Beyond the courtyard by the garden gates stood a young girl. She held a basket of freshly clipped flowers as she hummed a familiar tune. “Summer Dreams” composed by Black Alice herself.

“Have you seen Lord Heart?”

The girl stopped humming and replied, “No ma’am.”

Finding the boy would be no easy task.

Hero peered through the green foils and watched his nurse from above. She wasn’t going to get him this time! He hated having his bath. Bath time only meant one thing. He had to go play with Black Alice and the other children. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to play with them, he just felt very jealous when participating in their little misadventures. Black Alice treated everyone the same and that wasn’t good enough for him. He was the type of child who wanted all the attention to himself especially Black Alice’s. She was the “Black Alice” after all. Who wouldn’t want Black Alice to give them more than just a smile or a friendly hug. It bothered him that he kept thinking of her.

Although she always claimed to be one of them, he knew she was more important than the rest. There had to be someone at the top or else it would go crazy with chaos. That was what his mother told him.

Speaking of mother… she stood right beneath the tree. Looks like he had to take his bath after all…

“Forgive me, milady. I was unable to find Lord Heart and-” the Nurse explained when she saw Hero’s mother.

“It’s perfectly fine, dear nurse. I’ve already found him. If he disappears again, don’t hesitate to ask for my assistance.”

“Oh…” the nurse bowed her head. The princess had her ways of finding Hero. Everyone in the household wondered how but no one thought to ask.

“Why don’t you come down, sweetheart. There’s no use in hiding.” She looked up at him. Her eyes were the same dark brown as his. The whole town said that he looked like his mother and nothing like his father. Guess they were right.

She was giving him an impatient look and he gave in. Hero swung from the branch like a monkey and slide down the trunk.

He turned to face her. The thin layer of dust on his clothes made her frown.

“What will Black Alice say if she saw you looking so dirty?”

“I don’t want to go play, mama. I don’t want to talk to Black Alice or even want to see her.”

His mother couldn’t contain her amusement. “You were always such a bad liar, love. Come… follow the nurse and she will clean you up. You’ll be looking so smart for Black Alice.”

“I’m sure everyone else will be looking smart for Black Alice,” mumbled Hero.

The princess cupped his dirty chin, “No, love. You’ll be especially smart, won’t you…”

Hero remembered another reason why he didn’t want to go.

“Promise me you’ll be the closest to Black Alice. You must protect her from the others. “

She was always paranoid about the others. Why did it have to be him? If danger really came, he knew for sure there was nothing he could do for Black Alice. Just like that time when she scraped her knee while sliding down a tree. He didn’t know what to do. He felt dumb and absolutely useless. That feeling… he didn’t like it one bit. What made the situation worse was the fact that she comforted him. She, Black Alice, with her knee bleeding. Hero, she said, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine, see? He remembered her exact words.

So he really wasn’t the one to protect her. Why did his mother have so much fate in him?

The truth was she didn’t. The Princess of Hearts had no intentions of protecting Dark Alice. Hero was oblivious of her true motives. When he found out, it was already too late to choose sides.

During Dark Alice’s 20th birthday party, it was, when the threat became known.