Villainess Of Hearts

"Gine, would you please stay outside and wait for me when I enter the Hatter's shop?"

Requests. It wasn't that often that he'd hear the Queen of Hearts use the word 'please' because most often than not, things often went her way and she didn't have to say anything else. She treated him differently, of course—but it didn't change the fact that most of the time, she still expected him to heed her orders.

He didn't mind doing it at all.

But recently, she had started using the word and other niceties more and it wasn't because of him. It was all due to the influence of other people, from the servant woman at the kitchen to even this man that she sought to visit, and that was simply because the man's friend said it was so.

… Other people.

She was doing it for complete strangers, people that she now considered friends. Was it because she feared him? Those dreams of hers… he managed a brief smile and nodded, "As you wish, Your Majesty." If there was anyway to appease her heart, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"Just Rosalyn—" She lifted a finger up to her mouth and shushed him. She motioned to her red cloak and gave him a stern look, "We're trying to be discreet." The Queen did look serious about it. 

"Of course, Rosa." He answered and stifled a chuckle.

There were instances where she was cute like this. 

She gave him a nod and then ran off to the Mad Hatter's shop, her red cloak fluttering behind her.

He would have liked to point out that her cloak wasn't discreet at all, but she had a smile on her face and so he decided to stay silent. Anything for that smile on her face that brightened up his life. Even when he wished to intrude on the Hatter's shop and ensure that he didn't look at his Queen in any sort of way that made his blood rise—he would suffer with her request because it was her.

"Oh, if it isn't sir Ginellevé—a surprise to see you here."

Julius Ginellevé stared at the Delegate, the man had walked out of the shop and had conversed with the Queen. "I'm not sure if there is anything to be surprised about, Sir. Wherever she goes, I follow."

"Except for a few occasions, I presume." Dimitri Nordskov coughed, "But ah—forgive me, I said too much. Shall I accompany you for awhile instead?" He gave a smile at him. "I think that Her Majesty will stay for quite some time at the shop, it wouldn't be fair that she left you here all alone."

"Do as you wish." Julius sighed inwardly. 

The man stood beside him, taking shelter under the roof of a store. "This is great, I didn't think that I would have the opportunity to converse with you again, do you still remember the last time that we conversed?"

He didn't exactly wish to talk with the man, but in the end, he was still an official representative from another Kingdom. 

Dimitri Nordskov sighed and raised a hand to his forehead, "You sounded so much happier the last time, what was the line that you used on me—do the sights make my heart rivet and twist in pleasure?"

The Knight kept his face blank. He had said such words while attempting to locate his Queen, even when the Delegate had decided to play it dumb earlier. "I believe I have said that indeed, and though I may not look like it—I believe that the sights are indeed a wonder."

"And you even said that the Queen is the most beautiful woman—and asked me if I agreed with it, quite sly." The Delegate chuckled. "You had me back then. It was a surprise for me to see her before, it was a little over a week ago—but time moves in such a way that it feels like it happened a lifetime ago."

"Indeed."

"I was supposed to tease you that if the King of Hearts had heard you say that the Queen of Hearts is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen—he'd get immensely jealous." The man paused for an afterthought. "But seeing as how he got slapped during the Court Trial, I don't think that there's much for him to get envious of."

Was this some kind of curse?

Julius sighed inwardly and glanced at the man from the corner of his vision. Was the memory a good one? But more than that, how was he supposed to answer anything to that? He knew his place at this moment. Most of the Nobility expected him to be simply someone to listen to them talk of whatever and nod.

… But even so—

"Forgive me, I couldn't help but talk about recent events…" The Delegate continued. "How about we talk about something about this Kingdom's past then? When I have spare time, which isn't a lot, but I have dropped by the Royal's Library and found some interesting literature." 

It seemed like the man didn't know how to stop.

"I'm not well-versed in history, Sir Nordskov." He said.

"Well, it happened when you were alive, quite recently—so maybe you can give me a first hand perspective? These are things that I wouldn't ask the King, Queen or Prime Minister without seeming callous." 

He blinked at the choice of words, he glanced at the Delegate fully this time. "If I believe that I have understood what you're referring to, then I do not think that it is a topic that I would like to talk about."

"...my apologies, but you were a participant back then, were you not?" The Delegate straightened his back and placed his hands behind him, "When the winners of the Card Trial were suddenly announced, it was so sudden. But it was the time that a coup d'état occurred, or had I mixed it up with the one about nearly three decades ago?"

"Please be more careful with your choice of words, Sir." 

"So I got it correctly then?"

"It may be available information outside of the Kingdom, but it's unwise to say that the seize of power that occurred nearly four years ago or so was how it truly was."

"The way that you word confirms that you were in the opposing group back then."

"...things have settled now, however."

"Yes, the token Queen."

"If you repeat that word again, I'm afraid that your status as a Delegate from another Kingdom will not save you this time, Sir."