i know i look insane right now i KNOW i do and none of this looks like it makes sense but. please listen to me yap a little bit.
first off, cater surprisingly has a line that is the EXACT statement from Through the Looking Glass about the White King, which is “nothing to be done about” as a phrase. in the official this is simply translated as “helpless” or “meaningless and worthless” but i still beleive it applies. this is also what made me go down the rabbit hole to begin with lol
second, and much more concrete evidence, cater is represented by the four of diamonds card. we have ace (ace of hearts, one) deuce (two of spades) trey (three of clovers) cater and riddle (queen of hearts, or the red queen in this theory) but the thing is, trey’s card doesn’t aline with the ascending order of roles trend. it should be the two freshmen (ace and deuce, one and two) and then a junior upperclassman (three) and THEN the vice and head housewarden (four and five) except trey is vice and he’s three. until you take this piece of lore into account— that two years ago, when the third-years were first-years, heartsabyul wasn’t governed by riddle nor trey. riddle as a second-year wouldn’t have been enrolled yet. moreover, it makes sense riddle’s still the highest in the ranks, since he’s the CURRENT picture card, with no competition. so trey’s number in his card makes sense— he wasn’t supposed to be vice, but he is currently. but that leads into my next point, being that by his card, CATER should be the vice housewarden. he was present during heartsabyul’s “century of chaos”, as a first year, and it would only take another year until riddle overthrew the previous head.
not just this, though— kings and queens also appear in alice’s game of wonderland chess.
as a queen, it only makes sense that they’re the strongest on the board. the previous housewarden was known for their proficency in fire magic, and riddle is known for his general skill and expertise in magic beyond his years. trey being his “king of hearts” figure stood much more to the side at first as well, much like how the king of hearts is not as relevant for most of alice’s journey until the end point. despite this, i’d like to note something elss— riddle is not the queen of hearts anymore, but the RED QUEEN.
there is a difference between the two, that being the queen of hearts is an ungovernable and all-consuming fury, and the red queen is an anger that is controlled and cold and used to rule. riddle is not just an ungovernable rage anymore, but also a genuinely better ruler than before, even if just as strict with heartsabyul’s 810 rules
