Double Agent – Hatter’s story (1)
* Hatter’s perspective
“No! This can’t be! Your Majesty!”
I shouted, desperately gripping the Queen of Hearts’s ankle as she was sucked into the mirror. I used all my strength to keep her from disappearing, but it was no use.
‘What was I thinking? Giving that mad Queen of Hearts a magic mirror that leads to the Mirrorlands? Am I out of my mind?!’
If the King of Hearts found out, I was as good as dead.
‘Of course! Two years ago, I snuck into the White Queen’s garden to steal the red rose that was supposed to cure Princess Alice’s illness. In exchange, I received enough gold, jewels, and property to live in luxury and was even knighted. But then, Princess Alice was kidnapped by the White Queen and vanished, and now the Queen of Hearts, obsessed with finding her daughter, has locked herself away in a tower at the far edge of Wonderland…’
If the King of Hearts learned that his queen had been sucked into the Mirrorlands due to my mistake, I’d be finished. For the first time, I cursed my handsome face, my tricky mind, and my hat-making skills, which had always brought me a comfortable life.
“What’s going on here?”
As I froze in panic, the King of Hearts burst through the tower door with a bang.
“Where…where is the Queen? You scoundrel! What have you done with her?”
The King of Hearts seized me by the collar, demanding answers.
“Well… that’s…”
“Speak truthfully this instant, or you’ll forfeit your life!”
He glared at me with such fury that the whole tower seemed to shake.
“The… the Queen… she took a mirror from my bag when I stepped away to bring her dinner. And, well, it just so happened to be a magic mirror leading to the Mirrorlands…so she… she was pulled inside. I tried to stop her with all my strength, but…the mirror’s power was far too strong…”
Stammering under the weight of his fury, I told him the whole story of what had happened to the Queen of Hearts.
“What? You mean to say that the Queen has also been taken to the Mirrorlands?”
Now knowing that both Princess Alice, kidnapped by the White Queen, and the Queen of Hearts were in the Mirrorlands, the King of Hearts threw me against the wall and drew his sword, brandishing it at me as I began to break into a sweat.
The sword gleamed as it flew into the air, and then, fueled by his rage, came rushing straight for me.
‘This is it… I’m really done for…’
Overwhelmed with fear, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Thud!
With a sound that nearly brought the tower down, I thought I had taken my last breath…but…?
‘Wait. Why am I still here?’
Surprised to feel no impact, I cautiously opened one eye. The King of Hearts was still fuming in front of me, but his sword had fortunately embedded itself in the wall right beside my head.
But it wasn’t over yet.
There was no way the King of Hearts, who already despised me, would let me live without a reason.
“There’s something I need you to do, Harris.”
Of course! He had a plan.
“W-What is it, Your Majesty…?”
My voice trembled from the lingering fear.
“You will go to the Mirrorlands and retrieve the Queen before she’s captured by the White Queen. If you succeed, I’ll let this slide. But if you fail, I’ll make sure you beg me to end your life swiftly… after an excruciatingly slow death.”
Gulp.
A chill ran down my spine.
“But, Your Majesty… the Queen of Hearts won’t listen to me if I suggest leaving the Mirrorlands before she finds Princess Alice…”
“Then you’ll bring back Princess Alice as well. You once snuck into the White Queen’s garden and stole a rose—getting the princess out of her palace should be no different.”
‘Is he insane? Or does he really think there’s no difference between stealing a flower and rescuing a grown woman!?’
It was clear he was trying to make my life difficult.
“But… but…”
“You have two months. In two months, my royal army will be ready to end the longstanding war between Wonderland and the Mirrorlands. If you haven’t returned by then with the Queen and the Princess, I’ll lead the army myself, defeat the White Queen, and bring back your head as well.”
Apparently, he thought I understood well enough because he threw me across the room. I crashed into the far wall with a loud thud.
“Cough, cough!”
Barely able to support myself, I pushed up with both hands as pain shot through my legs.
Seeing me in such a state, the King of Hearts, seemingly a bit calmer now, stormed out of the tower with his guards.
Once he was out of sight, I grabbed my hair and let out a howl of frustration.
“This is a disaster! If I don’t retrieve the Queen and Princess from the Mirrorlands, I’m dead. But if I do, the White Queen will kill me… What am I supposed to do? Does he expect me to get torn to pieces trying to serve both sides?”
‘Wait… getting torn between the King of Hearts and the White Queen?’
“Then what if I pretend to help the King of Hearts but secretly inform the White Queen of his plan to retrieve Princess Alice from the Mirrorlands? I can gain her trust by pretending to search for the Queen of Hearts on her behalf, and once the war is over, I’ll side with the victor. Sure, the King of Hearts wants the Queen and Princess brought back before the fighting starts, but if I return with just the Queen after the war, at least my life should be spared…”
‘Yes, that’s it! I’m a genius!’
Thrilled with my own cleverness, I couldn’t help but clap my hands together.
“Right, I’d better hurry. First, I’ll go to the Mirrorlands and arrange a meeting with the White Queen.”
“You… you actually had the nerve to return here. Guards! Off with this thieving Hatter’s head!”
I’d expected the White Queen to be furious upon seeing me, especially after I stole her prized red rose years ago for the King of Hearts, but I hadn’t expected her to be this hasty.
‘Honestly! First thing she does is order my head off. What’s with the rulers around here? In both Wonderland and the Mirrorlands, all they do is scream, “Off with their heads!” How does anyone get anything done?’
“Wait! Your Majesty! I have information you’ll want to hear!”
I backed away from the chess soldiers who were closing in on me with their weapons and called out to the White Queen.
“Silence! What are you waiting for? Off with his head, now!”
It was clear her distrust of me ran deep, and she wasn’t interested in hearing anything I had to say.
“Y-Your Majesty, please! The King of Hearts is planning to invade the Mirrorlands to retrieve Princess Alice, whom you captured two years ago! I know every detail of his wicked plan and can tell Your Majesty everything!”
Knowing that I would die if I kept silent, I tried to dodge the approaching chess soldiers, shouting to the White Queen as I did.
“Do not trust him, Your Majesty! He is nothing but a thief and a scoundrel,” one of the chess soldiers insisted.
“Wait.”
The White Queen signaled for the soldier with the axe to stop.
‘Yes! She’s taking the bait!’
Seeing her hesitation, I quickly spilled the King of Hearts’ entire plan.
“Just recently, the Queen of Hearts took a hand mirror from me—a mirror that transports to the Mirrorlands. She used it to cross into your lands to rescue Princess Alice. When the King of Hearts found out, he ordered me to find both the Queen of Hearts and Princess Alice and bring them back within two months. He said that if I failed, he’d invade the Mirrorlands with his army and claim both your head and mine. But surely, Your Majesty, you remember how I’m already in your debt for taking that rose two years ago? I’m here now to help you…”
The White Queen, still wary from my last deception, wasn’t quick to believe me.
“Hah! Clever words, Hatter, but I won’t be fooled so easily this time. Two years ago, you earned my trust with that silver tongue of yours and then betrayed me, stealing a rose from my garden. Do you really think I’ll fall for the same trick again?”
“Two years ago, I betrayed you only because the King of Hearts threatened me. I should have been honest with you then and trusted Your Majesty to punish him for forcing me to steal. Even after saving Princess Alice with that rose, he treats me as nothing more than a lowly Hatter and even made me serve the Queen of Hearts. But Your Majesty, the wise and benevolent White Queen, would never treat me that way. I’m here to make amends and serve you.”
With my best pitiful expression, I poured out my grievances about the King of Hearts to everyone in the hall.
“Hmm…”
‘Got her!’
After a moment of contemplation, the White Queen signaled the chess soldiers to step back.
“If that’s your true intent, then go and bring me the Queen of Hearts, who’s now here in the Mirrorlands. But heed this—betray me again, and I will take you apart, limb by limb, slowly and painfully.”
Gulp.
The White Queen, I realized, was as ruthless as the King of Hearts—perhaps even more so.
“Understood, Your Majesty. However, if I find the Queen of Hearts, how will I contact you?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
With a snap of her fingers, a gleaming top hat—fit for any storybook gentleman—appeared on my head.
“You are a Hatter, are you not? Whenever you need to contact me, look inside the top hat. My image will appear, and we can speak directly.”
“Understood. I’ll be on my way!”
With that, I backed out of the palace, doing my best to ignore the piercing gaze of the White Queen as she watched me leave.
Splash!
Following the White Queen’s orders to search for the Queen of Hearts, who was supposedly wandering around the Mirrorlands searching for Princess Alice, I’d been making my rounds. I never imagined I’d end up captured by toads!
When morning came, the beleaguered girl imprisoned with me and I were dragged from our cell and thrown into the pond near the toad hideout.
‘As if it isn’t bad enough being humiliated by these toads, now they expect me to marry a toad princess! Then again… maybe this could work out. If I marry one of these toads while I’m in this tiny state, I won’t have to worry about getting killed by either the King of Hearts back in Wonderland or the White Queen here in the Mirrorlands.’
Floating in the cold water, I reassured myself that maybe this wasn’t the worst situation.
But as I struggled and finally made my way to the surface, I was met with a sight I could never have anticipated.
That same scruffy girl who, just last night, had been drenched in mud and sticky toad saliva… now emerged from the water, her tiny face framed by a cascade of long, shining blonde hair, which she swept back with one hand, looking fresh and pristine right before my eyes!
And on top of that—just like me, she’d had all her clothes taken by the toads and wore nothing at all!
Droplets of water fell down her bronze skin, tempting me more than I cared to admit.
‘Well, well… things just got interesting, ah…’
After the Queen of Hearts disappeared into the mirror, nothing had gone right for me—until now. It seemed the heavens had decided to grant me a new source of fascination.
Translator comments:
Man none of the characters really come off as particularly good folks here, do they? We’ve got Rapunzel lying to live a life of luxury back in C1, Chester pulling nice guy BS, and now Hatter manipulating and enjoying poor Rapunzel’s lack of clothing…oy.
But then, character growth is part of what makes stories fun, right? …..right?
Also, what is with Alice in Wonderland remix/remakes always making the Hatter some kind of dashing, mysterious love interest figure?? Is it just because he’s one of the few other human characters?
Translation notes:
- 목을 쳐라: Mostly just want to note that ‘Off with their head!’ makes an appearance in this chapter twice, from two different monarchs, neither of which are the Queen of Hearts. IDK why but that makes me giggle.
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