Riddle and Ace

Riddle’s response to seeing Ace for the first time during the opening ceremony is “I pity his future housewarden,” and he scolds Ace for the first time as soon as Ace has received his dorm assignments, assignment, “I have no tolerance for rule-breakers in Heartslabyul. Henceforth, you will comply.” After Ace returns to his seat Riddle reflects, “I’ll have to drill basic manners into him before I even get started on the Queen’s laws.”

In contrast Ace says, “Scary little guy, ain’t he?,” and soon after decides to “sneak out for a hot minute.”

Ace chooses to take Epel with him to sneak away and is soon pursued by Riddle, with Ace hiding himself and Epel bushes in the courtyard to avoid him. An unseen Riddle says, “If it turns out they are merely playing truant, my judgment will be swift and merciless.”

Ace leaves school to go to Playfulland after being explicitly told by Riddle not to do so, and at the conclusion of the event Ace wonders, “Playful Land was committing terrible acts all over the world, and it was my efforts that put an end to that. In light of that, you think there’s any chance of Housewarden Riddle saying something positive like, I dunno, ‘Fine work, Ace’?”

Trey and Cater respond, “Nope,” and Ace goes to Vil for ideas on how to calm down an angry Riddle. Vil responds, “Own up and apologize!…The best way to earn Riddle’s forgiveness is to accept his anger head-on.”

Trey agrees with, “I think a heartfelt apology will probably work best” and Cater suggests that they all apologize as a group.

After complaining about Riddle in the cafeteria in Book 1 Ace asks if Riddle would be willing to remove his collar. Riddle refuses, saying, “I had intended to remove it once you’d taken an opportunity to reflect upon your crimes. But I’ve not detected so much as a hint of remorse in the foolishness I’ve heard you spout today. So I think I’ll let you keep that for a while.”

After removing Ace from an Unbirthday Party on Riddle’s orders Trey says, “We’ll try to calm Riddle down, so maybe he’ll let you back in the dorm after you apologize,” and Ace responds, “I will NEVER apologize!”

While debating what it is they should do Ace says, “If you’re gonna say ‘apologize to Riddle,’ you can forget it!”

Ace refusing to apologize to Riddle also contributed to Riddle’s overblot: After explaining the situation Crowley observes that Ace is “resistant to the idea of apologizing, but unable to devise any other method to get the housewarden to remove the collar,” leading to him recommending that Ace challenge Riddle for the position of housewarden.

Trey confirms that a duel is “a way to force Riddle to remove (his) collar without apologizing.”

Ace and Riddle overlap in an early vignette where Heartslabyul’s hedgehogs disappear and Riddle suspects that the last person to tend to them forgot to lock their cages without realizing it was Ace.

Ace successfully finds the missing hedgehogs, and when Riddle thanks him Ace responds, “Whoa. Wish you’d flash me that nice little smile more often instead of nagging me nonstop.” (It is later revealed that Ace did forget to lock the cages at all.)

After learning that Riddle talks to hedgehogs despite how they do not understand human languages, says it is important to “take care of them personally and build a bond rooted in trust,” and tends to them even when it is not his shift, Ace reflects on how Riddle has a soft side, saying, “Wish he’d show a little bit of that kindness to us students.” (Heartslabyul students: “Uh, aha ha…”)

On the day of an Unbirthday Ace comments, “Not only do we get to dine on fancy grub, but I can skip homework without our teapot tyrant biting my head off,” and in the garden he decides to paint only the roses in the front, as “The housewarden won’t be lookin’ at the backs of the trees.”

When a ghost guard tells Riddle he is too short to be presented to Eliza as a potential suitor during the Ghost Marriage event Ace tries to defuse the situation by assuring Riddle, “He doesn’t appreciate what a swell guy you are! Talk about a rube, am I right? Ha ha ha…”

Ace complains that Riddle “worries way too much” and calls himself “a victim of the housewarden’s tyranny” after he is collared for eating a slice of strawberry tart meant for an Unbirthday Party in Book 1, later saying RIddle’s “rule obsession is outta control” for the same reason.

With Riddle standing behind him, Ace elaborates, “Riddle’s just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole ‘rules’ schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb!”

When Jack comments “I thought he looked like a wuss, but your housewarden is one scary dude” in Book 2, Ace agrees, saying, “Mistake him for a friendly hedgehog and you’ll quickly learn he’s actually a furious porcupine.”

After Riddle seizes a flag during a game of Beach Flags in the Stitch event he goes to Ace, saying, “I got the flag! I did it! I won! Did you see that, Ace?!,” and Ace responds, “Sure did, Housewarden. Way to go!”

Ace says that Riddle would “be perfect if not for the whole ‘flying off the handle’ thing.”

After Ace helps calm down a tense situation at Heartslabyul he goes to Riddle to say, “don’t forget that I helped bail Cater out when he was in trouble, okay?,” but Riddle tells him not to flatter himself, as the entire situation had possibly been orchestrated by Cater from the start “to enlist help from outside his group.”

Riddle praises Ace to Leona at the start of the Fairy Gala IF event, saying, “you’ve never met Ace Trappola! He’s quite skilled with his hands. Why, he performed an incredible magic trick just the other day. He moved a coin from his right hand to his left in the blink of an eye. I was amazed at his dexterity.”

Riddle says, “I have little doubt (Ace will) be delighted he was chosen to represent Heartslabyul in this endeavor,” but when Ace arrives he declares, “That’s what I get for bein’ all smug and doing that magic competition!”

Jack asks about the trick and Ace says that while it was actually “amateur stuff,” he “may have gotten carried away” because “it was one of the few times the housewarden openly complimented (him).”

Ace has a voice line of, “I showed the housewarden one of my card tricks, and he was more impressed than I thought he’d be. Felt pretty great, I gotta say!”

Hearing at Ace excels at basketball Riddle says, “You must have excellent spatial awareness. I’ll keep that in mind,” but Ace responds, “You don’t have to make it sound so much like a backhanded compliment,” but after having “spatial awareness” explained to him Ace follows with, “You’re…actually complimenting me?”

After Riddle compliments Jack on improving his ability to walk in heels for the Fairy Gala event Ace interjects with, “Speaking of effort, I’m the guy who got this whole crew together. Just sayin’.”

Ace claims that he wanted to practice his unique magic without Riddle knowing because “the housewarden would nitpick if he found out,” but Cater seems to suspect otherwise, saying, “You just wanted to get a handle on it in private so you could get a bunch of props later, right?”

When the Chenya of Riddle’s dream suggests that the group let Riddle stay asleep Leona, Trey, and Deuce all refuse. Ace’s contribution is “He’s an irritable, childish, and totally inflexible tyrant, but…but…” (Cater follows with: “If someone’s gonna be in charge of the card soldiers…it’s gotta be the strongest, prickliest queen there is!”)

When the Heartslabyul students learn that they need to craft lanterns to free Riddle and Deuce from the library during the Lantern event they are reluctant, with Ace saying that he wouldn’t mind being without Deuce. Cater points out that Ace went with Trey earlier in the day to provide supplies to the library group and Ace responds, “That wasn’t for Deuce, okay?! I’d just rather not have my dorm be housewarden-less.”

Trey and Cater help the other Heartslabyul students realize that, without Riddle there to tutor them, their grades might be in danger, and Ace declares, “Who else would be enough of a weirdo to put in a bunch of work for people who never even said they needed help? Let’s make those lanterns and bring our housewarden home!,” and the rest of Heartslabyul agrees.

When Azul points out during the Tapis Rouge event that Riddle would likely enjoy “some fancy pastries” from Fleur city at one of Heartslabyul’s tea parties, Ace decides to get frozen macarons. Ace teaches Riddle a magic trick for his birthday.

Ace shields Riddle from a rogue spelldrive disc in a vignette, injuring his own hand in the process (“You almost got hit in the head! How can you stand there all cool and do a play-by-play?! …Hauugh! My hand hurts!”).

Ace scolds Leona for not sounding properly apologetic about the disc, saying, “If I wasn’t with him, our housewarden would’ve been seriously injured,” but Leona points out that Riddle had never been in any danger in the first place: “Riddle woulda batted that little disc away with his magic, no problem.”

Riddle confirms that Leona is correct, to Ace’s surprise (“I just did all that for nothing!”).

Despite being ordered by Riddle to watch over his tsum during the Tsumsted event, Ace decides to find other students in the cafeteria willing to look out for it on his behalf.

Deuce threatens to tell Riddle and Ace orders the tsum to stop him, which it does by growing larger and blocking his way: “There’s no way we’re letting you reach the housewarden.” (It is then revealed that Riddle is watching the exchange, having come to the cafeteria to check up on them.)

Ace nearly catches Deuce at the very start of Beanfest, but he and Sebek are both caught by Riddle, instead. (Ace: “Of all the people to run into, it’s my own housewarden?! Talk about lousy luck.”)

After experiencing a situation where his wardrobe was too formal but his uniform for gym class was also not appropriate to wear, Riddle goes to Cater and Ace for help with how he should dress in casual situations, saying that they later went shopping together. In Ace’s dream in Book 7 Cater is surprised by the dream-Riddle’s outfit, and the dream-Riddle says, “Ace said this was proper attire in the tropics.”

Riddle volunteers Ace as a potential suitor for Eliza during the Ghost Marriage event, but he refuses. Riddle responds, “Fine. Go back to the dorm and tend to the hedgehogs or something. I’ll be just fine with Epel here,” and, “Because unlike Ace, you possess actual bravery. Pity my dorm’s freshmen are such cowards.

You have more courage in the tip of your pinky than they have in their entire bodies. I suppose it’s for the best we don’t have any of those spineless worms tagging along. They’d just slow the rest of our team down,” as Ace grows increasingly annoyed in the background.

Ace ultimately interjects with, “You and Epel wouldn’t even get a turn if I was there!…So you just sit back and watch as I dazzle her silly!” Rook observes that Ace’s contrarian nature is quite cute, and Riddle responds, “Heh. Heartslabyul students must always be prepared to band together like the card soldiers of yore.”

When Ace asks Rook how he intends to seduce Eliza, Riddle is suspicious of his intentions, saying, “We all know you’re just trying to steal his idea for yourself.” At the conclusion of the event Ace starts flattering Idia, and Riddle seems to again suspect him of having an ulterior motive (“Why are you showering Idia with non-backhanded compliments?”).

When Riddle bring dinner for the first-year group during the Fairy Gala event Ace declares, “You’re the best! Yep, we can always count on Housewarden Riddle to have our backs.” Riddle responds, “Calculating as ever, I see.”

Ace has a voice line saying that he can’t vouch for Riddle’s temper, and reacts immediately when Riddle threats to take off his head during Ghost Marriage (“I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING”), while Trey convinces him to study for a test by telling him, “You’ll have Riddle to contend with if you fail.”

Despite disapproving of Leona’s decision to handle the Fairy Gala IF dilemma by assigning first-year students to the task, after Leona goads him by saying that Heartslabyul does not have anyone competent enough for the job Riddle volunteers Ace, boasting of his sleight-of-hand talents: “Heh heh heh. This is a prestigious job that only Ace can do…”

(Azul: “Leona just played Riddle like a fiddle.”)

Riddle assumes that Ace will be delighted to represent Heartlsabyul for the task, but Ace reveals that he’d actually tried to refuse, which had enraged Riddle (“I should’ve suspected he was gonna drop some lousy job on me when I saw what a good mood he was in”).

He ultimately decides, however, that since he would “suffer either way, might as well make sure the housewarden owes (him).”

Later in the event Riddle assures him, “I’m counting on you, Ace. I give you my word that when you return, you’ll find not a single rose has wilted in your absence.” Ace responds, “I hope you show some proper appreciation when I get back.”

After Ace invites Deuce to miss a day of school to visit Playfulland Deuce then invites Riddle, who does not approve. Ace says “Seems to me like it’d be smarter to pounce on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity than to just unquestioningly follow rules,” but Riddle retorts, “Your opinion is irrelevant; I expect you to do as your housewarden says.”

The news about the quarrel seems to spread throughout Heartslabyul and Ace reflects, “I bet a lot of these guys would easily turn me in to spare themselves the housewarden’s wrath,” but he ultimately does not do as Riddle says, choosing bribe his roommates and sneak out at night. He is followed by Trey, who has kept everything a secret from Riddle. 

During the Ghost Marriage event Riddle tells Ace that he “could at least TRY to behave like a prince,” and, “Ace looks quite the gentleman when he dresses properly. If only he’d do it more often.”

Riddle also disapproves of the way Ace speaks to him as a figure of authority (“Is that any way to speak to your housewarden? Oh, as if you would listen”), and when Ace disappears during Vargas Camp Riddle says, “I’ll need to instill a sense of Heartslabyul propriety into him…again.”

Ace stands up against Riddle in Book 1, refusing to transfer dorms despite the situation because “That’d make me feel like I was running away with my tail between my legs.” Instead Ace chooses to challenge Riddle for the position of Housewarden, punching Riddle physically in the face after losing the duel.

Ace’s rebellion seems to inspire the rest of the dorm to turn on Riddle. Ace refuses to retract his insults and Riddle orders rose trees to tear him into pieces.

Ace is saved by Trey, while nearby Heartslabyul students exclaim, “He was really gonna do it!”

Despite the threat to his life Ace refuses to run even after Riddle overblots, saying, “I’m not givin’ up till I hear him say ‘I was wrong and I’m sorry.’”

Ace ultimately gets his wish, only to say, “One stupid ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t even come close to making up for what he did!,” and demands a do-over for a recent unbirthday party, telling Riddle to make a tart on his own without any help from Trey. “Do that, and then things are square between us.”

Ace stands up against a very different Riddle in Riddle’s dream of Book 7, insisting upon talking about Riddle in the real world despite Riddle himself not wanting to listen:

“He’s absurdly strict on both himself and others. He stays at the top of his class in both magic and academics. He’s way ahead of even the people in other dorms. Isn’t that cool? A leader needs to be strong. I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?”

Riddle says “None of those things are any fun at all!,” and Ace retorts, “Well, it’s not like I’m having a ball talking with you right now either.”

Ace standing up against Riddle again in a deeper level of his dream, using Riddle’s own unique magic upon him, contributes significantly to Riddle finally awaking. When Riddle is being dragged down into an abyss Ace and Deuce both refuse to release him, with Riddle having to order Trey and Cater to take Ace and Deuce away in a parallel to when he had them eject the first-years from Heartslabyul in Book 1. 

Later Riddle says, “…I know I caused trouble for you in my dream. I’ll do everything I can in this upcoming battle to redeem myself. And I expect the rest of you to give this fight your fullest effort as well.” 

Much like refusing to accept Riddle’s apology at the end of Book 1, however, Ace asks, “…What? That’s it?” Telling Riddle,

“The knowledge that it would all be over if we failed to stop you was so awful, my palms were sweating and my legs were shaking. Do you have any idea how terrified we were? When Deuce and I were trying to pull you up while your dream was collapsing, how do you think Trey and Cater must’ve felt when you ordered them to take us and go? And then we didn’t know where you even were for hours after that! ‘Causing trouble’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. Don’t you have anything else to say to us after all that?!”

Ace starts to cry and Riddle responds, “I’m, ah…not certain what words would be the most appropriate at a time like this, but…” and he thanks Trey and Cater for putting in so much work every day on his behalf, but Ace tells him, “You’re missing the point again!”

Trey tells Riddle to praise the first years, and Riddle tells Ace, “You never fail to surprise me. The card I held so confidently turned to something else in the blink of an eye, Ii was like a sleight of hand trick!…It’s a spell all your own, fit for someone as deceitful and conniving as you,” congratulating Ace of acquiring his unique magic. 

Riddle then follows with, “Ahem! Just remember, acquiring a spell is only the beginning. I expect you to apply yourself to practice along with Deuce, so that you can employ this powerful new secret weapon of yours at just the right time…that is all.”

Ace is not impressed, saying that when Ortho was crying “Trey and Cater were way nicer to him, and they complimented him too! THAT’S the kind of thing you should brush up on once you wake up, not technomantic engineering!”

Riddle responds, “Th-that’s rather vague…How should I go about doing that?”

Trey and Cater point out that Riddle was “trying pretty hard just now in his own way” and Ace himself said “Who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?,” but Ace responds, “Sure, it’d be weird if our housewarden offered gentle encouragement to his underclassmen…but still!,” and Cater asks if Ace is jealous of the head pats Ortho got from Trey.

Ace responds, “Wrooong! I’m not even a LITTLE bit jealous! It’s just, you and Trey and Cater are all in Heartslabyul, so…don’t you think you oughta dote on us more than anyone else?!”

(Cater: “Head pats all around!”)

In Book 7.5 Ace reflects on how he was able to use his newly acquired unique magic to take Riddle’s spell so easily, and Ortho says there is likely a logical reason behind it: with Ace’s unique magi, the more data he has the higher his odds of success will be and, after being on the receiving end of Off With Your Head so many times, he was extremely familiar with it.

Riddle says, “From what I’ve been hearing, you seem rather proud that you stole my magic from me. But I’m not so soft that I’d leave anything of mine up for grabs once I know it can be stolen. Don’t let one success go to your head. Continue to apply yourself with diligence,” but then begins to laugh.