[Discontinued*] The Darling Princess [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

🥀 Chapter 47

So Ace had declared that in order for him to forgive Riddle for the tart fiasco, that Heartslabyul had to have a sort of revenge Unbirthday Party. Ace had decided that his birthday was too far away for them to have a birthday party for him, and no one seemed like they wanted to argue with the angry freshman, so Riddle relented and agreed to make an apology tart without any help.

"You know, you had help on your tart," Y/N muttered to Ace as they left the infirmary. Riddle was talking with Trey, most likely apologizing for how he had treated Trey and the rest of Heartslabyul for the past few years.

Ace flushed at Y/N's accusation and suddenly found that he couldn't meet her enchanting e/c eyes. But when she looked away, smiling like the sun, Ace found his attention wandering back to her profile and he silently admired her. The sun was perfect at this time of day and seemed to bring out the pure beauty that shone from every curve of her face. Her luscious lips were sitting pleasantly, parted the slightest bit in a placid smile, her hair flowed around her head, and her eyes shone in the light. 

"Ace?" 

The boy jumped and quickly looked away from the girl, pretending to admire a portrait that was hung a little way down the hall. He desperately hoped that his hair was covering enough of his face to avoid her seeing his flushed state.

"Y-yeah?"

"Can I ask you why you don't want to forgive Riddle?"

Ace wasn't prepared for that question. But on second thought, he wasn't sure that he was prepared for any question that she asked him. Especially not after he had been staring at her, though he would never admit it.

"Um..." He had to think about why he didn't want to forgive Riddle. He hadn't even really thought about it like that. "Is that what it seems like?"

Y/N had never heard him speak this quietly before and she nodded. "Yeah. You've given him such a hard time lately."

"Well I have only known him for a week," Riddle muttered, pouting slightly.

"Ace. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, because it's not my place to pry, but you have to know when to speak brashly, and when to hold your tongue." 

She placed a hand on his bicep, making him freeze where he stood. His feet were rooted to the ground, and his eyes froze on Y/N's hand on his arm. 

"There's nothing wrong with speaking your mind, Ace. I do it plenty, at least from what I can remember." She laughed a little and Ace felt himself relax a little. "But maybe there was a way that you could have said those things that wouldn't have been so harsh."

Ace wanted to get mad at Y/N for criticizing the way that he spoke to Riddle, but he knew that she was right. He had been extremely brash with the way that he had spoken, with little to no regard for how his words might affect the sensitive dorm leader. Maybe it was a good thing that Y/N had taken Riddle away to the infirmary when she had. He might have shot his mouth off more if she hadn't, and who knows where he would be then. Probably with yet another collar around his neck.

"Riddle is wanting to change some things around the dorm," Y/N said as they resumed walking. 

"Really?"

Y/N nodded a small smile on her face again. "He said that he'll try to be a little more lenient with the rules and treat them more like guidelines rather than rules." She turned to face Ace again. "Just be patient, okay? Things like this take time to heal, and he's been through a lot as a child."

Ace nodded mutely and lowered his head to the ground, feeling somewhat ashamed for the things that he had said. He hadn't ever really felt this way before. He didn't like it.