Chapter 1 🌹: Riddle's memories

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👑🌹❤️ ~ Riddle's Memory Lane ~ 👑🌹❤️

"Happy eighth birthday, Riddle. This year's birthday is a low-sugar recipe made with nuts and lecithin-rich soy flour to improve your cerebral function." A voice of a woman? This must be Riddle's mother. So this must be the memory of him when he was eight and who in the Archon celebrates a birthday with a low-sugar cake!?

"Thank you. But, Mom... Just once, I'd like to try one of those tarts covered with bright-red strawberries..." Little Riddle asks but immediately gets rejected by his mother: "Absolutely not! Those tarts are monstrously unhealthy. I might as well geed your poison! Even just a single slice w would exceed your recommended daily intake of sugar. Now, dinner tonight will be a tuna sauté rich in DHA and omega-3 fatty acids. Now that you're eight, your caloric intake should be... 600 kcal per meal, so don't eat more than 100g of it. Understood?" Cyno was just speechless. He knows eating healthy is good but this... Riddle's mother just takes it to a whole new level. "Yes, Mom."

As Riddle's face falls with disappointment, Cyno hesitates to act. Changing even one small aspect of history could create major ripple effects in the future and potentially damage people's memories and mental well-being. This complexity of the human mind reminds him of a scholar who proposed the Hive project. Despite Al'Haitham's immediate rejection, the scholar persisted and attracted others to the project. Cyno hopes to discuss this with Al'Haitham after the party, but for now, he finds himself brought to this current location.

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I'd always wanted to try one of those tarts with the bright-red strawberries. The local cake shop had them in the window. They shined at me like forbidden jewels.

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The scene suddenly changes when the eighth-year-old Riddle sits at a study desk with a big pile of different kinds of magic books in front of him. "That's enough classical magic study for today. Your homework is to read the first fifty pages of the Philosophy of Language book referenced in today's magical philosophy texts. You may now have one hour of independent study before your potion-ology lesson." Isn't this a little too much for a kid? "Yes, Mother." Riddle replies obediently, his mother then continues. "I need some time to prepare the lesson materials. I will see you in one hour, okay?"

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I was studying every possible subject, scheduled down to the minute. When I didn't understand something, the lesson was extended until I did. That was my "normal".

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Riddle was in the middle of doing his homework when he heard a knock on his window. He quickly shifted his focus to the new scene before him: "... Is someone knocking on the window?" It was Trey and Chenya: "Whoa, he heard us!" Trey says. "Hey, come play with us!" Chenya says making Riddle startle a little bit. "Who are you?" Riddle asks. "I'm Chenya, and that's Trey. Let's all play croquet! Oh, but it's LOTS of fun!" Sounds fun but Riddle refuses them: "I can't. I'm supposed to do independent study, and I have a lot of homework to do."

"'Independent study' means you pick what to do, right? My grandma says play is a form of study!" Chenya says. "Just play with us for a little bit!" Trey agreed. At last, Riddle agrees: "... O-okay... Just a little, though!" Trey then asks: "Hey, what's your name?" Riddle introduces himself in a shy tone: "R-Riddle. Riddle Rosehearts."

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