Chapter 28: Finale for Heartslabyul

A few days later, the Rose Tea Garden is all repaired and set up for the Unbirthday Party, which Riddle has to do herself. And now, the Unbirthday Party begins. Briar along with the rest of the Ramshackle Dorm residents are all dressed up for the occasion, including Ace, Deuce, and the other students of the Heartslabyul dorm.

One Heartslabyul Student blows a trumpet and announces, "All hail our leader, the Red Sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!"

Then the Heartslabyul Students shout, "We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!"

Then Riddle walks into the garden in his Dorm Uniform once more.

He looks around the garden as he says, "Hm. The garden roses are red, the tablecloths are white... This seems a proper unbirthday indeed. Is there a dormouse asleep in the teapo- Er, well, I suppose it's fine either way."

"Not everything has to change completely, you know," Trey replies, "Like, maybe spread the jam on your scones, instead of on the dormouse this time? Let's try to set the bar at 'it's great if it's this way,' not "it absolutely has to be this way."

"Yes, that makes sense," Trey replies.

Ace sighs and says, "I can't believe we got roped into cleaning up and prepping the garden again."

"Well, at least the housewarden recovered from his overblot without any complications," Deuce replies.

"And the garden is Magicam-worthy once again!" Cater happily says, and brings out his phone, "Hashtag #nofilter on this gorgeousness!"

"Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!" Grim says.

Jasper turns to Grim, "Can't you think of anything besides food?"

"What? I just want to eat," Grim says.

"Grim you always want to eat," Sereia replies.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

"Then eat we shall! I'll get the-" Cater says.

But Riddle shouts, "Wait a minute!"

"Huh?" Cater replies confused.

Briar turns to Riddle and asks, "What is it, Riddle?

Riddle points to one of the bushes, "There's a white rose...!"

The group turns to see a white rose is left on the heart shaped rose bush.

Ace is in shock, "We missed one?!"

"Ace, Deuce, I told you to make sure to paint EVERY rose!" Cater panics.

"Wait, this is our fault?!" Deuce asks in a panic.

"R-Riddle, listen… Trey calls out.

Oh no. Not again...?!" Tanzanite says worried.

Then Briar says, "Riddle please, try to understand! "

However, Riddle calmly says, "Well... I suppose I can overlook one or two missed roses."

Everyone is surprised to see how calm Riddle is because of one simple rose.

"R-really?!" Cater says, surprised.

Then says, "That's so generous of you, Riddle!"

Then Riddle says, "If we work together, we should be able to get them painted in no time.

"What? They still gotta be painted?!" Ace asks, shocked.

"Even so... I'm impressed. You've changed, Riddle," Trey replies with a smile.

Grim says, "I'm starvin' here! Let's just get these stupid roses painted or whatever!"

"I kind of enjoy painting the roses red," Tanzanite says.

"I suppose we can do this a little," Jasper replies.

"Me too. It's fun," Sereia happily says.

"Yeah. We can make it like a game," Briar says.

"A game, huh? That will be kind of fun," Ace replies.

Then Riddle calls out, "All right, is everyone ready?"

Soon, everyone arrives at one of the rose bushes.

Trey asks, "When's the last time you did the painting, Riddle?"

"Hard to say," Riddle answers, "I've let the dorm members handle it since I became housewarden."

Then says, "It's kinda fun once in a while. Well, less so with a bunch of clueless freshmen."

"Hey! Do you mean us?!" Ace asks, feeling offended.

"After all the painting I've had to do, I'm about to wipe the floor with Riddle!" Grim says with confidence.

"Last I remember, you caught a rose on fire," Jasper says with his arms crossed.

"So what. I'm going to wipe the floor with him," Grim says.

Riddle smirks and says, "Heh. We'll see about that."

And with that, the group begins to paint the roses red. Some of them also paint the roses the old fashion way: red paint, a paint bucket, and a paintbrush. Some who are also well experienced also use their magic to paint the roses like Riddle and Trey. Time has passed, and they manage to get a few roses painted.

Riddle notices, "That coat of paint is much too thin! Make it thicker-and don't miss anything!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Deuce replies.

Ace freaks out, "You're still as demanding! I thought you were finally gonna chill out some."

"He might chill out a little, but he wouldn't be Riddle if he weren't a perfectionist," Cater says.

"Like I always say: If you're gonna do something, do it perfectly. I want the very best party! And that means no cutting corners!" Riddle says.

"Huh. I guess it's a way of words to live by," Briar says.

And with that, the group paints the roses again.

Sometime later, Riddle cast his magic on the last bush, and all the roses are red, "...And that's how it's done."

Everyone, but Trey and Cater are surprised.

"Geez Louise! You finished those roses before I could raise my pen!" Ace says, surprised.

"You've certainly proven you can lead by example," Deuce says.

"Applied magic is Riddle's super special speciality!" Cater says.

"They look great, Riddle," Trey says.

"I know, they look lovely," Briar says, complimenting Riddle's work.

Trinket flies to the rose and sniffs it, and twinkles in excitement.

Riddle smiles and says, "That ought to do. And now.. Let the unbirthday party Begin!"

After having the roses painted red, Ace turns to Riddle and asks, "So what happened to that tart, Housewarden?"

"I made it for you, as I promised I would. Here: one strawberry tart, crafted by yours truly," Riddle says, and presents the tart to the group.

Everyone looks to see that it is indeed a strawberry tart, but a little different.

Trey quickly notices it, "Nice! The shape's a little off, but I can tell you put a lot of work into that glaze. A fine job indeed, especially considering it was your first!"

"Oh, puh-leeze. How about we actually TRY it before you start fawning all over him, Trey?" Ace replies.

But Cater calls out as he grabs his phone, "Hold it! Don't you start cutting that before I get my Magicam snap!"

Cater then holds out his phone and takes a good picture of the tart Riddle has made.

He smiles and says, " ...Okay, got it!"

"Tch. I see Cater hasn't changed a bit either. All right, let's dig in!" Ace replies, rolling his eyes.

And with that, Trey cuts the strawberry tart into slices, and everyone takes a piece of it. Soon, everyone begins to eat the piece of tart. However, everyone notices something off…

"Hmm...?" Deuce and Briar reply, confused.

Trey and Cater notice, "This is kinda…"

Then everyone exclaims in shock, "Salty!"

"Whaaat?!" Riddle says in shock.

"Err? This isn't KINDA salty - it's a full-on salt lick!" Ace says, shocked and spitting the taste out of his mouth.

"Yeah. The tart feels like it has a whole pound of salt in it," Jasper says, and tries to spit the salty taste from his mouth.

"It tastes a lot like seasalt," Tanzanite adds.

"It's really salty!" Sereia replies, sticking her tongue out.

Briar turns to Riddle and asks, "What did you put in this tart?!"

"But I followed the rules exactly, and measured everything precisely! Unless…" Riddle says in a panic.

And soon realizes, "Oh! Could it be... from the oyster sauce?"

Deuce sputters the taste from his mouth, "Wait... did you actually use that Walrus-brand oyster sauce Trey jokes about?"

"But Trey said that oyster sauce is an unlisted secret ingredient in all tarts! He said all the finest bakers use it…" Riddle explains.

Stunned, Ace says, "And you actually believed him?! How could you not tell that he was joking?!"

"You fell for it too, Ace!" Briar says.

Trinket nods her head as she tries to sputter the salty taste from her mouth.

"Even if you believed the joke, it was only supposed to be a splash. How much did you put in?" Cater replies.

"It's an unlisted ingredient! How could I measure it if he wouldn't tell me how much to put in?!" Riddle replies.

"It tastes like you put the whole bottle in it or something," Briar says.

Soon, Trey begins laughing, "Pfft... Ah ha ha ha ha! I can't believe someone actually fell for the ol' oyster sauce prank!"

"Ha ha ha... Yes. Quite humorous indeed. I truly am a fool," Riddle replies, and begins giggling as well.

Deuce begins laughing as well, "Ha ha! It really is so disgusting that it's actually kind of funny!"

"Yeah, what else can we do but laugh?" Ace replies and begins giggling as well

Grim takes another bite of the tart and says, "You know, in its own weird way, I think it's actually kinda good!"

"Right? It really isn't half as bad as you'd think," Cater says, taking another bite of the tart.

Shocked, Deuce says, "Seriously? You're agreeing with Grim, Cater? He literally eats garbage off the ground."

"Look, I'm not saying it's amazing or anything!" Cater replies.

But Trey says, "But you like it because it's not sweet, right?"

"Huh?" Cater replies, confused.

Then Trey says, "You've never really liked sweet things, right?"

"Really, you don't like sweets?" Sereia asks, "I'm surprised since you're willing to eat the tart with us."

Surprised, Cater says, "Yeah, you got me. But how did you figure it out? I've never told anyone that."

"Because you casually bring up my Paint the Roses spell every time we're eating sweets. You hide it pretty well, but that was a giveaway," Trey explains.

"I thought it was strange when we made the chestnut tarts and you brought up Trey's magic," Briar says.

Cater says, "Ack! My secret is out! This is so so embarrassing! Especially after what happened to you and Riddle. I should have learned by now that keeping your feelings on the DL is not a great idea.

"How about I cook up a quiche for the next unbirthday party?" Trey recipes.

"That sounds totes amazing to me. Just make sure it's as photogenic as the tarts!" Cater replies.

Suddenly, they hear a familiar voice, "Mm mm mmm! Your baked goods are always so delightful, Trey." followed by munching sounds.

Everyone quickly turns to one of the tables to see Che'nya eating another strawberry tart.

"Che'nya?!" Briar and the other reply in surprise.

"Che'nya?!" Riddle says in shock, "What are you doing here?!"

"Hm? I came to celebrate my unbirthday with all of you. A very merry unbirthday to you, Riddle." Che'nya says.

Riddle calmly crosses his arms and says, "The unbirthday party is a Heartslabyul House tradition. It does not pertain to you."

"And the young lady and her friends? What about them?" Che'ny questions.

And turns to Briar and the rest of the group from the Ramshackle Dorm.

Riddle sternly says, "Briar and the rest of her dorm were invited as our guests."

"Oh great, it's that weird semi-invisible cat guy from before," Grim says, annoyed.

"Che'nya, I didn't expect to see you here," Briar says, surprised.

Che'nya grins towards Briar and says, "Ah, hello young lady and friends. I see you were able to help Riddle."

"Um yeah, I suppose," Briar says.

"It's good to see you here," Sereia says.

Then Che'nya asks, "So, I forgot to ask, what's a young lady doing in the Night Raven Collage. Last I heard, this place is a boy's school."

"Um well, I kind of got here in unexpected circumstances," Briar says.

Just then, Grim says, "So you never told us - what dorm are you from?"

But Trey says, "Che'nya isn't even a Night Raven student. He's a student at our long-time rival school, the Royal Sword Academy."

This causes Deuce to exclaim in shock, "Whaaat? You go to a different school?

"The frickin' Royal Sword Academy, no less?!" Ace says, just as shocked.

"Really? There are other magic academies besides Night Raven?" Sereia asks, surprised.

"That school has a pretty cool name," Jasper says, taking an interest.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, if there's a school here, then there should be other schools in this world," Briar says.

She then asks, "Hold on, if you got to a different school, what are you at Night Raven College?"

"You're not skipping are you?" Tanzanite asks, concerned.

Trinket is just as confused.

Che'nya chuckles and says, "I wouldn't say that, I'm on break so I've decided to see how you all are doing."

Suddenly, one of the Heartslabyul Students says in shock, "Did that guy just say the 'Royal Sword Academy'?!"

"He's one of those pompous jerk-faces?!" Another Heartslabyul Student asks angrily.

"What?! Who's from Royal Sword? We gotta run 'em outta here!" The third Heartslabyul Student says angrily.

"Well, now that I've tasted some tart, perhaps I should see myself out," Che'nya says with a calm smile and disappears once more.

One of the Heartslabyul Student shouts, "He's running for it!"

Another Heartslabyul Student shouts, "After him! Don't let him get away!"

And with that, the students of the Heartslabyul dorm begin to chase and search for Che'nya. Briar and her roommates are confused and surprised to see the Hearthslabyul dorm's reaction towards Che'nya because of the school he is going to.

Grim is the first to speak out, "Whoa, everyone turned bloodthirsty real quick."

"The vast majority of Night Raven College students perceive the Royal Sword Academy as the enemy," Riddle explains.

"No surprise, given that they've kicked our butts every year for a hundred years straight…" Trey adds.

"So in other words, Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy are major rivals or something," Briar replies.

Riddle sighs, "that's one way of putting it, and as you can see the Night Raven Students hate Royal Sword Academy Students.

Just then, Cater says, "Hey, stop harshin' the vibe! This is supposed to be a day of celebration. Can't we all just enjoy our unbirthdays?"

"Myah!" Grim cheers, "Merry unbirthday or whatever! I'm gonna eat till my stomach explodes!"

Soon enough begins laughing to see how goofy Grim is, especially wanting to eat so much food until it pops.

Meanwhile, in the Savanaclaw Dorm Leona along with Ruggie are both in Leona's bedroom.

Ruggie looks outside and says, "Awww, sounds like those Heartslabyul twits are having some kind of feast today. Must be nice. How come Savanaclaw doesn't have any traditions that involve eating lots of free food?

"Bah, it's a beautifully sunny day and they're stuffing their faces with cookies and cake? Grossin' me out over here," Leona says, not very interested.

Then turns to Ruggie, "Anyway, Ruggie. You know that's not what I'm here to ask you about."

"Ah, that. Just leave it to me, Boss. All the preparations are proceeding smoothly!" Ruggie says with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Then those fools won't be happily guzzling tea for much longer. That goes double for that snob Malleus. They got no idea what's comin'..." Leona says with his arms crossed and has a smirk on his face.

Then begins to let out a malicious laugh, "Heh heh. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"