The Queen of Hearts ran after him and at last she finally cornered him. But it had taken her chasing him until beyond their town's outskirts, into one of the desolate alleys in the town. She had never been here, it looked rather grimy but at least she finally achieved what she wanted.

"Alright I finally have you where I want you to be—" She smirked in satisfaction.

The Hatter's back was against one of the brick's wall.

And they were alone.

Isolated.

A realization dawned upon her.

Was it truly her who had been the predator chasing after her prey? Or could it possibly be her chance for another step into the danger zone? The man before her was mad.

Who knew what they were capable of?

She stared at him, the smirk on her face vanishing as she stared at him warily. "You're the one…" He hadn't betrayed her and the Kingdom for Alice yet. But they already had some sort of fiasco in the past. So what should she say? Why would the Queen of Hearts chase after someone as insignificant as a Hatter?

"Ahaha...Your Majesty, Queen of Hearts." The Mad Hatter tipped his top hat towards her, bending his upper body into a respectful bow. The man did his best to muster a smile and a carefree laugh. "It is good to see you again, despite the odd circumstances."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Yes, I remember you." Somewhat.

She really didn't have much of a memory on why she had sentenced him to be beheaded, but of course the mere fact that he was alive meant that the King had once again went against her own orders.

But right now, if he was acting subservient—then they wouldn't lash out at her?

Rosalyn Lockhart mustered her dignified and refined aura, "You have done me a great deal of trouble by making me pursue you." She tsked and felt the painful throbbing in her ankles. Her footwear wasn't intended for running at all. "I would have your head for this trouble if I were in no need of your head attached to your body."

She really couldn't call him a friend if he couldn't even answer yes.

The man before her grinned, their eyes shimmering with their colorful glint. Her attention moved towards his hands. His hand that was holding his hat was literally shaking, "Ah, forgive me, Your Majesty but—" He flung his hat at her.

The hat tore through the air like a blade.

An executioner's judgement.

She let out a gasp.

.

.

.

.

.

It hit the man right in the eye—bull's eye!

The man let out a piercing scream of agony and staggered towards the road.

Nicholas Hatter may also have a bit of a talent regarding his peculiar good aim, his face scrunched up at the sight but he had no time. He turned to the Queen of Hearts who was busy looking at the gruesome scene, the Hatter quickly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. "Your Majesty, follow me."

Needless to say, before the young Queen could make any other objections—or react with her infamous beheading threat line, he pulled her out of the alleyway. One glance behind him suddenly confirmed his grave suspicions.

More men were arriving at the crime scene.

They or rather the Queen of Hearts was being chased after.

The two of them fled.

What a mad scene.

Never in his life would Nicholas Hatter assume that he'd be saving the very woman who had wanted his head disconnected from his body. And he liked having his head stuck to his body, thank you very much!

She was staggering as they began to race back into the city's square, for it would be death's door if they reached an empty space. He was a Hatter and not a fighter! He couldn't handle them all on his own. Now back to the case of the Queen of Hearts slowing him down. It really didn't make sense that the very person who was wanted was the slow one. Glancing at them, it was there he noticed the pain that flashed her eyes. His eyes drifted towards her feet and her shoes. To Nicholas Hatter, women's footwear were always odd.

Perhaps they were more mad than him for running around with those excruciatingly thin heels.

Ah but this was fun.

He had never been chased this much.

If anything, this was a lot more energetic than when he had run out of the castle.

Nicholas Hatter should have probably asked for permission but there was no time—they were always running out of time it seems! He let go of her wrist and watched the woman barely hold herself back from falling onto the ground.

Ouch.

Maybe he had been dragging her too hard.

But their lives were at stake!

Who knew if these killers would have spared him if he had let her be taken away? Shaking his head from his thoughts, Nicholas Hatter immediately approached the Queen,swooped her up in his arms and once again resumed his running.

He may have underestimated something though, glancing behind the men who were pursuing them.

The Queen of Hearts was actually a bit on the heavy side.

"What could you possibly be eating?" He fought back a laugh, especially when the woman's eyes were piercing at him despite the stark situation.

If there was only one advantage the two of them had in this situation?

Nicholas Hatter was quite good with spatial memory too. At least he knew the different alleys, roads and shortcuts within the town—it didn't seem like the pursuants were that familiar with the place before them.

Now the only question that was left for him…

Which way should he go? If he ran towards the Castle of Hearts—ambushers probably lay in wait. And so it left him with only one possible place…

He was bringing her back into his shop!

Surely, no one was that mad enough to return back to the very place they left, did they?