Villainess Of Hearts

The King and Queen of Hearts were together in the office, and as for the reason for it—neither of them were completely aware of the other's intention, and perhaps the reason for their own visit or even accepting the other's presence was unbeknownst to both of them. The Queen of Hearts had her own assumptions as to why Alexander Hartsmichdt was here.

"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?

Alexander Hartsmichdt coughed, "I admit that I am concerned of Her Majesty of Clovers—and if she requires help, then it is something that I would like to help out with, but I'd like to think that the King of Clovers is more than capable of helping her if she truly needs it."

"I see. Then as for your reason for coming here…?"

"It's to apologize." Alexander bowed his head and bent on one knee. "The most recent of them is about the Hatter but—"

The King of Hearts was on his knee.

Rosalyn Lockhart would have assumed that seeing the man supposed to be her equal would give her relish and satisfaction, but it didn't. "You don't have to do this, Your Majesty." Reminding her of his mistakes only annoyed her.

"But I need to do it." The King of Hearts sighed, "I want to apologize—and I suppose this may possibly be for my own satisfaction than it is to ask for your forgiveness. But I really do feel bad for what had happened during the Trial, and for your friend, I thought I was doing the right thing."

His answer was enough to make her purse her lips, it was the first time that he had admitted to having more selfish reasons, and that was perhaps enough to make her understand that this apology was for his sake, the guilt that he had and his wish for redemption...from her? "Alright, Your Majesty. What is it that you wish for me to say? I forgive you—is that enough to let you swallow and move past the guilt in your chest?"

"It's not only that, Rosa—Rosalyn. It's not only that."

One of her eyes twitched, "Then you can tell it to me now without any hesitation. Please don't occupy too much of my time when I have other matters I need to do, Your Majesty."

"I really wish for us to mend our relationship. I know we haven't been able to start on the right foot but—"

"What if I don't wish to do so?" The Queen of Hearts crossed her arms. "Will you respect my decision, or will you try to convince me further?"

A silence permeated inside the office.

Had the King of Hearts thought that she would leap in joy for his offer? Was he too stunned that she rejected his offer for this? It was already years too late—she bit her cheek and balled her hands into fists behind her back. This was… she was holding on to her own feelings. Perhaps stubbornly so, but she could do whatever she wanted. This was her decision as much as it was his.

If she wanted to cut him off from her life—keep him at arm's length, then he should respect it.

To insist otherwise would say a lot more to his character than what she would have already known. A soft sigh finally escaped the man's lips as the man pulled up to his feet, and the air around him was tense and sullen. As if this was what he had been expecting from the start.

Rosalyn Lockhart ignored the tingle that ran up her spine, and the Queen of Hearts held her ground. She tried to resist the urge to speak up. If the other party was too silent, it was only inevitable that she'd feel the need to say something, but she would not fall for this.

And yet, what if she were to accept his offer?

If she were to mend her relationship with him… it could go along the same lines as she had assumed it would be for Nicholas Hatter, the Chesire, and the others. That was the most logical answer. And even her Knight had told her to better her relationship with the man across from her. But she was the only one refusing to do so.

But could she even do it?

This was too much for her, Rosalyn Lockhart averted her gaze. She could use Julius Ginellevé—he was a pawn piece that she was familiar with, and she had no fear with the people that Alice involved herself with. Their allegiance to her and loyalty was undoubtable. But Alexander? She didn't know him at all.

She couldn't understand him, even if she thought she could.

"Your Majesty of Hearts, what if I ask you to look at this in another way?" Alexander Hartsmichdt gave her a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. He exhaled quietly, but it was audible within her office. "If the two of us can get along with each other better—incidents that may have happened to your dear friend will unlikely happen again."

Rosalyn Lockhart frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly as I said. Our communication with one another is not the best—"

"I believe we can get our messages across fine." She pursed her lips together.

"Perhaps, but if I had known that you were friends with this Hatter then I wouldn't have assumed that he was someone who had bad intentions with you."

"Are you blaming me for your mistake?"

"...I am only trying to look at it realistically, Your Majesty. Rosalyn, I'm not trying to shift the blame on you at all—but we both have our own errors, and I hope that you'd see it. My wish to mend our relationship will not only be good for both of us but for the entire Kingdom as well. It's beneficial."

"How sure are you that mending our relationship will be good for both of us?" Rosalyn Lockhart asked. She tried not to grasp her gown tightly in her hands. What the King had said about the Hearts Kingdom benefiting from an even more united relationship was apparent. But who was to say that it would be good for her?

It might be good for him... but what would she feel about this?

"Your Majesty of Hearts, I know that our current relationship might have hurt us—"

"Hurt?" Rosalyn Lockhart scoffed and tried not to smile. "Who do you think you are to have the capacity to hurt me, Your Majesty? I have not cared for you one bit, and our relationship with one another right now does not bother me as it does for you."

The King of Hearts raised a hand to his face and bit back a chuckle. "...The Queen of Hearts is truly like a rose."

"Are you trying to win me over by poetry?" She raised a brow at his sudden shift of words. "You are using your words wastefully, King of Hearts. I appreciate your apology, but I have no desire for this… mending that you speak of." Something like this wouldn't convince her at all, be it a thousand love letters or even a garden of roses. Although she already had her own garden of roses. She folded her hands together, "I am not broken to need any mending."

He lowered his hand and shook his head, "I would simply compare you to a rose. You are beautiful, fragrant, and lovely to look at. I think you already know that, but roses have thorns—you're not willing to let anyone get close to you, Rosalyn."

"That's not true." The Queen of Hearts didn't need to explain this to him, she had just finished a conversation with Chesire before the man had arrived. And she was going to look for the Prime Minister and invite Mallory and Harold for tea. These were already one of the many instances that she was including people in her life—he just didn't know it.

He didn't need to know it.

Neither did he need to be part of it.

"...It's fine that you have your defenses up, it's one way to protect yourself." The man ran his fingers through his hair, "But if you keep everyone away from you, I'm afraid that you would end up lonely and out of touch with everyone, in the end, Your Majesty."

Rosalyn Lockhart squeezed her hands together, "Is that all that you have to say, Your Majesty?"

"I know this probably sounds like I'm scaring you—"

"You aren't."

Alexander Hartsmichdt sighed, "Alright… my offer still stands the same, however."

"What offer?" She narrowed her eyes at him. Did he really see it like that?

He managed a half-hearted chuckle and waved a hand, "The chance for us to try working things out, I suppose? I mean what I said, Your Majesty. I'd really like the two of us to get along with each other, and if you give it a try, then maybe you'll be surprised about it. I'll try not to get on your nerves, at least. I'll do my best to not consciously do it when I can, and if you do tell me more, I might be able to lessen doing it by accident."

"...And that is if I give you a chance?"

"There's no rush to it—we're supposedly about to spend our entire lives together, aren't we? Take all the time you need."

The Queen of Hearts pursed her lips, "That doesn't sound like enthusiasm."

"I am trying to be more open about this, Your Majesty."