You don’t recognize me?

I knew I had to act in that situation, but I couldn’t imagine what could be done. Emotions surged through my body, completely flooding my mana with rage and fury. I noticed Alice—or rather, the person using her body—and directed my entire attack toward her. Whoever it was, they seemed to be cherished by the king, unlike the true Alice.

She dodged my attack with an indescribable speed for a human body and countered with a bolt of lightning, which I blocked with a shield. The crowd began to back away, forming a circle to watch the fight. The king nervously bit his nails, and I saw the guards escorting him elsewhere. The real Alice stood steadfast by my side, her eyes fixed on the girl who had taken over her body. Yet, I noticed there was no hatred in her gaze—only pity.

“Mai, don’t let your anger control you. It will only throw you off balance,” she whispered, her tiny feet floating around me as she alternated between attacking and defending against our enemy's strikes.

“What do you want me to do, then?” I snapped, immediately feeling guilty for my tone. Alice didn’t seem to mind and calmly responded:

“Breathe. Rushing in blindly won’t help. You need to find the enemy’s weak spot,” she said, scanning our opponent with her eyes.

I began searching for weaknesses in my enemy but found none. She was unnaturally fast for a human and appeared flawless, with no vulnerabilities to exploit.

“If only she were a robot—then I could just blow something up…” I muttered innocently. Alice’s eyes widened in realization.

“That’s it! Mai, aim for the eye!”

I didn’t question my teacher; there was no time for hesitation. Another bolt of lightning grazed my arm, sending blood spurting out like an open hose. I noticed some of the nobles wrinkling their noses in disgust.

“Filthy blood,” some murmured, particularly those who were fully made of steel.

Another strike hit my knee, and I collapsed with a scream of pain. The attack had hit a nerve, and while one hand tried to staunch the bleeding from my arm, the other gripped the injury at my knee. The false Alice approached me with a smirk.

“Is this all you’ve got?” she mocked, laughing.

“This is all I need,” I replied, letting go of my knee to grab my enemy, catching her off guard.

Green… ropes…

A set of glowing bindings wrapped around my opponent, rendering her spells useless. The real Alice approached me, handing me a small steel dagger etched with a rose on its blade.

“I don’t think I can…” I said hesitantly, taking the dagger in my trembling hands.

“Trust me. She’s not the human she appears to be,” Alice said, finally revealing the eye covered by her enemy's eyepatch. Beneath it was a hollow metallic socket, tangled with wires.

I nodded. I had to do what needed to be done.

The guards formed a circle around me, ready to strike at the first sign of harm to the princess.

“I’ll handle this,” Alice said, her voice steady. I stepped closer to the true villain.

“You never change, do you? Always wanting everything for yourself—attention from the teachers, credit for high grades, friends, love,” she spat, her words filled with suppressed rage. My eyes widened in surprise. Had this person known Mai in another life? No, that couldn’t be right.

“What do you mean by that?” I demanded.

“You don’t recognize me?” she sneered, her laughter echoing around us.

“Mai, hurry!” the real Alice shouted. I saw she had conjured a barrier, but it was beginning to crack under the knights’ relentless blows.

Without a second thought, I drove the dagger into the false Alice’s supposedly human eye. In seconds, the metal beneath was revealed, and the illusion magic dissipated in a cloud of smoke.

“You wretch…” she growled—not in pain, but in fury. “You always take everything for yourself! Even Kenji!” she screamed, her rage boiling over.

“You… it can’t be…” I murmured, finally realizing that my enemy had been my friend from a past life all along.

“Why?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. “Why do you always take everything from me?”

“Kenji was never yours,” I replied automatically, not even thinking about the words. “He was a good friend to me because of my character. I never lamented, nor did I sabotage others to get what I wanted, as you did to Alice.”

“Listen to me! This girl isn’t who you think she is,” she shouted desperately, pointing at Alice’s ghost.

“You can see her?!” I exclaimed in shock. “How could you take over someone so innocent?”

She laughed bitterly.

“Innocent? That girl is a monster!” she yelled. I saw Alice walking slowly toward her former body, her steps deliberate.

“Silence,” Alice commanded. With a powerful bolt of lightning, the false Alice’s body froze. When she reopened her eyes, I noticed a shift in her gaze—an air of determination and coldness had taken over. A small mouse scurried out from beneath her dress, but before it could escape, Alice caught it in her hands.

“There you go. You look much better in this form,” she said, revealing that her spell had separated the souls.

“Alice, you…” I began, but she turned her icy stare toward me.

“Join me for afternoon tea, Miss Mai,” she said, walking ahead of me.

The crowd parted for Princess Alice, who strode toward the castle with her new pet mouse in tow.