Villainess Of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts stepped into the dining hall accompanied by her Knight, the Joker and last but perhaps truly the least, Mary Ann. Unlike in the past weeks where the hall might have been filled with more people and one could hear the lively if not deafening conversations during the evening—the change was now evident.

The frosty atmosphere could have been located in the frigid winter palace of Queen Monique.

Only a resounding silence filled the entire hall that one might believe that nobody was even actually there. Except there were people. She could see that the King and Prime Minister were sharing a quiet conversation together along with the presence of quick-footed servants arranging the plating and serving them dinner.

Yes, there was silence in the place until they had arrived.

And it changed everything.

With the attention shifted to them and the servants greeting them in unison. A wave of shock ran like a strong lake's current, shocking the people. Well, she couldn't exactly tell what the expression of Alexander Hartsmichdt was at the distance. Perhaps he was unaffected unlike Blyke Edelweiss and the others.

Yes, the Prime Minister one seat apart from him spluttered, "Y-Your Majesty?"

Perhaps shocked to the core with her sudden presence.

...and possibly the other two joining them?

"And the Joker," Mister Rosswall stressed out and gave the man a look. He looked quite affronted if not a little impatient, even as he was strolling down the dining hall to take his seat.

The servants all scattered like mice when they saw him come near them.

It was an amusing sight to see.

He then plopped down his chair and motioned to his left, showing the now vacant seats previously occupied by the monarchs of the Clover Kingdom. The Joker gave one of the particular servants a smile, "You can sit beside me little Mary Ann—I'm afraid that the Knight might impale me with his sword if he sat too close to me."

Julius Ginellevé merely eyed him but said not a word. And yet even this very hour, his sword was sheathed to his side. If one was looking closely, one might have noticed his fingers twitch at those words.

The Joker's did not misspoke at all.

The Queen of Hearts didn't know what to feel either. Should she laugh at such a suggestion or be horrified at how accurate the man's words were? But perhaps it was the event happening right now that should have tickled her...or made her want to pull her hair right now.

Her servant was going to sit on the opposite side of the King of Hearts and at the left hand of the Joker.

She shouldn't have any trouble with it—she wouldn't wish to sit there, and yet there was something to keep in mind.

To remember the tale of fourteen royals at the table—one would remember and understand that one's sitting position spoke a great deal of one's individual power and status. And yet the Joker had much fascination in turning everything topsy turvy. She watched the girl hesitantly take her seat while bowing down to the King of Hearts and the Prime Minister.

She almost felt bad for the girl.

And yet she shouldn't be.

There were other servants preparing the dinner table right now and could see the preferential treatment given to Mary Ann. It would produce a lot of rumors no doubt, envy apparent in the other servants' eyes. She had a feeling that the girl might be scorned for reaching that seat when many believed that she had no right to be there.

It was a common event.

But that did not mean that there would be no pain.

Perhaps Rosalyn was aware of how much power words could have over oneself.

She blinked, only then realizing that she was still standing by the door and so she moved. The Queen of Hearts took her position in between the King of Hearts and the Prime Minister, she glanced around the dining table. There were only six of them now to dine with one another but the Joker was at the very front.

And that gave her a view that there was an empty spot opposite of Blyke Edelweiss.

It was unsymmetrical and it bothered her.

But more than that, more than her little frustrations over inane but perhaps valuable to her—there was someone important missing. Someone that might fix her irritation at the asymmetry. She glanced at the Prime Minister and frowned, "Have you not been inviting the Lord Duke to dinner?"

"N-No, I mean yes, I did, Your Majesty." Blyke Edelweiss replied, bowing and lowering his head even further while he stuck to his seat. "The Lord did not wish to be disturbed, I believe he says that he might be making progress in regards to..."

He didn't even want to mention it.

Rosalyn Lockhart fought the urge to scoff. At least in the dinner table she would present herself as a calm woman, even if everyone in the room had already seen her anger burst out before. She waved a hand at him and finished it for him. "That attempted assassination. Yes I am aware, Lady Duke has updated me." Yes, the woman could not shut about it during their previous tea parties. She scrunched up her nose, "It does not seem to be going anywhere—I believe that the King of Hearts' methods are not that effective."

Yes, those words escaped her lips so easily.

She then glanced at the King's side and noticed his head was lowered. Shoulders slightly hunched and he could not control his reaction this time.

It filled her with both amusement and irk.

Alexander Hartsmichdt had the uncanny ability for her to feel different emotions at the same time. She honestly didn't like this—

Until he met her gaze and placed a hand over his heart, and he wore an apologetic smile. "Perhaps it is time to search throughout the entire Kingdom for answers. But would it not be better to have this information given during the Nobles' visit? It would be much more appropriate to delegate the tasks to them instead of sending out our own people, Your Majesty."

And so the King presented a solution.

Would she thank him for it?

Is that what he wanted to hear instead of him having to apologize for even actually having the Lord Duke look at it? There was perhaps no need for it in the first place. Assassinations were always rampant. And yet surely he expected gratitude from her, didn't he? 

She should have said she appreciated it, but her feelings were far from it.

That was far from her original intentions even as she offered him a smile. "I hope I am not misinterpreting your words, Your Majesty—but it seems like you are saying that one should think twice about using resources for the Queen of the Castle?" All the Lord did seemed to be fruitless endeavor and even his wife had already complained in the past of their lack of time together. "Should we simply ask the Lord Duke to return to his estates then?"

Alexander Hartsmichdt visibly winced.

The two of them had only seen each other now after such a duration but—

"This wasn't exactly what I was looking forward to when I asked the Queen to have dinner with us," The Joker sighed aloud and shook his head, "Chewing out His Majesty even when it has been some time since the two of you have seen one another? This schtick is getting a bit old."

Rosalyn Lockhart balked at his words but straightened up. This was a small dinner gathering and conversations like this was a normal thing between her and the King—the Prime Minister would testify to it. And yet... she raised her head and met the Joker's gaze, the Queen inwardly sighing. "My apologies for what seems to be uncouth behavior. This is something I discuss openly but it seems to be taken wrongly by you."

"There is a time for everything, Your Majesty." The Joker replied with a smile, "A time for eating and a time for scorning. Let us not have it happen at the same time."

...This might be the first time that she understood that she was truly being reprimanded by him. 

And she didn't quite know how to feel about that.

.

.

.

Alexander hadn't exactly been that affected with her words. Instead, he had been hunched over and thinking about something else.

Or someone else.

The very moment that 'Mary Ann' plopped down in front of him.

Was she...? It felt like he knew her—and yet there was no doubt that it wasn't the person that he thought she should be. Especially now that he could see her sitting across from him. Now that he could finally watch the servant girl fidget in her seat.

It wasn't her.

Her...?

Even now he wasn't so sure. It had come to him from the deep recesses of his mind. It was something that had only been lifted forth with her sudden appearance. He covertly glanced at the Joker and though the man was addressing the servant and Rosalyn's Knight—he met the man's gaze.

And he had that stupid grin on his face.

The man always knew what he was doing.

Did he think that this was funny?

Hahaha? Did the man want him to laugh? Alexander cut the beef and shoved the morsel of meat into his mouth. Now that the man couldn't exactly throw him into life-threatening games the man had instead opted to play mind games?

Unlike last time, he would ensure that he wouldn't get surprised. Yes, he was doing his best to keep up with appearances—and once the man was sufficiently bored out of his mind.

Then the Joker would leave.

He was looking forward to that time.

And yet there was something that had surprised him as well… the Queen of Hearts really didn't put up a fight or burst into anger all because of the Joker.. It only made him that more uneasy.