Villainess Of Hearts

It might have been better to be impaled by a sword, and Gine had already tried that. While it temporarily had the Queen of Hearts fussing and tending towards him, at the end of the day, this occurred.

He understood it.

"It's because I have nothing to offer," he said. More to himself than to her.

But the Queen of Hearts, Rosalyn, still seized his hand with hers and said. "Have you not paid attention to what I just said? You're doing too much and I cannot see what you mean by 'having nothing to offer' to me. That's ridiculous, Gine. You've given me too much."

Julius Ginellevé could only smile in resignation, because his Queen had already managed to make it clear, but it seemed those words did not fully register in her mind. Julius had already spent most of his time focused on her alone, that his own personal life was extinguished to mere embers.

And if he was nothing but embers of a dying flame, then what else did he have to offer to the Queen? What could Gine give to Rosalyn? His life, his sword and his heart.

But it was far from enough.

Julius knew she loved to eat tarts, had a particular hate-dislike for lemons at odd times when they oddly paired well with roseberries and she once had a penchant to leaving the fort of the Lockhart House and spend the day lounging about and enjoying life.

What else besides that could he offer to her? Somehow it now started to make sense on why the Queen of Heart's attention became focused on other men. These people had vitality and vigor on their own—of the Hatter focused on his hats and nonsense ramblings, of the King of Hearts who may have followed the same path as Gine, but still kept enough of character to intrigue the Queen.

It was the same as with Rosalyn's brother. Her mind had spent so much getting upset about Alexander and anxious about her brother, so it only made sense that he, the one always at her side and following her from the sidelines, would become the background person.

Even the King of Spades and Diplomat from Clovers had engaged with the Queen with more excitement than he did, didn't it?

This was what went through Gine's mind and compared to these men, even to a cat man like Chesire, he could not make himself significant enough to be worthy of her love. She had already said it before, through hints and through her decisions to withdraw from him… but this was the only time that he fully understood it.

He could not approach the old man, Doctor Griphon, any longer for things such as this.

The Knight did not know where the Joker was, with the man still missing since last night—but he knew that the man would be alright… and yet, it meant that the Joker was the only one left who knew the entirety of things.

Would that have been enough to change things?

Rosalyn Lockhart cupped his cheek and gently said. "Please go to my bed and sleep, Gine. I will go out for breakfast."

He stood up and protested. "Your Majesty, I don't think that's a good idea. I know I should be resting but—"

"No buts. I know this is selfish, but please do it for my sake. I do not wish to have my Knight keeling and falling over during lunch and during an audience if I were to summon everyone else back to the throne room. Rest and be at ease, you've already done a lot for me. I will be fine on my own."

Thus, her Knight reluctantly went for her bed and rested on it. His gaze was locked on hers, amethyst eyes almost like a child afraid to be left alone that she gave in to the small tug inside of her and leaned down to give him a kiss.

She kissed his forehead around the bandages and patted his head. "I will return fast."

The Queen was actually nervous to leave, but she also needed to gather faith with her own people and not just Gine alone. It was also slightly her fault that he became like this, wasn't it? She had asked him to devote his entire life to hers.

And so he did it.

But now she wanted it to change because she didn't like it and believed this was for the best of both of them. The Queen of Hearts was still cruel and selfish like this, even as she made her way out to the door and suddenly remembered another thing she failed to ask.

How was Nicholas and Harold?

Gine was already asleep, falling into slumber so fast that she decided it would have to be for another day. Or at least when he had woken up from his nap. Her concerns and worries about those two men would have to be placed aside.

Right now, the Queen of Hearts strolled down the hallway and made sure to look around now and then for the sight of a soldier patrolling. She didn't exactly see the soldier that always tended to be around Mary Ann like a fly—Ace, was it?

He could have been of use.

Maybe he was the one sent by Gine to watch after Nicholas and Harold? She hoped he was good. But she soon came across two men of similar appearances and even then, their armors shining like silver was enough of a sign to designate from which House they came from.

Both of them stopped and immediately bowed. "Your Majesty of Hearts."

"The two of you are from the Lockhart House."

"Yes we are, Your Majesty of Hearts. How can the two of us serve you today?" One of them asked politely. The second quickly following along and copying his brother.

Rosalyn took note of two handsome young men. It was almost hard to differentiate from one another, except for the different facial expressions on their faces.

Twins?

How rare—the Queen of Hearts rewinded back her own words and tried to look at them carefully for any remembrance. Any recalling of their names. "Dee and Dum."

"Pardon, Your Majesty?"

Ah, the Queen of Hearts finally remembered how she called them as such. It wasn't Dee and Dum, but actually 'Thee and Dumb'. For the countless lives of her, she still didn't remember their names and decided to refer to one as 'Thee' like 'you' and the less intelligent one as dumb.

She pursed her lips and eyed them. "It is ungentlemanly for two Knights to fall and introduce themselves to a Lady, especially to a Queen. Even if you know who I am, it does not mean that you can neglect proper introductions."

The first one blinked and bowed—the faster one was this 'Thee' or 'Dee' in her assessment. "Good morning, Your Majesty of the Kingdom of Hearts. I am Sir Theodore of the Lockhart House at your complete disposal. May the Kingdom live on with passion and pride!"

While the second one followed along, obviously the Dum. "Sir Thomas of Lockhart House, Your Majesty. Long live to the Kingdom!"

Now Rosalyn wasn't actually sure if it was 'Thee' or she was making things up, but perhaps 'Dee' could have also meant 'Deelicious' because she had to admit to herself that they were.

Rosalyn Lockhart cursed her current thoughts and weakness for beauty, but nodded along and maintained the perfect composure of a Queen. "What are the two of you doing here in this portion of the Castle of Hearts? This is usually unpermitted for those not of the employ of the Castle."

"Ah, Your Majesty—your brother, er, Lord Reinhard Lockhart has requested a portion of the available Knights to help with the round of Soldiers guarding and patrolling the perimeters," Thomas said.

"We apologize for trespassing in the Queen's wing of the Castle." Theodore bowed as low as possible, not making any excuses at all. "We are ready to receive any sort of punishment justifiable for our offense."

Thomas sent a quick look at his brother as if telling what had gone into his mind, before schooling his expression once he noticed that Rosalyn Lockhart was gauging the both of them.

The Queen of Hearts could not remember if these men had always been part of the Knights of Lockhart House. Perhaps it had happened while she became Queen? But she would have remembered this detail at least, right?

Rosalyn Lockhart ended up sighing and then eyed the two of them. "Due to the current circumstances, I will turn a blind eye to this incident—instead, the two of you shall accompany me to the kitchen of my servant, Mary Ann."

She wasn't sure if her servant was there considering the assassin's attacks, but if she wasn't there, then Rosalyn would search for her. This wasn't the only about roseberry tarts now, far from it. Instead, she wanted to measure these two men's reactions upon seeing Mary Ann.

Would the two of them think it was Alice?

She did not know where the girl had gone after the events of last night that she truly had to have someone look for her. Possibly Gine, the one she could trust the most to keep it a secret, but if not him… then it would have to be someone else.

For now, the Queen of Hearts moved down the hallway and looked back at the two men over her shoulders. "Let us hurry, there is no time to be wasted at all."

—-—-

Author's Note: For those who are reading this May 2021 first week or so, thank you for the patience bestowed to me ^_^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter.