After what felt like an hour (though you know it was only a few minutes), you finally finish painting all the roses. You're now trying to mop the paint off of Pecharunt and Ogerpon, who got into a fight and are now both covered in paint. Ace is begrudgingly helping you, you already returned all of your Pokémon back to your Pokéballs (though Grace, Chompers, Chile, Bangbang, Moonstone, Pecharunt,  Poni, Walking Wake (for some reason, they just wanted to stay), and Sweet Apple have all elected to stay out), and Deuce is panting- his hands on his knees- and trying to catch his breath from how quickly you all had to run around and paint the roses.

"Well... this is going better than before." Deuce wheezes out.

Cater looks around all the work that has been done, nodding in satisfaction. "Looking good! Oooh, it's almost time! Okay, all you sexy body doubles, that's a wrap!"

You cringe internally at that, keeping a polite smile on your face, as all of Cater's doubles salute. "Aye-aye, Cay-cay!"

You stare in surprise as all of Cater's clones disappear, leaving just the real Cater.

You shake your head and finish mopping off the paint from Poni and Pecharunt, as Cater walks over to Ace and Deuce (which includes you since you're directly beside the boys, though Cater is obviously focusing on Ace and Deuce).

"You two also need to get ready." Cater says, gesturing at Ace and Deuce. "How do you expect Riddle to forgive ya if you don't dress to impress?"

Ace looks down at his school uniform in confusion. "What's wrong with this?"

Cater waves off Ace's question. "Oh, nothing. But Riddle has a strict dress code so you have to up your game." He grabs Ace and Deuce by the shoulder, essentially dragging the two boys away and into the main building. "Be back in a moment, Y/N!"

"Okay!" You say, before sighing "...I'm concerned for whoever Riddle's significant other is." You comment, and Grim scoffs.

"Like anyone's sane enough to actually love him." Grim crosses his arms. "I'd be concerned if anyone did."

You shrug. "You never know, Grim. You really don't, because people are very weird."

"Myah. You're right about that." Grim scoffs a bit.

"...wait, you're a cat and this is a formal event..." You realize. "And none of us are dressed in the appropriate outfit. Oh no, we need to leave before we get collared. I'm not into that... I think, I never tried it but still."

"Hench-human, I'm not a cat!" Grim angrily responds. "I'm the great Grim!"

"Well, you really look like a cat, Grim." You sigh, shaking your head.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" A voice behind you asks.

You look back, seeing Trey approaching you. You press a hand to your raging heart, startled by how he seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Holy Arceus, you are very stealthy when you want to be." You comment. "You startled me."

Trey laughs, adjusting the rim of his glasses. "You scare too easily."

"You got that right." Grim sniggers in response to your startled expression.

You blink when you notice Trey's new outfit. Now he wears a mostly white jacket with a yellow trim, an unbuttoned black vest, and a white undershirt. His right sleeve is black, with his left sleeve is a black-and-white checkered pattern. The sleeves are rolled up to just beneath the elbows, and Trey has black fingerless gloves on. The lapels of the jacket are heart-shaped with one black and the other red. Two yellow cords hang from his left shoulder strap, and a white rose is on his left lapel, halfway colored in red paint. His pants are white with yellow stripes running down the outer seams. Trey also has a white fedora on, with a yellow-and-black striped band around it and a black club-shaped pin.

"Myah..? Even you're needing to wear some fancy outfit?" Grim looks a bit confused, and you sigh.

"No one told us we needed to wear a special outfit... also, Grim's a cat. I don't think either me, Grim, or my Pokémon are really allowed to stay..."

"Not a cat!" Grim speaks up, annoyed.

"No issue." Trey says with a wave of his hand as he pulls out his magical pen. "Anyways, I'm fairly certain we can believe Grim when he says he's not a cat. And I can fix the outfit issue... Paint the Roses!"

Glowing sparkles surround you, Grim, and your Pokémon like some kind of magical girl style transformation, and you blink in surprise as your outfit changes.

Now, you wear a sky blue colored midi dress, the skirt a white-and-black checkered pattern, with a white apron over the dress with a soft red lace around it. You now have elbow length, fingerless black gloves on, and your hair is tied back in a black and red bow-shaped ribbon. Your usual sneakers have been turned into black dress boots. You also have a white rose-shaped pin on your chest, half colored in paint in a similar fashion to Trey's.

You twirl about a bit, smiling. Grim and all your currently out Pokémon have little accessories on, mostly pins of white roses half-colored in red paint, but Grim's bow has also been exchanged with a black-and-white checkered pattern and he has a little top hat on between his ears of a similar pattern and color, a red ribbon wrapped around it.

"Oh. My. Arceus!" You breath out. "I love it! All of you guys look so adorable! Thank you so much, Trey!"

"It was no problem." He responds, looking amused as you scoop up Chile by his upperbody and spin him around excitedly, fawning over all your Pokémon and Grim looking all stylish now.

It doesn't take long for Ace, Deuce, and Cater to return. Their outfits are similar to Trey's, except without the hat or gloves. Deuce has a black vest on, while both Ace and Cater have red vests on.

"Myah! Those are some fancy looking duds!" Grim comments, looking a bit impressed. "I mean, you obviously are both better looking and better than them, hench-human, since you're the only one worthy of being the great Grim's hench-human! Mya-ha!"

You giggle at Grim's sort-of compliment, amused. Cater wraps an arm around Ace's shoulder- who immediately looks annoyed- and grins. "These are Heartslabyul dorm clothes. Aren't they fierce? At the forefront of fashion, and they look great on Magicam."

"Get off!" Ace pries himself away from Cater, before noticing you and his eyes widen. Deuce also looks stunned.

"One of the Queen's rules mandates formal dress on party days." Cater says, looking impressed by your outfit, but less stunned than the other two boys. "As a show of kindness from a beloved mentor, I helped coordinate those two's outfits. Your's looks great as well, Y/N!"

"Woah..." Deuce breaths out, his face beet red. "Y- you look great, Y/N!"

Ace grins at you. "Lookin' sharp, Y/N."

"Aw, thank you, you three!" You say, genuinely flattered. "But those ten look way better than me." You say, gesturing at Grim and your Pokémon.

Cater comes over to you and grabs you by your free hand, pulling you and leading the others to where other students are lining up on each side of the main door to the dorm itself, leading the others to join the line. "Now, let's tear this party up! And don't forget to give Riddle the tart."

"Got it." You and Ace say in sync, and you hand the tart to Ace and give him an excited thumbs up.

The other students standing lined up stand at the ready, but you notice the one across from you is... sleeping standing up? The person next to them is frantically elbowing them with their elbow, trying to wake them up.

You'd help, but feel unable to move out of the line and assist the two, hoping neither will get in trouble.

"All hail our leader, the red sovereign himself... Housewarden Riddle!" All the students say in sync, and you ignore as Ace rolls his eyes.

You watch as Riddle steps out of the dorm, his arms crossed behind his back with a serious expression on his face. His dorm uniform looks similar to the other student's dorm uniforms, outside of a white cape with a red underside draped across his shoulder. He also has a small, golden crown perched on the top of his head that you really want to wear yourself because you think it's adorable. What really gets your attention is when you realize he's wearing high-heels.

Damn, he looks great in heels. You physically struggle to walk in heels yourself, so you're impressed.

"We salute you, Housewarden Riddle!" All the students say in sync, saluting at Riddle. Ogerpon also follows suit, saluting at Riddle herself.

Riddle stops and observes everything with a glance. "Hm... The garden roses are red, the tablecloths are white... this is a proper Unbirthday indeed. Is there a doormouse asleep in the teapot, as there should be?"

"Of course." Trey replies with a nod. "And, should it become necessary, we've also prepared the jam to spread on his nose."

You and Moonstone share a confused glance, wondering what the hell they're talking about.

"Very good." Riddle resumes walking, before he notices you standing there and freezes. Immediately, every other student goes tense at seeing the Housewarden pause and approach you.

You look up from Moonstone to see Riddle walking over to you, his surprised expression quickly changing to a pleased smile. You smile in turn, immediately glad he isn't upset at your Pokémon being here. Oh, and you, you guess. Honestly, as long as your Pokémon are happy, you're happy.

"Welcome, Y/N." Riddle greets you. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I'm glad to see you could attend my Unbirthday." He bows slightly, taking your hand in his own and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it. You immediately figure this is just a gesture of goodwill to you, and nothing more... right?

You note everyone around you (outside of your friends, of course) breathe a sigh at relief at Riddle not being upset with your attendance. You keep your smile at Riddle. "And a very merry Unbirthday to you, Riddle. I'm glad to attend. Please forgive me for bringing my Pokémon with me, as I take them wherever I go."

"There is no issue." Riddle responds. "As there are no rules against "Pokémon" attending an Unbirthday party, they are welcome to stay. And..."

He keeps a grip on your hand and leads you- slightly confused- to a seat beside what is obviously Riddle's seat at the head table. "As a guest to our dorm, you may have the honor of sitting beside me."

"I- thank you, Housewarden." You say with a slightly embarrassed smile. You don't get a chance to try to convince him to let Ogerpon sit in your place before Trey steps up and pulls the chair out, gently moving you to sit before sliding the chair back in.

You smile a bit as Trey sits at the other side of Riddle, and you bring Ogerpon to sit in your lap. The little Pokémon looks excited to sit at the table, and your other Pokémon approach to relax around you on the table. However, you realize there isn't enough room for all your Pokémon at the table. Immediately, you plan that- after the formalities, of course- you'll let Ogerpon sit at the table and eat on the floor.

Ogerpon deserves the world, so the least you can give her is letting her sit on the table. The precious baby deserves so much better than what she got.

Cater and Deuce sit at the table as well, and Ace stands a bit off to the side in an awkward way, waiting for his opportunity.

Riddle stands up from his chair- which looks a bit like a red-and-white throne- and holds up a teacup. "Before we begin the croquet tournament, let us make a toast."

Everyone else holds up a teacup, including you and your Pokémon (some students were nice enough to provide your Pokémon with teacups as well). "On this most significantly inauspicious of days, I bid all in attendance-" Riddle looks at you and you smile at him in response- "A very merry Unbirthday."

"To a very merry Unbirthday!" Everyone replies, relaxed that everything seems to be going well.

Everyone settles down and peacefully chats. You look over at Ace and motion with your head for him to take his chance. Ace seems to realize what you're implying and nods, walking up to Riddle.

"Uh... Housewarden, sir." Ace speaks up.

Riddle pauses and looks over at Ace, immediately looking a tad bit annoyed. "Ah, it's you. The tart thief."

Ace winces. "Yeah, so, I wanted to apologize for eating the tart. We made you a new tart to replace it."

"Hm? What kind of tart is it?" Riddle asks, looking slightly intrigued. You give Ace a thumbs up, realizing the situation is going well.

Ace perks up, looking relieved to see Riddle interested as he presents the tart. "I'm glad you asked! It's a chestnut tart, and- I swear- we weren't stingy with the chestnuts."

Riddle immediately glares at the tart, and you feel your smile fade into a look of dread as everyone slowly pauses and looks over in fear. "A chestnut tart?"

Ace's grin disappears. "What..?"

Riddle stands abruptly from his chair, slamming his hands into the table and making everyone go silent. "The Queen of Hearts's rule 562: One must never bring a chestnut tart to an Unbirthday tea party. This is an utterly flagrant rule violation! Do you understand what you've done? You've ruined an otherwise perfect unbirthday!"

Deuce looked as surprised as you, though you're a bit more horrified "Rule 562?"

"Just how many rules are there?" You ask, amazed. "And how do you manage to remember them all, Riddle?"

Riddle looks over at you, slightly pleased with how you seem impressed (which you are, even though you memorized every single Pokémon type strength and weakness). "There are 810 rules in all. And, as Housewarden, I can of course recite each and every one of them."

Carter seems worried. "Wow, T-I-L... This could be bad. Trey, were you aware of this?"

Trey only shakes his head, looking worried. "I was only able to memorize the first 350 or so. Well, we really botched this one. Big-time."

Riddle slams his hands on the table, turning his full anger back to Ace and losing any semblance of joy he got from when you were impressed. "As Housewarden of a dorm established to honor the Queen of Hearts's rigor, I cannot ignore this. Destroy the offending tart immediately! Then throw these rulebreakers out of the dorm!"

Ace scoffs, starting to get angry. "Whoa, hold up! Is that one of your rules too?"

"Yeah!" Grim speaks up. "If you want the tart gone, let me eat it!"

You stand up quickly, gently holding Ogerpon in your arms (who's worried herself). "Woah, woah... everyone, please-"

Trey puts a hand to Riddle's shoulder, trying to calm him down as well. "Housewarden, allow me to apologize. I was the one who suggested making a chestnut tart."

Carter stands up from his chair with a hand to his chest. "I was a part of that too. We had no idea there was a rule about it!"

Riddle only glowers. "The making of the tart is not the issue. The issue is bringing it here. Today. That is the transgression!"

"Riddle, please." You gently grab Riddle's hands, trying to divert his attention away from being angry at Ace. "We're deeply apologize with making the tart, we spent a long time working on it and don't want it to be put to waste."

Riddle's eyes widen slightly. "You helped make this tart?"

You nod quickly. "I wanted to help fix the issue where Ace was... himself, and stole a slice of tart. No one meant to make this mistake."

"Yeah!" Ace jumps in, annoyed. "All you do is cite one stupid rule after another! You sound totally foolish!"

Riddle freezes, his hands tightening on your own as he slowly looks at Ace with a steadily more enraged expression. "What did you just call me..?"

"Everyone, stop!" You yelp out, stepping betwee Ace and Riddle before they start fist-fighting.

Cater quickly pulls Ace away from the table. "Don't dig this hole any deeper! And Riddle, please try to remember that these are new students who've only been here a few days!"

Ace shrugs off Carter, looking pissed. "Nah, bro. I've got a shovel and I am digging. Throwing away a tart to obey some insane rule is about as foolish as it gets."

Deuce stands up and moves beside Ace. "I agree with Ace. Of course, I understand that rules do need to be followed, but... this is going much too far."

Riddle moves to stand in front of you, sending the duo a death glare. "Are you attempting to debate me? Bold move. But I'll bite." Riddle places a hand on your shoulder, and you die internally at being brought into this. Why? Why is he touching you now? "By breaking even the smallest rule, you are throwing wide the gate to anarchy."

Ace gives Riddle another glare before facing the rest of the watching students. "Everyone, I know you're afraid of getting your magic sealed away, but you know this is insane, right?"

The Heartslabyul students only look away. Not willing to face the housewardens wrath.

Riddle quirks an eyebrow, looking amused. "Well? Isn't it?"

"Far from it, Housewarden Riddle, sir!"

"We trust in your judgment, sir!"

Ace glared at the gathered  and scared students. "You spineless, fair-weather cowards!"

Riddle smiled smugly. "In the year since I became housewarden, not a single student from Heartslabyul House has dropped out or been held back a year. We are the only house that can boast such a feat. Furthermore, of everyone in this dorm, I have the best academic standing. Hence, I am the most correct! If you would simply obey me without question, we wouldn't need to contend so."

Deuce took a step forward. "Look, we-"

"It's not off with their heads because I want to do that. I do it because rules must never be broken." Riddle cuts Deuce off, looking annoyed.

Trey silently watches the scene unfold, a frown forming on his lips, and you're facepalming. Riddle continues. "If you will not obey me, then I will have all of your heads!"

Carter steps in front of Deuce and Ace. "Okay, let's all say: Yes, Housewarden Riddle."

Deuce glares at Riddle over Cater's shoulders. "I can't."

Riddle's eyes narrow as he freezes. "What was that?"

Ace steps around Cater and next to Deuce. "I don't bow to self-important tyrants!"

Riddle took a threatening step forward. "What did you just call me?"

Grim climbs up onto Deuce's shoulder. "He called you a tyrant for wantin' to destroy good food just 'cause you're throwin' a tantrum!"

Deuce took a tentative step back, realizing what's about to happen. "Guys, I don't think we need to escalate this-"

"Riddle, no-" You start, but you don't get the chance to finish as Riddle pulls out his magical pen.

Riddle waves his pen, looking furious. "Off with your heads!"

A familar heart-shaped collar appears on both Deuce and Grim's neck. Grim tries desperately to pry it off with his paws.

"No! Not the collar again!" The cat-monster yowls out.

"Trey! Cater! Eject them from the premises!" Riddle orders. "Yes sir, Housewarden."

Deuce takes a step back from the approaching dorm mates, panicking. "Y-you're supposed to be our mentors!"

"Sorry, but we can't disobey our housewarden!" Carter says sadly.

Trey nods in an unfortunate agreement. "Sorry..."

Ace glares at Trey and Carter, looking ready for a fight. "Oh, that's how it's gonna be? Then bring it on!"

Trey says nothing as he and Carter force Deuce and Ace out of the dorm grounds. They lock the golden gates, keeping them out.

"We'll T-T-Y-L, folks." Carter halfheartedly waves.

"We'll try to calm Riddle down, so maybe he'll let you back in the dorm after you apologize." Trey tries to reassure, yet Ace only glares back. "I will NEVER apologize! Not to that numbskull!"

And with that, the three start walking away. You immediately take a step forward to follow after them, but Riddle sets a hand in front of you. "You, Y/N, weren't part of the aggression. You're allowed to stay."

You smile apologetically. "Sorry, Riddle. I can't just let my friends run off and get in further trouble. Thank you for the offer- Oh dear, Walking Wake! Leave the... what's that thing?"

A student looks over from the tablewhere the several students are leaning away from Walking Wake, who's staring at something on the table intently. "Uh... Peach cobbler?"

"Peach what-now?" You ask, curious. "Hm... well, Walking Wake! I just figured out your nickname! So that's one good thing that came out of this... still, come on everyone!"

Riddle seems a bit panicked at you needing to go. "You really shouldn't  associate with troublemakers like them, though..."

You chuckle sheepishly. "Probably should tell you, I'm a bit of a troublemaker myself. I shouldn't be here. I'm sorry, Riddle. Thank you, seriously, but goodbye."

You nod politely as Riddle watches you as you collect your Pokémon back together and walk away, silently wishing for you to change your mind and come back, not believing for a second that you're actually a troublemaker.

Though, when you wave goodbye at the group and step through the mirror back to the main campus, he can't ignore the sinking feeling in his chest.