*
"It serves them right, they planted white and roses should be red,"
**
Courtyard
"Mrrah! I've had it with these boring classes!" Grim exclaimed as he was held by the collar by Y/n.
"Then you'll never become a great mage!" Y/n bluntly says.
"UGH! When did you get all bossy?" Grim complained.
"So, Ace. I heard you insulted my dear sister?" Isfrid asked, turning his head over to Ace with a 'kind' smile.
Ace immediately flinched in surprise as he hid behind a pale Deuce. "I was only teasing her! I didn't mean it at all, okay?!"
*
Cafeteria
It was finally lunchtime. The group walked into the cafeteria which was quite noisy, earning unamused expressions from both Y/n and Isfrid. Isfrid couldn't help but get worried for his sister's safety due to her short height, making it quite easy to loose her. He remembered the times where Y/n would cause panic throughout the palace when she somehow goes outside of the palace barrier alone, as her short height is usually the reason why no one has been able to find her in a crowd.
"Wooo! Lunchtime at last!" Grim cheered excitedly. When Y/n got closer to the buffet area, the weasel began to drool.
"This place is chock full a' tasty lookin' stuff!" Grim says, his eyes glimmering.
"Can you even eat squid and onions, Grim?" Y/n curiously asked as she grabbed a plate, placing Ace's chocolate croissants and some extra sweets for herself and Deuce's iced latte. Isfrid carried a wrapped large bento box and two bags of food that himself and Y/n are sharing. Their lunch was nuclear fire noodles with spicy kimichi, sweet and spicy rice cakes, soup dumplings, spam, and eggs with Y/n's drink being iced tea while Isfrid has a strawberry smoothie.
"I'm starvin' after all that thinkin'!" Grim says..
"What thinking?" Ace asked with a deadpanned glare. "Who's the one who ran away after saying our classes were boring, huh?"
"You've been giving us grief since day one..." Deuce mumbled.
"Look how fluffy those omelets are! Ooh, grilled chicken! And a bacon-and-egg tart!" Grim shouted in glee.
"Shhh! Dude, inside voices! Where was this energy earlier today?" Ace asked, clearly annoyed.
"Y/n, grab me the grilled chicken! There's only one left!" Grim beamed. "And an omelet too. And that jelly-filled bread. Just fill your whole tray with 'em!" he pointed, causing Y/n to sigh as she grabbed the three dishes Grim wanted, placing them on her tray.
Deuce turned around with his plate of food, looking around for an open seat. "Where should we sit...?" he mumbled as the others followed him.
"Heey! No one's sitting here~!" A familiar voice says, calling out the them. Y/n turned around to see Cater, waving toward them with another student seated across from him.
"Bwah! It's you....!" Ace yelped as Grim paled.
"Ah...hello Cater," Y/n greeted as Isfrid looked confused from the boys attitude toward their upperclassmen.
"Hello there, N/n! Would you like to sit with me and my friend?" Cater asked with a bright smile.
"Oh...alright-" Before Y/n could finish, Deuce had stopped her.
"I-It's okay, we'll look elsewhere!" Deuce shyly says, turning away as Y/n and Isfrid just had a blank expression while Ace glared at Cater.
"Come on...There's nothing to be scared of!" Cater reassured before he placed a shoulder around a frighten Deuce. "The current Cater's waaaaay niver to his underclassmen. How's it hangin' Deucey?"
"Please. Do NOT call me Deucey," Deuce pleaded, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"Uhh. Using Deucey's a little..." Ace cringed. "This is totally different from this morning..."
"Ah ha ha. That's how Cater shows he cares," The friend sitting across says.
"Is this guy in the glasses Cater's underling?" Grim curiously asked.
"Ah, I should introduce myself. The name's Trey. Trey Clover. I'm a junior at Heartslabyul, like Cater here," He introduced himself. "And you must be Y/n, the new prefect from that dump of a- ah, I mean, the 'rustic' dorm," he corrected himself. He laid a hand out next to him for the princess. "You can sit here, your majesty,"
"Hm... Thank you, Clover," Y/n says as she walked around the table, sitting next to Trey with Isfrid following, seating next to her before he began placing his and Y/n's lunch and side dishes in between the twins.
"I heard the whole story from Cater. Thanks for looking out for our boys despite what happened yesterday," Trey smiled gently told her.
"It's wasn't a problem," Y/n assured, forgetting why everyone was so worried about her. She grabbed the chopsticks Isfrid gave her and began eating her large bento. The dishes were still steaming hot, making Y/n drool just from the sight of it. The twins both each had 2 packets of nuclear fire noodles, 8 pieces of spam and 4 large fried eggs next to the noodles. On a smaller bento, there is spicy kimchi, sweet and spicy rice cakes, and dumplings. Trey widen his eyes from the amount of food Y/n and Isfrid were sharing but Isfrid just give Trey a look that basically says 'Don't question it'
"I don't recall ever wanting to sit with you..." Ace grumbled.
"Hey now, we're all from the same dorm, right?" Cater asked with a grin as he escorted a pouty Ace and a nervous Deuce to their seats across from Y/n. "Let's try to get along. Here, gimme your digits," he says, whipping out his phone.
"Y/n doesn't have a smartphone," Isfrid says, glaring at Cater while slurping his noodles combined with the spicy kimchi.
"For real?" Cater widen his eyes at Y/n, watching her dragonic tongue lick the spice off from the side of her mouth. "I've read about luddites like you, but never imagined I'd meet one in the wild! I know place that sells the latest models cheap. How about you and I go on a phone-shopping date?" he cooed, making his move on Y/n which caused Ace, Deuce, and Isfrid to glare at him.
"A...date? Is that some sort of food?" Y/n asked, tilting her head a bite.
"Cater," Trey sternly spoke. "You're freaking out the freshmen. Maybe take it down a notch?"
"Ha! Sorry! I can get a little extra sometimes," Cater nervously chuckled. "But feel free to bring any issues our way! We'll teach you all we know as upperclassmen," he stated.
"Hm then how about the dorms? I still don't understand," Y/n bluntly stated.
"Before you get into the other dorms, I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about ours," Ace stated
"Your dorm was like a freakin' castle!" Grim says, hopping off of Y/n's shoulder and in between her and Trey. "Are all the others just as cool as yours?"
"Like, what's the deal with all this 'Queen of Hearts rule number whatever' junk?" Ace asked with an unamused expression.
"I'm sure you're familiar with the legendary Queen of Hearts already? She had to rule over a kingdom of weirdos, and did it by emphasizing order and making strict rules," Trey explained with a gentle grin, adjusting his glasses.
"Our dorm, Heartslabyul, is an homage to her," Cater added. "By tradition, we wear armbands with red and black of the Queen's dress. And we live by the rules she created," he explained, showing his armband.
"Pffft. Can you make me any more bored?" Grim huffed.
"Now, the degree to which we adhere to the rules depends on the sitting housewarden. Past wardens have been much more lax," Cater said in defense.
"Riddle though? He doesn't mess around," Trey nervously chuckled. "Basically, you could say that we're honoring that tradition to the utmost extent possible,"
"Bleah. Just my luck..." Ace groaned.
"Repeating Grim's question from earlier...what are the other dorms like, then?" Y/n curiously asked as she continued to eat with her brother.
"As Cater mentioned earlier, the dorms of this school are themed after the Great Seven. We have our dorm, Heartslabyul, modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts," Trey says before he began explaining all the six other dorms plus the newest addition. "To run down the rest of them for you, we have...
Savanaclaw, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beasts.
Octavinelle, based on the benevolent heart of the Sea Witch.
Scarabia, based on the mindful personality of the Sorcerer of the Sands.
Pomefiore, based on the tenacity of the Fairest Queen.
Ignihyde, based on the diligence of the king of the underworld.
Diasomnia, based on the noble spirit of the Thorn Fairy.
And finally, the new addition...
Lumikuinen, based on the loving spirit of the Snow Queen,"
"Too much effort. No way am I ever going to remember all that," Y/n bluntly says, showing her dissatisfaction quite clearly..
"Haha. Don't worry, sister," Isfrid chuckled, grabbing more noodles with a whole egg. "I'll help you remember them one by the one,"
"All those names are way too long! How's anyone supposed to remember 'em?" Grim exclaimed.
"Ah ha ha! Well, you get the idea. Want to or not, you'll learn them soon enough," Cater chuckled.
"At orientation, the Dark Mirror picks a dorm for you based on the essence of your being," Trey says. "As a result, each dorm ends up with a distinct sort of... flavor, we'll call it," he grinned.
"That is sooo true. I totes see it," Cater smiled.
"'Flavor,' huh...?" Deuce mumbled.
"For example, look at that guy," Trey says, gesturing over to a white-hair student with wolf ears and a tail, happily eating a meaty burger.
'He has dog ears...' Y/n thought, blankly staring at the wolf. He felt eyes staring at him and turned to see who it was, only to make eye-contact with the crown princess. He immediately blushed in embarrassment and quickly looked away, bashfully eating his burger.
"That rough-and-tumble vibe he's got has Savanaclaw House written all over it," Trey chuckled.
"They've got a ton of guys who're good at sports and martial arts," Trey explained. "Their dorm's notorious for dominating the competition art sports tournaments,"
"No doubt. How should I describe the vibe...? Macho dudes? Gruff big brothers? Something along those lines. The black and gold armband is another giveaway," Cater says, agreeing with Trey.
"Huh. All right, so what about that guy with the grey and purple cord wrapped around his arm?" Grim asked, gesturing over to a table of three students. Y/n recognize the one sitting across from a set of twins was Azul who did not look amused. The twins, Jade and Floyd Leech had teasing grins as Floyd happily ate takoyaki.
"Octavinelle. They're an intellectual bunch known for their excellent test performance," Trey explained. "And before I forget, there's a cafe in their dorm run by the students,"
Azul just looked dumbfounded before he caught the crown princess's gaze and smiled before waving. Jade and Floyd curiously followed Azul's gaze and turned to see Y/n waving slightly and Azul. Floyd beamed brightly and happily waved back at the girl. Isfrid, however, would only glare at the three in response.
"And the students sitting at the table in front of him has red and gold armband - Scarabia colors," Trey stated as he looked over to a energic student that Y/n recognize as Kalim Al-Asim, the boy she saved from a burning butt. It seemed he was also with another student with darker hair.
"Most in their dorm are skilled at predicting things with astrology. Much like Octavinelle, their academic success is fantastic," Trey informed. Kalim looked over to see Y/n looking in his direction and beamed brightly, remembering her from the ceremony, and enthusiastically waved at her. Y/n smiled slightly and waved back over with the dark haired student smiling gently at the sight of her, despite Kalim getting most of the attention.
"Those dorms are for the smart students. They're always neck-and-neck in the academic rankings," Cater says, interrupting Y/n's little greeting as Isfrid pulled her arm done, advising her to finish her food before it gets cold. "Ah, but the current housewarden of Scarabia doesn't seem to be all that great of a student..."
"And here Cater goes, off on some tangent," Ace deadpanned.
"Ha. You learn fast. Let's get back on topic," Trey chuckled. "You see the flashy one with the purple and red armband? Those are Pomefiore colors," he says, gesturing over to the table with three beautiful students. One of them was Vil and his vice housewarden Rook and Epel.
Rook was helping Epel with his table etiquette before noticing Y/n's gaze and winked at her, making her stare blankly in confusion. Vil smiled gently over to her as well while Epel gave Rook the bombastic side-eye.
"Whoa! The girl with lavender hair, I really like her!" Grim pointed over, looking over to Epel.
"What's she doing in a boys' school?!" Deuce exclaimed in disbelief.
"You two are such morons. There aren't girls officially enrolled here except for lil' Rabbit," Ace reminded.
"WHAAAT?!" Grim and Deuce gasped, completely forgetting that the only girl here was indeed Y/n.
"Stupid! You two are stupid!" Isfrid insulted, banging his fists on the table that caused Deuce and Grim to flinch back in fear.
"....?" Epel looked over to the commotion in worry and met Y/n's blank gaze. He sweatdropped upon noticing the look her brother back him at the same time.
"Speaking of Y/n, there's a portrait in the west hall who's a real beauty. Name's Rosaria," Cater smirked at Ace, attempting to have Ace out of the rival list. "If you'd like to meet her, I'd be happy to introduce you. Maybe we can set something up?"
"A painting? Hard pass! I don't care how cute she is if she's two-dimensional when I have a real-life Lil' Rabbit!" Ace exclaimed, gesturing over to Y/n who widen her eyes slightly from the sudden compliment.
"Rabbit? A-Are you talking about Y/n?" Isfrid asked, his face turning red from trying to hold in his laughter.
"Haha, she looks more like a curious Alice to me!~" Cater smirked. "Anyway, they take vanity pretty seriously at Pomefiore. It's basically a dorm full of models. Their housewarden has 5,000,000 followers on Magicam," he informed
"Hey now, they're not all just pretty faces," Trey says. "Their students excel at both magic potions and curses. Driven by the Fairest Queen's style, they're vigilant when it comes to manners and looking sophisticated,"
"Heh heh. True dat," Cater laughed. "Next, we have Ignihyde...their armbands are blue and black, but I don't see any around here. They tend not to be the most outgoing of students. Even I don't have a single friend from that dorm. They're kind of the polar opposite of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyuls,"
"So they're gloomy and miserable?" Y/n bluntly asked, having just finished her meal and now is drinking her iced tea. Isfrid, had his head on the table, clenching his stomach with trembling since it began to hurt from his quiet snickering.
"Hey, no need to put it like that!" Trey chuckled from Y/n's bluntness.
"Their grasp on the digital and technology powered by magical energy is powerful," Trey informed. "But they've got a lot of guys in their dorm that can not handle talking face-to-face,"
"And that just leaves...Diahonyalara...or whatever, right?" Deuce asked, swallowing his food.
"I thought it was Diahonyia..." Y/n thought out loud.
"You were off to a good start, and then you rammed right into the guardrails," Ace sweatdropped at Deuce. "While Y/n just said it wrong with a straight face despite Isfrid being in that dorm. It's 'Diasomnia'," he corrected.
"I know that! I just misspoke, all right?" Deuce defended with a embarrassed blush on his face.
"Hehehe..." Isfrid chuckled as he covered his mouth, turning his head down as he used his magic to put away the dishes him and Y/n used.
"Isfrid, you're part of Diasomnia House as well, right? Besides him and Y/n...ah, look over there. Those guys in the special seating area," Cater pointing over to a balcony seating area. The group looked over to see three Diasomnia students. Ace, Deuce, and Grim immediately recognized Sebek since he was the one who dragged Isfrid off of Y/n.
"Just like Isfrid, you can tell from the neon green and black armbands. They're basically campus celebrities," Cater explained. "The vibe they give off makes it real hard for regular schmucks like us to even approach them. And their housewarden is that times a thousand...while their previous housewarden double that amount,"
"I'm right here, Cater..." Isfrid exclaimed in offense, glaring harshly at Cater who sweatdropped a fear from the temperature change, ice forming in front of him.
"I didn't say a lie, right?" Cater asked, nervously grinning as he put his hands in front of him in defense. "Without you guarding Y/n, I wouldn't have been able to even be near you,"
"There's a little kid in that group!" Ace suddenly shouted, pointing over to a black haired and pink striped student who was happily chatting with Sebek and one other student who looked a bit aloof.
"Ah, we do get some child prodigies here. But that guy there is no kid. We're in the same class," Trey stated.
"Huh?!" Ace yelped in surprise as Deuce widen his eyes as well. "Which would mean..."
"I'm a third year,"
"BWAH?!"
~To be Continued~