demi-human royalty were killed, no amount of diplomacy could smooth that over. The demi-humans might even mount an invasion. Even if we stamped out these attackers, we'd still be in for a hell of a bloodbath! Fuck, man, race relations are a headache and a half!" "They are what they are. Even within a given race, people's political views, religions, beliefs, and moral systems differ. Trying to understand another completely is a fool's errand. So when two races interact, their ideological walls are steeper still... Not that I don't have my misgivings about the demi-humans' obsession with blood purity, mind you. It makes them predicable, which in turn makes them vulnerable." Elisabeth gave her answer in a low tone. To put it bluntly, the demi-humans took things too far. The Sand Queen had died long ago. But while it was true that the other races had difficulty appreciating the demi-humans' lament at having their bloodlines gradually thin out, that was no reason to be as obstinately vocal about it as they were. It makes for too great a target. 'Tis akin to leaving one's throat bare and exposed. Fools, the lot of them. Yet still... If not for Elisabeth's fatal oversight, she would have been able to block the metaphorical knife. That fault, if nothing else, was hers to own up to. As Elisabeth began collecting her thoughts, Jeanne spoke up from behind her. "So what specifically is your plan?" "What do you mean by that?" "Come now, don't go playin' dumb with me, fair lady. What, you're just gonna stroll in like they told you to and call it a day? Please. You're a lotta things, but an honest gal ain't one of 'em." Jeanne's voice was as dry as ever, but her words were biting and rough. Elisabeth curled the corners of her mouth upward. There were a lot of things about Jeanne de Rais that were unsuited for one who bore the moniker of Torture Princess. Even so, the golden Torture Princess understood the ebony Torture Princess better than most. Elisabeth's black hair fluttered as she turned around. She spoke, her voice practically a song. "Listen well, Jeanne. I intend to head for the demi-human lands, exactly as demanded. But in the meantime..." "Oh, wow, goodness me. I never even dreamed that you'd actually come on your own!" A voice younger than Jeanne's struck Elisabeth's eardrums. The moment it did, Elisabeth's vacant recollection came to an end. After she passed through the palace's gate, the vermilion cobble gave way to lapis-lazuli tiling as she emerged into its front garden. Flowers and trees had been planted all along the meandering path in high-grade, water-rich black soil that looked to have been sourced from the beastfolk lands. Flashes of sleek leopards and showy peafowls could be seen peeking through the verdant-green leaves. A stone, flower-shaped fountain shot bursts of water high into the air. An immaculate white figure stood at the center of that veritable paradise. At the edge of Elisabeth's vision, the Fremd Torturchenâ€”Alice Carrollâ€”gave a little hop. "How surprising! What a truly surprising event! Why, it's like you appeared out of nowhere!" "You're one to talk. I never expected to encounter you quite so quickly." Elisabeth frowned. They'd called for their enemy, so the girl should have been by her father's side. Elisabeth wondered what she'd been doing, but it soon became clear that she'd spent her time picking flowers. After lifting up her skirt's hem to turn it into a makeshift pouch, she'd stuffed it full of large white lilies. Given the desert outside, just thinking of how much they must have cost was frightening in its own right. Alice, seeming to have come to some sort of realization, nodded. "Okay, I got it! Now that you're here, I don't have to kill time anymore! Hooray!" "Hmm?" Alice sprang upward like a rabbit. Her blue dress flapped up and down precariously, causing the white flowers within to go flying through the air. As Alice landed among the twirling lilies, she beamed. "Why, you aren't even late. That's very impressive, Elisabeth. It's very impressive, and you have my praise." Alice puffed up her chest in a simultaneous display of both innocence and haughtiness. However, she quickly moved to smooth out her dress. After hastily getting it in order, she bent one knee and gave Elisabeth an elegant curtsy. "Welcome, Elisabeth. Welcome to Wonderland." The Torture Princess was making no efforts to hide her hostility. Yet not only had Alice invited her, but she was also welcoming her with open arms. It was a terribly wondrous act, and one that reflected poorly on the sanity of the performer. "I'm late, I'm late!" Alice shouted in a high-pitched voice as she ran. The white ribbons on her hat flopped about like a pair of rabbit ears. After welcoming Elisabeth, she'd abruptly taken her hand and broken into a run. Allegedly, she was taking Elisabeth to see someone called "Lewis." Realizing there was no sense fighting as long as the hostages were there, Elisabeth obediently followed along. Still, there was something decidedly eerie about the innocent figure Alice cast when she ran. And to compound on that, she repeated her shout at regular intervals. "I'm late, I'm late!" "If you really are as late as you say, it's clearly due to these incessant detours you insist on taking." Even after Elisabeth pointed that out, though, Alice continued meandering undeterred. That whole time, she'd been taking one pointless action after another. As they approached the palace proper, the tiles before them began having snakeskin patterns burned into them. Now Alice was dashing over the patterns as though tracing them with her feet. The next moment, though, she took a sharp turn and rushed back into the garden. Elisabeth, naturally, was about to make her displeasure known, but Alice spoke first. "Oh, it's bread-and-butterflies!" "What?" Alice's statements were growing increasingly nonsensical. She was looking at some sort of netted enclosure. She charged in at full speed, dragging Elisabeth along with her. The moment she did, Elisabeth's vision was arrested by vivid colors. A massive swarm of butterflies was dancing through the air. The palace's residents had probably gathered and raised them for entertainment. It made for a beautiful spectacle, like a scene right out of a dream. Alice let out a cry of joy. After waving her pale palms about, she managed to catch one. There came an awful splattering sound. Elisabeth winced. Without a moment of hesitation, Alice had crushed the butterfly's abdomen. As it twitched and convulsed, she plucked off its wings as well. The four purple flakes fell to the ground, and Alice laughed as she stomped on them. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Hee-hee-hee-hee! Ah-ha-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha, ah............................................. I'm bored now." "...Hmm." Then she suddenly went sullen. She gave Elisabeth's hand a tug, then began walking. As Elisabeth watched the dejected Alice, she arrived at a theory. Between this and her behavior back in the beastfolk lands, her having "the cruelty particular to children" seems hardly sufficient to explain her actions. Alice Carroll was broken. It was unclear whether she could be fixed or not, but Elisabeth didn't care one way or the other. Neither would change the fact that Alice was her enemy. It merely caught her attention a little. "Next, we're going this way! 'Cause after that, we're going that way!" Furthermore, Alice herself didn't seem to realize they were enemies. Instead, she was dragging Elisabeth around like a close friend. Their enigmatic dash through the thicket labyrinth continued. Eventually, though, Alice came to a stop before the palace's third detached villa. "Ta-daa, we made it! Look, Elisabeth, we're here!" "For someone who went out of her way to call me here, you certainly took your sweet time." Elisabeth responded to Alice's excited shout with a sigh. She looked up at the building standing before them. It was a lavish manor sporting a narrow, distinctive watchtower. Elisabeth thought back over the blueprint she'd made sure to memorize before coming. The residence for the king's concubines, eh. The demi-human king played no role in politics. Governing the nation was a task left to a group of officials selected from the highest-ranking pureblood citizens. The king's role was twofoldâ€”to serve as a symbol and to take pureblooded wives. In order to maintain his bloodline, polygamy was not only allowed but also encouraged, and it was their custom for him to marry one member of each governing official's family. The back gate's handle was adorned with a delicate garland design. Alice grabbed it and pulled. The concubines weren't allowed to leave the inner courtyard on their own, so there was normally a servant outside in charge of opening and closing the gate. To that end, it was made of an incredibly heavy material. Yet for some reason, Alice declined to use magic as she struggled to try and open it. "Mmph, come on. See, Father's in the middle of a 'serious adult talk' right now, and it was so boring that it made me yawn. But don't worry. When he hears you're here, I'm sure, I'm suuuure he'll be thrilled! My, this door is heavy! But if I use magic, it'll feel like I cheated. Oh, and I found some candied flowers that you'd absolutely love, so I'll share them with you later, and we can have a tea party." "Oy, Sara Yuuki." Alice immediately went silent, and her cheerful energy vanished. A long, heavy silence descended on them. Eventually, the Fremd Torturchen, still facing forward, replied: "I got rid of that name...or rather, that name belongs to a dead girl. You can call it, but no one will answer." "Yet you did answer... In any case, I've something I want to ask you." "Something you want to ask 'Alice'? Or something you want to ask 'Sara Yuuki'?" "I see no difference." "Oh, no, they're different. They're completely different, totally different, wildly different." Without turning around, Alice shook her head. Her hat's white ribbons shook along with it. Elisabeth let out a small snort, then forcibly continued her line of questioning. "Aye, no difference at allâ€”but anyhow, are you an Unsullied Soul, as Kaito was?" "What a strange question, Elisabeth. It's like one of the riddles from the Caterpillar on the mushroom. What's a Sinless Soul? What does it mean to not have any sin? Who gets to decide who has sin and who doesn't? Am I, Alice, guilty or innocent? Are you the Queen of Hearts? If that's the case, then I must say I've been rather impolite." "Don't try to dodge the question by spouting gibberish. What I ask is this: Did you die after being subjected to cruelty and torture despite committing no sins that would warrant such treatment?" Alice went quiet again. All that strength drained from her body, and her arms slumped loosely by her sides. That was answer enough. She didn't need to say a word. Elisabeth could tell. However, Alice quickly spun around, her vigor restored. With a bizarrely cheerful energy, she launched into another prattling speech. "I never did anything bad. But even though I was doing the exact same things as when I was a good girl, they kept making me into a bad girl. I kept apologizing, but it never mattered. Nobody in the whole wide world told me that I wasn't bad. And then down, down, down. Alice fell down a very deep hole. Even though I wasn't chasing a White Rabbit. But at its end, I found Wonderland. See, it's simple, right?" "As I suspected... 'Summoning from another world a soul that's accustomed to pain, placing it in an immortal body, and making it form a contract with a demon.' That 'Father' of yours noticed the importance behind the act. That explains why he selected you. No doubt he chose someone younger than Kaito so they'd be easier to manipulate... What a pitiful creature you are." Elisabeth shook her head. Her impression