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Chapter 7:

So, this is Riddle Rosehearts – the Heartslabyul dorm head, Claire thought as she silently observed him. She remembered him from the entrance ceremony, but because of the hood over his head, this was the first time she has gotten a good look at his face.

Riddle Rosehearts is on the petite side, just barely over five feet, and wore heel shoes to elevate his stature by an inch or two. He wore the standard Heartslabyul school uniform with a bowtie. His chin-length hair that rounded his face was dark cherry in color and had two small strands sticking out in the front shaped into a heart. His eyebrows furrowed as he glared with contempt at the awkward group.

"Hey, Riddle," Cater said - the first to break the silence. He gave off his impish grin. "You're looking extra cute today."

"Cater, don't act like I didn't hear what you just said," Riddle said curtly, his gray eyes sweeping to the third year. "If you keep talking, it'll cost you your head."

"Hey, hey, no need to be that stern," Cater said though he immediately back down.

"Wait, you're the guy who put that weird collar on me during the entrance ceremony!" Grim pointed rather rudely. Claire wanted to grab her tray and smack the loudmouth idiot on the head.

Riddle turned his attention to Grim and Claire for the first time. His baby soft features gave him an appearance of a young child, not a second-year high school student. However, the sternness etched across his face made Claire hesitate.

"You two are the new first years who caused a ruckus yesterday. Not to mention the entrance ceremony. Would you refrain from referring to my Unique Magic as a 'weird collar'?" Riddle said in annoyance and then turned specifically to Claire who, despite being at least a couple of inches taller, felt a couple of inches smaller under his stern gaze. "I suggest you keep your cat in check. It appears he still needs to learn some etiquettes."

"I'm not a cat!" Grim said, but Claire immediately covered his mouth.

"Sorry about that. I'm still in the process," Claire said, bowing her head as Grim continued shouting in a muffled voice.

Riddle didn't seem wholly satisfied with the apology though and shook his head. "For goodness sake. The Headmaster must be going soft, forgiving your transactions. Rule breakers will collapse the whole system of order. The simplest way to handle this is to simply cut off their heads."

Claire swallowed hard. Riddle said such a harsh thing so off-handedly despite his rather 'cute' appearance. Even Ace and Deuce looked rather uncomfortable with his words.

"Let me say this personally so that you understand the seriousness of the situation," Riddle continued in a warning tone, "If you cross the line in the future, I will see to it that you are thoroughly punished."

Claire meekly nodded. "Y-Yes, Dorm Head Riddle..."

"Um, Dorm Head. Speaking of punishments," Ace raised his hand and pointed to his own neck. "Since you're here, can you remove my collar?"

Well, he's not afraid to look shameless, Claire thought as Riddle narrowed his eyes once more.

"I was planning to if you had learned your lesson," Riddle said calmly. "But it is clear from the way you talked that you haven't at all. Keep the collar on. And don't worry about classes," he added, noticing the dumbfounded looks, "First years will only be learning the fundamentals, not any actual magic for a while. You won't be able to cause a scene like yesterday now, isn't that great?"

The expression on Ace's face said otherwise, but even he was smart enough to not talk back.

"Now, enough chatter," Riddle continued, "Hurry up and finish your lunch. Laws of the Queen of Hearts Rule 271 states that 'One must never spend more than 15 minutes sitting at the table after eating". You know what happens when you violate the rules, right?"

"Sounds more like a threat," Ace mumbled and shook his head in annoyance. Claire kicked him from under the table.

"The answer is 'Yes, Dorm Head'!" Riddle said sharply.

"Yes, Dorm Head!" Ace and Deuce said automatically. However, Ace still wore a frown on his face and bit the bottom of his lips in irritation.

Claire sighed inwardly. She could tell that this was not going to be easy.

"Very good," Riddle nodded, satisfied.

"Don't worry, Riddle," Trey said, speaking up for the first time, "I will look after them for you."

"As the vice dorm head, Trey, I expect you to do your job properly." Riddle's voice calmed down now. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to go to the school store to buy more sugar cubes. Laws of the Queen of Hearts Rule 339 states that 'After one finishes their meal, they must always drink lemon tea with two sugar cubes.'" He stalked off, but not before the group heard him muttering, "Ridiculous. Letting the sugar pot run out of sugar is such a capital offense. I can't believe…"

"Phew," Cater sighed heavily as soon as the dorm head left the cafeteria. "That was close."

"That guy was so obnoxious," Grim complained.

"Hey, show some respect," Deuce said.

Grim opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by some Heartslabyul students passing by.

"Did he leave?" one of them asked. The group had fearful looks as they glanced the exit that Riddle took.

"I hope so. I broke the Law of the Queen of Hearts Rule 186 – 'One must never eat a hamburger steak on Tuesdays.' I was so scared that he found out about it."

"Urgh. Why can't we eat what we want when we want?" The group left in abhorrence, making sure they took a different route from their dorm head.

There was an awkward silence around the table now. Even Cater and Trey looked uncomfortable.

"During his first week of school, Riddle took the dorm head seat. He may speak harshly at times, but he does have good intentions," Trey finally said.

"People with good intentions don't just randomly collar people," Grim stated flatly. Cater and Trey laughed, but there was uneasiness on their faces.

"Well, you did try to burn down the entire room during the entrance ceremony," Claire pointed out.

"But that collar cuts off your magic," Grim complained as he stuffed his face with the rest of his chicken meal. "It was horrible!"

"Oh yeah, by the way," Claire said, turning to Trey and Cater. "Riddle mentioned calling that collar thing his 'Unique Magic'? What is that? I mean, I don't have magic, so I don't know what it is," she added hastily.

"Yeah," Deuce said, "I heard the term before… something about magic that only he can use?"

"It is magic that is specifically limited to one individual," Trey explained. "To put it simply, it is magic that reflects the character of the individual; thus, the term is coined as 'Unique Magic'. You'll learn the specifics in class later, but most mages develop their own over time."

"Riddle's Unique Magic lets him seal off a person's magic for a fixed amount of time," Cater added with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "It is called – 'Off with Your Head!'."

"Even the name is terrifying," Grim said and flinched.

"You may not know this," Cater said, turning to Claire, "but a person having their magic sealed hurts a lot. Kind of like losing your head. Or an itch you can't quite scratch."

"Uh, those are two really different analogies," Claire said uneasily.

"Well, regardless, you shouldn't break the rules inside the dorm," Cater said.

"It also means that he is a nice guy as long as you follow the rules," Trey added.

Claire looked down at her plate and silently chewed on her inner cheek. She didn't agree with that approach, but this wasn't her dorm to complain about. She kept her thoughts to herself as she lifted a fork load of pasta and continued to eat.

"So, you're saying I have to go buy a tart or else Cater will kick me out of the dorm?" Ace asked, continuing the conversation.

"Naturally," Cater nodded. "As I mentioned earlier, Law of the Queen of Hearts Rule 53 states that 'One must always return whatever they stole'. Riddle was really looking forward to eating that first slice of that tart, so he won't be happy unless you return a whole tart."

"A whole– I just ate one slice! I thought you wanted to get along?" Ace said crossed, "Can't you cut me some slack? Aren't you supposed to be my helpful senior?"

"This and that are totally two different things." Cater grinned despite the glare.

"Aren't whole tarts really expensive though?" Deuce pointed out.

"Professional ones usually cost around 30 to 40 madols," Cater said, immediately checking his phone for pricing. "And Riddle only wants the very best."

"I can't afford to buy one," Ace said, shaking his head despondently, and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Then why don't you just make one?" Cater said, "Trey can help you. He was the one who made those tarts you ate."

"Oh, you're a pastry chef?" Claire asked, slightly surprised.

"Well, my family owns a bakery back at home, so I've been doing this quite a while," Trey said humbly.

"What?!" Ace looked at Trey with disbelief. "You made those? They tasted like they were made by a pro."

"Thanks," Trey laughed, smiling at the compliment. "I do have the tools and ingredients to make a tart, but I won't do it for free."

"Wait, I still have to pay for it?!" Ace groaned and shook his head.

"No, nothing like that." Trey waved off the comment with his hand, "I'm not going to squeeze money out of my underclassmen. But if we're going to make a tart that Riddle really likes to get your collar removed, I would like you to gather some chestnuts."

"Well, either way is going to be a pain to do," Ace sighed and scratched the back of his head. "How many?"

"For the Unbirthday party, we're going to need between two-to-three hundred chestnuts."

"That many?!" Deuce and Grim sputtered.

"After removing the husks, you will then need to roast them and remove the inner layer of skin to get the nut out…" Trey continued the list of activities that seemed to get longer and more exhausting by the second.

"Count me out," Grim said flatly.

"Same here," Deuce added.

"Traitors," Ace hissed.

"Why do we have to help?" Claire pointed out, propping her elbows on the table, "You're the one who ate the tart."

"Not you too!" Ace exclaimed as Claire smirked.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Cater said. "Food taste better when they're made together. You'll make some great memories. Besides, you might even debut as a foodie. It could be your first step to stardom."

"Don't tell Riddle, but freshly baked Mont Blanc tarts are the tastiest," Trey said with a wink, "Those who help will get to try some. What was the saying – 'Those who work get to eat'?"

"Well, if Ace is raving about the tarts, then maybe I can lend a hand…" Deuce said slowly.

"You can count on the Great Grim! Let's go chestnut picking!" Grim said, ecstatic now.

"Well, you certainly change your tune fast when it comes to eating," Claire noted to Grim before turning to Trey. "So where can we find these chestnuts?" The sooner this gets resolved, the sooner Ace could go back to his dorm.

"You can find the trees behind the botanical garden. We can meet up after school today to bake once you guys get enough chestnuts. You guys still have classes, so no skipping out," Trey said, eyeing at Ace with a knowing look.

"Fine." Ace sighed, "But you know, it sucks being in Heartslabyul. We have to follow both school rules and those stupid dorm rules. What is up with that? I mean, why is 'Never eating hamburger steak on Tuesday' a rule?"

"Because you should obviously eat tacos," Claire joked and dug into the rest of her pasta until she realized the silence around her. She looked up to see everybody staring back blankly.

"What? You guys don't have Taco Tuesdays here?"

Author Notes:

I think we can all agree that a world without Taco Tuesday is a world we don't want to live in XD

Claire will need to buckle down and try to keep her jokes in check if she wants to keep that secret of hers. Though her talking so casually like this shows how much more comfortable she is with the people around

Thanks for reading!

-JD