This has been a bad idea. Even with all of them fighting together, even with Trey’s Unique Magic giving them a chance, Riddle was already a level above them all without being Overblotted. They were all exhausted, but Riddle was still going strong—in a rage and ready to remove them of their heads…this time much more literally than ever.

Ace and Deuce were down. Trey was falling. Grim and the Prefect defenseless. Where had the headmaster gone? Where was backup? The smattering of Heartslabyul students that could still fight were running or hiding or cowering…and Cater didn’t blame them. A part of him wanted to run and hide, too, but even he wasn’t that big of a coward. He couldn’t leave his classmates, not even when he hadn’t wanted to endorse this fight in the first place.

He could still stand.

“Wait!”

From his position as support, Cater steps forward. He holds his hands up, magical pen held in a non-offensive position. And then, with all eyes on him, Cater takes a knee. He puts a fist over his heart in a display of fealty before setting his pen on the ground before him, disarming himself.

“You’ve won more than just the fight,” he says. With a breath, Cater looks up to dare and meet Riddle’s ferocious, glowing gaze. He hopes that he looks convincing enough—infatuated even in spite of fear. “You‘ve conquered my heart, my Queen.”