Sleeping Beauty [WMMAP Fanfiction]

Chapter Seventeen: Crystalline

Felix was guarding Athanasia and her tea party. Alice decided not to join because she didn't want to hear about squealing little girls fangirling over her. So she followed Claude. They didn't have an exact schedule, they just guarded whoever. It was an easy job that really just meant, tag along and b̶a̶b̶y̶s̶i̶t̶ protect them if the need arises. Although Alice was more hostile than Felix, as unlike him, she would immediately think it was okay to stab someone she didn't recognize. Maybe she was lacking some brain cells vital to her humanity, but who knows. It could just be her moral compass.

So when someone with brown hair appeared in her vision when they weren't supposed to be there, she was about to stab them through the throat. But she decided against it, upon seeing her straight bangs.

You are... Her green eyes shone upon registering her face: it was Jennette. That girl who returned the ribbon.

There was a sharp noise. Wind blew right past Jennette, who was late to notice the metal blade barely missing her neck, instead stabbing the air and slicing off some of her hair.

Eh? Her reflection was clearly seen in the steel. "S-Sir-Miss Alice?" She turned red, not knowing what Alice's pronouns were.

"You must be quite daring to wander the royal palace as you wish," Claude said to Jeanette, not recognizing her and leaning against an ivory column, in a toga with a teal sash.

"Um, er... Do you, by chance, remember me?" Jennette near whimpered underneath their sharp gazes.

Alice relaxed, almost like a string pulled on her, that her limbs went limp, and the blade fell. But her grip remained strong, and she put the weapon away, standing up straight like a puppet.

"Your majesty," Alice spoke up, stepping to the side. "She might be a guest for the young miss's tea party."

"This hour..." Claude looked to the side to see the bright sunlight beaming down on the flowers. And behind that, blue skies. "I see. I'll look the other way, then. Consider yourself lucky."

Alice boredly watched her hesitant face looking down, only for her breath to catch when her blue eyes turned crystalline. It was a fleeting moment that was gone too fast.

Did I cry too much? Alice wondered, her eyes shining with puzzlement. The sun?

Jennette's hand, touching her ring, trembled and lifted away from it.

"I wouldn't have let this go if you weren't Athanasia's guest. If this happens again, there will be severe punishments."

"I-I'm sorry, your majesty," she stammered, trying to hide beneath her hat.

"Alice. Take her back to the princess."

"Yessir."

Claude stomped past them, only offering a cold gaze that held no warmth of any sort. It left Jennette frozen in place when she met his eyes.

"Never show your face in front of me again."

Jennette's hands trembled, looking like she was about to cry. Then she clenched her fists to cheer herself up. "It's okay! He- ack!!" She forgot Alice was with her, staring at her. Her cheeks turned red. "I, um...." She stumbled over her words, unsure of what to say to explain herself. It just led off to a silence that had her feeling like she should dig a hole and become a carrot, rather than be in front of this intimidating person fight now.

The sight of Felix's back facing her, standing tall, flashed into her mind. What happened last night, she clearly remembered.

I don't have time, she heard herself say, but it was only a thought at the time. She didn't want to spend her days before her death, not trying to cherish them. At least allow her to be a nice person to someone else. Though she didn't know how to, she thought of what Felix would do; he was the nicest person she knew, after all.