Villainess Of Hearts

Alexander Hartsmichdt was no fan of Ivan Nordskov and of Clover people in general. The ones who fought against him during the Card Trial were some of the unpredictable enemies that he had encountered. They were smiling one minute and then they wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the eye in the fork on the next turn—they somewhat made the Queen of Hearts' own tantrums a bit less scary than it ought. But more than that, it made the fact that the currently smiling man in front of him could not fool him.

"My Queen is fond of you."

"The two of us are friends, Your Majesty of Clovers." The King of Hearts was still irked of the King of Diamond's comment in the Royal Dining Hall before. Francis le Diamant was the one who spurred some gossip that time. It gave Ivan all the more reasons to antagonize him. Unwarranted hate seemed to follow him everywhere.

Ivan Nordskov nodded, "Indeed."

What did men do when meeting with one another? Did they duel each other to death? Did the two of them fight underneath the heat of the sun, muscles taut while sweat sheened their foreheads? No. His expectations were dismayed when he learned that a King had his own parlor room. A drawing room really. Parlors were more of beauty shops to him or an ice cream parlor—but here it meant a place where he entertained guests. It was naturally to be used when hosting people. And it was where he found himself to be in, lounged in a chair.

The drink however was not tea. 

They were having some light spirits, alcohol, or fine wine at such an hour. Served along with a bowl of smoked streaks of bacon—perhaps the only thing that made being a King sort of worth it. Heightened luxuries that Alexander Hartsmicht never had before, he snapped one up and ate it with relish.

The King of Hearts was actually surprised at the sudden desire of the King of Clovers to talk with him—but perhaps it was only natural to still host them, however one on one was something that he didn't think he would have to do with the King of Clovers.

The man's hair was silver—not white like snow, but had a silver and grayish hue to it that wasn't of old age. Most people had eccentric hair colors here and they all seemed to be natural. As for the King of Clover's eyes, they were a mixture of bluish gray.

He would have expected that the King of Diamonds would look like this, but they had been a brunette with green eyes. But that wasn't something he should have been focusing on now, he was concentrating on the most minutiae of details.

Alexander inwardly sighed and sipped his wine once again before placing it down, "I hope that this does not make His Majesty frantic about my relationship with your Queen. It is simply platonic."

"Ah, I'm not afraid—His Majesty of Hearts does not seem to be that capable with pleasing women." Ivan Nordskov shrugged with an amused smile.

… Did they really think that he'd take that comment in stride? 

"Rubbing salt in my wounds, good grief." Alexander Hartsmichdt slapped his face with his free hand. He tugged a well-practiced smile on his face, "That was an unsightly occasion but Her Majesty of Hearts is prone to follow her throes of emotions—and I did commit an error at that time. I deserved that." 

"I wouldn't take it too lightly when someone slaps me out of nowhere, Your Majesty of Hearts. Regardless if I were in the wrong or deserved of it—that's plain cruelty."

Alex didn't know what to expect. Did the King of Clovers just come out of nowhere to say this? He didn't think that the man would give their remarks and opinions when the King was more often making light comments. Even during the trade agreement, he said he would sign it because his Queen told him so.

Well more specifically, Neo Anasthasia had put in a good word for him.

Perhaps this was much better than the glares that the King of Spades, Alfred Villeuce was giving him—or maybe open hostility was better than this fakeness? Was it even fakeness though? King Ivan Nordskov called the Queen of Hearts cruel—it was shocking. Well not upfront but it was still something.

He ended up coughing and waving a hand, "Thank you for the concern, Your Majesty of Clovers… I have learned how to understand the Queen of Hearts. Our becoming King and Queen together, it wasn't really—"

"Planned?" Ivan Nordskov chuckled and twirled his wine glass. "You amuse me—our situation is much the same, you and I. Well, my older brother was supposed to take the throne and become partner to Her Majesty Anasthasia, but I think he gave it up because I've grown fond of her." The man let out a sigh, but it wasn't out of tiredness.

There was a certain look on the man's face. A moment that he hadn't shown in previous encounters, it was a certain vulnerability to his emotions. And right now the look in their eyes was gentleness and adoration. Did King Ivan truly love his friend? Their entire body language seemed to show that—a thoughtful look on their face paired with a gentle smile.

Almost lovesick even.

It shocked Alexander Hartsmichdt to the core.

He was rendered speechless in that moment, he swallowed and tried to search for words but there was no need for it as the King of the Clovers continued with his speech. "I am often at a loss for words in situations in regard to handling the throne—if it weren't for my brother supporting me in the sidelines, then I don't think I would have ever been able to rule the Clover Kingdom properly."

...this man was surprising him beat after beat with this kind of revelation—didn't they? It started to put into context their previous attitude, nothing but all smiles in meetings because they weren't confident to actually deal with how to rule the Kingdom? And yet Alexander Hartsmichdt was still holding on to the fact that this may all be some kind of ploy, an act to lower his guard.

He couldn't accept that they were like this.

"Ah forgive me for speaking too much, Your Majesty of Hearts." Ivan Norskov placed his wine glass down and picked up the bottle of dark red wine. "I'm afraid that this atmosphere is enough to make me too chatty, but I am curious—does it mean that you do not harbor any feelings for the Queen of Hearts?"

Alexander blinked. "Feelings?"

"Yes. If the two of you were truly just partners then I don't see how they were prone to such an emotional outburst." Ivan Nordskov refilled Alexander's glass. "Yes, there was such an explosion of emotions from her… while you simply received it without much reaction?" The man leaned back into his chair and tilted his head. "Is there any chance that you… prefer men?"

The King of Hearts blinked again, his brows furrowing together. "What made you think of that?" Were their perspectives on homosexuality normal here? Not shunned? Alexander always assumed that the people here wouldn't take it well when the roles of King and Queen were distinct.

"You seem to be quite friendly with your Prime Minister… Edelweiss wasn't it?" Ivan Nordskov placed the wine bottle down and chuckled. "They were late on the first meeting and yet you were quite kind to them."

Alexander Hartsmichdt rubbed his face, "The Prime Minister was the assigned tutor to me by the Queen of Hearts, they are quite reliable and as much as I have no trouble with men loving men—I harbor no feelings for my Prime Minister or any other men for that matter." Did it come across this way to other people? Did the Queen of Hearts think of him in this manner?

"Oh, I see. I would have assumed that you were similar to His Majesty Francis le Diamant."

"Huh?" The King of Hearts didn't really expect that their conversation would lead them to this at all. Conversation was fine but this bordered on gossiping, didn't it?

Ivan Nordksov shrugged, "There were some rumors of them having a male lover on the side—I wouldn't be surprised if it was his Delegate. Then again, Queen Monique doesn't seem like the type who'd tolerate that."

Information like this was the bread and butter of high society, wasn't it? Alexander wasn't really used to this at all. He sipped his drink again and tried not to choke, from talking about his friend, to his relationship with the Queen of Hearts and to this? Most of the conversation he'd dealt with was questions about the Card Trial from Nobility and even the common people.

But what about his feelings for the Queen of Hearts? His thoughts were returning to that despite the current flow of conversation already going past it. Did he need to say it aloud? Was there a need to say it to anybody else? Did it even actually matter? He had already ruined his relationship with her long ago and it was probably one of the reasons why she ended up taking her Knight as a lover.

That much was obvious despite the Queen trying to keep it hidden.

Her Knight had probably taken advantage of the strain in their relationship during the beginning? Alexander didn't want to go around accusing anybody else but the Knight was the Queen's confidante and he was prone to believe that if the man wasn't around, then the possibility of at least a somewhat amiable relationship had been possible.

Or maybe he was once again choosing to believe that.

… That if the circumstances had been better—if so and so had happened instead of this—there would have been a chance that his own relationship would be similar to how the King of Clovers adored his Queen?