Chapter 212: Amon's Gender

Chapter 212: Amon's Gender

Alice stared at Amon's unchanging attire for a moment before carefully asking, "I've always had a question..."

Amon raised an eyebrow and smiled at her without speaking.

Gripping the vine tighter, Alice hesitated before asking, "Don't you... ever change your clothes?"

Amon fell into deep thought.

Surprised by such a down-to-earth question, Amon pondered for a moment before asking, "Why would you think that?"

Alice blinked and replied, "Because you always wear the exact same thing whenever you appear. It seems like you never change clothes... Doesn't it get dirty if you don't wash it for so long?"

"Alice," Amon called out with an odd expression, "You know what it means to be the King of Angels, right?"

Alice nodded.

"Then why are you thinking about this from such an angle?" Amon looked at her curiously. "It's as if... as if supernatural abilities are no different to you than a scoop of ice cream you enjoy."

"That's not correct," Alice shook her head.

Amon patiently waited for her explanation.

Alice gently kicked off the ground, swinging higher. As the swing rose, she didn't fall back down with it—a pair of pure white wings unfurled behind her, keeping her suspended in the air.

"It really is more satisfying to look down at you like this..." Alice mused, tilting her head to observe Amon's expression before answering, "Actually, ice cream is a bit more important."

Amon fell into contemplation again.

In the dream, Alice let her imagination run wild, allowing her body to dissolve into sparkling points of light that settled on the surrounding objects.

As Alice experienced the sensation of becoming the entire dreamscape, she reformed the points of light back into her human shape.

Simultaneously, a massive red mushroom with white spots sprouted from the ground. Alice landed on it as if it were an enormous trampoline.

However, she wasn't able to continue her trampoline game.

Evidently, she didn't have full control over this dream—perhaps Amon had stolen some of it.

In any case, when Alice landed for the second time, the mushroom exploded with a bang, transforming into a colorful mist.

This beautiful, dreamlike scene didn't alleviate the pain Alice felt from hitting the ground—why did it hurt? You'd have to ask Amon.

Amon smiled and retracted his leg, standing up from the chair. He leaned down slightly, extending a hand to Alice.

Alice looked up, staring at Amon's smiling face for a couple of seconds before placing her hand in his.

Amon chuckled softly, gently pulling her up. Halfway through, he suddenly let go, causing her to fall back down.

Alice's eyes widened in shock.

Amon, seeing her surprised expression, burst into laughter, even manifesting two tears at the corners of his eyes as if he were laughing so hard he was crying.

Alice angrily lunged forward, grabbing Amon's hand and lowering her head to... uh, a mysterious force held her back, gently pushing her back to the ground.

Alice's eyes widened again.

"Still want to bite me?" Amon raised an eyebrow, lazily extending his hand to Alice once more.

Alice glared at him resentfully but placed her hand in his again.

Amon paused briefly, looking at Alice's hand in his, then at her puzzled expression, before suddenly laughing.

He smiled slightly, leaning down to help Alice up.

Alice looked at Amon in confusion, her body briefly tensing as Amon touched her before quickly relaxing, allowing him to help her up.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Alice tilted her head quizzically.

Amon's lips curled into a smile, but instead of answering her question, he asked, "If it were up to you, what kind of clothes would you dress me in?"

Alice stared at him for a few seconds before blurting out, "The Mad Hatter!"

Amon looked at her curiously.

Alice tilted her head and explained, "Although this isn't Wonderland, we are in a dream. If I'm Alice, it seems quite fitting for you to dress up as the Mad Hatter..."

"Why do you say that?" Amon asked inquisitively.

Alice answered seriously, "It's from a fairy tale... Oh, but it's strange to talk about that here!"

"Why?" Amon continued to ask curiously—he seemed genuinely interested in understanding Alice's thought process.

Alice scratched her head and replied, "Because fairy tales are usually bedtime stories, and... well, we're already in a dream!"

Amon pondered for a moment before smiling at her and saying, "You can try waking up."

Alice looked at his smile and suddenly had a bad feeling. She stared intently at Amon, struggling to wake up from the dream—in the moment the dream shattered, she saw an enlarged face.

Alice stared blankly at this scene. A few seconds later, as she emerged from her post-dream daze, she let out a scream that could be heard halfway down the street:

"Help! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Amon stared at Alice for a moment, then mimicked human behavior by rubbing his ears and frowning at her, "You're very loud, truly."

Alice covered her mouth with one hand, then realizing something was amiss, pulled the blanket up higher and asked with a furrowed brow, "...Could you please leave first?"

"Why?" Amon raised an eyebrow.

Alice frowned, thought seriously for a moment, and then answered, "Probably because it's very strange for a male to appear in a female's bedroom? You... you should count as male, right? Surely you're not actually female..."

Amon was silent for a while before finally asking, "How did you come to use 'male and female' to describe my gender?"

Alice silently pulled the blanket up higher, cautiously watching Amon without speaking.

Amon pondered for a moment and, to Alice's horror, gradually transformed into a woman with long black hair and a black dress. Then, in a female voice, he asked, "How about this?"

Alice gasped, but Amon's current form was indeed much more acceptable. Alice sat up halfway, still clutching the blanket, and explained to Amon:

"Because when describing the gender of non-human creatures, we use 'male and female' instead of 'man and woman'... Mythical beings aren't human after all."

After a moment of silence, Amon said with a strange expression, "I actually find your reasoning quite logical..."

"It is logical," Alice emphasized righteously.

Amon stared at Alice for a couple of seconds before changing the subject:

"You don't seem to care about my actual gender, only about the gender of the form I present."