Long before Aster ever stood on a stage…
Before the Snowflakes name echoed across kingdoms…
Before Dawnforge Arena trembled beneath applause—
He had been studying *runes*.
Quietly.
Obsessively.
Every single day.
Even as a child, while others practiced basic magic casting, Aster had been fascinated by something deeper—the *structure* behind magic.
Runes were the language of the world.
They were not spells shouted into the air, but **instructions engraved into reality itself**.
A circle meant containment.
A line meant direction.
A curve meant flow.
A break meant control.
Magic stones alone were useless without runes.
But runes…
Runes could turn imagination into function.
***
Aster sat at his desk in Snowflake Mansion late into the night, a faint blue glow illuminating his silver eyes. Papers covered the table—sketches of rune arrays, frequency charts, mana flow diagrams.
In his hand, a small magic stone hovered, slowly rotating.
He traced a finger through the air.
A single rune flared—then faded.
"Still inefficient," he muttered.
Astra leaned against the doorway, watching him quietly.
"You should sleep," she said softly. "The concert just ended."
Aster smiled faintly.
"Just one more."
She sighed—but didn't stop him.
Since childhood, rune engraving had been Aster's true obsession.
With the help of skilled engineers—especially those introduced by **Liora Arcwell**—he had already created things unheard of in this world:
*Harmonic Players*
*Sound Recording Stones*
*Volume Control Arrays*
*Multi-channel Resonance Amplifiers*
All of them relied on *modified runes*—hybrids between standard magical symbols and logic borrowed from Aster's old world.
Electric circuits became mana loops.
Switches became trigger runes.
Waveforms became resonance engravings.
He wasn't just copying old-world machines.
He was *rebuilding them* using magic.
And the possibilities terrified even him.
*If I can refine this enough…*
*Then sound won't be the only thing I can recreate.*
***
The concert's aftermath shook the kingdom.
The new album—
*"The Blues"*
—was praised endlessly.
Ten new songs.
Raw emotion.
Controlled power.
Mature themes.
Merchants immediately requested distribution rights.
Foreign nobles offered absurd sums.
Academy students hummed melodies in the dorm halls.
As promised, Aster made a public announcement before leaving the arena:
"To make this moment unforgettable…
the album *The Blues* will be officially released
on the opening day of the Royal Academy."
The announcement spread like wildfire.
Students cheered.
Merchants prepared stock.
Rune engineers scrambled to prepare production batches.
Snowflake sound stones sold out within hours of preorder.
And yet—
Not everyone was pleased.
***
From the shadows of the audience, several pairs of eyes watched the Snowflakes carefully.
Men dressed as ordinary nobles.
But their gazes were cold.
Calculating.
These were not fans.
They were remnants—
followers of the foreign power that once tried to steal the twins.
"They've grown," one whispered.
"And stronger," another replied. "That boy shattered a reinforced carriage with sound."
A third sneered.
"Let him sing. The academy will expose him soon enough."
They melted back into the crowd.
Watching.
Waiting.
***
Back at Snowflake Mansion, the atmosphere was warm again.
Arlienne hugged both her children tightly.
"I'm proud of you," she said, voice trembling with emotion.
"So proud."
Astra smiled brightly.
Aster lowered his head slightly.
"Thank you, Mama."
Dinner that night was simple—but joyful.
They talked about the concert.
The crowd.
The academy.
Lea Kingscrown joined them later, barely able to sit still.
"That was insane," she said, slamming her hands on the table.
"Even my father stood up clapping!"
Arlienne chuckled softly.
But Aster remained thoughtful.
Because he had noticed something during the concert.
Not applause.
Not cheers.
*Eyes.*
Some filled with admiration.
Some with curiosity.
And some…
With resentment.
***
The Royal Academy loomed closer with each passing hour.
Students had already begun forming groups.
Rumors spread fast.
"The Snowflakes think they're special."
"They perform for commoners—how disgraceful."
"They don't act like royals."
"They make nobles look ordinary."
A group of academy-bound noble students whispered together angrily.
"They humiliate our status," one scoffed.
"Singing like street performers."
Another smirked.
"Let's see how long they last inside the academy."
But elsewhere—
Other students felt inspired.
"They don't care about status."
"They create real things."
"They sound… free."
The academy was already dividing.
***
That night, Aster returned to his workshop.
The Harmonic Player sat on the table—Version 2.
He dismantled it piece by piece, examining the runes engraved inside.
"Still too bulky," he murmured.
He reached for a fresh stone.
This one smaller.
Denser.
"I need compression runes… layered resonance… maybe a recursive trigger."
Astra watched silently.
"Aster," she asked softly, "what are you really trying to build?"
He paused.
Then answered honestly.
"Everything."
She blinked.
He smiled.
He was thinking in his mind, "In my old world… sound was only one application of vibration. If I master rune logic…"
He looked at the stone glowing faintly in his hand.
"…I can rebuild machines. Networks. Communication systems."
He clenched his fist slowly.
"And no one will ever take us again."
Astra stepped forward and placed her hand over his.
"I'll sing for whatever you create."
Aster laughed quietly.
"Deal."
***
Far away, in the palace—
Queen Lura listened as reports were read aloud.
Concert success.
Album hype.
Academy anticipation.
Her expression darkened.
"They're becoming too influential," she muttered.
She dismissed the servants and stared out the window.
"Let the academy deal with them," she whispered coldly.
"Institutions crush pride better than thrones and I know a few instructors, who control that institution."
***
The next morning dawned bright.
Only days remained until:
- Royal Academy opening
- Album *The Blues* release
- Aster and Astra stepping into a new battlefield
Not of kidnapping.
Not of blades.
But of politics, envy, ambition, and knowledge.
As Aster engraved another rune, mana humming obediently beneath his fingers, one thing was clear:
The Snowflakes had returned to the stage.
But the academy…
Would be where *true conflicts begin*.