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“The Invention.”
The Clover domain is significantly less organized than the other Wonderland kingdoms.
That should have been your first warning.
The second warning was the sign hanging crookedly from a tree branch that read:
“DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING.”
—Knight
Unfortunately, there are already scorch marks beneath it.
You follow the sound of loud metallic clanking deeper into the forest clearing until the trees finally open into what appears to be some kind of workshop built directly into the middle of Wonderland itself.
Strange devices hang from branches. Half-finished inventions cover every table. Small clover-shaped gadgets spin lazily overhead while gears click somewhere beneath the floorboards.
And standing in the middle of the chaos is a blond young man tightening something onto a large machine that looks far too complicated to be safe.
???: “Ah— perfect timing!”
He looks up immediately the moment he notices you.
Messy pale blond hair falls into bright green eyes as he smiles with the kind of genuine excitement that usually means something is about to go horribly wrong.
???: “Alice, I need a second opinion.”
Before you can answer, the machine beside him suddenly begins rattling violently.
Several gears spin too quickly.
A warning whistle shrieks somewhere inside it.
Knight pauses.
Slowly lowers the wrench in his hand.
Knight: “...That is new.”
The invention immediately explodes in a cloud of smoke and clover-shaped sparks.
You instinctively stumble backward while pieces of harmless metal scatter across the clearing.
Meanwhile, Knight coughs once through the smoke before looking back toward you with complete sincerity.
Knight: “Good news.”
A pause.
Knight: “The explosion was significantly smaller this time.”