castle runaway. ᵈᵒⁿᵍʰʸᵘᶜᵏ

THIRTY FOUR

Monique's POV

"Monique? Are you okay?"

I shook my head to escape from my trance and looked up at Haechan and Alice side by side. I immediately nodded. "Uhm, yes. I, uhm, my mind was on the cloud for a minute."

Alice grinned and opened her arms to me. "Monique is your name?" I nodded and smiled sweetly. "You have such a beautiful name! Hi, I'm Alice Liddell. You can call me Alice, Ali or Al!"

I was shocked because of what she said. "You don't want us to call you 'Your Majesty'?" She snorted and waved her hand. "'Your Majesty'? Why would I let my friends call me that? Besides, the maids and guards addresses me as Lady Alice. It's much more relevant."

"Okay, Ali-I will call you that because it seems cute." She laughed. "Oh, you're very pretty, too, Monique. I guess Haechan found a girl, huh?" Haechan lightly smacked Alice's head. "Watch your mouth, Al."

She turned to him. "What? Am I wrong?" I crossed my fingers. "We're just friends, Alice." Besides, the both of you look good together.

No, I must not say that out loud-either to Alice, Haechan or anybody else, including Goldilocks.

Alice twirled her fingers on a strand of her hair. "Did you guys have lunch? I can ask my maids to make some for you." She was going to clap her hands when we immediately stopped her.

"Oh, no. It's okay. We already took lunch at Robin Hood's," Haechan said. "I think Monique would like to see Wonderland, Alice."

The blonde girl turned to me. Well, she was shorter than me. "I know. Haechan rarely visits me and when I saw you with him at Nowhere, adventure is what everybody seeks here in Wonderland." She grinned.

Haechan pulled Alice and I back to the castle's exit. "Then let's go. It's already afternoon and the sun would set anytime." Alice pulled back her hand, folded her arms and raised a brow at Haechan. "You don't underestimate me, Toot."

I just looked at them curiously. "What?" Haechan asked dumb-foundedly.

She put her hand over her chest. "I control time here. I can make it night," She snapped her fingers and the surroundings suddenly became dark.

"Morning,"

"Dawn,"

"Sunset,"

"Twilight-"

"Okay, stop now. We understand." Alice scoffed and snapped her fingers back to early afternoon. "If that is what you want then. Considering you two just came from Nottingham, criminals likely chased you?"

I nodded while we walked out of the castle. "Yeah. There was this big guy that told us to give everything we have." I said. Alice flipped her blonde hair. "Oh, that guy. I don't like him."

"You know him?" Haechan asked, shocked. "Not really. I just see him everytime I go to Nowhere. He threats a lot of people in there."

"Then why didn't you help?" They kept on talking while we turned to the back of the castle where the Royal Garden is located.

I took in the view of the beautiful rose garden. Yes, there were a few flowers of different colors and kinds but mostly were bushes of roses; from white, red, pink and many more.

In the middle was a big circle made out from polished limestone, painted with the history of Wonderland. I turned around and let my feet touch the floor. It was like in the Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Farther from where I am standing now is a wide field, like it was meant for some sports. "This, you're stepping on right now, Monique, is the Round of Wonderland. Clearly, it illustrates its history." Alice spoke up, probably finished with her talk with Haechan.