Duchess

Duchess
公爵夫人, Kōshaku Fujin
Personal Information
Alias	Alice (アリス, Arisu)
Gender	Female
Height	119 cm
Hair	Pink
Eyes	Maroon
Status	Deceased
Nationality	Wonderland
Occupation	Alice's substitute
Debut
Manga	Chapter 4
Voice Actor
Drama CD	Taeko Kawata
Relationships
Pet	Cheshire Cat
Butler	Fish Footman
Friends	Rogy Bibi Coco
The Duchess
Succeeded by	New Duchess

The Duchess (公爵夫人, Kōshaku Fujin) was formerly Alice's substitute and the unrequited mistress of the Cheshire Cat. Her replacement is the current Alice.

Background

Duchess finding a wounded Cheshire Cat

The Duchess was assigned with the role of becoming Alice's substitute, as well as the mistress of the Cheshire Cat. After the Cheshire Cat stabbed the 88th Alice, the Mad Hatter witnessed the situation and shot the Cheshire Cat, managing to hit his right arm. Thereafter, the Duchess found the Cheshire Cat, remarking on his dirty appearance. She asked him if he knew her, to which the Cheshire Cat acquiesced, telling her that the Cheshire Cat is the Duchess' pet cat. The Duchess then invited him to come with her and promised him that she will tend to his gunshot wound. Since then, the Duchess and the Cheshire Cat became close with each other, albeit having a rather difficult challenge of avoiding intimacy; hence, she promised herself to never love her pet cat, since she is Alice's substitute.

At some point during the 88th game, the Duchess had tea with the Queen of Hearts at the palace, describing the new candidate to be obedient and an appropriate choice in the story. The Queen asks if she resents Alice, since she inadvertently causes the Duke to go amok all while not being thanked or even known by Alice, but the Duchess tells him that it is fine with her. She also received a present from the Queen, who reminded her that her pet cat had not yet greeted him yet; she claimed that her pet was not really cute, despite calling him as such afterwards.

Appearance

The Duchess was a girl with a pale complexion, pink short hair, and large eyes. Her height was only 119cm (3'10"). On her hair laid a big hat on her right where one portion of her hair was curled as her bangs. She wore a black and white stripped dress fit to her small stature and size and a big ribbon behind her neck. Underneath her outfit, she wore a pair of white undergarments reaching to her knees. She wore brown knee-high boots with laces of ribbon tied into it.

Personality

The Duchess was very sweet and mature for her age. She was devoted and motivated in her role as Alice's substitute. It took Alice to like her for her kindness and they were very good friends. She expressed her love for Cheshire Cat not long before she died, beheaded by the Queen of Hearts.

Plot

Arrival of the 89th Alice in Wonderland

The Duchess orders her fish footman to escort the 89th Alice to her residence. Upon their arrival, the Duchess warmly welcomes Alice and gets her special guest some tea. At this point, he notices a small burn at the back of her palm. He lends her his necktie to tend to her wound and she thanks him for his kindness. Alice tells her that he shall hurry in killing the White Rabbit, leading her to think that he is surely determined to become the real Alice. She further questions Alice and his similar personality with the previous Alices who abandoned their past and sacrificed many things in life, so she asks him whether he still wants to become Alice nevertheless.

The Duke cradles "Alice"

Before he could answer, the Duchess notices that the Duke is back and orders her footman to help Alice escape. The Duchess bids him farewell and apologises for having to cut their conversation. As the Duke searches for Alice, the Duchess presents herself as Alice, confusing the candidate. The Footman explains the Duchess's role to Alice as his substitute as given to her upon orders of the Queen. Appearing to embrace her while taking the name "Alice", the Duchess becomes physically wounded, similar to her earlier wounds. She reassures the monster that she will stay by its side, then the Duke drags her away.

Later, she is seen at her mansion, full of wounds and burns apparently caused by the Duke.

Ruckus at Town Square

Duchess stopping the Hatter from killing the Duke

As the Duke goes berserk at town square, the Duchess arrives at the scene, halting the Mad Hatter from shooting the Duke, lest Wonderland will overflow with Regrets. Instead, she gets the Duke's attention by presenting herself as Alice, but the Duke senses her as a fake and lands an attack at her. The Cheshire Cat arrives and shields her with his body. She reprimands him for doing something unnecessary such as saving her despite not being the true Alice; after all, she must perform her role as Alice's substitute.

She gets chided by the Hatter for being useless, but she decides to still help. However, the Hatter stops her and decides to shoot down the Duke himself. Upon Alice's sudden interruption, however, the Hatter misses the target. As Alice proclaims to the Duke that he is Alice, the monster eats him up, making everyone astounded. The Hatter tries to shoot the Duke, but she stops him again, since Alice is inside the monster.

Later, the White Rabbit appears and slashes the Duke with his rapier, retrieving Alice. She becomes relieved at Alice, only for the White Rabbit to remark that he is not Alice. As he leaves, the Duchess orders the Cheshire Cat to carry Alice to her mansion.

Aftermath

At some point after the Duke has been killed, she tells the Hatter that he was the only one whose past and regrets she did not see in the black ink. She asks him his purpose in Wonderland, but she only receives a grin as a response.

The Duchess at her execution

As Alice wakes up at the Duchess' mansion, she greets him with a lovely demeanour and returns his tie, putting it on him. As Alice vaguely remembers what had happened to the Duke, he comes to know that it has been killed due to its uselessness. He tells her that she should not now be a replacement, to which she answers that she will not be anymore. Alice becomes relieved, but the Duchess asks him again if he still wants to become Alice amidst challenges. He confidently answers that he will become Alice. Later, she is fetched by the Knave of Hearts and the Trump Soldiers to her execution. She poses a challenge to the 89th Alice, wondering if he shall be able to finish the story. Before the Queen beheads her, she asks him a favour to tell the Cheshire Cat the last words she wanted to tell him. She thanks him before the Queen beheads her.

Legacy

Following her execution, the Duchess was replaced by her successor. Her death has also affected a few people, including her three friends and Alice. Since her execution, Rogy has shown a deep hatred towards the Queen of Hearts, the Duke, and Alice. In a string of events, he revealed her death to Alice, who previously believed she was still alive since the ruckus at the town square was averted. This led Alice to lose some self-confidence and fall into despair, even to the point of breaking down and crying in the streets.

Trivia

• According to the character profiles:
  • Her hobbies consisted of dressing up and thinking about Alice.
  • Her special skill was making tea more skillfully than the Mad Hatter.
  • Her desired pet was the Cheshire Cat.
  • It is unknown when she had her first love, since she considered it as a "private matter".

Quotes

• (To the 89th Alice) "I don't really understand Alice. All the Alices who have been brought to Wonderland have sacrificed many things to become the real Alice. Without being bound by the past, they only thought of moving forward, and abandoned many of the things important to them. It's because you can't become Alice without doing that. Even so, do you still want to become Alice?"
• (To the Cheshire Cat) "Don't do unnecessary things... I've got to be Alice's substitute... Because... I'll lose my reason to be here... I won't be able to be your mistress anymore!"
• (To the Cheshire Cat before her execution) "Bye bye, Cheshire Cat."
• (To the Queen of Hearts at her execution) "I wasn't able to become Alice. I didn't want to trouble him like Alice did. So I kept enduring it... But... I should have let myself be jealous. I should have acted like a spoiled child. Those are my regrets. [...] Thank you very much, Your Majesty."
• (Final thoughts) "Cheshire Cat. I love you."