Are you Alice? © Ai Ninomiya and Ikumi Katagiri
A country only needs one queen. If not, the people won't understand whose orders to follow. There's only one queen in Wonderland. So The Queen of Hearts' order is absolute.
No one could comprehend what exactly the chef did that made the king angry. Was it because of the red lobster that he prepared for His Majesty? Well, everyone in Wonderland knew that the king despise the red color of blood and anyone who shows him the color will receive punishment from him. But, lobster wasn't blood red and it's delicious.
So what order did the chef disobeyed?
The Knave of Hearts could care less. Knowing his king who was easily angered, this kind of thing was usual. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But now with the chef's head off, who will cook His Majesty's meals?
The king stared at the beheaded corpse and the red puddle of blood in front of his feet with eyes narrowed in disgust. Some of the blood had splattered on his handsome face too. The blood-coated scythe disappeared from his hand into thin air as his lips parted to call his faithful ace.
"Jack."
The silent ace turned to his king in acknowledgement upon hearing his name called in such a demanding manner.
"Find me a new cook. I want a female cook."
If the king wasn't an ill-tempered man, Jack would have face-palmed. Was he trying to turn this castle into a harem? And how will he be able to go find a chef if he was supposed to always stay by his side?
Jack was about to open his mouth to ask but he immediately remembered that he was forbidden to speak. He zipped his lips shut. Now he had no way but to figure out how.
The king's mauve eyes peered at the unmoving bodyguard by his side. He heaved a heavy sigh. "That means I'll come with you. Prepare the carriage and we'll leave once I clean the blood off me," elaborated him as if he understood Jack's confusion.
That answered Jack's question. He bowed in submission and left.
The sun was beginning to set down, marking the end of the day. They had entered numerous restaurants with good reputation known in Wonderland yet since the king had such high tastes, he hadn't even chosen a candidate. He stepped in a restaurant, the waitresses swooned, he ordered and flirted, the food came and he left without touching it. The cycle had been repeated over and over till now. It almost seemed like the king was not interested in finding a new cook but he was interested in the waitresses instead.
No, Jack certainly wasn't complaining nor was he tired from accompanying the king. He was the king's loyal ace after all.
"Welcome, Your Majesty!"
The chorus of greetings welcomed the king inside. He smiled his usual half-lidded smile and stepped in the small yet full restaurant. Jack followed after His Majesty and his jaw went slack by the slightest. The first thing he noticed, aside from how crowded the limited space was, was the waitresses. Unlike the king, Jack was not the perverted type. But he is still a man and he could not help but stare at the women dressed in animal costumes. Quiet exposing costumes, he might add. Then he immediately realized that those ears and tails might be real since this is Wonderland. Everything might be possible, except disobeying the queen's orders.
The cutest women approached the king the second he stepped in. They led him to a very clean table to the point where Jack could see the reflection of the neatly arranged flowers in the vase on the table.
Jack could tell that the king was very happy to be here.
A young girl with fluffy pink cat ears suddenly popped in between the women surrounding the king's table and handed him a small booklet.
"Here's the menu, Your Majesty!" chirped her with an adorable smile.
The king took the menu still with his smile that seemed permanent by now. He skimmed and flipped through the pages while Jack took a peek at the contents of the booklet. The ace did not know if the king was just looking through the dessert section or if the majority contents of the menu was dishes for tea time. Judging from the interior and the waitresses' uniforms, the place did seem like a tea house.
He glanced at the vintage analog clock hung at the wall across. It was nearly 6 pm and customers were still having their afternoon tea? It's almost dinner time for His Majesty. Jack silently wondered how the king who usually had regular meal intervals everyday was not hungry by now after skipping lunch and afternoon tea.
Jack's gaze was averted as the king snapped the menu shut and set it on the table. He placed his elbows on the table and propped his chin while his half-lidded eyes stared at the girl with pink ears who gave him the menu.
"It's too late for afternoon tea now. Can your cook make me dinner?" The king asked with a hint of challenging tone.
Now Jack knew that the king was actually hungry. His one visible eye moved to the waitresses who seemed a bit uncomfortable by the king's request. The word 'request' was not in the king's dictionary. It's more of an order than a request.
After darting her eyes around nervously for a few moments, the pink-eared young girl answered nervously with a shaky voice. "O-of c-course! I'll be back in a f-few with your order! Ex-excuse me."
With that, she scurried off towards the back. Jack stared after her with a bit of worry in his eyes. He can tell that the king was hungry and he hoped that his mood will not go bitter because of it. Another chef's head might roll on the floor if the king was angry. To make matters worse, anything small might make him mad in this moment and the chef probably knew nothing about the king's favorite and least favorite food. This was a tea house and they might not have the ingredients to make even the simplest course meal.
He hoped that the cute women surrounding them will somehow calm the king's rage. Jack really did not feel like cleaning up bloodied headless corpse.
A few minutes later, the same pink-eared waitress emerged from the kitchen with a tray of empty dish and silverwares. They rattled from the way the petite girl's hands shook out of anxiety. She daintily placed them in front of the king and scooted away almost instantly after it was set.
"Um, th-the chef's preparing your meal, Your Majesty! Please wait for a wh-while." She stuttered. Again, she scurried off to the kitchen again.
In contrast with the king who waited patiently, Jack was nearly as anxious as the waitress from before. All sorts of bad predicaments ran through his mind endlessly. He way the waitress' face twisted in nervousness did not help either.
The minutes of waiting were coated with a heavy tension and Jack was not exaggerating. The other waitresses did not seem as relaxed and overjoyed as before. He king began to drum his fingertips on the table, a gesture of boredom. His ever-present smile began to falter as the minute needle ticked by slowly.
One of the waitresses finally spoke up. "I'll go check out the kitchen. Excuse me, Your Majesty." She said it as quickly as she left.
The king did not bothered to reply and he continued tapping his fingers on the table.
A few seconds after the waitress was gone, the pink-eared waitress came out of the kitchen with a tray of steaming bowl and a forced smile. She tried her best not to shake as violently as before to not spill the contents of the bowl and carefully placed it in front of the king.
"Sorry for the wait, Your Majesty." She apologized as she set the bowl of soup on the table.
The king's pair of orbs lit up at the sight of the meal in front of him. The name of soup remained ambiguous as he could not tell but it looked and smelled appetizing. He picked up a spoon to scoop up a little of the soup to check if it tasted as good as it looked.
Beside him, Jack was getting more rigid as the spoon neared he king's parted lips. He cautiously watched the king and waited for his response.
To his and everyone's relief, the king smiled after the first spoonful and continued to drink the rest of the creamy liquid. From the corner of Jack's eyes, he could see the waitresses cracked a smile in relief.
Right after the king was finished with the soup, a waitress came with a tray of salad. She set them on the table and offered a smile before she bowed and left.
The king's dinner continued with no heads rolling on the ground, to Jack's and everyone's relief. After the main course and dessert, the king wiped the invisible traces of food from his lips with a napkin and leaned back at the chair with a content expression on his face.
"That was a bit better than I expected for a place that only serves cakes and teas. I'd like to have a word with the cook."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The pink-eared waitress went to the back to retrieve the chef. A minute later, a nervous-looking girl with disheveled dark brown hair and big round steamy specs emerged from the kitchen. She hesitantly approached the king's table, her gloved hands tugged at her worn out dull apron. Once she was in front of the king she bowed deeply and straightened up.
From up close, the king could see the tiny freckles that littered her slightly rosy cheeks. Truthfully, the king was disappointed that the chef was not as cute as the waitresses. But she's just a cook and she will work in the kitchen so the king will not be able to see her often anyway. And he was pretty tired from visiting multiple restaurants in a day therefore he did not want to continue his search.
"Congratulations. You're hired," stated the king with a smirk.
The girl reluctantly looked at the king through her thick glasses and her face showed clear confusion.
"Huh? Hired…for what?" asked her dumbly.
Sorry it's short. This was just an opening chapter, sort of like a prologue, so next chapter will get longer. I promise!
As for the title... I just thought that difficult words are attractive. It isn't, is it? TTATT
And the OC is actually the girl at the end.
I just finished reading the 30+ chapters of this manga like, days ago and I'm completely in love with the plot and characters. So I can't resist writing this!
Hmm, I don't know if people will actually come here to read this fic since…I don't know… it seems that there are not a lot of people in this fandom. OTL
Reviews? No? That's fine… TTvTT