Chapter 139

8 The Tragedy’s Purpose “Oh, I simply adore chess!” A young girl in leather shoes swung her feet back and forth beneath her seat at the tea party. She laughed, innocent as could be. The red wall was to her back, and her seat was the one straight across from Kaito’s—on the side of the enemy army. At present, she was fiddling with the chessboard, snatching pieces up and tossing them back down as suited her fancy. Then three crowned pieces appeared atop the board. They were much larger than the other pieces, and the girl regarded them with great interest. “It’s such an odd chess set, what with it having three kings and all! The thing is, see, I don’t know the rules all that well. I just think the little pieces look cute. Did you know that Through the Looking-Glass is a story about chess? There’s a Red Queen and a White Queen, you see, and the whole story is about their match!” The girl threw out her chest with pride, her red eyes gleaming beneath the brim of her oversized hat. All of a sudden, though, her expression went blank and she spoke in an apathetic murmur. “…Say, why is it you still think this world will amount to anything?” “Forget the pointless question—are you sure you should even be here?” Kaito rested his chin on his hand and answered her question with one of his own. He gazed at the girl with eyes just as emotionless as hers. She dumped a handful of sugar cubes into her cup and puffed up her lips in annoyance as she violently stirred. “Pshaw, it’s fine. I’m asleep right now! And you see, in my dream, I followed the scent of something familiar from another world. It was like I was chasing after the White Rabbit… I’m a very good girl, you know. You might not know it, but I can do just about anything! But the way you are now, not even I’m any sort of match for you.” The white ribbons adorning the girl’s—Alice’s—hat slumped down. Her emotions were as bombastic as they were varied. As the Mad King and Fremd Torturchen continued their Mad Tea Party, Alice spoke in the saddest of tones. “Once I wake up, I’ll forget that any of this happened. It’s better for you that way, right? …But see, that’s how dreams really ought to be. You can’t keep your memories from Wonderland once you go back. And Father said the same thing… ‘Nightmares are best forgotten,’ he told me. He said that he feels sorry for me because I always cry so horribly in my sleep.” But what about this? With a small murmur, Alice tilted her cup over. Its red contents spilled out onto the board, and sugar cubes went tumbling and knocked pieces over. However, the maid didn’t scold her for her rudeness. Hina merely stood silently by her husband’s side. Eventually, Alice seemed satisfied. She gave a big nod. “Well, I suppose either’s fine! But since I’m here and all, I may as well wish for it to be a good one—oh, but the pieces have started moving, so I’m going to be woken up. That’s quite a shame.” Alice poked at the three massive pieces. Each crowned piece bore the form of an intersex beast. One was an ancient wolf, another was a white deer, and the final one was a colossal hawk. As they trampled over her army, Alice spoke in a quiet, singsong voice.