Villainess Of Hearts

The sight of the throne in the grand room was nothing but splendor in her vision. A red carpet gave a clear path that led towards the two golden thrones. Above her, glittering chandeliers sparkled and gleamed their blessings for those within the room. Ornamental suits of armor waited at the sides alongside columns of white that reached heights unbeknownst to normal men and women.

A place where even the Queen of Hearts didn't exactly use it unless it was necessary.

She expected a multitude of new people to welcome her, for this room to be filled with awaiting delegates and ambassadors to represent the Joker and the person themself—and yet there was only one man. They donned a white and black suit, long silver hair fell on their back. His back was turned away from her and the Prime Minister's and it was as if he was inspecting the windows, unperturbed by the glamor of the throne room. This was the feared… She knew the shape of the man. His presence was familiar—!

"The Queen of Hearts has arrived!" Blyke Edelweiss's voice fell in the background.

Her steps had faltered as she approached the man that seemed to have been lost in reverie. Somehow the music of the ballerina in her music box started to play in the back of her mind. A distant memory came to the forefront of her mind. What if she was mistaken? A child's dream made her heart sway. She chewed her lip and opened her mouth, "Mister Rosswall is that you?"

"Ah—long time no see, dear! While I'm on the job, do call me as the Joker." Ruby red eyes turned to her as the face of a familiar man appeared in front of her. Well, she thought it was him except for the smirk on his face. That was quite new. He gave her a half-bow out of politeness. He hadn't aged at all despite the number of years since she had last seen him.

What kind of madness was this? He was the Joker? 

Wasn't he supposed to be some visiting—

Rosalyn Lockhart's face didn't betray the wild thoughts in her mind as she inclined her head, "Very well, welcome to the Kingdom of Hearts, Joker. I am the Queen of Hearts." She stepped forward and passed the man. The Queen of Hearts made her way to one of the thrones, she chose the bigger seat and plopped down. She then eyed him above her throne, "My apologies for the lack of preparations, but your visit has been—"

"Unexpected," The Joker chuckled and bowed once again. "Do not worry, I will not begrudge it on the Kingdom of Hearts—even now, I am aware that the Gathering of the Suits took place here, I couldn't help but visit and see how things were."

When she was a young child, she would have loved to do nothing but listen to the man speak and tell tales… but it was a different occasion now. She eyed him with a reproachful expression, "You may be the Joker but it would be much better if you still allowed a Royal to give you permission to speak. Even more so to practice common courtesy and wait for a person to finish speaking."

Behind the man, she could already see Blyke Edelweiss gesturing frantically at her. Instead of fear, this time he was asking her to treat the man before her with much more respect. And yet she couldn't do that—old feelings aside, this was her Kingdom and she was going to do what she wished.

"Hah, you truly have grown up to be the Queen suitable for the throne." The Joker… Mister Rosswall remarked to her. His eyes were shining with some distorted sense of pride. "When you were a little girl, weren't you always dreaming of wearing a crown? It's good to see that you were able to achieve your dreams."

His words were able to bring about memories she didn't wish to recall. Rosalyn Lockhart felt her lips pursed, "I was a foolish girl before, but I suppose that some things had happened that allowed me to—stop," She squeezed her eyes shut, she was getting carried away with the conversation. 

Weren't they accompanied by someone else right now? 

The Prime Minister was still around so she couldn't say anything that was truly in heart right now even if she wished to do so. She paused and looked at the man in front of her carefully, "What do you need with this Kingdom? Are you only visiting and have no other desire but to spectate?" In this place, there was no little girl and no travelling minstrel—a Queen and the Joker were in the same room.

Being captivated right now would be a mistake.

The Joker tilted his head at her before his lips curled into a small smile, "Well, it's less so with the Kingdom of the Suits but to check on the winners of the Card Trials."

She placed a hand underneath her cheek and kept her face calm, "Ah right, you were the one who facilitated over those kinds of things, didn't you?" Did her parents know of it back then? Why didn't they say a thing! She was a foolish girl indeed—no simple man would have been allowed in their House and so she was caught here as the unknowledgeable fool.

He nodded and gave her a modest smile, "Yes you could say that, I take the place of the host and overseer of the Card Trials."

This man—! Why was he still painting himself as a humble person when his position in the end of things could be higher than hers in the right time? What should she say now? Her gaze flitted behind him towards the Prime Minister who looked like they could suffocate and die on the spot. Seriously, how could they look like that right now?

The sound of someone clicking their tongue in displeasure erupted in the room.

Her gaze quickly darted back to the Joker who smiled, "It seems that the presence of this rabbit has been disturbing us from fully catching up with one another, it can't be helped that I have to do something about that." The man didn't even look behind him as he said it.

Before she could even raise her voice to disagree—Blyke Edelweiss flew backwards as the double doors slammed shut.

In a time like this, where was Julius?! Her gaze didn't leave the Joker's as he looked back at her with a relaxed expression. It seemed as if he couldn't see what exactly had gone wrong in this scenario, as if she was supposed to owe him for this small favor. Although perhaps in some way, she really had wished that this thing occurred. Rosalyn Lockhart still didn't like it though…

"He was my subject," The Queen of Hearts gave him a look.

The Joker shrugged, "You were not doing anything about it, Your Majesty."

So he was finally recognizing her position now. She clicked her tongue and straightened up, her hand was cramping now and yet it was only the two of them. There was no King of Hearts… she paused and eyed the Joker, "You've mentioned that you wished to check on the winners of this Card Trial, surely it means that you wish for me to summon them? Do you need a banquet for an occasion like this? A party? Some kind of private gathering for your own?"

"No need to do anything fancy, instead—I'll ask you how the King of Hearts is doing? He was quite a candidate do you not agree?"

How long had the trial been? "I didn't spectate on the last Card Trials… that time, my brother, he was preparing to take on the throne but then the announcements came—"

"Ah, I remember your brother. He wasn't that fond of me." Mister Rosswall rubbed his chin. "How is he doing?"

The Queen of Hearts stiffened, "At the Marmoreal of course, we haven't communicated since then. But back to your question, the King of Hearts is well received and loved of the people for the last two years." And in her third year, around that time… Alice had arrived.

"I was asking about your opinion, Your Majesty." The Joker chuckled. "What did you say back then? You wanted a prince with golden hair and blue eyes and by some chance—"

Her composure slipped, "Shut up."

"Hmmm, so a Royal can ignore courtesy." He smiled.

"I can do whatever I want, Joker. It may seem amusing to you, but this is not funny business."

"Ah, let an old man reminisce."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "You don't look old."

"Well, I owe it to Time." The Joker waved a hand, as if it was nothing.

Rosalyn Lockhart's heart skipped a beat, "T-Time? Or do you mean magic? Some kind of illusion? A potion of youth?" The Queen of Hearts didn't know what to think, Royals were supposed to have a natural affinity to magic and she could only think that he was the same.

"Of course not, you've met him before haven't you?"