Villainess Of Hearts

Before the evening dinner could finally take place—someone soon arrived, the doors bursting open and revealed a golden haired man. Blue eyes widened slightly before a sheepish smile curled on Alexander Hartsmichdt's lips, "Ah, good evening—I'm a little late aren't I?"

Rosalyn Lockhart pursed her lips and chose not to say anything.

And yet he was a sight to see. When the man desired it, he could steal the attention of people in the crowd. It was a little envious—but someone then clapped his hands. It was no other than the Joker himself.

The tension in the room caused by the King of Clovers were dispersed by Alexander's arrival.

"A grand entrance fit for a King?" A chuckle escaped the Joker's lips, a grin curled his lips. "I think you are taking after me—"

"I hope not," Alexander answered back, barely giving any glance to the man and he stepped towards her, approaching his designated seat. "But please excuse my rudeness." The King of Hearts passed behind her and then finally took his place at the left side of hers. 

Whether through some kind of magic or a display of superior acting—all hints and traces of his earlier emotional instability was gone and replaced by this man oozing with ease and charisma. Someone who could be blatantly rude with the Joker and have no need for any recourse. She shouldn't be surprised about this after all this time, but she still was. His ability to bounce back was outstanding.

And he was shining.

He sheepishly smiled at everyone in the room, "Thank you for waiting for me, please let us have dinner already—King Ivan, my apologies for missing our chess session earlier, I'm willing to play with you after our dinner."

"Ah, there is no need—I will be having a match with the Queen of Hearts."

Rosalyn Lockhart kept her face blank as she began to cut up her venison, only nodding briefly. That was all the reaction that she needed to do, somehow, when the King of Hearts was like this, she only felt it necessary to quiet down. Not because she was affected at all, but because she'd rather not try to outdo him when it came to situations like this one.

At least for this occasion.

Having two people both trying to grab the audience's attention was no doubt a recipe for disaster. One to work in front of everyone and the other to support in the shadows, that was what she was ingrained with—and it made sense.

"Is that so? I'd like to watch." Alexander stated with ease.

She faltered momentarily when she brought her fork to her mouth. A plain smile curled on her lips, "Yes, His Majesty can watch so he can learn a thing or two." The feeling in her chest—whether it was discomfort or something else, it was hard to figure it out exactly. There was no specific word that she could distinguish right now.

"Are you a better player than him?" Ivan Nordskov responded.

The Queen of Hearts looked up for a moment, pursing her lips together. She had never actually seen him play a game before, but she had played chess on her own and when she was younger. What was the appropriate response—

"I'd like to think that the Queen of Hearts is an aggressive player, she'd leave you on the defensive most of the time." Alexander Hartsmichdt remarked. His own answer satisfying the King of Clovers rather than hers.

She didn't wish for him to intervene, but he just did.

Albeit his way of phrasing things… she ignored it and continued to eat. There were more important things than thinking too hard on this situation—having one's meal was important. 

"I think the Queen of Hearts is a bit affronted that you gave me a tip, King Alexander." 

"...well, I have no reason to assume that you'll have an easy time simply because of my words." A small laugh came from the King of Hearts. "Women's minds are a mystery, quite unpredictable."

It was ironic for him to say something like that.

Rosalyn Lockhart stifled a snort and paused from her meal, "In a game of chess, there is so much that one can do—there are probably multiple moves that one can take, countless even, but it's always still grounded in rules. If one knows how to think ahead and envision ten moves forward and predict what the enemy can do, then surely your victory is in your hands."

"Or a stalemate."

It was the Joker who finally spoke up, and for a strange thing, he had actually begun to eat what was served on his plate. "I prefer another game over chess, surely that much is obvious—but, nothing is a hundred percent certain, dear Queen. You might even end up surprised."

"I know that, Joker." She eyed him carefully but nodded, "Thank you however for the reminder." Did he perhaps mean something else? She would have wished to chew him out for the trouble that occurred during the afternoon with the King of Hearts but if the frail Queen of Clovers was able to withstand the Joker's words that time—then the problem lay mostly with the King and not him.

However, there was another thing that she would like to nitpick.

"This time around, you no longer invited my Knight to dine with us." No matter what others might perceive of her words, she only wished to ask out of curiosity.

A chuckle escaped the Joker's lips, his eyes twinkled and he nodded off the left side. "Well, this time—the Crown Prince of Clovers is here, and now we're equally positioned once more...well, there is something off, but we can't do anything about that." His nose wrinkled slightly.

Prime Minister Blyke Edelweiss froze in his seat.

Perhaps the memory of the Joker throwing him out of the throne room when the man arrived was still fresh in his mind and even body. The thought of it was slightly amusing to Rosalyn, but she dared not to chuckle.

Some decency for the man who worked hard in their Kingdom.

But then someone spoke up, breaking the silence. "...I beg your pardon, but I don't think the title suits me anymore." Delegate Dimitri Nordskov sheepishly smiled. "It feels weird to hear that when His Majesty Ivan is now crowned King."

Rosalyn Lockhart blinked. 

She forced her surprise down and guzzled down a glass of water—it shouldn't have mattered at all. But she looked up and met Dimitri Nordskov's gaze once. This was the man she encountered when she first set out to find the Joker and though she didn't pay much attention to him before, even getting suspicious of him touring around the town.

It only came to her realization now that he was… more than just a Delegate.

Regardless, she was still higher in rank than him, so she could treat him as however she wished. But that didn't stop her to consider the fact that if the Delegate had become the King of Clovers—surely, he would be easier to deal with than his younger brother? It shouldn't have mattered…

But somehow it did.

The relationship between the two siblings in front of her—there was no apparent animosity or even anything that denoted any unease. That was a normal thing, supposedly? She refused to pay attention to it any further. It wasn't normal at all… at least, she was used to Nobility pitting their children against one another—for the heir of the House and such. That was a common occurrence, and she believed it was more cutthroat in Royals.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" Dimitri Nordskov raised a brow.

She managed a smile and nodded, "I'm fine—just looking forward to desserts." She fought the urge to stomp her foot on the ground. The expression on her face was not as well-hidden as she thought it would be.

"Ah, so am I." He managed a laugh. "I am actually still looking forward to the best tarts in the entire Kingdom of Hearts."

"May I suggest that the two Royals ease up on the sugar though—it's already night, and I doubt it would be any good for one's mind, wouldn't the King of Hearts agree?"

Alexander Hartsmichdt responded. "It is up to them to dine as they wish."

The Joker glanced at the Queen of Clovers, "It's just quite a contrast to Queen Neo who hasn't eaten that much."

"Please do not mind me," Queen Neo Anasthasia said and bowed her head. "I… I simply do not have much of an appetite at night."

The King of Clovers giving her a sideway glance before once again narrowing his eyes at the Joker.

Her old friend was content to ask and stir up conversation and emotions within the Castle of Hearts. She couldn't say that she was exactly proud of it.

Quite the opposite actually.

Rosalyn Lockhart did not understand that much boredom of his—she really should have gotten Mary Ann to chuck a box of tarts at him tomorrow if possible. Fond memories of childhood aside, the way the man presented himself now was different from the gregarious and child-friendly person he was before.

And yet all of this was background events, she didn't think it was possible but being in the dining hall reminded her of the letter that she gave to her Knight. There was no reason to worry about it at all, and yet she continued to do so. What the King of Clovers and his brother showed now simply made her envious. Similar to how Nicholas and his friends remained such good friends.

There were truly some things she did not understand, but she wished to learn.