“Please let me know when you’re done eating, ’kay~? The boss is calling.”
Of all the conversations Alice had had with the maid through the cell door…this was different. She frowned as she accepted the tray sliding through the slot.
“You mean Blood?” Alice asked.
“Yeah~. So eat that up quick, please~. He isn’t very good at waiting~.”
Alice heard the maid’s footsteps quickly tap away. Alice stared at her tray.
She could tell the approximate time period through the barred window, so she knew it had been about ten periods since she’d been locked up. She figured Blood had his reasons for imprisoning her, but still…this Blood was a little slower to act than the Blood she knew.
Whatever. She was sick of sitting in that dreary cell and twiddling her thumbs. Alice practically inhaled the soup and bread, and by the time she was finished, the maid’s footsteps returned.
“Finished eating~? Then come this way~.”
A key turned in the door with a chak. Alice watched the door finally, finally open again.
Even if the maid had heard that Alice was an Outsider, she clearly wasn’t taking chances. Another Mafia member stood in the shadows behind her, his gun holstered but ready.
“This way.”
The two of them flanked Alice as she carefully stepped into the hallway. As they escorted her out of the prison area, she felt harsh stares from all the Mafia members they passed. But she was just walking. How threatening did they think she was?
The Hatter mobsters she knew had always drifted around with an air of boredom, but these guys were different. It was like…they were restricted, hardened.
They passed Blood’s bedroom; Alice was instead led to a room way in the back of the living quarters. Alice had a distinct memory of staying in one of these rooms before. Was this the only place Blood would see her now? The maid stopped her in front of a fine set of doors, where two mobsters stood guard.
This was something else Alice had never seen—someone standing outside when she visited the boss. After one of the guards rapped on the door, a haughty voice drifted from behind it.
“Enter.”
“If you please~.” The maid motioned for Alice to go.
Alice sighed. “Excuse me,” she murmured.
She passed through the door and into a room that she remembered. It was decorated much like a parlor with two large sofas facing each other. Blood sat in the center of one, and as her eyes met his, the corners of his mouth raised slightly.
An unexpected line of mobsters stood behind him.
“Long time no see, young lady. You look healthy, for a prisoner.”
“You’re too kind. I should thank you for all your consideration—”
Alice made to casually sit down on the opposite sofa, but she froze at the clack clack clack of the men suddenly drawing their guns.
Alice lifted her hands in her defense. Blood snapped his fingers.
The guns returned to their holsters.
Alice was losing patience in this whole mess. She furrowed her brow at Blood.
“You called me here, and you’re just sitting there, and you still haven’t offered a lady a seat. I think that’s a little rude.”
“It’s not very ladylike to sit with a Mafia boss without an invitation,” he answered thinly. “Now I’ll invite you. Have a seat, young lady.”
He spread a white-gloved palm and indicated the other sofa. She settled into the seat.
The distance between their couches felt like a thousand miles.
“I’m happy to be out of that dank cell,” she said, “but what do you want from me?”
She tried to choose her words carefully so as not to provoke the mobsters, but she had a lot of experience with them so she knew she could be direct. The Blood of her experience, as a typical mobster, hated toadying and flattery. She hoped this version of him shared that sentiment.
Sure enough, her words didn’t seem to bother him. Quiet the opposite—a wicked smile spread across his face.
“I thought I’d hear what you have to say. The talk we would’ve had before we were interrupted.”
“What talk?”
“I wanted to hear the reason you protected my employee.” He impatiently tapped the table.
Blood Dupre, the Mad Hatter, was a territory leader—an extraordinary position among the Role-Holders, someone who attempted to control the game played by everyone living in Wonderland. He tended to be ambiguous, and never relaxed his superior attitude. She liked that flair of his, honestly.
But the actions of this Blood were a little easier for Alice to read. Was he acting more obvious on purpose to lure her into a false sense of security?
I doubt it. To him, she was just some unknown Outsider. He didn’t need to play tricks.
“Was it that unthinkable for me to save your maid?”
“Not unthinkable. Just pointless, as far as I can tell. You’re not replaceable, so why would you risk yourself for someone worthless like her? It’s suspicious.”
“Worthless? That’s a nasty thing to say about your servant!”
The Hatter leaked his breath out in a cold, hissing laugh.
“Have I disappointed you? Maybe, but you can see how baffled I am at your actions. You risked your life for someone else, maybe hoping I’d spare yours in exchange…but life is too cheap in this world for that. It was a stupid thing to do.”
“……”
His words were cruel, but Alice gave up on trying to argue with him. She could never successfully talk down the old Blood, and he wasn’t this…new guy.
“So,” she said at last. “You called me here just to tell me my actions were pointless?”
“I’m too busy for that. I want to know what you’re after.”
“After?”
He slowly nodded his head. “You’re an Outsider, but you spoke my name as if we were…close. You knew where this mansion is. Since you seem to know me from somewhere, I need to find out how much you know and what you’re planning.”
He spoke the words with an indifferent air, but she kept catching hints of a threat. She knew being humble was her safest bet.
But Alice decided to talk back.
“Make any assumptions you want,” she replied. “I don’t think you’d trust anything I could say right now.”
“…Oh?”
Blood looked a little surprised, but not angry. A small chuckle escaped his lips.
It was Alice who felt weird at his unexpected reaction. “What?” she asked.
“I never expected anybody to use the word ‘trust’ when dealing with the Mafia. Or to imply that you want me to trust you. Should I take it that way?”
“So you’re an optimist.” She tried to keep her tone light, but her stomach churned.
Of course Alice wanted him to trust her. But because she knew that was impossible at this point, she held back. She felt empty enough without having her hopes dashed.
She looked around. “Does that end the interrogation?” she asked. “If so, I’d really appreciate it if you set me free.”
“No, I still have business with you.”
“Really? Then could we maybe finish it up quickly?” Alice flashed him an expectant look.
“No matter your goal, the fact is that I still owe you.”
“Owe me…? You mean for protecting your maid?”
“Yes. The question is how to make good on the debt.”
With a thin smile, Blood peered into Alice’s eyes. The intense stare—as if he didn’t want to miss anything—was a little different from the stare of the Blood she knew.
But she was still sure he didn’t waste time on meaningless words. After all, he was Blood Dupre—the man who had publically revealed an enemy’s secret name, who had a history of fraying people’s nerves and making enemies. Whoever the man before her was, she figured the awful parts of Blood’s personality weren’t going to change that easily.
Before things went from bad to worse, Alice opened her mouth. “So that means you’re in my debt, right?”
“I see you finally want something.”
Alice ignored the look in Blood’s eye that seemed to say, Not that you’ll get it.
“If you’re in my debt, I want you to keep me in the mansion. Is that possible?”
Blood raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean, young lady?”
“It means exactly what I said. I want to stay in Hatter Mansion.” She cleared her throat. “I won’t go into any area you block off from me, and I’ll do my best to stay out of your way. Deal?”
“……”
It looked like Blood wanted to give her an immediate rejection, but then he closed his mouth. He stared at her, searching.
From Alice’s point of view, an escape would mean heading into the other territories—and she had no idea what other territories even existed here. She wanted to stay with what she knew. Or used to know, anyway.
Even if she hadn’t saved the maid’s life for this purpose, she needed all the help she could get.