Twisted Wonderland the Novel, Episode 1: fan translation / summarization
Some parts I have directly translated and others I have simply summarized because they’re more or less identical to the game and 421 pages (including epilogue) is a lot to translate. The book was released yesterday, this took me 12 hours to put together and I am so sleepy.
Kuroki Yuuya: described as being a “mediocre-looking” boy with short-black hair and “the look of someone you might see anywhere without really paying any attention to—no particularly unique features and never leaving any sort of impression on anyone”. He tells Crowley that he is Japanese and from Japan, and he references his parents in internal dialogue, wondering if they are worried about where he’s gone as “they would know it’s not that he’s lost track of time while hanging out with friends, because he hasn’t any”. He is a high school student.
Smoke rises from rubble—everything around has been either destroyed by fire or in a storm, with the iron frame of what was once a window twisted and deformed like a withered stem. There is a large crevice in the ground—a wasteland. Opening your eyes you see a blue flame, and inside there is an eye, a nose, a fang as large as your head—it is a beast so large that no matter how far back you strain your neck, you cannot comprehend it all. And it is right in front of you. It turns to face you, and it roars.
Out of the corner of your eye you see something. A person. People. They wear black robes with deep hoods that cover their faces, and they are desperately shouting—something. But you can’t understand them. The beast roars again, but you cannot hear it over the sound of the quaking earth.
But you can hear the whisper of someone’s voice in the back of your mind, and it is even more intense. I—they—you—only have a little time left. Whatever you do, don’t let go—
Someone is laughing, but Kuroki Yuuya is at ease: it feels like he is floating in warm water. This is completely different from how he had felt just moments ago. Up until now he had been feeling…wait…what had that feeling been? Fear. Sadness. That’s what he remembers. But he can’t remember why. The harder he tries to remember, the faster the memory fades away. This must be a dream—that is it.
And now the voice is much closer.
“I’ve decided. I choose this one!”
If this is a dream, Yuuya wishes the voice would be quieter. This place is soft and warm. It is comfortable, as if being held in an embrace. He feels such relief to rest here with his eyes closed. He has never experienced anything like it. If he can fall asleep here, surely he will be able to have wonderful dreams. And then suddenly he is being shaken—he opens his eyes to a surprise. It is completely dark. His eyes cannot adjust, and the darkness remains impenetrable. He cannot tell if he is sitting or lying down, and his movement is restricted: he tries to bend his knees and raise his head, move his arms, but always he strikes against something—he is apparently trapped somewhere. Somewhere very small.
His comfortable embrace has transformed into involuntary restraints. As his fear begins to mount, Yuuya’s palms begin to sweat. The voice is back. “This lid is so stiff. Maybe throwing it against the wall will break it?” There are loud sounds of something striking against something else, and the shaking becomes worse, with Yuuya’s head striking against something unyielding just above and below him. What is going on?
“That didn’t work—but I’m not giving up”, says the voice.
Yuuya has to get out of here as soon as possible. The voice sounds again, just as Yuuya presses both hands forward and pushes out. “Ow!” He exclaims, landing on something hard—the ground. He feels nauseous, and like his head is spinning. He rises to his feet. A whisper of “Where is this”, echoes strangely in the room. Yuuya checks that he can move his feet and hands—everything is dark. Is it already night?
Yuuya raises his eyes, expecting to see stars in the night sky, but there is something off—what he sees is not stars or the moon, but a chandelier lit with small candles. Modest lighting for such a grand fixture. He seems to be standing in a narrow passage, but it is too dark to see where it ends. To his left and right are lines of black boxes. Hundreds of them.
They are large and hexagonal, with glossy black lids and gold keyholes. They look heavy, and large enough for a person to enter comfortably—and indeed designed for that purpose. Is this a cemetery? But…Yuuya turns his head. The coffins are floating, although he cannot see how. If they are “occupied”, this is surely a strange hobby for a person to have.
His eyes following the line of coffins, Yuuya notices one that is different from the rest: it has no lid. It is empty. It is lined in black cloth that looks silky and soft, but Yuya has no interest in touching it to find out. He glances down, and his eyes fall upon the missing lid. The occupant of this coffin—had it been him? He cannot be sure, but the look of the lining seems like it was only recently vacated. Given how he is standing immediately before it, it makes sense that he had been inside—but why?
A chill runs down Yuuya’s spine. What is this place? He wants to believe it is not a cemetery, but it is unlike any place he has ever seen. Where had he even been until now? Right—he had been at school. He remembers he’d had a headache. He had left his sixth period literature class as soon as it was over. The upperclassmen and his fellow classmates had given him the side-eye on their way to their club activities as he’d left straight for home, just like always. He’d walked through the gates of the school, and then—
Someone was calling to him. It was the same voice he’d heard in the dark. Yuuya looks around, but sees no one.
“Where do you think you’re looking? Here!”
Yuuya lowers his gaze and…a stuffed animal? Standing on its hind legs, and any closer and it might come to Yuuya’s knee, or maybe thigh height. There is a striped ribbon around its neck—it must belong to someone. There is a dim blue light glowing from its ears and eyes. It’s fluffy. Yuuya has no idea what animal it is supposed to be. Its face is too round for a dog, its body too stocky for a cat. It must be…
“I’m not a tanuki. I’m Grim!”
Yuuya gate-crashes the opening ceremony with Grim and is complimented by Crowley for “opening the door by himself”. He reflects how he had left school wearing his usual school uniform and on his way home a pedestrian crossing that was usually always green had turned red. When it turned green again he went to cross the street, heard a loud noise and woke up in the coffin, dressed in the ceremonial robes. He says all he can remember is feelings of “fear and sadness”.
Crowley introduces him to the hall as a person of great magical power, making it awkward when it is revealed he has none at all, with Crowley exclaiming that this is the first time a non-magical-human has ever been picked up by the horse and carriage. Crowley tries to use the mirror to send Yuuya home, and the mirror announces there is no where to send him because there is no where he belongs.
There is a brief interaction where Crowley has difficult pronouncing Yuuya’s name and asks permission to refer to him as Yuu. This is repeated with several characters who all begin referring to him as Yuu—Yuuya has some internal dialogue about how Japanese names must be difficult for people to pronounce in this world—but he is still referred to as Yuuya (優也) in narration. It is explained that while everyone is actually speaking different languages based on where they’re from, conversations are magically translated in real time so that it sounds like everyone is speaking whatever language it is that each person understands.
Similar to the game there is drama with Riddle putting a collar on Grim, who then runs off, and everyone realizes they forgot to invite Malleus.
Crowley takes Yuu to the Ramshackle Dorm and leaves him there, where Grim appears talks about how he’s always known that he’s destined to become a powerful magic user and he was always waiting for the Night Raven College carriage, but it never came.
It beings to rain and ghosts appear. Grim attempts to fight them and instead sets a sofa on fire. Yuuya realizes that Grim has bad aim because he closes his eyes when he blows fire, and offers to direct him.
They take out the ghosts, Crowley returns with soup and a uniform for Yuuya.
Yuuya has a dream that he is back at his old school. He returns to his classroom and his seat, but no one can see him. “A student lifts his head, looks straight at Yuuya and asks a friend, ‘Is someone there?’ The other students say no—there’s no one. He’s imagining things. The student apologizes for saying something weird and changes the subject to preparations for class—can he borrow someone’s notebook? No one else notices Yuuya. It’s not that they’ve forgotten—it’s like he never existed. Class begins and Yuuya’s seat remains empty. Yuuya feels no sadness—no resentment. This is fine. It’s fine. This is what he’d wanted. Because he has always…he’s always…”
Yuuya wakes up in the morning to the ghosts from the previous day, apologizing for their antics and wanting to be friends.
The group goes to the Main Street, the ghosts leave, Ace turns up and explains the Great Seven statues.
Ace reveals his helpfulness was an act, mocks Yuuya and Grim, then Grim and Ace fight, damaging the Queen of Hearts statue and all three are assigned to window-washing by Crowley.
When Grim and is surprised that Yuuya has never been in a fight—“How can you have never been in a fight? Friends fight all the time”—Yuuya explains he has never had a friend. The ghosts point out that Yuuya talks to Grim differently than he talks to other people—that they seem like friends.
Grim and Yuu go to fetch Ace to clean windows, but he has already left. Deuce calls to him from a window and he begins to run, so Grim, Deuce and Yuu all chase after him. Deuce drops a cauldron on his head, Grim decides Ace can do the windows by himself and runs away—all three chase after Grim.
Deuce uses magic to throw Ace at Grim and into a chandelier. Crowley announces all four are expelled—unless they are able to get a new magic stone for the chandelier from Dwarf Mountain within the day.
They reach the mountain and encounter the monster, who insists the stones belong to it and they need to get out. Ace says they should look elsewhere but there are only two hours left. Ace, Deuce and Grim get into a fight, blaming one another, and Yuuya has a small mental breakdown from the stress of listening to the fight, blaming himself for not stopping the events that led them here from happening.
Yuuya questions how it is he got Grim to listen to him when they fought the ghosts together.
They work together to distract the monster, Deuce grabs a stone and they escape. Grim eats a black stone he finds by the entrance to the cave.
They return to Crowley who had been making preparations to expel them, not believing they would succeed. After hearing the story of the monster he says he believes that Yuuya’s talent is “controlling beasts”, saying, “I never imagined I’d see the day that Night Raven College students would fight and overcome an enemy side by side, together”. Crowley explains that as people selected for their potential to become elite magic users, the students are proud, strong, self-centered and have no idea how to cooperate with those around them, and that Yuuya is an invaluable resource for the school, as someone who can get the students to work together.
Crowley announces Deuce and Ace are allowed to remain in the school and tells Yuuya that is will now officially be a student, along with Grim—the two of them in the role of a single student—and he gifts Grim a magic stone on a ribbon, as Grim “looks like he’d have difficulty holding a pen”.
Everyone parts ways, with Ace and Deuce returning to Heartlabyul and Grim and Yuuya to the Ramshackle Dorm.
Note: Yuuya is perpetually carrying Grim, either on his shoulder or in his arms.
Yuuya and Grim have their first class with Ace, Deuce and Crewel. Yuuya finds himself much more comfortable with his new classmates than he had been in his previous school, where his classmates had rejected him.
Yuuya is uncomfortable at lunch with no one sitting nearby and everyone staring, until Deuce sits next to him. Yuuya wishes he could be as unconcerned with people watching him as Deuce is.
That night Ace appears at the Ramshackle Dorm with the same collar that Riddle had put on Grim, announcing that he’s never going back to Heartlabyul.
Ace explains how he ate Riddle’s tart and got collared as punishment
Yuuya says Riddle will forgive Ace if he apologies. Ace reluctantly agrees, and insists on staying the night in Ramshackle Dorm. Yuuya is awkward about it, so Ace apologizes for bullying Yuuya earlier, explaining that he was annoyed that someone with no magical talent had reached the school by accident when he himself had worked so hard to get in. “I apologized—so you’ll forgive me, right?”. Yuuya thanks Ace for his held with the monster at the mountain and the three laugh together with the ghosts as they discuss who is going to sleep where.
Deuce arrives in the morning to fetch Ace to go apologize to Riddle before class, and Ace insists that Yuuya come along. Deuce comments that he didn’t realize that the two are so close.
They run into Cater at Heartlabyul, who gets them to help him paint roses red. Cater asks if they’re here to apologize to Riddle, and points out that, by dorm law, Ace has to provide a new tart to compensate for what he stole. Having run out of time, everyone goes to class.
In narration, Yuuya express gratitude to the teachers for doing their best to treat him like a normal student despite his lack of magic.
In the lunchroom students again avoid Yuuya, staring at him and talking about how embarrassing it is for the college for him to be here and general bullying, when Ace arrives to sit across from him with the excuse that there are no other open seats. Deuce joins him soon after and the two get to bickering, drowning out the complaints from the students at the other table. Yuuya thanks them for sitting with him.
Trey joins them at the table and it’s explained in narration that all members of Heartlabyul have to apply the clover/diamond/heart/spade make-up every day, taught to them after the opening ceremonies.
Cater joins them, Yuuya asks about the other dorms to lighten the mood, and Cater explains.
Ace complains about Riddle’s rules and Riddle appears behind him. Ace asks for the collar to be removed and Riddle refuses on the grounds that Ace clearly has no remorse for his actions. When Riddle leaves, there is grumbling amongst the Heartlabyul students in the hall about the dorm’s laws.
Cater says that Ace is going to have to provide enough tarts for everyone in order to earn Riddle’s forgiveness, and that he has an idea.
On their way to Sam’s shop for tart ingredients, Yuuya thanks Deuce for intentionally looking for them and sitting with them at lunch.
On their way back they run physically into three Savanaclaw students who pick a fight, breaking the eggs bought from Sam. Deuce violently insists that they apologize to the chicks who will now never hatch. Leona breaks up the fight, and when Deuce tries to pick a fight with Leona, Ruggie interrupts, explaining he called Leona over in the first place to help them out.
Leona and the Savanaclaw students leave and Deuce has a minor breakdown about his years in middle school, acting like a delinquent and causing problems for his single mother. After being invited to the college he had sworn off his violent past and promised he would turn his life around, leading him to become severely disappointed in himself for how he handled the interaction with Savanaclaw. Yuuya assures Deuce that he is grateful to have him as his classmate—“That’s the first time anyone has said that to me”—and then explains to Deuce how the eggs they got from Sam wouldn’t have hatched anyway.
They return to Heartlabyul and make chestnut tarts with Cater and Trey, who reveals his unique magic of making things taste like other things. Ace asks to spend another night at Ramshackle Dorm and Deuce protests out of low-key jealousy, so Trey gives them both permission to stay the night with Yuuya and Grim (Yuuya realizes this is his first-ever sleepover).
At Ramshackle, they discuss Leona and Riddle and house wardens in general, with Ace talking about his older brother. Ace decides that Yuuya doesn’t have the personality for a house warden or vice-house warden, so he should be the superintendent of Ramshackle.
Back at Heartabyul, over a dozen students have been collared for drinking lemonade with honey after 8pm. They complain to Trey of wanting to transfer dorms, and Trey promises to speak with Riddle.
In the morning Ace asks Yuuya to come with them to the UnBirthday Party. They arrive and Cater displays his unique magic of multiplying himself. Cater magically changes Ace and Deuce into their dorm uniforms for the party.
Ace presents Riddle with the chestnut tart at the party, which breaks the rule of never bringing a chestnut tart to an UnBirthday Party. Ace argues with Riddle over his rules, but none of his classmates or Cater or Trey come to his aid. Yuuya panics and fails to respond, so only Deuce supports Ace, and then Grim, resulting in all three being collared. Riddle orders Trey and Cater to throw them out. Trey assures them that he will try to get Riddle to allow them back if they apologize, and Ace declares he will never do so, as he has done nothing wrong.
Yuuya believes Ace is upset with him for not supporting him in front of Riddle and Yuuya regrets it, but before he can apologize he is interrupted by Che’nya. Che’nya encourages them to go to Trey for information about Riddle.
Back at Heartslabyul, Riddle collars a student for failing to wear a pink uniform to feed the flamingos. While leading the student away, Cater asks Trey if he’s really all right with how things are going. Trey responds that there is nothing he can do.
Trey goes to Ace, Deuce, Grim and Yuya to explain Riddle’s difficult home life, and Ace blames Trey for enabling him. Yuya apologies for not standing up for Ace when he had the chance, Ace assures him there is no problem, as he doesn’t want people to force themselves to feign support for him like people do for Riddle. Deuce assures Yuuya that the only reason he was able to stand up for Ace in the first place was because of Yuuya’s encouragement after the fight with Savanaclaw.
Crowley reveals that he has been listening to the entire conversation, and there are two options available: Ace and Deuce change dorms, or they challenge Riddle’s position as house warden. They both decide to do so, with Ace looking forward to the chance to beat RIddle’s record of having been named house warden within a week of entering the school, but they become slightly disheartened upon learning that they must beat Riddle—who discovered his unique talent at age 10—in a magic duel. Crowley explains over-blotting to Yuuya. Ace and Deuce agree to the fight and Crowley leaves to begin preparations. Trey returns to Heartslabyul, and the remaining four return to the Ramshackle Dorm.
They discuss Malleus Draconia, explaining to Yuuya that he is one of the world’s strongest magic users, everywhere he goes is escorted by multiple people and he rarely appears in large gatherings. Deuce repeats a rumor he heard that Malleus once visited Heartslabyul dorm, and all the flowers in the garden mazes wilted.
Ace and Deuce’s fight with Riddle begins at Crowley’s signal and ends in the same moment when Riddle collars them both. Yuuya intervenes, saying he is not on anyone’s side and merely wants the fighting to stop, and Riddle counters that he isn’t fighting—he is punishing—and mocks Ace’s and Deuce’s parents and upbringing. Deuce moves to physically attack Riddle, who collapses before he reaches him—having been punched in the face by Ace.
Ace tells Riddle to take responsibility for how he treats everyone around him, saying that he is an over-powered infant who blames his mother for his actions, causing Riddle to accuse Trey of betraying him and yell that his mother is always right and therefore he is always right.
Someone within the crowd of Heartslabyul students throws an egg that hits Riddle in the head. The student begins yelling about Riddle’s unfairness and rules and is soon joined by others, followed by more eggs thrown at Riddle that Trey and Cater deflect with their magic. As the abuse and eggs escalate the lawn descends into chaos that Crowley cannot control, and Riddle collars everyone.
Only Ace stands his ground, neither cowering nor coddling Riddle like the other students or Trey and Cater. Riddle enchants the rose bushes and and commands them to tear Ace in pieces. With the ground opening beneath their feet Deuce and Yuuya cannot reach Ace, who is saved by Trey, who uses his unique magic to turn the attacking plants into playing cards. Suddenly everyone is released from their collars. Trey explains his unique magic is “over-writing”—he wrote over Riddle’s magic with his own.
Riddle begins to panic, desperately trying to collar everyone around him, but all he can do is create more playing cards.
Trey tells Riddle to stop and look around him at the damage he has done, and at the frightened students. In narration it is explained that Riddle has only ever been interested in his own magic and never paid attention to what Trey is capable of. Trey asks Riddle to talk with him, but he refuses, and Ace realizes that Riddle’s magic stone has almost turned completely black. Trey’s magic begins to fade, and the rose bushes begin to come to life again.
Crowley pleads with Riddle to reign in his magic, but Riddle screams that he is always right and proceeds to overblot, transforming and suddenly standing before a creature that is startlingly similar to the monster that Deuce, Ace, Grim and Yuuya had seen at the mountain, with a glass head filled with ink. A voice that is not Riddle’s emits from the creature, saying, “There is no place in my world for those who would betray me.”
The monster begins tearing rose bushes out of the ground and throwing them wildly at students who are saved by Crowley’s magic. Crowley explains that Riddle must regain his sanity first in order to take back control of his magic and his emotions or he might die from it, while protecting fleeing students. He instructs Deuce, Ace, Grim and Yuuya to aid the teachers and other house wardens while he evacuates the students to safety.
Ace, Deuce and Grim proceed to attack Riddle with wind, cauldrons and blue fire, but Cater interrupts, reminding them of Crowley’s orders. Deuce refuses to leave Riddle in danger and Grim agrees, while Ace joins them because he wants to hear Riddle admit he was wrong. Trey decides to join them, while Cater argues that they can never win against Riddle’s magic. Trey theorizes that Riddle’s magic won’t hold out long enough for the teachers to reach them anyway, as Riddle creates a tornado of rose petals and the ice with which he had frozen students’ feet in place begins to melt, and steam begins to rise from the ground—his magic going off seemingly at random.
Trey says he can’t fail Riddle now, and he has something important to tell him. Cater declares them all to be insane, and Yuuya says that he doesn’t like fighting, but rather than run away he wants to end it as soon as possible, leading Cater to agree to help.
Riddle recognizes Trey as his betrayer and begins throwing bushes at them, while the remaining six can barely move as they no longer have Crowley’s magical protection from Riddle’s tornado winds. They are forced to hide behind a broken hedge, where Ace asks how they are to return Riddle to normal and Trey admits he has no idea.
The hedge they hide behind freezes, then disappears into dust, Riddle’s magic striking out sharply in all directions. As Riddle tries to collar them all, Trey turns the collars into playing cards at the last moment, which Riddle then sets on fire.
Riddle seems to be smiling, but his face is turning blue and he looks as though he might faint. Riddle shivers, and the monster to his back pulls him closer in an embrace, the black ink inside its glass skull dripping onto Riddle’s head. “Yes…I’m always right…I am the rules of this world!”
Dipping into the blot of the monster, Riddle smiles in relief—it would seem that the monster is not draining him of his consciousness at all.
The blot is connecting riddle to the monster like an umbilical cord—Riddle shakes his arm, and so does the monster. The monster bends backward, and so does Riddle. It is impossible to tell who is controlling who.
While Cater uses his unique magic to distract Riddle with Yuuya, Trey blocks Riddle’s attacks and Deuce, Ace and Grim attack the monster to Riddle’s back. Ace’s wind magic punches a hole through the monster’s chest, but it heals into a creeping, swollen mass—a dripping, jerking lump with a will of its own. Deuce forms the image of a river in a torrential storm in his mind and attacks the mass with water, causing it to thin out and fall to the ground but still moving on its own. Grim follows with blue fire, and at long last it disappears, the monster releasing a ground-shuddering roar.
Riddle stands there, panting, a look of anguish upon his face. “Why, why…why do you all keep getting in my way?” Looking as though he may cry Riddle turns to the safety of Cater’s arms, grasping at Cater’s neck, his shoulders, at his whole body—desperate to be saved.
“I’m right! If I’m not…what was the point of it all?”
The copy of Cater that had been standing alongside Yuuya disappears, leaving only the real Cater, where he holds Riddle in his arms. Ink from the overblot seeps from Riddles fingertips and digs into Cater’s shoulders. “Ah—“ Cater winces, but the desperate Riddle clings to him with more strength than one would think possible to contain in such a fragile body, and he cannot pull away.
The monster itself raises a rose bush in the air and throws it at Cater’s head, but Trey turns the tree to playing cards with a cry of warning, ordering Riddle to stop and cleansing his hands of the black ink with magic.
Riddle stares at his own trembling hands and asks, “Why, Trey…? I followed all the rules…”
“It’s not that. I should have told you sooner…I should have told you a long, long time ago.” Trey’s voice trembles as he faces Riddle.
“It’s my fault. That’s why I have to stop you.”
But it doesn’t seem like Riddle can hear Trey’s voice any more. Or Cater’s pleas. Or Ace’s call. Deuce’s threats. Or Grim’s rage. Or Yuuya’s yelling. He cannot hear any of them. He shrinks down, and he faces someone who is not here, and he tells them, “I can’t be wrong. I’m right. You know that…don’t you, mother?”
My mother is always right.
“Happy eighth birthday, Riddle.”
On my birthday, Mother always has my health in mind, and always brings me a specially-made cake.
“This year’s cake is to help you become smarter: low-sugar, with soy flour and nuts.”
“Thank you, mother.” Whenever I said that, Mother would smile.
She would always say that it was for my own good. She keeps me in mind with everything she says. It’s for your own good. For you.
She loves me more than anyone. So, maybe if I ask, she’ll allow it?
“But, um…just once, I would like to try a tart, with a lot of red strawberries on it.”
There is a cake shop I see all the time when we go for walks on Sundays. There is a tart there on display that looks like a treasure. It looked completely different from the plain brown cakes I always received. It was so beautiful, it didn’t even look real. You can really eat something as shiny as that? The cream looked so soft—I wondered how it would taste. And, the strawberries on top—do they taste sweet?
That’s what I said to Mother. And that’s when she got angry.
“What are you saying? That sugar-stuffed lump of candy—it’s no different than poison. A single slice would push you over your daily limit of sugar. Useless. That is not for you to eat.
My beloved Mother, who is always right.
If Mother says so, then it must be true.
Riddle’s mother prepares him a healthy dinner, quizzing him on how many calories are in his meal, and he reflects on how as long as she praises him, there is nothing else he needs, and he never asked for a strawberry tart again.
Studying magic with his mother, he becomes capable of reading complex magical texts intended for established, adult magic-users. She plans out every hour of his day, and leaves every day for a short time while he studies. When he completes all his assignments he is praised, and when he does not he is punished. Mother is always right, but recently he has been feeling strangely unsatisfied.
Che’nya and Trey knock on Riddle’s window and invite him out to play—the first friends Riddle has ever made.
Trey invites Riddle for a strawberry tart at his family’s bakery but Riddle loses track of time—his mother discovers he was skipping his studies to eat at the bakery, and tells Trey and Che’nya to leave and never come back. Riddle cries and begs to be allowed to see them, but she refuses and locks his window.
Riddle reflects on how he wants to be able to eat tarts on his birthday and play with his friends, whom he fears have forgotten him, and he never got to say goodbye.
Someone is calling me. Mother? I wonder if it’s Mother. That would be nice. If Mother ever called out to me with this much kindness, this much desperation, this much urgency—that would make me so happy. But no. I know that is impossible. But then who is it that is calling for me?
“Riddle! Riddle, can you hear me?”
There is desperation is Trey’s voice as he calls to Riddle, kneeling beside where Riddle lies upon the ground. Cater closes his hands over Trey’s where they clutch to Riddle’s shoulders and urges, “Don’t shake him like that—we don’t know what’s wrong, but you might make it worse.”
“Cater is right.” Having helped the students evacuate and now returned, the headmaster kneels alongside Riddle with a stern look upon his face.
Crowley explains they don’t know how heavy a toll that the monster took on Riddle. Ace and the others had to break down the monster little by little before it finally defeating it, shredding the final blot that had kept it connected to Riddle. The monster had withered like a flower in the end, turning into a twitching, convulsing lump that Ace and Deuce had extinguished by combining their magic—leaving only the head.
The last of the ink inside the glass head had been spit out with a loud, unpleasant sound, followed by the the glass head itself cracking and the shattering into pieces.
The ink that had polluted the surrounding area is now gone, with nothing at all remaining of the monster or its blot, and the only proof of the struggle that took place being the destroyed garden of Heartslabyul.
Trey clutches to Riddle’s hand with both his own as though in prayer—answered by a weak voice. “Nn…”
Riddle opens his eyes, and Deuce seats himself at Yuuya’s side. “Are you all right?”
Deuce slouches forward with a laugh, and Ace releases a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
Ace lectures Riddle for turning the garden into a mess, and Riddle confesses that he actually wanted to eat the chestnut tart that Ace and everyone made together. He then continues with how the roses are fine white, the flamingoes can remain pink, how he prefers honey in his tea to sugar, prefers milk tea to lemon tea and how he wishes he could talk with everyone after meals. He starts to cry as he confesses he always wanted to spend more time with Trey, and with everyone.
Trey rubs Riddle’s trembling back, Riddle having curled up against him.
“Riddle, it was my fault. I knew you were suffering and I pretended not to see it. But I finally realize how wrong I was.”
Trey takes Riddle’s shoulders in his hands, holding him firmly in place, and there is no humor in his eyes. His sincerity, his gentleness, his severity reaches everyone around them. “That’s why, today, I’ll say it. Riddle, what you’re doing is wrong. You need to apologize to everyone.”
His voice trembling, Riddle responds, “I’m sorry.”
Riddle collapses on the ground, apologizing, and Deuce helps him up again.
Ace says there is something he always wanted to tell Riddle if Riddle ever apologized, and reveals that that something is that there is no way that a single apology will make up for everything Riddle has done. Everyone glares at Ace and he announces he’ll forgive Riddle if they get to have a proper UnBirthday Party, and Riddle makes a tart without Trey’s help.
Crowley’s takes Riddle to the school nurse while the Heartslabyul students return, asking Cater what happened, and Cater puts everyone to work on cleaning the garden.
Grim finds the black stone left over from the monster and eats it.
Riddle gathers all of Heartslabyul together and apologies.
Yuuya reflects on whether or not it is safe to refer to Deuce and Ace as his friends yet, or if doing so would annoy them.
Ace and Deuce give Yuuya and Grim Heartslabyul brooches, made by Cater, and take them to a redo of the UnBirthday Party.
Riiddle’s handmade strawberry tart is salty, as he had followed a recipe from Trey that included oyster sauce as a joke.
It is revealed that Carer doesn’t actually like sweet food and is always getting Trey to magically change the taste of what he eats.
On his way home to the Ramshackle Dorm after the party, Grim meets Ruggie in the hall of mirrors. Ruggie exclaims that Grim looks delicious, and Grim escapes through the Ramshackle Dorm mirror, calling out that he should eat Deuce and Ace first.
Ruggie returns to Savanaclaw and heads to the house warden’s room to provide his report. He knocks on the door and there is no answer—as usual. Ruggie enters the room regardless to see Leona lying on a sofa, reading a book. There are clothes and bags spread all about the floor of the room.
With a sigh, Ruggie begins picking up the scattered mess and piling it all in a corner of the room. “I ran into that monster from the opening ceremonies—he was on his way back from the party at Heartslabyul. He smelled like sweet things. Savanaclaw doesn’t have any traditions that fill your belly like that, does it?”
Leona responds coldly, not once looking up at Ruggie, who has come to stand beside him. “Parties on sunny days with cakes and cookies? I loathe them. But besides that.” Leona looks up at Ruggie for the first time since the hyena entered his room.
Ruggie nods and exclaims, “Leave it to me! Everything is going well, hehehe.” Ruggie’s shoulders shake as he laughs and, as if caught up by the hyena’s unique magic, Leona gives a low laugh as well.
“Everything is ready. They can drink their tea at ease, and that bastard Malleus can be as pretentious as he likes…for now.”
Ruggie hesitates, almost stepping away in response to the chilling smile on Leona’s lips. “Be prepared.”
