The Ace In The Cards

Rumors and gossip spread far too quickly before the Queen of Hearts could even ask everyone involved to be beheaded. Though something like that would often send shivers down the spine of the servants and even the guards of the Castle of Hearts, although as of recent behaviour—she was somewhat startling.

There was word and even confirmation that the Queen of Hearts, Her Majesty, began to show a certain favour towards a servant. A female servant to be precise.

Or to be more specific, all of their meals were prepared by a certain young woman who wasn't even working at the Royal Kitchen! Preposterous! But it was also due to this reason that the soldier that had been tasked by the Queen of Hearts to get a pitcher of lemonade and desserts approached Mary Ann.

Surely it would be good for him if he were able to prove himself as a good soldier of the Kingdom of Hearts. Perhaps the Queen's personal Knight might actually look into his direction and even offer to teach them? For a mere soldier like him, just a number in the castle, even being given a little bit of recognition would do him good!

And so he ended up at the kitchen in the servant's quarters. Well, it wasn't like he never visited here before, the soldiers also received their meals here and Mary Ann also happened to be one of the few pretty servants who paid attention to soldiers like him. Ace stepped into the kitchen and saw the young woman already at work.

It was still morning, breakfast had just been served so why was she already doing something? "Hey, maybe you should relax a litt—" Mary Ann jolted up in surprise as he tried to stifle a laugh. With her long blonde hair, it was like he was dealing with a frightened yellow little duck. 

"Ace, ah, what can I do for you?" She brushed her hair back and inadvertently got some flour on them. Her brows knitted together as her blue eyes pierced at him, pink lips curling into a small frown, "Wait. You know how the Captain doesn't like feeding you guys snacks..."

He shook his head, "I'm not here for that. Her Majesty of Hearts had ordered a pitcher of lemonade and—"

"Tarts?! Did Her Majesty of Hearts already ask for tarts?" Once again the young woman's demeanor changed, nearly jumping as she looked at the knead of dough in front of her. She was starting to panic right in front of him. "I-I need to finish this second batch already. Ahh, I'm falling behind her schedule."

Second batch?

He understood what she was trying to say but shook his head and waved his hands, it wouldn't do any good if she were to pass out or something. He gave her an assuring smile, "No, it doesn't have to be tarts. It's Her Majesty of Clover that's requested but all the Queens are there along with another guest so I think you should also bring more treats than usual?"

Visible relief flooded the young woman's face, she clutched her chest and sighed in relief, "I see, then I'll get to it already and then serve Her Majesty and her Royal Guests as well." The way she became suddenly relaxed didn't make much sense to the Soldier since she was still going to serve another Queen.

But he was hoping that he would be the one who'd serve and be able to get some recognition even by just a tiny smudge. He cleared his throat and decided to go with facts, "I mean she ordered me—"

"Your hands are too dirty and you've been out under the sun." Mary Ann raised an answer before assuming a more sheepish look, she averted her gaze as she wiped the flour from her hands and began to look for lemons. She began to make some lemonade. "You don't have to trouble yourself, besides, Her Majesty might get worried about the quality of the meal if I don't—"

"Well she's not the one who's going to eat it." Ace tried to point out. He couldn't get girls. As far as he knew, most of the women in the Castle of Hearts were scared of the Queen herself, and from the mannerism of Mary Ann, there was no doubt that she felt the same.

And yet she was still eager to do it herself.

Well, if she was that insistent on serving the Queen of Hearts and the others then there wasn't anything he could do. He wouldn't fight someone over carrying a tray of cookies and a pitcher of lemonade. Ace could at least still 'escort' Mary Ann and still get some recognition right? The man could only hope.

Before he knew it, Mary Ann was already done with the preparations and looked at him with a raised brow. He only offered her a grin, "Well, it's a lot more cooler here, of course I'm going to take advantage of a little time for rest. You should too."

"Thank you for the suggestion, I'll try to." Mary Ann returned his grin with a shy smile of her own. And so the two of them headed back into the soldier's courtyard to serve the Queens, he tried to initiate some light conversation but either she was rather too shy or she was too bent on delivering the tray without any disturbances.

However once they made it there, the Queen of Hearts was nowhere to be found. Ace tried no to blink, out of the four Queens, only two remained! Mary Ann stopped for a moment before continuing, of course she was aware of who was the one requesting for the lemonade and dessert after all. It was there that Ace took the chance to turn around and slip away.

It seemed like his chances of getting recognition were a little put down for the moment. Ah, the young man rubbed his face. "Oh well, I was only following orders after all." There was some honor to that right? 

That was until he heard certain footsteps coming down the corridor and it was the Queen of Hearts and her Knight themselves! A surge of hope flooded his chest, especially when she looked his way and he bowed immediately. "Greetings to Her Majesty of Hearts and to her personal Knight, Sir Ginellevé."