The antique long-case clock sat there with its lavishly decorated frame. The long-hand inched its way towards the pinnacle of the clock. With a booming noise, the device let Alice know that it was twelve in the midnight. Warm ray of sunlight flooded the room as if it was twelve in the noon. In actuality, it did not matter if it was twelve in the noon or in the midnight. It did not matter if it was three o'clock in the morning or in the afternoon, not to her, not to anybody living in wonderland.

Nobody seemed to care what time it was. People would only glance at its mere presence and walk away as if they saw nothing. The clock seemed to be just a decoration, yet it held a powerful symbol. It held the symbol of order and rules, symbol of life and death, and symbol of roles and destiny. It held so much meaning than just having the purpose to tell time.

It was the essence of wonderland and the purpose for which Julius existed.

Sighing, Alice got off the comfy bed and wandered a few paces before stopping at the door, the only exit in the room. How many times had she stood in this same spot? How many times was she going to repeat the same thing? Raising her hand to the door handle she turned it in a feeble attempt. Indeed, how feeble it was. The door wouldn't budge even an inch.

Ever since Eli locked her up, she had tried many methods in order to get out of this extravagant cell. She had pounded the door, shouted like a recalcitrant madman, and flung the chair against the poor door. She even tried underhanded methods such as using bobby pins to try and open the door. None of them worked, not even a scratch.

Giving up the idea of getting out through the door, Alice sighed once more and said wearily, "I feel like a prisoner." Nobody listened to her tired statement as silence responded instead. Of course, the foreigner did not expect to get an answer from someone. She just needed a breather from the pent up stress.

If she had her way, she would already be in the forest, looking for Julius and the other clock. He might be residing in other territories, trying to look for her as well. Then they will look for the clock, fix it, and get the hell back to their original time period. She was not supposed to be locked up like this. Not like an overthrown royalty waiting for the punishment in a rich looking room, never knowing if the punishment is torture or death.

At least she was not thrown into a dungeon. She was treated like a princess with mouth-watering food, exquisite looking bath, and soft silky fabric for the bed. However, a prisoner was a prisoner. There was no use sugarcoating the situation if Alice could do nothing, but sleep and stare at the patterns on the wall.

"Well, I can always go through the window…." Alice immediately approached the window and looked outside. "…..Maybe not."

The height from the room to the ground was unusually high. She could see the faceless servants as specks and could also oversee the forest beyond the maze garden. It was impossible to simply jump out of the window and climb down to the ground. She was surely going to die if she ever tried that.

Wracking her brain to come up with a feasible plan, Alice groaned in frustration, "I can't just stay here and do nothing!" What she was doing was purely unproductive and she hated to just stand around like a damsel in distress.

Suddenly the lights within the room flickered out and the pitch blackness invaded the room. The daylight from the outside disappeared in an instant and Alice froze in surprise. Turning from day to night was usual occurrence for her; however, it was strange that the light in the room also went out. It was as if somebody was making preparations for a raid.

A sudden dark presence crept behind Alice and before she could turn to face the intruders, she was tied down to the bed. Unable to move because of the strong force pushing her down, she open her mouth to question, "W…ho-"

Her voice was muffled by a large hand, making her panic and struggle even more. She kicked and thrashed around to no avail. The intruder, who was holding her down, was turning all her efforts into naught.

The man leaned closer to her. Alice felt a soft silky texture of the man's hair sliding over to her shoulder as well as the familiar musky scent of coffee. They were so close to each other now that the girl could feel the man's body temperature warming her cheek. Lowering his head, the intruder whispered into her ear, "Don't scream."

Alice shivered by the tone of the voice. It sounded both cold and off-handed. Something was odd about this situation… The voice sounded so familiar….

"Julius?" Seeing that Alice was not struggling anymore, the hand which was around her mouth was released. However, her hand was still tied down and she still was not able to move around as she liked. Her emerald eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness before her and confirmed that it was indeed Julius who was tying her down.

To summarize his current expression, there was only one word that described it, odd. His eyes were cold and distant, but his cheek was tinted pink as if he was blushing a few minutes ago. His lip was closed shut, forming a thin line. His jaw shifted around to reveal that he was chewing the inside of his cheek.

Why was he here? Did he come to save her? Why was he giving her such a weird expression? Questions bombarded her mind as she couldn't quite grasp the state she was in.

Just when she was about to voice out her thought, another man came up to the couple and grinned with his traditional Cheshire cat smile, "Don't forget about your princely cat in shining armor, cutey!"

It took her a few minutes to recognize the man next to her. Al, the perverted bastard Cheshire cat who stole her kiss! Remembering the unpleasant memory, Alice jolted noticeably and exclaimed, "Why are you h-!"

Al swiftly placed his fingers on Alice's lip and gestured to stop talking, "Tut. Tut. Impatient are we, cutey? We can take as much time later, but not now. Hold on tight and try not to make any sound alright?"

The brunette suppressed her urge to exasperate as she was pulled away from Al and into Julius' arm. She was instantly lifted from the ground and was carried towards the window. She confusedly observed the situation and felt something bad about to happen, "What is happen-!" They fell from the window; just what she thought she will never do.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Stacks of paper flooded the room, leaving absolutely no space for extra people to sit down and relax. Documents were scattered beyond the limits of disarray and it seemed impossible to clean the room. In the middle of all this mess was the queen of Hearts, scribbling paper after paper. His indifferent expression seemed as if he did not mind the paperwork at all, but that could have been further from the truth.

Eli entered the room, carrying whole new stack of paper and set it on top of Blaze's desk. Blaze's hand which was holding the pen stopped immediately and his eyes twitched in irritation. If it was any faceless, they would be cowering behind the stacks of paper to try and hide themselves. However, Eli was not a faceless and he simply ignored the heated glare coming from his majesty. Still, this did not stop from Blaze to growl at the white rabbit, "How impudent! Thou art planning an assassination with these papers?!"

"Your majesty, if I may be so bold to tell you this that I am simply doing my part as the minister of the Castle of Hearts."

Blaze sneered, "Beware of your conceitedness as you might regret displaying insolence towards your superior."

Eli suppressed the urge to sigh. He wasn't fazed by the queen's threaten at all, but it would be bothersome to deal with Blaze's rage any further. Surely he would have to deal with dozens of assassins in the next few days. "Your majesty, maybe you should take a break for a while."

Blaze sighed wearily and pointed towards the piles of paper, "Would that make these wretched things disappear? However, it is indeed time to go inspect the roses… Eli, prepare for the -."

The red haired boy sat up straight and hardened his flaming eyes. Eli knew that something was up as he questioned, "Your majesty?

"….Intruders infiltrated the castle from the west walls. It's that damn cat and…. an unknown man. He looks unfamiliar, but seems very well like a roleholder…. Hurry and send the soldiers after them." Eli's face immediately darkened as he bowed his head and left the room.

Blaze just watched the door close and smirked. Things were finally starting to get interesting.

xoxoxoxoxo

What were those men here for? It was just plain ridiculous to think that the intruders could break into the castle and leave without having to risk their lives. It was especially because Blaze, like any other territory owners, could detect any movements within their territory. Who knows maybe his majesty already trapped them in a room.

Eli shook his head. No, if Blaze did that then he wouldn't order him to send the soldiers. He was probably enjoying this amusement as long as he could before resuming to his mundane work again. Nonetheless, it was a suicidal attempt.

Infiltrated the castle from the west wall…..

Eli narrowed his eyes and broke into a sprint. West wall was where Alice stayed. Something ominous was filling his thought and he couldn't shake off the feeling of insecurity. He only prayed that nothing troublesome happened to that annoying foreigner.

To state a few reminders: Territory owners have few privileges that can be advantageous. They have the power to detect see each person's action and are able to banish, lock them, or other stuff (I honestly don't know) if they want to. That's why Blaze was able to know that Al and Julius breaking into the castle.