A/N: Wow... This one was long, but fun to write. That's the dress you're wearing right now, not in the flashback and to all my RWBY fans if you've been keeping with volume five news then that flashback should be very familiar (just not exactly the same). 

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You felt the moon shine down on you as you stared down at the courtyard of the palace. Frost covered it as a harsh winter began to settle in, snow began to cover the ground.

You walked to the center and looked around you to see a small snow storm swirling around you. You kept your guard up and watched for anything that moved in it.

Thumps of footsteps came by and you scanned around to see glowing red eyes, your grip on your sword tightened.

One of the creatures surrounding your growled softly, as if to warn you to get away now.

You narrowed your eyes and sharply turned as you heard a creature jump up from behind you, you quickly stabbed it causing it to fade away into nothing.

You would not run away, you would fight. Giving up would be exactly what they wanted you to do.

Another came from behind and you quickly back flipped, digging your foot into its spine to give you a good opportunity to stab its back. It faded into the swirling snow.

You front flipped off and landed with sword stabbed into the ground. Once your foot hit the ground, sharp rocks came from the ground and stabbing surrounding monsters. You smirked as that seemed to be the last of them, but more soon came.

You gasped and immediately lept into battle, flips and quick steps were flashing all around the courtyard. Monsters groaned in pain and faded away as you took them out one by one. Anyone watching would've compared you to a ballroom dancer with your footwork.

You threw your sword causing another monster fade away as the sword fell you rolled forward to grab it. You stood on your feet only to feel a wave of harsh snow hit from all sides, you yelped and gasped as you heard your sword clatter on the ground.

You were about to go grab it before more monsters came and surrounded you. You grasped onto your necklace, trying to summon Purson's equip. Nothing came as one of them leaped towards you and pinned your down, you kept your hand against the bottom of its jaw; keeping it from hurting you.

You clenched your eyes shut as you heard all of the other monsters leaped in, fear gripping your heart. You called out her name, "YUKI!"

Then, everything faded away. The only thing that remained was the frost on the courtyard, you panted and sat up, resting on your knees. Footsteps came up to you and you heard a sigh, you looked up to see white hair and disappointed e/c eyes looking down at you with a magician at her side.

"I'm not always going to be around to save you, Y/N," she said softly.

"I know... I'll get better," you responded with disappointment in yourself laced in your tone.

She nodded and with her hands behind her back, "you'll have to if you ever want to make something of yourself," she said before walking off and leaving you alone practice.

You stayed staring at the ground with disappointment, your sister looked back with a small smile. "She'll be fine," she mumbled as she walked to have a cup of tea.

~~~

The remaining bandits looked to you in anger, "you bitch!" They yelled as they charged at you with their swords drawn. You only looked at them with disinterest and quickly took them out with a swipe of your sword.

You sighed as more of them were still on their feet, it was getting quite troublesome. Not to mention, you'd probably get to the castle pretty late now. You shrugged, you blamed the Emporer for this.

The guards were staring at you in awe, the way you fought almost resembled a dance. They were almost envious of your graceful, yet simple movements. You seemed to notice as they stared you, you smirked, it was just what you wanted.

All the bandits were soon brought to their knees and you sheathed your sword, "well, now that that's taken care of, let us continue on to the castle," you said, getting back into the carriage as Kazue finished patching the last of the guards.

The guards hadn't gotten out of their small spell yet as they watches you set next to Kazue as if all of that hadn't happened. You were almost like a swan with the way you glided through the fight, they were truly starting to be envious of Prince Kouen.

•~•~•

The journey then continued and you were soon back to being an uneventful princess. You sighed and reached into the long sleeves of your dress to pull out the butterfly hairpin Kouen had gotten you.

You grazed your thumb over the flower and smiled at it, "it's so beautiful," you mumbled softly. You were dying to wear it but, unfortunately, none of your dresses matched it. You frowned slightly at the thought.

Kazue seemed to notice and rose a brow, "are you alright, princess?" He asked.

You shook your head, "nothing to worry about," you stuck the hairpin back into your sleeve, "although, I must ask. My scrolls weren't forgotten right?" You asked.

He seemed a bit confused as to what you were talking about, "what do you mean? I'm sure there are more than enough to satisfy you at the palace," he said, still a bit confused.

"Those aren't the ones I'm talking about, Kazue."

He perked up as he soon realized what you were referring to, "oh! Yes, of course," he said causing your shoulders to relax a bit more, "I apologize for making you worry."

You smiled and shook your head, "nothing to worry about now Kazue."

•~•~•

The carriage had finally come to a stop and you perked up, finally ready to get out and stretch your legs. Before you could even step out of the carriage, servants were already posted outside and fussing over you.

You tried to step away but they all seemed to have a firm grip on your wrists, it was hard to keep up with all of them. "Please! Give me a moment to breath," you interjected but they continued to persist.

"I'm sorry, princess but Koutoku is not happy with how late you are," one piped up.

You stepped away from them for a small moment and held a hand up, "I shall explain what had happened in our meeting, you needn't worry about any punishment," you said, already knowing what most of them were fearing.

They all seemed to grovel at your feet in relief, you looked at them all surprise. Was that man really so scary?

"Please stand. I'd like to be escorted to him now," you said softly with your hands in your sleeves.

The servants all stood with slight uncertainty and the maids then proceeded to place a thick yukata coat similar to the design of your dress your dress on your head. You were confused as they did.

"Um. Why do I need this?" You asked, having never been told about something like this. 

One of the maids spoke, "we can't risk Prince Kouen seeing you. We apologize but please bare with us," she spoke softly, almost as if she didn't want to annoy you.

You shook your head, trying to reassure her. "It's alright. Thank you for escorting me," you said as you began to walk with them with your hands holding the coat in place, "come along, Kazue."

The walk to where Koutoku was had been as uneventful as always. You took glances around the castle and you were almost mesmerized by the structure, if memory serves you right you could've sworn you saw a training ground.

A sweet smell hit your nose and you recognized it to be flowers, you glanced at your side and smiled brightly. It looked beautiful with all the different flowers and the small pond, your thoughts were then interrupted by a flash of red at your side and a small squeak.

"Ah!"

You stopped causing all the servants to stop with you, all with questioning looks. "Princess, what is the matter?" A maid asked, obscuring your view of the garden.

You rose a brow, confused. "I'm sorry, did you not hear that?" You asked as you glanced at Kazue who nodded as if to confirm that he heard it as well.

One maid paled while another stayed composed. "Do not worry about it," she said, trying her best to stay composed.

You were about to listen to her until you heard small sniffling noises. You developed a hard look, "step aside."

The servants seemed to hesitate and you shot them a hard look, "excuse me," you said, clearly annoyed at their behavior.

Once they cleared a path you stepped down stairs to the garden to see a girl with red hair wiping her tears away. Your look turned sympathetic and you tried to go to her but someone grabbed your shoulder.

It was the same maid that tried stopping you and obscuring your view. "Please princess, do not trouble yourself with her," she said, "she is a... A lowborn," she whispered into your ear.

You rose your brows, you didn't think you'd heard the term before. "And what does that mean?" You asked, crossing your arms.

"She was born from a lowly courtesan," she continued to whisper, she spoke with slight malice as if the girl had done something horrible.

You felt your eye twitch in irritation, "she is still a member of the royal family, is she not?" You asked harshly. It was hard to believe a member of the royal family would be treated so harshly.

The maid nodded, "well, yes but-"

You glared at her, "then you shall treat her as such as she does have the blood of the king running through her veins," you said, ripping your shoulder away to comfort the poor girl.

You walked over to her and knelt down with a soft smile on your face. She flinched as she didn't realize who it was but once she saw you she stayed quiet and waited for you to speak. Her hands seemed to be clutching onto something.

You looked down at her hands and your brows rose in surprise to see a scraggly bouquet of flowers in her hands. You frowned, the maids must've bumped into her, ruining the bouquet in the process.

You slowly reached your hands out to the bouquet, "may I?" You asked softly. She nodded and you examined the flowers, camellias. You wondered if she had been planning to make tea with their leaves or displaying them somewhere.

"If you'd allow me, may I help you find more? Flowers looking like this wouldn't look good anywhere," you said as you stood up and began looking for more flowers once she nodded.

She seemed shy during the first few minutes but then asked a small question, "are you... Going to marry En-nii?" She asked timidly while picking one and looking at it.

You turned to her and she didn't meet your eyes, still a bit shy. "Are you talking about Ren Kouen?" You asked, picking one of the flowers.

She nodded and tried to keep her head low. You smiled and grabbed another one, "yes, I am. I hope we become close once I do," you explained, referring to her, "but I'll need your name, can you tell me?" You asked, grazing your fingers over the leaves.

She seemed surprised but nodded, "Kougyoku. A-And," she then grabbed your hands and looked into your eyes with a blush on her cheeks, "y-you're marrying a great man, I-I promise!"

You smiled at her and nodded, "if you say so, then it must be true," you told her before going back to pick more flowers. She smiled and went back to her task from earlier.

"Kougyoku, if I may ask. Who, or what, are these flowers for?" You inquired, curious as to why you two were picking so many beautiful flowers.

She hummed and gazed at one, "I... I wanted to put them in my room, they remind of my mother," she spoke softly and smiled at the memories going through her head.

You nodded, "I'm sure she was beautiful if she looks anything like you."