Alice gripped the edge of the bed, but her gaze grew calm as she looked at Amon. "Is this the payment you want?" she asked evenly.
Amon raised an eyebrow. "It's just one friend helping another. Why make it sound so unpleasant?"
Alice ignored that. Her voice remained even. "Is this the payment you want?"
"What if I say it is?" Amon asked after a moment's thought.
Alice fell silent, then smiled. "Then you can change that phrase to 'Intimate Friend of Deceit and Mischief.' I'll answer you."
That meant Alice had no intention of actually changing her Honorific Name. This exception was for Amon alone.
Amon immediately understood what she meant. Curious, he asked, "To you, is that enough to make it 'fair'?"
Alice lifted her chin and replied:
"I'm both a participant in this transaction and its witness, so whether it's 'fair' should be my decision.
"You can leave now."
The unprecedented firmness of her dismissal made Amon frown. Then he chuckled.
"Do you know? I actually brought the cards with me.
"And you still haven't told me what the 'Mad Hatter' is..."
His voice drifted away on the wind and vanished. Amon vanished with it.
Alice stared in that direction for several seconds. Reason warned her that he was Amon, the Incarnation of Deceit and Mischief, and that she must never trust him. Even so, a crack had opened in the walls of her guarded heart.
After all, Amon had never truly hurt her, and he had always listened to her patiently.
Even Klein couldn't match him in that regard. Often, Klein wouldn't let her finish speaking or indulge her wild jokes. Not long ago, he had even lost his temper with her.
At the thought, Alice gripped the edge of the bed again. She understood that