Villainess of Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Five: Clandestine Affairs

It was no surprise that on the hour that she left her quarters; a certain individual would be awaiting her outside at her doorsteps. The Queen of Hearts stepped out of her chambers and was met with the view of a handsome man donning the chained emblem of hearts as her personal Knight, "Good morning, Your Majesty." Sir Julius Ginellevé greeted her with another red rose in hand.

"Good morning Gine," She plucked the rose from his grasp to get it over with as she looked up at the ceiling—no chandeliers for her impending doom this time. "I have a lot of duties to attend to today but there are also personal errands I'd like you to do for me." Not even waiting for a response, she began her trek towards the... "They're all inside the Royal Hall for breakfast?" Instead of heading for the banquet area, she had probably immersed herself on her work during her previous time. She had no recollection of this particular day.

The Knight was supposed to be within earshot but also at a respectful distance; instead Sir Julius Ginellevé was walking beside her and gave a nod of affirmation. "I'm afraid that is the case, Your Majesty. Shall you be skipping it?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, she twirled the stem of her rose as she idly watched the fresh dew on the petals—her Knight knew what her favourite flower was while her own husband didn't even identify the music box from last night. "Yes, perhaps you could send me a platter of tarts for breakfast into my study."

"At once, Your Majesty." The man responded with a quick nod, "Perhaps when I have led you to your study and have ascertained your safety first?"

Once again she'd compare him to her own husband again, while the latter was confident of the castle's security, her own Knight was vigilant. Why did she even look up to her husband before?

"Rosalyn."

She paused and glanced at him, the man who knew how to capture her attention by calling her by name, "Alright Sir Ginellevé, come with me to the study as long as you ensure that not one piece of tart is lifted off my plate."

A harried cough escaped the Knight's lips while he tried to look innocent. "Of course, Your Majesty." If there were any similarities borne between the two of them besides their clandestine affairs—roseberry tarts were another desire they shared.

Now what was she thinking of before? What she had respected from the King of Hearts? She knew there was an answer to that but as of recent time it seemed to pale more and more, in her last time, although they kept to themselves—he was respected and adored by many. At the moment though... Rosalyn Lockhart shook her head. "I have better things to worry about than that."

"Oh, speaking of your personal errand, yes." Sir Julius Ginellevé strode alongside her although his entire body was turned to her, "I presume that it's not merely tart retrieval?" His brows were raised together, a questioning look burned in his amethyst eyes. He was perhaps more curious of what she was referring to but chose to stay silent.

The Queen of Hearts was used to the Knight doing all of her bidding without a question; she raised the rose to her nose and calmed her nerves with its scent. "The Hatter,"

"Do you want me to assassinate him?"

Rosalyn Lockhart didn't miss a beat as they passed through a corridor; the servants around them stuck to the walls and quickly bowed their heads as they greeted her and her Knight.

They heard nothing.

Or at least pretended to hear nothing.

She shook her head, "No. Not that kind of errand." Despite the behest of everyone in the Kingdom for her orders of beheading everyone in sight, there were instances where that had been necessary. Execution. It was the best way to ensure that the Kingdom of Hearts' opponents wouldn't spring up. A noble was trying to amass more wealth through unfair taxes? Sentenced to death. Some usurper of power—stabbed in the back. But of course they'd focus on the ones that she ordered beheaded in her fit of anger.

"Your Majesty, shall I bring him here for interrogation?" Sir Julius Ginellevé asked again.

She fought back a smile and shook her head, "No, I was thinking of inviting the man back here—he was also a talented singer I believe, I kind of forgot why I ordered him beheaded in the first place."

"Hmm, if I recall—" The man pondered about it for a moment.

She waved a hand, "Don't remind me, I may get upset again if I remember the reason why I wanted his head lopped off. Maybe it was the song that he sang or did he mock something? Needless to say, send him an invitation to some sort of event. Or maybe I should just personally summon him?"

"T-That's... why would you need to do that?" Sir Julius Ginellevé asked. The man's eyes widened while his tone reached an octave higher. "I'm not sure how the people or the King himself would react if they hear word of such a thing to occur."

Rosalyn Lockhart frowned for a moment as he had a good point. She couldn't do away with the convention—well she could, but at what cost? Her reputation at this time was already messier compared to her own husband but that was on the case of beheadings, other than that, well she was as fragrant and clean as any blossom.

She sighed as they stopped in front of her study, considering her other options. Her own relationship with her Knight was being kept under wraps, how would the nobility and royalty react to news of the Queen of Hearts entertaining some commoner? She'd be a laughingstock.

"Well maybe you could sneak the man in yourself?" She glanced at Sir Julius Ginellevé and gave him a wry smile, "Aren't you so familiar with surreptitious methods such as that, Gine?"