Soleil sat calmly on the bar stool, occasionally taking a sip out of her pint glass. She wasn't exactly a heavy drinker, but Camilla already ordered the whole army a round, and she wasn't going to deny a free gift. Besides, she felt that the bitter taste helped distract her from the somewhat eerie vibe of the castle's private lounge, with the servants standing motionless at guard while the overworked bartender attempted to serve drinks without making a sound. But it was best not to dwell on such things, she thought, it was time to relax and have a good time.

The lounge was a cold, empty place, set somewhere within the depths of the Nohrian castle. The room's only source of warmth was one fireplace that was set into the wall on the far side of the room. The servants, standing upright with their eyes staring forward in an almost lifeless manner, offered no conversation. The only sense of community was found within the bar patrons themselves who spoke to each other in hushed tones; the slightest chuckle managed to echo around the walls of the silent chamber.

Every seat of the bar was filled that night, each one occupied by the infantry of the Nohrian forces. Earlier in the day, they waged a lengthy and difficult battle against the ruthless Hoshido, a confrontation they emerged victorious from after several hours of brutal combat. In a somewhat lackluster act of gratitude, the Nohrian royal family allowed the use of their private lounge for the army's celebration.

Soleil sat at the end of the bar while their commander, Corrin, instead chose to sit at a nearby table with her older brother, Xander. To the left of Soleil sat the wolfskin Keaton, and on the other side of him was Camilla, Corrin's older sister and the self-proclaimed mother of their army. Keaton was blushing profusely, his head down in embarrassment as Camilla kept hurling flirtatious compliments at him.

Despite the sense of friendliness shared among the others in the army, Soleil felt isolated at her end of the bar. The rest of the lounge seemed so cold and desolate, a stark contrast to the hospitable taverns she was used to. There was nothing like a great tavern, she thought, and that was something the royal family could never possibly understand. Nothing could compare to a tavern with an inviting warmth to it, one that would beckon any passerby to come inside and have a few drinks, the kind of place where anyone would feel right at home. There would be friendly waiters and regular patrons, and perhaps even a young girl or two, someone cute to strike up a conversation with...

She was about to take another sip when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Um, excuse me, but I have not thanked you for the protection yet, have I?" asked a familiar cute-sounding voice. Soleil turned her head, and upon seeing the girl behind her, her heart skipped a beat. It was Ophelia, the Nohrian army's resident dark mage, looking as adorable as ever. Soleil grinned.

"Nah, you don't have to thank me for anything," she replied. "It was just my duty, after all."

"Well, I still want to express my gratitude for your service. You must have been destined to be my guardian as your protection has left me unharmed. So, thank you!" said Ophelia, showing a lovable smile.

There goes my calm evening, thought Soleil, her cheeks slightly burning. It was no secret that Soleil liked endearing girls, in fact, it was probably the most well-known thing about her. Every time Corrin's army would save a village from invaders, Soleil would make it her personal responsibility to accept the gratitude of the village maidens, often times making a fool of herself as she tried to impress them. But there was something about Ophelia that made her different from any other loveable girl, it may have been her adorable, well-spoken voice, or how she was so talented in magic, or even the way she styled her beautiful blonde hair, but she was just so… amazing.

"Anytime, especially for someone like you," replied Soleil with a grin. Ophelia let out a little giggle and smiled in response, the kind of adorable smile where she looked at the ground in embarrassment. Soleil loved that kind of smile.

"Oh, stop it, you are too kind!" said Ophelia, looking back up at Soleil with glee, before hesitating for a few seconds. "Um, anyway, I saw that you were sitting here by yourself, and I was thinking about how you shielded my life from the enemy earlier today, so I thought that we could perhaps… share a table?" she asked shyly, averting her eyes. Soleil lightly chuckled.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Wait, really?" said Ophelia, quickly looking up. "You mean it?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" replied Soleil, warmth creeping up to her ears. "You're pretty nice."

"…O-Oh! Um, thank you!" said Ophelia, showing another adorable smile. "It, um, m-means a lot, you, um, saying that…" she stammered, standing there very awkwardly, her cheeks beginning to glow. Soleil simply stood up, drink in hand.

"So, shall we?" she said, motioning to an empty table.

"…R-Right, of course!"

The two made their way towards the table, and in a show of chivalry, Soleil helped Ophelia into her seat. Once Soleil was seated herself, it was only a few seconds before a servant came over and placed two wine glasses on their table, filling up each with an extravagant looking bottle.

"Hey, wait just a second, we haven't ordered anything yet," Soleil said.

"It's on the house, orders of Mistress Camilla," replied the servant, speaking quietly. "Rosé, directly from the castle's cellar. Aged for forty years."

"F-Forty years?!" exclaimed Soleil, loud enough to silence the other patrons for a moment. "And… it's on the house?!"

The servant remained silent, his face emotionless as he performed a well-trained bow and carefully stepped away from the table.

Soleil chuckled. "Forty years..." she said, examining the glass. After she appreciated the drink for long enough, Soleil took an excited sip from the glass and slowly placed it back down as she let out a few coughs. "Wow, this night is already off to a great start!" she said in a groggy voice, clearing her throat. After wiping her mouth, she returned her attention to Ophelia, who seemed disinterested in her drink. "Anyway, how are you tonight?"

"Well, I am feeling wonderful, actually. I find it quite pleasant to relax every once in a while."

"Yeah, I think so too," said Soleil, taking another sip. She let out another cough but managed to stifle it a bit more than last time.

"Of course, especially after the battle earlier," added Ophelia. "Using magic can get tiring very quickly. But I think it was definitely worth the effort, I got to try so many new spells today!"

Soleil perked up. "Oh really? Like what?"

"Well, I was able to try out 'Heartseeker' for the first time, which was very exciting since I spent such a long time trying to perfect it," Ophelia said eagerly.

"Oh right, that one," said Soleil, taking a more tentative sip from her glass. She thought to herself for a few seconds but wasn't able to recall Ophelia trying a new spell by that name. "Yeah, that definitely was a cool one."

Ophelia lit up upon hearing her. "That is exactly what I thought! It was definitely worth all the practice, especially since it was so useful during combat. That and the other new spell I got to try out, 'Malefic Aura'," Ophelia said with excitement. "Now that one was very difficult to perform, I must say. Of course, you would only expect the chosen one to be able to conduct such a difficult spell," she added boastfully.

"Yep, it must've been, 'cause it looked so awesome," replied Soleil in a not exactly honest way. Why couldn't she remember? Soleil obviously didn't use magic herself and couldn't be trusted with the name of each spell, but it was a bit strange she didn't remember anything Ophelia tried that day. After all, their unique names were pretty hard to forget, and given how theatrical Ophelia was, she always shouted them out before casting them. "Probably had some fun trying it out, I bet."

"Yes, I very much enjoyed using both spells today," said Ophelia, smiling proudly. "But enough about me, did you get to try any new techniques today?"

"Who, me?" Soleil thought back to the battle earlier, but she only drew a blank. "Nah, not really," she said, "Seems that good ol' Soleil is good enough at handling the bad guys herself, huh?" This earned a giggle from Ophelia.

"I suppose so, you did manage to keep me safe."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Soleil, a bit doubtful. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't really remember anything specific about today's battle, which was strange because it happened, well, today! Taking another sip of her drink, she retraced the day's events, her mind wandering back to the little scuffle earlier.

The sun was brutal during the day; it beat down upon the combatants without any relief. The two opposing sides were locked in a violent brawl, with the Corrin-led Nohrian forces facing off against the evil known as the Hoshido. The sounds of swords clashing and arrows whizzing by filled the air, all while the cavalry quickly rode forth as they went to attack the enemy lines. Magic was cast, spears were thrown, and many were carried off the battlefield unconscious.

Soleil, on the other hand, didn't really have much to do. Her assignment was simple, protect Ophelia from any incoming attack. Of course, since Ophelia was able to cast her magic at a range from their opponent, they were both out of harm's way. Despite this, Soleil wasn't bored at all. In fact, she was quite pleased with where she was.

To put it simply, whenever she didn't have much else to do, Soleil got distracted very easily. Sometimes it was because one of the other soldiers was goofing off, while at other times it was the beauty of the countryside that stole her attention. And sometimes it was because Ophelia wore almost nothing but a tight-fitting transparent veil, and it was so easy to see her cute, soft, and absolutely gorgeous stomach.

This was one of those times.

Now, Soleil wouldn't be best described as a pervert, but every so often it seemed that she really couldn't help herself. She just stood there, not really minding her duty, but instead had her attention fully honed in on Ophelia's visible tummy. Soleil had a refined taste when it came to female midriffs—especially when they belonged to cute girls—and to her, there was no doubt that Ophelia had something special. It looked so beautiful, the skin of it supple and just a little bit squishy, and there was even an adorable little belly button in the center of it all! Whenever Ophelia would cast a spell she would strike a somewhat ridiculous pose, and sometimes that pose would involve stretching her arms out, in turn stretching out her torso and making it nicely taut. It had a way of catching Soleil's eye.

The intense heat sure didn't help Soleil, causing her to feel literally hot and bothered. As she blatantly stared, her cheeks blazing red, she thought about how soft Ophelia's tummy looked, what a luxury it would be to give it a light caress if she were to ever wrap her arms around Ophelia's waist. Oh, how she would do anything to feel its smoothness! She had this little fantasy running around her mind, one in which after a long day she would return home to find Ophelia lying on her bed, her torso completely bare as the soft shadows of candlelight danced across her spectacular middle. Ophelia, in that adorably timid manner she always seemed to display, would beckon her to lay her tired head on her pillowy belly. Gladly accepting her request, she would sink into Ophelia's softness, her cozy warmth keeping Soleil nice and toasty as the rhythmic ebb and flow of her steady breathing lulled Soleil into a peaceful, romantic, and somewhat titillating slumber…

"Soleil, look out!"

With a surprised "Wha-?", Soleil was abruptly pulled out of her fantasy while an arrow flew by uncomfortably close to her face. Panic briefly surged through her, and she quickly brought up her shield in a defensive stance. She scanned the horizon for any other threats, but to her confusion, it seemed that the Hoshidan forces were actually retreating, and the arrow was a last-minute shot from a fleeing archer. Slowly, she lowered her guard, a puzzled look on her face.

"Soleil! Are you okay?" asked Ophelia, rushing towards her.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," Soleil answered. "The thing didn't even touch me."

Ophelia let out a sigh of relief. "How fortunate! I was worried for a moment there," she said, looking over at the withdrawing army. "Would be a shame if we were to lose our most talented swordswoman right before winning the battle, would it not?" said Ophelia, her lips curled into a playful grin.

"Wait, we already won?"

"Of course we did, you dunderhead!" Ophelia giggled.

Soleil couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, I guess we did. Probably because we had the chosen one on our side, huh?"

"Oh, stop it!" said Ophelia, showing another one of her embarrassed smiles. Soleil returned a grin of her own, before letting her eyes shamelessly take a quick peek at Ophelia's cute tummy. She quietly sighed to herself. Maybe someday, she thought.

Oh. So that's why she couldn't remember anything about the battle. Soleil took another sip of her wine, a feeling of shame washing over her. Ophelia was her friend, she couldn't just creepily stare at her like that! What was she, some kind of pervert? As she pondered this, she gulped down the remainder of her drink.

"Um, Soleil? Are you okay? What exactly are you doing?" Ophelia asked with a growing tone of concern. Soleil slammed the glass back down on the table, bursting into a fit of coughs after doing so.

"Ugh… sorry about that," she said, hacking into her fist. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" said Ophelia, unconvinced. "Is there a problem, Soleil? You can tell me."

"Nah, I'm fine. Just thinking, I guess."

Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "What were you thinking about?"

"Just thinking about… stuff," Soleil vaguely answered. Ophelia pressed her lips together, but before she could voice her dissatisfaction, a servant came over and placed another two glasses on their table, filling them both up exactly as he had before. "Whoa, another order?" asked Soleil, her eyes wide.

"On the house, orders of Mistress Camilla," answered the servant. "Rosé, directly from the castle's cellar. Aged for forty years." Once again, he performed his well-trained bow and stepped away from their table.

"Again?" said Soleil, before shaking her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable. I mean, how expensive is this stuff?" She glanced over at the bar towards Camilla, who was still in a conversation with a clearly red-faced Keaton. The two briefly made eye contact, and Camilla offered a playful wink, before returning her attention to the wolfskin who was currently covering his face.

"Unbelievable…" muttered Soleil, before turning back towards Ophelia. She sat there with her arms crossed, and two full wine glasses were on her side of the table, each untouched. "Hey, are you gonna drink those?" Soleil asked.

"I am not going to, actually," said Ophelia, with a hint of timidity. "To be completely honest, I do not enjoy drinking."

"Really?" said Soleil, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, it's not like there's anything wrong with that."

"I know, it must be strange for you to hear. But I'm perfectly fine with just relaxing here, speaking with you," Ophelia continued with a hint of embarrassment, leaning back in her chair. Soleil chuckled.

"Well then, more for me!" joked Soleil, taking a sip from her new drink. As she did so, she caught glimpse of Ophelia's tummy, which was easier to see as she leaned back. In the soft lights of the tavern, it looked so… captivating.

No, not right now, she thought, quickly averting her eyes. Another pang of guilt went through her, and she scolded herself for staring at her friend like that, shamelessly looking over at her undeniably gorgeous tummy. She was being way too perverted, she thought, she shouldn't think about how delicious the cream-colored skin of her belly looked, or how the veil nicely accentuated her curves as it pressed up real tight against her torso, or how her wide hips delightfully complemented her narrow waist…

Soleil felt her cheeks flare up again. There was no point in denying it, it seemed, she just couldn't help herself. Ophelia's tummy was right there, so easy to see, and because of her little tummy kink, Soleil would go ahead and see it. And perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing; after all, Ophelia didn't seem to mind. She had to have already noticed her staring, right?

Soleil didn't know what to think. So instead of thinking, she took another sip. But even with the glass pressed up against her lips, her eyes were still drawn towards the bare stomach right in front of her. Maybe she just shouldn't worry about it. It was supposed to be a relaxing night out, and she should be enjoying herself. And if part of that enjoyment involved a little bit of staring, well then, so be it. She should be fine, she reasoned, as long as she doesn't do anything stupid.