The ice in his voice sucked the warmth out of the room.
“H-huh?” Alice blurted. The question was so sudden that she didn’t know how to answer.
The man flicked his teacup. The ceramic cup clacked loudly as it jostled on its saucer.
“You acted like we were friends from the very first moment we met,” he said darkly. “The first time I called you to this room, you didn’t ask anyone for directions. You put all my books exactly where they should be. And now you choose a tea you know I’d like.” His eyes narrowed. “These aren’t things you could’ve learned from asking other people about me.”
Alice swallowed. She tried a weak laugh.
“You’re overthinking this,” she offered. “I knew your first name, so I called you that by accident. I heard the location of your room from the maids, and of course I’m good with books considering my day job now. The tea was…a lucky guess.”
That clearly wasn’t good enough for the head of the Hatter Family. The corners of his mouth curved up as he rose from the sofa.
“If you seriously think I would buy that, then I’m insulted you think so little of me. Coincidence is when something happens once, young lady. Three times points to fate. Or do miracles like that happen all the time where you come from?
“After I told you to come to my room, I confirmed with my employees that you never asked for directions. If there’s a coincidence that would allow you to traverse this huge mansion in a beeline for my room without a single wrong turn, I’d love to hear about it.”
“……”
She couldn’t answer that one. At the time, she’d figured the head boss wouldn’t change rooms on a whim, so she’d just walked to the same room she was used to in Hearts and Clover. That had clearly been a mistake.
“You choosing this tea is the last straw. Not even Elliot knows how much I like it. So let’s change the question a bit, young lady.” He leaned closer to her. “Were you somehow involved with a different version of myself?”
Alice was shocked at how certain he sounded. She could only nod.
And to be honest, she probably had underestimated Blood of the Country of Diamonds—she never would’ve dreamed he’d see through so much. Maybe he seemed younger than the one she’d known, but Blood Dupre was still Blood Dupre.
It’s not worth hiding the facts now. She took a breath.
“You’re right,” she said quietly. “I’ve met you before—well, I met the Blood Dupre of the Countries of Hearts and Clover.”
“You met him?” Blood asked softly. “It sounds like you did more than that.”
“We were…friends. That’s all.”
She went on to repeat a lot of what she’d told Jericho in the museum—what the Hatters and the other territories were like in the other countries, and what kind of relationship she had with them. When she was finished, Blood finally crossed his arms and stared down at her.
“So that’s how you knew about my private rose garden. A version of me in a different country invited you into it.”
“It didn’t happen right away…but yeah, he let me in there more than once.”
Red roses and green vines; a man in a white suit and a beautiful woman in a red dress. Alice couldn’t forget that precious memory if she tried. It was a rose-rimmed world that perfectly suited the brother and sister. Just recalling it seemed to bathe her in the lush fragrance of the flowers.
Blood’s voice cut through her thoughts.
“Who else knows that you were involved with me in a different country?”
She paused at that. “I discussed it at the museum with Jericho,” she admitted. “If I talked to anyone else about it, they just heard it as random complaints.”
Blood puffed out a breath at her answer. “The Gravekeeper?” he muttered. “If your story is true, why did you tell him first? You claim you didn’t know him before this country.”
“It’s because I’ve never met him before that he’s easier to talk to.” She didn’t add the mundane point that Jericho’s calm demeanor and the odd atmosphere of the museum had all encouraged her to open up to him.
But it seemed that Blood didn’t allow for the mundane.
“I see,” he said ominously. “It seems that you’re good at getting under people’s skin, young lady.”
Alice’s face distorted. “I wasn’t trying to get under anyone’s skin,” she snapped.
“But you did. First that other Blood Dupre, then me, then you moved on to the Gravekeeper. I don’t approve of your tastes.”
Alice’s jaw dropped. “Blood!”
The Mafia boss didn’t back off. In fact, his smile only grew colder.
“What’s the appeal of a man who’s already dead?” he spat. “You’re even stranger than I thought you were.”
“Will you stop saying that? Jericho is a living, breathing person.” She scowled. “And I like to talk to different people with different opinions. He’s not like the Blood I know from other countries. And neither are you.”
Maybe Blood didn’t believe her; he only glared. Alice was already irritated, but his hostile gaze spoke volumes about how pointless the conversation had become.
“If we’re done talking,” she said through her teeth, “then I should get back to work.” She slapped the table louder than she needed to as she rose to her feet.
She marched to the door without looking back. As she reached for the knob, his voice rang through the room behind her.
“The next Survey Meeting is coming up.”
“……”
“If you plan on any more trysts with the Gravekeeper, I suggest you keep a low profile. If someone like Elliot saw you, it could turn into a noisy problem.”
“Thanks for the warning,” she snarled, ripping the door open.
As Alice stomped out of the room, the guards on either side of the door flashed her curious looks. Alice ignored them and stormed down the hallway.
“Blood is such an idiot!” she hissed to herself. “Why does he always say garbage like that?”
Every recollection of his words put her more and more on edge. It felt like she’d caught that disease from the Red Queen, even though Vivaldi wasn’t around to infect her.
Blood of the other countries had always used sexual harassment or provocative words to rile her up. He’d shoot things off in a fake malevolent voice. She couldn’t count the number of times he’d used sarcasm to avoid getting to the point.
He’d never irritated her as badly as this. She was a fool for assuming he was a straight talker—she should have answered him with banter.
But if that were true, then why was she suddenly so angry? She didn’t know, and that uncertainty frayed her nerves.
She swiftly climbed the steps. When she finally stepped into the reference library, Alice stopped.
“Nn…!”
Her balance wavered as the inside of her head went numb. A sudden dizziness made her knees wobble.
She automatically stuck her hand out to steady herself. If the wall hadn’t been there, she surely would’ve crumpled to the ground.
She furrowed her brow. “I’ve felt dizzy like this before,” she breathed to herself. “When Blood first threw me in a cell when I got to Diamonds. But it’s happened a few other times, too, hasn’t it?”
The intensity of the dizziness had varied, though. Sometimes she just steadied herself against a table, other times she was ready to faint.
Was she just so mad that her blood pressure had spiked? But with the way she’d left Blood’s room, there was no way she was going to tell him she couldn’t work because she felt sick.
It’s just the blood rushing to my head, she told herself. It’ll pass if I just calm down.
She swallowed bile and shakily got to work.