Villainess Of Hearts

There were five people of note in the Gazebo of Dreams, the Knight, the Queen, the Prime Minister and their two guests. Other people, soldiers who might have been walking around and ensuring that the grounds of the castle stayed protected were nameless, unimportant—Ace looked up from his post to see a familiar blonde haired girl walking with a tray in her hand.

The soldier elbowed his partner in the side, "I'll go help, Mary Ann right now. She looks like she could use some help."

"What are you even—"

Not waiting for the man to finish his response, the man approached the young cook with a smile. It wasn't a secret that Mary Ann held esteem within the other servants now, but to him, she was always the shy girl who sometimes gave him an extra serving of the dinner when he was hungry and asked nicely. "Need a little help?" 

"I'm fine—"

"It's not a problem, I actually want to help you." He said and scratched the back of his head. "I actually want to make an impression with the Knight, he'll remember my face if he keeps seeing me right?"

Mary Ann looked at him with a scrunched up face.

But she didn't deny his request, which was a good sign as ever. He approached her and took the tray off her hands, "I'm not sure how the Queen had taken a liking to you—"

"Had she really?" Mary Ann asked him. There was a small smile on her face, it didn't reach her eyes. "Her Majesty of Hearts? I'm just the person who makes her tarts, Ace."

The soldier knotted his brows together, she actually remembered his name? But more than that, there really was a confirmation that she seemed sad. Were the other servants bullying her? It didn't help that she was non-combative, it wasn't easy to battle out the fight in the barracks and be done with it. 

He walked with her through the garden, "You know how the Queen has been for the past years, the mere fact that she had you make the tarts instead of anyone else—and she hasn't been screaming for someone's head off. I take it as a good sign."

"Yes…"

"You can even say that you were a good influence." He laughed at the thought—remembering the time when he had been outside of the Queen of Heart's chambers and nearly had scared himself out of his own armor. He had delivered the Queen's meal back then as well for Mary Ann.

Was it better to stay unnoticed? 

"Don't say it like that, I think the Queen of Hearts has always been a good person."

Ace raised a brow, "Would you say the same thing for Knight Ginellevé?"

Mary Ann stayed silent for a moment.

He chuckled and shook his head.

. . .

The Queen of Hearts lifted up the teapot and fought back her surprise, turning instead to the man. Concern crossing over her expression as she picked up the jar of milk and offered it to him—did milk soothe burns? How bad was the burn? "Are you alright, Mister Harold? I'm definitely—"

Mallory slapped the man in the back, "Quit being a baby, Harold. That burn is nothing."

"Y-yes…" Harold nodded along.

Rosalyn Lockhart blinked and had been prepared to tip the milk all over the man's hands. 

Blyke Edelweiss looked like he was ready to get up and leave the place, but instead he handed Harold a napkin. He was asked to host the tea party, well, pretend to be the host so he couldn't go anywhere else unless he wished to. As for her Knight, the man was silent behind her—he said not a word.

That catastrophe came out of her own doing, how could she have ended up so clumsy in this one? 

On another social circle gathering—it would have been laughed off perhaps but be spread around as a horrendous rumor. Needless to say, she wanted to lower her head right now, even more that it came out because of Mallory's question. This wasn't simply because of the Hatter, even insinuating such a thing was…

"Ah, good morning—we've come here to serve the rest of your tea and snacks." Mary Ann said.

Rosalyn Lockhart looked up to see the woman accompanied by a soldier, and he ended up placing the tray carefully on the table. Their sudden arrival would end up changing the atmosphere, if only by a bit. 

"Thank you so much, Miss." The Prime Minister spoke up even before her.

The Queen of Hearts furrowed her brows but said not a word. Harold sniffled as he rubbed his hand with the napkin but proceeded to pick up the carrot cake from the tray—she also ignored that. As long as all of them were able to get by this situation, then everyone could have a slice of cake if they wished to.

Actually, she was grateful for her cook. 

Rosalyn Lockhart made it a point to remember to reward the girl on a later date. The young woman deserved it… even the idea of making friends, wasn't that something that had come out because of their earlier interactions? Disregard the current situation right now, everything was going along fine and well.

She had more allies now than she had in the past. 

"My apologies Y'er Majesty." Mallory rubbed her face. She looked distressed about the mess, the woman lowered her hands down the table and gave Harold a look. She then turned back to her and smiled tiredly, "We're not really fit to be around here, I think it's best that we leave already to prevent more mishaps."

Rosalyn Lockhart shook her head, and though it was a matter of pride— "I'm the one who had made the mistake. It's not your fault." She had to acknowledge what actually happened, it wasn't right for her to pin the blame on Harold or even Mallory for asking such a question.

She didn't need to have been surprised by such a question like that.

It was only natural that they'd assume it was about the Hatter.

But her reaction to it, it was poor.

.

.

.

Mary Ann disliked her. It shouldn't have been possible, but the moment that the girl had laid on the eyes of the guest of the Queen—she felt an irksome feeling come over her. And it was the first negative emotion she had in awhile. There was simply something about her that made the cook at unease.

Was it jealousy because the Queen's attention had gone elsewhere?

The thought would have never crossed her mind if not for how everyone continued to tell her that she was favored by the Queen of Hearts. But it wasn't that, it wasn't jealousy or frustration—it was just an edge that she didn't like. The way that the woman interacted with the man beside her put the girl at unrest. 

The guest of the Queen of Hearts was mad.

. . .

A thing that was made out of nightmares, those were the words that he could say for this situation. Alexander had no idea how he and his friend had ended up in the same place with their former host. It was a wonder how the Joker had been able to separate the Queen of Clovers from her King's side, and yet all three of them were in the drawing room of the King.

He knew that the Joker wouldn't attack them out of nowhere.

...That wasn't the man's 'style'. 

And yet his words were enough to wound up people to action, the Joker's words could form bloodbaths and deaths. His words could make a kingdom burn to ashes, and change their rulers in but a single verdict. Why was a man given this much power? 

The world here was unfair.

Alexander ignored the static inside his head, his vision blurring and tried to focus on the man seated across them. But he couldn't do it, he glanced to his right and noticed that his friend looked terribly small in her chair. The Queen of Clovers tried to put up a strong front, her hands folded together but her legs jerked. If he shouted and made a sound, she might have taken her flight and left at once. 

This was worse than the execution trials.

Why did he even come here? Why did she even come here? Alexander clenched his hand into fists. Haven't they already graduated from this situation when they won the Card Trial years ago? What more did this man want?

The Joker was still silent, lounging across his own couch leisurely and sipping a glass of wine. There was no smile on his face, no grin or even jesting tone. "I have something important to say, and that is the reason for my visit. I didn't simply come here to bring back about nightmares to the two of you, you two are already the winners—but only for the Card Trial."

"W-What?" His friend spoke up first. "Are you saying that there's another test?"

Alexander didn't want to be here, with how the Joker was proceeding, only trouble awaited them. And yet when this man called, their feet carried them here on their own.

His words were power.

The Joker placed his wine glass near the table and the atmosphere around them changed. Their surroundings darkened as the temperature dropped. Two sides of a Joker. Red and Black. Only someone stupid would compare them to a fool—far from it.

"A traitor within your midst, 

Place your highest bids,

Make a move, do not stall, 

A kingdom shall rise or fall."