Total Eclipse of the Heart (Royal AU Wally x reader)

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, Lady (Y/n) was the first one to wake up. One of the maids handed her a letter and a small package from back home. She checked out the content of both, now she was staring out her window, lost in thoughts. She was honestly quite surprised that she was this calm. Maybe it was so shocking that she couldn't react to it, maybe she expected to receive this... She looked inside the small box again, then leaned back in her chair with a groan, rubbing her face.
"Oh (Y/n), you hopeless romantic..." she mumbled to herself. "You really are a fool."
She stood up and got herself ready for the day. She took the package's content and put it in her pocket.

Despite it being the last week of the Shuffling, Wally's list of things to do did not get any shorter. There was a lot to take care of and a lot of questions to search the answers to. But right now, he was walking through the castle's hallways with a merry smile on his face. He was going to see Lady (L/n) and that made all worries go away. The Sun was shining bright, the birds were singing, unlike the plumbing, which has been silent ever since yesterday!
Wally went to a big balcony, the highest in the castle, where they could talk in private. A table with two chairs has been setup and Lady (L/n) was already there, her back facing him as she was admiring the view.
"Lady (L/n)."
She quickly looked back at him when he spoke. His heart skipped a beat. Now that he was aware of his feelings for her, her beauty seemed to have duplicated.
"Your Highness." she stood up and curtsied. "Good day to you. I hope you had a good night of sleep."
"Better than ever." he nodded as he went up to her. "I apologize for making you wait."
"Oh not at all," she gave him a polite smile. "I'm the one who came earlier."
After a maid set up the tea set, Wally asked to be left alone with the lady.

"I see you've come prepared." he said after the door closed, noticing the binder and other documents on the table.
"Well, it is an important meeting. I see you didn't take notes of the actress' testimony."
"I remember it all." he tapped his temple.
(Y/n) huffed a smile, but it quickly went away.
"You can sit back down." Wally spoke again.
"I would rather stand actually... It helps me think."
"Ah, yes. I did notice that you never sit when you present a project." he smiled. "Am I right to assume that we are to begin today's meeting? I'm ready when you are."
"Um, before we start, there is one matter I would like to talk about."
"What is it?"
She started to look around.

"It's just the two of us, correct?"
"Yes. Is that a problem?" he tilted his head.
"No. It's good, actually."
"Oh? Is it personal?"
"...I would like this conversation to stay between us."
His heart beat faster in anticipation.
"Alright." he nodded. "What is it?"
"I just have a question that I need you to answer."
"Yes?"
A moment passed. She's been avoiding eye contact, searching for her words. Was she nervous?
"My Lady." he smiled, making her look at him. "Like you said, it's just the two of us."
She took a deep breath... Then frowned.
"Did you kill the King of Spades?"

The King of Hearts' expression dropped, his eyes wide open.
"Actually, I know you did it. I just want confirmation from you."
(Y/n) has been scared of his reaction ever since this morning. He looked shocked into silence. Her frown deepened, she was less scared now.
"Our own King was murdered. Did you really think we weren't going to look into that?!" she tilted her head. "Well you're right. With the Great Departure and the massive theft, and a lot of other internal issues with the Kingdom, there was just too much going on for the High Council. They didn't have any time to worry about that... Which is why I took it upon myself to investigate this matter!" she placed her hand over her heart. "I would dedicate all of my free time to this secret mission I gave myself. However, for the longest time I was at an impasse. I'll admit it, I almost gave up... Until a few weeks ago, when I was given the golden opportunity to attend the Shuffling. Thank you very much for that." she bowed her head. "Now, may I walk you through my process?" she asked. "I have been keeping this to myself for so long, and to be perfectly honest, I have been dying to share it with someone."
'I still didn't have any time to do that with Catherine and Gwendolyn.'