Villainess Of Hearts

Julius Ginellevé had brought the Queen of Hearts to her chambers… but a certain someone had followed along as if the situation had concerned them. And perhaps in some way, it was truly the case. He blamed the Joker for whatever had caused his dear Rosa to faint and collapse within their meeting—and yet he couldn't do anything in a way that could inflict harm on them.

And so the Joker would talk.

Until he had found a host to replace his Queen and that was a task that was gargantuan for anyone—

"You know 'Gine', I'm quite sure that you yourself are more than capable of handling me as a host." The Joker remarked with a relaxed voice as if the sight of the Queen on her bed wasn't something to worry about. 

And yet their words had far more depth and cut than he thought it would contain as he turned to them. He gritted his teeth,"I may be the Queen of Heart's personal Knight, but at the end of the day, I am simply but a Knight. One that had been trained to live and serve Her Majesty of Hearts. Hosting a respectable and renown figure such as yourself—I might say the wrong things and influence the events to turn towards a bad direction."

"Struggling is a futile thing." The Joker remarked as his gaze swept once at the Queen of Hearts. And perhaps Julius did see something that was near to concern on Mister Rosswall's face. But it soon passed as the man turned back towards the door, his steps took him further than anyone else. "But if you will not insist on hosting me, then I suppose the next one in line would be the Prime Minister or that lovely pink haired lady from earlier."

"The… King of Hearts. He was supposed to be the one to handle you, where is he?" He muttered underneath his breath. He tried to run and catch after the guest of Hearts.

Rosswall turned back to him and raised a brow, "Why are you asking me?" The Joker stifled a chuckle and waved a hand at him, "I now realize that you may happen to be right. You can't handle the hosting duties that a Royal should be capable of in truth. Once raised as a killing 'machine' after all… this is what they call as nurture versus nature. It's a pity but if you're looking for the King of Hearts, how about you look for them? Our conversation had been somewhat cut short, it would be nice to continue it..."

Julius Ginellevé tried to ignore the twitching of his eye. It would have been good if he was allowed to lay a hand on them—and regardless of their actual position and title, he was positive that he could at least stab them a couple of times with his sword before they flee. But he wouldn't.

At least not right now.

"Your bloodlust is raging so much that I can feel it without you even saying a thing." The Joker eyed them with a tired sigh. A sigh that might have been given when a parent dealt with a small child… It was too patronizing for him. 

The man continued to walk down the corridor without a care in the world. The Knight returned their look with a small grunt, "If it bothers you too much, I'll look for the Prime Minister."

"Ah yes, that docile one sounds fine."

. . .

Was she stuck in a dream, was her body and soul crossing through death and life or something in between?

Rosalyn Lockhart didn't know what exactly was happening right now. But there was only one thing she wanted in that moment and that was to seize the cloak and hood over the man's face and for them to finally reveal himself to her—she'd worry about other things later. Her curiosity was worse than a cat's and she longed to quench her thirst even if the man had said no.

Once he gave his answer, she was ready to leap to her feet and grabbed ahold of the garment in between them and that was regardless of everything on the table spilling its contents over. She had already noticed before that he could rearrange them back into place so that was inconsequential at this moment. But if he gave his consent, then perhaps that would be better wouldn't it?

And for now, she seemed to have rendered him speechless.

Only his blue eyes appeared underneath his cloak that hid his face too well as she tried to stop her fingers from twitching, "What do you say, Time Man?" She asked and realized that she had called him as such. She kept her face blank despite the relentless desire to finally give a face to the man before her.

And he coughed, he raised a hand to his hood and continued to do so.

Once again he displayed a reaction that was so… human. And she didn't expect it at all but it was refreshing all the same. When she recalled the Joker, there was an air of unworldliness to them, something that called for attention as the man also commanded an air of dramatics. Although the man before her also gave the same air of being out of her world, right now… His awkwardness in this moment was reassuring. Although why it was reassuring was beyond her—perhaps she wanted to have a person that she could simply be herself and treat them as an equal?

She would never admit that it simply brought a bit of joy in her heart.

Then again she was always like this. She was facing an event that was within the realm of possibility and impossibility at the same time. A person who could be at ease and relax around her that he could show his expressions and reservations… it was a feeling that she may have longed for but rarely experienced with anybody else. And so she waited, gazing at him with a bit of restlessness and patience. 

"I do not understand the fascination at all but—you need to wake up." His voice sharpened along with his blue eyes narrowing down on her. "Wake up now, Your Majesty."

A reaction that rendered her speechless at this moment. "W-What—?"

"Perhaps on another occasion, we'll meet again. But for now, rise up and steel your nerves, Rosalyn." His gaze bore down at her with such urgency that it only made her want to stay here more. She didn't want to wake up, why should she—

This time she didn't fall down a hole but watched the man across her disappear and flicker out. Had he said anything else? She didn't manage to hear it as the Queen of Heart's eyes bleared open and quickly met the gaze of a masked person looking down on her. A weapon was in the person's hand, a steel axe that would go down upon her…? Her heart seized in her chest as she felt their weight on her and they quickly covered her mouth to muffle her scream. 

Their gloves were too thick to even bite but that wasn't what she was going for.

Her body trembled but she had to act. 

She moved her right hand towards her sleeve and pulled out the dagger as she felt it scratch on her arm as she pushed it towards the intruder. And whether it had been by some drastic luck or she had caught them in unpreparedness—the dagger dug itself and pierced through the masked person's chest. 

"W-What?" Disbelief dripped in their voice. And yet the axe came down unwittingly as she tried to move and dodge it. She could only move by a portion and watched it miss her neck by a couple of inches and she finally screamed in pain as the blade of the axe tore through her shoulder. 

Her vision blurred and darkened.

She was afraid that she would pass out in this moment and finally fall dead but Rosalyn pushed the dagger further into their chest. And soon enough, they fell off her bed with a dull throb that was silent and inaudible to the pain that seared through her shoulder. Her dagger lay in the person's chest as she tore through her bed sheets and blankets—they had been able to catch her in her own chambers? She pressed the red blankets into her right shoulder as the blood soaked and turned it into a deep crimson.

Should she move? What if there were other more at the door? Her head spun around as she tried to stand up to her feet and grab for the dagger that she had left in the attacker's or assassin's body. Wouldn't they have checked if she had truly died—one of them wasn't enough at all!

Rosalyn Lockhart could do this. She tried to clear her thoughts as she moved to pluck the dagger out and heard the sound of splashing. And though the person's garments had been on the darker colors, the redness of their blood spilled out far too easily. If she had been any moment late with her return, if the Time Man hadn't insisted and urged her to wake up.

The Queen of Hearts would have been long gone.