Klein wasn't sure if what he felt more at that moment was fear or sorrow, but what he did know was that Alice suddenly clutched her stomach and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Klein stared at her in shock. The emotions that had surged moments ago felt like a punch into soft cotton—dissipating into pure disbelief.
He watched as Alice struggled to regain her composure, her eyes twinkling mischievously as she asked, "I scared you, didn't I?"
Her voice was filled with barely contained amusement, her expression radiant with excitement. Klein, looking at her, felt his anger bubble up from deep within.
He stood up, his gaze turning ice-cold as he stared at her. His face was devoid of any expression.
Alice's smile slowly faded, replaced by a cautious look. "Klein…?"
Klein remained silent, his voice frigid when he finally spoke. "That joke wasn't funny."
After saying that, he turned and walked out of the room—not slamming the door, not storming off, just quietly shutting it behind him.
Alice opened her mouth, wanting to stop him, but his movements were too smooth and decisive. In the end, all she could do was watch the door close, blinking in confusion.
"...I feel like crying." She placed a hand over her chest and let out a dry chuckle, only for a tear to unexpectedly roll down her cheek.
Something had left her.
She raised her hand, slowly opening and closing her fingers, repeating the motion several times before finally lowering it with a sense of loss.
—It was just a joke, but not entirely.
Only when the 'Die of Probability' vanished did she truly understand why, when facing Bernadette, the words she had instinctively uttered were 'find it again'—because, in truth, it had always been hers.
It wasn't just about containing it; it was more like recovering something she had long lost. The process had been so smooth, it felt unnatural.
But what truly lingered in her mind wasn't the memories it brought back, but that strange sense of unfamiliarity when she had first awakened—toward her body, toward her emotions.
"Maybe I went too far…"
Alice muttered to herself. She vaguely recognized that Klein was genuinely angry, but her newly dulled emotions made it hard to grasp the weight of his fury. Still, from past experiences, she understood that an apology was in order.
Yet, trying to say the words felt like forcing a seed to sprout through stone. Maybe one day it would break through and see the light of day, but for now, it remained buried in the dark.
So, Alice sat where she was, sorting through the fragments of memory she had regained, contemplating her next steps, and examining what she had obtained.
The memories were disjointed, a jumbled mess. She focused on the earliest recollection—
A voice had called her awake.
"The forever innocent child,
"The embodiment of luck and miracles,
"The origin of disaster and chaos—"
Three lines of a title echoed in her ears. In her memories, the first time she heard them, she had instinctively turned toward the voice and curiously asked:
"Who are you?"
That was their first interaction—not 'their,' but 'His.'
It was Will Auceptin before he became the 'Serpent of Mercury.' At that time, he didn't even go by that name; he was just an anonymous 'Prophet.'
Alice didn't remember how she had come to be sealed within the 'Die of Probability,' but one thing was clear—this wasn't that river of light she had envisioned. Something must have happened before she had fallen asleep.
Of course, that wasn't the most pressing concern. Alice continued trying to piece together the timeline of those shattered memories.
Will Auceptin—still just a 'ChaosWalker' then.
He had discovered her occasional moments of lucidity and attempted to awaken her. His first approach was composing a title for her.
And when she finally woke up, he had already completed the ritual, advancing to 'Prophet.'
They had spent quite a long time together. From a human perspective, perhaps one could call them 'friends'—
But that was only from her perspective.
Yes, only hers.
The biggest inconsistency in her memories began when ice cream first appeared in that world.
Will Auceptin had taken her muddled descriptions and repeatedly refined them until he finally produced something that, while not quite ice cream, was close enough.
There had been no cream back then. The first version was a semi-solid blend of ice, milk, fruit, egg yolk, and fat, spun into a spiral shape that she found strangely familiar.
And yet, seeing that familiar yet foreign dessert, Alice was met with another dilemma—
Without a human body, how was she supposed to taste food?
Back then, Will Auceptin had laughed and reassured her, "Help me ascend to Sequence 1. Once I get there, I'll lend you my body so you can try it. How about that?"
And Alice… had believed him.
She had taken that blatant lie at face value and helped her 'friend' rise to Sequence 1.
Then…
Then, she didn't remember.
The memories turned chaotic again and abruptly ended. Alice withdrew from them, looking down at her own hands in quiet confusion.
She should be angry—humans would be furious over being deceived and betrayed.
But she wasn't.
She was only interested in the Sequence 1 characteristic that Will Auceptin had.
No, there was also Ouroboros ...
"The forever innocent child,
"The embodiment of luck and miracles,
"The origin of disaster and chaos—"
As she was pondering this, Alice suddenly heard overlapping voices praying to her. Some male, some female, coming from various places. Following the strongest one, she turned her gaze toward—
A figure clad in a long, flowing black robe, resembling a windbreaker, with matching black trousers, shoes, and a pointed soft hat.
A crystal monocle rested against one eye…
She didn't even need to see his face to recognize him just by that perpetually unchanged attire—
Amon?
"Aren't you going to thank me?" Amon adjusted his monocle, his lips curling into that ever-familiar, teasing smile.
The faded colors of Alice's emotions slowly returned, and among them, the most prominent and intense one was—
Fear.