Chapter 2: Showdown with the Eccentric Earl
Chapter 2: Showdown with the Eccentric Earl
I exited my carriage carefully, minding the red-and-black dress that covered my body. The white walls of the sprawling mansion before me loomed overhead.
Displayed above the front door and sculpted into the garden gates’ white bars was the residing family’s crest. It was a beautiful array of stars in the shape of a cross against a slim crescent moon.
“So, this is the Knightley residence…”
According to my preliminary research, Lord Knightley was an earl who had a large estate in the kingdom’s northern reaches. He spent most of the year at his castle but returned to London around the time the other nobles began hosting social events.
I have no idea what this evening is going to bring me…
I shuddered all the way down to my high heels.
I knew I had to move, but the pressure overcame me and I froze in place. I just couldn’t understand why my body refused to obey me at times. It’s not as if “lift your foot” and “put it down again” are too much to ask, right?
“Are you all right, my lady?”
Leeds looked at me with concern as he watched me stand there motionless.
He was wearing his favorite shawl, which was now accented with lace to suit the ball. Jack stood behind him, and he had his tailcoat and white tie on properly for once. His eyes lit up as he took in all the sights around him.
The twins were staying at home, though it was anything but a night off for them. Our house was constantly under threat of attack, so the pair were there to defend our territory while the rest of us were out.
All four of them were hard at work, and then there was me, dragging my feet like a complete disgrace.
Running away wasn’t an option, no matter how afraid I was.
“I’m fine. Let’s get this over with.”
I forced a smile onto my face. We approached the front gates, where an old man was greeting each guest as they arrived.
“Good evening. I am Alice of the Liddell family.”
“We’ve been expecting you, Miss Liddell. Please accept this rose.”
The man plucked a single blue rose from a large jade vase.
“All guests of Lord Knightley are to receive this gift. May you and your company enjoy a magical evening.”
He gestured towards the entrance hall, and I gulped involuntarily.
I was entering the battlefield. I couldn’t present any weaknesses to the world.
“The head of the Liddell family must always honor that position.”
“Yes, Father.”
With those words echoing in my head, I commanded my body to take the first step forward.
♥♥♥
“…WHAT a letdown.”
I made my way through the sea of party guests, empty champagne glass in one hand.
The walls of the main hall were lined with large mirrors. Noblemen and women, wearing blue roses on their clothes and in their hair, filled the room.
The waiters’ faces were hidden by large masks adorned with various animal ear shapes sprouting from the tops. It reminded me of the cosplay events in my previous life.
My own ears were filled with snippets of gossip among guests. As for my eyes, they were busy taking in the sights of the performing jugglers and the colorful feather fans in the ladies’ hands.
But no matter where I looked, the evening’s host, Lord Knightley, was nowhere to be seen. According to a few guests with whom I exchanged introductions, he was still busy getting dressed.
The young earl had only recently turned twenty-three years old. He was a man known for his love of fine clothes, and he would often have elaborate costumes made with the intention of showing them off to the world.
“This earl must be a strange man. Maybe I should look for someone else instead…”
By this point, I’d entirely lost my desire to pursue this first side character. I found my way to a less-populated corner of the room.
Various appetizers covered a nearby table, but my nerves had done a good job of getting rid of my appetite. Leeds was off searching for information on the Sleeping Beauty cases, or so he said. Through the crowd, I happened to catch a glimpse of him chatting and laughing with a well-dressed man who seemed like just his type.
Jack was by my side, but he seemed on edge. He was constantly checking the time on his pocket watch.
“We’ve been here for two hours already. What kind of host doesn’t show his face at his own party?”
“It’s rather strange.”
A formal ball is supposed to be a display of a family’s status. If the venue isn’t perfect, then the family must be lacking in wealth. If the servants aren’t in order, then the family’s popularity is called into question.
It may seem like nothing more than a fun evening, but in reality, everyone is constantly judging everyone else on the basis of their class. Like a slow-acting poison, any mistake can result in a sullied reputation for your family or a more difficult social life.
For that reason, a host is expected to greet their guests with a smile, be sure their drinks are never empty, create an enjoyable atmosphere throughout the hall, and keep them entertained until the evening is over.
At the very least, there was no reason to suspect that Lord Knightley wasn’t present at the ball.
“Now that I think of it, I don’t know what the earl looks like.”
As I let out a quiet sigh, I spotted a performer standing in the center of the hall. He was wearing clown makeup and suddenly began to breathe fire straight from his mouth. Among the cheers of awe from the guests was a brief shriek from a woman.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared her ponytail had been singed by the flames. The performer bowed in apology, but the angry woman stomped out of the room.
I used the distraction to carefully survey the crowd.
“No one here looks like they could be the earl.”
“I’ll go look around. That idiot over there won’t be any help.”
Jack glared at Leeds, who was still glued to the same man across the room. Then he turned to look at me.
“Yell if anything happens,” he cautioned. “Leeds and I will be there instantly.”
“All right, Jack.”
I set my glass on the table and gently clasped his face with my hands. “Don’t overdo it. I want you back in one piece.”
“You worry too much. I won’t be long.”
Jack turned and exited the main hall.
Now alone, I leaned my back against the wall and placed my hand over the heart-shaped bag around my shoulder. My pistol was safe inside, as always. This way, I could watch over the room while keeping my back safe.
You never know when exactly an attack might come.
My heartbeat quickened as if it were warning me not to let my guard down.
“That girl with the blood-red hair… Is she the one who almost drowned in that pond?”
“…!”
The whispered conversation of a nearby group of women suddenly reached my ears.
“That’s right. She’s the daughter of Baron Liddell; she runs that family now. They say her parents were killed by robbers.”
“She’s the one who lost her memories from shock, right? I heard she was living in the East End like some vagrant.”
“That’s why she’s such a troublemaker. Just recently, she was upset to see a woman more beautiful than her at the same tea party. She tried to push that woman into the pond, but she slipped and ended up in there herself! I heard it from a friend of a friend.”
That’s not what happened! The other woman was the one who hated me for my looks!
The incident in question happened a month earlier. I was attending a duchess’s tea party, and suddenly the other women began to act like I was being rude to them. They used that to justify pushing me into a pond, where I came close to drowning.
Socializing was never my strong suit in the first place. I particularly detested the ladies my age who used tea parties as an excuse to gossip and badmouth our peers. I made no secret how I felt about them, and as a result, I was always given labels like “arrogant” or “uncivilized.”
In my past life, we would’ve simply called this “bullying.”
This was part of the story I knew from Evil Alice’s Lover, so it came as no surprise to me.
During the game, Alice almost dies as a result of the bullying from the other girls, but one of the love interests is able to save her in time. It’s a very romantic scene.
But now that I think about it, no one has saved me from anything like that yet.
When I nearly drowned, it was a giant eel that appeared from the bottom of the pond and sent me flying back up to shore on its belly. At a recent garden party, I nearly burned my tongue on some tea served to me while much too hot, but I was saved by a sudden rainstorm that filled my cup and made the tea undrinkable.
Time after time after time… I never got to experience a single event in my life that would earn me points with my love interests.
Why isn’t it happening for me? I’m supposed to be an otome game heroine…
A young woman wearing a pair of seashell earrings sneered at me as I moped.
“It’s no wonder she doesn’t get along with us. After all, we were all born and raised with better manners.”
Her brash way of speaking rang a bell in my mind. I turned my head so that I could look straight at the gossipers.
“That’s true. I don’t get along with liars.”
The young woman’s eyes went wide at my sudden comment.
“L-Liars? What’s this about, now?”
“It’s nothing. I just happened to remember that you were one of the women who made me fall into that pond.”
I kept my cool as I spoke. The other women furrowed their brows.
“Miss Madeline, is that true?”
“Of course not! It’s another one of Miss Liddell’s lies. You can’t believe I’d shove someone into a pond, can you?”
“Shoved me? Interesting. I don’t believe those were the words I used. You distinguished ladies must really love bullying those who are weaker than you, seeing how you all ganged up on me together.”
“That’s enough out of you!”
The young woman with the seashell earrings—Madeline—stomped off in frustration. Just like a child’s game of follow the leader, her flock of lackies trailed behind, eager to hear the whole story.
Oh well. She was right about half of it.
Three years earlier, a burglar managed to break into the Liddell estate.
It was late at night on the eve of Alice’s thirteenth birthday.
Not a single soul within the mansion was spared. Only Jack and I were lucky enough—or perhaps, unlucky enough—to be resurrected by a passing demon.
I believed that the murderer would return upon learning I had been brought back to life, so I left the mansion before dawn and started a new life among the orphans of the East End.
It was nearly six months before Bear found and rescued me from that life of poverty.
Afterward, I returned to prove I was a descendant of the baron Liddell, and by the time a full year had passed, I had received the Queen’s blessing to be recognized as the head of my family. Being able to appear at social events was only a recent development.
Naturally, no one knew that I had been reborn at the hands of a demon. But in the eyes of all my fellow aristocrats, without so much as a blemish on their perfect reputations, my tragic past painted a target on my back when it came to matters of their social world.
I won’t back down from the likes of those bullies. I’ll be rid of all this shady business and live till the day my hair turns gray!
I raised my head, only to find myself face-to-face with a tall waiter wearing a rabbit’s-ear mask. His approach surprised me; I couldn’t tell what he wanted at first. The man tilted his head and smiled, his eyes lighting up behind a large pair of black-rimmed glasses.
“Would you care for more champagne, my lady?”
“No thank you.”
Alcohol was the last thing I wanted at that moment, but the waiter persisted.
“In that case, how about a caviar cracker? Or would you prefer an ice cream topped with sweet syrup? I can also bring you biscuits fresh from the oven.”
He whisked the various dishes off a nearby table and laid them out on a silver serving tray.
This man felt more like a pushy salesman than a waiter. I backed away and continued to shake my head.
“I’m sorry, I’m just not that hungry right—”
“What’s this? But you’re supposed to be enjoying the ball. This simply won’t do!”
With that loud declaration, the waiter suddenly tossed the serving tray off to the side. He removed his glasses and pulled off the mask, then ran his hands through the silver locks of hair that were now revealed.
It all happened so fast. I just stood there with my eyes wide open, feeling like I’d witnessed a transformation scene in a magical-girl anime.
“Wh-Wh-WHAAAT?!”
The ordinary waiter had become a dashing young man right before my eyes.
Atop his tall, slender frame was a face with handsomely sculpted features. His lips were full, his nose high, and his chin strongly defined—all undeniable displays of his noble blood.
Eyes as blue as sapphires were staring straight at me.
Like the night sky…
The man trailed his fingers along my chin, which had gone slack with amazement. He grinned at me.
“A host’s duty is to entertain his guests. Tell me, what can I do to entertain you?”
“A ‘host’? So you’re Lord Knightley?!”
Nearby guests began stirring when they heard this. The old man who had given me the blue rose emerged from the crowd.
“I’ve been looking for you, Lord Dark.”
“Gramps! Wasn’t my disguise simply marvelous?”
The old man nodded in agreement with the earl’s proud boasts.
“Yes, it was quite impeccable. However, I believe the time is right for you to reveal your identity to the rest of the guests. As your butler, there’s only so many times I can tell everyone that you’re still getting changed.”
“I see. Well then, now that the jig is up, I suppose it’s time to say hello!”
He donned a large hat covered in fake flowers and fastened a cape around his collar, then leaped up onto the table.
“My distinguished guests, I welcome you all to the Knightley residence! I am Dark Arland Knightley, the current earl of the Knightley family.”
The audience erupted into applause after his dramatic introduction.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. The sound of my racing heart drowned out the noise around me.
I’ve seen this man before…
Lord Knightley made an appearance in the game I knew from my past life. He held a minor role in Evil Alice’s Lover and was dubbed “the strange nobleman.”
“In addition to these street performers, I’ve also invited an acrobatic troupe with a rich history to entertain you all. They hail from the eastern hemisphere but have joined us for tonight’s event. Young or old, master or servant, I implore you all to enjoy this magical evening!”
After a bow from the earl, the sound of a gong rang out from the second-floor balcony above our heads. Dancers dressed in Chinese robes began to emerge from the side rooms around us.
They all gathered to form a long row. Exotic music filled the room and the dancers performed in time with the rhythm, spinning plates on bamboo sticks and balancing white balls with their bodies.
I glanced over at Leeds and found him staring back at me with a look of shock on his face. We had become completely separated by the row of dancers parading through the room. He wouldn’t be able to reach me, even in the event of an attack.
“Leeds…!”
“I’m coming. Wait there, my lady!”
Leeds bolted toward the end of the row.
My eyes were glued to him when I heard the earl descend from his table beside me.
“What a breathtaking performance! Wouldn’t you agree, my lady?”
“I-Indeed…”
He appeared displeased with my hesitation.
“Hmm,” he murmured, pressing his hand to his chin. “You don’t seem very taken with it. As the host of this party, I simply can’t let a guest go without enjoying themselves. Gramps, take care of the party from here!”
“Eek!”
The cry slipped out of my mouth as I found myself being whisked off my feet. Even outside of otome games, I’d always wanted to experience being carried in a man’s arms. But somehow, the earl just wasn’t doing it for me.
He maneuvered through the crowds of the main hall and carried me deeper into the mansion.
What do I do?!
I shrunk into the earl’s arms, unable to let out so much as a scream.
The man took sweeping steps farther and farther down the quiet hallway. He carried me past a dark-skinned servant, who opened a door and guided us inside.
A dazzling white light poured out from the room, flooding my vision entirely.
The next time I opened my eyes, I could see we were in a glowing, white library. The furniture, walls, window frames, and even the clock on the wall were all painted white with deep-blue accents throughout the room. A display of blue roses sat atop the earl’s writing desk, and his claw-footed sofa was upholstered with classy blue velvet.
“I’m going to get changed, so just wait there.”
Lord Knightley laid me down on the sofa, then began to remove his apron and waistcoat with the help of his servant. I blushed and turned away at the sight of a man undressing before me all of a sudden.
What’s happening right now?!
I had essentially been kidnapped, even if we were still technically on the same property, but instead of torturing me or demanding money, I was being forced to watch a man undress. It certainly felt like harassment, even though I doubted his intent was to upset me.
We were alone in the room, with the exception of the servant standing in the corner. It was the perfect opportunity to assess the earl as a potential marriage partner.
However, there was also an alarm blaring inside my mind.
This is bad. He’s Alice’s archenemy…!
Evil Alice’s Lover is an otome game where the player can pursue a relationship with Jack, Leeds, or the Tweedle brothers.
The more progress you make in their heart-racing stories, solving difficult cases along the way, the more often you encounter side characters. The women who bullied Alice were one example. Another was a former police officer who ends up at the Liddell estate while pursuing a lead.
The side character who appears the most in the game is a man who acts as a detective at the scene of various crimes. He’s a peculiar nobleman who begins to suspect Alice as the true culprit behind it all. His name, of course, is Dark Arland Knightley.
Earl Knightley stars in many scenes that prompt the player to make life-and-death choices. The fandom nickname for him is the “walking death flag.” With his stunning design and standout voice acting, he’s truly the ultimate side character. Plenty of fans have pledged their love for Dark, even though he’s not a pursuable character in the game.
His popularity earned him a place in the Evil Alice’s Lover DLC Evil Alice’s Fiancé, where he became an actual love interest for the heroine.
DLC stands for downloadable content. It’s extra game content that gets released sometime after the main game.
To put it simply, it’s usually a collection of heart-warming situations with your love interest that take place after the true ending of their route, now that you’ve formed a real relationship with them.
But unfortunately, I never got a chance to play Evil Alice’s Fiancé in my past life. It wasn’t released while I was still alive.
The bonus content was only just announced on the day of my accident. In other words, I didn’t know the first thing about the Lord Knightley who was now a love interest for Alice.
Wait, did that announcement have any information about his story…?
The news had said that the earl’s route wasn’t a sequel to Evil Alice’s Lover like it was for the other four love interests. This time, it would return to the main story and timeline of the original game.
It was stated that Alice was going to have her true story revealed, including secrets that were never exposed in the main game. I felt a chill down my spine as I recalled that part.
And that’s the life I have to live now…?!
It never made sense why I couldn’t strengthen my bond with any of my four partners, despite being the heroine of an otome game. But if this was Lord Knightley’s new route from the DLC, it was only natural that I couldn’t romance any other character.
If I enter Lord Knightley’s route, I’ll be in big trouble!
There was no way I could marry the walking death flag. I would have no way of keeping myself safe. He was the absolute last man I should choose if I wanted to live!
“What a lovely evening it’s been! As it turns out, an apron and a pair of glasses are all it takes to disguise myself from the world. What splendid fun!”
His loud voice snapped me out of my cloud of fear.
The earl had changed into a gray striped vest underneath a dark-blue jacket. A gigantic bow on his hat shook each time he let out a laugh.
It was, by any standard, a ridiculous outfit. I’d heard he was something of a fashion aficionado, and it very much appeared to be the truth.
If he likes drawing attention to himself so much, he’s certainly not suited to be Alice’s fiancé!
All I wanted to do was lower my affection with him as soon as I could. My life depended on it. I began to search for a lead.
“Lord Knightley, why have you taken me—”
“Oh, I’m sorry to ask, but can we skip the formalities?”
“Pardon?”
He sat down on the sofa across from me. His expression seemed a bit annoyed.
“I hate when people address me by my last name. I’m Dark Arland Knightley, a perfectly normal man who just so happened to inherit the title of earl. So please call me Dark, my lady.”
An earl’s family is ranked higher than a baron’s family. It’s highly unusual to address a higher-ranking nobleman by their first name, but since he personally requested it, I had no choice but to obey.
I started over and posed my question. “Why did you disguise yourself as a waiter, Dark?”
“I wanted to have a bit of fun. Didn’t you see the postscript on your invitation? It said there was a prize for whoever could find the host in disguise.”
“Neither the letter nor the invitation card said anything like that…”
“No, I most certainly wrote it. All it takes is a little heat to make it appear.”
“You mean you used invisible ink?! Well, obviously no one would see that!”
Dark cocked his head when he heard my change in tone.
“I was so sure you’d find it. Don’t you have a servant who can use fire?”
“!”
A chill ran down my spine. It almost sounded like he knew about Jack’s power.
“…Do you know who we are?” I asked, my voice trembling.
Dark calmly crossed his legs.
“Everyone knows about you. You’re the girl who restored her family name after its destruction, and you now sit as its head. Though I only recently learned of the stigmata in your midst…”
“Where did you hear that my servant can use flames?”
“From the only other person you entrusted with the information.”
“Her Majesty…?!”
I had informed Queen Victoria about everything—my resurrection at the hands of a demon, how I gathered other children like me, and the work we put into restoring the Liddell family name.
I asked her so many times not to speak of it to anyone. She was the last person I expected to betray me.
“…They’re still my precious family members. I don’t care if they’re stigmata. If you intend to harm us with actions or gossip, I won’t hesitate to eliminate you.”
I sat up straight and glared daggers at the earl. He had to know how serious I was.
“If you value your life, you’ll never speak of this topic again.”
“I can’t just forget about it. A young lady like you deserves a better life than this. Protecting the harmony of Great Britain from the shadows, was it?”
“Your help is the last thing I need.”
“I’m not so sure about that…”
He looked as if he’d thought of something as he stood up, walked past the table, and sat down next to me.
“You may not have seen my message, but you were still the one who saw through my disguise. As the winner of my game, I have a very special present to offer you.”
“I’ll pass. And you took off your costume before I had any idea who you were!”
“I couldn’t help it. You were far too charming.”
He put his arm around my shoulders and grinned. It seemed like strange timing for a smile. Such a confusing man he was. From up close, I could see his eyes were the color of a beautiful night sky.
Instead of twinkling stars, his irises were filled with the reflection of “Alice.”
My face looked much more afraid than usual.
“Don’t be scared. I’m sure you’ll love it if you decide to accept it.”
“I-I said I don’t want it! Who would just accept a present when they don’t even know what it is?!”
I turned my face away from him. Dark, now sounding a bit strange, spoke.
“Alice, you have something on your shoulder.”
“What?!”
Just as I turned to look, Dark pressed his lips against mine.
He tricked me!
At that moment, I felt a burst in my chest as if a string of firecrackers had been lit. The impact flung open a door inside my heart, and one by one, the feelings I kept locked away began to flood out.
I want to be with Father again. I can hardly bear the loss of all my loved ones. I need to be strong to protect Jack and the others.
One emotion remained behind, deep in the bottom of my heart.
Lonely. Lonely. I’m so lonely…
Tears spilled from my eyes as I came face-to-face with my truest feelings.
I tugged at Dark’s sleeve, and he reluctantly broke the kiss.
“It was supposed to be your present… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“You were reading my mind, weren’t you?”
“I’m not sure about that. If I said I was, would you believe me?”
It was difficult to accept, but it was true. My heart had been laid bare…
By Dark’s magic kiss.
“I don’t want to believe it, so I’ll ask the truth of you. What did you do to me, and who exactly are you?”
Instinct was warning me not to push him much further, but I also couldn’t help the fact that I’d taken an interest in Dark.
I stared at him, wide-eyed from the unexpected intrusion in my heart, and he smiled warmly back at me.
“I’m honored. I want to get to know you better as w—”
He was interrupted by a loud shattering sound. I followed Dark’s gaze to the window, where I saw a dark shadow behind the cracked pane of glass.
“Get away from Miss Alice!”
Jack’s body was brimming with fire as he hung from the window frame and kicked in the glass from outside. His feet were about to connect with Dark, so I quickly turned away.
Jack’s flames existed to burn away the object of his hatred, and they were directed at none other than the man in front of me.
However, what followed next were not Dark’s screams, but the sound of a quiet sizzle.
“…What was that?”
I opened my eyes and was met with a strange sight.
The servant who had stood posted against the wall was now protecting Dark with his body. Dressed in Middle Eastern clothes, he raised one arm above him and surrounded himself with a barrier of clear water.
White smoke rose up from all over the barrier.
It’s not smoke. It’s steam!
The force sent Jack tumbling back onto the floor. He looked down at his hands when the flames started to dwindle.
“My stigma’s fire is burning out…?”
“My water is like your fire.”
The servant spoke slowly and rolled up the long fabric of his tunic. On the left side of his stomach, we could see a crescent moon–shaped stigma on his skin.
His servant is a stigmata too!
“I am sorry, Jack.”
He put his hands together to condense the water barrier into a single ball, then sent it flying straight toward Jack.
I watched him become drenched from head to toe. All traces of his fire were gone.
“Haha! Wonderful as always, Hisui!”
Dark applauded the man heartily and looked down at Jack on the floor.
“It’s nice to finally meet the fire butler in the flesh. Or perhaps I should call you Alice’s guard dog. Hisui’s stigma here allows him to produce as much water as he needs. Your flames are impressive, but it looks like they’re no match for him.”
“It can’t be. My flames…”
“Jack!”
Dark grabbed me by the arm when I tried to run over to Jack.
“You put a lot of faith in your guard dog, but if he still loses to Hisui, he’s not strong enough to protect you. Your life will be in danger unless you rid yourself of weaklings like him.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
On hearing this insult to my family, I started seeing red. I whipped my handgun out of my bag and aimed it right at Dark’s head.
“Let go of my arm, or I’ll shoot.”
“…I just don’t get it.” From the other end of the barrel, Dark looked at me with pity in his eyes. “What is it that’s driving you?”
“As head of the family, it’s my job to protect them.”
“I see. That must be why Her Majesty suggested you.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“I’m talking about our marriage.”
He smiled back at me calmly, like everything was going according to plan.
“She must have thought we’d be a good fit, seeing as I’m not opposed to demons. If you do me the honor of choosing me, I’ll let all your dear stigmata work here at my home, just like Hisui. I’ll even take over the Liddell family’s secret line of work. You’ll be able to live a happy life outside of the shadows.”
“You actually want to marry me…”
I shuddered. It was deeply terrifying how Dark seemed so set on this—almost as if he was prepared to accept each and every one of our gravest secrets with a smile.
“I won’t let my life be decided by someone else…” I stepped back, putting some distance between the two of us. “You’re the last person I would marry. I don’t care if Her Majesty suggested it!”
Dark smirked as I steadied my aim at him once more.
“Can a baron’s family really deny the request of an earl’s family?”
“How dare you bring titles into this!”
“That’s right, Mr. Earl. We don’t let anyone boss us around.”
I followed the sound of the voice and saw Leeds standing in the doorway.
His forehead was glistening with sweat. I could only imagine he’d been searching the entire mansion for me.
“No one wants to marry a guy who doesn’t consider their feelings. As you can see, Miss Alice is a beautiful, distinguished young woman. Any man who wants to marry her will need approval from Jack and me.”
“So, I need your permission. And what are your conditions?”
“…Good question.”
Leeds looked Dark up and down. He was a man of status, means, good looks, and social connections… In fact, even by the strictest of criteria, there was probably no reason to deny him.
If something went wrong here, I could end up engaged to him in the blink of an eye. Now nervous, I turned toward Leeds, who was deep in thought, and watched as he came up with a condition far different from anything I could have imagined.
“I’ve got it. Lord Knightley, I assume you’re familiar with the case of the ‘Sleeping Beauties’ and how no one can figure out who’s behind them. So why don’t we make this interesting? If you solve the case first, you can have Miss Alice as your bride. But if we beat you to it…”
Leeds wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my head.
“Then she stays with us. We’ll be the ones by her side for the rest of time, even after our souls are sent to hell.”
“I accept your challenge. You’ll agree to his conditions, won’t you?”
“I…”
Dark was something of a self-made detective in Evil Alice’s Lover. However, I could think of one advantage we had that he lacked.
We were all living in the plot of an otome game. The Liddells were the protagonists; therefore, it was entirely possible we would prove the victors.
“All right, I accept the challenge. We won’t be defeated by you.”
Thus, our race to solve the case of the Sleeping Beauties was set into motion.
♥♥♥
“TWINKLE, twinkle, little star…”
The girl slid out of bed in a pleasant mood, humming a song to herself as she moved. Her body still felt warm from the excitement of that evening’s ball, and she just couldn’t fall asleep, even after changing into her nightgown and turning out the lights.
She then remembered she was still wearing her earrings. As she unclipped them and placed them on her bedside table, the girl caught a glimpse of the window. The night sky was filled with stars scattered around a brilliant full moon. Upon approaching the glass, she spotted a single silver star trailing across the sky.
The girl had once heard that shooting stars traveled the sky to make wishes come true.
“Please grant my wish. I wish for the chance to once again cross paths with the beautiful man I laid eyes on tonight…Lord Knightley.”
She folded her hands together in prayer, and at that moment, a rustling sound came from the other side of her window.
A well-dressed man was standing there, clad in a black top hat and a cloak around his shoulders.
A blue rose rested in his pocket, just like the one the girl had received at the ball.
“The stars have granted my wish!”
The girl flung open the window in delight, but immediately, she realized something was amiss.
Her room was on the second floor. The man before her was floating in the air.
“How are you doing that?” she wondered aloud.
The man’s cape fluttered in the breeze. The moon cast its light upon him, revealing blood-colored skin covering his entire body, including his grotesque, monstrous face.
“Good evening, my lady.”
“AHHHHH!”
She tried to slam the window shut, but all she could do was scratch at the frame with her fingernails. The man forced his way into the room and clasped a large, bony hand over her mouth.
“Mmmmph!”
The girl stumbled back and fell onto the bed. Her body continued to writhe, but her eyes slowly went empty under the man’s hand, and she drifted out of consciousness. The man’s wretched face twisted into a grin as she lay still before him.
“Sleep well, my sinner. This is all for Alice…”