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

🥀 Chapter 44

"Happy eighth birthday, Riddle."

Y/N blinked up at a dark ceiling. Her aching body cried out as she tried to move and she groaned as she did so, trying her hardest to ignore the protests of her limbs.

'What happened,' she thought as she got to her feet. The room she was in appeared to be simple, and Y/N was somewhat startled by how clean the room was. Compared to Ramshackle, which was probably the easiest to compare it to, it made her dorm look like a pigsty. There wasn't even any dust on the windowsills!

Y/N took a step forward and ran her hand along the shining table, finding some joy in being able to feel something. But that still begged the question, where was she?

"Your birthday cake this year is a low-sugar, high lecithin cake made with soy flour and nuts."

Y/N was startled when she heard the voice. Standing behind her was a dark silhouette of a woman. It seemed like she was nothing more than a smoky image, but apparently, even shadows could have a rigid spine.

The shadow of a little boy appeared in front of the woman and Y/N watched his feet shift around nervously. It looked like he was fiddling with the edge of a pair of gloves.

"Thank you, mama. But, umm, I..." The little boy looked around and for a split second, Y/N wondered if he could see her.

"Just once, I really want to try a tart covered in bright red strawberries."

The woman nearly stumbled back in shock and Y/N frowned. What was wrong with a little boy wanting some sugar? And a low-sugar, high lecithin cake with soy flower and nuts did not sound like the sort of cake that Y/N would want for her birthday, not that she remembered when it was. She would much prefer having one of the tarts that Trey made. Judging on how the Mont Blanc was, Y/N knew that Trey would probably make divine cakes.

"How could you say such a thing?! That pastry is a mound of sugar that's more like poison!"

'Ridiculous,' Y/N griped, glaring at the shadow.

"One slice will exceed your ideal daily intake of carbohydrates," the mother continued. Y/N made a strangling motion at the mother with her hands.

"Today we're having a tuna sautee with plenty of docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acid."

'And you expect the kid to know what on earth you're talking about?!' Y/N was getting more and more frustrated by this woman the more she listened.

"But at age eight, your ideal caloric intake is less than six hundred calories per meal so don't eat more than one hundred grams. Okay?"

The little boy nodded and as the image in front of Y/N faded, she heard him say, "Yes, mama."

'Poor kid,' she grumbled.

The room disappeared and faded to white, and Riddle appeared in the distance. Y/N was tempted to run to him, but as soon as she took a step, she smacked straight into a glass wall. She reached out and patted it, trying to find some way to get past the barrier.

She watched, helpless, as Riddle collapsed to the ground, his fists clutching at the ground.

"For so long..."

Y/N pounded the glass when she heard Riddle's voice. "Riddle! Riddle let me through!"

"... a strawberry tart was what I wanted to eat. In the cake shops around town, they're on display in the window... tarts that look like jewels."

Riddle disappeared and was replaced with the scene of the young boy and his mother. Y/N had managed to put the pieces together and knew that she was watching young Riddle and his mother. Y/N suddenly understood everything that Trey and Che'nya had said about Riddle's life growing up.