With forks and knives still in hand, the twins mustered up their best “mature” voices.

“Dark Arland Knightley is a tall, beautiful man.”

“Dark Arland Knightley is a rich, high-ranking noble.”

“So what? Are you trying to say Miss Alice is in love with him?”

To be the head of the Liddell family was to live isolated from everyone else. Though the mission of protecting Great Britain from the shadows was a just cause, executing the threats to the kingdom earned their family plenty of enemies.

Placing your trust in anyone would only lead to betrayal, followed by death.

No one should know not to let her guard down better than Alice.

“She cares for us as much as we care about her. No one can ever get between that. It’s just who we are to each other.” Jack furrowed his brow and clenched his fist as he spoke.

From under the table, his stigma was aching. But the intensity wasn’t in the back of his hands—it was his heart that was burning up.

Jack had pledged his absolute loyalty to Alice. He would give his life for her and take the life of anyone she asked. He was glad that he had become a stigmata alongside her. Even being branded with a stigma made him feel special, like he was now her knight in shining armor.

He never desired a romance with Alice. Jack always believed that being by her side as a worker for the Liddell family was all he needed.

If Alice did fall in love with a man and passed the Liddells’ work on to him, Jack felt as if his flames of rage would consume her fair skin, her sincere smile, and her innocent heart.

He hated himself for these thoughts. Jack kicked at a chair from under the table.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it…”

“Calm yourself, Jack. Besides, don’t you think she’s been sleeping a bit too long this morning?” Leeds asked him.

Jack glanced at the wall clock and saw that the two hands were pointing straight up.

It was almost noon already.

“Should we wake her?” “Should we wake her?”

“You two would just take a nap with her. I’ll do it.”

Right as Jack stood up, the door to the conservatory flung open.

“I made some delicious paninis, kids!”

Bear stood there with a crooked chef’s hat hanging off his head. The paninis, a kind of Italian sandwich, were spread out across three trays that he handled gracefully. Bear set them down on the table.

“They’re filled with olive-and-onion-flavored cream cheese, asparagus wrapped in roast beef, boiled eggs, and pickled peppers. I’ve also got berry mille-feuille with chocolate whip to enjoy for dessert!”

“Wooow!” cheered both twins.

The boys gathered around the table, but Bear was surprised to see Jack leaving the room.

“You don’t want any, Jack?”

“I’m just going to wake Miss Alice. I’ll be back soon.”

“But she’s already up. I crossed paths with Alice this morning as she left. She said she was going for a walk.”

Jack’s eyes went wide when he heard this.

“You saw her? When?”

Jack remembered seeing Bear already working in the kitchen when he came in to start preparing breakfast. That was just after six in the morning.

“It must have been before six. I found some ripe berries and told her I was plannin’ to make tarts. She said she was lookin’ forward to her afternoon tea!”

Hearing this, Jack clicked his tongue. Leeds and the twins stood up with pale faces.

Bear, the only person in the room who was confused, threw his hands up in the air. “Uh-oh. Where are you all off to?”

Jack retrieved his sword from where it leaned against the wall.

“She wouldn’t go on a six-hour walk! We have to go find Miss Alice!” he barked.

♥♥♥

I stood trembling in front of a mirror so large it looked like it could swallow me up.

“Why must I change clothes…? And into such a strange costume, much less!”

I had donned the outfit of an Arabian dancer.

The top was small enough that my stomach was exposed for all to see. The outer jacket was made of thin fabric that was all too transparent. My sleeves were loose and more for decoration than function, and the cloth around my waist even had slits up the sides.

Even though I was used to wearing frilly undergarments, it was an outfit I simply wasn’t bold enough to wear. I looked myself up and down in the mirror, shocked to see how much of my body I was revealing.

“I don’t suppose you have anything that shows a bit less skin…?”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have any long skirts on hand here.”

The woman helping me dress smiled as she clasped accessories around my arms, wrists, and neck.

“You wear it well. Lord Knightley personally chose this outfit, so I’m sure he’ll be quite taken with it.”

“Dark did…?” Hearing his name turned my mood from embarrassed to irritated. “Why, he’s just behind everything, isn’t he?!”

After plummeting upside down through the dark passageway, we had escaped through a waterway beneath the Knightley residence.

The dark water carried us forward until we emerged in a small stream, flowing freely beneath the blue sky. It was located in a suburb of London.

“We can’t be long or the police will find us.”

My skirt was heavy with water as we climbed the rocky terrain. I tried to wring it out, and Dark flapped his hat beside me to dry it.

“Don’t worry. The door to Wonderland is open,” he responded.

He gestured toward a carriage parked beside the bank. The driver lifted his cap with a nod. It was none other than the old Knightley butler who held the reins.

The two of us boarded the carriage in our soaking clothes, and after some time, we arrived at our destination.

“Dark, are you finished changing?”

Once I pushed through the golden doors, I couldn’t help but gulp when I saw the sight before me.

“How beautiful…”

Many white strips of fabric hung down from the ceiling and draped across the floor like fairy beds. Glass columns stood to the left and right, but they were filled with water for tropical fish to swim in, reflecting the light from the surrounding lanterns. The reflection of the water spread throughout the whole room, flickering and swaying against the walls and floor.

“Welcome, Alice. Come on in.”

Dark, who finished dressing before me, now looked just like the king of a faraway land.

He was draped in glossy silk robes with a gold belt strapped around his midriff and bracelets on his wrists. A thin cloth hung down over his head from a black ring.

It was too much for my delicate heart. Before I knew it, I was covering my eyes.

This is totally a new CG! This outfit will be made into a bunch of merch and get so popular that it sells out before the preorders end! I can tell, even without looking!

If I hadn’t been hit by that car in my past life, I could imagine myself rushing to the official website and preordering all that merch without a single ounce of hesitation. If there’s one thing otome gamers can’t resist, it’s a good costume change.

“I’d call this place ‘Wonderland,’ wouldn’t you? I had it designed to resemble a desert palace.”

Dark was also famous for his business ventures, including remodeling old buildings for profit. On the outside, our current location looked like any other stone building you would find in Great Britain.

The chandelier cast light over the furniture and fish tanks from above.

The shadows it produced were so warped, not even Dark’s horns were being projected on the ground, even without a hat.

But why do I have to join him in this silly little cosplay episode?

I sat down next to him, pouting, and he stared at me curiously.

“Alice, why are you angry?”

“I’m just shocked by your tastes. Must we really change clothes just to have tea? What a strange place.”

“This shop would lose its impact if it were nothing but decorations. I believe an outfit is the key to producing a suitable atmosphere, so we provide Arabian-style outfits to all our customers.”

“Well, we’re not customers, are we?!”

“If you want to hide a tree, you should find a forest. Without this, my dignified aura as a nobleman would be plain for everyone to see!”

“Are you right in the head?” I couldn’t help but ask him.

Dark lifted a drink from the tray and handed it to me.

“Alice, I’m on the run right now. I’d like to be able to have some fun in the meantime.”

“But I’m not one of their suspects.”

“That true. But you still came here with me…and I’m glad you did.”

His smile was so pure, it made me lose my words.

He’s a demon who smiles like an angel. I wonder if he knows what a deadly combination that is!

I finished my glass of cold tropical juice and composed myself.

“I want to get everything straight. Do you have any idea why the police would barge into your home like that?”

“I know that the Sleeping Beauty of the Silent family was a guest at the ball I hosted, and all the other victims were acquaintances of mine, at the very least. Now that Miss Tierra is the next victim, it’s only natural that I’d be suspected.”

“And how much have you learned about the cases?”

“Probably about as much as you have. The culprit is most likely a demon or stigmata with superhuman abilities. All I know for sure is that I had nothing to do with them.”

“…Right.”

I wanted to believe in his innocence. But as the head of the Liddell family, there was no way I could give him special treatment and act like he wasn’t a suspect.

Dark took the empty glass from my hand as I struggled with my thoughts.

“Our main priority should be waking the Sleeping Beauties. Regardless of who caused it, they’ll die if they sleep for too long.”

Humans breathe and circulate blood when they’re asleep, but without food and water, the body becomes malnourished, and weakened from a lack of movement.

The longer they sleep, the closer they creep toward death.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I remembered Madeline.

“I think all the Sleeping Beauties were in love with you. In the fairy tale, the princess wakes up when she receives true love’s kiss. Wouldn’t it be worth a try?”

“You want me to kiss those girls?”

To my surprise, I felt Dark take hold of my face and turn my head toward him. His beautiful features were puffed up into a pout. He looked like bread dough that was starting to rise.

“How cruel. Since you’re to be my bride soon, I’d rather hear ‘No! I’m the only girl you’re allowed to kiss!’”

“That hasn’t been decided yet! And stop trying to cuddle me!”

I didn’t want him so close to me—at least, not in such a revealing outfit.

I turned away from him and saw our shadows change in the new light.

Dark’s head showed his usual two rabbit’s-ear horns.

But for some reason, a single sprout like a small bamboo shoot was sticking out of my head too.

“A demon!”

I reached for my bag, but it was gone. I’d left it back in the changing room.

I shuddered upon realizing I was unarmed. Just then, I heard Dark’s voice from behind me. It was so deep, it sent chills down my spine.

“Can’t they learn some manners?”

I turned to see that the two long, sharp horns had materialized above his head.

He looked the part of a real demon now. With one hand, Dark pushed down on the floor and produced rays of blue light with his palm. Just like that, his entire hand began to sink into the floor itself, as if it were a small body of water.

The blue light expanded and formed a circle with him at the center. The crescent moon seal rose up and surrounded his body.

---

---

That’s the shape of Mr. Hisui’s stigma!

It was nothing like the venomous rose seal that Jack and the others bore. The only sharp angles were the tips of the slim moon. Pale blue stars twinkled in the sky behind it.

“There it is,” said Dark.

He pulled his arm out of the floor and held up a round shadow in the shape of a griffin. If Dum and Dee saw the thing, they’d surely beg me to let them keep it as a pet.

“How cute. Is that a minor demon?”

“It’s even lower than that. This is a familiar being controlled by a greater demon. What do you want?” he asked it.

The familiar could only screech out a shrill response.

“Sorry. I don’t speak that language.”

Dark crushed the familiar in his hands. The shadow shriveled in his grasp like a deflated balloon.

“Are you hurt, Alice?”

“I’m fine. So you truly are a demon, huh…”

I took a long, hard look at Dark.

Pointed horns stuck out of his head. Veins bulged along his hands and sharp claws jutted from his fingers. His handsome face and silver hair were unchanged, but for some reason, they seemed more alluring with the rest of his devilish features.

“No one’s ever seen my real horns before. Do they frighten you?”

“Not at all. They’re unique and pointy, but I certainly don’t hate them.”

It was a very genuine answer. Dark looked taken aback, but then he burst out laughing.

“I see. So you don’t hate them!”

“Why do you laugh at the strangest moments? Did I say something funny?”

“You shot at me, yet you’re not scared of my horns. You’re a unique woman, but I certainly don’t hate you.”

“I can’t tell if that’s praise or not…,” I said, even though he was repeating my own words.

I chuckled and Dark placed the tips of his claws on my shoulder to bring me toward him.

I stared up at Dark with a bit of hope in my heart. He tilted his head as I drew closer to his face.

I closed my eyes, expecting a kiss to come. At that moment…

“She’s in here! Miss Alice!”

Jack kicked open the door and burst into the room with a glare on his face. Leeds and the Tweedles filed in behind him. They were all out of breath.

Jack’s hands, perhaps from his anger, were displaying the crest of his stigma. The twins’ cheeks were the same. I assumed Leeds’s stigma on his tongue was activated as well.

When they saw Dark drawing toward me, his horns visible to all of them, the four each drew their weapons.

“You bastard! You’re a demon?!”

Dark raised one eyebrow in surprise to see Jack’s blade pointed at him.

“Does it matter if I am? You may be a skilled guard dog, but I wonder how you managed to sniff us out…”

He looked around at the others until he spotted Hisui hiding behind one of the pillars of water.

“Hisui, I could have sworn I asked you to stay at home. I don’t remember ordering you to chase me down,” he said with a sigh.

“I am sorry. Everyone was worried…”

“Such trouble you’ve caused me. Here’s your punishment.”

Dark extended his index finger and sent out a beam of blue light towards Hisui. I thought it was going to envelop him, but instead, it met with a flash from the stigma on the side of Hisui’s stomach.

“Ouch…!”

He bent over in pain. Dark twirled his finger in circles, causing water to sprout forth from Hisui’s hands. The streams of water shot through the air and wrapped the other four boys inside a dome of water.

“The Liddell stigmata need to spend some time cooling down.”

“Damn it! What is this thing?!”

Jack tried to destroy the dome with his flames, but the water immediately extinguished them.

“Stigmata can’t defeat a demon. Or didn’t you know?”

Dark placed his hands on my hips—the ultimate provocation.

“Don’t you dare touch her, you demon!”

“Listen to yourself. Do you think it’s any better for you, a stigmata, to be with Alice?”

The conversation had taken a sudden turn for the worse. I looked up at Dark.

“D-Don’t do this…,” I begged, my voice trembling.

But he had lost his temper. Dark ignored me and continued to reveal my secret.

“I’ve always found it strange how Alice, a girl without a stigma, can command a group of stigmata.”

“!”

I thought my heart was going to stop.

As I stood there shuddering, unable to move, the twins cocked their heads curiously.

“What do you mean?” “What do you mean?”

“I guess this man never got the memo,” Leeds scoffed. “Each and every one of us under the Liddell roof is a demon child, including Miss Alice.”

“But that isn’t true. The stigma that Alice was supposed to receive…” Dark pointed his sharp claw at the smoldering Jack. “…is there, on her guard dog’s hand. Each person is supposed to receive a single stigma, but he has one on the back of each hand. The only explanation is that he received punishment for himself and someone else.”

“Please stop, Dark…!”

He closed his mouth when he heard my plea, but it was far too late. Jack went still, the twins looked at each other, and Leeds turned toward me with a stern expression.

“My lady, is it true that you don’t have a stigma?”

“I…”

Their suspicion would only worsen if I kept quiet, but I couldn’t get past the lump in my throat. I just shrunk like a scolded child who had no way of talking back.

“…It’s true,” Jack said. “I took Miss Alice’s stigma when we were resurrected. It means she’s not a stigmata. When she dies, she’ll go to heaven on her own, while the rest of us go to hell...”

“How could you keep that from us? This is the first I’m hearing of it!”

“Leeds! Don’t blame Jack. I asked him to keep it a secret. And I had a good reason to—”

“Just stop already!”

Two sad voices chimed out in unison, cutting off my explanation. I looked up to see Dum and Dee staring at me with their large eyes full of tears.

“You lied to us, Alice.”

“You tricked us, Alice.”

“That’s not true. Dum, Dee, just listen to me!”

“No way!” “No way!”

They covered their ears. My heart broke to be rejected by them.

Dark let the water dome fall, and the twins turned their backs toward me to exit the room.

“I don’t like being lied to either.” Leeds retied his chain belt as he spoke. “I thought we were a real family, my lady. We were like sisters who told each other everything. But I guess you didn’t feel the same.”

He rested his hand on his shawl and turned away from me.

“…Farewell, my lady… Miss Liddell, that is.”

“Wait! Listen to m— Ahh!”

I tried to chase them, but my foot caught on a cloth on the floor. I fell to the ground.

“Please don’t leave me…”

I reached out and shouted for them, but not one of the boys stopped in their tracks.

Tears poured from my eyes and blurred my vision.

I was empty inside. My chest ached like it had caved in.

I couldn’t stand on my own, so I curled up on the ground and tried to hide my face.

“Why did you lie to them, Alice?” came Dark’s voice.

He leaned down beside me. I still felt like I was in a trance as I spoke. “Do you have the strength to tell people you’re a demon, even when they don’t know a thing? It’s just like that…”

I was too scared to tell the stigmata that I wasn’t like them.

If they knew I was resurrected without a stigma…if they knew I wouldn’t go to hell upon my death…I feared they would hate me for it.

But in the end, it just meant I didn’t believe in my family with all my heart.

“Trust only leads to betrayal.”

Father always tried to teach me that lesson. He surely never imagined that the two of us would be separated so early in life, but now it was my own fault that I’d lost the new family I was so desperate to create.

“I understand now, Father…”

This was the secret of the otome game I so adored in my past life.

Even without a stigma, Alice still received punishment for her resurrection.

“This world is my own form of hell…”