Villainess Of Hearts

Breakfast with the Hatter and his friends was made awkward because of her Knight. His words had been so out of touch with the atmosphere that when she parted ways with the man and his companions—she couldn't help but feel as if it was better if she hadn't invited him at all. Rosalyn Lockhart waved at them as they left the Castle grounds before glancing back. She saw her Knight standing at a considerable distance from her.

He was giving her physical space—but he really was making it troublesome to maintain good relations with others.

And he didn't look sorry at all. She felt one of her eyes twitch as she walked up to her Knight, glancing around the hallway entrance. Most of the Soldiers were at the gates and out of earshot from them but she made the man follow her down to a more private area. And once she was secure, she tiptoed and kept her voice low. "Gine, I know you are concerned about my safety—but you can't go around expecting people to have the same loyalty for me as they do you."

"Then they're not supposed to be here then."

She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped back and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, this is completely different from when you mentioned that I should get along with the King of Hearts."

"He is the King and getting along with him has perks... But as for those three, having them as allies and even friends would do nothing but become some kind of burden for you, Your Majesty." He informed her with a dutiful tone.

When did her Knight really start becoming more verbal about his disagreements—could this have been the reason why the man killed her before? She stared at his face and the man also seemed annoyed, his nose was slightly red. She sighed and raised a hand to her face, "I know that some things may not make sense—but I assure you that all the things that I'm doing are for my own benefit." He didn't understand why she was befriending mere commoners, so it was only natural for him to be on guard.

His being completely against this was a natural reaction.

"Your benefit, Your Majesty?" He blinked and raised a brow, "Your Majesty—Rosalyn, I sometimes think that you may have hit your head too much. I do not understand how forming a relationship with a mere Hatter and his friends are beneficial to you." 

Alright, now that was a tad too much.

He didn't need to say anything about her head!

But perhaps this was the only possible direction for them now, not a lot of things were making sense for him and her patience was running slow. Rosalyn Lockhart lowered her hand and eyed him once, "I don't remember asking for a Knight who talks back to me, but they're already gone and it's time for me to do my other responsibilities—"

"Like conversing with the King of Spades?"

"Diplomacy is needed Ginellevé—can you tell me what your problem with this is?" Rosalyn Lockhart tried her best to be more patient, but at this moment, her Knight was being belligerent. It felt like he was doing this not only for her benefits… she sighed and eyed him. He trembled slightly, his hands balled into fists.

But she wasn't terrified right now.

He could have pulled out his sword now, but all she felt was a tad annoyance. It had been quite a long time since they've argued—which was already supposed to not happen at all based on their positions in life, but nothing was ever easy and simple when she was with her Knight.

The man then shook his head, "My apologies, I… I'm suspicious of those people, Your Majesty. Whether or not they're related to the assassination attempt does not matter, but I do not feel comfortable having them at your side at all times."

"...are you jealous?" She raised a brow.

"It's not only that—!"

Rosalyn Lockhart gave the man a look. "Your emotions are making you biased towards them, they have shown nothing but kindness and support to the Kingdom." Mallory had been ready to let her escape that time when she visited their place and the Hatter had saved her from the assassins when she was in the town.

Perhaps she was also showing bias—but all of their actions only showed loyalty.

It was to be expected, they had been Alice's closest friends and they didn't betray her. The only difference now was that they were loyal to her, perhaps not in the same intensity, but they were all good people. 

"Hah, I...please do what you wish, Your Majesty. But my suspicions on them won't be cleared—it's much better if one of us stays vigilant, but better yet, you have to do it yourself."

It was funny hearing this from the man—she was vigilant. He didn't know a thing about how many things she was considering right now! All because of the time when Alice was arriving. She didn't antagonize herself with Catherine Duke, she tried not to loathe the King of Hearts… well, she slapped him, but other than that? She had been a saint. Still, she had to acknowledge her Knight's concerns, "Thank you, Gine. I'm careful, and I do know what I'm doing. Have a little more confidence in me, I can't keep relying on you."

Her Knight stayed silently and stiffly bowed, "I have faith in you, Your Majesty."

"Doesn't seem like it." The Queen of Hearts snorted for a moment, before she patted the man's shoulder, "I'm not the little girl you've met, Gine. I'll be alright, but thank you for your hard work."

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After breakfast with the Hatter and his friends, she set on to work. She checked up on what was happening with the other Royals—the trial had been stopped but it didn't mean that the tensions were dispersed at all. She didn't want to leave a terrible impression, but the event had already occurred. The only thing left for her was to mitigate what she could.

"Ah, Your Majesty of Hearts." Olivia Deuce looked back at her with raised brows. "What can I do for you?" Most of the Royals went back to their own rooms, either to relax or perhaps prepare for their departure. Somehow, the Queen of Spades looked like she was leaving with her belongings back into their bags.

Thankfully the Queen of Spades only looked at her and didn't pay much attention to the Knight she was with. And refreshingly, the woman was straight to the point—the Queen of Hearts was already dreading the passive aggressiveness she'd face with Queen Monique. "I came here to apologize for the incident this morning, I know that—"

"The Trial? I believe it was important to have, and unfortunately, the King of Spades has been seen as the prime suspect—but don't worry, we face this regularly."

"Pardon me?"

"Minor Kingdoms come and go around our land and other territories—they always complain when we expand." Olivia Deuce shrugged. "And His Majesty Villeuce has a penchant for getting into trouble, this is but one of the many problems that he gets for being the King of Conquest."

Rosalyn Lockhart expected more hostility and braced for it, but it didn't come."I see… but ah, for the dagger that he gave me…?" The King of Spades had been nothing but sort of friendly with her, she honestly expected to receive even some slight rebuke from the woman. Especially with the fact that he got in trouble because of him giving a gift...

"Oh, that. I think he likes you." The Queen of Spades said it plainly.

Her words made her blink and although she knew that the Queen of Spades had no idea about her relationship with the Knight, their words could still be scandalized. "Like is a strong word, Queen Olivia. Shouldn't you be worried about my husband hearing it?"

"Husband? The King of Hearts?" Olivia raised a brow, "Is that how this Kingdom functions…? I have the reason to believe that the King and Queen are chosen here merely by their attributes. Wasn't he the victor in the Card Trial and you the one who won in the competition for the position of the Queen? If somebody else had won, then it would have been a different couple on the throne."

The Kingdom of Hearts was built on the image of them as the perfect couple. So why did the Queen of Spades see it this way? It wasn't wrong, but the image she and the King of Hearts had crafted for the years was easily crumbled by such a statement. They were only pointing out facts, however. She cleared her throat, "That is true but—"

"I wasn't aware that the two of you fell in love with each other." Olivia Deuce tilted her head. "You slapped him hard earlier too, is this some kind of tumultuous marriage?"

"No! But…" Rosalyn Lockhart caught herself and took a deep sigh. "I am to assume that the marriage—"

"You can call me a glorified caregiver." Olivia Deuce gave her a smile. "The Deuce and Villeuce House are close and the two of us grew up together—I can't see him as anything but a sibling." She suddenly shuddered, "It's almost disgusting to think of him as anything but the younger boy I tutored with. Him becoming the King was ordained and I kept him in check as his Queen, nobody else wanted to be his Queen although that's not publicly shared."

The Queen of Hearts blinked.

She didn't really expect something like this right now.