castle runaway. ˡᵉᵉ ᵈᵒⁿᵍʰʸᵘᶜᵏ

THIRTY SIX

Monique's POV

The morning light dawned on the balcony of the castle.

Castle.

I immediately shot straight up, looking around, my breathing rapid. I took a deep breath when I saw the same princess room of Alice's castle. I inhaled and exhaled, relaxing myself.

"Monique?" I looked at Haechan lying down beside me, pouting with his hair messy. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?"

I shook my head. "I didn't," I hugged myself and shuddered at the thought of being back in that castle. "For a minute, I thought I'm back in hell."

He went out of bed and stretched his arms. "You have a real phobia of castles." I nodded in agreement. "I sure do." I followed him out of the bed and went to the balcony.

The morning breeze greeted me. The birds chirped in the distance and Wonderland looks more lovely than Reality does. "This place seems normal to me." I said out loud for Haechan to hear.

"You got used to it easily. Probably a side effect of the Mad Hatter's tea." I chuckled at his remark and my head turned to the door when I heard it open. Alice was there already wearing her red dress.

"Good morning, you two! Breakfast will be served in fifteen minutes. Be prepared," She then smirked, slowly closing the door. "And I thought Haechan and I will get a room." She giggled scarily then left.

I blushed and looked back to the view of Wonderland. Geez.

"You should get showered." I told Haechan when the chamber door opened again, revealing Alice's maid bringing forth a dress I can borrow. He agreed. "Yeah, I should. See you at the dining room." He winked and left.

They helped me shower and get dressed again. I only told them to do my hair and thankfully, they gladly did. They left after tying my hair into small pigtails. I like it.

I went down to the dining room after that, feeling fresh. A lot of weight was lifted from my shoulder and chest. I hopped to the dining room, greeting maids and guards.

When I got there, I saw Haechan just sitting down on his chair. Alice has her small Queen tiara on her head. "Monique! Take a seat," I smiled brightly at her and did so. "You're in a good mood. What happened last night? Mind handing me the details?" She raised her eyebrows up and down.

"Al, nothing happened between me and Monique. We just had a heart-to-heart talk." Haechan glanced at me and flashed a smile. "Yeah. Anyway, let's eat!" I grinned and Alice clapped happily. "Attagirl!"

We started to eat and finally, Haechan and Alice included me in their talk. Like the Mad Hatter, she talked about other places in Wonderland. I got a few details from the Hatter's stories and I linked a few to Alice. All of us shared the same amount of news.

"I'm guessing Hatter told you those," Alice said, eating her ice cream. I nodded. "Well, it's sad that you two are now leaving. I wish you could come back. I'll introduce you to Tweeddledum and Tweeddledee!"

"Who?"

My eyes sparkled. "Really??" Alice nodded. "Yeah! They seem weird but they're okay to be with." She said and finished up her breakfast. She gently patted her table napkin over her red lips.

"We'll come back sooner, Al, don't worry. Besides, I made a huge promise to Monique." I looked at Haechan and he was giving me a genuine smile. I'm so glad I got to meet him.

"Okay, okay, love birds. Stop now," The male rolled his eyes at Alice. "If you guys ever need me, I'll be here in my imagination and nowhere else. OMG, did you get the pun?" I laughed at what she said. She started poking Haechan, asking if he got her joke.

He sighed. "Yes, Alice, I understood your pun." She laughed louder and I joined her. Haechan gave us a disappointed look and stood up. "Come on, Monique. Do you want to go or not?"

I shrugged. "I'd like to stay but you two might flirt with each other again." Alice continued to laugh while Haechan gently grabbed my arm and started to pull me out of the dining room. "Okay, stop, both of you."

Alice followed us to the door of her beautiful castle and bid us goodbye. She grabbed Haechan's arm, letting him face her. "Take care of Monique for me, Tootles," The Queen glanced at me and smiled. "She's really something."

Haechan hugged Alice. "I will, Al. And I agree." He chuckled and pulled away, patting her head. Haechan grabbed my hand and we went down the stairs of the Heart Castle.

We looked back at Alice when she shouted, "Don't do the chant! I'll take you there myself." Haechan nodded and he took my other hand. "Close your eyes, like you did yesterday."

I nodded and did as I was told to. Once again, I felt like I was falling into a rabbit hole, strong gusts of wind swirling around me. When I felt the wind stop, I opened my eyes and saw Nowhere.

I clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth. "Well, it's kind of weird to be back in Reality." Haechan laughed. "You got some of that tea, that's why." He looked in front and Shimmer suddenly appeared.

She neighed and Haechan smiled. "Ozma's expecting us? That's good." Haechan mounted on her and he pulled me up to on Shimmer. She drove away towards the same direction toward Nottingham.

And I was right.

I looked at Haechan. "What are we doing here? Did you forget something?" I asked. He shrugged and went off of Shimmer. "I think I did." After he said that, a bomb exploded not too far from the town entrance.

He sighed and ran inside. "There's my cue." I heard him say. I watched him as he entered the town. "What is he doing?" I asked myself but Shimmer answered with a neigh and a shrug.

Shimmer and I waited for a minute or two before we saw Haechan leave Nottingham with some policemen holding the guy who threatened us yesterday.

They thanked Haechan and he then walked towards my direction. "So, you came back here to catch that guy?" He nodded and went back on Shimmer. "Yep. I won't let that off."

I chuckled. "Of course you wouldn't. Where are we heading next again?" He flashed me a grin and Shimmer dashed away.

"To Rose Kingdom!"

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