Episode 11: A Tart Made Wrong.
Ace turned to face Enma who held an unfazed expression. "And you didn't tell us?!" He exclaimed.
"Well, you would find out sooner or later anyways." He replied.
"But they don't have the same surname..." Deuce said.
"Let's save this topic for later shall we? I need to bring housewarden to the nurse's office first."
Riddle scrunched his eyebrows and glanced at the girl. "No need, I need to help you all with the cleaning."
"No, that was a full-blown case of overblot. We need to make absolutely sure you're okay, so you need to go to the nurse's office immediately." Cater frowned.
"Mr. Diamond is correct. I will go along with you Ms. Moreal."
"Understood, thank you headmaster."
The three soon left, though Riddle still tried to tell them he doesn't need to go to the nurse and that he should just help with the cleaning but Mirana kept shaking her head in disagreement.
"So all this time...the girl I like turns out to be the housewarden's sister..." Deuce mumbled as he lowered his head.
"Quit mumblin' things over there and come help us." Grim exclaimex as Deuce nodded slowly and took out his magic pen to start cleaning and fixing the garden
Nurse's Office
Riddle laid down on the bed while Mirana and Crowley accompanied him, sometimes checking up on the boy too.
"Are you feeling better Mr. Rosehearts?"
Riddle nodded with closed eyes, indicating that he was resting. Crowley, not wanting to disturb him, signalled Mirana that he was leaving because he had things to do. The girl waved him goodbye and went back to checking up on Riddle.
Silence filled the room which made Riddle feel slightly awkward while Mirana just enjoyed the peaceful moment. The red-haired boy opened his eyes and turned to the other who was humming as she stared off into the distance outside the window.
"Mirana...I once again apologize." He spoke, finally breaking the silence.
The girl shifted her gaze onto him and smiled as she replied. "Like I said, please don't apologize it's not your fault. I should be the one to do so actually..."
Riddle suddenly remembered what happened earlier when he was asleep, Mirana was repeatedly saying sorry as she cried which made his heart clench.
"Do you still feel guilty?"
"...I do."
"If I had stayed with you or perhaps forced you to come with us maybe your childhood would have been better. But then again, you wouldn't have met Trey-senpai."
Riddle didn't reply and only sat up to hug the girl. "I forgive you, so please don't feel guilty anymore." Mirana hugged back and replied with an eye-closed smile before breaking away from the hug.
"Now, please rest more." She gently pushed down Riddle to lie back down on the bed.
A Few Days Later - Tea Garden
The garden was once again decorated and readied for another unbirthday party. Riddle walked towards the table as students gteeted him.
"All hail our leader, the Red Sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!"
"We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!"
He inspected the garden and everything seemed to be in place, which was good. "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. 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."" Trey suggested.
"Yes, that makes sense."
"Can't believe we got roped into cleaning up and prepping the garden again." Ace whined as he sat down on a chair to rest.
"Well, at least the housewarden recovered from his overblot without any complications."
"And the garden is Magicam-worthy once again! Hashtag #nofilter on this gorgeousness!" Cater beemed and began taking pictures and posting it on magicam.
"Mira-chan let's take another selfie!" He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side as he took about 15 selfies.
"Cater, don't just pull her arm suddenly." Trey sighed.
"Oh, sorry Mira-chan, does it hurt?"
"No worries Cater-senpai, it didn't hurt." She chuckled.
"Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!" Grim exclaimed as his stomach made noises.
"Then eat we shall! I'll get the-"
"Wait a minute!" Riddle cut him off.
"Huh?"
"There's a white rose...!" He pointed towards an unpainted rose and the group went pale, expecting Riddle to cut their heads off for a small thing.
"We missed one?!" Ace exclaimed.
"Ace, Deuce, I told you to make sure to paint EVERY rose!" Cater panicked.
"Wait, this is our fault?!"
"R-Riddle, listen..."
"Please, try to understand!" Enma said.
"I don't think one unpainted rose should be punished for." Mirana nervously said.
Riddle turned to her as he replied, "Well... I suppose I can overlook one or two missed roses."
"R-really?! That's so generous of you, Riddle!" Cater exclaimed.
"If we all work together then the roses would be painted faster."
"What? They still gotta be painted?"
"Even so... I'm impressed. You've changed, Riddle." Trey smiled.
"I'm starvin' here! Let's just get these stupid roses painted or whatever!" Grim hurridly ran towards the roses and began painting followed by the rest.
"All right, is everyone ready?" Riddle asked.
Everyone nodded and began painting.
"When's the last time you did the painting, Riddle?"
"Hard to say. I've let the dorm members handle it since I became housewarden." He replied.
"It's kinda fun once in a while. Well, less so with a bunch of clueless freshmen." Cater giggled.
"Hey! Do you mean us?!" Ace exclaimed as he felt offended by his senior's statement.
"Don't mind him Ace." Mirana then gestured for the boy to continue his work.
After painting all the roses it was finally time to eat and relax. Though Mirana wasn't really looking forward to the tart Riddle made, considering the fact that she secretly watched him make it but decided not to stop him because she wanted to see everyone's reaction after they eat it. How cruel of her.
"So what happened to that tart, Housewarden?" Ace asked.
"I made it for you, as I promised I would. Here: one strawberry tart, crafted by yours truly." He placed the tart on the table for everyone to eat.
"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!" Trey complimented.
"Oh, puh-leeze. How about we actually TRY it before you start fawning all over him, Trey?"
"Hold it! Don't you start cutting that before I get my Magicam snap! ...Okay, got it!"
"Tch. I see Cater hasn't changed a bit either. All right, let's dig in!"
Mirana watched silently, either in pity or amusement as the other's each took a bite out of their tart slices.
"Hmm...?"
"This is kinda.."
"Salty!" They all exclaimed with Ace quickly dropping his utencil.
"Whaaat?!"
"Err? This isn't KINDA salty - it's a full-on salt lick! What did you put in this?!" The orange-haired boy said as he started chugging down a glass of water. Mirana also gave everyone some water to wash away the saltiness.
"But I followed the rules exactly, and measured everything precisely! Unless... Oh! Could it be... from the oyster sauce?"
"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 trailed off.
"And you actually believed him?! How could you not tell that he was joking?!"
"You fell for it too Ace." Enma reminded him.
"Even if you believed the joke, it was only supposed to be a splash. How much did you put in?"
"I believe he used half the bottle." Mirana replied for Riddle.
The group looked at her with shocked expressions while she only smiled at them. "Half the bottle?! Wait...You knew?! Why didn't you stop him?!" Ace said, only earning him a hum from the other.
"Pfft... Ah ha ha ha ha! I can't believe someone actually fell for the ol' oyster sauce prank!" Trey laughed, soon followed by the other's.
"Ha ha ha... Yes. Quite humorous indeed. I truly am a fool"
"Ha ha! It really is so disgusting that it's actually kind of funny!"
"You know, in its own weird way, I think it's actually kinda good!" Grim said.
"Right? It really isn't half as bad as you'd think." Cater agreed.
"Seriously? You're agreeing with Grim, Cater? He literally eats garbage off the ground." Ace grimaced.
"Look, I'm not saying it's amazing or anything!" Cater added as he continued taking small bites of the tart.
"But you like it because it's not sweet, right?" Trey said.
"Huh?" Cater turned to him with a questioning look.
"You've never really liked sweet things, right?"
"Yeah, you got me. But how did you figure it out? I've never told anyone that."
"Because you casually bring up my Doodle Suit spell every time we're eating sweets. You hide it pretty well, but that was a giveaway."
"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." He sighed.
"How about I cook up a quiche for the next unbirthday party?"
Cater lit up at his statement and agreed. "That sounds totes amazing to me. Just make sure it's as photogenic as the tarts!"
"Mm mm mmm! Your baked goods are always so delightful, Trey. *munch* *munch*"
A new voice joined in the conversation making everyone surprised. It was Che'nya eating some of the food prepared by Trey and the other students.
"Che'nya?! What are you doing here?!" Riddle exclaimed.
Che'nya swallowed his food before answering, "Hm? I came to celebrate my unbirthday with all of you. A very merry unbirthday to you, Riddle." He greeted with a smile.
His gaze landed on Mirana who had a wide smile plastered on her face. Che'nya quickly finished his food and ran towards the girl to greet her too.
"Hello Mirana, long time no see."
"Che'nya! It's great to see you again." She beemed and gave him a hug as her smile grew wider. Che'nya pat her head in return of the hug. The other's watched the scene while some were shooting death glares at the boy.
"You kow her, Che'nya?" Trey asked.
"Yup, I used to live near her house before moving to The Queendom of Roses." He answered with a smile.
Riddle quickly separated the two and crossed his arms. He cannot allow any men to touch his sister, not even his own friends. "The unbirthday party is a Heartslabyul House tradition. It does not pertain to you."
"And those two? What about them?" He pointed towards Enma and Grim.
"Hey! You're that weird semi-invisible cat guy from before! So you never told us - what dorm are you from?" Grim asked.
"Che'nya isn't even a Night Raven student.
He's a student at our long-time rival school, the Royal Sword Academy." Trey replied.
"Whaaat? You go to a different school?"
"The frickin' Royal Sword Academy, no less?!" Ace exclaimed.
"So there are other magic academies? Wow, that school has a really cool name!" Enma said as he was now curious of the other schools.
"Did that guy just say the "Royal Sword Academy"?!" A student said.
"He's one of those pompous jerk-faces?!"
"What?! Who's from Royal Sword? We gotta run 'em outta here!"
The other students now began running towards Che'nya to make him leave which made the boy sigh, he wished to stay longer and chat with Mirana but it seems like that would have to wait for another time.
"Well, now that I've tasted some tart, perhaps I should see myself out. See you later, Mirana." He waved at them and immediately dissapeared as the students ran after him.
"He's running for it!"
"After him! Don't let him get away!"
"Whoa, everyone turned bloodthirsty real quick." Grim said with shock as he watched the students basically hunt down Che'nya.
"The vast majority of Night Raven College students perceive the Royal Sword Academy as the enemy."
"No surprise, given that they've kicked our butts every year for a hundred years straight..." Ace sighed.
"Hey, stop harshin' the vibe! This is supposed to be a day of celebration. Can't we all just enjoy our unbirthdays?" Cater said as he continued taking photos of the garden.
"Myah! Merry unbirthday or whatever! I'm gonna eat till my stomach explodes!" Grim startrd stuffing his face with food as Enma tried to make him slow down before he chokes.
Savanaclaw Dorm - Leona's Room
"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?" The hyena boy sighed as he watched the people in heartslabyul.
"Bah, it's a beautifully sunny day and they're stuffing their faces with cookies and cake? Grossin' me out over here. 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!"
"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'... Heh heh. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"
𝕋𝕠 𝕓𝕖 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖𝕕...
(This is the final part for Heartslabyul so I decided to make this as a small gift and also as compensation for the late updates. It may take me a while to publish the Savanaclaw part, but thank you for everyone who read and supported this book❤)