Villainess Of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts was working on her document when she noticed a presence on her room—and it wasn't Gine. The familiar traces of a grin outlined itself in the air, until the full form of the Chesire appeared. "Yosh!" 

His greeting made her blink but more than that was his presence. "...You're still here?"

"What exactly does it mean to be here?" Chesire tilted his head, "I could also be there—but that would also make it here." The cat person reappeared beside her, and for the first time he was on foot. He wasn't exactly floating and lying down on thin air as he often did. The cat person leaned forward, resting his hand on the desk. "What are you doing, Your Majesty?"

The man was currently bent towards her documents, but it also meant that he was also facing her in a way. His head was dipped below that it was close with hers—he had no sense of personal space. And yet she wasn't inclined to push him away, the Queen of Hearts bit her cheek and dropped her quill for a moment. "I'm doing some paperworks."

"Ah, you are writing a letter to Marmoreal—" 

She touched his ears and the man stopped cold. It was almost as if he was frozen in place and that action was enough to make her realize that she was the one going beyond personal boundaries—not necessarily him. Rosalyn Lockhart coughed and pulled her hand away. "Ah, yes. I am writing a letter to the current head of the Lockhart House. I have a need to visit there sometime soon for official duties."

There weren't a lot of things that she did out of impulse—at least she'd like to call herself as a self-restrained woman. This one was almost done naturally and fluidly, but she needed to remind herself that he was still a person and not all a cat as she'd like him to be. Rosalyn Lockhart eyed him from the corner of her vision to see the redness of the man's face.

Too cute!

Rosalyn Lockhart bit her tongue and tried to look back down at her letter. It should have been easy but there were crumpled pieces of paper beside her current one, she was having trouble with getting this one right. The contents weren't good enough, her penmanship wasn't legible as she'd like and there was an ink stain there on the parchment—all of them were reasons to crumlpe and begin at it from the start.

Chesire's presence was a welcome distraction.

A much needed one.

Her Knight hadn't returned yet—possibly, Mary Ann was still preparing a fresh batch of tarts and he had decided to wait for it. But the person she was with right now was too silent, how embarrassed could he get over this? Rosalyn Lockhart cleared her throat and glanced at him, "Is this the appropriate time to ask whether you have burned your tongue? You are quite silent."

"...It's not too often that someone will just grab me out of nowhere, Your Majesty." His face was still tinged red and the man raised a hand to his face to cover it. "I would have believed you wouldn't do such a thing."

"Even with you parading your ears like that?" The Queen of Hearts raised a brow.

The Chesire's eyes widened as he placed his hand down and frowned slightly, "I make no thing as that—parading my ears and such. It is completely the imagination of Her Majesty." He pouted and his tail flicked behind him.

He truly seemed upset about the matter. She didn't imagine that touching his ears would lead to such a reaction, she needed to make him comfortable around her and not get on his bad side. Rosalyn Lockhart folded her hands together and grimaced, "You are right, my apologies. That was disrespectful of me to simply touch you without any consent on your part. Even the mere thought of touching them, ah—it's too much. But they were really soft." 

She had said too much for her own good didn't she?

This reminded her of the time that she stole tarts from the kitchen in the Lockhart House—she had pinned the blame on someone else that time. And yet they still figured out that it was her at that time, but her tendencies to do things without much afterthought had always been a thing of her nature. The Queen of Hearts had done her best to grow out of it, but it seemed that she still hadn't completely gotten over it.

"I do not mind if you ask, Your Majesty." The Chesire averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head.

No. He shouldn't have said that. The Queen of Hearts coughed, "I think it's much better that you did not relent to it—what I may do to you, it might be too much for you." He wasn't a true cat. Not fully a cat and so the idea of petting him was probably inappropriate. Highly inappropriate.

And yet the urge still rested within her chest.

Once again, silence was the answer given and she was afraid that she might have frightened him too much. She needed to change the conversation quickly, and the Queen of Hearts groped for words as she picked up her quill, "When my Knight returns, I can perhaps ask him to get you a glass of milk if that's alright with you? Are you interested in dining, it's easy enough to request a particular dish you'd like tonight?"

The Chesire was still silent. 

She wouldn't be able to concentrate if he didn't give her an answer right now. Rosalyn Lockhart raised her head and turned to them—the man was gone. 

Did he have to flee because of her words?

Shaking her head, Rosalyn Lockhart proceeded to return back to her work. It was truly harder to get along with Chesire than it did with the Hatter, the cat kept running away. But even then, it wasn't only the Hatter that she needed to get along with, the same went for his own friends. Mallory and Harold. Would they accept an invitation from her without their friend?

She didn't see it as a possible thing.

… And yet there was someone else who could help her increase the chances of enriching her relationship. The Prime Minister, Blyke Edelweiss was said to have been a relative to Harold so it was more likely that they would head here upon an invitation from the man and not from hers.

What were her memories about them though?

The man was dependable and even prior to her taking the throne along with the King of Hearts, the man was already there if she could remember correctly. Or the Prime Minister was already recognizable back then. Regardless, she had a need for him to get the other two to feel more comfortable around her.

That was one way to form relationships—if Hatter's own peers thought warmly of her, then it was only apt that the man would be more than likely to think the same way.

A knock on the door made her look up from her desk. Was Gine finally back? It took so long for him to return and she was already famished. She sighed in relief and eyed the letter on her desk and turned it over for a moment, before finally deciding to crumple it. Her mind was not in the right place to produce the most appropriate letter for the Lockhart House. "I'll have my light snack first." She raised her voice, "Please come in."

But the man who stepped into the room was not her Knight.

She raised a brow but still rose from her seat, "Your Majesty of Hearts… welcome to my office. Is there something I can do for you?" What was the reason for his sudden visit—wasn't he supposed to be the one entertaining both the King and Queen of Clovers? She had much more duties to him and that was in spite of having the Prime Minister around already.

"A-ah…the reason for my intrusion this hour—" The King of Hearts wasn't exactly in his prime position today. He scratched his cheek.

Most often than not, he was able to emulate and act properly but this time he was fumbling about. Did he really not have a reason as to why he came here? Rosalyn Lockhart knitted her brows together. Why was he hesitating? What exactly did he need from her? A small frown tugged on her lips, "Is your visit today in regards to the Queen of Clovers?" 

Had that woman already approached the King of Hearts to complain about her treatment?

The King of Hearts blinked but then shook his head, "No, not exactly, Your Majesty. But did something happen that needs to be addressed?"

Had something terrible happened to her? The man was no doubt concerned if she had done something wrong to the Queen of Clovers. Rosalyn Lockhart smiled, "No, nothing at all, Your Majesty—but perhaps, the Queen of Clovers is in need of a tutor as you did in the past."

Until today really.

But she was kind enough not to mention his flaws at this hour. She didn't have the time of day for him when she needed to finish her own duties.

"Oh, something of that matter should be addressed by her own King, it really isn't within our jurisdiction." Alexander Hartsmichdt shrugged. 

The man had simply shrugged.

The Queen of Hearts pursed her lip and ignored the surprise that sprang up in her chest. "Indeed, but I would have expected that you'd be more than willing to help her, Your Majesty." 

If this hadn't been his reason to visit her, then what?

.

.

.

A certain cat found himself outside of the Castle grounds, he plopped down into the grass and rubbed his face. His face was still hot as he scratched his ears and fought the urge to cover his face further—there was such a peculiar feeling in his chest.. Somehow it felt appropriate that he had nine lives if his heart was going to beat out of his chest.