Summary:
A few days after Rion suddenly
leaves, the MC is back at her old work as a housekeeper. She is working with her senior,
Chisato. Chisato talks calmly about work, probably sensing her unease and trying to go easy on her.
The MC tells herself that she needs to pay attention since the guests might get a
bad impression of the hotel if she makes even a trivial mistake. As they are
working on putting new sheets on the bed, Erika, Rina, and Kana come in to
give her a hard time about going back to her old work. She tries to ignore them
and the rumors they are trying to spread (that she probably angered the VIPs and the
like). Chisato continues her work, ignoring their cutting comments to help the
MC stay focused. She thinks about Erika as the Queen of Heart and Rina and Kana
as her trump soldiers, and she starts giggling. Her heart still hurts as her
thoughts drift to Rion. She worries about him being all alone again, and she
truly misses living with him, even if it was strange.
The manager, Kenzaki, shows up
and tells her that Mr. Ichinomiya has asked to see her. She heads up to the
penthouse suite. He tells her that she was too slow, and she apologizes. She
waits for him to speak again. He says that Rion has confined himself to the tea
room and won’t answer the phone either. He tells her that he can’t hold the
Black Auctions without the Mad Hatter. She recalls Rion’s words from the lobby
when Al confronted him. She feels like it is her fault that he is hurting because
she asked him to leave the tea room. Mr. Ichinomiya sets a book on the table
that she recognizes as the one that Mr. Ichinomiya took when she was throwing
out the garbage before. He tells her to read it, but she is hesitant. He orders
her to do it anyway.
Later that evening, she is
getting into bed and picks up the diary to begin reading it. The timeline
begins about 15 years prior.
Entry #1: Rion
talks about his parents’ funeral. He says that there were a lot of roses in the
coffin.
Entry #2: In
the next entry, he says he is talking to the “Queen of Hearts” at the breakfast
table. She asks him why he is always holed up in his room surrounded by creepy junk
and that he needs to go outside and play with his friends. He tells him that
these things are not junk but his treasures. He wonders if he is not the master
of his own life.
Entry #3:
Rion finds a book about clowns in the library. He is intrigued by their look
and wishes to live freely like them. The MC recognizes this as the Mad Hatter’s
origin.
Entry #4: He
is considering the concept of the tea party, who should be invited, and also
the dress of each person.
Entry #5: The
butler tells him that his uncle will be coming. The family ridicules Rion, and as the oldest son and heir of the family, he should behave accordingly.
Entry #6: He
is thinking about where the tea party should be held. He decides that outside
under a blue sky is best surrounded by trees and flowers. And roses.
Entry #7: Rion says he was
scolded by the “Queen of Hearts” because he did not speak well in front of his
relatives. She yells at him for being undignified and timid in front of people
and says that he is a disgrace to the family. He reveals that he does not like angry
people, and thus he gave the name “Queen of Hearts” to his grandmother.
Entry #8: “Sweet Alice. I want to
meet you soon. I am lonely and tired.”
(The MC’s chest aches reading
this simple line. She thinks that because he couldn’t be accepted by his
family, he wrote it all down instead.)
Entry #9: Rion meets Mr.
Ichinomiya for the first time at a club in London. He thinks the Mad Hatter
costume looks good on him.
Entry #10: He goes back to the
same club and writes that he feels good in the costume.
Entry #11: Al tells on him for
going to the club dressed as the Mad Hatter. He thinks that he is surely a
messenger for the Queen of Hearts.
Entry #12: The Queen of Hearts tells
him that his costume hobby is unacceptable since he graduated from Oxford
University by skipping grades (obviously very intelligent – the MC is unaware
that he skipped grades.)
Entry #13: Eisuke contacts him, and he decides to move to Japan.
Entry #14: He has completed the
tea room in the basement, and Eisuke gives him a job. He decides to live as the
Mad Hatter.
(The MC then flips to the last
few pages. It’s the same day that she was bought at the auction.)
Entry #15: “Finally, I’ve met
you, Alice.”
The
MC begins to cry upon reading the last entry. She feels so badly for him. She
starts to think back on her memories of him before the room starts to shake and
things fall from the shelves. Realizing it’s an earthquake, she makes for the
hotel lobby.
The lobby is
in chaos with concerned guests. Kishi is there directing people to evacuate. He
tells her that they are evacuating due to concerns of a tsunami. Like he’s
reading her thoughts, he asks if she’s looking for Rion Hatter. She asks how he
knows that name. He reminds her that he saw Rion’s passport when they were
investigating the theft. Rion is not in the crowd, and because of the
earthquake, the elevator is out of service. She spots Mr. Ichinomiya, and concerned
for his safety should there be a tsunami, she panics. He tells her to calm down
because the hotel is protected against tsunamis. Just when she starts to calm
down, Kenzaki appears and informs them that a fire has broken out in the
basement. Mr. Ichinomiya comments that due to the secrecy of the Black Auction,
it does not appear on the blueprints, so the fire department wouldn’t know
where to go. The MC starts to head for the stairs quickly. Mr. Ichinomiya tries to grab
her, but he misses, and she runs to get to the tea room.
My
commentary:
I was impressed that Voltage
gave this character these extreme mental health issues. It’s a touchy subject
for many people, but it’s a real issue, and I’m glad they put in a character
like this. The diary entries were truly heart breaking, and I felt like I was
crying along with the MC.
Songs to
listen to while reading this chapter:
“The Love We
Had Before” by Fireflight
“Boulevard
of Broken Dreams” by Green Day
“All You
Wanted” by Michelle Branch
“Bleed Out”
by Blue October
"In Memory”
by Shinedown
"The Diary of Jane" by Breaking Benjamin
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