Villainess Of Hearts

Rosalyn Lockhart had bloodshot eyes—nobody else might have been able to tell that, it was easy to assume that it was her natural eye color, except for him. Julius Ginellevé had already spent yesterday with the soldiers in the barracks to vent out his emotions. As he had already concluded before, there was something about his Queen that had changed and though he loved her all the same—it was still something he worried about, "Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

This was the third time he repeated the question.

Instead of finding her in her chambers and he almost had a heart attack when he checked inside to see her missing… he found her at her office. The red rose that he prepared for her was on the table but it lay forgotten. Even now she was more concentrated on documents and a calendar. He did not wish to ask her of this when he was positive that she had not yet eaten breakfast but this was the ultimatum, "Would you like a cup of tea and a platter of roseberry tarts, Your Majesty?"

Her head rose from the parchment, ruby red eyes looking at him as if she had seen a phantom. His lips twitched, he might as well be one if she treated him like she was invisible. Her lips quirked and she hesitated before waving a hand, "I'm fine, you don't have to bring me anything. If you are hungry, you can go ahead and have breakfast already."

An alarming emotion jostled him and made his ears ring at those words, "Y-Your Majesty—Rosalyn, how ill are you?" She had never rejected this offer. Not once at all. Never at all. From the moment he had first seen her playing with her plushed toys and with a tea set. She would always be pleased and eager to have them—it was something that brought genuine joy to her face.

Her lips curled into a frown, "I'm not ill, I had trouble sleeping last night and that has attributed to my foul mood. Please don't disturb me lest I ask you to cut your tongue off."

His hands reached for the hilt of his sword as he pulled it out and smiled, "Your Majesty, if I failed to serve you properly then it's much better to not settle in my tongue alone—"

"Place that weapon back into its sheath. I don't want anything to stain my carpets."

That made sense. "Then I shall head outside—"

"Not outside either. You don't have to do anything to punish yourself—who else am I going to rely on if you were gone, Gine?" Her gaze softened as she looked at him.

His weapon felt light in his hand as he placed it back into its proper place, his heart was immediately placed at ease. "Rosa—"

"So if you could sit down on that couch over there and keep your mouth shut, it would be highly appreciated. Thank you." The Queen of Hearts finished her statement and she turned back to her papers and duties.

And so Julius Ginellevé, the Knight under the Order of the Lockhart, esteemed Protector of the Queen of Hearts and Executioner when called for it made his way to the couch and plopped down. He rested his hands on his lap. Some things truly didn't change—and that she was always someone who would order anyone that she could. He still found a little relief in that. Now that he could still find himself at her side… or at least at the same room as her, he could get some time to think and consider things.

Things that were of course related to Her Majesty.

What was the reason for his Queen's inability to get adequate rest last night? He struggled to find the answers and assessed each possible one. The most obvious one was the presence of the other Suits in the Castle of Hearts—alas, there wasn't much he could do about that. Nothing less of murdering at least all of them and that was trickier than he'd like to admit.

The next thing to consider was there was something wrong in the chambers of Rosalyn. He would have to inspect if there was an object needed to be removed or if there was something to be changed. Now that was easy enough to do, it wasn't like the Queen of Hearts often retreated in her room most of the time. Or perhaps it wasn't in the chambers itself but outside of it?

He'd need to oversee the area then and see to it that it was devoid of anyone to disturb her—he'd check the guard's routes inside and outside the Castle and instruct them to tread lightly.

But would that be enough?

Another reason he could think of—and to which he was most powerless against was in regards to the diet that she had. He grimaced and glanced at Rosalyn who was still staring and jotting down on a parchment. When they were younger, perhaps she could get away by eating sugary treats but it was a little different now. Rosalyn Lockhart most often stayed in one place and that was this very office. Perhaps he'd need to ask her to walk with him in the gardens some more—at least after he had dealt with the snakes.

His fingers twitched over the hilt of his sword. Which one of the gardeners were careless enough… or had actually been in cohorts with the enemies of the Queen? It was probably easy enough to deal with them by killing them all at once—but unjust deaths would stir up anger and discontent.

But back to his dilemma on the Queen's health. If he couldn't convince her to eat at least healthier then there was something else he could do about this matter. The Knight would go visit the kitchen and examine all the ingredients and ensure that they were all of the best quality. And he would take relish in putting that mouse-like girl under scrutiny—how did she prepare Her Majesty's meal?

And yet there was still something or someone he couldn't rule out.. Did meeting the Hatter contribute to her inability to sleep last night? Had she been overjoyed over that matter despite her rather sour temperament this morning? Julius Ginellevé's heart twisted tightly at such a thought.