That would mean that she doesn't want me to touch on what she just said just now.

''I've said a few things before. Chartier meant 'a piece of illusion' in the world I lived in.
...an illusion...
''Yes. When my heart was shattered and I became nothing, the only thing left of me was a wish that I hadn't been able to fulfill after living so many years. It was like an illusion, because that was the only meaning of life.
Yes.

　 That's why, for her, her best friend's wish was really hard to imagine a future where it would come true. It was rightly an illusion, wasn't it?

''When I first came to this world, I had high expectations. There are many people in this world, including Black-san, who are immortal like me. I thought that here, I would be able to fulfill my best friend's last wish...
But you've never gotten it?
'....Yes. It's natural when you think about it.

　With that, Alice laughed to herself and drank her cooled tea and continued her story.

'I was someday called the Phantom King No Face and the Faceless King. It's a good one. I've been empty ever since I lost everyone. I've been shape-shifting, darkly dancing, pretending to be something I'm not and there's no certainty of form anywhere. There is no certainty of form anywhere.
Alice.
Well, I'll tell you the truth. This "Alice" was supposed to disappear after the kidnapping of Kaito-san at that time.
...What?

　When you look at Alice's blue eyes staring straight at me after saying that, you can strongly feel that it's not a lie.
　Was Alice planning to disappear after kidnapping me?　What does that mean?

　Seeing me tilting my head while thinking about it, Alice smiles bitterly.

'Kaito-san wasn't someone I approached to fall in love with, but rather contacted for the purpose of discernment to repay Kuro-san... I guess it's a good thing I wasn't weirdly aware of it?　Past me, fine play!
...hmmmmm.
At least we didn't intend to go to the Arklesian Empire together or anything like that.
You mean you changed your plans?
'No, it was rather........unexpected. Is it?　I owe Kite an apology for that. I'm sorry........
'What?　No, no, why the sudden...

　Alice tells me that she has to apologize and bows her head deeply to me, but I don't know why she's apologizing.
　As it is, Alice continues to bow her head for a little while and slowly looks up before explaining the reason.

''The........second time we met, right?　When Mr. Kite scolded me Mr. Kite 'looked like my best friend'.
Alice's best friend, is that what you were talking about?
'Yes. The standard process of me doing something stupid and my best friend scolding me was the standard process of me getting angry a lot... and my best friend always smiled somewhat dumbfoundedly at me after he was done being angry... the way he did it. I loved the warm smile, like he was saying he was a guy who didn't have one...I loved it.
....
The wry smile that Kite-san gave me after she finished her sermon was very similar to that of her best friend, and it made me feel like I was back in the old days... and I was happy.

　After announcing it with an expression that reminds me of the past, Alice moves her gaze several times, replacing it with some kind of anxious expression.
　Then, after searching for words for a while, she tells it while slightly lowering her face.

''........I was comparing Kite-san to my best friend. I even said some stupid things on purpose because I wanted to be scolded by Kaito-san........I've always treated Kaito-san like a substitute for my best friend.
I see.
'Oh, no, not now!　I don't think of Mr. Kite as a replacement for my best friend!
Oh, yeah. Don't be so quick to deny it.
Uh....

　Hearing my words, perhaps thinking that I had hurt her, Alice came to a great hurry to explain herself.
　However, it's not that I was worried about Alice's words, I was simply concerned that she was planning to disappear earlier.

　When I explain that to Alice, she exhales with a relieved look and continues her story.

''........As I just said, at first I treated Kite-san as a substitute for my best friend. But after exchanging words with Kite-san many times, not in a bad way, but in a good way......................the image of my best friend that had been overlapping with Kite-san began to blur. Not as a substitute for my best friend, but because she's Kaito-san, I'm having fun with her... and that's what I came to believe.
....
'But this 'Alice' character betrays Kite-san in the end and disappears. Whether or not Kite-san would still lose her faith in others.......that was the fourth test. Of course, I had my men lurking in that abduction place so that Kite-san wouldn't get injured, though. And once Kite-san survived the ordeal, I was going to treat you not as Alice, but as No Face, just a subordinate.
But Alice helped me.
'....Yes. That was the biggest miscalculation for me ... and the most delightful miracle.

　Alice's expression as she told me this was a wry smile that looked somewhat kind.....it seemed to show her trust in us, and I felt somewhat warm.
　It seems as if what Alice was looking for was a being who would smile at her like this........

'You smiled at me when I betrayed you as planned and said goodbye to you that time... didn't you, Kite?　I understood that he was betrayed by me, but I still couldn't help it... When I saw that smile, my best friend and Kite-san became completely separate entities in my mind. This person isn't a substitute for anyone else, he's the one and only.......
....
When I came to, I found myself breaking down a door that I was supposed to have closed. I ascended to the stage I had once descended from. Not as Chartier, not as No Face, but as 'Alice' who was supposed to disappear... From that moment on, Alice was no longer the character I was supposed to play... she became a new name. It is.

　From a girl to a hero, from a hero to a piece of illusion, from a piece of illusion to a faceless king, and from a faceless king..............to a girl I know well called Alice, the girl in front of me was changing.
　Hearing that........what is it?　I was relieved. Because now I understood that Alice was not faking it, she was her proper self....

...And I fell in love with Kite, and it's a shameful thing to say, but I'm suddenly afraid of her.
Scared?
''Yes. If they know I've been treating him as a substitute for my best friend, they'll hate me... No, more than that, I'm in love with Kite... I'm in love with him because I really 'love Kite'. Is it?　Or maybe I just found just the right person to make my best friend's wish come true... I kept wondering which one I really wanted.
....

　Well, at the root of Alice's heart was a wish for her best friend to fall in love with her.
　Whether that wish would come true as a result of her falling in love with me... or whether she fell in love with me as a result of trying to make her wish come true... she was probably worried about that.
　That's why even though he jokingly said to himself that it was love, he would run away in a hurry when I got on or something.......

'........And the moment I thought that that god might show up and Kite-san might die.......I was helplessly terrified. If Kite-san died, I would never be able to stand up again, I would never be able to laugh again... and I realized that for myself, so... well... things have been a little strange since that thing.
....
I'm sorry for the digression. I owed you a debt of gratitude. I was afraid that our happy relationship was going to change. I could make many excuses. But in the end, it was just me being a coward and not being able to tell Kite about myself.

　

''........Now my story is over. I don't care how you take it I'm ready for it. It's okay if you think I'm pathetic or terrible. Even if you don't like me, I can't help it.......eh?

　Why did I do that?　I don't know.......but the next thing I knew I was standing up from my seat and holding Alice's little body in my arms.
　I still haven't finished sorting through everything I've just heard in my head. I don't think I can put it all into words.

　But even so, I have an overflowing desire to tell you something.

Thank you. Alice. I know this is not easy to talk about but you have shown me everything.
...Kite....Mr.?
I don't know if I'm going to say it well but can you keep this up for a minute and listen to me too?
''Yes ... yes ... as much as you want ... frankly, I'm about to cry already ...''

　 There is no need to embellish, the most important thing is the desire to receive the thoughts - born inside me.