ALICE RETURNED TO her room with her head still dizzily in the clouds. What had transpired within the last ten minutes had not felt any bit real. In fact, she was convinced that if she pinched herself, she might find herself still lying on her bed, tucked under the covers snugly.
However, the painful ache in her neck was more than enough as evidence that she had slept sitting upright the night before. Her skin also had red wrinkles on them, marks that served to prove how she hadn't moved an inch on that couch. Additionally, her cheeks were still hot, warm with the blood that rushed under her skin from the words she had heard in the library.
Wyatt had always been a flirt. That was a solidified fact Alice knew from the first few days she had arrived in this peculiar world.
However, she wasn't sure if it was because her mind was still fuzzy from having just awoken but the words that Wyatt implied were starting to have an effect on her. Sometimes, when he smiled a little too brightly or said words a little too warmly, she would momentarily forget her place and allow her heart to skip a beat. Nonetheless, reality would come crashing down to remind her that Wyatt was a formidable man with more than one secret to hide. She would always be reminded one second too slow that she should be scared rather than moved.
Why? Because his smiles were often frostier than amiable. It took her a few weeks to fully differentiate between the two perfectly. For a period of time, the skill served her well. Now, the two expressions were starting to blend together. It was getting harder and harder to tell the difference.
Shaking her head to dismiss those thoughts, Alice banished the perplexing ideas swirling in her mind. For now, the day had just started and that meant she should wash up and get changed before heading down to the family's dining room. Breakfast should've long started without them. After all, the sun was already brightly shining in the sky. The day had already started; time waits for no one.
Choosing a plain dress for herself, Alice made her way down to the dining room just in time to see Miles and Charlie head out. They both wore grim expressions, their faces dark and bitterly quiet, head hung low. The second they caught sight of Alice, Miles sped up, nodding once at her in greeting before scurrying away. Charlie, on the other hand, kept glancing at the floor, refusing to let his eyes meet Alice's.
Taking the first step in the conversation, Alice stepped forward, blocking Charlie's path so that he couldn't escape so easily.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
Charlie, who had been cornered with Alice's abrupt step forward, instinctively took a step back as his face tilted up to look at her. As he did so, Alice caught sight of his red cheeks, blooming like scarlet petals and gleaming like dew. She knew that she was a little too close for comfort and hence caused Charlie, someone brought up with more conservative ideals, to blush so fiercely. However, what she didn't know was that there was something else in his mind that had caused his intense reaction.
Ultimately, his brother's words weren't easy to forget.
"Ah, Alice!" Charlie exclaimed in surprise, anxiously chuckling the awkwardness away. However, he only heightened it. "What a coincidence. Are… Are you here for breakfast?"
"Well, there's hardly any other reason to be in the dining room, is there?" Alice replied teasingly.
Although Charlie was only a year younger than she was, he seemed more innocent and child-like than any other teenager she knew in Riverside Creek. In fact, there were times she had forgotten that he was fifteen-years-old, their age gap too small to be of concern. He would've been her classmate if they were in her world.
The idea made her snort. She didn't think Charlie could survive in her school. He would be bullied to the ends of time by those savages that made up her school's student body.
"A-Ah. Yes, I suppose you're right," he murmured under his breath. Scratching his cheek, Charlie's voice grew softer and softer until it eventually died down.
"Let me just grab a bite real quick, alright? I'll meet you in your office later o—"
"Ah!" Suddenly bursting up, Charlie shook his head. His bright purple hair swayed as he moved. "It's alright. There's no need for you to help me today. I'll be training with Miles and there's not much paperwork left to complete. You can take the day off."
Having said what he wanted to, Charlie quickly swerved away from Alice, side-stepping before sprinting off down the hallway. Unable to predict his actions, Alice could only watch as Charlie darted off like a scared prey, scrambling past the corners and away from her sight.
"What's wrong with him?" Alice thought out loud, muttering under her breath with a shake of her head.
Her hands reached for the doors, gently pushing them open before stepping into the room. The second she saw Wyatt sitting at the dining table, a cup of tea in his hands, Alice recalled the events of this morning. She finally connected the dots in her head, deducing that the reason for Charlie's out-of-character shyness towards her was for no other reason other than the fact that he had witnessed something truly distressing in the morning.
After all, it wasn't every day where he would find his brother sprawled over his friend's lap so ambiguously.
Just thinking about it sent Alice's cheeks flushing beet red.
Looking up from the papers in his hands after hearing the sound of doors opening, Wyatt offered Alice a radiant smile. It was the same smile as usual, lustrous, gorgeous, and filled with hidden intentions. Unlike Charlie, Wyatt was completely unfazed by the events of this morning.
Perhaps he would fit well in the twenty-first century. Both Wyatt and Spade seemed like they could easily hail from the world Alice called home. They certainly weren't as conservative as the average person in Gladiolum.
"Alice!" Wyatt beamed, placing his teacup and papers down. "I'm so glad you're here to join me for breakfast. Miles and Charlie didn't serve as much company with how rapidly they wolfed down their food. Come. Would you like some tea?"
"Err…" Alice allowed herself to be ushered to a seat — the one facing Wyatt — as a maid poured some fresh tea into her cup before she could even reply. The refreshing scent of earl gray wafted in the air, followed by the savory aroma of sausages, toasted bread, and eggs. "Thanks."
Wyatt, with his damned smile still hanging on his face, dug his knife and fork into his food. He elegantly lifted a slice of sausage into his mouth, delicately chewing and swallowing before he continued to speak.
"By the way, would you like to accompany me to the palace again today, Alice?"
The question caught Alice's attention, her eyes looking up to observe Wyatt even though she was originally in the middle of sectioning off a portion of eggs. The runny yolk of the sunny side up broke open, leaking onto the white china due to her inattention.
"The palace?" Alice spooned some food past her lips, munching with a frown. "What for?"
"Actually, it wasn't my idea," Wyatt confessed. "The crown prince requested you be brought into the palace the next time I came in for work. He seemed interested in meeting you after hearing the news that you were out in town with Prince Spade yesterday."
"The crown prince?" Echoing after Wyatt once more, Alice's hands stopped moving. Her grip on the silverware tightened as she tried to recall the crown prince's appearance from the portrait she saw in the library. However, the image of the portrait was nothing but a foggy mess in her mind. She vaguely recalled seeing red hair, a stark contrast to Spade's black locks. "Hmm," she hummed. "I wonder why. But sure, I guess. Charlie said there isn't much for me to do today, anyway. I suppose I can take a trip down to the palace with you."
'Maybe I'll even run into Spade,' she thought to herself.
When she caught herself, she bit onto her bottom lip. Why she had thought such a thing, she would never know. Perhaps it was just because he was so easy and fun to be around despite being a prince. He didn't have that lofty air around him and treated Alice as an equal.
That felt nice.
"You might wish to change into something more extravagant, Alice," Wyatt advised. His eyes raked over Alice's outfit, wincing slightly at the sight that greeted him. "There might be some guests over at the palace today and we'll no doubt run into them."
Alice was about to argue, her lips parted and ready to say that there was nothing wrong with what she wore. However, she was then reminded that it wasn't an ordinary trip to her local shopping mall. She was headed for the royal palace and what she had on currently was the equivalent of a t-shirt and a pair of casual jeans. So instead, she sighed, nodding once.
"Alright," she conceded. "I'll change into something more presentable."
"Great." Dabbing the corners of his lips with a white napkin, Wyatt smiled, satisfied with her response. Folding the napkin into a neat square once he was done, he placed it down on the table before standing back up. "We'll meet outside in an hour. I'll see you again then, Alice."
Without another word, Wyatt left the dining room.
Left in the silence alone, Alice continued with her breakfast, blissfully unaware of the storm that was brewing on the horizon. She had forgotten that living in a fairytale-like world meant that she would eventually have to face the villains of the story one day. In her case, unfortunately, there might be more than one. It was a whole garden of thorny roses, eager to draw blood.