"I still don't see why I had to come to this thing."

"Because," Chrom responded, "You're a national hero and you're practically family," another noble came by and greeted them before moving on, "Besides, if I have to endure this than so should you."

"And the truth comes out," Robin muttered. The two friends were currently attending a banquet at the castle celebrating the harvest. A nice affair, but Robin felt entirely out of place with all the high-born nobility.

"At least you're not wearing…whatever this is," Chrom referred to overly complicated formal wear that he currently had on. Robin got out of that by wearing his grandmaster outfit which-after being repaired-had a formal enough appearance. Plus, it fit his status as a "hero" as people called him. A title he profusely refused which just made Chrom all the more insistent on using it. Perhaps revenge for all the times Robin used his title to irritate him.

"I suppose," Robin caught sight of Sumia and Cynthia chatting with a group of nobles not too far away from them. Cynthia had stayed in Ylisse as Cordelia's second in command as they rebuilt the Pegasus Knights. Chrom, of course, insisted that she take her place as his daughter, and so he spilled the beans about the time travelers. It actually went over better than one might expect; the fact that they had helped save all of their lives did not hurt either.

Sumia soon caught eye of her husband and signaled him over for some reason or another. Chrom politely excused himself from his friend and joined his wife and daughter leaving Robin to stand around alone, but not for long.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Robin looked behind him to track the familiar voice. He was a bit surprised to see Lucina in such formal attire. It was the first party at the castle since the Shepherds celebrated his return, and that had been casual attire. A lovely blue dress-judging by the good taste her mother picked it out. It was nothing too fancy, but she looked good all the same. More so than he would dare admit.

"Eh, not particularly," the tactician looked around the room so as not to stare, "Chrom made me come."

"I know how that feels," she walked up a bit closer-well within respectable distance-as she spoke, "My mother insisted that I come. Honestly, I feel somewhat silly. I dreamed of being at an event like this for years, to wear an eloquent gown, but now that I'm here I feel so out of place."

"Well, I think you wear the dress well," Robin complimented earning a slight blush from the princess, "And as far as feeling out of place, you're not alone. I'm a tactician, not a noble. I much prefer sitting around a table chatting than half veiled conversation and double meanings."

Lucina smiled, "Indeed, at least I have you here," it was Robin's turn to blush a bit, "It is good to have a friend nearby. Someone to talk to."

Something about those words were bittersweet to the tactician, "Yeah, I'm here whenever you need me."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," she looked over to her family, "I should go say hello to my family."

"Of course," Robin waved, "Go, enjoy your family time. You deserve it."

"Alright," she started to go but looked back, "Why don't you join me? Perhaps you could help diffuse any embarrassment they try to cause me."

"Sorry, but this is your burden to bear," Robin grinned, "Besides, I wouldn't want to impose on your hard earned family time. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Very well," she walked off toward her family somewhat slower than before.

As Robin watched her leave, the last voice he wanted to hear started to speak, "Lovely, isn't she?"

"Edward," Robin nearly groaned in a mixture of dread and annoyance. Edward was a particularly troublesome noble. He was generally unpleasant, and particularly infamous for his nights out with women of all sorts. A philanderer of the highest degree that could make Inigo look like a dedicated family man. Not to mention his family's rumored ties to organized crime. Something Maribelle was apparently looking into if the gossip was to be believed.

To make matters worse, the man seemed to view Robin as some sort of rival or something. He seemed to make it a point to talk to Robin about all of his accomplishments; he even bragged about winning a chess tournament to Robin of all people. It was as if the noble intentionally wanted to get under Robin's skin, and, unfortunately, he was very good at it. Fortunately, Robin had a good amount of self-control; otherwise Edward would probably have ended up with a bloody nose by now.

"She is quite the beauty," the noble continued, "And she will be my bride before too long."

Robin stifled a laugh, "You honestly think she'd say yes?" she had turned his passes down several times already, although it seemed that Edward required a blunter answer. Oh, how Robin wished to deliver that message.

"I think she will agree once I play the legal card."

"Come again?" Robin raised his brow.

"You see," The irritating man started smugly, "Several years ago, my family made a deal with the royal family to marry in."

Robin scoffed, "Yeah, let's see how far that story gets you."

"I assure you, it's quite true," He pulled out a piece of paper with the royal seal, "It was quite the backroom deal so it doesn't surprise me that you don't know. I doubt if the Exalt himself knows. Either way, seems I lucked out with such a beauty."

Robin looked over the document with a sinking feeling in his gut. It looked authentic, and that was certainly the royal seal. It seemed the deal had been made between his father and Chrom's. "And when do you plan to make this move?" Robin tried to hide the apprehension in his voice. He thought he did fairly well given the circumstances though his mouth was uncomfortably dry.

"Why, after I sweep her off her feet on the dance floor of course! Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare my proposal." He rolled up the parchment with a look of victory and walked away.

Proposal. Hearing the word made it seem that much more real. He had to find a way to get her out of it. He refused to let her become that man's trophy. There had to be a way out of it, and he would find it. No easy task when he had only had seconds to scan the document. Huzzah for an excellent memory.

Dinner rolled around soon enough, and he had still yet to figure out a way to solve this. Everything he thought of was a temporary solution at best. There had to be a way. Law was not his strong suit unfortunately.

"Are you okay?" Lucina asked from beside him.

"Huh? Why wouldn't I be?" Robin asked too quickly.

"You've barely touched your food," she made note of his nearly pristine plate of food, "You seem distracted."

Robin was usually very good at keeping his true feelings from showing if he did not want them to. Unfortunately, Lucina was one of the few who could see past his facades, and she was certainly the best at it-odd considering how bad she typically was with that sort of thing.

"I've got something on my mind."

"What is it? Can I help?" Possibly; probably. She had been taking legal lessons since the end of the fighting. Perhaps he should tell her…no, not yet. He did not want to risk her doing something rash.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass," he saw her concerned gaze, "Please don't concern yourself. Enjoy yourself; be happy."

She did not comment further, but she knew that something was bothering him. He did not like having her worry about him, but he was not sure how she would react to the news. This was technically a valid deal no matter how much it did not sit well with Robin, and she may feel duty bound to fulfil it. Especially given that if she did not, it would just pass the burden down the line. No, he had to find a way to keep her from having to make that decision.

The question was: how? There was one way to get around it. From what he read, it specifically called for the oldest unmarried son of Edward's family to marry a princess that was not the heir apparent if she was not married or engaged by age twenty-one. Lucina being roughly twenty-two years of age meant she qualified…but she was the only one. The deal was likely meant for Lissa, but that fell through when she married Lon'qu as another stipulation was that they could not be engaged or married, and this being a backroom deal meant they may not want to contest the deal openly even if it was perfectly legally binding as far as he knew. It was a loophole, but it could buy them time. Except Lucina was not even courting, let alone engaged or married.

Unless…it could work. Buy them time until they found a way out of the deal, but he would have to move quickly.

Dinner had just ended so he did not have much time. He pulled Lucina aside and started in the opposite direction of Edward as he pushed through the crowd.

"Robin, where are we going?"

"Do you trust me?" he asked as Edward was catching up.

"Of course," she replied without hesitation.

"Good, then play along," before she could ask what he meant, Robin took a knee in front of the attendees and said the words that would change their lives for better or worse.

"Lucina, would you marry me?"

A/N: Okay, so you may have noticed I changed the means by which Lucina would have been forced into marriage. For one, I'm not very good at political intrigue, so I went with some backroom deal.

Edit: Minor change to inform that, while it was a backroom like deal, it still has the seal and is legally binding.

Edit: See chapter 2 A/N.