Villainess Of Hearts

Before anything else could be said between the Knight and his Queen, a sudden flurry of movements came towards the door—and this time, it wasn't even the servant girl at all. It was the Prime Minister, Blyke Edelweiss stood outside of the door and bowed, a somewhat frantic look in his eyes.

It looked as if he had run from the gardens of the castle with leaves and thistles in his hair, the man taking a shortcut, to address the Queen. "Your Majesty!"

Rosalyn Lockhart wouldn't lie that she was relieved of this sudden intervention. "What is it?"

"The Lord of the Lockhart House is here."

One could always take back one's words, and even Gine who had looked disheartened and even brokenhearted raised his head at the Prime Minister's words. Perhaps the only other one who could feel the apprehension and tightness in her chest, and how her palms grew cold. It was always one thing and then another, life always threw something at her to face, didn't she?

The Queen of Hearts couldn't be at peace.

"And uh... the other Nobilities too, like Lady Catherine Duke, but ah—I think that was the most important one to Her Majesty." the Prime Minister added in with a somewhat sheepish expression. "Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

She clasped her hands together and managed a tight smile, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"There are fragments of a teacup on your table, Your Majesty. I will at once order your servants to clean it up—"

"No need for that. Mary Ann is already on her way." the Queen of Hearts eyed the Prime Minister with a look. The man wouldn't be able to escape such interactions by pinning his attention elsewhere... but she could at least flatter him enough to make it easier for him to accept the inevitable. "Your presence is needed when we attend to the Nobles, Prime Minister. We cannot do this without you."

"A-Ah, of course, Your Majesty." he said. The Prime Minister fixed his collar, "I will be with you and His Majesty in this crucial time."

"Thank you," Rosalyn Lockhart then gazed at her Knight with some apprehension. Could she really expect him to go along with her after she had just let him down? The old her would do this without any hesitation—for he was her Knight, and it was his duty. But it felt like it was only appropriate to leave without him.

"Your Majesty of Hearts, I will now escort you." Julius Ginellevé said and stretched out a hand to her. His words didn't miss a beat at all and his expression of sorrow vanished, instead it was filled with assurance.

Even if she didn't know him as much as she should have... the truth was the opposite for him. He understood what she needed and didn't hesitate in it. The Queen of Hearts bit on her lip, nodded, and then took his hand. There was a silent apology in her heart—

'These words of mine that hold no weight at all, meaningless in the passage of time... but I must and will use you to obtain what I need, Gine. These convictions of mine shall not perish, but I can only hope that you do not suffer while putting you in front of me.'

All three of them left her office, and this time she would be reunited with her brother at last.

. . .

The other Nobility had arrived during the time when the King of Hearts had walked with the Ladies in the castle through the gardens—and the Queen was not with him. It was something that the other women had taken advantage of, and out of all of them, it was the widow who was the most gregarious out of them all.

But Alexander Hartsmichdt wasn't into older women at all.

And neither did he feel comfortable in the praises that two out of the three Eris sisters kept offering him. If anything, he was only glad that the eldest daughter wasn't so convicted in trying to allure him. While the women were with him, the Lord Warth Duke was the one he assigned to look over the Lords of the Houses.

It wasn't too long after that the sound of what was close to a parade came towards the main gates and it was heard of, even while they were in the garden. The banner of the Lockhart House waved proudly in the air, held atop of the carriage. A sudden susurration of sounds erupted around him.

The widow from Lorie House was the first to speak, some touch of reproach in her tone. "I think that the Lockhart House is being too extravagant with their arrival when they had missed all the previous gatherings. Is this their way of staying relevant?"

"Therese, have you ever seen the Lord of the Lockhart House before?" the second daughter of Eris House asked her eldest sister, a little rather too loudly even.

"I heard rumors that he's got hair like snow." the youngest one said. "Even whiter than father's or even our great-grandmother's."

The second daughter looked back at her, "Huh, maybe it's because of stress? Or fear that made his hair all white. We've seen the Queen, and she has light blond hair. It wouldn't be a stretch for that to occur, now would it?"

Alexander sighed and cleared his throat, "I think we may just have to see him for ourselves to confirm it, don't you think?" He then glanced at the carriage, and thought he had seen something, before shaking his head and managing a smile at the now-head of the Lorie House. "Lady Lorie, I think that the gathering around the carriage is splendid, and perhaps it is only appropriate, especially when it is from where the Queen has come from."

"A-Ah, of course, Your Majesty!" the widow was quick to agree.

"But, Your Majesty—pardon me for speaking so bluntly this time." the second daughter spoke, and now he tried to recall her name. It was Beth? Bethany. She gave him a curtsy, "I understand that the Lord of the Lockhart House is the Queen's brother, but it cannot be helped that there is some dislike for him. The Lockhart family were one of the major instigators on your opposition before you reigned."

"The King of Hearts is truly that merciful!" the third one said.

He had already heard it before from the Prime Minister, and it was what made him understand the Queen's dislike of him. Perhaps even hate and rage, if he were to be honest... and he couldn't exactly hide his own apprehension.

The King of Heart's heart pounded.

Would the Lord of the Lockhart House strangle him or go for a duel to seize the throne? And what would the Queen of Hearts even do if that was the case?

. . .

Elsewhere, Catherine Duke huffed as she peeked out of the window. There were several carriages right in front of them and the Knights that surrounded it. "And I thought we would be the first that would arrive. There seems to be a lot of Nobles visiting this time around, don't you think, Chesire? What is your take on this?"

There was no response.

She clicked her tongue, "I know that you do not care for politics but…" When she looked back inside of the carriage, she would see that the cat person was about to leave through the door.

"Ah, Lady Catherine." he only grinned at her. "I wanted to go out and stretch my legs, maybe get a cat nap above this carriage's roof? The sun is shining so brightly and the weather is great."

Her eyes widened, and she frowned, "Hey you, silly cat. Have you gotten too excited and now decided to leave me here alone? That is so unfair—I wanted to see the Queen and my husband now too." The two of them had made some arguments before, with Chesire saying that he was only visiting again out of boredom, but if that was the case then why was he going to leave her alone now?

The two of them were friends, and it was dangerous to attract too much attention.

"It is because of your silly rules that you have to stay in the carriage, Lady." he told her and jumped out of the carriage and into the air. He stretched out his back and gave a sleepy grin. " I am a free one. I'll see you later, Lady Duke."

"So you were leaving!" she protested.

But the cat man was already jovially, floating away and doing somersaults in the air. Compared to his often laid back and detached demeanor, he was now energetically moving across the road and even spooked out the horses. Chesire would jump over a tree and then float above the Knights guarding the carriages.

Before she could even say another word, he was gone.

Lady Catherine Duke didn't know what to think, and she crossed her arms over her chest. She rested her head against the upholstery and sighed, somewhat surprised at his sudden change of demeanor. "His mood has seemed to brighten up, but all I ever did during this carriage was talk about the Queen's Selection and how things were back then."

The cat person who claimed to have no interest at all and said it was only because of boredom. She pursed her lips and then rubbed the back of her neck. There was a dull ache in her chest. "Running away from her House and disappointing the Lockhart House to save them... my own reasons for joining the Selection paled in comparison."

Even until this very day, it was evident that it haunted the Queen of Hearts. When she looked out to see Chesire, she had caught the sight of the Lockhart House banner in one of the carriages.. Lady Catherine could only wish that Rosalyn's brother didn't blame her for their parents' deaths.