"Hyo, open up!" Miyuki yelled, banging on the black thornwood door. "Please...open." She slid her hands down the door as she got no response. "At least answer me..."

"Leave me alone! I already told you that I do not wish to see anybody!" Hyosetsu yelled as he put down the book he had been reading.

The swordsman ran his long-fingered hands through his hair and let out a sigh.

My angel tools' powers, they are gone. All those years of cultivating their strength, wasted! This is all Kohri's fault! He gave me that cursed blade! Bet he did it to ruin me! His nice guy routine is a farce after all!

"Hyo!" a voice called out from the balcony.

He glared at the new arrival even though a white veil obscured the redhead. "Let me be! You have done enough damage for one day!"

Kohri frowned. "I have no idea what happened, but I promise to amend it."

Hyosestu scoffed at his younger brother's words. "You speak such words, yet still refuse to hand over the throne. Well, dear little brother, you managed to take down your one and only political rival."

The younger brother shook his head in disbelief. "Come on! Enough about the crown already! And besides, you aren't my only rival. Also, Hyo, we're brothers. We shouldn't be arguing like this."

"We would not be if it were not for that stupid sword you gave me!" he yelled.

"You still got a tool that works!" Kohri said, forcing a smile. "Baldo! You can regain what you've lost with that sword."

Hyosetsu let out a scoff. "Easy for you to say." He glanced down at his left arm. Baldo had transformed into a gold and silver bracelet and attached itself to his left wrist. Whenever he would try to take it off, it would shrink. Only when he stopped did it return to normal.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Kohri said, the hope in his voice gone. "I'm sorry, Hyo. I thought that this would help you get stronger."

Hyosetsu heard the gentle creak of feet pressing against snow. He stood up from his chair and slid the nearby black curtains and peered out. Kohri walked away, his head down. He glanced down and noticed that his brother had made a ladder out of ice. If it had been a non-ice mana user, they would've slipped.

"Hmph." Hyosetsu glanced back at his new angel tool. This is all I got left. Perhaps I should make use of it. At least it'll be something.

He turned toward the door. At some point, his mother had stopped knocking, perhaps when she heard Kohri's voice.

Hyosetsu's icy blue eyes peered at the bracelet as it radiated a brilliant cyan aura. The sheathed sword returned. He reached his hand out and slowly wrapped his fingers around the hilt. This time, it didn't burn him.

His eyes lingered on the strange markings on the blade as he unsheathed part of it. Why did it burn me earlier?

He sighed. He would simply have to ask the one who commissioned their creation, King Osamu. Or at least have the king direct him to the blacksmith who made them.

He sheathed the sword entirely and strapped the scabbard on the left side of his navy blue. His blue eyes shifted toward the door. Now was a good time to try it out.

Chatter greeted him as he descended the stairs. A couple of girls standing to the side glanced over at him and let out shrieks as if a star had just arrived.

Along with the sound of the masses were soft sounds. Situated on each side of the room below were harpists.

"So, you're Hyosetsu," a voice called out from behind. He spun on his heels and saw a brunette girl. She was dressed in a violet gown with a white fur cape hugging her shoulders.

"How did you figure?" Hyosetsu said, looking her up and down.

She pointed her finger at his belt. "You have that sword strapped to your belt. That's Baldo."

He narrowed his eyes at her. Kohri said the king had this sword commissioned. So how does she know of it?

"Who are you?"

The girl's hazel eyes widened. Her lips curved into a grin as laughter escaped her mouth.

"Wow, I would expect it from a common man and perhaps even lesser nobles, but not the son of a grand duchess."

Hyosetsu grumbled. "Take it, that means your rank is equal to mine?"

The girl grabbed his hand and giggled. "Close, but not quite! Come!"

"Hey! Where are you taking me?" the young duke asked as he was dragged away once more.

The girl maneuvered skillfully through the crowd, which seemed to divide upon noticing her. "I want to see how well you can use Baldo!"

He yanked his arm free from her grip. With a sigh, he walked over to the main door. "Fine, I was going to test it out anyway. Let's do this outside."

The door suddenly creaked open, and in came Kohri, causing the guests to turn toward him.

"The future grand duke is here," the crowd murmured.

Hyosetsu narrowed his eyes at the whispering crowd. It was his party, yet they still dared to barely pay him any heed. Yet his brother quickly commanded all of it.

Though perhaps that was for the better. Such social events were suffocating. Yet, he couldn't overlook their contrasting reactions.

"Kohri," the hazel-eyed girl yelled, rushing over to the door. " Why are you still wearing your uniform?"

Kohri glanced down at his dark purple jacket and pants. He tipped his hat and smiled as soon as he saw his older brother. "Kind of got distracted with other things. Nice to see you came out."

Hyosetsu pushed him aside, earning gasps from the crowd. "Move out of my way, eyesore." He stopped and gazed back at the people. "You sheeple disgust me. You are all nobles, yet act like the plebeians we rule over."

"Hey!" The girl yelled, stomping over. A piercing pain ran through Hyosetsu's face.

Hyoesetsu and everyone else gasped, even the harpists themselves came to a halt. Those in the other parts of the castle peered over. Their eyes widened at the sight. The hazel-eyed girl's hand was on Hyosetsu.

The elder Kuroyuki no San brother eyed the girl with a smirk on his face. "You're a strange one, daring to lay a finger on someone of my rank."

The noble girl averted her gaze, which seemed to be somewhere else like the eyes of a daydreamer. She slapped herself lightly. "Darn it, Rosa. Why did that guy suddenly come to mind?"

Wait, did she just call herself Rosa?

Hyosetsu crossed his arms. "Were you not taught that ignoring those in front of you is rude?"

"Sorry. It is just that the first half of the words you just spoke reminded me of a certain someone I met a few days back. Now that guy was rude!"

Kohri patted her shoulder. "Calm down, Princess. You're making a scene."

Hyosetsu closed his eyes. So that's who she is. She's Princess Rosalba.

Rosalba turned toward the guests and stepped back.

"Think that it is too late for that," the older duke said, sighing as he made his way out. He stopped at the doorway. "Are you not coming, princess?"

Rosalba smiled and nodded. "Yes. Show me Baldo's power!"

Hyosestu smirked. "Hope it proves superior to that guy who left an impression on you."

Kohri shrugged. "Who knows. That guy did go toe to toe with Serrano after all."

Once more, the crowd broke in murmurs. "Who do they speak of?" some asked

"What's Baldo?" others questioned.

"No idea," was the response others present gave to both questions.

"Let's get out of here before we are forced to answer all these questions," Kohri said, running for it.

Hyosetsu did not question his brother for once.

The three of them ran out where it was snowing. Rooftops, streets, and vehicles were covered in a light layer of fresh powder. Despite it, the soldiers standing guard by the gates remained as still as statues.

"Woah," Rosa said, "you still get snow at this time of year here?"

"Yeah," Hyosetsu said as he reached up for a snowflake. "Here we barely get anything but a very mild spring, and that's only during peak summer."

"Incredible. Mom really did grow up in a winter wonderland!"

"Aunt Sofia, huh?" Hyosestu said, clasping his hand shut. "Come to think of it, it was spring here when we last met."

Rosa lowered her head as they walked down the silver cobblestone roads. "So you remember me now. Yeah, it was that time during uncle Sebastian and Mother's funeral." She clenched her chest.

Hyosetsu bit his lip. "Sorry."

"Huh?" Kohri said, gasping.

Hyosetsu glared at his brother. "I'm talking to her, not you!"

Kohri chuckled. "I know, but you're apologizing. Are you feeling okay?"

The elder brother averted his gaze as his face turned as red as a beet. "Whatever do you mean? I simply have no need to do so, most of the time."

Kohri narrowed his eyes. "Uh-huh..."

Blue tips poked out of the slits on the back of Hyosetsu's white fur coat. A pair of crystalline wings shaped like a hawk's sprouted outward like the petals on a bloom. With one swing of his wings, he was airborne.

Kohri and Rosalba let out their wings and followed after him.

Hyosetsu glanced down as he approached a seventy-five-meter white wall. The structure was built on the halfway mark of Mt. Shirayuki, allowing anyone standing on the top of the central palace tower to oversee all of the city. The top of each of the wall's seven lapis lazuli roofed towers emitted a cyan barrier around the palace grounds, shielding them from attacks from the air. The other things that could pass through the screen were natural weather phenomena, the immediate royal family, and of course, his own relatives.

Why did I feel the need to apologize anyway?

He passed through the barrier and entered into the lower Shirayuki area, also known as Kireiyuki. It was an area filled to the brim with villas. Each residence dotted its own section of the mountain, their vast lands marked by the outline of white metal fences. In modern standards, it could be regarded as a gated community for the lesser nobles.

Beyond Kireiyuki were the homes of the bourgeois and so on. The lowest area once consisted of slums where those poorer than poor lived, a class of people who would often revolt because of lack of food. If it were not for their ancestors, giving them the unwanted scraps of the upper layers, they would've all starved.

That was until the economic and social reforms enacted by his mother at the urging of his father. The reforms brought life into the area as new industries popped up. It also forbade discrimination against them and allowed for fluidity among the various regions, melting the once rigid caste system.

Keeping the lowest area safe from the roar of the blizzards was a hundred-meter wall.

"So many walls," Rosalba whistled. "You honestly need all of these to protect the city? And what about this one?" She gazed up at the highest point of the wall. "Was this built to keep out giants or something?"

"People have joked about that. Despite being built a century ago, no one is certain what it was constructed for," Hyosetsu responded. He stared at it with as much curiosity as the princess. "It appears that all records of its creation were lost or perhaps even destroyed. Myths predating the wall speak of strange creatures appearing in the dead of night to kidnap young children. Some believe it is of the reasons for the building of the middle walls. Before that, only the upper three walls existed."

"Mom herself isn't even aware," Kohri said. "She once asked grandmother, but the woman wouldn't disclose it or didn't know herself. Normally I would assume that it was built during the Warring States Period, but that makes no sense as that war concluded before the laying of the first stone. It's too tall to have been made just to protect the town from blizzards."

"Strange indeed," Rosa said, tilting her head. "Hmm, just like that university..."

Kohri glanced over his shoulder. "You mean the one that Serrano attends?"

Hyosetsu flew higher. "What about it? Is it as old as this wall?"

"No, but it seems to have its own set of secrets. My time there and here makes me realize how little I know about the history and places of this kingdom. Even though my family has connections to them."

Kohri stopped as they passed the highest point of the massive wall. "No need to feel bad. Like we said, neither of us knows much about the building of this structure."

Rosa held out a hand toward it and gasped. "Wait, I sense something odd about the stones."

"They aren't normal stones," Hyosetsu explained. "They contain a decent amount of angelum, the metal used to make angel weapons. My guess is they didn't want the walls to be torn down by earth mana users like yourself. Though, that implies that there was a military explanation for its construction."

"But aren't most defensive walls made up of plain stone?" Kohri asked.

Hyosetsu shook his head at his brother. "For mid-sized and small towns, that was the case. A small force could easily rebuild those walls, but that's not the case here. These ones are too thick and tall that it would require the city's entire earth using population to restore."

"Yeah, the walls of Kaguya are the same," Rosalba said. She glanced at the white wall and sighed. "What a mysterious structure."

"Enough about the wall. How about we speed things up?" Hyosetsu asked. "I am anxious to see what my new blade can do."

Kohri grinned. "Alright! Let's go!" The two brothers sped up, leaving Rosa behind. On the other side, a blizzard howled, pounding old snow against the bottom of the giant structure.

"Brother, let's head down there!" Kohri yelled, pointing to a large hill bordering the outer wall. It wasn't the only hill. The entire area around the city's outer wall was filled with snow-covered hills and mountains.

"Alright!" Hyosetsu shouted, flying after his brother as Rosa had begun to catch up. He landed on the surface of the snowpack on top of the hill. He turned toward Kohri but only saw a hole. He sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Hey, doofus, get out of there!"

"Snow is deeper than I thought," Kohri called out as he climbed up from the deep hole. Once he was out, he glanced at the hill. "Well, let's get started!" He jumped away and swung his hand, blowing away the ten feet of snow on the hilltop into the four winds.

Rosa glared at Kohri as she descended. Snow-covered her from head to toe. "Look where you're sending that stuff to!"

Kohri scratched the top of his head, snickering nervously. "Wah. Sorry, Princess. My bad. Didn't think it'll hit you."

Hyosetsu appeared behind him. "Seems you'll be sent to the dungeon now."

The younger brother jumped forward. "What? No, you can't do that to me, Princess."

Rosa snickered. "Maybe..."

Kohri pouted. "Don't even joke about it, Rose. It isn't funny."

Rosalba dusted the snow out of her thick dress.

"Should've worn something warmer," Hyosetsu said, shrugging.

The princess glanced up at the eldest duke. "I'm fine. I can handle this cold for a while."

Hyosetsu smiled. "Spoken like a true descendant of the Kuroyuki no San branch." He turned toward his brother and brandished the sword. "Ready, little brother?"

Kohri removed his silver hammer amulet necklace. A brilliant cyan glow radiated out of it, blinding both Rosalba and Hyosetsu. Once they were able to open their eyes again, they saw Kohri holding a golden hammer.

"Hey!" Rosa yelled. "I wanted to test him out first hand!"

"Sorry, princess, but the best test subject for Hyo's Baldo is me. You can fight one of the other knights."

Rosa grumbled. "No fair! Hmm, guess I will simply have to settle on dueling the chosen of the rifle since Serrano got to test Agnes' knight and now you with Baldo's." She jumped into the air. "Play nice, you two. I will be watching to make sure you do not maim one another."

"Good, because things could get rough!" the two brothers said, smirking at one another. The two charged at one another. Their weapons collided in the blink of an eye, sending ten-foot-tall waves of snow in all directions as the gray clouds above parted.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter :). What do you think of the Kuroyuki no San dukes thus far? Who do you think will come out on top? The Sword Knight, Hyosetsu, or the Seven Hill, Kohri?**