Aika, Ursula, and Ursula's friend, the Governess, always meet up with Alice on her way back from school. The Governess and her friends practice with their dolls, but this year, things are different: Alice will be a "full-fledged undine" . Ursula notices that the old man who sits with his dolls is not there yet, and she asks him if he would like to have tea with her. He replies that he would, but that something about the dolls seems "strange and mysterious" to him. He says that most dolls are made without any expression, so that they look like smiling and crying when they want to share in their sadness. He compares the two girls: Alice in white always smiles and is full of happiness, while Alice in black always seems to be in constant distress. She says that the girls are different because they are given a fate that will never change: they will never wake up from their dreams and they will always face an eternity of sorrow. She feels as though she has just opened a box in her heart.