Heartless

Cath visits Hatta at his shop, intending to take out a loan from him for her bakery. She notices a hat sitting on Hatta’s table and realizes it’s the same one the Mock Turtle was wearing during his transformation at the Turtle Days Festival. Recalling Jest’s warning about Hatta’s hats, Cath accuses Hatta of causing the Mock Turtle’s transformation. Hatta concedes that his hats “change” others, but he denies that his hat was responsible for the Mock Turtle’s incident. Hatta shares more of his personal history with Cath, including how he met Jest in Chess before becoming a messenger and official hatter to the White Queen. Hatta reveals the secret to escaping the mental illness he fears: staying ahead of Time. Time works differently in Hearts than it does in Chess, so as long as Hatta constantly moves between the two worlds, he remains ahead of Time. However, in the course of world-hopping, Hatta has learned that hat-making materials taken from Chess gain magical properties in Hearts; here, they are capable of bringing out new qualities in those who wear them. Hatta scorns Cath’s business proposal, insinuating that it was her cake that caused the Mock Turtle’s transformation.