What could be described as a veritable blizzard stormed down the halls of the Imperial Castle. In a fury, Yuki walked down the hallway, releasing icy cold mana from her body that caused frost to appear on the walls and the plants that decorated the palace. Handmaidens and guards all shied away from their Princess’s warpath. The expression on her face didn’t help soothe their nerves in any way. She looked as if she was out for blood and the paper that was slowly turning into a sheet of ice in her hand was an indicator that whatever she read did not please her.

Behind her, Kaguya tried to keep up. She tried in earnest. But the icy aura that Yuki projected was by no means metaphorical. It was literal in every sense of the word.

Yuki’s projected path was heading straight for the office of the Emperor and Empress of Alfheim. As she ascended up the stairs, past the cowering staff, she made her way to the center of the hallway to a set of massive doors. The emblem of a cherry blossom could be seen on the massive door handle that separated when the doors opened. The guards stationed before the door paled when they saw the cold eyes of their princess.

“M- My lady, what brings you here?” the guard said. He shivered due to the combination of the cold and the sheer presence that Yuki had emitted.

“I’m here to speak to my father and mother. Step aside,” Yuki commanded.

“My lady, Lord Jun and Lady Mizore are currently in a meeting with Lady Lilia. They said that no one is to interrupt their meeting,” the other guard said. He was far more composed, indicating that he had been at this for a while. Yuki’s eyes landed on him. His stature showed that he was used to greater pressure than whatever she put out. It was to be expected with who her parents were.

“Regardless, I’m going in,” she said, walking up to the door. “I’m sure Aunt Lilia won’t mind her niece barging into a conversation.” Ignoring the protest of the guards, she pushed the door open.

The whole room went silent as three pairs of eyes landed on her.

The first set belonged to a man with unkempt white hair. He had a pair of wolfish ears on his head and golden eyes. He radiated an immense regal presence despite the state of his hair. She felt small in his gaze but relaxed when a warm smile appeared on the man’s face. Unlike the rest of Alfheim, he didn’t wear a traditional kimono. He instead wore a black hybrid of a Kimono and a suit from Midgard. It was a black high collar long-sleeved mantle that split down the lower half with white obi and belt. Underneath was a pair of black formal wear pants, resembling that of a military uniform. One large wolf tail swished behind his back.

The second pair of eyes, or rather one eye since the other was covered, belonged to a woman with black hair. She possessed a highly seductive air about her. Her hair was long, reaching down to her mid-back with one bang covering her left eye. A pair of fluffy fox ears sat on top of her head while nine tails swished lazily behind her. She had a black short-sleeved kimono with a red obi around her waist and torso. The obi was decorated with a pattern of red cherry blossoms. Below the obi was a red skirt that stopped mid-thigh with black socks that went past her knees and stopped just short of mid-thigh. Around her kimono and shoulders was a black haori with a red interior.

“Little Snowflake, what brings you here?” the woman said. Her tone set Yuki at ease. The cheerful, nonchalant way that she was addressed made it easier for her to contemplate what she would say next.

Her red eyes darted to her mother. Her mother radiated a cold exterior, never once dropping the face to smile at her presence.

Then again, Mom has the emotional intelligence of a brick… I think. I’ve only seen her smile a couple of times. Why did Dad even fall in love with her? She wondered as she stared back into her mother’s eyes.

“Kaguya, I need to talk to my parents and aunt alone.”

Kaguya bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Hearing the door click, Yuki strode forward, placing the paper on her mother’s desk. Mizore raised an eyebrow and picked the paper up. Mere seconds after reading this, she set the paper down and looked back at her daughter.

“Where did you get this?” Mizore asked, closing her eyes.

“The Quarantine Camp,” she answered.

“What Quarantine Camp? There is no-”

“I was there. I was in town. I saw the soldiers and had them take me there after watching them drag an old lady out of her house. You can’t sit there and pretend I saw nothing, especially since I know that there’s a Valkyria in our country,” Yuki interrupted.

Mizore sighed as her sister and husband started to laugh.

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Jun leaned his head back and let out a boisterous laugh, his tail moving crazily behind him.

“I never thought I’d see someone interrupt you in a long time, Mii. Especially our own child,” Jun said, laughing.

Yuki turned red slightly at her father’s words.

“Dad, this is important. Please focus,” Yuki said, glancing over to her father.

Jun stopped laughing, calmed down, and nodded. His body still had small fits and giggles but he tried to maintain a serious composure. “Though, I do have to ask. What were you doing there after you had the guards show you?”

“I know about the plague going around the city. And this paper, this paper. Do you approve of this?” she asked.

“Yuki, you’re getting into matters beyond your experience and knowledge,” Mizore said, taking the paper and handing it to her husband. Unlike his wife, his reaction was far more pronounced as his eyes widened. He quickly composed himself before his daughter could notice.

Yuki never noticed though. She kept her gaze strictly on her mother. “I lack experience and knowledge because I spend all my time inside the palace learning from teachers instead of going out into the world and getting to know my people.”

“Yuki, can we talk about this later? Your father and I are in a meeting with your aunt,” Mizore said.

“And you’re having a meeting about what exactly? What exactly could you be talking about than what’s on that sheet? Do you even realize what’s going on beneath your noses?” she pressed.

“Yuki.”

She froze and turned to her father. Jun looked at her with a serious expression on his face. He folded his hands and sighed. “Yuki, we’ll talk to you about this later. Right now, we need to discuss something with your aunt. I promise you that we will talk about this.”

“But Dad-”

“Yuki.”

Yuki froze at the change in tone. Her father was the opposite of her mother in many ways with their patience being their biggest difference. And when her father lost his patience, his cold fury was far worse than any physical punishment she faced from her teachers in training. She nodded begrudgingly before walking out of the room.

----------------------------------------

“I can’t believe this!” she yelled, sitting on one of the benches in the training ground. Red bit into an apple while Kaguya glanced at Yuki with a worried expression.

“Milady, I’m sure that the Emperor and Empress are aware of the-”

“And they’re just letting it happen, is that what you’re trying to say?” Yuki whipped her head to face her retainer. It was one possibility she didn’t want to entertain.

“She’s saying that there may be more to this than meets the eye. What exactly did you find down there that made you like this?” Red asked. He had been made aware of Yuki’s escapades by Kaguya.

“This sickness. It’s not endemic, meaning that this isn’t some natural sickness like pox,” she said, getting up. “The paper said something about keeping it up and making sure it continues. Which my brain is telling me that someone has a hand in this.”

“A hand? Like someone purposely introduced it? What kind of idiot would even do this? This is like declaring war on three Sages at the same time,” Red said.

“I… I don’t know. It was blunt but also vague. We don’t know who’s in charge of this whole thing. But… do you guys know who’s in charge of overseeing the health of the country?” Yuki asked.

“Commissioner Han,” Kaguya said.

“That’s right.”

“Hold on, you can’t seriously think that Sir Han has something to do with this, do you? He’s served the country for nearly five decades.” Red threw the apple core into a bush and looked at the two with a concerned expression on her face. “Even if you were the Princess, throwing around accusations like that is going to ruin your reputation.”

“...” Yuki said nothing as she sat back down on the bench. “I’m not saying that it’s him. But isn’t it weird? He’s the one overseeing the Quarantine Zone but no one’s been getting better.”

“That’s not true. There are people who leave the camps after taking the medicine that the Gentry pays for,” Red pointed out.

“Yeah I know… there’s a medicine that people take that cures the symptoms supposedly,” Yuki said.

“Not supposedly. I’ve heard talk that it does from the guards. They have families in the Zone,” Red said.

“Wait, really?” Yuki asked.

“But it’s in limited supply. Most of it is going to the Quarantine Zone. No one knows where it comes from. There are rumors that it came from Asgard, and some even say that it came from Nifelheim,” Red said.

Yuki placed a hand on her chin. Her ears flattened against her head while her two tails curled around her calves.

“Hold on, you’re not thinking of going back there again. After what happened and knowing that the Valkyria is there,” Kaguya said.

“Valkyria?” Red asked.

“Long story short, Midgard’s strongest military officer is here in our country,” Yuki said. “She was visiting the Zone. And yes, I am going back. We’re going to swipe this panacea and see if it works with our own eyes.”

“And how do you intend to do that?” Red asked.

“I’m not going to feed it to anyone. I’ll use an animal to test it.” Yuki shrugged.

“And who will distract your parents while you’re gone?” Kaguya asked.

“Over the next few days, the Council will be in session so that means Mom and Dad will be busy presiding over the Gentry Family Heads. That means that the guards will be focused more in the Chamber Hall,” she answered, smiling at them.

Red and Kaguya looked at each other before sighing. This girl. She had all of her bases covered.

“You know the guard schedule too well. If you were an assassin, you’d probably be able to make it to the royal chamber before being decimated,” Red said.

“If I were an assassin, I’d rather not target the two people on this planet that can end my entire family and city with a flick of their wrist,” Yuki corrected. “Come on. We need to get ready to go in and out in a few days.”