Winter Rabbit in Wonderland

Chapter 64

Heart smiled but hid his true intent behind it. The real reason for calling Mad Hatter today was not because of Cheshire or his stupid jealously—yes, stupid jealousy. That was the first time he realized he had a heart that would burn over something so frivolous.

After finding out that SoYoon did not go home after visiting Mad Hatter yesterday, he had contemplated whether he should charge in there and chop off his neck then lock her away in his bedroom forever.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have that kind of power over her yet. She might have given him a taste of her body, but the jerk in front of him had also had that privilege. Once the thought crossed his mind, he was forced to repress his again-surging anger.

White Rabbit’s feelings belonged to him. He couldn’t be sure of anything else, but about that he was positive. He was hoping to wait just a little longer for that small final push to reduce the space she was putting between them in their relationship. With that last of his patience, he feigned calmness.

Mad Hatter opened his mouth then. As if he had read his mind, he added oil to the flame.

“She is not yours.”

“You can’t deny that she is close to being mine.”

Mad Hatter snorted his answer. He knew, however, that what Heart said was the truth. He laughed brightly to mask his anxiety and jealousy then said in a relaxed tone.

“Well, if you knew about my greatest weapon, would you really be able to say that?”

“...You’re not talking about your face, are you?”

Heart muttered with an expression as if he was chewing on bugs.

“Oh, well, there is that also.”

Mad Hatter agreed. He knew that SoYoon, who barely reacted to anything, showed signs of interest every time she looked at his face. When he smiled sweetly, the effect increased tenfold. However, he had something better than that in mind.

SoYoon’s and Mad Hatter’s worst memories were vastly similar. She had fallen randomly into this world; he had been born into the Chapelier family. She was an experiment at a research facility; he was his father’s magical experiment. Every time she saw him agonizing over his past, she was reminded of hers, and she would reach out and hold him as a way to comfort him warmly, the way she wanted.

“The emotion is but measly scraps,” Heart concluded after hearing Mad Hatter’s explanation. Mad Hatter pretended to disregard his comment. Truthfully, he felt the same. He understood that his and SoYoon’s relationship couldn’t go much further than this. But you never knew...

Mad Hatter smiled crookedly. “How long do you think you can remain that confident? If she confides everything about her identity to me, do you think these feelings will merely end as scraps?”

Seeing Mad Hatter’s expression, Heart gripped his ax harder. Mad Hatter, too, had his wire wrapped around his hand. He slowly unraveled it as he spoke casually.

“How do you think this will ultimately end? If the girl who no longer loves herself finds consolation in another.”

At that, Heart’s patience hit rock bottom. The moment he moved his ax, Mad Hatter threw his wire. The wire wrapped around Heart’s leg like a snake as the ax hit his shoulder.

Mad Hatter stepped away and pulled at the wire, but this time, Heart must have intended to chop off his arm because he was unable to escape unharmed. He stepped back after the wire removed a chunk of flesh, and he was dripping blood. Heart was also not in a great state. He looked down at his deeply sliced leg.

“You think that Whitey can’t push you away. You think I’ll let that happen?”

“It’s not what I think. It’s the truth. You are sorely mistaken, but both you and I are in the same boat.”

Both of them were unable to hold on to her because she had her eyes elsewhere. This was the real reason that Heart had called Mad Hatter over today. Heart threw his ax at the broken sofa.

At this, Mad Hatter also released his wire and put it in his pocket. He ripped his shirt to use the cloth to stop the bleeding as Heart bandaged his wounds with his necktie.

“Do you really think she can’t throw you away?”

“Of course.”

Heart muttered curses. Heart knew that SoYoon could also never abandon him. Their anger on this subject was greater than their anger toward each other.

He glanced over at Mad Hatter. Should I kill him anyway? The creeping impulse decreased as he remembered that SoYoon needed Mad Hatter’s powers. He swept back his messed-up hair in annoyance.

“Could you get your rage in check? You think I don’t want to kill you also?”

“Could you shut up before I really do kill you?”

Fighting any further was useless. Causing a scene would only make SoYoon uncomfortable and might cause her to leave both of them. They clicked their tongues in unison and changed the subject.

“Alice Liddell.”

“Yes. It has something to do with that girl.”

Most parents would scold their children by threatening to send them to Wonderland if they didn’t behave, so Alice’s reckless behavior didn’t make any sense to them.

“That girl—what exactly is it that she knows?”

“I’m not sure...Is it something she knows or maybe something she doesn’t know? She can’t properly explain her relationship with her father, Henry Liddell, but she seems to know in detail Duke’s personality and preferences or Doctor’s hobbies. Things that are sensitive topics.”

A girl who knew the details of Wonderland when she couldn’t speak properly about herself—that was the Alice Liddell Heart experienced. In addition to that, she believed that she deserved to be loved by every man she met and kept score on which one was better. Heart, however, didn’t share this observation with Mad Hatter.

Based on what Heart said, Mad Hatter realized that Alice had something to do with where SoYoon had originally come from. Seeing how SoYoon obsessed over Alice, he assumed that the girl was key to SoYoon returning home.

The thing with intel was that the more people knew about it, the less valuable it became. The two men also knew that each of them acted in the same way following this assumption.

Mad Hatter asked breezily. “Can’t we just kill her? She doesn’t seem to be of much use.”

“I won’t stop you. No, I welcome it. In fact, I would appreciate it if you would go do it right now.”

If you’re willing to take on her wrath. Mad Hatter finished Heart’s thought in his head.

If Alice Liddell were to die, SoYoon would give up the hope of going back. Being permanently removed from her home would scar her for the rest of her life here. Mad Hatter didn’t want to make matters worse for her already jaded take on life.

“Just wait a little longer. She’s not the type of girl to do nothing after advertising herself all over the place.”

Or I’ll force her to do something about it, Heart added in his head and chuckled.

Just then, they heard someone running hurriedly toward them. Soon, someone knocked loudly on the office door.

“I’m sure I mentioned that we were not to be bothered.”

Heart answered in annoyance, but at the subsequent reply, he froze.

“White Rabbit is here! She just passed through the front door. What should we do?”

Heart was glad he had commanded his men to let him know immediately if SoYoon showed up. He looked around the office.

“Oh, dear.”

He held his forehead. They had broken one of the sofas beyond repair and splattered the other with blood. Heart had broken off had the edge of the table when he slammed into it with his ax, and the carpet was ragged where the wire had swept through. Hearing that SoYoon had arrived, Mad Hatter blinked then came back to his senses.

“How could you let this happen?”

“Shut up.”

“She cannot come up here. There is an irritant here so we can’t use the bedroom. Then the only option is the drawing room.”

Heart told his men to move them to the drawing room when he felt pain shoot up his leg and realized that they both looked a mess. At this rate, it wouldn’t matter whether they moved elsewhere or not.

They heard someone coming up the stairs and through the hallway. The footsteps were getting closer. Soon, the door opened, and they saw SoYoon. Her covered eyes were looking at the direction of the two men.

“Whitey.”

“I’m here.”

She tilted her head slightly. The two men thought her action looked accusatory and shot out excuses.

“We just had a small disagreement...”

“About something insignificant.”

She nodded nonchalantly then pulled out a letter from her cross bag.

“Baby wanted me to give this to you.”

Heart quietly ground his teeth.

“...Thank you so very much.”

He shoved the letter into his pocket, knowing there was nothing of importance inside. SoYoon looked at both of the men’s wounds in turn and told them, “I’ll call Alice. Is she here?”

“There’s no need to look for her, Whitey. She went out.”

Even if she had been here, they didn’t want to be exposed to her powers, which didn’t suit that girl at all. For once, the two men agreed.

SoYoon brought over the first aid kit and was about to sit on the broken sofa when she found an ax in it. She looked at Heart, but instead of moving it, he pointed at the leg that wasn’t hurt.

“There’s no point in sitting on the sofa when there’s blood on it.”

“You call that an excuse? So instead you want her to sit on an injured person’s leg? That’s so much better.”

“Is there something wrong with asking the person who will be treating the injury to sit close to the wound?”

“You think like an old man. It’s not safe to be near men like that. Come here.”

That was when SoYoon put down the first aid kit quietly back on the table.

“You guys look friendly.”

The two men didn’t have time to argue the point because she said immediately after, “You can treat yourselves.”