Amara's Twisted Wonderland

Heartslabyul 1-11: The Broken Queen

   "Yes mother," Young Riddle said looking as if he was about to cry.

   I've always wanted to eat tarts filled with red strawberries. Just like the one displayed on the shop window of the bakery that we pass by. I heard Riddle say in a sad tone. Just then a scene changed into the same study but only with a tone of books on the desk.

   "That is all for your lessons on classical magic. Read the next 50 pages required for your next magic lessons tomorrow. Now then, you have 1 hour for yourself before your next lesson begins." she said to Riddle who had a large book in front of him. 

  "Yes Mother," Riddle said still paying attention.

   "Mother has something to take care of for a while, so I will see you in one hour." She said before leaving him making me smile sadly at Riddle.

   I was always surrounded by lessons I had to finish. If it was possible, they would have extended my lessons longer. But, something like that was "normal" for me.

"... Someone's knocking on the window?" Young Riddle said moving over to the window to see who it was.
 "Oh, he noticed us!" young Trey said.
  
   "Hey, hey~ Let's play together~!" young Trey said, and to my surprise that annoying cat is actually kind of cute as a kid.

    "Who are you two?" asked Riddle growing more curious.

    "I'm Che'nya~ And this one's Trey~ Let's play croquet together!"

    "Eh... Th-that's impossible... I'm doing self-study right now, so..." Riddle said unsure of what to say.

   "Self-study? Grandad told me that what you want to study is up to you, so you can just do it whenever~" Che'nya said. 

   "Won't you come down just for a bit?" Trey asked.

   "... I-if it's only for a while...O-oh my n-name is R-r-Riddle Rosehearts" Riddle said.

    Playing with Trey and Che'nya was very fun. We played a lot of things I didn't know how to play. The both of them taught me a lot. During my one hour of free time, I always snuck out of my room without my mother's knowledge. Riddle said in a voice that truly sounded  happy for once.

   "Eh you never tried a strawberry tart before Riddle?" Che'nya said as I saw the in a bakery.

   "Yeah. Mother says it's poison for the body, so I'm not allowed to eat them." Riddle said looking at he tart in front of him. 

   "Well, of course it's bad if you eat too much. " Trey said smiling, pushing the tart over to him. Riddle looked hesitant before he took his fork and took a bite. I actually saw a sweet smile on his face that wasn't about rules or a perfect tea party, it was because he actually enjoyed the sweet taste of something sweet and good. 

   The bright red strawberry tart on top of that white plate...To me, it looked more dazzling than any kind of jewel I've seen. The one bite I took was so sweet, and it was so delicious unlike anything I've ever tasted before... I finished the entire slice while savoring every bite. But I lost track of time... He said making my eyes widen at the next scene that was showed.

    "How could you! Not only did you skip your self-study, but you also ate something so sugary!?So those two tempted you into doing it? I shall never allow you to play with the both of them again!" his mother told me making my eyes widen.

  "I'm sorry, Mother! I'll never do it again, so please forgive me...!" Riddle said crying.

   "Quiet! You're the one at fault because you broke the rules. Ah, I knew I shouldn't have given him time for himself. He must be trained more to become more perfect..." His mother shouted before leaving him alone to cry.