Cordelia's Tale: Act I

Child of Chaos

Part VII

Author's note: I recommend listening to Stardust Speedway Act 1 from Sonic Mania when you see one * mark.

Cordelia rapped her knuckles against the door to the office of the Queen of Ylisse and waited a few seconds as she stood in the hallways of the Ylissean Castle. The door opened to reveal Olivia standing behind it.

"Oh, hi Cordelia!" Her face beamed as she stood to the side. "Do you need something?"

"I just need someone to talk to." Cordelia waited in the doorway as Olivia beckoned her inside.

"Should I get Sumia? I know you and she are close." Olivia walked across the white rug of her office and sat behind her desk on a velvet chair.

"I already spoke to Sumia about this and I wanted to get a range of opinions." Cordelia sat down on a cushioned chair that was facing Olivia's. "What should I do if Robin asks for my hand in marriage?"

"Well, why are you doubting it?" Olivia tilted her head to her side.

"We had a fight before we went to war with Valm…" Cordelia grabbed a lock of her hair and began to repeatedly run her hands down it. She played back the events of that fight in her mind sometimes when she slept at Robin's side. Every time she debated if she did the right thing by apologizing.

"Oh, Cordelia. Every relationship involves fights. Family, friendships, marriages, the list goes on. If you aren't having a verbal scuffle every once in awhile, then you're just bottling your feelings up and being a doormat." Olivia gave a smile of reassurance. "What matters is if you can make up and move on after the argument."

"Well, we both apologized…" Cordelia responded.

"Then you did perfectly. The key to maintaining a relationship is to recognize that your partner's needs matter, and you can do that just fine." For some reason, Olivia seemed very confident when it came to romantic advice.

"If you say so." Cordelia felt slightly more confident in her relationship with Robin. "Sumia told me that I should spend the rest of my life with him. Do you think I should?"

"Well, does he make you feel happy?" Cordelia nodded her head the instant Olivia asked. "Then you should jump on this chance," Olivia answered. "The day before Chrom proposed to me, I realized that every day he spent away from home on his tours around the country was a day I spent waiting for him to come back. If you and Robin feel the same, then you've got nothing to worry about."

"Okay, I know what I must do." Cordelia motioned to stand up before she noticed that Olivia was still sitting down.

"Can I uh… C-can I ask you a question?" Beads of sweat began to fall down Olivia's face, seemingly out of nowhere. "Are you… mad at me for getting with Chrom?" She began to nervously twiddle her thumbs

"What? No, no. I'm not mad at you for getting with Chrom. If anything, you got me to be with Robin, so I can't complain." Cordelia attempted to replicate the reassuring smile that Olivia had given her.

"Okay, because lately, I've been worrying that you considered me a succubus or something." Olivia's shoulders loosened. "Speaking of your opinion of me, uh… When I stepped in and saved Chrom from Walhart, did I do the right thing?"

"Well, you saved Chrom's life and ended the war, so yes. You did the right." Cordelia sat back down.

"It's just… I wonder if Walhart had a family who cared for him." Olivia looked to the side in a regretful manner. She had wanted to become a swordmaster to help defend herself, but now she came to terms that her enemies had families too. "Plus, the Valmese Castle is refusing to surrender because I 'Violated the code of duels'."

The war with Valm was technically over, but Ylissean troops were still sieging the Valmese Castle until it surrendered.

"Walhart made the decision to kill countless innocents to further his own goals. Regardless of his supposed family, you stopped a tyrant." Cordelia remembered when Sumia had the same dilemma regarding the lives of their enemies. "Would you rather a prolonged war with Valm where your husband is safe, or a shorter war where Chrom is dead?

"You're… You're right…" Olivia decided that by taking one life, she had prevented the deaths of countless, including Chrom's. "Now what say we get Sumia and go scope out some wedding dresses?"

"How much longer until they come out?" Chrom whispered into Olivia's ear as he adjusted the cuffs of his tuxedo. The wooden texture of the pew he sat on itched his back and made him adjust up and down several times.

"Any minute now, I think," Olivia responded. She had taken to counting the number of white tiles in the ceiling of this church during the long wait for Robin and Cordelia to emerge.

The large double-doors at the end of the hallway swung open as a church organ began to play. Out from the door and down the carpeted hallway was Robin, wearing a tuxedo similar to Chrom, and Cordelia, wearing the same beautiful dress she had bought two years ago.

All of the Shepherds clapped as Robin and Cordelia walked by the pews the group sat in, arms locked and footsteps matched until they arrived at the altar.

A stained-glass window depicting the Divine Dragon, Naga, shone behind them as they faced each other on the raised platform. Robin lost his train of thought in Cordelia's eyes and didn't realize that the pastor of the church had asked him a question.

"Robin, do you take Cordelia to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health?" The pastor asked.

Robin took a few seconds to collect his thoughts.

"I do." Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would end up here, but nevertheless, he was about to marry the woman of his dreams.

"Cordelia, do you take Robin to be your lawfully wedded husband, through good times and bad?"

"I do." Her answer trickled from her mouth like a mountain stream.

"You may now kiss the bride." The pastor barely had time to finish his statement before Robin and Cordelia rushed into each others arms and passionately kissed amongst the clapping of the Shepherds.

Most couples would hope to start their honeymoon with the husband carrying his wife through the doors of their new house. Robin certainly was carrying something through the doors of his recently-purchased house among the Feroxian mountains. Instead of Cordelia, however, it was one end of a large couch.

Cordelia held the other end as he hurriedly walked through the doors of their house as she followed behind. Once she was inside the house, they quickly set the cushioned seat against the wall to the right of the entrance, then collapsed onto it. Robin gasped for breath and tried to focus on anything besides his aching hands as his head sank into the cushions next to Cordelia's.

The realization that they still had more furniture to carry began to settle in their thoughts as they both groaned.

Once they had brought in all the furniture, Cordelia stood in the living room of their new house and basked in the glow of the crackling fireplace. She sank into a blue recliner that she had hand-picked and felt her aching muscles ease up the instant her rear touched the cushion.

"So, how are you liking it?" Robin asked as he knelt down to Cordelia's side.

"It's perfect." She responded as she rested her head on .

"I'm thinking we should hang a picture up there." Robin pointed to the wall above the fireplace, which was noticeably barren among the various decorations they had purchased. "How about a portrait of a beach?"

"Speaking of, we should go walk to town and buy some things for the house." She pulled her head back and looked at Robin.

"What kind of things? We already used up almost all of Chrom's home-buying money." Robin asked.

"You know… Things…" Cordelia's face turned beet-red, but Robin assumed it was the heat from the fire.

Really, Cordelia had a heat. It just happened to be inside her chest. A burning desire she had inside that had flickered to life when Olivia mentioned that she and Chrom were trying to have a baby.

Cordelia had always dreamed she would settle down and bear a little girl. "Like scented c-candles."

"I see." Robin looked as though he was pondering where this situation was heading; Cordelia prayed that his analytical mind was unable to put two and two together. "You want to build a spa?"

"Y-yes! We're going to build a spa, and we need to buy supplies. I'll write a list of what we need and we can go downtown later tonight." Cordelia responded hastily as she got to her feet and went to a nearby desk.

*Cordelia wrapped her hands around Robin's arm as they walked through the snow-covered streets of the Feroxi town. The moon hung in the sky above and illuminated the falling snow. All around them were stores that drew their eyes to their candlelit windows. They dodged and weaved through the crowds of city folk until they entered a shop that specialized in scented candles.

Once Robin and Cordelia settled on lavender candles, they agreed to split up and handle half of the list, then to meet back at the center square of the town once they were done shopping. Cordelia kissed Robin on the cheek and walked off with half their spending gold and half the list. Robin paid for a couple lavender candles, then realized that Cordelia had torn off her half of the list without showing him it.

His next stop was to buy a large blanket, presumably for retaining heat after they were done bathing in the spa. He exited the candle shop and wished he remained inside, as the scent of the candles used for promotional purposes was heavenly.

Robin held the candles in a bag as he walked down the streets of the town and past the crowds. His feet began to ache until he found a shop with blankets adorning the windows. He stepped into the warm interior of the shop and began to peruse the wares until he settled on a large, wooly blanket with a brown exterior.

With the blanket over his shoulder and the candles in hand, Robin exited the store and continued on his way. His last stop was to acquire some mints. He had no idea why Cordelia wanted mints for a spa, but he wasn't about to second-guess her when it came to these things. Maybe she had some strange craving or some other mysterious affliction that required mints.

Cordelia, meanwhile, stood before the front desk of a rather seedy store. Mannequins were posed around in various suggestive stances, and she could smell the stench of smut from the other patrons.

"Alright miss. Here's ya fancy nightgown." The old lady behind the desk handed Cordelia a transparent, blue dress, and she hurriedly stuffed it into her bag.

"T-thank you!" She threw gold at the desk and sprinted out of the door with her reddened cheeks. If any of her friends saw her while she was in that shop, she was sure she would never hear the end of it.

At the very least, Cordelia had bought her share of the items for tonight, so she just needed to migrate to the center of the town.

By the time Cordelia had dodged and weaved her way to the center of the town, she spotted the unmistakable shade of Robin's white hair and made her way to where he was in the crowd of people. It was indeed Robin, and he quickly asked what she had purchased. "O-oh… You know… Bathrobes…" The anxiety in her chest was slowly killing her.

"You really want this spa, huh?" Robin asked as he took her hand and lead her in the direction of their house.

"Yes. Badly." Cordelia blurted out and immediately shut her mouth.

By the time they had returned home, Cordelia eagerly placed a mint in Robin's hand, snatched the items he had bought, and sprinted into their bedroom. She shut the door behind her before Robin could get in. "Just freshening up! Come in when I say so!"

"Alright?" Robin wasn't exactly sure of what was happening as he tossed the mint into his mouth, but he had no objections so far. All he knew was that Cordelia must be changing, as one of their bathrooms was connected to their bedroom.

A long five minutes passed of Robin chewing on his mint until it dissolved in his mouth before Cordelia's voice echoed from their bedroom. "Come in…" She sounded like she was having a nervous fit.

Robin emerged into his room to see the lavender candles placed around the area and giving off a heavenly aroma. His eyes were drawn from a string of candles to their bed, which had the wooly blanket placed on it.

That wasn't the only new addition to the bed, however, as Cordelia sat atop it wearing a blue nightgown. Her stomach was revealed by the transparent dress as she placed her hand directly over her groin. She looked rather bashful for someone who was essentially naked.

Without saying a word, Cordelia used her other hand to beckon Robin. Slowly, her fingers called him to her side as he removed his cloak and tossed it to the floor. He placed his hand on the side of Cordelia's head as he planted his lips on hers. The very same heat that Cordelia had been suffering from was now burning inside Robin, and it only increased in intensity as he began to unbuckle his trousers with one hand and hold Cordelia's heavenly body with the other.