him."
(Y/n) pursed her lips and took a deep breath. Hearing it from him lifted a weight off her shoulders, but it added a much heavier one on her heart. She kept a stern face however.

"If I could ask some following questions... Were Julie or Frank, or anyone else in on it?"
"...No." he shook his head. "It was just me."
She nodded, looking away for a moment to process that. Then looked back at him.
"As for the motive, I don't doubt that you did it because, well, he was the King of Spades and you're the King of Hearts. Still, I would like to hear your thought process on this. I'd like to know so that, as you yourself said, we can make sure 'history doesn't repeat itself'."
Wally looked down again, searching for the right words. He sat at the table and poured himself some tea. He gestured the teapot to her, silently asking if she wanted any. Not breaking the silence of this moment, she simply held up a hand and shook her head. He put the teapot down and added a couple of sugar cubes in his cup before slowly stirring. He then took a sip and sighed.
"I must start by saying that this had nothing to do with business, it was only for personal reasons."
(Y/n) nodded.
"I figured." she said.

"...The King of Spades rarely made any public appearance, you said so yourself. Not only the late King, but the one before him, and the one before him, and so on." he said, keeping his eyes on the content of his teacup. "Have you ever wonder why's that?"
(Y/n) frowned.
"You might not believe me if I told you but... As royalty, the other three royals would be the only ones to see him regularly." he looked up at her. "And I can tell you, your King has never been replaced once, ever since the founding of the Four Kingdoms. The King of Spades was immortal."
Her expression fell into one of shock. She finally sat down, across from him.
"What...?" she let out, under her breath.
"It's a secret that is passed down from ruler to ruler, within the Land of the Four Kingdoms."
"Why keep it a secret?"
"He wanted to. He was indeed very short-tempered, if we were to ever expose this information, he would probably rage war on us all." he looked to the side. "And my mother made me promise to never go to war. No matter what he did." he paused. "It would be the hardest task I was ever given." he looked back at her. "I'm sorry if you take offense to this blunt truth, but the King of Spades was a dangerous...thing."
She frowned, confused, leaning a bit closer and listening closely.

"I'm sure he wasn't always like this, but that didn't matter. He was ageless yes, his body stopped regressing after seventy years or so, but his mind became worse and worse throughout the centuries of his ruling. He was nothing but a senile old man filled with paranoia and pride. Always tormenting us with his stories, taunting us with his knowledge, he hated us for not being him and he made us know that. Still, we did nothing. He was immortal, there was nothing we could do..." he looked down. "Then one day, during one of our meetings, he put his hands on Julie."

(Y/n)'s eyes widened in horror and she covered her mouth.
"He struck her and I went for his heart without a thought." he clenched his fists. "Despite not missing, despite impaling him, he still didn't die. He laughed at my face and left without a care. His own blood was pouring out of his chest as he did, but halfway out of the room, it stopped, it healed." he paused, his eyes staring into space, unblinking. "It was the first time I saw him bleed. I thought... If he could bleed, he could then somehow die."
(Y/n) became paler.
"And at that moment, I made a promise to myself. I vowed that I would dedicate my entire life, restless days and sleepless nights, my blood and sweat, I'd give it all up to find a way to destroy this man and every aspect of him from this world. And I would dedicate the rest of my existence, until my dying breath if I have to, to erase the very mention of him from the history books until he is nothing but the distant memory of a nightmare that haunted our childhoods."
(Y/n) leaned back in her chair. It was the first time she was scared of Wally. If looks could kill, she wished he wouldn't look at her right now. She noticed the teacups and the teapot has cracked. He took a deep breath before taking another sip from it.

"And so... You know the rest." he spoke again. "And you're right, I did nothing following that. Because, and this I am now ashamed to admit it, my hatred of him extended to the Kingdom of Spades itself and its people."
(Y/n) let out a long sigh, hanging her head down, shaking it slowly.
"I learned of the Great Departure, of the massive theft, and of the newest High Council and the...inexperience of its members. I thought I would receive a letter right away, asking for my help. But I never did. At that moment I was reminded of the Spades' pride. Of course you would try to take care of this yourselves... I was honestly surprised that the Kingdom was still held together after almost a year now, although rather loosely. You see, the problems your Kingdom has are not just a product of your King's passing, they've been here for a long time, he just didn't do anything about them." he glanced to the side. "For someone who claims to love his people, he sure likes to make their lives as unpeaceful as possible."
(Y/n) pursed her lips. A moment passed.
"The Shuffling was approaching, I had to invite the representatives of the Kingdom of Spades. I didn't know what to expect, to be quite honest, but I was prepared for the worst. And I was right to do so, since, on the very first official ball of the Shuffling, the young Marquis of Spades challenged someone to a duel." he looked at her. "But I didn't expect you to step in. In fact, I didn't expect you at all... You admitted it yourself, you are but a small noble, the lowest class of nobility, the only information I could find about you was that your family is the oldest line in the Kingdom. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find you suspicious. My guard was up."
Her head still down, she glanced up at him.

"...But another thing I didn't expect was the impact you would have on me." his gaze softened.
She leaned back, taken aback.
"Somehow, our paths kept crossing. At first, I thought it was on purpose on your part. No matter, I figured that keeping a close eye on you would be the most sensible thing to do. Julie and Frank liked you and I thought that, if we were to be on friendly terms and work together, then things would be different for the relationship between our Kingdoms, things would go well. And it did, it all went very well in fact, I worried for nothing after all." he looked down. "And as time passed, I found myself looking for you when you weren't near..."
Her eyes went big. After a moment, Wally looked back at her.
"Words like these are a tricky things for me, so I'll speak without restraint." he looked into her eyes. "You are the most beautiful being I have ever gazed upon. You carry yourself with humbleness and yet your simple and honest kindness always ends up lighting up every room. The first time I heard you laugh, it pierced through all the shallow chatters with its genuine joy. It was all I could hear at that moment. It is now my favorite sound in the world and I could recognize it from a mile away. Every time we'd talk, I would grow curious a little more, I now want to know every little thing about you. Every time you'd cry, I felt honored that you'd let me see you vulnerable. Every time you'd laugh...I wanted to hold you and never let go. And as I walked out on this very balcony today, I looked at you, and I saw what I wished would be the rest of my life."
(Y/n) blushed, her heart beat like a drum. But the two of them looked devastated.

"But after what I did, I can only wish so. For now I know that we are both burdened with things that are greater than ourselves. And I'm sorry for being so selfish and confessing my feelings on top of it all, but I can't help it. I love you. I love you." he became quieter. "And in my most private moments, I dream of us. Simpler, sweeter times, where we are just neighbors. Living in a happy, colorful neighborhood with all our loved ones. I come visit you everyday, so often that we can't tell which house is whose anymore... And we just talk, and laugh." he smiled sadly. "I would give everything for that dream to become true."
The wind blew again. (Y/n) looked up, blinking rapidly so that her tears wouldn't fall from her eyes. She looked back at Wally, looking into each-other's eyes again. What could she say to that, after everything else he said? She took a deep, shaky breath.
"I-"

Just then, the two of them heard the footsteps of someone running over to the balcony at a fast pace. Wally stood up, ready to get between Lady (L/n) and whoever was approaching. The door busted opened.
"Lady (Y/n)!" the Baroness of Spades exclaimed in a panic.

"Catherine." she stood and rushed up to her. "What's wrong?"
"Catastrophe!"
"What happened?!"
She simply handed her a letter. Without question, (Y/n) took it and quickly read. Her back was to Wally, so he couldn't see her face becoming paler.
"...I'm going back." she strode away. "Prepare a carriage- No! I'll go by horseback, it'll be faster!"
"Are you sure?" Catherine followed her.
"Yes, my home is big enough to house them, and we could prevent it from spreading! You get the horse saddled up, I'll quickly get my things!"
"Okay!"
Their voices faded away, then it was silence. Wally stayed still. Of course, he wanted to follow her wherever she was going now. But he didn't feel worthy. He sat back down and sighed.

(Y/n) gave some quick instructions to Catherine and Gwendolyn before leaving on her horse, back to the Kingdom of Spades. It would be a long journey, but if it went smoothly, she could get there in only a day. She could feel a tear in the corner of her eyes. She quickly wiped it away and focused back on the road ahead. But the tears kept building up, she sniffed and tried to wipe them away again, but they kept coming.
"Dammit!" she sobbed.
In the vastness of the country side, she let out her overwhelming emotions in the form of a scream.

Later that day, the King of Hearts learned from Lady Catherine what happened. There's been an outbreak of Spades Plague, a hundred-or-so people infected. Such a thing hasn't happened in centuries, therefore everyone thought it was gone for good. He realized that Lady (L/n) has ran face first into danger, but he knew she won't be careless about this matter. If anything he thought, of course she'd run back home for the sake of her people. Once again, he wanted to help her, but didn't feel worthy.
With his guilt, her gone, and their conversation unfinished, Wally was left with a certain emptiness. The one comforting thought he clung onto was that, with her away from the Hearts Kingdom, she wouldn't be in danger anymore.
And so, he went to work on a solution to his own ongoing problem, as he said he would, with the assistance of Miss Partridge. The royal sorceress took notice of his melancholy as he was studying some books in her 'cottage'.
"Have you confessed, your Highness?"
"Huh?" he looked up from the book he was studying. "Ah. I did... However, I didn't get to receive an answer. On account of her leaving..."
"Yes, you've told me." she nodded. "I can tell this troubles you greatly..."

She caressed the top of his head.
"I'm not a child anymore, Miss Partridge." he said, though he was smiling faintly.
"Apologies, I can't help it." she smiled back. "You know, there is an old expression the people of Hearts used when, you love someone so dearly, their mere absence leaves you with a certain emptiness."
"What is it?"
"...A shame it was reused during the war, but I still like it. It's called a total eclipse of the heart."

[Title drop! 👏]