Rose-Red Loverboy

V

TW: this chapter includes some gore. If you're uncomfortable with gore or gross descriptions of injury, skip from lines "overblot" to "he may..." and you should be fine!

"YOU SHUT YOUR SPOILED LITTLE MOUTH!"

Everyone seemed to flinch at his idiotically loudmouthed proclamation. But before anyone really had a chance to react, a heavy-handed punch landed square on Riddle's face. Riddle Stared at him in disbelief and shock, not being able to react as quickly as he should have due to the surprise of the situation.

"Riddle?" Trey and Cater spoke in unison, running over to Riddle to make sure their Housewarden and friend was ok, and the Headmaster shared a similar sentiment.

"Bam! Right across the face!" The small cat creature cheered, not at all being able to read the room. He truly was an idiot.

"A-Ace?"

"That's all I can take. Forget Riddle, Forget the duel. I'm done."

The entire garden seemed to still, even the wind wasn't strong enough to blow through the grass and leaves, or to scatter petals onto the pristine ground. The silence seemed more deafening than any sound.

"That… That hurt! Youâ€" You p-punched me?!" His voice was startled, still lingering with the same disbelief, although it was weaving in with anger at the audacity of his subordinate's actions.

"Kids aren't trophies for their parents to flaunt. And the accomplishments of a child aren't determined by the worth of their parents.It's not your parents' fault you became a tyrant - or anyone else's. You've been here a year and haven't even made a friend who will tell you you're outta line. And that's on you." Ace's words were more sensible than {y/n} had really expected, especially since he seemed pretty worked up, even if it wasn't compared to how upset Riddle was getting. It seemed that those words had hit him deepâ€" he knew exactly what he was doing when he said them.

"What are you even talking about?" Riddle's own tone was more aggressive in comparison, even if there was the overlying confusion in his words.

"Yeah, maybe you had some rigid upbringing from a relentless helicopter-mom. Is that all you are? An extension of her? Can't you think for yourself? You call yourself the "red sovereign"?" It was starting to sound more like some drama show plot, but at the same time Ace wasn't exactly wrong. "You're just a baby who's good at magic."

A couple different students gasped out at the sheer audacity of the freshman's words, and Riddle's face was as red as his hair at that point. If it was some kind of cartoon, steam would be coming from his ears.

"Baby...? Did you just call me a "baby"?! You don't know anything about me! You don't know anything about anything!" To say he was getting worked up would have been the understatement of the century. He looked like he's about to loose his own head

"Nope, sure don't. And I don't need to. Your attitude tells me all I need to know - that you're nothing but a spoiled brat!" The argument seemed like it was about to get physical any second now, and the two were practically at each other's' throats. Ace punching Riddle again seemed very likelyâ€" that was if Riddle would allow him to get that close to him again.

"Shut up, shut up, shut UP! My mother was right! And that means I'm right too!"

"Riddle, calm down. The duel is already over." Trey was trying to mediate everything, but everyone was too worked up to listen to his voice of reason.

"Mr. Clover is correct. The challenger has been disqualified due to physical violence. If you do not cease your conflict now, I'll have you written up for breaking school rules!" Even the deadbeat of a headmaster was trying to calm down Riddle before he lost his own head. The threat of breaking rules.  But things only seemed to derail further.