TIME PASSED BY and today is now winter break in arlanta and all students are allowed to go outside to explore the city. the four decided to go to a cozy café where they can just relax and be warm.

"it's a bit boring don't you guys think?" antanasia spoke in a bored tone as she put her feet on top of the table. the blue-haired lady sighed as she spoke. "your highness! put your feet down, that's unladylike of you." akari scolded her for acting unladylike outside where there's a lot of people that might see her.

antanasia chuckled a little by this as she spoke. "you're acting like a mom right now, kiki." she teased her lovely friend. but then, they both heard their other friend spoke. "nas, are you even a princess? because you don't act like one sometimes." royin said as he savoured his tea.

nas pouted a little by this. "my apologies." she sarcastically remarked as she continues speaking. "but i'm not even in the palace so i do not care if i don't act one. i mean, i just want to be comfortable with you guys because i thought that you won't judge me for trying to loosing up with my friends." nas explained to them as she sighed.

somehow, this made royin feel a little bad for what he said to her. as he was about to speak, he was cut off by ijekiel. "aren't you going to be the next heir in the obelian empire your highness?" ijekiel asked the princess.

"hm? why yes, but dad is not that old yet so i can still enjoy my life as what he said to me, and also, please call me nas since we're friends now, aren't we?" she smiled at him as he nodded in response while blushing for a bit.

"but then again, don't you think that you should study how to become an empress? so that in the future you already know what to do." akari said to the princess as the boys agreed on what she said.

nas scoffed at this. "you guys are acting like my parents right now, and to answer your question, i know what i'm doing so please, stop acting like you guys know everything." she huffed as she turned her head on the window.

the three felt bad especially akari as they went a bit too far. they completely overstep their boundaries as they forget that antanasia has the highest rank between them and they also almost forgot how identical she is to the emperor despite not having blond hair like her father. "ehem, i apologize for overstepping, your highness. i forgot my place as your friend and as one of your people." akari spoke in a sincere voice as nas sighed.

"no need to apologize." antanasia said as she felt a bit bad now that she got mad at them so she decided to change the topic. "by the way, royin?" she called the ravenette as the lad looked at her. "can we go to your house? i'm quite curious where you live." royin was a bit shocked by this since he didn't expect that someone would be curious about where he lives, especially for someone who's a princess.

he finally composed himself as he replied. "well, i don't know. my home is not big like a mansion nor a palace, so i'm not sure if you high ranks people will like it," royin said as he looked away at her.

ijekiel chuckled. "i'm also quite curious about where you live, so is it alright if we go to your estate?" ijekiel asked him as he smiled at the lad.

royin thought about it for a second as he sighed. "sure, i guess... " the three smiled at his answer.

"oh! we can invite lady valkyria if you guys want." akari suggested as antanasia looks at her friend as if she's crazy. she scoffed. "that grape girl? i would rather stay in the dorm if she ever joins us." antanasia spoke as she crossed her arms.

akari groaned. "come on, at least you two will get to know each other."

"still a no."

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AFTER HOURS OF trying to convince antanasia, she agreed to her friend's idea and they got out to the café to go to valkyria's dorm.

"no." valkyria said as she shut the door.

"see? she doesn't want to come so let us go now and leave her alone." antanasia smiled at them as she started walking away.

"no! i mean, we can try again. " akari knocks again this time it wasn't valkyria but a girl with the same hair as antanasia, but not as white as hers.

akari looked a bit shocked but she went to composed herself. "oh- greetings! is lady elise there? we wanted to ask if she wanted to join us on the journey to our dear friend royin's house." akari spoke politely.

the girl looked at them as she spoke in a monotone voice "she said she doesn't want to go away." as she was about to shut the door when the two boys arrived.

"why are you two girls so slow?" royin said as he looked at them.

"well, this girl doesn't want to leave yet because she wants that grape to join us," antanasia explained the situation to the boys who just arrived.

hearing the voice of the two young lads, valkyria finally decided to look at the door. "ah- greetings, lord ijekiel and royin~," valkyria spoke in a seductive voice as waves at them.

"how did you-" nas spoke as she got startled at the grape girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"i was just beside the door, your highness." valkyria said as she was still looking at the two boys in front of her which made antanasia glared at her.

"well? are you coming or not?" royin asked the purple-haired.

"yes, I'll be joining you all, but this lovely girl here will also be joining us ." she said as she grabbed the tiny girl beside her.

"blessing and glory upon the first star of the obelian empire. my name is yua azrielle voneza, the daughter of duke romi victor voneza and the duchess eza carlina voneza." she spoke in a monotone but polite tone as she bows to antanasia.

royin was trying to think as the girl was a bit familiar to him, and then it clicked him. "oh, you're the untouchable beauty that other people keep talking about," royin said as he points his pointer finger at the girl.

"untouchable beauty?" antanasia was curious why the girl who has the same hair as her was called untouchable beauty, and she also went to smack his hand as it's rude to point his finger at a girl.

royin touched his throbbing hand as he spoke. "yeah, though i don't know why she's called untouchable beauty not as i care." royin shrugged his shoulders.

"you know, it's quite rude when you talk about something like that when she's just in front of you." akari sweat dropped at the two.

ijekiel shook his head. "i apologize for their personality, but i assure you that they are nice people, especially royin." ijekiel spoke to yua so that she won't get a bad impression of them.

yua just looked at them for a moment then spoke. "it's quite alright, because i do not care if they call me untouchable beauty. i mean, at least they don't call me some ugly title like cold hunter," she sarcastically remarked as she looks at royin.

he looks back at her as an irk appears on his forehead. "hah?! are you talking about me? why do you care if i'm called cold hunter? why are you even named beauty when you're not even that beautiful, you white-haired girl wannabe."

antanasia laughed at her remarks. "oh my, i suddenly want to be your friend! we can be an ultimate duo where we make fun of royin about his lame title." antanasia happily said as she raised her arms.

he groaned. "you can make fun of me when you grow taller," royin said to antanasia as he compared his height to her.

"shut up, titan boy."

the purple-haired girl rolled her eyes at them and spoke ."can we go now?" i guess you could say that she got enough of them fighting.

"sure, whatever. but before we go, i think you two should tell duke daniel that you're going outside." royin said to akari and nas.

"why? It's not like it's far away." antanasia said to the ravenette as she looked quite confused.

"just in case."

"sure, i guess?"

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THEY'VE BEEN WALKING for quite a while now and some of them are also tired. "i regret coming with you guys," valkyria said to them.

"i second that," yua said as she's eating chocolate in her hand.

"royin, are we there yet? we've been walking for two hours now." antanasia whines as she can't feel her legs anymore because of the cold weather.

"don't whine, you're the one who wanted to see my house right?" royin said as he rolled his eyes on the princess. if the emperor was here he would probably immediately kill royin for rolling his eyes on his daughter.

"ugh, why is the carriage even not allowed right now? this is ridiculous," valkyria said as she also feels like she can't feel her legs anymore.

"they said that the carriage is not allowed because they can't move it around because of the weather," akari explained to the purple-haired.

"oh, i know that blueberry, no need to explain it to me." valkyria rolled her eyes at akari.

"well, why would you even question it when you already know it and roll your eyes again, I'll make sure to tear those eyes of yours." antanasia spoke in a venomous tone as the five people around her shivers.

'i didn't know she could be this scary.' royin and the others thought except akari.

'i forgot how scary her highness can be.' akari thought as she hugged herself.

"w-whatever." valkyria stutters as she looks away at the princess.

after around 30 minutes they arrived at royin's house while they were all freezing from the cold weather. "your house is small." valkyria bluntly said. "and quite dirty," yua also bluntly said. royin felt like two arrows were thrown in his heart after hearing those words.

he forcefully smiled at them. "well, for your information, i'm nothing but a commoner so i don't have any maids like you four." he spoke as he tried to defend himself.

"a commoner? and here i thought you're a noble or maybe a knight, but a commoner? ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." val spat poison out of her mouth while yua backed her up. "yes indeed. utterly ridiculous."

he glared at them. "being a commoner is better than being a spoiled brat." he barked back.

"oooooh shi- ouch!" antanasia tried to curse but was hit in the head by her friend, akari. she glared at the blue-haired while the girl glared back, staring at her with the 'don't test me' look.

royin opened the door for them so that they could come in, but yua didn't come into the house as she was just standing at the door which made royin notice her. "aren't you coming in? it's cold outside."

she shook her head. "can you at least clean your house?" Yua suggests it to the ravenette.

"what's with you and dirty places?" royin annoyingly asked the girl.

"they're filthy, got any problem with that? please, clean your house first then I'll come inside. " yua said as she stayed still outside.

"yua, do you perhaps have a fear about dirty places?" antanasia asked the youngest girl.

"i think so? i just have this special disease where i hate dirty places," yua explained to the princess.

antanasia looked at her for a moment then realised that she's germaphobic. "i see... well, don't worry! we're going to clean the room for you!" she smiled at the girl to make her feel at ease around her.

"who said- ack." before royin could finish his sentence, akari elbowed him. "don't worry, lady yua! we'll clean the house," akari said.

after hours of cleaning the house without val's assistance, which makes antanasia mad about it and starts arguing. trying to see if there's no speck of dirt around anymore, after making sure it's not dirty anymore they called yua and let her in.

"so, is this alright?" akari asked the white-haired girl.

"yes... thank you" yua shyly spoke to them.

"you're welcome!" akari said as she smiled at her.

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"so, what time are we going back to the academy?" valkyria asked them.

"oh- didn't i tell you? we're going to sleep here, and then we'll go back tomorrow. and also, we won't be able to come back since they said that there will be a storm coming." akari said to the grape girl.

valkyria looked at her with widened eyes. "tomorrow?! why didn't you tell me? i wasn't even prepared because i thought we would just stay for a while and go back after." valkyria spoke in panic.

"why are you even panicking? it's not like someone will kidnap you or something." antanasia lazily spoke.

"oh, you don't understand, your dear highness! i need to do my night routine or else I'll have wrinkles and grow old and won't be able to marry a handsome prince. oh yua, please hold me, i might faint." valkyria dramatically spoke as the four sweat dropped at her.

"talk about being dramatic," nas said as she slowly felt her eyes heavily as she finally went to sleep.

"i think we should go to sleep now since it's already midnight, and i apologize, lady valkyria for not telling you that we're going to sleep here. i might have forgotten it." ijekiel spoke politely to the purple-haired.

"oh~ don't worry, as long as you're here, I'll be fine," valkyria said as she blushed.

'her attitude suddenly changes that fast-' royin thought as he looked a bit disturbed by this. he sighed a little. "alright, you girls can sleep on the bed while ijekiel and i will be sleeping on the couch." royin exclaimed as he carried antanasia who was fast asleep.

"is the room clean?" yua asked.

"yes, lady yua! we made sure that it's clean don't worry," ijekiel assured the lady.

"i see, then have a wonderful night." she spoke as she went to go inside the room where her friend is staying.

"good night, everyone. i hope you guys will have sweet dreams." ijekiel said as he smiled at them.

"good night, kiel," akari said not even noticing that she gave him a nickname before going to antanasia and her shared room.

"good night, m'lady." ijekiel smiled at her.

"m'lady you say~" royin teased the white-haired boy.

ijekiel got startled as he put his hand to his chest. "i- please, don't just appear out of nowhere." ijekiel accidentally shouted at him.

"woah, i thought you don't know how to shout at all," royin said as he handed him a tea.

"my apologies for shouting at you, you just scared me I didn't mean to. '' ijekiel said as he got embarrassed by what happened.

"it's fine, sorry for frightening you. so, how are you and akari?" royin asked as ijekiel suddenly blushed at the question.

"pardon? what do you mean?" ijekiel asked.

"oh shut up, as if i don't see you two flirting at each other." royin casually said as ijekiel turns into a tomato.

"where did you- are you a stalker?"

royin chuckled by his statement. "nah, i just coincidentally saw you two flirting at each other. also, i'm not surprised if you two are dating."

"well... we're not dating... yet... i'm still waiting for her to say yes since she said that she wants to achieve her goals first, and i'll have to talk to duke daniel and duchess alanya about me courting their daughter." ijekiel explained to his dear friend as he looked at his tea.

royin hums as he spoke. "i see, then invite me once you two get married." royin teased the white-haired boy who's still red.

"royin, we're not even together yet, so don't you think that marriage is a bit too far?.." he chucked.

"hm, you have a point. but don't you nobles get engaged at a young age? i'm sure that she'll say yes if you ever propose to her. i mean, just look at her being jealous at that grape lady who was trying to flirt with you." royin chuckled remembering her getting jealous.

he sighed. "enough about me and akari... have you ever dated someone?" ijekiel asked the ravenette.

"not really? you see, i don't think I'll ever find someone for me when all they think i'm a cold person. i mean, not like i care or something." royin exclaimed as he looked at the ceiling.

ijekiel nodded in response. "oh, now that i think of it, where are your parents? i didn't see them anywhere." he asked.

"dead." royin bluntly said as ijekiel widened his eyes after hearing what he just said.

"what happened... if it's alright to ask?"

"well, we used to be a happy and peaceful family when suddenly they were killed by a creature and i'm still trying to get strong to have revenge on what that creature did to my parents." royin clenched his hand as he was getting angry after remembering what happened to his parents.

"i'm sorry..." ijekiel said.

royin scoffed. "why are you saying sorry? you're not the one who killed them unless it's your pet." he said as he raised his eyebrow.

ijekiel shook his head. "well... i'm apologizing because i think you didn't want to remember what happened to them, but then i asked you, that is why i'm apologizing to you for making you uncomfortable." ijekiel spoke as he felt disappointed in himself.

royin looked at him then chuckled. "you don't need to apologise, as i said, I'll just try to be stronger and then i will have my revenge." the two talked for a while before going to sleep waiting for the sun to rise.

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IN THE PALACE where the emperor resides, he was a bit busy doing his paperwork or maybe just spacing out. when the red-haired knight spoke. "your majesty, are you worried about her royal princess antanasia?" felix spoke breaking the silence between him and the emperor who was lost in thoughts.

"no, antanasia will be fine, the setsuko family are there and i'm sure their daughter won't let anything happen to my child." the emperor then focused his attention on his paperworks. felix smiles as he sighs. he knows too far well that the emperor is indeed worried for the eldest princess at times like this since she's not at the palace. out of the emperor's sight.

"if i recall, today's the winter star on arlanta, your majesty," felix recalled as the emperor hums. "i'm sure the princess will be talking about it in her letter this week." the red-haired looked up imagining how the princess was while writing the letter. claude leans on his chin on his hand thinking about her first daughter.

'i miss antanasia.' lucas thought as he looked at the sky.