That night, Serena was so tired she didn't even need a mask to sleep. She had a weird dream about cards painting the roses red... wait, that was that scene from Alice in Wonderland! Why was she suddenly dreaming that? She hadn't seen that movie in years!

She woke up, and for a moment she wondered where she was. Then she heard a knock on the front door. Grim also woke up from this. He decided to sleep in Serena's room because apparently, the bed in her room was softer? He also mentioned something about Naomi talking in her sleep.

It knocked again. Groggily, Serena got up to check who it was and Grim followed. Naomi had also woken up and was already downstairs when Serena and Grim arrived. They opened the door to reveal Ace, with a heart-shaped collar around his neck.

"I can't go into my dorm anymore! I'm moving to Ramshackle!" Ace declared angrily, clearly pissed about the collar. Grim recognized it as the same collar that was put on him at orientation.

"Hold up! It's 3 am, slow the fuck down..." Serena grumbled. They moved to the parlor and sat on the couch. Then Ace explained how he got collared: He went to the kitchen for a midnight snack and found three big tarts. He took a slice, and that's when the dorm leader came in and got angry with him for eating his tarts. As punishment, he collared him, which effectively cut off his magic.

"Can you believe that guy? Flippin' out cuz of a damn slice. Those were three big tarts!" Ace complained. Serena and Naomi shared a look.

"Have you considered that the tarts were for some sort of event?" Naomi suggested. "Yeah, perhaps a birthday? Or a bake-sale?" Serena chimed in.

"Seriously?! You're taking his side?!" Ace huffed indignantly.

"Dude, you stole food! Of course he was pissed!" Grim exclaimed.

"However..." Serena said. "I do agree that the punishment doesn't really fit the crime. Maybe you can apologize to him tomorrow? He'll probably have calmed down by then."

Ace grumbled, but agreed. Anything if it meant getting the collar off. "Anyways, can I crash here?" He asked. Grim informed him that other than their rooms, all rooms were covered in a pile of dust.

"Nah, I ain't cleanin'... Serena, can I slip into your bed? I don't take up much space." Ace grinned, but Serena blushed and slapped him. "Absolutely not, you pervert!"

"OW! I didn't mean it like that!" Ace complained. "Naomi, what about you? I promise I'll be good!"

Naomi's face was stoic but firm. "I took an oath of celibacy. I suggest you use the couch."

"I'M NOT LIKE THAT!"

Ace did settle for the couch. The others went to bed again. In the morning, Deuce came by to check on Ace and also told him that the dorm leader was still mad. Ace groaned, but they still headed to Heartslabyul so he could apologize. On the way there, Grim loudly teased him about being collared despite Serena's attempts to make him shut up.

But more importantly, she noticed that Naomi's steps were much heavier than yesterday. It was hard to see on her dark skin, but she was bruised badly from the hit she took yesterday.

"Naomi, are you okay?" Serena asked. Naomi nodded. "It's just a few bruises. I can handle it."

"Honestly, I'd rather have you see a doctor. Just in case." Serena said, but then remembered: Neither of them had health insurance in this world. This was bad... What if they got sick? Who knew what kind of illnesses there were in this world? Illnesses neither of them were vaccinated against. And what if Naomi's injuries were worse than she let on? She could be playing it off because she also knew she couldn't pay the bills.

"You can go to the infirmary later. They can give you a healing potion and then you should be good to go." Deuce said. Healing potions... Serena wondered to what extent they would work. Could they heal anything?

"Thanks, I'll go there later." Naomi said. Serena was relieved they weren't completely without healthcare, though the infirmary likely couldn't handle more serious injuries.

They arrive at the mirror that leads to Heartslabyul, which was decorated with playing cards and roses, as well as two heart-shaped spears above it. They stepped through the mirror. Heartslabyul was beautiful, with a giant, castle-like building and a huge garden. Compared to this, Ramshackle looked even more like a dump.

They notice a ginger boy in the garden painting the roses red. Serena suddenly remembered her dream... was that a prophetic dream or something?

The boy introduced himself as Cater Diamond, a third-year. He was very chipper and laid back. Cater recognized Ace and Deuce, for eating the tart and destroying the chandelier respectively. He also recognized the Ramshackle squad, commenting on how they now lived in "that dump".

"Thanks." Serena said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying! Beauties like you two shouldn't have to live like that."

Serena sighed. What's with all the flirting? First Ace and now Cater? If everyone was gonna treat them like that, they should've pretended to be guys, after all. Naomi seemed indifferent to it.

Cater then asked them to help him paint the roses red. When they asked what for, he answered that it was for the unbirthday party tomorrow.

"What's an unbirthday party?" Grim asked. Cater was about to answer when Serena spoke up instead: "It's when it's not anybody's birthday!"

"Correct! Do you have unbirthday parties in your world, too?" Cater said. Serena shook her head. "No, I just... read about it in a book." Serena said. It wasn't even a lie since she did read the original Alice in Wonderland.

They then decided to help Cater out, during which he explained the tradition behind painting the roses: For an unbirthday party, the roses must be red and the flamingos must be painted in seven colors. However, the roses must be white for the garden flowers spring concert... apparently there were singing flowers? Serena should really stop questioning things.

Then, a boy with a colorful uniform approached them. His vest looked like a patchwork of all the dorm's vests, his hair was half pink and half gray and he wore a little tophat on his head. "I see you're working the freshman, Cater~" The boy chirped. He was carrying a roll of fabric on his shoulders casually.

"Ah, you're Felix Hightop!" Deuce recognized the boy. "You're infamous for finding loopholes in the Queen of Heart's rulebook!"

"Glad to see my reputation precedes me! Nice to meet you all!" Felix said, then eyed Serena and Naomi. "Those uniforms... Are they out of the lost-and-found?" He asked bluntly.

"Is it that obvious?" Naomi asked back with a sigh. Crowley did indeed just give them some random uniforms, and they didn't really fit. For Serena they were a little tight around the belly and Naomi's hands practically got lost in the sleeves.

"Oh dear... The least Crowley could do is make sure they at least fit somewhat!" Felix sighed dramatically. "Y'know what? I'll make you proper uniforms! Meet me here after class."

"Wait, really?!" Naomi and Serena exclaimed, stunned. "But, uh... we can't exactly pay you..." Serena added.

"That's okay! I've been wanting to make something other than fix-ups for a while now. Consider it a welcome gift." Felix shrugged it off.

"Thank you. We really appreciate it." Naomi said and bowed to Felix. Felix waved them goodbye, heading to the mirror. When Ace wanted to find Riddle to apologize, Cater told him he needed a tart to replace the old one. And without it, he couldn't get in. They were effectively kicked out of the dorm, and then they had to rush to class because the first bell already rang.