[The Next Day]

"Tetsuya!" a voice yelled. He opened his eyes and saw the purple canopy of his new bed. He turned to his right and saw the second princess who was shaking him. "Ahh, finally."

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up. "What time is it?"

She let go of him and stepped back. The look she gave him was like that of a mom. "It's ten. You overslept. Serrano sent me here to check up on you."

Tetsuya laughed. "Sorry." He stared down at the soft bed. "It's just. This is the best bed that I've ever slept on!"

"Our beds are nice, aren't they?" she said, giggling.

Tetsuya stared at her in awe. "Are you really royalty?"

"Of course I am," she said, scratching her head.

"I mean that you and Setsuko don't act like royals." He bit his lip. Perhaps it wasn't his place to talk so casually with a noble either. Even though he had been doing so since he has known her.

She laughed, turning around with her hands behind her back. "Despite seeming so uptight, Father isn't very formal either."

Tetsuya's lips curved upward. "Yeah, I noticed. It's kind of nice."

She grinned and walked over to the orange oak door. "Anyway, breakfast is ready. The others are all waiting for you downstairs. Once you're done eating, we'll head out to pick out your armor."

Tetsu nodded and waited for her to leave before standing up. He put on his white t-shirt and black jeans, which had reappeared when he removed the clothes Kuroshi had given him.

Waiting for him outside of his room was the princess. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Tetsu said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Though why are you waiting for me?"

"You might get lost," she responded, walking ahead of him. She twirled around and smiled at him. "Plus, you were my guide before once, remember?"

Tetsuya laughed as he recalled how they had met. "Oh yeah. Though unlike you, I have a better sense of this place than you did with the university."

She turned her back to him. "I-I guess that's true. Fine, if you rather not have me as your guide, then I'll go on ahead without you next time."

The shield knight reached a hand out to her. "I don't mind, though."

The princess averted her gaze. "I see..."

Tetsuya suddenly let go of her arm. Why had he done that?

The two remained quiet for the rest of the trip to the dining room. When they arrived they saw their teammates and Serrano seated at the table.

"Tetsu," Takuya said, between bites. "This place... is great!"

Serrano, who sat next to him, chuckled. "Glad that you're enjoying yourself. So, you'll be heading northward tomorrow?"

Takuya finished his last spring roll and stared at the golden trimmed porcelain plate. "Yeah. Though I plan to return to the capital as soon as I'm done. I sort of have somethin' to do, a promise to keep."

Teresa gave him a curious look but didn't say anything. Instead, she returned to eating her oatmeal.

"Something to do here?" Tetsuya asked, taking a seat as one of the maids brought a plate of pancakes over. He gazed down at the pancakes put in front of him. "Uh..."

Serrano smiled at him. "Go on, eat. And no, the staff aren't psychic. I just told them your favorite breakfast."

Tetsuya laughed. "Thanks for the meal!" He cut through the pancakes with the side of his fork and popped the soft buttery bread into his mouth. It felt like he was indeed in heaven.

"Your manners are pretty nice for a peasant," a voice echoed. Once again, it was the sniper knight.

"Uh, thanks?" Tetsuya responded.

The guy pulled up the seat next to his and asked the maids to bring him the blackest coffee they had.

"Did you just wake up too?" Tetsuya asked, staring at his bed hair.

He flattened his hair with his hand, only for it to stick back up as soon as he removed it. "No," he groaned. "It is just that this stupid thing won't flatten, no matter what I do."

"Where are the other knights?" Tetsuya questioned.

"Setsuko and Hyosetsu are both training in the Angelic dome. The two of them, along with Eiichi, already have armor, so they don't need to buy any. As for Eiichi, he is busy flirting with one of his teammates," Serrano responded as he blew on his coffee cup.

"That guy sure flirts a lot," Reno said, pushing back his seat. "Wonder if he even trains."

"He does," Eita said as he lowered his cup of black coffee. "My older brother is talented, but not that talented."

"Maybe I should join the others," Hideo said as he took a seat opposite of Eita.

"You should, that way you won't lose to that flirt next time," Reno said, standing up from his seat. A grin crossed his face. "Not to mention, give me a good battle."

"You do realize that Eiichi is stronger than you, right?" Roa asked as he finished gobbling down a turkey bone.

"Yeah, but I'll defeat him in no time! Seeing his battle with the ice duke has set my spirit ablaze," he said, punching the air. "I'll become stronger than anybody, that way, no one will look down on me."

Hideo scoffed and said, "You really think you will reach such a level? Please. I'll get there before you. I am a natural talent, after all."

Tetsu quietly ate his pancakes as he watched the cousins stare each other down. There was no helping those two.

"Well, see you later," Serrano said. He wiped his mouth with a napkin before standing up.

"Where are you off to?" Tetsuya asked as he put down his fork.

"To train with Setsuko. She needs a sparring partner after all."

"Say, who is stronger, ya or her?" Teresa asked.

Serrano rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "I actually have a fifty-fifty win-lose ratio against her."

His cousins gasped. "She's that strong?" Tetsuya asked, eyes wide.

He nodded. "Yeah. If King Osamu hadn't set his sights on Setsuko being the wielder of Alma, she would've been one of the Seven Hills instead of..."

"Me," Rosalba said, pushing her chair back. Her hazel spheres dropped to the floor. "I'll be waiting for you outside. In the meantime, I'll be gathering some flowers."

Tetsuya pushed his seat back and followed after her. He didn't know why he did so. His body had simply moved on its own. Or perhaps it was his heart that moved his body. Either way, he felt that he needed to be there for the princess, like how she was for him.

"Rosa!" the young knight yelled as he followed her into the lobby.

"Are you done eating?" Rosalba asked, keeping her back to him as she came to a stop. "If not, then do so. I don't mind waiting."

"I finished them," Tetsuya said, looking around the room. That was true. He had eaten the last pancake on his plate before rushing off after her. "Say, do you want to... talk?"

Rosa spun around. Staring at her felt as if he was staring at a mirror, a reflection of hisself from a few days ago. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think talking will help."

Tetsuya nodded and transformed Agnes into its shield form. "In that case, how about a spar?"

"Huh?" Rosa asked.

"I want to fight you!" Tetsuya said, giving her a stern look. "It worked for me. It might work for you too."

"What do you mean?" she said, giving him a confused look.

"To awaken your angel tool, obviously!" Tetsuya said before appearing behind her. Rosalba gasped as the shield came a few inches from striking her. "Is that all you got?"

Rosa clenched her hands into fists. "So you want to fight, huh? Though I doubt that I'll be able to beat you, I accept!" she shouted, jumping into the air and spinning. She landed on the ground on all fours and snapped black marble from the floor.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Kohri yelled, running toward them. Accompanying him were the others. "This isn't the place to fight, nor the time."

Rosalba and Tetsuya exchanged glances. The princess fixed the floor as if nothing had happened while the knight reverted his shield back to bracelet form.

"Good," Kohri said, grinning. "Now, let's head out. I'll help you pick the best armor possible. After all, I'm the weapon and armor expert here!"

"You are?" Reno asked as he walked ahead of the three of them. "Aren't you the heir of the north?"

Kohri snickered. "What about it? It doesn't mean I don't know about weapons and armor. My older brother knows a lot about them too. He even mastered various sword arts."

"I see, then I trust you to be a great asset," Tetsuya said, smiling. "Princess, we'll save our battle for after we return. Sound good?"

Rosalba smiled back and nodded. "Sure!"

***

"Hey, slow down!" Tetsuya yelled.

Rosalba dragged him across the crowded streets like an expert. He barely got the chance to enjoy the various different scents emitting from the multiple stores.

After all that running, she stopped in front of a small armor store. "I think this is a good place. What do you think?"

Tetsuya glanced up at the red brick building in the far end of an otherwise dead-end. He honestly couldn't tell, but it looked somewhat shady. "Seems alright."

He glanced back and saw that they had lost everyone else. Or at least he had thought so until he saw Kohri and Eita approach.

The future grand duke of the north chuckled. "Well, you two have a good eye. This is my master's shop," the Seven-Hill male said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans.

"Uh, master?" Tetsuya asked, glancing back at the storefront. "I thought your master was King Osamu."

Kohri snickered. "Well, yeah. Though I refer to the king as my liege. This guy here is also my master. You see, apart from being a Seven-Hill, I'm also a blacksmith in training. We blacksmiths work under an apprenticeship system. Not all that different from what a mage does when they reach a certain level."

"That totally escapes me," Tetsuya said, scratching his head. "I know near nothing about mages."

Kohri snickered. "I mean, sure they aren't common to see in our realm. But do you really not know anything about them? I mean, the first Celestial Queen was married to one. Not to mention that our current queen is one, what with being the daughter of said first ruler."

Eita held out a hand. "Leiji," golden chains burst from his fingers and danced around the air.

"Is that magic?" Tetsuya asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, my family descend from the first queen and her Xelerian husband."

"Didn't you learn that at school?" Rosalba asked.

Tetsuya snickered. "I studied literature, not history." Though... he wasn't utterly daft about who the first queen married due to it being tied with the history of their own bloodline. While Tetsuya wasn't usually fond of history lectures, he did enjoy listening to his ma's tales about the clan's past.

"But, they're so closely intertwined!" Kohri protested, shaking his head at him. He took in a deep breath. "Whatever, let's get going. After training, I got to teach you some!"

"Sure. Maybe I should invite Taku. He loves history," Tetsuya said.

"Hey, guys! You finally caught up!" Rosalba yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. The others grumbled, annoyed at the three for making them go on a wild chase. The princess laughed nervously. "Sorry for running off on you like that."

Teresa's face softened. "Ahh, don't worry about it. Just try to be slower next time, alright? If it weren't for Nori and Yuko, we would've likely gotten lost."

"This place is so big," Reno grumbled as he swayed back and forth.

"Y-yeah," Nicolas said, catching his breath. "Thought we were going to get split apart there for a sec."

"Sorry," Rosalba said, clapping her hands together and bowing slightly. "I'll make it up to you. But for now let's go in and choose the best armor we can find for Tetsuya and you."

Nicolas smiled. "I'm fine with something light. Not much of a heavy armor guy."

"Ohhh, I can help you find something," Reno said, nodding to himself. "I am an expert in leather armor here."

"Uh, I rather not wear leather. I prefer something easy to move in."

"Same here," Takuya said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We'll see what we can find. Pretty sure my master has something that would fit that criteria," Kohri said.

*Character Section*

Teresa Kuroriku- Sex: Age: 23 Birthday: September 1st Zodiac: The Maiden (Virgo) Likes: Romance novels, Fashion, Gossip Dislikes: Those who hurt her family, jerks

Nicolas Ayala- Sex: Male Age: Early Twenties Birthday: April 27 Zodiac: The Bull (Taurus) Likes: Hanging out with friends, making new friends, eating Dislikes: Those who hurt his friends

**Solar Note: Thanks for reading, hope that you enjoyed it. If so then please click on that 'vote' star! It means a lot to me :3. This book will soon be reaching 20K reads, can you believe it? I will plan something special for the occasion ;). So, what do you think of Tetsuya's attitude toward Rosalba? What about Rosalba's toward him?**