A Trim, A Taste, and Trouble Ahead.
Kun and Alice finally stopped in the palace gardens, hidden among the towering hedges and vibrant blooms. The moment they were safe, Alice dropped Kun unceremoniously onto the grass.
Hands on his waist, brows furrowed, he scowled.
"What was that just now?!"
Kun, now sitting on the ground, lazily lifted his head. "What do you mean 'what'?" he mumbled, clearly more interested in his surroundings than Alice's interrogation.
A particular flower caught his eye—A deep violet rose with streaks of silver running through its petals. Pretty.
Alice, oblivious to Kun's distraction, kept ranting.
"That Artes! That force! I've never seen anything like that before! You didn't even chant a spell! How did you—"
Kun picked the flower.
And put it in his mouth.
Alice froze.
"...Hey. Hey. What are you—"
Kun bit into it.
Alice screamed. "OI!!"
Without thinking, he lunged forward and yanked Kun back, panic evident in his movements. "IDIOT! That's not food! That's—" Alice's words died in his throat as he recognized the flower.
The
Alice's blood ran cold. His grip tightened as he shook Kun slightly. "Spit it out!"
Kun, unfazed, just made a disgusted face. "…Bitter."
Alice nearly lost his mind. "BITTER?! YOU JUST ATE A FLOWER THAT CAN LURE PEOPLE INTO TRANCES, WEAVE ENCHANTMENTS, AND POSSIBLY KILL YOU, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS 'BITTER'?!"
Kun swallowed.
Alice screamed again.
In pure desperation, Alice pried Kun's mouth open, tilting his head in a frantic attempt to make him vomit. "Spit it out, throw it up—DO SOMETHING!"
Kun just blinked at him. "Too late."
Alice groaned, dragging his hands down his face. Father's going to kill me if he finds out I let some weird kid poison himself within hours of meeting him.
But as Alice anxiously watched Kun, something even weirder happened.
Kun's eyes glowed faintly.
"You idiot! Do you have a death wish?!" Alice yells, grabbing Kun's shoulders and shaking him.
"That's not food—it's dangerous magic!"
Kun barely reacts. His expression remains blank as he tilts his head slightly, as if listening to something distant. Then, his entire body tenses.
Alice feels the shift immediately. The air grows heavy, like something unseen is pressing down on them.
"Kun?" Alice tries again.
Kun doesn't answer. His pupils contract sharply—as if he's staring at something that isn't there. His fingers twitch, and faint arcs of Artes pulse through his skin, crackling like static.
Then, he whispers a name.
"Calyxius…?"
Alice stiffens. What?
Kun's breathing grows uneven. His hands clutch at his chest, his face twisted with a mix of confusion and fear. He staggers back a step, his legs nearly giving out beneath him.
"No… you were—" Kun's voice is barely above a whisper. His eyes flicker with something unrecognizable. "You—"
Then, shadows coil at the edges of the garden. The world around them wavers—just for a split second, like a mirage rippling in the heat.
Alice swears he sees something—someone—standing just beyond the distortion. A figure, tall and imposing, clad in flowing black robes, eyes like molten silver watching from the darkness.
Kun collapses.
Alice barely catches him, stumbling under his weight. His heart pounds in his chest.
"Oi, oi! Kun! What the hell was that?!" he demands, shaking Kun's limp form.
Kun groans, his expression back to blank confusion. Slowly, he blinks up at Alice.
"...Why are you holding me?" he mutters.
Alice stares at him, completely dumbfounded.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WHY?! YOU JUST—!" He cuts himself off, realizing Kun looks genuinely clueless.
Kun scratches his head, yawning. "Ugh… I feel weird."
Alice exhales sharply. He doesn't know what just happened.
"Of course you feel weird! You ate something you weren't supposed to, you absolute idiot!" Alice scolded, arms flailing in exasperation.
Kun let out a slow yawn, blinking lazily as he coughed. "Hmm? What are you yelling about? This is why Lizzy gets mad at you."
Alice stared at him, jaw dropping. "Excuse me?! She's mad at me because you exist! That's not even—ugh, never mind!"
Kun remained completely unbothered, lazily stretching his arms. Alice, on the other hand, suddenly noticed the uneven cut where Lizzy had hacked off Kun's hair. With a deep sigh, he knelt beside him and ran his fingers through the jagged strands.
"Yeah, this looks terrible. We need to fix it."
Kun tilted his head, glancing at his hair as if seeing it for the first time. He didn't say much, just gave Alice a blank look before nodding slightly. Taking that as permission, Alice grabbed a nearby dagger and carefully evened out the cut until Kun's hair reached his waist.
Stepping back to examine his work, Alice hummed in satisfaction. "Alright, that's better… But, uh—your hair was probably important to you, right? Sorry about all this."
Kun simply stared at him. "I don't even remember why my hair was this long. So, why are you feeling bad about it?"
Before Alice could respond, Kun suddenly reached out and cupped Alice's cheek, his expression unreadable.
"You look like you're about to cry over spilled milk."
Alice froze. "...What."
Kun stared at him, unimpressed.
Then Alice let out a choked laugh. "Pfft—what was that?! You're so blunt, it actually hurts!" He wiped a fake tear from his eye. "You sounded so cold! Are you mad at me or something?"
Kun rolled his eyes. "You're just assuming things."
Without another word, he wandered off towards the nearby lake, staring at his reflection in the still water. He ran his fingers through his newly cut hair, then gave a small, barely noticeable smile.
"I like it this way."
Alice, standing behind him, caught the quiet admission. He blinked, feeling unexpectedly flustered for reasons he couldn't explain.
"Good! Because I'm a great hairstylist!" he declared proudly before pouncing onto Kun's back.
Kun let out an annoyed grunt but didn't push him off.
A Few Moments Later…
The peaceful moment was abruptly interrupted by hurried footsteps. One of Alice's attendants came sprinting toward them, breathless and wide-eyed.
"Your Highness! We have a problem!"
Alice groaned, still draped over Kun's back. "What now?"
The attendant gulped. "The King has summoned you… and your friend. Probably because of the incident with Young Lady Lizzy."
Silence.
Alice blinked. "...Oh. Well. That's not good."
Kun simply dusted off his sleeves. "Guess we should go."
Alice dramatically slumped over Kun again. "Ughhh, I hate getting scolded."
Kun tilted his head. "I thought you were fearless?"
Alice gasped. "Betrayal!"
But as the grand castle doors loomed ahead, his usual playful demeanor faded just slightly.
This… might actually be serious.