In the blue sky, a red light shoots up into the sky, it is a flare from Alice, signalling that she has succeeded in convincing Rapunzel.
I glance down, Margaret is lying on the ground, her hands and feet tightly bound and her mouth covered with duct tape. I wave my hand before disappearing from her sight. Elsewhere, Alice was running with Rapunzel in tow.
"WOAAAAHHHHHH!" Rapunzel couldn't stop marveling when she looked around her, "ALICE! WHAT IS THAT?!"
"That's a cinema."
"What's a cinema?"
"A place to watch movies."
"What movie are they showing?
"The ones recently released.."
"Like what?"
Alice was constantly bombarded with questions from Rapunzel; her mouth couldn't stop answering, but she felt troubled by it.
I waited for Alice in front of a restaurant where we had agreed to meet. Soon, I heard footsteps approaching. When I lifted my head, sure enough, it was Alice and Rapunzel.
Rapunzel was wearing a simple white dress, and her eyes lit up even more when she saw me; she was like a museum curator seeing a valuable artifact.
"RED!" Rapunzel came straight towards me and grabbed both my hands, "Finally, I can touch you! And your cold face looks even colder up close!"
"Aren't you tired of being like that?" What annoyed me was that she asked out of genuine curiosity, not just to mock me.
"Pft—" I could clearly hear Alice trying to stifle a laugh.
"I'm hungry, let's go in," I said, entering the restaurant and ignoring Rapunzel's question.
Once we sat down, Rapunzel couldn't stop looking around in awe. "Rae, choose whatever you want," Alice said, and Rapunzel turned to her with a frozen schoolgirl stare, like she had been hit by Medusa's gaze.
"What did you call me?"
"Uh... Rae?" Alice replied, a little hesitantly.
"Don't think about it, she likes to give people nicknames—" Before I could finish, Rapunzel slammed her hand on the table enthusiastically.
"I'm VERY HAPPY! No one has ever given me a nickname before! So I feel honoured! Please call me that! Because I really love it! And maybe I should think of nicknames for you two as well! But ugh... I can't think of anything! I've never thought of giving someone a nickname before! I have to think of something really good for you two! By the way, which one should I choose, this one or that one? I really want to try this one... But my mother once made something similar, while I've never tried this one before, and I'm afraid it won't suit my taste and I'll end up not eating it. So, do you guys have any suggestions for me? And you don't have to hesitate to tell me if there are some items on the menu that are too expensive—ah! Sorry, sorry! Since you guys are treating me, I should choose items that aren't more expensive than what you guys are ordering, right?! Sorry, I forgot about proper etiquette~! Hehe, Alright! I'll let you decide, and don't worry, I'm not picky about food! I'll accept whatever you choose with an open heart!"
We were kicked out of the restaurant.
"You're not supposed to be noisy in a restaurant, huh? I think restaurants are places where people talk to each other," Rapunzel said in confusion.
"All that nonsense is just because of a nickname..." I muttered. Now it was clear that Rapunzel was the type of person I didn't like, someone who liked to talk too much.
Alice looked exhausted, because she was the first to come forward to apologise earlier. "Huft... By the way, Red, how long until Margaret finds out about this?" She whispered to me.
"As long as we can," I replied, and that made Alice's expression full of surprise and suspicion.
She looked at my face before asking, "You didn't take her to the edge of town and make her get lost... RIGHT?!" She asked, full of suspicion.
"You think I'm that cruel?" I replied, sighing deeply, "I just tied her up in a dark alley."
Hearing that, Alice immediately stopped in her tracks and now it was her turn to be struck by Medusa's gaze before screaming, "You did WHAT?!"
Rapunzel behind us looked curious about what we were talking about, especially after seeing Alice shouting, "What's going on?"
"Don't worry, I've already shut her up," I replied casually, because what was there to be afraid of anyway?
Alice could only remain silent before saying, "You should have learned from what happened before, Alice! DO NOT. LET. RED. WORK. ALONE."
"You are truly foolish, Alice," she insulted herself, even though I was the one who felt most humiliated at that moment.