Book 1, Chapter 28

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Days later, with permission from Crewel, Crowley, and the nurse, Yuu now stood, watching the familiar scene as a red-head marched gracefully forward, his head held high.

"All hail our leader, the Red Sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!" A Heartslabyul student gestured toward Riddle, giving a quick bow before returning to the ranks.

"We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!" The boys all recited perfectly as Riddle Rosehearts now stood among them, face adorned with a charming smile as the group of students applauded.

"Hm. The garden roses are red, the tablecloths are white... This seems a proper unbirthday indeed." Riddle examined, reaching toward the teapot. "Is there a dormouse asleep in the teapo-"

He froze, pulling away as if he'd been burned. "Er, well, I suppose it's fine either way." Yuu sighed, a crooked smile of amusement and fondness creeping onto her face.

He was trying.

"Not everything has to change completely, you know." Trey informed the Housewarden with a chuckle. "Like, maybe spread the jam on your scones, instead of on the dormouse this time?"

Yuu made her way over to the two boys, listening to Trey's words.

"Let's try to set the bar at 'it's great if it's this way,' not 'it absolutely has to be this way.'"

Riddle nodded, thinking over his childhood friend's words for a moment. "Yes, that makes sense."

Yuu smiled warmly, gesturing for her two idiots to follow her lead, having finally managed to get the two to agree to treat her like a normal person. Amusingly enough, both of them still seemingly a bit bitter after Yuu had admitted that three others had figured out her pregnancy before them.

"Can you believe we got roped into cleaning up and prepping the garden again?!" Ace groaned loudly with a sigh.

"Well, at least the housewarden recovered from his overblot without any complications." Deuce said, standing stiffly beside Yuu. She nudged him slightly, gesturing for him to relax a bit.

"And, the garden is Magicam-worthy once again! Hashtag #nofilter on this gorgeousness!" Cater smiled, snapping a quick selfie of himself and a grumpy-looking Ace.

"That's a good thing, isn't it tin man?" She teased slightly, turning to face her tense friend, making Deuce blush slightly.

"I-I'm not a tin man!" He retorted, relaxing as Yuu broke into a fit of giggles.

"I know, I'm just teasing."

Deuce gave her a smile, as he pulled a chair out for Yuu in a gentlemanly sense, Yuu recalling that Deuce had quite a lot of respect for his mother. She gave him a thankful smile as Grim hopped up to her lap, practically drooling as he eyed all of the cakes.

"Blah blah blah! Let's just eat already!" He said, licking his lips as Yuu straightened his ribbon.

"Manners, Grim." She reminded the cat monster, who simply sniffed and sat up.

"And eat we shall!" Cater said, standing next to Yuu, who'd gotten the seat to the left of Riddle. "I'll get the-"

"Wait a minute!"

Yuu flinched at the sudden loud voice of the housewarden as he slammed his hand onto the table, standing suddenly, his delicate features marred by a deep frown. Yuu followed his gaze, heart sinking.

Cater turned to the housewarden, wide-eyed as his face paled slightly. "Huh?

"There's a white rose...!" Riddle called, pointing as he stood. Yuu followed suit, prepared to hold the younger boy back.

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