Villainess Of Hearts

There was a commotion.

Not in the Castle of Hearts—well there was exactly something like that. Not that the man in question and cause of commotion would know. No. Not at all. It was outside of the Castle where this scene all happened and it was where Nicholas Hatter had done the impossible. Yes he was a mad man. His back was aching but he had done it with the least amount of damage to the shelves and his merchandise. Until finally he threw out the last of the men outside of his shop.

And he didn't even need to dirty his hammer with anything.

And so it was the Kingdom of Hearts, a pile of passed out men littered outside the shop and made passersby look at them with befuddlement. He couldn't care less right now, "Stay out of my business establishment!" He called out to them and shut the door.

He rubbed his face and sighed. It wasn't like he had a lot of enemies to fight personally. Nicholas had much more friends than enemies. So that only meant one thing for him… his concerns spiked up as he glanced towards the Castle of Heart's direction.

"Would it be alright to visit there?" He asked himself aloud. "If I can get in the Castle right now with the Joker about…" He cast a glance towards the number of hats he had produced, there were still a lot of hats he needed to make. But he couldn't rest at ease with the events that happened now. 

There were a lot of things that weren't adding up to him—not that a lot of things made sense.

"But there's that secret entrance so I can get in there and just drop by." He muttered to himself and looked back once more at his hat shop before deciding to close the shop down. "Mhmm, just a quick visit."

And then he was off.

. . .

In the garden of the Castle of Hearts, there were two people that were deep in conversation. In the Gazebo of Dreams was where they currently were, surrounded by foliage and a deep blue lake.

Somehow it seemed like the two of them had their own world.

Unperturbed and untroubled if only upon this hour.

"Ivan Nordskov is a good man—he hasn't done anything to me and he even pays attention to what I say and even listens to my counsel. I was surprised but I am quite lucky." Neo Anasthasia straightened up as she gazed at him.

Alexander quirked a brow, "Lucky."

"Then let's use the word blessed—you're thinking too much on it though."

"Love. Wealth. Power. Luck."

"You should be more careful with what you say. Don't say it too lightly as if you can actually understand them all." She gave him a sharp look.

"If it makes you feel better then I don't care." He quipped with a lighthearted grin. "I can badmouth them all if it makes you laugh too."

"There's nothing funny with this." Her voice was serious. "You cannot spout nonsense or else you'd want your tongue cut off."

"You're sounding a lot like her."

"Like who?"

"Her Majesty of Hearts. She's always hot tempered and going about with beheading people—I have to retract every order and then she throws a fit." Alexander Hartsmichdt sighed and looked down at his hands.

"You're badmouthing her."

"I'm being honest. You may think she's a wonderful Queen—and I agree that she is, but she has her flaws. Although as of recent times, I'm more distressed with her not throwing a fit and…"

"Love problems?"

He paused and shook his head, "T-That's not it. I'm concerned about her in the same way I do for you." Alexander frowned.

"Bullshit I hear." She cracked a grin. "That's bullshit right there, Alex."

"I do not! Argh, shut up."

"Don't hurt my feelings, I'm still quite distressed about things." The Queen of Clovers straightened up and fixed her posture.

"And yet you look relaxed by now." Alexander smiled and rubbed his face. It was as if their concerns were lifted up right now.

"Because you say the stupidest things."

"I don't get much chance to lighten up you know?" It had been a long time since they truly have had the chance to talk with one another like this. "It's tiring to have to act all charming and perfect—"

"You dare call yourself perfect?"

"You know what I mean K—Your Majesty." It may just be the two of them, but it was much better to not bring things up. "It's stressful being a King and it's a lot more easy to be—"

"Are you calling my position easy?" Neo Anasthasia cocked a brow at him.

"Er… Well, isn't the King quite enamored with you?" Alex coughed, "You seem to be pampered well."

"He looked like he was about to kill you during dinner that one time!" She glared at him.

He laughed, "He wouldn't do that—right?"

"Of course not!"

When Alexander Hartsmichdt finally got up from his chair and found his energy renewed—well, when his friend had finally recovered herself from seeing the Joker, Alexander had done it more for her sake and not his. He sighed and prepared himself for the worst—until he caught a couple of eyes looking at them from the bushes and he cursed. 

This was way worse than he expected.

He found himself making his most serious tone, "Who's there? Come out right now." How long had they actually been there and how much have they already heard? Neo Anathasia bolted up from her chair and looked around with terror in her face. He needed to act calm and play this out as a normal thing.

Even if they had talked about some events that weren't supposed to be heard by people from this world. 

"What exactly are the two of you discussing?" The Queen of Spades stood up from the bushes, a bloodied axe was lying down atop her shoulder.

It made him freeze, "Who did you attack?"

"W-What…?"

"I told you, you should have at least wiped out the blood, Olivia!" The Queen of Diamonds also sprang up from a random bush, her own gown seemed to have sprouted leaves. There were even branches in her hair.

Olivia Deuce raised her chin up high and sniffed, "There is no need to do that, we all know that I'm innocent. I'm a bit afraid for the people here however…" She looked pissed off for some reason.

He didn't expect that it was them, but it didn't make him feel at ease at all. "I have my questions, and if possible, Your Majesty of Suits—I'd like them now." He had to get his answers and understand how much they had possibly heard.

"While you were flirting and doing indecency with the Queen of Clovers, your own Queen got stabbed and attacked by assassins." Her Majesty, Jeanne la Monique sneered at him.

"We weren't what—"

Alexander Hartsmichdt stopped from his ruminations. "What?" He glanced at them once and shook his head. He took one last look at his friend, the Queen of Clovers, and then ran off.

He cursed himself as he did.

.

.

.

Amidst all of the drama happening, a certain delegate was hidden and listening to the events that spun out. Dimitri Nordskov had a curious expression on his face and he rubbed the bottom of his chin.

"I did not expect them to be that close…" He watched the King of Hearts run away.

. . .

"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. 

"I do not need armor to deal with my enemies so if it displeases the Queen then I'll do what she asks of me."

"Whatever you say, Mister Knight~?" The Chesire Cat purred and moved along. "I was just trying to be helpful."

"It'd be more helpful if you do not talk."

"Hey, that's rudeness against a guest!"

The conversation with the Knight and the Cat made her a bit more tense than she ought to be when she needed to be grateful. Rosalyn Lockhart continued to walk without answering, she was already losing a lot more time by ambling about when she could get some rest.

"Y-Your Majesty!" 

"I'm trying to get some rest, it would be helpful if the two of you stop squabbling right now." She sighed and made her way to her office.

It was in that moment that Julius narrowed his eyes at the Chesire creature, "Who are you and how have you met Her Majesty?" He didn't like them already.

Chesire gave them a grin, "Are you jealous? Will you try to kill me?"

"You can see that Her Majesty is upset. I'll deal with you later.." The Knight grunted.