When Jonah opened his eyes, everything was dark. He still could feel the dirt underneath him, but he couldn't see the sky above him. Is he still in the rose maze? Why he can't hear anyone? Slowly he got up, looking around.

Wait a minute.

This is not the rose maze.

He wasn't even sure he was still at Night Raven College. Everything around him was black except a single tree in front of him. There was a door-shaped hole on the tree, and beyond it, was a grayscale maze similar to what he saw in his strange vision.

Where is everyone?

There was no other way except, so Jonah took the risk and stepped into the tree. The rose maze was narrow, unlike the one in Heartslabyul, making him felt as if the bushes were about to crush him. After a long walk, he soon found a rose arc bush. The roses were the only thing colorful in this greyscale world, so of course, it would take Jonah's attention.

Though, he wasn't expecting THIS when he looked past the arc.

It was like a disconnected world. Instead of a part of the maze or maybe a garden, he found a fancy study behind the arc. In the study, there were two people, one was a lady in a beautiful dress. She was standing next to the table while holding a small cake with eight lit up candles on top of it. And sitting on a chair in front of the table was…

"Senior… Rosehearts…?"

He recognized that ahoge anywhere. He looked so tiny, still a child, dressed in fancy clothes. His hair and shining grey eyes were the only things colorful in this study.

"Happy eighth birthday, Riddle!" the woman cheered as she put the cake in front of the tiny Rosehearts. "For this year, your birthday cake is a sugar-free one filled with nuts. It's made from soy flour with lots of lecithin since it's good for the brain."

"Thank you, Mama." Riddle tried to smile. His hands were playing with the front of this blazer. "But, um, I…" He looked up to the lady with eyes filled with hope. "Just once is okay, but… I really want to try a tart filled with lots of red strawberries…"

The woman gasped. "My, how can you say such a thing?! Desserts filled with sugar like that are basically like poison for the body." She walked around Roseheart's chair. The boy looked down at his shoes when he felt the woman held his shoulder from behind the chair. "Just one slice of that thing will exceed your ideal intake of carbohydrates!"

The woman looked down at the boy, giving his shoulders a light squeeze. It wasn't supposed to hurt, but she managed to make Rosehearts flinched. "And for today's dinner, we'll be having sautéd tuna with plenty of docosahexaenoic acid and icosapentaenoic acid. It's much healthier than a strawberry tart! Ah, but the recommended calorie intake for an 8-year old is… Less than 600kcal for one meal, so don't eat more than 100 grams." She looked down at the boy again. "Am I understood?"

He gave her a weak nod. "Yes, Mama…"

"Good boy!" she cheered, definitely satisfied with his answer. "Now, blow your candle~"

Riddle let out a weak chuckle and pulled himself closer to the cake. With one blow, the candles went off, along with everything in the room, leaving Jonah standing there, bewildered.

Was that… Was that Senior Rosehearts' memory? Is he currently in Senior Rosehearts' mind right now? How did this happen? The last thing he remembered was the cannons went off and they saved the prefect, and then-

Jonah gasped. He reached his right eye. Sweet Nebula! That gooey-thing went straight in there! He rubbed his eye rapidly, hoping that he could take it out. But the thing was… It didn't hurt. His eye felt normal. Or was it not normal at all if he didn't feel any pain?

He looked up again, hoping to see the scene again, only to find a straight path again. With nowhere to go, he walked through the path. As he walked, he thought back at the scene he had seen earlier.

That was Senior Rosehearts' mother? Senior Clover did say that his mother decides everything Senior Rosehearts' eats, wears, and does. Does that mean she's a good mother? But everyone seemed bothered because of this. Jonah knew nobody wanted to follow so many rules, but still, rules were made to protect them… right?

He wonders what his mother looks like though… Was she like Senior Rosehearts' mother? Or the opposite?

He soon found another rose arc bush. He immediately ran toward it and looked through it. It was another scene in the study. Little Senior Rosehearts was writing something on his book, while his mother explained things on the blackboard. "That is all for your lessons on classical magic today," she said, closing the book in her hand. In turn, Senior Rosehearts stopped writing and looked up toward her. "You have until tomorrow to review the magical ethics that you learned today and get through the next 50 pages of your language philosophy text."

Riddle nodded. "Yes, Mama."

She smiled at him. She looked proud. "I'll give you an hour to study for your next potion lesson. I'll be back soon. I have an errand I need to do."

With that, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Jonah watched Senior Rosehearts walked up to his giant bookshelf and traded the previous book with a new one before returning to his seat. He started reading, but Jonah also noticed that he was tapping his index finger onto the table at a perfect pace as if he was counting each second that had passed.

*tick*

*tick*

Senior Rosehearts looked up to the window. Someone was throwing some pebble onto it. Instead of looking angry like Jonah thought he would do, Senior Roseheart smiled and his eyes lit up. He ran to the window and opened it. "You came!"

Jonah looked over Senior Rosehearts and saw two kids. A tiny version of Senior Clover and Che'nya stood in the garden below the window. Tiny Che'nya was holding a croquet mallet and a plastic ball, while Tiny Senior Clover was holding two mallets.

"Of course, we came, nya~" Che'nya said while throwing-and-catching the ball in his hand. "So, your mommew is gone?"

Riddle nodded, his smile slowly become wider. "I'll have an hour before my next lesson."

Che'nya grinned. "Then, come down here and play~"

Riddle laughed. "Okay!"

Jonah had never seen Senior Rosehearts so happy like this. He watched the little boy ran to the door, not bothering to close it behind him. Looking out the window again, Jonah watched as Senior Rosehearts tried his best to hit the plastic ball. Senior Trey helped him while Che'nya was being the competitive one. Senior Rosehearts finally managed to hit the ball, earning him a score. With one last smile, the scene disappeared.

Jonah couldn't help but smile, seeing such a precious scene in front of him. Senior Trey did say that they were childhood friends, so Jonah could guess that they played more after that. Senior Rosehearts must've found a loophole in his strict study hours to play and relax his mind.

Wait…

Does that mean that Senior Rosehearts went against his mother's rule?

A new path had opened, so Jonah walked through it, walking faster to find another rose arc bush. Jonah couldn't get rid of the worries that had settled in his chest. Why does he have this feeling that this won't end well? If this was Senior Rosehearts' past, would whatever happen after this changed him into the tyrant he was famous for?

As soon as he found the next rose arc bush, he walked through it. This time, he found himself in a small homey bakery. At the table at the corner, he saw the children with a slice of strawberry tart in front of each of them.

"I can't believe Riddle has never eaten a strawberry tart!" exclaimed Che'nya.

Riddle pouted nervously. "Mama says it's poison for the body, so I'm not allowed to eat them."

Senior Clover pouted. "Well, of course, it's bad if you eat too much." He pushed Senior Rosehearts' plate closer to the boy. "Just try it."

Senior Rosehearts nodded and pick up his fork. He sliced the tip with a strawberry on it and put it into his mouth. "Ah~ Hap!" Riddle's eyes widened. It was like an explosion in his mouth. The shiny strawberry was sweet, though a bit sour, but the cream cheese and crunchy crust made up for it.

"How is it?" Senior Clover asked. There was a hint of worry in his tone of voice.

Senior Rosehearts closed his eyes in delight. "Hmm~ It's so good!"

Senior Trey let out a sigh of relief while Che'nya laughed. "See, Trey? Everyone loves your baking!"

Senior Rosehearts took another bite, savoring the flavors in his mouth. This was his first experience eating something as sweet as this. They were too busy in their world of sweet and childish conversations that they never realized the bell of the bakery rang when the door was opened.

But Jonah realized that, so he turned around, and his blood ran cold, for he saw Senior Rosehearts' mother standing there, an angry look on her face. She took one step and the scene disappeared, revealing a new path.

No no no no no. This couldn't be good. Jonah started running. He needed to find the next rose arc bush. He needed to know what happens next. He needed to know what drove Senior Rosehearts to be a tyrant. He needs to know!

He ran straight through the next rose arc bush when he found one and found himself in a different room. It was a bedroom, with shelves filled with books but he could spot a single fluffy stuffed rabbit on the bed. This could be a kid's room. Maybe this was Senior Rosehearts' room?

*BANG!*

Jonah looked toward the opened door. He saw Senior Rosehearts' mother dragging his son inside the bedroom by his arm. "How could you!" she snapped. "Not only did you skip out on studying to play, but you also ate something so sugary!?"

Senior Rosehearts was crying and looked terrified. He tried to pull his arm away, but his mother's grip was too hard. He flinched when she continued. "Those two tempted you into doing it, didn't they? I won't allow you to spend time with those naughty children ever again!"

"I'm sorry, Mama!" he cried. "I'll never do it again! Please forgive me-"

"Quiet!" she snapped as she threw her son. Senior Rosehearts tripped his footing and fell to the carpet floor of the room. "You're the one at fault because you broke the rules! So, you'll stay here until you have learned your lesson." She sighed massaging her temple. She was mumbling when she walked out. "Ah, I knew I shouldn't have given him so much free time. He must be trained more to become more perfect…"

Senior Rosehearts tried to follow his mother, but the bedroom door was slammed in his face, the sound of a lock could be heard from the other side. "Mama!" he cried, banging the door. "Mama, please! I'm sorry! I'll be good! I'll follow the rule! I'll be a good boy! Please, open the door!"

He never got his answer. In his despair, he sunk to his knees, forehead pressed against the door, his tiny fist dropped to his lap. "Please… Please…"

The painful scene soon disappeared. Now Jonah understands why. Senior Rosehearts… He never had a choice but to follow the rules. If he goes against them, he would be punished. That was cruel. Even if Jonah couldn't remember his parent, he knew that this isn't how parents should treat their children, to demand the young ones to fulfill their high expectations. All those stress build up all those years brought Senior Rosehearts to his overblot state. And they saved him.

But… Did they though?

He finally reached the end of the path and found another rose arc bush at the end. This time he could hear some sound. Like…a crowd? Walking past the arc, he was prepared for another painful memory, but what he found was something entirely different.

It reminded him of the last Queen of Heart vision. He arrived in a rose garden, styled like a courtroom. But this time, he wasn't standing on the jury box, he was in the tall judge's stand as if he was the Queen of Heart herself. Looking down, he felt a gasp escaped his mouth. On the smaller stand in front of him, stood an older version of Senior Rosehearts, taking place as the previous girl. The jury box was filled with various bird and card soldiers surrounded them.

"Your Honor!" Jonah looked down as a white rabbit jumped toward the front of the stand. "We are waiting for your decision."

Jonah looked around the room again and to the rabbit who was still waiting for his response. "Wait… Me?" He pointed at himself. Is this real? Or another hallucination?

"Yes. Your Honor!" said the white rabbit. "You've seen all the rules had been broken by this criminal, and now you decided the punishment fit for him."

At word 'criminal' he could he Senior Rosehearts gritted his teeth along with the muttering of the crowd. From the jury's stand, a flamingo stood up, pointing its wing at Riddle in anger. "Cut his head off!" it screamed. Some people in the crowd shouting in agreement, along with chants of 'Off with his head!' But Senior Rosehearts didn't move an inch. He didn't yell back or use his magic. He's just… Accepting all of this.

He couldn't take this any longer.

"Everyone shut up!" Jonah tried to yell, but nobody listened to him. "Shut up!" He looked on his stand and saw a hammer. He picked it up and slammed it to his stand rapidly with it. "Order! Order!"

The shouting stopped, but the whispers were still ongoing. Jonah took a deep breath and looked below him again. Really? Was this really Senior Rosehearts' fault? Wasn't he the victim here? His mother probably had her reason to treat her son that way but no one, except Senior Rosehearts himself, knows the answer. This child was a product of his parent's teaching. Without anyone calling out of his action, he thought that everything he does is right. He was a tyrant, yes, but he was following the rule because his parent taught him that. So, does he deserve punishment?

"The court has decided…" Everyone went silent and Senior Rosehearts looked up with a miserable face. "I find the defendant… NOT GUILTY!"

The crowd burst into a protest, spouting accusation after accusation of every Senior Rosehearts' acts. But Jonah just calmly said, "He was just following what he believes what's right. Is that against the rule?"

Everyone paused.

"Yes, his methods are cruel, but he's just doing his duty." He looked down at Senior Rosehearts, who was staring at him with wide grey eyes. Jonah gave him a small smile. "He never breaks the rule. And according to the law, he's innocent."

The crowd murmured in agreement. Senior Rosehearts was still staring at him in confusion.

"Why?"

Jonah smiled warmly at him. "You're a good guy, Senior Rosehearts. You just need the perfect guidance." Jonah lifted his hammer again. "Therefore, Riddle Rosehearts… You are free from any punishment."

He slammed the hammer onto his stand again twice, and then everything went black again.