Maria P.O.V
We were walking back to Ramshackle Dorm when...
Drip Drop
I saw someone's heart being filled with something dark and inky
'Who...?' I was thinking when I felt a someone touch my shoulder
"Hey Maria, are you alright? You turned a bit pale, and you spaced out again" Deuce said with a worried expression
"I'm alright, guess I'm just tired" I said, and I started walking. After some time, we made back to Ramshackle Dorm
"Let's head inside. I'm seriously beat after today" Ace said and we started heading inside the dorm
Inside Dorm~ Lounge Room
"What should do before we go to sleep?" I asked
"We can play cards. Wanna play Old Maid?" Ace asked
"How do you play?" I asked and Deuce started explaining how the game works. After explaining, we started to play, we played til we passed out
'Playing cards... Is fun' I smiled and fell asleep
Dream~
'This dream again...?'
"Who dares to taint with vulgar paint the royal flowerbed? For painting my roses red, someone will lose his head!" The Queen yelled
"Oh no. Your Majesty, please, it's all his fault" The card man with three clovers blamed another card man with two clovers
"Not me. Your Grace, the Ace! The Ace!" He blamed the Ace card
"You?" The Queen looked at the Ace
"No! Two!"
"The Deuce, you say?"
"Not me! The three!"
"That's enough! Off with their heads!" The Queen demanded as the other card soldiers dragged them away
"WOOOOOOOOOO!" They cheered and some even whistled
"Hmph" The Queen looked away from the dragged soldiers in a huff
"They're going to lose their heads for painting the roses red" The card with two diamonds said
"It serves them right. They planted white and roses should be red" The card with three of spades said
'Does it really matter? The roses don't have to be red, they're still beautiful no matter what color they have. I wonder though... Why didn't anyone help them or stop the queen?' I thought and the dream started to end
Dream end~
"Maria, wake up. Today is the Unbirthday Party. It'll be off with our heads if we're late!" Deuce said as he shook shoulder to wake me up. Slowly, my eyes started open
"Morning Deuce... I almost forgot about today..." I said as I started to rub my eyes, then we heard a knock on the door
"Hm? Sounds like someone's here." Deuce walked towards the door and revealed Cater-senpai
"G'morning! Did you enjoy your sleepover? Was it a fun evening of pillow fights and card games? Or something else?" Cater-senpai said as he looked at Ace and Deuce with a smirk
"Huh?! W-W-W-We d-d-d-d-didn't...!" Ace and Deuce tried to explain
"We did play a card game called Old Maid, Deuce even taught me how to play" I said
Y-Yeah! We played cards! Nothing else!" Ace shouted
"It sucked! I couldn't win at all!" Grim said who was upset about losing
"It was clear as day on your face whenever you pulled the joker" Deuce said
"All right, how about we go get your tart you made yesterday and apologize to Riddle? Honestly, there was a bit of trouble yesterday that got us lacking in heads. The sooner you guys come, the better" Cater-senpai said
"Heads?" Ace looked confused
"Nothing, just talking to myself. Anyway, it's time we head off to the Unbirthday Party! Let's go!" Cater-senpai said as he grabbed my hand and we left
Heartslabyul Dorm~
"Mmkay, just gotta hand him the tart and apologize and then..." Ace was talking about his plan when suddenly
"Yooo! You're here. I've been waiting, me!" Another Cater-senpai!? Except he was wearing his PE uniform
"I'm back. Sorry for the wait, me" Cater-senpai said to the other Cater-senpai which surprised everyone and myself
"Th-There are two Caters!?" Deuce said freaking out
"You have a twin!?" Ace asked
"Nope. I'm the only brother of my family. This is my unique magic 'Split Card'. I can use magic to make clones of myself" Cater-senpai said
"Amazing, if we fought you yesterday then we'll be wondering how we couldn't beat you" Deuce said
"Welcome back~" Cater-senpai who is wearing a lab coat said
"Welcome Maria-chan~" Cater-senpai who is wearing his ceremonial robe said as he grabbed my hand and kissed my hand
"Ugh, my body's aching! You guys are so late" PE Cater-senpai complained
"T-too many Cater-senpais" I felt myself getting dizzy
"Uwah! There's even more of them!" Ace said
"By the way, the real Cater here is yours truly. It gets pretty tiring to make copies like this, so I can't keep up for very long." Cater-senpai said "Anyway, it's off with your heads if we're late. We don't have enough people around, so give us a hand, would you? I'll take you right to Riddle once we're done" Cater-senpai said
"More painting the roses red?" Grim groaned
"You're really full of yourself!" Ace yelled
"Let's get started!" Cater-senpai said and we started to paint the roses red, like the other day, Ace and I used paint brushes to paint the roses while Deuce and Grim help Cater-senpai painting the roses with magic. While painting, I saw a white rose at the top of the bush.
"I need to get to the top" I looked around for a ladder and I found one nearby, I went to grab the ladder so I can finish painting. Once I grabbed the ladder, I heard humming. I looked around but I didn't see anyone
'Weird. I thought I heard someone humming?' I thought and I went back to the rose bush with the ladder
No one P.O.V
Unknown to her, there was someone. A male with purple hair, yellow eyes and cat ears watched Maria walking away
"She's very purr-etty~ I'm so happy to see her again~" The male said with a blush as he happily watched Maria
Maria P.O.V
After walking for a bit, I made back to the rose bush so I can finish painting the last white rose. I set the latter up and started climbing up
"Alright, time to paint the last white rose" I said as I started to paint. After a couple of seconds, I finished painting the rose
"Huff... Huff... We did better than yesterday" Deuce said as he tried to catch his breath
"You did well~" Cater-senpai said as he looked at his phone "Oops! It's almost time! We're all done Squad Me!" Cater-senpai called his clones
"Aye aye sir~" The clones said in union and they disappeared
"Maria-chan~ C'mon, let's go to the Unbirthday Party" Cater-senpai said
"Okay!" I said as I climbed down the ladder and I noticed the boys were looking away with redness on their faces
"What's wrong?" I asked
"N-nothing! Just be careful next time, okay?" Cater-senpai said with his face still red and we started heading towards the tea Party
Heartslabyul Dorm-Tea Garden
The Heartslabyul residents blew the trumpets
"Make way for our great leader! The Crimson Ruler! Dorm Leader Riddle!"
"Dorm leader Riddle, hip hip hurray!" The resistents cheered but it sounded fake
"The roses are red and the table cloths are white. A perfect Unbirthday Party. Very good." Riddle-senpai smirked at the perfection of the party "Did you make the dormouse is in the teapot correct?" Riddle-senpai asked
"Of course. The jam is to be put on its nose should the occasion call for it is also at the ready" Trey-senapi said
"Wonderful" Riddle-senpai said with a satisfied smile
"Whoa! Look at their outfits! They look so cool!" Grim said with an awe look on his face
"Your right about that Grim" I said to Grim with the same awe look and Cater-senpai gave me a smile
"Heh heh, looks great?" Cater-senpai asked as he looked at me "That's the Heartslabyul dorm attire! The style is on-point, making it totally Magicammable! Which on that note, it's time for me to change" Cater-senpai raised his pen and and his attire changed "The Laws of the Queen of Hearts decree that we have to dress formally on party days. Your kind senior will get you all suited up too, as a special service" Cater-senpai winked and he raised his pen again and our clothes changed
"Oooh...!" Deuce looked at his clothes with amazement
"Whoa! Man, I look good" Ace said
"Nyaha! We look awesome!" Grim said as he admired his new bow
"You guys look great!" I said and the boys looked at me and their faces turned red again
"Whoa! Maria, you look beautiful!" Grim said
"Grim is right! You look very beautiful!" Deuce said with a blush while Cater-senpai was taking pictures
"Looking gorgeous~" Catering cooed and I blushed "Aw! Maria-chan you look so cute when you blush!"
"C-can we go now?" I said as I looked down from embarrassment and we headed to the Unbirthday party
When we arrived, the residents of Heartslabyul notice me and they looked at me with an awe expression
"Woah. Isn't that the coffin girl?"
"Yeah, I heard Dorm Leader Riddle invited her to come today"
"She looks gorgeous"
"She looks like a princess of roses"
"Maybe she is one"
'Now I feel more embarrassed' I felt my cheeks burn red when I heard someone calling my name
"Miss Maria, thank you for coming today and you look absolutely lovely. The color red suit you very well" Riddle-senpai said
"T-thank you Riddle-senpai and thank you for inviting me today. Everything looks amazing" I said
"You're very welcome, come." Riddle-senpai gently grabbed my hand and lead me to a table "Your seat is next to me"
"Okay" I said as I took a seat and Riddle-senpai spoke to gain everyone's attention
'I guess Riddle-senpai is gonna propose a toast' I thought 'But... Why do I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen?'
To be continued~