Villainess Of Hearts

"No fool would repeat a plan that had already failed once."

The King of Spades, Alfred Villeuce's smile and words struck a chord that made her pause and look at them. This man was—no, it wasn't only him. It turned out that he was the one who had spoken up about this but each and every individual in the room had their own strengths and flaws.

But this young man was a cut above the rest.

At least that was how Rosalyn Lockhart saw it. She raised a hand to her shoulder's sleeves stained with dried blood. Her blood. Somehow they were able to reassure her that something like this wouldn't happen again—?

"Ah, but King of Spades, there are a lot of fools. If it's worth the price—they'd bargain with their lives." The King of Diamonds spoke up. Once again showing that when it was in regards to wealth and prices… they had a firm belief that everything could be bought?

Rosalyn Lockhart's resolve bristled at that but she had no time for this.

If it was necessary— "I will excuse myself first, Your Majesty of Suits. I have been worn out with the ordeal and will be going to rest and so if there are other concerns then I'll leave it with Catherine of Duke." The Queen of Hearts would move first if nobody would do it and so she did.

And Rosalyn Lockhart was the person who did what she had spoken of—the Queen of Hearts did not wait for any answers or even agreements. She had no need for it.

She left them behind on her own.

A certain Knight would of course follow along, Julius Ginellevé's steps were not quiet in this moment. He made no desire to make it quiet as he followed after her. It was akin to a puppy following along with their master.

It was at this moment that Rosalyn Lockhart had a thought. If only to consider the effects of what this event could bring and even more than that—how did her Knight feel? The expression on Ginellevé 's face of distraught. She hadn't pondered on it. She chewed on her lip when she realized that he… "Ginellevé you'd follow everything I say, wouldn't you?"

"With my life, Your Majesty."

"Good. Good." She doubted it but yet how far had they gone together?

He'd cut out his heart for her according to him. He had stayed with her through the years and hadn't wavered at all and she had taken advantage of it. The Queen of Hearts wavered. Why was she only thinking about it now? Rosalyn Lockhart placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. These kinds of thoughts were unhelpful.

She was the Queen.

And he was the Knight.

Not as disposable as a 'pawn' but if it came to choose between her life and his—she'd want him to die first. And yet he had killed her in that time? Her most recent conversation with both the Joker and Time Man had raised more concerns for her.

Her memory was incomplete.

So was the very first death that she experienced clearly with Ginellevé all that important when she had died possibly more times than she could remember? If her dream… had not been a dream. What if the time that she stabbed the King of Hearts was more of a reality than a fabrication of her mind—then why did she have to die at the end of it? There had been no satisfaction at that?

Rosalyn Lockhart walked through the corridors.

And yet her mind wasn't fully on her surroundings—she bumped into someone and nearly staggered forward. If the person hadn't caught them with their arms. She heard the unsheathing of a blade behind her and she raised her head. "Chesire?" She blinked once.

It was indeed the cat person. Chesire.

His ears twitched above his head and he held onto her. His form was more physical than she could remember. He wasn't reappearing and disappearing but instead he gripped her. His expression wasn't exactly happy but there was a look on his eyes. He studied her face.

He was thoroughly unconcerned that the Knight feared in the Kingdom of Hearts was right behind them.

"Your Majesty, who is this?" The sound of bitterness couldn't be hidden in her Knight's tone. And yet it could have been wariness all the same for this was someone who could probably evade his blade at a hair's breadth. 

Chesire purred and lifted their eyes from her face and towards the man, "Me? You could ask me the question you know? I'm Chesire. Chesire Cat if you wish."

Rosalyn Lockhart's head spun for a moment. She hadn't expected him to be here right now when he had left earlier—she didn't think that he'd be back. Although he seemed to have returned when everything had settled down. Was there any chance that he knew of this? Did he catch wind of this ordeal and had run off? There was a word for it, wasn't it? "A scaredy cat."

"T-That hurts my pride, Your Majesty of Hearts." Chesire let go of her arms and stepped back once. Or he reappeared in that position as his tail swung to an unknown rhythm, and yet he didn't exactly look offended. It was all mockhurt."Do you not know that I have nine lives, Your Majesty?" He tilted his head at her and offered a grin.

It was the grin that made her wish she had a pillow right now to smack him in the face.

And yet did it matter that he wasn't here when the assassin had come? It wasn't his fight in the first place and all she could be thankful for was the fact that she was back. Now that he was here: Well, it didn't stop her plans. She was going to head back to her office and recuperate.

"Ginellevé let's continue in our directions—do not harm Chesire if he wishes to come with us. Once again, he is a special guest of mine and I would appreciate it if you treat him as thus." It was too easy to fall back into habits. She ordered her Knight as such and walked on.

She heard a squeak of surprise, "A special guest, wow." The cat person floated and trailed after her and she noticed that from the corner of her vision—Chesire was giving the Knight a look. She was positive that the Knight wouldn't harm the cat person but they didn't have to tease the Knight for it but she wouldn't interfere.

The Queen of Hearts was tired.

She'd mull over her musings at a later date. After her rest there would be many more things to look after and speaking of which, "Where is the Joker?" It truly was hard to relax now, and that was even if she had planned for a time of recovery.

"The King of Hearts was unavailable… I did not see His Majesty of Hearts." The Queen of Hearts had a feeling that the man did not bother looking for them on their own. And Julius continued, "So I had the Prime Minister be the one to entertain him."

Rosalyn Lockhart took the report without any apparent changes to her stride and even on her face. She did her best to lock down any unpleasant emotions to appear—the Chesire was here and although she was unsure if he had heard rumors about her temperament. She didn't want them to see her and think of her as a hotheaded woman.

Hitting them with a pillow and forcing them to clean up the kitchen was another thing though.

"Is that so? Then I may have to relieve him of his duties there." The Queen of Hearts remembered the Joker throwing out the Prime Minister out of the throne room. If that Blyke Edelweiss wasn't scared from head to toe with their presence… well, she didn't think that he would do a good job compared to her.

Perhaps there was arrogance in that kind of thinking but she knew the Joker—Mister Rosswall more than them.

Julius Ginellevé arrived beside her and he opened his mouth to speak—

"You really do need to get changed, Gine." The Queen of Hearts pinched her nose for a moment. She gave him a side look and took in her White Knight dyed in red. The sight was terrible for her eyes but so much more was the stench—and it came belatedly to her that the Chesire Cat hadn't even batted an eye at her Knight. 

Julius had looked like he had bathed in blood.

And he had.

All for her sake.

She sucked in a breath and walked forward. It truly was a terrible thing that her musings and ruminations didn't stop despite the hour. And yet he walked alongside her.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that I cannot leave you alone. I left you for a brief time and a group of assassins had come for you—if you wish, I can remove my armor but that's it." Without waiting for another word, the clang of metal clattered to the ground.

He had done it with no inhibition just to follow her demands.

"Seems pretty stupid to me to take off your armor.." Chesire remarked.