Though they had left the unbirthday party, they stayed somewhere in the rose maze to cool off. (Y/n) had to sit down to cool her head. She remembered that her family always told her that kombat should be a last option, but she still drew her weapons out. She felt so ashamed, but Ace's screaming cut off her thinking.

"Rrrgh! I hate that little ginger megalomaniac! Does he think HE'S the Queen of Hearts?" Ace ranted angrily as he paced around. "Banished by the housewarden from my own dorm... My dream of becoming an honor student is slipping further and further away..." Deuce slowly fell to his knees in defeat. "Stupid collar! It's so tight! Grrr..." Grim tried to get the collar off. "Oh, if Mother and Father saw me draw out my weapons first, they'd be so disappointed." (Y/n) mumbled.

"You're really racking up those collars. Quite the impressive collection." A floating head appeared in front of them. Everyone screamed in fright. Grim quickly leaped into (Y/n)'s arms. "Myah! A ghost head!"

"Oh dear. It seems I'm not all here." Turns out it was a boy around their age. He had short, choppy purple hair with his bangs cut in a curve, as well as three bobby pins pinned to the bang on the left side of his face. He has a pair of purple cat ears with a piercing of a speech bubble containing the word "up" in his left ear, as well as three arrow piercings in his right ear. He has yellow eyes with slitted cat pupils. He wears a baggy white shirt over a striped purple t-shirt and blue pants with a purple belt that has the sentence "Do you stand on your head?" printed on it.

(Y/n) smiled at the boy. "Amazing! You have a similar ability as Syzoth. If he were here, he would be thrilled!" The mysterious boy smiled back at her. "Thank you, purretty lady!"

Ace and Deuce quickly pulled (Y/n) back next to them. "What? Er, so you do have a body, then? Who are you?" Deuce narrowed his eyes.

"The name's Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. Am I a cat? Am I a purrrson? A mimsy borogove, perhaps? A mome rath with a knack for magic?" The boy gave a spin before he bowed. "Uh, look, Ar... Arte... Run the name by me again?" Ace tried to repeat the name. "Heh heh. People usually just call me Che'nya. Let's just say I'm not from the other side of the looking glass." Che'nya chuckles.

(Y/n) noticed that Che'nya's uniform is different from Ace and Deuce's. She thought he must be from another down. "Forgive me for asking, but what dorm are you from?" She asked. "Why don't you try to guess?" Che'nya grinned as he moved closer to her. Grim placed his paw to his chin before he smirked in confidence. "Oh, I know! He's got animal ears, so he's gotta be from... uh... Bananaclaw, was it?" Che'nya made a fake buzzing noise with a thumbs down. "Bzzzzzt! Incorrect. Bananas grow on trees, do they not? I, on the other hand, am a cat."

"And besides, other dorms have students with animal ears, too." Deuce adds. "After the insanity that teapot tyrant put me through, I'm not in the mood for whatever this is. Just leave me alone." Ace turned away from them and crossed his arms.

"Riddle the teapot tyrant... Heh heh. Well, I can't dismiss that perspective as wrong. He's always been quite strict." Che'nya spoke as he had (Y/n) stroke his ears. He won't lie, he liked getting her attention. (Y/n) couldn't help but giggle at him. Deuce quickly pulled (Y/n) back to her. "Do you know something about him?" Che'nya pulled (Y/n) into a hug and nuzzled his cheek against hers. "Perhaps there are things that I know, and perhaps there are things that I don't." Grim pulled on (Y/n)'s leg. "That's not an answer! And let go of my hench-human!" Che'nya smiled and finally let go of the princess of Outworld. "Is there something you wish to know about Riddle?" This got Ace's attention. "Yeah, what created such a control freak?"

"I believe his four-eyed friend may have the answer." Che'nya told. "Four-eyed friend. Are you referring to Trey?" (Y/n) asked. "He's known Riddle since we were all little boys. If you want to know more about Riddle, I would begin my quest there." Che'nya nodded his head. "They're childhood friends? I didn't really get that impression." Deuce said. "If you're so perceptive, then what are you asking me for? Buh-bye! And buh-bye purretty lady!" Che'nya's body slowly disappeared. "H-hey!" Deuce tried to stop him. "Ha ha ha ha...!" It was too late, Che'nya had vanished. "I tell ya, no one makes any sense around here." Grim spoke out. (Y/n) couldn't help but giggle at their encounter. "His ability reminds me of Syzoth. I bet he would be thrilled to know someone else holds a vanishing trick." Grim turns to (Y/n). "Oh yeah. Ya mentioned that Suzoth guy was part of that royal circle back at your home." (Y/n) nodded. "Yes, Syzoth is Mother and Aunt Mileena's emissary to the Zaterrans."

Deuce then gets everyone back on track. "Well, we're not going to be able to do much in the way of schoolwork with these collars on. So let's go see what Trey has to say, and then..." Ace joins in. "If you're gonna say "apologize to Riddle," you can forget it!" (Y/n) placed her hands on Deuce and Ace's shoulder. "Maybe it's best we find Trey outside of the dorm and get answers from him." The boys nodded with her in agreement.

At Heartslabyul Lounge, Riddle is with a student as he is interacting with one of his students. "The Queen of Hearts's rule 249: "Flamingo caretakers are to don pink attire." It was supposed to be your turn to feed the flamingos today. Why aren't you wearing pink?" Riddle questioned. "I'm sorry, Housewarden. My pink clothes were in the laundry... Please, sir, not the collar!" The student shook in fear. "This is your second rule violation. I cannot forgive a repeated offense. Off With Your Head!" Riddle then used his magic to summon a collar. The student screamed in pain as the collar appeared on his next. "Write me a 5,000-word apology and weed the garden for one week, and I'll remove it." Riddle demanded. The student begins to sob. "... But..." Riddle glares down at his student. "Do you think I enjoy having to do this?! You're the one who broke the rules! As much as I would like to, I cannot ignore these infractions. It's for your own sake. Understood?" Riddle turns to Trey and Cater. "Trey? Cater? Remove him from the premises." Trey and Cater had no choice but to obey. "...Yes, Housewarden."

Trey decided to get his mind off of everything and head to the school's library. He takes a seat and he lets out a sigh. He heard someone taking a seat in front of him. He looked up to see (Y/n) sitting down, Grim standing on the table, and Ace and Deuce standing behind her. "Hello, Trey." (Y/n) greets. "You four!" Trey nearly jumps. "We figured that if we waited at the library, you'd show up to return your tart cookbook eventually." Deuce told. "We still got a problem with the way Housewarden Riddle is handling all of this." Ace frowns. "Trey, you know how Riddle is ruling your dorm isn't right. He's ruling everyone by fear." (Y/n) adds. Trey sighs. "Yeah, I thought you might say that."

"Come clean with us. What's your take on Riddle? Is it true you've been pandering to him since the two of you were kids?" Ace questions. "What?! Who told you that?" Trey narrowed his eyes. "Someone named Che'nya. He seemed to know about you and Riddle." (Y/n) replied. "Chenya... Huh. That explains it." Trey grumbled. Grim walked closer to Trey and pointed his paw at him. "What I don't get is, aren't you older than Riddle? Why haven't ya told him off already?" Trey just shakes his head. "I do when I need to. I don't think the situation calls for it." Ace moved closer. "Why not?"

"These sorts of strict rules... They're what created Riddle." Trey answered. This confused everyone. "His parents were famous magical healers. Everyone where we're from knew their names. His mom was especially talented, and she really wanted Riddle to live up to her legacy. So, from the moment Riddle woke up to when his head hit the pillow at the end of the night..." Trey paused before he continued. "Every aspect of his life was planned, down to the minute, by the education program she made for him."

Grim crossed his little arms. "Sounds pretty lame." Then Trey continued. "What he ate, what he wore, what soap he used, who his friends were - every last detail had been predetermined for him. And to please his parents, Riddle obediently completed every task they'd laid out for him. He mastered his signature spell by age ten. He's been the top student in all of his classes.
I can't even imagine how hard he must have had it."

Everyone stayed silent until (Y/n) spoke up. "So it was his parents that are the reason he's like this now. That's terrible." She shakes her head.

"Riddle sees the enforcement of strict rules as a service to his dorm members. In his eyes, being bound by rigid guidelines - by fear - is a fast-track to personal growth. Because that's how it worked for him. And on the flip side, he sees the violation of those rules as an inexcusable offense." Trey explained more. "I guess that makes sense, since rules made him who he is." Ace agreed. "Look, I totally get why you see Riddle as a tyrant, and why you disapprove of his methods. But for me... I can't hold that against him, you know?" Trey adjusted his glasses. "Myah..." Grim's ears drooped. "So that's why he's like that." Deuce said. "...... All right, now I get it. It's YOUR fault Riddle's like this." Ace pointed at Trey. Everyone yelled out. "What?!"

"Riddle didn't get to choose his parents. But you know what his parents did to him, and you know it was wrong, right?" Ace glared. "I mean, yeah..." Trey lowered his head. "Well, now Riddle's making the exact same mistake that his parents did. You're going easy on him because he had it rough as a kid? Don't you see where that's leading? You're letting him make a pariah out of himself!" Ace exclaimed. Trey didn't say anything. He looked ashamed of what Ace said. "Ace, maybe there was a reason why he couldn't help Riddle." (Y/n) tried to reason but Ace shakes his head at her in disagreement. "Ace, man, come on..." Deuce tried to keep the peace. "So why don't you say something? Are you just afraid you'll "lose your head" too? That's pathetic! You guys are supposed to be childhood friends?! Then act like it." Ace yelled out.

From behind them, Headmage Crowley pops out from another bookshelf. "You there! Be quiet! You are in a library!" Grim covered his ears. "You're yellin' louder 'n any of us, though!"

"Oh!" Headmage Crowley cleared his throat. "Yes, my apologies. But let us strive to maintain the library as a quiet place for reading."

"We apologize for the noise Headmage. But why are you here?" (Y/n) asked. "I'm researching methods to send you back home. Precisely as I promised I would. Oh, but I AM gracious! And the library is, of course, an ideal place for serious research. It's not as if I came here just to secure the newest book in that popular series of novels. No, certainly not." Headmage Crowley nervously laughed as he put some books back on the shelf.

'This man is a liar.' (Y/n) deadpanned in her thoughts.

Headmage Crowley cleared his throat to change the subject. "Incidentally, what are you all discussing with such grim faces?" Deuce stepped in. "Well, since you asked..." He then explained everything that happened to the Headmage.

"Ah... I believe I understand the situation." Headmage Crowley stroked his chin. "You are resistant to the idea of apologizing, but unable to devise any other method to get the housewarden to remove the collar."

"Yeah, pretty much." Ace clarified.

"I see. If you and the housewarden are truly unable to reconcile, you could always transfer. However, this is the dorm that the Dark Mirror chose for you based on the essence of your being. Any attempt to relocate would necessitate quite a burdensome process, as well as a new ritual." Headmage Crowley explained. "A transfer, huh...? That'd make me feel like I was running away with my tail between my legs." Ace declined the offer. "Hmm. Then it sounds like you should challenge Mr. Rosehearts for leadership of the dorm." Headmage Crowley suggested.

"WHAAAAAT?!" All the students screamed out.

"Lower your voices! This is a library!" Headmage Crowley scolded quietly. "But what you said was...insane!" Ace whispered back. "There is nothing remotely "insane" about it. After all, that's how Mr. Rosehearts got the position." Headmage Crowley explained. "What exactly is the process by which housewardens are selected at Night Raven College?" Deuce asked. "Trey said that Riddle became housewarden within his first week as a student here." Grim added. "There are several ways. You could be appointed by the previous housewarden, for example, or duel the current warden and win. A duel is certainly one of the simpler methods." Headmage Crowley explained.

"But doesn't the rules prohibit students from fighting?" (Y/n) questioned. "In general, yes. A duel initiated through a formal procedure and conducted in the presence of the headmage is another matter entirely." Headmage Crowley answered.

"I'm pretty sure the duel rules don't allow for preemptively handicapping your opponent...So this could be a way to force Riddle to remove your collar without apologizing. That said..." Trey spoke up. "The right to challenge a housewarden is bestowed upon all students when enrolling at Night Raven." Headmage Crowley turns to Ace. "So what do you say, Mr. Trappola? Will you challenge Mr. Rosehearts?"

"Sure, I'll give it a shot!" Ace agreed. "Then I will too." Deuce joined in. "Me three!" Grim raised his paw. "I can help too!" (Y/n) stood up from her seat. "I'm afraid not, Princess (Y/n) and Mr. Grim. You both cannot challenge a housewarden of a dorm to which you do not belong." Headmage Crowley explained. "Myah?! Then how'm I supposed to get this buzzkill collar off?!" Grim pointed at his collar. "I was hoping to help in someway." (Y/n) frowns. "If I become housewarden, I'll just order Riddle to remove it! Easy-peasy!" Ace pointed at himself. "How will everyone know how tough I am if you do that?" Grim pouts. (Y/n) grabs hold of him. "Don't worry, maybe next time." Grim just shrugged his little shoulders before he climbed onto hers.

"Are you sure about this? I certainly didn't expect you to throw your hat in the ring, Deuce." Trey questioned. "You didn't? I think every man's gotta make a grab for glory at least once in his lifetime. And if we're teaming up to take him down, ya better believe I'm running the show!" Deuce smirked. "Oh man, here we go again." Ace rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Huh? What'd you say?" Deuce jumped. "Enough, you two." (Y/n) warned them. "Then I'll get started on the paperwork." Headmage Crowley said.

"If we're going to do this, then we must come up with a plan. I can teach you both some kombat just in case." (Y/n) offered. "For sure. Anyone got any good ideas?" Ace agreed. "Hmm. Hard to imagine we can beat Riddle with straightforward magic. A solid left hook, on the other hand, whatever (Y/n) can teach us." Deuce gave a confident grin. "Yeah, that guy looks like a pushover!" Grim smirked. "Ah, did I forget to mention that detail? These duels are to be fought solely with magic." Headmage Crowley added. "What?!" Deuce's eyes widen. "Looks like kombat skills are out." (Y/n) frowns.

"Ha ha ha! Nothing beats a good, civilized duel! Now, the paperwork should be prepared and filed on the morrow, and the duel scheduled accordingly." Headmage Crowley laughed.

"Aight, let's do this! I may not be the world's greatest mage, but...I'll figure something out!" Ace exclaimed. "That's the spirit!" Deuce joined. "My head's on the line here, so don't mess this up!" Grim points at them. "I have faith in both of you!" (Y/n) smiled as she placed her hands on their shoulders. "You guys..." Trey shakes his head at them. "When I'm housewarden, I'm gonna make Riddle fess up to bein' wrong. I'll make him apologize, too! And no one in the dorm is gonna have to live by any crazy rules ever again!" Ace proclaimed. As (Y/n) smiled at them, she suddenly felt a chill go through her body. She had a feeling that something might go wrong at this duel. She just prays to the elder gods that she was wrong.

(Hello, everyone! You guys still have time to vote for (Y/n)'s Kombat attire because, in the next chapter, it will be revealed! I hope you all enjoy my story!)