Now that the princess is rescued, the beast must be punished

The little girl watched me intently, her pink eye gleaming like a precious stone, while the other was covered, giving her a frightening appearance. I took a deep breath; even though I knew nothing in this world is given for free, such behavior from a child had unsettled me.

"So, tell me, what can I use as payment?" I asked, rummaging through my pockets. "I don't have any money; all I have is this necklace."

She glanced at the necklace around my neck with little interest, then turned away indignantly, crossing her arms. I wondered if offering it had somehow offended her, but I couldn’t find any plausible answer.

"I don’t want that," she finally said. "I'm looking for something more valuable, something only you can help me with."

"Um... more jewels? I can only give them to you once I leave here..."

"No, no," she replied, shaking her head. "I need to find my body again."

I blinked twice. What was this girl talking about? If she was a ghost, it meant she had already died. Why would such a young girl want to return to life?

"I... I don’t know if I can help you with that," I said. "I believe it’s impossible to bring the dead back to the body they had in life."

She huffed and shook her head.

"You don’t understand. I'm not really dead, just disconnected from my real body. That girl took my body from me, and somehow, I haven’t been able to access it."

"What do you mean? What girl?" I was confused, and my question made the little girl sigh. "Sweetie, can you explain more so I can help you?" I asked gently, but she turned her face away.

“Ahem, let me start my story from the beginning so you can understand better,” she coughed indignantly. "I'm not just a little girl like you think—I am a princess, and older than you, by the way. My name is Alice Kauler, and don’t call me 'little girl' again."

My mouth dropped in amazement. So, she was Alice, the villain from the novel. It had never been mentioned that she was Rafar's sister, which surprised me. They really did look alike physically, though their personalities differed. Rafar was quiet, while Alice liked to make her presence known. But something didn’t add up. If the real Alice was here, who was the Alice that appeared at the ball and got engaged to Prince Augusto? As if she could read my thoughts, the villain continued her story.

"I am the daughter of the woman who threw you in here. Safira, who was once human, married the King of Luthor, the southern provinces. Her ambition consumed her, and her greed blinded her. In just one year, her body was full of robotic parts, even her heart." She seemed pained to say this but went on, "My brother went through the same process, even though he fought against it. Finally, the time came for me to exchange my body for metal, just like they did."

As Alice shared her story, I noticed she trembled at times—sometimes with sadness and regret, other times with anger. Seeing her like this, so defenseless, reminded me of my own childhood. When I was her age, I used to play all the time in the park. Seeing her so dark-eyed scared and saddened me.

"I was about to die in this very room," she continued, "when an aura appeared before me. It was a girl in clothes I’d never seen before. She wasn’t wearing a dress but blue pants and a black shirt. She touched my forehead, and I got trapped in this form," she said, looking at herself. "A child no one sees."

I took a deep breath. It was a lot to process in one day. Even though she was my enemy, she needed help. And the worst part: it seemed we both had a common enemy—the Alice from the ball. But who was she? Could the other girl also be from my world?

"Let me guess," I began. "You want help fighting this girl, right?"

She nodded and continued to look at me pleadingly. Before I could respond, a loud crash broke the door, and splinters of wood flew everywhere. Cold air rushed in, chilling me, and I felt my body tense up, not just from the cold, but from my rescuer’s presence.

Rafar sheathed his sword and sighed with relief, running toward me. To my surprise, he hugged me tightly, and feeling the warmth of his body comforted me. Wait, the warmth of his body? That meant he was more human than I’d thought.

“Ouch,” I said when his cold, robotic arm brushed my bare skin. He smiled sheepishly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, finally pulling back. "What happened to your leg?" he exclaimed worriedly, and only then did I realize I was still limping.

"I think... my leg is broken," I murmured, unable to look him in the eye. How was I supposed to act in front of him? Should I tell him I’d met his sister or that his mother was the one who had locked me up?

"Don't think about anything else," he said, comforting me. I sighed softly, relaxing. But when he suddenly picked me up in his arms, my breath caught again, and my heart pounded.

"Hey… what are you doing?" I asked, feeling my face heat up. "I can walk!"

"Sure you can," he said with a smile. "Let’s go. Now that the princess is rescued, the beast must be punished."

When we departed, I caught a glimpse of little Alice’s reflection watching me from afar. That would only be the first time we met.