"Fun's afoot! Fun's afoot!" Robin frantically flapped his wings, charging straight to the frontlines of the drama.
His explosive speed was something even Alice couldn't keep up with for a moment.
As they entered the room, the scene that met their eyes was Shinku slumped on the carpet, clutching Suigintou's head in her arms.
Alice observed the situation with a complicated sense of nuance.
Did... Shinku just solo-kill Suigintou?
The sound of footsteps from the doorway snapped the dazed Shinku out of her stupor.
Hugging Suigintou's head, she flusteredly turned her gaze towards the door. "Alice..."
This child was clearly terrified.
Alice stepped forward and took Suigintou's head from her. Those once-vivid red eyes had now gone stiff and lifeless.
She lifted the head higher, carefully examining the joint connections.
How could this happen? She hadn't been careless back then...
Before Alice could get a closer look, a long, slender object drifted out from inside the head.
It was a blue feather.
The feather shimmered with a dreamlike radiance under the sunlight, floating lightly in the air.
In this particular context, its leisurely, carefree drift was inexplicably irritating.
Watching the feather waft before her, Alice reached out and pinched it between her fingers, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Memories of the past slowly resurfaced, and the face of a certain culprit gradually came into focus.
Back when she was crafting Suigintou, she recalled something... or rather, someone... had been hovering around.
If she remembered correctly, he'd even let out a sneeze, sending his feathers flying everywhere.
The corners of Alice's mouth slowly curled upwards. The culprit behind this incident was now crystal clear.
"Miss Alice! Miss Alice! What's going on?" Robin fluttered his wings as he flew to Alice's side, anxiously asking about the situation, though anyone could hear the sheer delight in his tone.
Hahaha! So Suigintou's finally become the source of some fun too!
When she was chasing and beating him before, her strikes were none too gentle. He'd even lost a few of his perfect feathers.
Robin struggled mightily to keep from laughing out loud, the amusement in his heart reaching its peak.
'I'm going to record this incident in its entirety.'
'Oh my? Even Miss Alice is smiling? To think this situation could actually amuse her?'
'What a wonderfully kind-looking smile.'
Robin temporarily set aside his pursuit of the fun details to instead admire his master's peerless beauty.
But the more he looked, the more something felt... off.
This smile... didn't it look familiar? Wasn't it the same one she'd worn last time he'd messed up?
A sense of foreboding dawned in his heart. He stared intently at that smile, double-checking.
'It really does seem like it...'
He glanced at the feather in Alice's hand, then back at Alice's smile.
Memories of the past likewise bubbled up in his mind.
At this moment, Robin began to understand everything.
That night... Oh no! He was the fun!
He frantically beat his wings, wanting to temporarily escape this room that had just turned into a living hell.
However, Alice's slender fingers had already made contact with his body.
Alice grabbed Robin in one swift motion, her pale, delicate palm firmly trapping him.
The blue robin struggled wildly in her grasp. "Wait! Hold on!"
He shook his head. "Have mercy! What's done is done, right?"
Alice continued to wear her kind smile as she slowly tightened her grip.
"Eep!"
As his living space shrank, Robin's bones creaked ominously.
"M-Miss Alice... It hurts... I feel like the blood inside me is about to spill from my beak..." he let out a stubborn cry.
His pleas only earned him an even more cramped living space.
He opened his beak, greedily gasping for air.
A few seconds later, accompanied by a final crack, Robin fell unconscious.
Alice looked at the Robin in her hand with some distaste, then casually tossed him backwards.
The robin, a creature that should only exist in fairy tales, flew lightly through the air.
He traced a beautiful parabola before landing on the table with a thud.
Robin lay on the tabletop, twitched twice, and then fell silent.
"It's alright." Alice stepped forward to comfort Shinku, simultaneously taking Suigintou's head from her arms.
She gathered up Suigintou's body, which was lying nearby, and headed upstairs.
She had only taken two steps when Shinku's voice sounded from behind her.
"...Will Suigintou... really be okay?"
Shinku sat on the floor, at a loss, her lips pressed tightly together.
She had long been prepared, since the very first Alice Game, for the possibility of a sister being destroyed.
This was the fate of the Rozen Maidens, or so she had told herself.
But...
Actually seeing a sister lying broken on the ground, Shinku's heart felt inexplicably unsettled.
'It must be a misconception. If Suigintou were to die, it would actually be very advantageous for me.'
'The other sisters are all quite simple. So, if Suigintou were gone, my chances of becoming Alice would increase significantly.'
'So... why wouldn't I want Suigintou to die?'
Shinku searched her heart for every possible reason, trying to convince herself.
But her gaze never left Suigintou's form.
'So... so... if Suigintou dies, then I...'
'Then of course I can accept it.'
Shinku shook her head, as if to physically dislodge the other thoughts.
'Yes, I can definitely accept it. I absolutely can accept it.'
Shinku raised her head again, wanting to regain her usual elegant composure.
She rose slowly, intending to explain to Alice that her earlier concern for Suigintou's safety was just a momentary scare.
Taking a deep breath, Shinku once again arranged an elegant smile on her face and looked towards Alice.
But when her peripheral vision caught sight of the motionless Suigintou in Alice's arms, her previous resolve wavered once more.
Could she really... accept it? Accept the loss of a sister?
Shinku stared at Suigintou's limp, dangling limbs, her breathing becoming slightly rapid.
She bit her lip tightly, the corners of her mouth turning down.
How could she possibly accept it!
Faced with the actual death of a sister, she seemed to understand now.
She understood what it meant to lose, she understood what sisters truly meant, and she understood that the mutually destructive Alice Game was not what she desired.
That's right. She did not want her sisters to leave.
Shinku took a step forward, her hands clutching her skirt tightly, and asked Alice, "Will Suigintou come back?"
The faint glimmer of tears welled in the corners of her eyes, the worry in her voice finally no longer hidden.
"Don't worry."
That simple phrase caused the unease in Shinku's heart to vanish like a bursting bubble.
"You'll be able to play together again soon."
"Okay!"
--+--
Robin was now perched panting on top of the television, his wings half-bald.
It seemed Alice had told Suigintou the whole story, because the moment Suigintou came downstairs, she'd drawn her sword and charged at him.
So how was he still alive?
Because the instant Suigintou appeared downstairs, Shinku had rushed over and hugged her.
Suigintou looked down at Shinku, who was clinging to her, utterly dumbfounded and lost.
Robin, full of fear, covered his chest with a wing and brought both wings together, bowing towards Shinku in gratitude.
'Thank you, Sister Shinku, for saving this bird's life.'
After paying his respects, Robin slowly raised his head, scanning for his next hiding spot.
And then, he met Suigintou's eyes, which were fixed on him with a savage grin.
Eeeek!!!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.