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I shooed Dum and Dee out of the room to get changed.
I opened up the black trunk in front of me and pulled out the black apron dress I always wore, but the fabric was so wrinkled from the deep creases that the skirt wouldn’t stay down at the bottom.
“I can’t wear this unless I hang it up for a while…”
I took it off, hung the dress on a hanger, and looked around in the red trunk Dark had prepared for me. Inside was a jumper skirt with green accents and an exquisite short jacket with puff sleeves. The outfit was made partially with plaid fabric and a tasteful amount of lace at the bottom of the skirt.
I tied the bow to my chest, took a look in the mirror, and let out a delighted cry.
“Wow… How adorable!”
It matched the outfits the others had put on yesterday. It even looked a bit like a school uniform. I tied my hair up and knocked on Charles’ door.
He emerged dressed in his uniform and suggested I go to the headmaster’s office.
“Ask him to let you study here as a student until the next ship comes. I have to supervise breakfast in the dining hall, so I can’t come with you, but he should listen to you once you tell him the prefects of both dorms are helping you.”
Charles gave me directions to the headmaster’s office before leaving the dorm in a hurry.
Once I got out to the plaza, an old man was trimming the dewy lawn. It appeared this island was home to maintenance workers and caretakers, not just students and teachers.
“Good morning, my lady.” Leeds appeared before me on the path. He was wrinkling his brow.
“Good morning, Leeds. What’s that look for? Don’t tell me you found our demon.”
“I’m in total despair. What’s going on with the age range at this school?!” Leeds was fuming. He tugged on his ponytail. “Everywhere I look, it’s old men, grandpas, and geezers! The teachers and caretakers are totally covered in wrinkles! And here I was looking forward to spending time with gentle, beautiful teachers who turn into total stallions once class is dismissed!”
“I think you’re expecting too much of this place… It’s an island in the middle of the ocean, after all.”
Institutions were being established throughout the country due to the newfound popularity of boarding schools. Some schools valued education, like the famous nine academies, while others were only after money—gathering students and putting them in classes that weren’t up to standards. Teachers with no honor would move to those locations to guarantee an easy job.
Anyone who wasn’t serious about teaching wouldn’t come all the way out to an island school. Guardians were surely happy that those kinds of teachers didn’t work at Ark School, but Leeds was disappointed that he couldn’t land a casual fling. His grief then changed to strength with a clench of his fists.
“We’ll find that demon in no time, my lady. Then, once we’re back in London, I’ll go on a classy date with one of these gloomy old men!” Leeds handed me a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“This is a blueprint for Ark School. They give these to all the new students, and I swiped one.” He winked. “The center building has a chapel and hallways to the left and right towers, which have classrooms, research rooms, and the headmaster’s office. In between the towers is a courtyard. There’s the sports grounds and a small forest to the east, and a pond to the west for boating. You can’t come in or out through the back of the castle because it’s just a big cliffside. The dorms are on each side of the grassy plaza, and the little workshop-looking building at the side of the castle is the dining hall. Where are you headed, my lady?”
“To the headmaster’s office to get permission to stay here. Charles said he makes all the decisions regarding the school, so the teachers and students will do whatever he says.”
“Sounds like a dictatorship, if you ask me. Actually, I bet it’s easy as pie to rule over a populace when they’re children.”
We entered the castle and used the map to navigate.
The hallways were lined with works of art, elaborate lighting fixtures, and fancy furnishings. It had a lavish interior that suited a former castle built by a nobleman. However, everything looked so old. The cobblestone walls were cracked and almost looked like they might collapse if there was a strong enough earthquake.
The headmaster’s office was at the very end of the fourth-floor hallway.
“I beg your pardon, Headmaster.” Leeds opened the heavy door, but this allowed smoke to escape from the crack. I nearly choked.
Is he burning something?
I mustered up the strength to step inside.
The office was about as large as the Liddell manor conservatory, and the floor was raised at the back of the room. Someone was sitting at the amber-colored desk in the center, but a white haze filled the room, so I couldn’t see them well. All that was evident was their mushroom-shaped silhouette.
With only the sound of bubbling water followed by an exhaled breath to go by, I spoke in the direction of the person. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Are you Headmaster Caterpillar?”
“I am. And you two are…?”
The bubbling sound returned, followed by even more smoke.
“My name is Alice, and I—” I started to cough.
“How’re we supposed to talk with all this smoke?” Leeds fumbled around the wall until he found a window to open. Once the ocean breeze had dispersed the smoke, I met the eyes of a man smoking a hookah pipe at his desk.
“Phew… Classes haven’t started yet…so you should go to the chapel and pray first.”
Headmaster Caterpillar was an old man, somewhere around sixty years old. He wore an oversized robe like a sorcerer, and his long hair and beard were completely white. The headmaster was seated in a chair with arms, but his spine appeared bent as his body sank into the chair.
He cocked his head—the skin around his neck was loose from inhaling from the hookah pipe, but it contracted again as he exhaled. It reminded me of a cabbageworm crawling around on a leaf.
I curtseyed to seem polite.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Alice Liddell. I was trying to visit a girl’s boarding school but ended up at Ark School by mistake. Would I be able to live here since I hear another boat won’t come to the island for some time?”
The headmaster responded instantly to my humble request.
“Did you go down the wrong path somewhere?”
“Huh? Oh, I believe I got on the wrong train in London…”
“Not that. How did you get to the point where you could make such a mistake?”
I froze at the unexpected philosophical question. “Doesn’t everyone make mistakes? No one is perfect, after all.”
“You answer questions with questions because you don’t understand.” The headmaster blew into the pipe, sending white smoke coiling in the giant flask. “It’s merely a question about yourself, yet you don’t understand. Many have sought that answer and become lost in the labyrinth of education, unable to return. You won’t be able to answer the question by studying here.”
He blew smoke in our direction.
“You should leave this island immediately, even if you have to swim.”
“But I can’t swim.” I let my head slump dramatically for show. I couldn’t leave the island until the others were back to normal. “I have no way of crossing the ocean. Can’t you please show me mercy?”
This time, I folded my hands and tensed my eyes to make tears form in them. Most men would instinctively want to rescue me in this state.
I was reborn as an extremely beautiful girl, so I better make the most of it! I was crying on the outside while smiling inside, but the headmaster only had one thing to say to me.
“Mercy… I can’t show you that, no. This is a boys’ school, so you need to leave at once.”
“How cruel!”
As I recoiled in shock, Headmaster Caterpillar turned his attention to Leeds.
“And who are you?"
“My name’s Leeds, Mr. Headmaster. I’m a school nurse who came here on the last ship.” He lied to the older man with a smile on his face. Naturally, the headmaster was perplexed.
“School nurse? That can’t be. We don’t have any space for a new teacher here.”
“Is that right? But I thought I sent you a letter.”
“A letter… A letter…”
He rifled through the drawers of his desk, searching for a nonexistent letter.
Leeds unwrapped the scarf around his neck, placed his hands on the desk, and whispered a command.
“You shall fall under my control.”
As soon as he received the order, the headmaster’s eyes turned into empty voids. His arms slumped. The hookah fell from his hands and crashed to the ground.
“You shall control me…”
The command had worked. Leeds stuck his tongue out at me triumphantly. A black rose symbol was floating on its surface.
Leeds knows how to get the job done. His Liar’s Tongue comes in handy when there’s trouble.
Leeds was able to control people by whispering orders into their ear. The side effects made it dangerous, so I wondered if using it on someone as old as the headmaster would be safe.