Suddenly being married to the heir apparent of the north did not mean that Yuki's education stopped. She kind of hoped that it would, but instead she found that she had more things to learn. History of Isklan, its traditions, its clothing, its culture. She was also expected to keep up with the politics of Notos as well, but thankfully she also had Yuri for that. He focused his reclusive time on keeping up with the same studies as Yuki and then keeping in contact with family back home.
Unfortunately, that meant also that Yuki was usually alone for her studies.
Sometimes Dresden joined her. He was always meek about coming in through the door behind her, looking embarrassed that he hadn't arrived first. Yet Yuki didn't care -- was she supposed to care? -- and would light up at seeing the boy wandering over anyway.
"You grew up here, right?" Yuki asked when they had a break. She held a blue-tinted apple up to her lips, inhaling its soft and sweet scent. It was called a snow apple and she was quickly growing addicted to it. It crunched similar to the sound of stepping through snow, tasting sweet but not too sweet, and smelled… unique. It was a smell that Yuki couldn't really place, and maybe that was because it didn't snow in the south.
"Yeah," Dresden said, pale hands curling around his own snow apple. They remained at the desk in the room, a fire crackling merrily nearby and keeping them warm. "Um… why? I'm not… very grown up."
"Uh, I'm not, either." To prove her point, some of the clear snow apple juice ran down her chin.
"You're married," Dresden said mildly. "That means you're an adult."
"I haven't even bled yet." Yuki sniffed and ignored the way the pale boy seemed to go even more of a shade of white. Was that possible? Gosh. "I can't… really do any of the politic-y schmolitic-y things. If I was an adult, I wouldn't be taking lessons." She puffed her chest out. "I'd be giving them!"
Dresden's only response to that was to crunch into his apple, looking away.
Taking that as her opening, Yuki began to speak. "So do you have something against me for marrying--"
The way that Annette had spoken to him before still hung with her, poking at her thoughts whenever she thought she might be making a friend with Dresden… or with anyone. Were people friendly with her because she was now their ruler by a half, and they wanted to get into her and thus Mirai's good graces? Or were they being genuine?
Regardless, Yuki was unable to fully speak her question before their teacher, a Miss Genes, returned. Her hair was in an even looser bun than before, strands of it wildly flying about her face as she fixed her stare on the paralyzed Dresden and the mildly perturbed Yuki.
"Come along, Princess," she finally said, her voice growing into a singsong. She held out her hand, the dark green of her dress' sleeves stark against her skin. Anything would be stark against the pale Isklanis' skin, she thought… not for the first time. "It's time for you to experience your first snow."
It was almost as if the world heard her musings about snow just moments before. Then again, the lessons about Isklan's environment mentioned that it was a frigid and unforgiving place, its warmest temperatures easily falling thirty or so below that of Notos' coldest. The snow frightened Yuki, but also enticed her; having never seen it, she wanted to see it… and yet she didn't want to experience it. Could she not just watch it from her chambers' windows? It was something she daydreamed about quite often.
"Are you sure?" she finally said, standing up and making sure her hand was not sticky before placing it into Miss Genes' own hand. "I don't think I'm dressed for it."
"Oh that will be taken care of," Miss Genes said with a nod, her smile crinkling the edges of her eyes in a way most unflattering. "Snow does not stop within moments of falling here. It will still be snowing by the time you are dressed."
"Mmhm." Yuki put her half eaten snow apple down on the desk, and then alighted her eyes on Dresden. "You should come with!"
Dresden jolted in his seat, blinking multiple times in startle. "P… Pardon?"
"Hey if I have to go outside to see the snow instead of staying where it's warm, then you are too!" Yuki said this with what she hoped was a commanding tone, though it more than likely came out as a whine. Whatever the case, a faint twitch of Dresden's lips upward was her reward, and she felt quite proud of herself thankyouverymuch.
"If Your Highness wishes," came his response, softly, before he stood and moved to exit through a different door. Strange customs, Yuki thought as she let Miss Genes tug her along. Boys leaving from different doors when both were leaving, wearing different clothes for different events -- she absolutely hated this part. Getting dressed multiple times in a day seriously irked her, though there wasn't much she could do about that.
She really did want to wear different colors than the cold ones of Isklan. She said this every time they bustled around her and dressed her up for whatever was going on at the time. She was gaining ground every little bit -- today they allowed her to have gold and orange colors accenting the darker colors of the sweeping dress, warm and fluffed around her. They also painted her eyes and lips that way, and put on glittering earrings of branches against her ears. As usual, they marveled at the point that was forming from Yuki's ears, musing about some things too softly for her to hear. Besides, she was just glad to be able to incorporate her home more in the new environment. Her new home. She must remember that -- especially if she wanted it to be Yuri's new home, too.
She was thankful for the veil over her eyes as Miss Genes led her out into the courtyard of the palace, as the outside was brighter than snow would have one believe. She squinted nonetheless, but the dark veil helped her adjust quite easily as her feet crunched on the frosted rocks and poke-through of grass between them.
The gathering was small and intimate, but the sight itself was beautiful. Without thinking, Yuki reached up to take off her veil for a better look.