Villainess Of Hearts

Sometimes he wondered if Mary Ann wanted him to be dead—and yet there was nothing that Ace could do when he saw the young woman looking immensely troubled. She didn't tell him anything but he quickly got the message when she asked him to deliver the tray of roseberry tarts and tea for Her Majesty. And that was the story of how Ace the soldier had arrived outside of the Queen of Heart's chambers and heard the laughter.

The man gulped for a moment and looked around the empty hallway, wondering if this place would serve as his final resting place before he knocked on the door. "Her Majesty of Hearts?"

The laughter died immediately.

The Queen of Heart's voice sounded from beyond the door, her voice was clipped as she gave him permission, "Come in."

And so Ace stepped into the Queen's chambers and wished that this incident would not be shared with anyone else—his body still ached from the harshness of the training that sir Julius inflicted on all of them yesterday, he bowed carefully. "Greetings to Her Majesty of Hearts, I have brought the Queen of Heart's late morning snack." Ace kept his head low in order for the Queen to not recall his face this time around.

She had gotten mad earlier, it would do him no good if she recalled her anger earlier and asked him to die on the spot. He had dreams! 

"Leave it at the table for me," Her voice was curt and serious. There was no inflection in her tone and it was as if the cackle he had heard from earlier was simply something wrought out of his imagination.

And so the young man carefully approached the table and kept his gaze on the floor… and that was how he noticed that there were pillows scattered around the room. He could only imagine the fit of rage that resulted to this mess, pillow feathers were scattered as well. He warily looked around for broken vase or ornamental pieces but was glad to found none as he placed the tray on the table.

"You may leave." Once again her voice ordered him.

He quickly bowed lower than usual as his head nearly met the floor, "Thank you, Your Majesty." She said nothing and he wondered if he should have just scampered off at those orders. The young man turned away and began to walk off.

"Wait."

Oh no. This was his end wasn't it? He hadn't even managed to confess— "Ah, what is it, Your Majesty?"

"Grab a tart and pour me two cups of tea."

Ace blinked at the absurd order but followed it with no question. Albeit the fact that it was only the Queen of Hearts in this room, Mary Ann always placed an extra cup in the tray perhaps in the chance of them entertaining someone else? He didn't know but poured—and watched red sickeningly sweet liquid fill up the two cups.

Did Mary Ann add too much sugar? Surely this couldn't change the Queen of Heart's personality into sweetness… Ace picked up a tart and held it unsurely in his hand. It felt kind of weird to have a pastry in his hand, somehow he couldn't help but feel dainty right now.

"Now eat and drink it."

Ace froze. She wanted him to die didn't she? This wasn't some kind of food and beverage for her but his last meal before he got killed— he heard a click of a tongue and shoved the tart in his mouth and then reached for the teacup and washed away the dessert. He proceeded to immediately cough and hack his chest. He wheezed and wished to die in this hour but stopped at last and felt his tongue scald and burn.

There was only silence in his audience.

The Queen of Hearts said not a word but he quickly lowered his head, "M-my apologies, Your Majesty!" This was the kind of thing that they'd call insolence right? He couldn't feel his tongue and he might have slurred a bit but his words were still crystal clear.

"Are you alright?"

He blinked. Did he hear correctly? It made him raise his head a little in surprise, but he quickly lowered it after a second. Of course the Queen of Hearts was a beautiful person, he should have known about it right from the start—but instead of a petulant frown and knotted brows, her expression was blank. Her lips were pressed into a thin line but it wasn't displeasure…

She cleared her throat, "I repeat, are you alright? Are you not sick despite gorging on my tarts and tea?"

He wavered for a moment and shook his head, "No, Your Majesty." He took his chance to take another glimpse and saw the Queen of Heart's lips curl into the tiniest of smile. His heart pounded in that moment before he averted his gaze back down on the floor, "Is there anything else I can do, Your Majesty?"

"Oh, you can leave now."

And that was how Ace, a soldier in the Castle of Hearts, left the Queen of Heart's personal chambers with nothing but a scalded tongue and a burned itchy throat. Somehow he had survived his encounter with the fearsome Queen and had even seen a side… that he wasn't actually sure existed.

The soldier had a thought as he shut the door. That must be the reason why the King of Hearts was still happily married with the Queen despite her nonstop desire to behead people—if she smiled like that at the King, then there was no doubt that he'd be willing to turn a blind eye or so.

. . .

The Queen of Hearts, Rosalyn Lockhart's expression eased up as the soldier left her room and she landed back into her bed with a sigh. She gazed around the room and soon found the Chesire at one of the couches. She lifted a brow at him, "I thought you had gone away when he arrived."

"Ah, your perception deceives you, Your Majesty. I was here all along." The Chesire purred at her before his gaze flickered to the tray of tarts and tea on the table.

Right. He had wanted food. She pursed her lips and motioned to it, "Feel free to have a tart or two and pour yourself a cup… from the one that the soldier used of course." She would have gotten upset if he had accidentally shattered her porcelain teacup.

The Chesire lifted a brow, "Why did Her Majesty ask the soldier to drink and eat in the first place?" An amused chuckle left his lips, "He looked like he was about to choke to death."

And she frowned, hesitating to make her thoughts privy to the cat person in front of her. What would he think of her? A paranoid and frantic Queen that was afraid to be toppled down and replaced by a mere pawn? She averted her gaze to the music box that stood by her dresser and shrugged, "I was checking for poison, it isn't hard for me to upset another person that I need to be wary of dishes."

She was surely wasn't as paranoid like this in her last time, she ate and drank whatever she wished… but now she had much more reason to be this way. At least she wanted to think that there was a reason to be careful. Even if it was Mary Ann, she could never know and even moreso that it was someone else who had delivered it for her.

"Hmm, that sounds like a prudent thing to do, Your Majesty."

Rosalyn Lockhart's gaze flickered back to the young man that stayed in the couch, there was a languid smile on his face. He was relaxed and she wondered if he would purr if she scratched his ears. The Queen of Hearts shrugged, "That is necessary when you are in a position of power, such as I am in now. It must be indolent to be simply you. Going wherever you wish and no one to stop you."

"I cannot deny that, Your Majesty," Chesire yawned and covered his mouth with a hand. His tail was bobbing slowly in an unknown rhythm. "It is pleasurable to be simply me."

And she could add nothing to that. Or perhaps she didn't want to say anything else… if there was a person that was free of wants. Someone who was content on their own and had no other desires—was there actually anything she could offer to them in return for their allegiance? 

Rosalyn Lockhart stood up and approached her table. She picked up a piece of tart and bit into it, chewing thoughtfully as she gazed at Chesire. A person who was free… how exactly did that vixen make this cat work for her? Or had they been simply swayed by her beauty as well? The thought made her frown as she felt her forehead crease.

She poured herself a cup of tea as she thought and considered it. There was only one thing she had in mind as she gazed at the seat—and then found him missing. She stared at it for about thirty seconds to see if they were hiding but they didn't reappear. Rosalyn Lockhart chose to stay silent after that and turned back to her tea, she hadn't even got the opportunity to ask if he would like milk or fish.

But maybe for someone like them, even a number of gifts would do nothing for them? The Queen of Hearts sighed.