Shinku gave a brief reply.
Chen Yao was puzzled—was a medium really that special to a doll?
'Enough of that. Yao, forget the favorability survey; we're going to defeat The Red Queen and get back to our real world.'
Shinku tucked the record sheet into her dress and spoke to Chen Yao.
Just then the basement door was kicked open and a squad of card soldiers burst in. Their captain, the Jack of Hearts, pointed at Shinku and shouted, 'Found the intruder—seize her!'
'Hah, I'm sick of this absurd country. You puppets made by some doll—vanish!'
Shinku raised a finger; the rose ring blazed crimson. The beautiful doll had clearly run out of patience. Petals burst from her like blades, scattering the card soldiers out of the basement.
But when the two rushed outside, thousands more card soldiers had already surrounded them.
'Yao, stay close!'
Shinku dashed, still instinctively shielding her medium.
Some soldiers loosed arrows she didn't notice; Chen Yao snapped the wooden shafts aside with his bracers. Though unarmed, he tore through the black mass of troops with terrifying ease.
Watching him, Shinku realized it wasn't she who was protecting him—he was protecting her.
So before the Alice Game even began, what had been the reason for sending her to Chen Yao's side?
—[Ever since Father left me…]
A voice thick with resentment brushed Shinku's ear.
'What?'
Startled, Shinku thought:
—[Get away from my father!]
The girl's voice dripped with sorrow and loathing.
'Which doll are you, and who is your father?'
At first Shinku hadn't understood why this doll had brought them here; now she saw. The unborn doll had taken Chen Yao for her father.
Two caskets had been mailed by opposing powers. From the start Shinku had unwittingly claimed the one person this other doll treasured most. The craftsman was already dead; the doll had never been born, and the moment Chen Yao opened the box she accepted him as the father she had never met. Yet because he signed a contract with Shinku and hid the other doll under his bed, the powerful unfinished doll was consumed by hatred.
Worse, the party behind the counterfeit doll cared nothing for the Alice Game or for finding a father for the girl; they simply wanted the Rose Dolls eliminated so they could harvest the rosa mystica without dirtying their own hands.
'Yao is my medium, not your father. Wake up—your father was—'
Shinku tried to reason with the doll, but the other would not listen.
—[Such warm hands, gently waking me… If only I could touch you. In this cold world the only warmth I know is the flame of Father's hands. I'm so alone, so sad… I was meant to walk the game world Father loved, the Alice Game he pondered; your place was mine!]
Shinku suddenly lifted into the air. An unseen force tried to banish her from the domain ruled by that mighty doll. As she began to fade, a gauntleted hand seized her small one; her armored medium held tight, and together they were swept away.
When the light returned, Chen Yao found Shinku gone from his grasp.
He stood in a dim, deep garden. Night pooled among the flowers; a cold wind stirred leaves and bright blossoms. Everything looked clear, yet the place felt sunless, as though light had never touched it.
Where was he? And why had he come?
Where had Shinku gone?
Chen Yao scanned the darkness and started searching. Arrogant, pretentiously mature, and fond of pampering she might be, but she was his doll to protect.
A full moon hung in a black-blue sky. Amid the manicured grounds he spotted a road, flickering traffic lights, an abandoned signpost.
He pushed aside ivy and read the names carved there:
[Garden of Darkness]
As he studied the sign, a delicate voice called:
—[Father…]
He turned and saw, in the European garden, a girl missing an arm and a leg, propped against a flowerbed. She smiled. 'Father, I… I've finally found you.'
Chapter 67 – The World's Greatest Father-Complex doll
In the lovely garden a broken doll leaned against the wall—lovely despite her wounds, silver-grey hair tangled and pitiful, abandoned.
'Ah… Father, we meet at last.'
She stretched out her hand, trying to touch him, and smiled.
'Were you the one calling me?'
Chen Yao asked the forsaken doll.
The silver-haired girl nodded. 'Yes, Father. I am the doll you made—Rose Crystal. I exist to give everything to you.'
'But I'm not your father. Your father was murdered…'
In the ashen garden Chen Yao stepped closer and told the orphaned girl the cruel truth.
'Why would Father say that? I don't understand… Doesn't Father love me any more?'
Unable to move, the doll gazed at him with empty eyes, her voice sorrowful.
Grey dust drifted from the sky, so unlike Wonderland. The doll looked like a lost child who had waited ages; had no one come, she would have remained alone in this colourless garden forever.
Rose Crystal tilted her childish, adorable face—apparently the stoic type. When Chen Yao stayed silent she asked happily, 'Father, do you like the world I made for you?'
I had hoped to create the world Father loved, then stroll through that beautiful place with him.
Alas, some doll seems to have stolen Father away.
No matter—I drove her off. Now it is only Father and I.
She reached for Chen Yao's helmet, paying no mind to what lay beneath.
Soft fingertips brushed his face, the purest, happiest smile brightening the lovely girl.
"Where did you send Shinku? What have you done to her?"
Chen Yao felt little of the European beauty's sweetness; at Shinku's name he asked.
Rose Crystal's expression dimmed; she dared not refuse her Father.
Quietly she answered, "I delivered her to The Red Queen's prison. I didn't want her to disturb our reunion."
Chen Yao started to rise, determined to free Shinku.
A small hand locked round his arm; eyes squeezed shut, Rose Crystal wordlessly begged him to stay.
These exquisite Rose Dolls cling to people with utter dependence—innocent, proud, lovely, willful—utterly alien to an Undead whose heart is ash.
"Father, don't abandon me… please… do you no longer want me?"
Rose Crystal hugged the low-rank knight, hot tears falling as she trembled.
"Someone cursed you. I'm sorry, but if you live you will kill Shinku and the others. I can't let that danger remain."
Chen Yao knelt before the broken doll, hand poised to pierce her chest and end her loneliness.
Yet her touch carried the warmth of life.
In this absurd world he faced the choice again: destroy, or allow to endure.
His hand hovered over her heart, the decision cruel.
Kill?
Kill!
Kill?
Kill!
Kill?
Kill.
Kill?
...
Between relentless reason and reluctant humanity his dark soul churned: a second Deep ending, or another wager on the flame.
Grey gardens sighed beneath cold winds; pink rose-petals danced.
The Undead felt in his arms a life, a future, achingly real.
Unaware, Rose Crystal clung to him, her love frozen in that perfect moment.
At last the Undead's hand settled gently on the doll-girl's back.
Though cursed, hope lingered; he chose to trust in humanity once more and gamble on tomorrow.
"Your name is Rose Crystal? Come with me. We'll free Shinku and go home."
Chen Yao stroked her hair, lifted his helm, and smiled.
"...Yes, Father."
Tears still shone as Rose Crystal's face, once empty, blossomed into joy.
He lifted her; the rose ring on his finger glowed softly as he carried her from the twisted fairy-tale.
Meanwhile Shinku, caged, battered the bars with petals but found the iron stubbornly strong.
"Reduced body, reduced power—far weaker than before," she thought.
"No word from Yao, but he's no ordinary man; may he be safe."
Suddenly crystal spears burst from the ground, shattering the cage.
Card soldiers charged; crystal shards impaled them.
"What is happening?" Shinku hovered, staring at the crystalline forest below.
She spotted Chen Yao cradling a damaged, ash-white-haired doll amid the crystal—limbs missing, yet breathtaking.
With a lift of the girl's palm, the charging card soldiers were cut down.
"Yao, what is this?" Shinku landed, frowning.
"She's Rose Crystal. I've taken her in," Chen Yao answered.
The two doll maidens regarded each other in chilling silence.
"She isn't a Rose doll," Shinku warned.
"She forged this prison-world and is powerful. Are you certain?"
"The future may be grim, but like you she is alive to me. I'll trust humanity, Shinku."
Shinku paused, then nodded.
Rose Crystal watched the rival who would share her Father.
"Let's leave," Shinku declared.
"Yes, Rose Crystal—take us away," Chen Yao said.
Unease stirred in the girl; fear of abandonment rose.
Still, her power lifted them, carrying Father and rival upward, away from the mad fairy-tale realm.