Villainess Of Hearts

Now that she had ascertained that the King of Hearts was alright—no longer blubbering about and stuck in a flurry of assumptions, she soon left the man in his chambers. Her time with him was over, she could no longer delay her need to do other more important tasks. "I need to finish the letter and send it, the King of Spades shall return in three weeks."

What other things did she need to do in relation to her role?

Without any other Lady to serve her as a lady-in-waiting, all she could do was converse with herself. And that was alright, she needed no noblewoman to walk after her and recite all the things that she already knew for herself, if anything, she was positive that the Lady's attention would turn to elsewhere.

She could trust no one.

No one was eligible enough for the task and role—Catherine Duke had applied to it and attempted to do so in the past, but it did not do so well. And if such a person, who she had known prior to becoming a Queen, grated on her nerves, well, who else was suitable for the role? No one.

It was fine.

Rosalyn Lockhart stepped into her office and took her seat. She'd put away with all the useless tos and fros of her mind and actually set to work, preparing for the future was one thing, but neglecting her current duties was another. She took a deep breath and then began her work, she picked up her quill and this time—she actually wrote.

No other thoughts.

Just the contents of the letter, all the proper greetings and only the cleanest handwriting. The woman chewed on her lip and cleared her mind: A letter written by a Queen. Not a Lady. Not a Lady from the Lockhart House but of the Queen of the entire Kingdom. Dividing the roles helped with creating a letter that was impersonal, not a touch of mentioning anything else except for what was expected.

She sighed and raised her hand to her forehead, massaging it for a moment. This wasn't supposed to be difficult or anything at all, she had written countless letters addressed to peerage across the entire Kingdom. She had spoken with other Kings and Queens and never faced any difficulty with it, so she needed to simply make a letter.

It was easy.

A letter written to her bro—to the current Head of the Lockhart House.

The Queen of Hearts informing her liege—vassal. A letter meant to address her peer…someone that was below her rank. Rosalyn Lockhart paused and lifted her quill and looked down at the parchment. Her lips pursed together as she studied the contents, "...I've gotten it right, haven't I?" There was a waver in her tone she chose to ignore. She looked up from her desk instead, almost expectantly hoping that someone was in her office.

But it couldn't be farther from the truth.

Her brows furrowed over as she glanced at the grandfather's clock in her office, "Where's Gine?" She told him to look for the Prime Minister so why hadn't he returned? A considerable amount of time had already passed, did it not? It was already past lunch's hour and it was actually time for afternoon tea.

Well, it was three in the afternoon and she could use some refreshments.

Must she do everything herself? 

She rose to her feet and glanced at the parchment, "Just one last revision and then I can finally… send it. In my position as the Queen." She truly hated how her voice sounded right now. There was nothing to be done with it however.

Rosalyn Lockhart stepped out from her office.

The Queen wasn't quite sure why her Knight had taken too long… "But I haven't asked him to return and report back to me, have I?" She didn't take into account that there might be other necessary tasks and roles he needed to fulfill—besides as her protection. Well, the Queen was fine. She didn't need anybody else to do all the little things for her.

Rosalyn Lockhart was capable just by herself.

She crossed the silent and empty hallways and soon arrived at the servant's kitchen, there were two people there—one that she expected, and another that she didn't think she'd see.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty!" Mary Ann squeaked and bowed immediately. On her countertops were the already prepared roseberry tarts, teapot and cups for her to have. But the other was… it was her Knight. What was Ginellevé doing here?

The man had a tart in his mouth.

His eyes widened and he bowed as well, "Good afternoon, Your Majesty." He gave her the same greetings as well, but there was no hint of any remorse in it.

She had caught him red-handed.

One of her eyes twitched and something bubbled inside of her. She wasn't exactly sure what—a smile crossed on her lips, "I did not think that I would see, Sir Ginellevé here." The Knight's interaction so far with Mary Ann had always been distant, and even fear-inducing, she didn't think that she'd see him here and so close to the woman.

The young woman wasn't paled in the face, right now wasn't she?

Was it all some kind of act?

"I've come to bring your afternoon tea, Your Majesty." He responded with a small bow of his head. "And I've checked the contents of them first."

She lifted a brow, "Is that so?"

Rosalyn Lockhart had always made Mary Ann drink her own tea and eat her own pastries when she delivered them herself, she had even made a Soldier do it before and all of them were under the pretense of sharing a meal. But even so, whether the man's words were actually true… 

Where exactly had he been for the past hour or so?

That was something she wished to know, and somehow though her own rebuke for the King of Heart's paranoia came to mind—this case was different from his own.. At least, she considered it more grounded in reality than the King's own fears.