Cater explains that what Riddle ate as a child was strictly managed down to the gram by his mother, which we see in a flashback where he is instructed to not eat more than 100 grams of a tuna sauté. While it is never stated explicitly, this strict calorie tracking possibly resulted in Riddle’s smaller statures: he has a voice line of, “When I came here, I bought a slightly larger gym uniform assuming that I would grow taller, but..”
It seems that child-Riddle was particularly intrigued by strawberry tarts that his mother compared to poison, refusing to allow on even on his birthday, and his mother’s strict rules against tarts are possibly what led to his present-day love of tarts: in a flashback his mother presents him with a low-sugar birthday cake of made with nuts and lecithin-rich soy flour to improve cerebral function while, in his dream, his mother reserves him an entire tart for his birthday every year, and Riddle’s birthday voice line of, “The Queen of Hearts’ Rules state that you may eat whatever you like and speak freely on your birthday. Isn’t that grand?”
When encouraged to try a strawberry tart on his own as a child without his mother knowing Riddle reluctantly agrees. He says, “That first bite was so sweet. It tasted like nothing I’d ever eaten before. With each bite I became more entranced…and completely lost track of time.”
Discovering that Riddle has broken her rules about his diet Riddle’s mother forbids him from ever seeing Trey and Chenya again, bans both of them from their home, and says, “Clearly, you’re not able to handle the freedom of independent study. I need to keep a closer eye on you.”
Despite having collared Ace and ejected him from Heartslabyul for breaking the “No chestnut tarts at Unbirthday Parties” rule, following his overblot Riddle confesses, “I really wanted to eat the chestnut tart.”
In his dream Riddle offers free a captive Trey if he will promise to make tarts for him as his loyal retainer.
Riddle has a voice line about being able to make a perfect strawberry tart on his own one day, another line about Trey making him a lemon tart, and another about needing to get a slice of strawberry tart immediately after one is brought out for his birthday on the excuse that he does not want to keep others waiting.
Riddle’s personal history with tarts possibly contributed to making Ace’s theft of Book 1 even more unforgivable than a usual rule infraction, with Cater saying that Riddle “always looks forward to having the first slice of a tart.”
Riddle reacts to Trey bringing a strawberry tart into his dream with, “That tart is intended for me, yes? That means it’s mine now! Don’t you DARE eat it without my permission!,” and it seems he loves the Clover family’s strawberry tarts even in his dream, with Riddle having a slice of tart twice a week.
In addition to tarts, Riddle serves the guests of his dream with chiffon cake and butter cookies baked by his mother but the cake is hard and dry, while the cookies are mealy and not sweet. Trey whispers, “This is made with soy flour and okara powder. Whatever sweetener this is isn’t white sugar, either. And it’s way below what a recipe would call for,” and Ortho says, “If I were to speculate, this might be a representation of what kind of sweets the mother from Riddle’s memories would make.”
Riddle says that, if he had the freedom to go anywhere he liked by broom, he could go to a local farm near his hometown that he once visited as a child where his classmates had enjoyed ice cream but he did not, as his mother had forbidden it.
Riddle has a voice line on how dressing up reminds me of parties that he would attend with his parents that offered cakes that “always looked so appetizing,” but no comment on if they actually were, so it is possible that he had not been allowed to taste them.
Riddle being raised on a diet with strict calorie restrictions is a significant part of Trey’s dream. Trey explains, “Riddle’s so different from how he used to be. He eats whatever he likes and has as much of it as he wants. It makes me truly happy,” and, “Riddle’s changed a lot now that he’s spent time away from home. Now he eats anything he likes, in whatever volume he wants…it makes me feel good to see him eating up, and growing into the person he is now.”
In Riddle’s dream he serves his guests cups of tea that “all have five sugar cubes and lots of milk and honey!,” but in reality he seems to be still restricting his diet to suit his mother’s rules: during the Stitch event he refuses to try shaved ice for possibly the first time in his life, saying, “Mother told me I shouldn’t eat food made from ice because it’s bad for one’s digestion.” Still living with the consequences of having once eaten a dessert out of his mother’s sight, Riddle refuses despite Ace and Floyd encouragement (“Why would you care about that on a deserted island? Not like she’s gonna know!”)
During Trey’s dream of Book 7 a darkness-Riddle saying, “Mother can’t watch over me here. Why should I care one whit about recommended allowances?,” contributes significantly to awakening Trey.
In order to get around Riddle’s mother’s restrictions on his diet Lilia freezes and shaves entire fruits instead of ice, which Riddle accepts, saying, “I’ve never had such a thing before.”
Riddle also stops eating during the school’s Halloween party, insisting that he consumes his recommended caloric intake every day, without any excess or deficiency.
Cater says that Riddle disapproves of Heartslabyul’s students eating too much at their Unbirthday Parties (“Since it could spoil our dinner”) and Trey says, “Riddle strictly adheres to recommended daily nutritional allowances” and “Riddle strictly follows nutritional guidelines.”
Riddle disapproves of what he hears of Idia’s diet, saying, “The human body requires specific nutrients, which you should consume in carefully measured quantities to avoid excesses or deficiencies.” (Jamil: “That’s just extreme in a different way.”)
When asked when he usually eats at the school Riddle responds, “I order the cafeteria’s blue plate specials. They have professionally crafted nutritional balance which fits my criteria. On days when we have tea parties, I calculate a day’s worth of nutritional requirements and tailor some buffet offerings to fulfill them.”
When asked if he has had anything particularly good Riddle recommends the school’s meat pie.
Epel explains Halloween parties in his hometown by saying “Basically, we’d all just pick at the giant platter of food my grandmother made,” and Riddle responds, “You all ate from the same plate?! So there was no set single serving size?” Epel says, “Everyone just ate as much as they wanted. That’s all there was to it,” and when he invites Riddle to visit one day Riddle silently reflects, “I would have no idea how to conduct myself at a party like that.”
Despite his strict calorie-counting there do seem to be times when Riddle will take seconds, such as during the first NBC event when Trey uses his unique magic to make a soup made by Sally taste like strawberry tarts.
During the Stitch event Floyd refuses to give Riddle seconds of their meal until he compliments the cooking and Riddle reluctantly concedes, saying, “I can’t believe I had to humble myself before Floyd…but it’s so good!”
After Idia mentions a hamburger place in town Riddle says, “I can’t say l’ve ever seen the appeal myself..” (Idia: “Yeah, you wouldn’t, would you?”), but he also has a voice line about trying fast food for the first time in his life.
Riddle’s home in his dream of Book 7 includes a living room with walls covered in family photos, and Riddle says, “We just didn’t have enough room to fit everything on the walls, so we stowed some of the bigger pictures in trunks.”
He explains that the photos are “family memories,” and the characters describe seeing pictures of Trey, Chenya and Riddle swimming together, a summer vacation trip that they went to with Chenya’s grandfather than Riddle’s and Trey’s entire families, and Trey, Chenya and Riddle carrying buckets overflowing with Halloween candy.
But Trey reveals that none of the scenes in the photos ever actually happened, they are false memories that Riddle invented for his dream world, and Riddle will occasionally reference the things that he has never been allowed to do through his childhood.
He says that having his own birthday party is new for him, and says that Trey and Cater once surprised him him with party poppers and “an odd hat,” which was his first time having such “a boisterous time” on his birthday.
Riddle was also forbidden from any form of entertainment whatsoever as a child, with one exception: crossword puzzles. (He says he started creating them on his own at one point with the intention of giving them to Trey and Chenya, but as he was also forbidden from seeing them he now has a collection of over 3,000 puzzles.)
During his third birthday interview Idia comments, “Only Riddle Rosehearts could’ve made it this far in life without ever engaging with a single shred of entertainment,” and during Book 6 Riddle says, “Forget about a game console; I didn’t even have a TV at home.” He tries to refuse Ortho’s offer of a video game in accordance with his mother’s rules (“My mother told me video games are addictive and can hurt academic performance”), but Idia ultimately goads him into playing. Riddle performs very poorly during his first attempt at a video game, with Idia saying, “I’ve never met ANYONE who didn’t know what the Up button was!”
Despite living on an island Riddle says that he had never seen a real ocean before coming to NRC (Jack: “Riddle’s just been standing at the shore for a while now. Has he never hung out on a beach before?”).
Riddle says that the trip to Fleur City for the Glorious Masquerade event was his “first real trip abroad,” and during the event he seems to realize that this is something he and Malleus have in common, with Malleus saying, “I’d never experienced living in a place with so many people before,” and Riddle responding, “I have some idea of what your upbringing must’ve been like.”
Riddle says that his only experience wit the outdoors is club training camps, but he has plans to attend a summer camp at his mother’s suggestion: a lakeside camp in the Queendom of Roses that is actually a study group held from morning until evening (Ace: “Do you have to camp out by a lake for that…?”).
During the Lantern event Riddle reflects on if the Princess in the Tower had obeyed the witch masquerading as her mother despite her boredom with her day-to-day life and her yearning for the outside world because she hadn’t wanted to make the witch sad. At the end of the event he declares that the whole reason he took the plunge into the outside world was adhere to the rules as the housewarden of Heartslabyul.
Riddle says he has never needed to familiarize himself with “meaningless” folktales or fairy tales (“Look, I just don’t have time to indulge in fictional tales that don’t come up on tests!”), and when asked about movies and novels he responds, “l’ve never had much interest in watching or reading escapist fare. Ah, but I have read a great many autobiographies. By the time I was your age, Ortho, I was already reading medical dictionaries.”
Ortho says, “You know, there are studies that show consuming entertainment media is essential for well-rounded emotional development,” and Ruggie adds, “You know it’s bad when Ortho—who I remind you is a robot—is worried about your emotional growth.”
Riddle is not pleased, saying, “While I may not be up-to-date on popular culture, l’ve read all the classics that are foundational for a literary education. Treasure hunting? Adventure? There’s no point in bothering with stories that have no lesson to learn,” but as he was never permitted any form of entertainment as a child it is a little unclear if he is sincerely uninterested in “escapist fare” or if he is repeating information from his mother (Ace: “Is that all you are? An extension of her? Can’t you think for yourself?”), and Ortho sets up a light puzzle that might prove the latter: Riddle is delighted, saying, “Puzzle-solving is clearly nothing to sneeze at! And the heart-pounding rush of anticipation right before you opened the box… I’ve never felt this way before!”
Ortho says, “It just goes to show that everyone should indulge in a moderate amount of entertainment. It’s like my brother says, ‘The more you try to wean yourself off your hobbies, the harder it hits when you grow up.’”
Riddle demands an explanation from the ghosts who kidnapped the students and sent them on a hunt for mirror fragments throughout the spectral realm and the ghosts respond, “We thought you’d like solving puzzles, escaping enemies, and going on a grand journey. We set it up to be an escape room!”
Riddle responds, “I’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED AN ESCAPE ROOM BEFORE! If I had, I know I would’ve caught on immediately! I can’t believe I fell for it…” (Ruggie:” I bet Riddle’s gonna be up all night workin’ through that one.”)
When asked how his family celebrates Halloween Riddle says, “My household wasn’t overly concerned with holidays, so we didn’t do anything in particular. In fact, I wasn’t even allowed to walk around outside on days like this. I was a little jealous of kids who could dress up and go trick-or-treating.”
When asked how Halloween is celebrated in his home town Riddle says that “children usually gather in the plaza and have a party, or so I hear,” explaining that he has never participated himself and therefore is not well-informed on what happens, but he is aware of bobbling for apples. Riddle explains how the game works and says that he has only ended up getting wet, which seems to confirm that he has attempted the game himself, although we do not know what the circumstances were as he has said he has never participated in Halloween festivities prior to NRC.
During the Stitch event Riddle mentions having never played with fireworks before, saying, “I must admit, I’m in unfamiliar territory when it comes to leisure or recreation.”
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 