The Fairy Tale Witch sat in the reception room of the Matou residence.

She was a slender girl. With black hair and black eyes, her features were exquisite, bordering on perfection. She wore a coat of pure black and a black velvet hat on her head, like a sprite from the darkest night.

She hugged a picture book, full of childlike charm, and quietly waited for the Mad Hatter—or rather, the wanderer so closely connected to her—to arrive.

Light steam rose gently from the clear tea on the table.

She stared at the door before her, but her thoughts drifted to the distant past.

"Kuonji Alice... or should I say, Kuonji Arisu. What an old-fashioned name."

That was the first thing a certain someone had said to her upon their meeting.

"Alice" comes from Greek and carries the meaning of nobility and sincerity, a name with rather fine connotations for a girl. But precisely because its meaning was so good, many people used it, and it eventually became as common and old-fashioned as names like Cuihua, Tiezhu, or Cuilan.

He was merely a guest brought by Touko, yet upon meeting her, he began to critique the name her mother had given her as if it were his right.

Honestly, at that moment, Alice had already developed the intent to kill.

Due to a witch's curse, Alice's mother had died shortly after giving birth to her. The name "Alice" was the only memento she had left her daughter. To Alice, its importance was in no way less than the mansion her parents had left her.

To make a joke of the name her mother had given her was simply unforgivable!

Just as Kuonji Alice was preparing to activate her magecraft and turn hostile, the young man leading a golden wolf by his side spoke up.

"But considering your mother was the Fairy Tale Witch, I imagine her giving you an old-fashioned name like Alice must have had another meaning."

Kuonji Alice was stunned. In all her life, it was the first time she had seen someone analyze her name and then try to surmise her mother's feelings when choosing it.

I'll spare his life for now and see what else he has to say.

"For example, Alice from Wonderland?"

Alice had to admit, the man actually had a point. Her mother had been an ardent fan of Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

"She probably hoped you would become a girl like Alice—lively, sunny, and eager for adventure."

Those words pierced Kuonji Alice's heart.

The Kuonji family were modern-day magi, witches living in seclusion. She was lonely, old-fashioned, and stubbornly clung to her pride, even as she was being forgotten by the times.

She and the Alice from the fairy tale had almost nothing in common. She had gone completely against her mother's hopes.

"Looks like I've said something I shouldn't have."

Seemingly noticing something, the young man who had come with Touko looked slightly troubled.

"I am nothing like Alice," she had answered back then.

"Without ever having gone on a dream-like adventure, who can be certain they are not Alice?"

The man revealed his true intentions.

"If Miss Alice would like to participate in an adventure, I wouldn't mind being the rabbit with the pocket watch."

The story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland begins when the little girl Alice discovers a rabbit with a pocket watch, chases after it, and accidentally falls down a rabbit hole, thus tumbling into a magical world underground.

He wanted to invite her on an adventure to one of the most fantastical places in the world—the great magalith Albion, deep beneath London.

It was one of the most dangerous places on earth, where a constant stream of Phantasmal Species could slaughter magi as easily as magi could kill ordinary humans. Even a Grand Magus of Color-rank would have trouble guaranteeing their personal safety if they stayed there too long.

However, it was a different story if the team included a magus who could wield a fragment of the Second Magic. Nearly unlimited spatial transfer was enough to guarantee the safety of all participants. Even a Divine Beast encountering such a person could only eat their dust, fuming in helpless rage.

What's more, the golden wolf named Beo was a being comparable to a young dragon, capable of repelling ninety-nine percent of all attacks. The so-called journey to Albion would truly be like Alice's adventure in wonderland.

At the time, Kuonji Alice was a little tempted.

Her current lifestyle was clearly different from her mother's expectations. For her mother's sake, she was willing to try and overcome it.

But when she reached the border of Misaki Town, she stopped again.

She couldn't leave the mansion her parents had left her.

The name "Alice" and the mansion where she had spent every day with her parents were the threads connecting her to the mortal world.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can leave here."

In the end, standing before the airport, that's what Alice said.

At that time, the still-young man looked very troubled. Kuonji Alice could understand his feelings well. She, the one invited on an adventure, had suddenly stopped at the airport. The inviter would naturally be vexed. After all, her sudden departure would undoubtedly harm his interests, and all magi valued their interests greatly.

"Well, it can't be helped."

Surprisingly, Li Zihan expressed his understanding.

"If that's the case, then let's just forget it."

And so, they parted ways.

However, they maintained a correspondence of one letter per week.

After a huge fight, Aoko and Touko had reached the most reluctant of reconciliations based on three shared understandings: "Grandfather Aozaki is a dumbass—", "Shota are the best," and "I want to make money to improve my life."

The young man, taking the two difficult sisters with him to Albion, would describe his extraordinary adventures in his letters. Like the White Rabbit that led Alice into the world underground, Li Zihan used his letters to present the adventures within Albion to Alice.

The witch, who yearned for the life of "Alice," would read them seriously, imagining the possibility of traveling with them instead of staying behind.

After the journey to Albion ended, this habit of corresponding continued.

The young man, constantly embarking on different journeys in the outside world, continued to relay his experiences and what he had seen and heard to the Fairy Tale Witch through his letters.

Through those letters, the Fairy Tale Witch saw another world, a vibrant and colorful world completely different from her own.

Reading the letters and learning about the outside world gradually became the greatest joy in Alice's life.

Until one week, the uninterrupted stream of letters stopped.

The Fairy Tale Witch waited for a long time, but she never received a letter from the "White Rabbit."

At that moment, her heart felt empty, as if something was missing.

After thinking for a long time, she finally understood something.

The young man who was her pen pal was perhaps not the White Rabbit who led "Alice" into the world underground.

He was the Mad Hatter.