Epilogue

 

 

 

Epilogue

 

I took steady breaths and held my hands over the bed where Madeline slept.

“Please let her awaken from her slumber.”

My words caused white beams of light to pour out of the stigma on my chest and wrap around my fingers. When I stroked Madeline’s eyelids, droplets of light fell and sparkled on her skin like eyeshadow.

It wasn’t long before the girl opened her eyes.

“Who…are you?”

All I could do was smile awkwardly at her half-awake state of mind. She didn’t remember me at the moment, but the rumors she spread about me almost doomed her to a fate of eternal slumber. Words come back to haunt you in mysterious ways.

“Madeline!”

Madame Silent burst into tears and wrapped her arms around her frail daughter.

I quietly stepped away from their bed to give the family some time together.

♥♥♥

“I’VE managed to wake every one of the Sleeping Beauties. It’s all thanks to the power of the stigma you gave me.”

A short-statured maid led us down the wide palace halls.

The afternoon sunlight pooled under our feet. It carried the warmth of early summer in its rays.

The sleeves and collar of my black dress were made of tulle lace, which made the whole thing as light as a feather.

Dark was walking alongside me, also wearing a lightweight, linen ditto suit. His outfit was covered in vibrant flowers, even up to the hat. I felt like I was standing beside a flower basket.

“It’s not thanks to me. The incredible feat was yours alone. You wished for the unusual ability to ‘erase powers’ when I branded you with my stigma.”

“There was nothing ‘incredible’ about it. It was all I could do, since a demon child’s stigma can’t be entirely erased…”

No matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t use my power to erase the stigma that Jack, Dum, Dee, and Leeds were branded with. They were still captive to the Rose Demon, and as sinners who once managed to cheat death, all they could do was live out the rest of their lives before their eventual descent into hell.

The maid led us outside to a small hill as Dark and I conversed.

The grass was covered in golden poppies and white daisies. Asiatic dayflowers swayed in the breeze, tucked under the shadow of a tree. It was a beautiful, lush patch of nature.

A large garden parasol was set up on top of the hill. Beneath it, a woman sat alone at a table, reading a letter.

She calmly gazed at the paper—the very picture of a distinguished older woman. Pinned to the chest of her striped summer dress was a mourning brooch made of jet and worn in memory of her late husband.

The maid whispered something into the woman’s ear, and she finally looked up at us.

“Heavens, what unusual visitors.”

“Your Majesty, Queen Victoria, it is an honor to be in your presence.”

I held up my skirt and curtsied to her. It was the normal custom when greeting someone of the highest possible status.

On the other hand, Dark tipped his hat toward her casually, as if he were passing by a friend on the street.

“Good to see you, Vicky. You look as lovely as ever.”

“Dark! You’re being far too familiar with Her Majesty.”

I shot a glare in his direction. I had no doubt that the Queen would be just as angry with him, but for some reason, her hands were clutching her cheeks in delight.

“Why, if it isn’t Alice and Little Dark! Aren’t you two just the sweetest guests? What a delight!”

“L-Little…Dark?”

“She’s grown bored of her life in the palace, so we have this silly game we play,” Dark whispered in my ear as I stood there in shock. “The rules are that as long as we stand on this hill, we must speak to each other as equals. If I don’t call her by a nickname, she bestows a wretched title upon my name. The worst one I bore was ‘Little Dark the Pervert.’”

“How cruel… Are the two of you perhaps children in disguise?”

I cringed inwardly as Her Majesty sent the maid off to bring us chairs and tea.

“Your timing is perfect. I was just reading the summary Little Dark sent me about the Sleeping Beauty cases.”

It seemed the paper on her table was from Dark.

The chairs arrived and we took our seats. Nervously, I spoke.

“Your Majesty, the culprit in this case has been entombed in the darkness. Lord Knightley assisted us, but in the end, it was solved by the Liddell family.”

“That’s what I heard. And along the way, you two became engaged, is that right? I just adored the part where you kissed Little Dark to receive his stigma, Alice!”

The Queen squirmed in delight like a girl who’d just seen a new CG of her bias.

It reminded me a little too much of me in my past life. I suddenly had a bad feeling about the situation.

“It sounds like there are some discrepancies in Dark’s retelling of the case… May I have a look at his letter?”

“By all means! It’s a real masterpiece of a story, so I’d really hoped to share it with someone!”

“Oh my…!”

I thought I was going to faint when I laid eyes on the letter.

It started out as a retelling of how we solved the Sleeping Beauty cases. Then along the way, it turned into the story of the romance between Dark and me. It read like something right out of an otome game.

“Dark, what’s the meaning of this?!”

“I’m glad you asked. You see, I’m more than just a handsome face. My literary skills took hold of me as I wrote my report, and I ended up turning out something of an epic tale. But don’t worry, as none of it has been fictionalized. Our first meeting, our competition, my involvement in the investigation, and how we cozied up to each other in the end is all there. I just embellished it a little.”

“Embellished? You call this embellishment?!”

I grabbed Dark by the collar and used my other hand to thrust the letter in front of him.

“You didn’t say anything about how you tricked me into our first kiss with a stupid child’s prank! ‘Having fallen for each other at first sight, the two of us pressed our lips together in a passionate display of desire…’ This is totally made up!”

“Calm down, Alice. Vicky seemed quite taken with my work. Isn’t that right?”

He grinned in her direction and the Queen gave him a thumbs-up.

“It was a riveting tale, my little Dark. Have you thought about selling it as a book? Oh, but more importantly, there’s the wedding to think about! What kind of dress will you be wearing?”

It seemed there had been a grave misunderstanding. I let go of Dark and fired back with the truth.

“Your Majesty, our engagement was only a trap we laid to reveal the culprit. It wasn’t for real!”

“Don’t be shy, Alice. I know how dangerous situations often bring men and women together. The heart-racing thrill you get when working on the case turns into a true bond of love… It’s just so exhilarating!”

“Here’s something even more exhilarating, Vicky. You see how passionate Alice is? When she pledged her body to me, the look on her face was so sweet as she begged me to proceed, I couldn’t hold back. It was her first time, so I tried my best to be gentle, but I still fear I was too rough with her.”

“Dark, you’re making it sound weird! You only branded me with your stigma!”

Her Majesty swayed from side to side as the two of us bickered.

“Ahhh, couples are so cute when they argue! I want to show the maids too. I’ll be right back once I gather some people~!”

“Huh?! Your Majesty, please wait just a moment!”

She ignored my pleas and skipped down the hill away from us.

There was no doubt in my mind that the rumor of our engagement would soon be spread. It didn’t take long for gossip to make its way through high society, especially if it came from the royal palace.

“I can’t believe this… It’s all your fault!”

I held my head in my hands while Dark cheerfully asked, “What’s the matter? We still formed a contract, in the sense that you pledged your soul to me when you accepted my stigma. It’s not so different from a marriage engagement. But in truth, I never wanted that bond to be a part of our relationship. Bernard must not have branded you because he felt the same way…”

“But if he did, wouldn’t we be bound together forever?”

Dark stared at me warmly in response to my confusion. “He probably wanted you to fall for him of your own free will.”

“My free will…”

It was such an unexpected response, I went speechless. Bear wanted me to love him for him. His stigma would make me belong to him in an instant, but he didn’t want to steal my heart.

He was truly a demon in love.

“…What a foolish man.”

I’d loved Bear as a member of my family, so that was all I could say.

Dark took a sip of black tea and changed the subject. “Let’s talk about us. If we have the approval of Vicky, the Queen, then I don’t think any nobles can oppose us. When would you like to formally announce it?”

“We’ll be doing no such thing. I only proposed to you because I had no other choice!”

“You’re so stubborn. Why can’t you just go with the flow? I promise I’ll make you happy.”

“No thank you. I still have things to do as a Liddell.”

I’d already accepted that I was clearly in the middle of Dark’s route. The problem was that the Sleeping Beauty cases were only one small chapter in a larger story. Otome games are always rich in content like that.

If I continued to proceed in my romance with Dark, the life of “Alice” would keep being put in danger.

I also needed to find people who could protect the Liddell estate now that our guardian demon was gone. There was no time to busy myself with becoming Dark’s wife. I probably hadn’t reached the right point in the story yet.

“I am Alice, the head of the Liddell family. If I want happiness, I’ll obtain it with my own two hands. Now revoke our engagement at once!”

I retrieved the pistol from my bag and pointed it at Dark, who smiled back at me pleasantly.

“I think you might regret that. You love me a lot more than you let on.”

“I don’t remember saying anything of the sort.”

“You kissed me when I branded you with my stigma. That’s how I know.”

I turned bright red when he brought that up so casually.

“Y-You can’t read my mind! That’s just unfair!”

“Hahaha! Some might even call it ‘devilish,’ no?”

Dark’s stupid joke only made me angrier. I waved my gun at him and shouted: “Give up already! You’ll never get the words I love you out of me!”

Summer was just around the corner. The sequel to my love story, set in the otome world’s “Deadliest Game of the Year,” would remain a secret for a little while longer.