-Snow's pov-

"Aunt Bella... The state of Slade is..." I started.

She looked at me curiously with a slight sadness.

I shook my head then smiled "You seem to have another persona here,"

"Ah yes... Being Bellatrix Ascot surely helped me in the higher ranks, but being Reiko is easier when dealing with locals and the lower ranks," she smiled.

"How did you adopt such a persona?" I asked curiously.

"... A while back, when I realized I couldn't win everyone's respect, not when they didn't think of me as their own. So I decided to make up some story about a homeless girl named Reiko who I personally trained and appointed knight commander," she explained happily.

"I see then... Aunt Bella... Forgive my overbearing curiosity, what are the other districts like?" I asked as she sat on her mahogany desk, deep in thought.

"Snow... Slade in general is a bad place... The villages under Slade aren't any better," she said vaguely.

"Are there slums?" I asked bluntly as she looked at me in shock.

"Where did you hear that word?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Somewhere around here..." I averted my eyes.

She narrowed her eyes in dismay, "Never say that word again. I don't want to hear from someone as pure as you, my princess," she said with a soft smile and slight concern in her tone of voice.

"But yes... Living conditions can get... Extreme, especially since Slade is more industrial and monopolizes many of the free land, leaving no free sustainable food supply..." she said worriedly.

"You mean... Beasts can't grow their own food? Not even forage for it?" I asked shocked.

"Not unless you have money. As you know, all beasts are blessed with magic but not all are blessed with as much power as the nobles and professors you're used to," she explained.

It's true, I've never seen a beast that wasn't good at magic, everyone I know is powerful or knows how to use magic well, but there are many who struggle holding a flame for long or even grow a tree.

"How could they do that? They control land and food, making it unavailable for people who have less," I shook my head.

"To justify raising the price. Nonsense isn't it?" she said with a pained laugh.

"Can't the king do something about it? Surely the people are against this," I suggested.

"if the people of Slade wanted this to end it would've ended a long time ago... As long as the nobles have the right papers, king Minoru cannot touch their properties without proper reason," she glared at a few papers on her desk.

"And it's such a pain getting anything out of these tricky nobles... But Minoru has to take every scrap, look as desperate for monopoly as possible, because we are..." she sighed.

"You can't act properly without the monopoly?" I asked.

"No. We can't. There are too many lives at risk, greed is a self-destructive thing, if we act rashly and they explode... A lot of people could... I mean will get hurt," she said, getting up.

"It's time you head home, Princess," she smiled, opening the door.

"But I... I don't want to sleep... I don't want to go back..." I said, fear lacing my voice.

She pulled out a small dream catcher and handed it to me, it was the size of my hand.

"This is a special dream catcher, your father used one like it before, it helps with insomniacs by letting out soothing sound waves and blocking out dreams using shadow magic. Rest assured you won't need to go to the mindscape or will you dream of anything," she smiled.

I looked at it amazed." Shadow magic can block out dreams?"I asked.

"Magic can do so many wonderful things, all people really need is a bit of imagination," she laughed.

"Did you know, Slade used to be an entertainment capital because of how creative the people were? Slade used to be known to be a kingdom of color and songs, theater and dance..." she said with a small flourish.

"Each kingdom has its specialty, Sterling is known for its magic and agriculture, Fantasia for its weaponry and smithing, Xander for its medicine and martial arts, Flameheart for its culinary and comercial charm," she went on.

"Aunt Bella can get excited when talking about the kingdoms," I laughed.

"It's all just so intriguing... I want to know Slade like I know my own home, I want to bring back it's old charm and culture," she sighed hopefully.

"And I'm sure you'll do just that," I smiled as she put a candy in my hand.

"You've used one of these before right? The second time you met my boys," she smiled as I laughed at the memory.

"I remember, before I ever removed my mask, I had to drag a poor girl all the way back to their room in the Fantasia palace," I laughed.

"Oh how I wish I could just recruit you, but you're the sole heir. Unless your parents decide otherwise that is," she winked as I giggled.

We said our last goodbyes as I ate the teleportation candy and I was back in my room.

I put the dream catcher under my pillow and had a good and dreamless sleep, just as I was promised.

Daylight instantly burned my eyes as I hissed.

"Sierra! I thought we agreed not to open the curtains until I've adjusted my eyes!?" I screamed, covering myself with my blanket.

"Ah, there's actually such a rule?" I froze when I heard that voice.

I removed the blanket in shock, "Prince... Kazuki?" I blinked in shock.

"Good morning, princess," he waved as Ken greeted me as well by tossing me a bottle of my red moon pills.

"Why are you... Are you even allowed to..." I was so confused and lacking sleep.

"Before that, pills first please, it's almost unbearable," Kazuki said with a slight laugh.

I flinched in embarrassment before quickly taking a pill then immediately wanting to throw the bottle in their face.

"Aww, the Princess seems grumpy," Ken teased with a chuckle.

"Were you both always so annoying?" I asked out loud.

Kazuki laughed, "Don't be like that, you're part of the family now, you have a brother don't you? He must annoy you sometimes," he smiled before sitting at the foot of my bed.

"Plus it was father who sent us here, to try and make you actually part of the family," Ken said with a grin as I couldn't control myself and actually did throw the bottle in his face.

"Ow! That is quite the throw for such a little girl..." Ken groaned in pain.

"Worry not, we see you as nothing more than a sister, very cute, but still just a sister," Kazuki laughed and pinched my cheek.

"... I hope so," I deadpanned.

"So who shall you be accompanying today?" Kazuki asked curiously.

"Ah, jeez, I forgot I was doing this..." I slumped.

"Shall we arrange afternoon tea?" Ken suggested.

"Or will you be spending time with someone in particular?" Kazuki asked.

Honestly I have no idea what to do, I agreed to help make them better people and all but I feel drained.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door then Ken immediately hid in the bathroom.

"None of the servants can know we're here, they might alert the others," Kazuki whispered before hiding in the closet.

I held in the urge to laugh at them, "Come in," I said as a maid came in and presented me a letter on a silver platter.

"A letter for her highness from the eldest prince," she announced as I nodded and took the letter.

"You are dismissed," I said as she bowed and left.

The two came out of hiding then looked at the letter curiously.

"The eldest prince, from Osamu?" Ken asked curiously as I quickly scanned the letter.

It was just an invite to breakfast.

"... I think I have my answer now," I sighed as the two looked excited.

"What perfect timing, we'll leave you to it then!" Kazuki said, dragging Ken out so that I could prepare.

"Hm... I think we'll get along well,"

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