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“LET me go, twins! I want to find Alice!”
“You can’t.”
“It’s not safe.”
The twins were restraining Dark in the chapel.
Despite the total darkness outside, the glowing, crescent moon seal on its floor faintly illuminated the room. The bluish-white light was getting stronger and weaker at random intervals due to its caster’s state of agitation.
Jack scolded the stubborn Dark from his pew.
“We’ll get in the way if we go after her. We have to wait here for Leeds to bring her back. Stop making more work for us, damn it…”
“The future is unpredictable, Dark.”
“You must never give up, Dark.”
“Stop finding nicer ways to call me powerless. …I’m just scared.”
Alice had sent the others away and locked herself in the dance room alone.
Dum carried Dark toward the chapel as Dee went to inform the others. Then, they met up with Jack and Leeds.
Dark begged them to let him rescue Alice. Fortunately, he always knew where she was thanks to the stigma he’d marked her with. But Leeds ordered them to wait in the chapel.
“Think about why she stayed behind and let me go get her instead. Jack and I are the only ones the monster hasn’t seen yet, and I can make up an excuse for why I’m lurking around the castle at night since I’m a teacher. The earl needs to stay and wait with the rest of you.”
Leeds left the chapel after that without letting anyone else get another word in. The twins still had to restrain Dark from chasing after him, which was why he was making such a fuss now.
“Behave yourself, Dark.”
“We’re acting more like adults than you.”
“How can you stay so calm?! The woman you love is in danger!”
When he shouted at the twins, they instantly released him and sat down on the ground, cradling their knees.
“Because you said Alice is alive…”
“Because Leeds said he’d bring Alice back…”
Dum and Dee would have left Dark and Jack in the chapel and run back to that room to fight the monster if they didn’t know Alice was alive. They could only sit there and wait because their comrade said she was safe.
“Alice said something to us on the day we were taken into the Liddell family.”
“She said that family is someone you trust, rely on, and communicate openly with.”
That was why their hearts had almost split when they found out Alice lied to them.
Dum and Dee had trusted her completely.
They were hurt, separated from her, made a promise to never lie to each other again, and returned to the Liddell family once more.
Their faith in their family only grew stronger.
“We love Alice.”
“We love the rest of you almost as much.”
“That’s why we trust you.”
“That’s why we trust you.”
Dark went limp when he heard their encouragement.
They managed to swallow their fears and have faith in the others instead of jumping into harm’s way without thinking of the consequences like himself. Their hearts had grown along with their bodies. They were wonderful rivals to have.
“…I can’t treat you two like kids anymore.”
“We don’t get candy once we’re adults?”
“We have to be kids to get toys?”
Dark laughed when they slumped their shoulders. “Adults and children can all like whatever they like. If we make it out of this safely, I’ll buy you something nice, okay?”
“Yay!”
“Yay!”
The twins high-fived.
Now that he’d cooled his head, Dark stood on the border of the shining blue seal. The symbol was acting as a barrier in the chapel. He didn’t sense any demons nearby.
When he closed his eyes and searched for Alice, she was closer than he thought. She was right outside the door. Dark rushed over and opened it to see Leeds carrying Alice in his arms.
“Thanks, Earl. I was wondering how I was going to open this without waking her up.” Leeds stepped inside and laid her down on the closest pew.
Jack and the twins gathered around her.
“Is she hurt?”
“Just take a look. She’s only sleeping.”
Alice’s cheeks were rosy, and she was breathing quietly. Dust and cobwebs covered her uniform, but she didn’t look injured.
“She was hiding in the storage room at the back of that dance room. I didn’t find the monster anywhere, but the door looked like it had been clawed up by a bear.”
“If Alice hadn’t been quick on her feet enough to close that door, I might have been ripped to pieces by those claws…”
Alice had reasoned that the trap-laying demon was after Dark.
The twins shook their heads, their hair bobbing around them.
“It’s not a bear, Leeds.”
“It’s more like a dog.”
“Yuck, I hate dogs. I’m a cat person, myself.”
“They’re not talking about that, obviously.”
The chatter of the Liddell family seemed to rouse Alice from her sleep. She let out a groan and stirred.
Dark took her hand and called out to her.
“Alice.”
Her curled eyelashes fluttered until she finally opened her eyes.
“…Dark.”
She smiled with Dark reflected in her crimson eyes.
Dark’s heart filled with love. Her first concern upon waking was his well-being.
“Good morning, my lady. How do you feel?”
Leeds was sitting next to her head. Alice looked up at him with a cherubic expression.
The darkness had shrunk her pupils, but they expanded as soon as she laid eyes on his smirk.
When Dark saw it up close, it struck him as strange.
Her eyes are dark?
But by the time she sat up, Alice’s eyes were the exact color of rubies again.
“Good morning, Leeds. We’re in the chapel, aren’t we? How did I get here?”
Leeds smiled and gently stroked her head. “You played tag with a monster, my lady. Then you hid in a storage room and fell asleep, so I found you and brought you back.”
“I remember hiding, but that’s all. I guess I really did fall asleep…”
Dark cupped his hand around Alice’s cheek and felt a chill. Her hiding spot must have been cold. “I’m sorry I left you there, Alice.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad everyone’s all right.”
Her tender smile was a breath of fresh air. Everyone sighed with relief.
Not one of them noticed the monster peering down at them from the skylight.