Villainess Of Hearts

Mallory and Harold owned a dormitory. A place where people in the small town could rent a room or so at an affordable price, especially while they worked near or within the Castle of Hearts. The town itself did thrive and the majority did work on their own individual jobs. A good example was Nicholas Hatter's shop and such, but it was still related to the crown.

Farmers who harvested their crops often sold it to the Castle first, and Fishermen from nearby towns did the same. Well, it was something that one didn't think too hard that much, most were content to live their days in peace.

As long as they were unaffected by troubles, the people of the Hearts Kingdom were content.

Blessed with sunny days, bountiful harvest and natural resources. It was as if an everlasting spring continued to make the land prosper with little to no hard work.

Although that wasn't exactly that accurate to say either. Mallory felt one of her eyes twitch, "Harold, ye can't visit Nicholas, he's busy working on those hats."

The man, for all of his timidness at times raised a fuss, "I can help him—"

"By doing an even worse job, ye can't make hats." Mallory dismissed him with a wave of her hand. She didn't even spare him a glance as she bent over a table doing her work. The woman had a small quill and parchment, she computed the rent and accounted for each and every coin received from the dormers.

"Then I'll keep him company, he also needs a break." Harold reasoned.

On some occasions, it felt like Harold was more attached to Nicholas than the man was to her. It was a little annoying sometimes, but that was what their relationship was like. She sighed inwardly and put her quill down, "Y'er gonna end up troubling him from actually doing any work, just stay at home." There was indeed the option of sending the man there so she could work in silence, but she didn't want to trouble the Hatter to act as babysitter. "If you stay here then maybe the two of us can have our own tea party without him."

Harold plopped down the sofa and pouted, "Awww, fine."

This person could be childish, too cowardly and even an idiot but they seemed genuinely upset about him not visiting Nicholas Hatter. If she could remember correctly, it indeed had been a couple of days. Was the man overworking himself? Mallory rubbed her forehead. "Now I'm worried too. Y'er an idi—"

Knock

Knock

The sound of someone knocking made her freeze in her seat. Mallory fought the tingle she felt in her spine and muttered something underneath her breath. "Y'er overreacting, can't be them." She pulled herself up to her feet and stretched, "Why don't ye prepare a snack basket for Nicholas, Harold? I'll get the door."

"Really? Are you sure?" The man's gaze settled on her, the man chewed on his lip. "Can I pack the teapot in there?"

He still asked the silliest of questions and it never failed to make her smile.

Mallory gave an encouraging nod, "Sure whatever ye want! Just go do it now and leave through the back door."

"You're not coming?"

"Ye can see that I have work to do!" Mallory shook her head and went out of their room. "Go and leave without me, I'll be fine." And that was what she told him, even though her own steps were as scurried as a mouse—she could see something strange seeping in from the main door.

.

.

.

Bloodshot eyes. Well, Nicholas Hatter hadn't actually seen himself in a mirror for the past few days but it was either that or his eyes were going to pop out of his head—hopefully the former more than the latter. The Hatter, oh yes, he the Hatter looked at his newest and finest creation… which was a hat.

That was what Hatters did after all.

His eyelids were drooping but he forced them up as he struck a hammer and nearly missed his thumb. Wait, he wasn't supposed to be hitting his thumb in the first place… the Hatter tried to lean back and close his eyes for a second, just a wink or else he'd end up blinking and realizing that it was already past his deadline.

And this was an important order.

Perhaps the most important one in his entire life—a large statement. But who else would have ordered this many hats if not for a Kingdom itself? And weren't Kingdoms important. But yes, a wink of an eye and…

The sound of wind chimes opening made the man bolt up from his already standing self. "I-I'm awake! Awake—"

A chuckle would fill the room and the source of it would soon appear. The Delegate of Clovers Dimitri Nordskov coughed lightly, "My apologies, I didn't mean to alarm you when you were sleeping, but I had wanted to drop by and check on the—"

"The hats! Yes, of course!" Nicholas Hatter shook his head and slapped his cheeks before gazing around at his workstation. Aha! He picked up one of his creations and offered it to the man who took it in his hand. "What do you think? Do you want me to change the design or…?"

Did he bite off more than he could chew?

Nicholas Hatter swallowed, waiting for the man's verdict. Although he wished for sleep, what was more important to him now was satisfying his client and it was the Clover Kingdom that had been his largest client in awhile. Unfortunately not too many had the need to replace their hats, even then, he became a Hatter because he liked hats and so he made them.

There was no chance he could be a riddler or jester—now that one was a clearly closed-off vocation path. He might have had… side occupations, but this was the one that called out to him. Even his own start as a singer didn't end too well. Case in point, that it was the Queen of Hearts that wanted him beheaded that time, but that must have spelled bad luck in the first place.

"Mister Hatter…?"

Those were the words he last heard before his surroundings went completely dark.

.

.

.

Tea parties were such a delight.

But that was only when it was shared with someone one truly enjoyed being with—and yet that was unable to happen when Nicholas Hatter bleared open his eyes and found someone across from him. Someone they haven't met but someone they could recognize all the same.

Well they couldn't name him but it was at the tip of his tongue. "Do I know you?"

And yet the person in front of him didn't say a word, not a thing.

It seemed like asking them was a useless thing and so he craned his neck and took note of his surroundings. The world around him, all of it an endless void except for the person, the table and the tea and desserts on the table. Nicholas Hatter finally found the words to say, and it must have been something that he should have assumed from the first moment since he arrived. "Have I gone mad?"

Finally an acknowledgement came whence from the man, and it was a man. The Hatter could tell that much as the cloaked figure said, "...perhaps."

"Ah, am I imagining you or is this some sort of dream?" Nicholas Hatter rubbed his chin and proceeded to reach for a cup of tea—only to find it whirling away from him, then and there even the table moved away or had it lengthened itself?

All of the treats and drinks were a mile away and yet he could see the cloaked figure as he did before. Another one of his nonsensical dreams? Well it didn't matter. "Ah, it's time for me to wake up." But this was also nice, a feeling of caught up in his chair and it was the most comfortable of seats.

He was cradled in thin air, and once he looked down there truly was no chair but he didn't fall.

"Peculiar, strange and wonderful—this might be the best dream yet." Nicholas Hatter relaxed his arms behind his head and sighed happily, "Well, not the best, I certainly had better ones but this isn't half bad at all."

"What is it really with you?"

The Hatter looked up from his musing and looked down at the cloaked figure, and the figure was growing tinier or he ended up flying further and further. Nicholas tilted his head. "With you? Or with me?"

"I have no time for rhetorics."

Nicholas bit back a laugh, "Well, that's silly and plain mad when you are time—Time. Time?" He blinked and the joyous expression on his face melted back into seriousness. "Time, ah, there must have been a reason why I had trouble telling it and that was because you don't like me that much do you?"

"...Not everyone is supposed to remember and yet you've done it again." The cloaked figure clicked their tongue. "Very well then, this is a dream and you'll forget about it when you wake up."

"But I have a good memory—"

"No you won't. And it's best that you keep your presence with yourself for your own good if I were you. I would appreciate it if you quit being—"

"Quit being?" Nicholas Hatter blinked and managed a chuckle, "If I were to stop being' then it meant that you want me to die? Being a state of existence. How could one stop being? You are a silly man."

"As I've said, exchanging rhetorics—you did not come here for that and I haven't invited you either. Begone."

Darkness engulfed them and swallowed him whole.