Villainess Of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts did things her way—hardly anyone made a move to stop her. If she decided to go right, then everyone would move to the left. That was the world that she grew up in and to hear someone trying to disagree with her and not backing down annoyed her. 

"Ye don't have to go there, Your Majesty." Mallory was the one speaking up this time.

The woman was testing her patience, the Queen of Hearts ignored the jolt running in her veins. She was trying to do something kind and generous but Mallory was stopping her?

This was incredible.

"Well, as hard as it may be to believe it—I wish to go there. Now if you'll excuse me." She eyed Harold and then left. And though she might have gone her way to make the woman suffer for even thinking that she would listen to her, she couldn't do that right now. Instead, Rosalyn Lockhart prepared for her visit to Nicholas' shop and Julius Ginellevé was once again following her, leaving the other three in the Gazebo of Dreams. 

She hoped that the Prime Minister could at least handle the aftermath without her presence. The Queen of Hearts passed through the gardens and finally stepped back inside the Castle of Hearts. Rosalyn Lockhart sighed aloud and rubbed her face.

"Your Majesty, is this necessary?" Julius asked.

She glanced back at the Knight.

His brows were knotted together and he had a small frown on his face.

The Queen of Hearts shook her head, "I have no obligation to do this, but doing something beyond what is expected of me—that will signify something more than simply sending a basket full of medicine and a hot meal for the man, wouldn't it?" Rosalyn Lockhart managed a smile. "My effort shall be rewarded." 

He sighed and raised a hand, opening his mouth to say something but then shook his head. "I will get something for your… the Hatter from the Royal Kitchen, Rosalyn."

"Thank you." The man still had trouble acknowledging that Nicholas was her friend. It would probably take some time and effort for him to accept this, but at least he knew that she was doing for a reason. Whether or not he believed her words before. She then gave him a nod, "And I'll get something for him from the doctor—"

His footsteps sounded. 

Julius Ginellevé left the corridor without waiting for another word from her. 

She pursed her lips but shook her head. There were truly some times where she didn't understand the man's own temper. But she couldn't be bothered with it, Rosalyn Lockhart set out on her own task. It would be easy finding the Royal Doctor, she had visited the man before.

. 

.

.

She knocked on the door in one of the corridors and inwardly sighed. The Queen of Hearts would normally have no need to do something as simple as this one, but there was no servant to announce her presence. The Queen of Hearts stepped inside the room and immediately took note of the silence in the room, "Doctor?"

A particular fellow was seated on his own desk, with strange tools and apparatuses on his table. The older man looked up and stood up, bowing slightly. "Ah, if it isn't Her Majesty of Hearts. What a fanciful day it must be then, what ailments does the Queen of Hearts have today?"

She kept her silence and managed a smile.

It had been some time since she had dropped by but this man insisted otherwise. A doctor stuck in his own world and uncaring of others—it was a wonder on how the man became one in the first place. Rosalyn Lockhart cleared her throat, "Is there anything for fatigue and overwork?"

"Fatigue?" The man rubbed his beard. A thoughtful look on his face and addressed her. "Isn't that all in your mind—something made up to have an excuse not to work?"

Despite his regal-looking presence to some extent, the doctor had his own peculiarities in terms of assessment. It was a wonder how the man had ended up serving in the Castle, but he was here even before she had arrived. 

"It is not for me but for someone else, Doctor Griphon." Rosalyn Lockhart explained. If it weren't for his age and prestige in holding a position far longer than she had, she would have kicked him off already. 

Griphon nodded, almost sagely, "Nevertheless, the reason might be the same."

The Queen of Hearts glanced away from the man's desk to the cabinets, she walked up and opened the cabinet and took in all the colorful liquids in their containers. "Very well then, I'll look for something for them to drink instead, I will be intruding." It wouldn't be so hard to find something for Nicholas, each of the bottle and potion were aptly labeled.

"Take whatever you wish, Your Majesty."

Yes, there were people like him. Almost similar to the King of Hearts in the part that she was allowed to do anything she wished—this person did not care. It had almost been quite silly that when she was newly crowned and hungover, she had assumed this man would be helpful. If not for the potions that he was able to make, she truly, truly would have found reason to make the man leave his position.

But soon enough, she found what she had needed. 

. . .

The Queen of Hearts had never left the Castle of Hearts on her own—except for that time when she had left to find Alice's friends and had met the Hatter when she chased him down the town. There was never a rule disallowing her from such, but even then, she never found the necessity for it. Everything was provided in the Castle of Hearts, her needs and duties were performed there and so she never left.

Except for now.

This time, Rosalyn Lockhart pulled the red cloak over her head and gave a look at her Knight. "I believe my disguise is useless if you remain the same, Gine." With one basket in her hand, she was prepared to go out and meet the man with much more precaution. Although leaving from the front gates of the Castle would always be eye-catching regardless. 

"Would you perhaps like to choose a different path, Your Majesty?" Julius decided to say something else. He glanced around the corridor with a watchful gaze, perhaps making sure that no one was around the vicinity.

Rosalyn Lockhart raised a brow, "Is there another path?"

"Follow me, Your Majesty." Her Knight turned his back and began to walk.

Furrowing her brows together, the Queen of Hearts decided to go along with the man's decision for once—since this morning, his actions were actually a little more erratic than what she was used to. What had made him so troubled now? Rosalyn Lockhart watched the man turn the left and the two of them soon reached a dead end.

A shudder went down her spine.

"Gine?" Now really wasn't the time to deal with an upset Knight, but that seemed to be the case right now. This wasn't going to be one of those times that her Knight would go—

The wall in front of her began to part open to the shadows, it revealed a pathway hidden from normal point of view. Her head snapped back to the man and she blinked. He had turned to the wall and muttered something underneath his breath. Rosalyn Lockhart approached the Knight and tapped his shoulder, "What is this?"

"Another exit, Your Majesty." He said it without missing a beat.

This was all natural to him? To her, it was the strangest thing that she had come across this day, and that was on top of his recent attitude today. She narrowed her eyes at the man, "And how did you come across this, Gine?" 

"I've discovered it on my own, my Queen. When one seeks to ensure that their ward is to be protected, it's only natural to study all of the possible routes one could take." The Knight turned to her and offered a hand, "This was the path that the Hatter and I had gone through before—it would be more safe to travel here than elsewhere."

Rosalyn Lockhart stared at the man for a minute—her trust in him a bit shattered in this particular time. He had never made mention of this before except for now. "Why haven't you told me about this, Gine?"

"I've only come across this recently, Your Majesty." Julius Ginellevé explained with a humble incline of his head. "Before I told you, I needed to make sure that all of the routes were truly safe and was impregnable from outside influences."

The Queen of Hearts thought she had everything under her control—and yet… she glanced back at the strange pathway. The basket in her hand strained her with its weight that seemed heavier than before. This was what the Knight had discovered on his own? It never crossed her mind to unearth whatever else the Castle of Hearts had held—a castle wrought ages in the past. 

It must have made sense that it had hidden features like this one.

Rosalyn Lockhart moved past the Knight and into the strange pathway, "Very well then, lead the way."