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Why do you fight? Lancelot Kingsley asked the first son of the Clemence family, just minutes away from his grand anointment as the new Queen of Hearts.
I fight for your ideals and for the glory of our army, he declared swift and true, with pride oozing from every syllable. Gone was the little boy crying about his skinned knees and bruised hands, so upon hearing that response, Lancelot nodded.
However, Lancelot is sure that his right-hand man lied that day: if the Queen of Hearts would learn of what the King of Hearts now claimed to be his ideals, as the second-in-command he would follow; but as his own person, he would bear a heavy heart - the gold of his eyes appear cold and his tongue as sharp as his blade, but he was no mindless doll who would simply bend to a King’s will and callously draw blood. No, he was far more honorable than that, and he would go against whatever ideals and spit on the face of glory if only to make things right.
Jonah Clemence fights for his convictions, and Lancelot knows that much.
Why do you fight? Lancelot Kingsley asked the first son of the Bright family after a skirmish around the Red Bridge.
I fight for it’s my duty, he replied with an ever-present smile and a calm to his voice; as if casually implying that one’s life purpose is to constantly be at conflict was perfectly normal. Still, he was the one who asked the question anyway, so upon hearing the response, Lancelot stayed silent.
And while he was truly inscrutable by nature, Lancelot fears that the Jack of Hearts spoke of a grave truth that day: there’s a hidden depth lurking in the jade of his eyes similar to a gaping void; a brooding vacuum that sooner or later would grow too large to extract himself out of - it’s the burden of a century-old transgression that forms his bleak shadow under the sunlight, paints his hands an undying and unforgiving red, and keeps his smiles from ever reaching his eyes.
Edgar Bright treats his duty as his death sentence, and it unnerves Lancelot that his theory almost sounds true.
Why don’t you fight? Lancelot Kingsley asked the second son of the Ash family after he had paid his respects to a fallen soldier’s grave.
Who says I’m not fighting? came a curt reply, voice low and tone unmistakably bitter. The corners of his eyes were a light pink and his lips had formed a taut, painful line; and that gave Lancelot enough reason not to press on with the conversation any longer and just look away.
Now, with the possibility of war just lurking about at every corner, Lancelot becomes highly aware of what the Seven of Hearts meant that day: conflict demanded battles that brought about injuries resulting in blood and pain and even worse, fatality; but he chose to be the one to bear witness to all that with his eyes wide open inside the four walls of his infirmary, hands constantly sparing no effort in a cruel game against time to save someone’s life. Even without stepping into the battlefield and lifting a sword himself, his hands have also been stained with much blood, blood that may find its way back home or end quietly at his mercy.
Kyle Ash has his own battles against life and death, and Lancelot respects the fact that he still chooses to fight them on his own.
Why do you fight? Lancelot Kingsley asked the child his father had spared years ago, who now grew and stood as tall a full-fledged soldier.
To repay my debts, he says after a short while, and nothing else followed. It’s a brief reply that speaks just enough of its significance to the person who said it, so Lancelot felt no need to ask for further clarification.
But watching him grow into a skilled and respected swordsman over time, Lancelot continues to hang onto the hope that the Ace of Hearts could someday find a better reply than what he said in the past: he may owe the army his life, but the army could never give him a life beyond the handle of a sword in his hands and a pledge of selfless service - if all is said and done, and he had paid his debts to the best of his ability… what does he intend to do with himself from there on?
Zero has possibilities waiting to happen, and if the person himself couldn’t realize that just yet, Lancelot would be patient enough to wait for that day to come.