"Roko! Roko!"
Roko woke up to Momo's voice calling to him outside of his room. Roko pulled himself out of bed and opened the door.
"What's going on?" Roko yawned, "Is it time for training already?"
"Nope. Training is in an hour or two. No, today my eldest sister is coming home so I figured I'd wake you up to meet her."
"Is that it?" Roko sighed.
"Well, you've already met the rest of my family so I figured you should just finish it up."
"Can't we meet her later?"
"Sister is really serious and actually scary. Once she comes back, she's going to dive right into her work and would not appreciate distractions."
"Should we even bother her then?"
"Eldest sister is perfectly sociable. She just gets really into her work. Come on! If we leave now, we can still meet her at the gate!"
"...I'll get changed..." Roko sighed.
The front of the castle's gate was once again crowed with people, though this time, much of them were standing off to the side, off the main road for carriages. The reason why was clear as the guards at the gate finished finalizing some papers, allowing the long train of carriages outside to begin filing in. Most carriages were covered, concealing what was inside but the crowd was mumbling none the less. Roko watched the procession with no idea what was going on and why people seemed excited but that was of little relevance to him. They were here to meet Momo's last sister and there was nobody who seemed to fit that description. Roko wondered if she was inside one of the carts until a woman with flowing blonde hair with an unmistakably regal demeanor and equally royal clothing rode into the courtyard atop a brown horse. Her eyes were sharp and unfamiliar with the warmth of companionship. She stared straight ahead, even as the crowd's murmurings rose to a quiet chatter, unconcerned with the world until Momo spoke up,
"Sister!"
The woman's head turned as she noticed Momo and a small, sisterly smile spread across her face. Stopping her horse in front of them, she dismounted elegantly and hugged Momo when she opened her arms up for a hug. The two pulled away from each other but her sister kept her arms gently on Momo's shoulder as she spoke,
"It's been too long, Momo."
"Yeah! I'm glad I got to see you on my visit back!"
"As am I." Her sister nodded, "Though, why are you back?"
"I'm here on behalf of my friend here." Momo said as she gestured to Roko, "This is my fellow classmate and friend, Roko. Roko, this is Midora, second in line to the throne which she abandoned."
"A male friend?" Midora regarded Roko with cold suspicion and curiosity, "Hm. There have been stories of a special exception wandering around Memoria Auspice. I suppose this is him?"
"Exactly." Momo nodded, "Roko's an exceptional individual who came here to train."
Midora didn't reply, continuing to stare at Roko with distrust and inquisitiveness.
"N-Nice to meet you." Roko replied, unsure of how to proceed. In terms of scary exteriors, she was equals with Akaza but unlike Akaza whose stoicism crumpled quickly, Midora's cold demeanor did not waver, like a pond without a single ripple.
"S-So why did you abandon the throne?" Roko asked the first thing that he could think of which he quickly regretted. Despite the personal nature of his question, Midora's answer was short and cryptic, "For the same reason as Aoki."
"Umm..." Roko wasn't quite sure what to make of her answer.
"Allow me to explain." Momo laughed awkwardly, "Aoki gave up the throne to continue painting. Likewise, Midora gave up the throne to continue pursuing her hobby as well."
"Oh. And what would that be?"
"Landscaping." Midora answered, "I design gardens and courtyards. The entirety of the outside and inside yards of Omomo Castle are of my design."
"You designed this?!" Roko looked around at the very spacious but competently decorated yard around him, "That's a surprise. I didn't think a princess would be much into labor like this."
Just as Roko began to regret his quick assumption, Midora replied, "I do have a company that helps put things in place but I am not unfamiliar with the occasional light labor myself."
"I-I see..." Roko said, slowly losing his desire to talk himself into worrying statements.
"Midora often goes on long expeditions to find material for her work." Momo said, "She always brings the best back home. Whenever she comes back, the castle goes into several weeks of redesign."
"I've come back with some genuinely quality material this time as well." Midora said as she smiled a small proud smile, "Perhaps the first in this castle's history."
"Really?!" Momo cried, "What is it?"
"It should be coming along now."
Midora turned to look at the train of caravans and sure enough, among the covered wagons there was one cart that was completely open. This one had no carriage but a small cart, filled with dirt and carrying a pure white tree. It didn't look like it was even made of bark, instead seemingly composed of crystal. The tree seemed to glow with a pale light that could barely be seen in the morning light.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Midora smiled as the tree rattled past them, "I found it at the farthest reaches of the northern kingdoms in a small grove of similar trees. I was immediately entranced by its beauty and just had to bring it home with me."
"It's really pretty." Momo agreed as she watched the tree enter the castle grounds, "Where are you going to put it?"
"Right in the center courtyard. Naturally, only the best spot would be fitting for a centerpiece such as this. I imagine it will be a landmark of Omomo Castle for years to come."
"You really like that tree." Roko noted.
"Of course. I have never seen another tree like it and no matter where I looked, there was no information I could find on this tree. For all I know, I could be the first to find and document such a discovery. I'll have to take careful notes in order to properly care for it."
"Does that mean you'll be staying home more often?!" Momo cried.
"I suppose it does." Midora replied, "Well, the installation may still take a few days. I have the designs all sketched up but I have to remove everything in the courtyards first before adding anything new."
"Sounds like you have a lot of work to do." Momo nodded.
"I'll come visit when I can." Midora said as she patted Momo on the head, "Better make the most of your visit while you're here."
"Okay!"
"Do get along with my sister, young man." Midora said as she lead her horse away with her into the castle.
"You met with Lady Midora?!" Murasaki cried.
"Yep." Momo smiled as they ate breakfast.
"Why didn't you invite me along?!"
"I tried but you were sound asleep."
"Uuu...that duel with Akaza yesterday really wore me out." Murasaki said, biting her lips in regret with concerning force.
"If you want to see her so much then just go see her." Roko said as he ate his ramen.
"C-Can I? Can I really?" Murasaki looked up.
"Well, I don't see why not." Momo mused, "Midora might still be overseeing the unloading of the carts. There could be time to introduce you."
"Uuugh..." Murasaki looked back down, "But sensei said that it takes 3 days of training to make up skipping one day."
"I doubt that's true." Roko scoffed.
"Besides, if you don't do this, you're going to be fuming the entire time." Momo said as she stood up, "Come on. Let's go."
"Huh?! Wa-are we reall-"
Momo dragged Murasaki by the arm out of the cafeteria, leaving Roko alone to finish the rest of his ramen.
"Just you today?" His teacher seemed mightily disappointed when Roko showed up to the training field.
"Momo's introducing Murasaki to Midora." Roko shrugged, "I'm the only one here."
"Well, that kills my enthusiasm." His teacher sighed.
"I could go take a break if you're really that demotivated." Roko smirked.
"No no, there's only so many days left in your trip. We'll continue." His teacher shook his head disappointingly, "Now, have you decided on what weapon you want to learn?"
"After considering everything, I feel like the sword is my best option." Roko answered as he drew his sword, "Like you said, there is only so much time and honing the one skill I have is much more reliable than learning a new skillset entirely."
"That so?" His teacher nodded, "I for one thought you would prefer to have a lot more options and skills to call upon rather than focus on one skillset."
"Maybe if my swordplay was actually decent." Roko grimaced, "But I'm nowhere near skilled enough to just abandon it right now. Once I get to a baseline level, I can start looking into other weapons."
"I think the fact that you can use the sword well enough to win some battles would be good enough." His teacher sighed, "Well, I'll teach you what I can. But can you do me a favor when you return to your school?"
"What's that?"
"Can you take some pictures of Corissa for me?"
"Absolutely not."
"Well, it was worth a shot."
As the sun set on the third to last day of Roko's training regime, he had managed to get used to the enormous castle enough to find his way back to his own room on his own. The constantly shifting cafeteria schedules were not something Roko ever managed to master nor did he particularly feel like learning. As for his training, he could tell that his body had gotten used to the laborious drills that he has been subjected to but that was all. He was never given any new techniques, any unusual way of utilizing a sword that he never thought of. Roko dared not wonder if he was just too unskilled to learn anything or if there was nothing for him to learn but at least he could find cold solace in honing his body.
As Roko came close to his room, he passed by the center of the castle and stopped to look down at the central courtyard below. The strange white tree had been installed a day ago and now stood inside a neat inside garden. A single stone bench stood right underneath its branches along with strategically placed bushes. A perfectly scenic and peaceful slice of a what might have been part of larger garden, placed in the middle of a castle like a small, life-sized diorama. The tree was probably meant to overshadow the bench to provide shade and creating a feeling of privacy and intimacy but the tree was clearly too small to actually create that kind of environment. It was clear that they hoped it would grow to fulfill that role as there was clearly space planned out for when it would get larger. As it stood now, it all would depend on Midora's efforts. As Roko stared at the strange plant, in this twilight where the sun's rays were waning and the inside lanterns were not lit yet, he could swear he could see a white light emanating from it.
As Roko watched, he could see Midora walk up to the tree, touching it affectionately as the rest of Momo's siblings appeared besides her. Gina walked around the small garden with a smile as Aoki set up an easel near the edge. Akaza walked up and began speaking to Midora as Aoki waved Gina over to sit down on the bench as he began to paint. They all seemed rather happy and close to each other though Roko could not see Momo anywhere around them. She was there for training but was called to a meeting with her parents afterward. If anybody else were to look at this scene, they would think it was a simple happy family gathering. But Roko felt the scene was incomplete without Momo there. Though there was nobody to blame for that. Roko turned and walked back to his room.
In the dead of the night, as Roko slept peacefully in his room, a small shadow sneaked in under the door. Moving silently along the floor, it dodged in between the legs of chairs, desks and closets before reached up over the bed that Roko was sleeping in. It seemed to regard the young man curiously. It reared its head up and began to quickly plunged down. Roko rolled out of bed and across the floor as the shadow pierced the bed, creating a hole in the bed where he was sleeping.
"That was close." Roko gasped as he steadied himself, "How the hell did I even do that?"
Whatever attacked him slowly rose up from the cracking bed, allowing Roko to see it properly. A silvery white crystal like tendril rose up out of the bed as it stared directly at Roko.
"Oh no, not this again." Roko moaned.
The ground shook as another white tendril burst out from the floor below him and the entire room began to lose its stability. Jumping to his feet, Roko burst out of his room to see white tendrils covering the entire castle. Some of them being big enough to block entire corridors and rooms. Screams echoed out of every corner of the castle as people were attacked and very likely killed all over the place.
"First things first." Roko gripped his fist tightly as the screams and sounds of destruction assaulted him, "I need something to defend myself with."
…
"I have no idea where anything is." Roko banged his head on the wall, "Why is this castle so stupidly huge?!"
"Roko?!"
"Momo?!" Roko looked up as he heard Momo's voice.
"You're outside of your room right?! Hang on!"
From a hole beneath Roko, Momo jumped up three floors and landed on the floor in front of him.
"You okay?" She asked as she slashed at a tendril that had been creeping up behind Roko.
"No worse for wear." Roko gulped.
"Lady Momo?!"
"Murasaki!" Momo called back down, "You have sensei?!"
"Yes!"
"I've got Roko! Let's escape for now!"
"But everyone else is-"
"We can't save any more than one person while defending ourselves! We have to save who we can but even before that, we need to figure out what's going on! And in order to do that, we need to escape!"
"Y-Yes milady!"
"Come on Roko." Momo said as she wrapped an arm around Roko's waist and lifted him up under her arm, "We're leaving."
Roko cried out as Momo jumped back down the hole and landed back on the first floor.
"I can't believe this is happening again." Roko muttered.