II. Break from the Typical

March 10: Morning

Felicia had a smile ready for Corrin as she entered his room. "Good morning!"

"Morning."

Her hopefulness quickly fell apart as she noticed Corrin's dour look. Back to his usual mood, it seemed. Felicia kept up appearances regardless: "How did you sleep?"

"Restlessly." Corrin paused for a moment to sigh deeply; the buttons on his shirt were proving difficult for his sleep-addled fingertips. "Guess sleeping well was nice while it lasted."

Felicia tilted her head anxiously. She wanted to say something reassuring really really badly, but nothing popped into mind. "Y-You could ask the infirmary for a narcoleptic," she offered. "Or maybe a mage could craft some hex—"

Corrin interrupted her by way of a disgruntled moan, waving her suggestions away with a hand. "I don't have that kind of time, and I doubt they'd be of help anyway. I know you're trying to help, but I really just need to get to work."

Felicia frowned as she watched Corrin return to the task of buttoning up his shirt. "…Well, at least let me help you here."

Corrin frowned as Felicia drew closer; dropping his hands to his sides, he allowed her to make up his shirt. "Thanks."

Felicia smiled brightly up at him. "Of course, Corrin! Really, it's the least I could do." I feel so helpless about your mood. So she focused on the buttons, leaving the bedroom in silence for a moment.

Corrin waited patiently. He was just absently watching Felicia button up his shirt at first, but after a second he realized it felt weird to… stare. So, he looked away and waited for her to finish.

Felicia's fingers pushed the top button through, and she beamed, giving it a gentle tug as a test. "All done!" She smoothed out Corrin's sleeves and patted him on the shoulder.

Corrin had to smile back. Felicia's smile, he realized, was also rather infectious. In spite of himself, he found the comparison amusing. "Thanks again, Felicia."

"You're welcome!" Felicia said, feeling proud of herself. "Have a good time at breakfast, okay?"

"Sure."

Any semblance of a good mood vanished when Jakob came rushing up to Corrin, speaking of a message from Lady Camilla.

"She found herself unexpectedly busy this morning," the butler explained. "Milady told me to inform you that she cannot make breakfast, but she also urged I mention that this should be very abnormal. She promised to not miss another breakfast with, er, her dear younger brother."

Corrin's expression was unmoving. "And that's all?"

"Yes, milord. If you'd like, I'll eat breakfast with you inst—"

"You have other things to do, Jakob. Don't blow off your work on my account." Corrin turned away, already marching down the hallway. "Thanks for letting me know."

The prince's hands were clenched into fists as he walked.

Corrin skipped breakfast. He'd rather sneak in some work than eat by himself. Food tasted bland alone.

Typical.

When Corrin's chin slipped off of his hand, almost impacting face-first into the desk, he realized he had nearly fallen asleep. Forcing himself to sit up and pay attention to the debating group, he tried to shake his head free of exhaustion.

Corrin found his head tipping once again when the door to the conference room creaked open, shedding some natural light into the windowless room. While the rest of the room only hesitated for a moment, soon returning to discussion after briefly acknowledging Camilla's entrance, Corrin's expression soured.

The princess was already issuing whispered apologies as she took her seat next to Corrin's: "I'm so sorry I'm late, I didn't mean to miss breakfast, I had to send a progress report to Leo, that will never happen again—"

"It's fine," Corrin muttered, not looking at her. When she pressed him with further apologies, he remained silent. She eventually gave up.

March 10: Late Morning

Corrin brushed past Camilla as he left the room. "Have to work." She solemnly agreed, watching him go with a contrite look in her eyes.

Back in his room, working on the proposal was especially grueling. Same old, same old. The misery he'd nearly forgotten; yesterday had made it all seem so easy, like he'd be able to preserve his good spirits somehow.

He fell asleep at some point, and Felicia had to come wake him up again, also offering a stern lecture about skipping breakfast and how he will join her for lunch later.

Same old, same old.

March 10: Afternoon

"You made it!"

Corrin blinked, a little surprised, as he set his tray down. Felicia and Silas sat next to each other on the opposite side of the table, both smiling at Corrin.

Silas gestured at the maid with his fork. "Felicia was worried you actually weren't going to come."

"You don't usually have this time free," Corrin stated bluntly. "How'd you make it to lunch?"

"Oh, I was in the village," Silas said. "Y'know, the one about a mile down the road to the north? I was on patrol there instead of the fort, so I missed the regular lunch hour." He reached for his glass of water.

Exciting. "I feel like we haven't spoken in a while."

Silas's eyebrow quirked while he was taking a sip. "You'd be right!" He put the glass back down. "We haven't even seen each other since we got here. After I helped escort you here a couple weeks ago, we kinda went our separate ways."

"Oh, enough about the boring stuff," Felicia said, touching Silas's arm and giggling.

Corrin's gaze fixated on her fingertips. His breath didn't release until her hand moved away, at which time he looked away and huffed irritably. Gods, what the hell is my problem?

"You're right, you're right," Silas conceded, laughing. "So, Corrin! Don't tell me you've been having too good of a time without me? I mean, Felicia said you're writing a whole proposal for the king of Nohr. That's gotta be the most fun I've heard of since getting run through with a knife!"

Corrin and Felicia both laughed. "Yeah," the prince said. "Though there are times I'd prefer the knife."

"Heheh." Silas broke his biscuit apart and popped a piece into his mouth. "I'b idclined to agree wid you."

"Were you raised in a stable? Chew your godsforsaken food, Silas."

Smiling and putting his hands up defensively, Silas backed out of the conversation for the moment.

Felicia turned to Corrin. "So I heard about breakfast today."

Corrin's mood fell again. It had risen when he wasn't paying attention. "Yeah."

"I'm sure Lady Camilla's sorry," Felicia said. "You know she loves spending time with you! She'd never skip out of spite."

"Yeah." Corrin sighed. "…I was a little childish this morning. I shouldn't have brushed her off."

"If only you had a way to apologize," Felicia added, and Corrin noticed her smirk. "Oh, wait! You do!"

Corrin rolled his eyes, smiling as well.

"When you have breakfast with her tomorrow—which, obviously, you will—" Corrin caught the edge to Felicia's tone for that one jab, but her cheer returned for the rest of the sentence—"then you'll have aaaaalll the time you want to open up to her." She spread her arms wide, inconveniencing Silas: "Open your heart, Corrin! Show her your feelings!"

"You're making it sound romantic," Silas noted, pushing her intrusive hand down. "Now call me crazy, but I don't think Corrin thinks of his sister that way."

"Give the psychic a prize," said Corrin.

"Stepsister," Felicia corrected. "And a tenuous relation at that! But yeah, I didn't mean it that way. Corrin, you don't have feelings for a girl, do you?"

"N—" Corrin blinked. "Wait, do you mean in general?"

The maid nodded.

Corrin looked to Silas for guidance, but he seemed just as interested, betrayed by a slight smile.

The prince was going to defuse her question with a joke; it was a left fielder, not to mention a silly question, after all. Like he even had the time to…

…And at that, he found himself seriously considering the question.

Of course, the face he knew he would think of immediately popped into his mind's eye.

"…Do you?" Felicia pried again, her eyebrows furrowing.

"N-No." Corrin turned his eyes down to his food tray, leafing through the meat with his fork. "That's… really not a priority right now."

"Fair enough," said Silas.

Corrin was fairly certain the conversation had moved on without him, but he lingered on the topic.

Should I see Elise again?

She was the source of the guilt, he knew. Well, not her, but his—how he—

He squeezed his grip on his fork, and released the train of thought with an exhale.

I'll go to our spot this evening, and I'll break things off. This is causing me more stress than relieving it.

…Right…

March 10: Late Afternoon

As Corrin's pen took practiced action against the paper, he found that his mind frequently wandered. What'll I say? In his head, he found himself preparing a second speech, one for Elise.

Elise, we've had a lot of fun, but I… uh… He scratched his head with the end of his pen. I think we should… stop… hanging out…? …Wait, what was the first half of that sentence?

Shaking his head, Corrin pushed his manuscript aside (perhaps finally admitting he couldn't concentrate on it) and grabbed a fresh piece of paper. He immediately began chronicling his thoughts: "I'm sure we could have a lot more fun, but…" No, that's trash. He crumpled the paper, rolled it to the corner of his desk, and reached for a new one. "To whom it may concern…"

Corrin was growing eager. By his fourth piece of paper, he was nearly grinning with anticipation of his meeting with Elise that evening. He couldn't wait to give her his speech.

A part of him must have known by then that he wouldn't be able to go through with any of it.

March 10: Evening

Corrin spied Elise from a distance. She was skipping around the hilltop tree, undoubtedly humming a cheerful tune while she waited for Corrin to arrive.

Shaky breath. Corrin muttered his rehearsed lines under his breath. She had his full attention as he drew ever closer: mesmerizing. Like a dream, he couldn't see anything else. Focus. This is important.

By the time he reached the base of the hill, his legs were lead. The oak tree at the top seemed so far away.

Regardless, he plodded on. Up and up.

He found it incredibly difficult, though the curve was gentle.

"Oh, there you are! Geez, wouldja pick up the pace?"

Corrin looked up to see Elise running downhill to meet him, a grin plastered on her face. Corrin raised a hand to halfheartedly wave at her, but she had different plans for him: both of her hands seized his, and, giggling, she began to pull him along. "C'mon, slowpoke!"

Corrin couldn't say no, of course. She just… had that effect on him.

"Why didn't you bring your work, huh?" Elise asked as she led the way. She pouted; "Y'know I want to help you, right? I'm not doing you a favor!"

"That's…" He sighed. "That's not what this is about."

Elise rolled her eyes with an impatient sigh of her own, but she didn't say anything else until they reached the hilltop tree.

When they did so, Elise dropped Corrin's hand, put hers on her hips, and faced him. "So something's definitely bothering you. What's up?"

"Stop," Corrin blurted, taking the princess aback.

"I… What?"

"We—We need to… stop." Corrin took a breath, stunned at his own bluntness. "We can't keep seeing each other, Elise."

Elise reeled for a moment. Tears welled in the corners of her lavender eyes; Corrin had to look away. "Wh…"

Corrin flinched, waiting for Elise's reply.

"…Where did this come from?"

"H-Huh?"

Elise took a step closer earnestly. "What did I do wrong?!"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing." Corrin shook his head. "I'm the problem, Elise."

"B-But—I—" Elise sniffed. "I've just missed you so much, Corrin…"

The prince's heart cramped. "Don't say that…"

"Wh-Why not? Because I did! I—I hate that I haven't been able to see you for so long! And now that we finally have some time together, you, you—you say we can't?" She shook her head defiantly, casting tears onto the grass. "That's so mean of you, Corrin! Why would you say that?!"

"It's not like I haven't missed you, either," Corrin rejoindered. "I-It's been hard! I've been working so hard to, to keep myself busy—" He tapped his temple with a finger; "To keep my mind busy! Because, when I think about you, or my siblings, or anyone, I can't stop thinking about them! It absorbs me, Elise, and that's—that's why I work so hard. That's why I took this job. It's to forget."

"You don't have to f-forget," Elise whispered. "I'm here. I want to help you."

Corrin winced. She wasn't just talking about the proposal. "You… know about my insomnia."

Elise wriggled on her toes. "…Yeah. I figure, having someone to talk to, someone to play with…" She trailed off.

Corrin shook his head. He couldn't exactly confess to her the guilty feelings keeping him up at night—at that, he may as well open his heart right then and there, and he wasn't ready for that. He didn't fully understand those feelings, himself. "It's just that there's… more than that. I can't shake the feeling that these little liaisons are part of the problem."

"Then let it go!" Elise urged. "Let me help you, Corrin. Please."

There it was again: let me.

Let me in, Corrin. I only want to help.

Corrin couldn't help but cave in. She just had that effect on him, effortless.

Just let it go, huh?

He closed his eyes, inhaling through his nose.

Just let it go…

He exhaled deeply from his mouth. The air carried a cleansing taste.

Corrin didn't realize it, but his expression had softened pleasantly.

Elise nudged him, a smile waxing across her face. "…There we go," she murmured gently. "How do you feel?"

"So much better…" Corrin opened his eyes, watching her bemusedly. "Gods, it was so easy…! How?"

Elise put a finger to her lips, giggling. "Hee hee! Now, for my next trick, I will make a prince's dignity disappear—betcha can't beat me in a race!"

Corrin hesitated. "I…"

…I let it go.

He grinned. "I'll make you eat those words, you hear?"

"Put up or shut up, boy!"

March 11: Morning

"Haaaaa…"

Stretching his arms over his head, grinning, Corrin sat up with a hearty yawn. His mind clear, his smile permanent, he went about his morning routine without need of Felicia's usual prompting knock.

And, as he was adjusting his pants and beginning to button up his shirt, his maid's telltale knock came. "Come in," Corrin called cheerfully.

"Good m—" Felicia began, but her voice hesitated, realizing that that wasn't what Corrin had said. "Um, a-are you decent?"

"Yes," Corrin laughed. "I said come in, didn't I?"

Slowly, the door inched open, Felicia's pink hair slowly peeping through. Seeing that Corrin was indeed fully dressed and waiting for her, she pushed through. A smile on Corrin's face made her expression respond in kind. "You're already up! Good morning, Corrin."

The prince's smile grew wider. "Good morning!" He stood from his bed. "I slept really well last night, Felicia. I'm in a… hah. I'm in a really great mood."

Felicia felt a gleeful shiver run down her spine. "Oh, that's wonderful! I-I'm so happy for you!" She ran forward, arms outstretched, and pulled him into a tight hug.

Corrin furrowed his brow—it seemed like a trivial thing for her to react so strongly to, right?—but he still smiled and reciprocated. Felicia was giggling very quietly, seeming almost overcome with joy, as she linked her icy hands behind him.

Corrin stroked her back, already thinking ahead. "Plan for today:" he began quietly, and Felicia tilted her head to listen. "Speak to Camilla, and eat breakfast."

"Mm-hm."

"Work on the proposal."

"Uh-huh."

"Lunch?"

"Eheheh. Obviously, Corrin."

Corrin smiled. "Great."

Felicia noticed him trying to pull away, so, pushing down a pang of disappointment, she backed off as well. Corrin was still smiling, so she was too. "I'm so glad you're feeling better. What changed?"

Corrin shook his head, confused. "What do you mean?"

Felicia gestured vaguely at his bed. "What has you suddenly sleeping better? Yesterday was a bad day. I thought you'd be totally out of it."

"Well…"

The answer was simple, he figured: I let Elise help me. That was all there was to it. But, he realized, what 'help' meant wouldn't be as obvious to anyone else as it was to him.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he became certain that Felicia would entirely misconstrue the situation should he explain it to her. She'd had that whole 'do you like anyone' thing at lunch yesterday, after all.

"I exercised before I went to sleep," Corrin offered with a shrug. "Must've worn myself out. Worked, didn't it?"

"You exercised? Really? I didn't see you when I passed by the training grounds."

"No, it was outside the fort."

She frowned. "You really shouldn't be leaving the fort unarmed, milord."

"Felicia, I can literally turn into a dragon at will."

Her eyes turned to the door, undoubtedly towards the armory several rooms over. "You should still at least take the Yato with you…"

Corrin tensed. "I haven't touched that sword since the war. I'm fine without it."

"If… you say so." She faced him again, and immediately she noticed his sleeve was partially rolled up. She moved closer to fix it. "So, what did you exercise?"

"Hee, hee! Almost caught me!"

"Cardio," Corrin answered.

"Mm!" Felicia's head bobbed affirmatively, and she moved to fix his other sleeve as well. "Here I thought you'd had a fling with some girl."

"What?" Corrin laughed reflexively. He hoped it didn't sound too defensive. "That's ridiculous, Felicia. I told you yesterday, I'm not looking for that."

Oh, boy. He'd really dug himself a hole with that one. Now, if he did tell her about Elise, she would immediately jump to conclusions. He could hear her inquisition now: "Why lie about seeing her if you don't like her like that?" He could always jump to the easy defense, "she's my stepsister," but the words were hollow just to think. He didn't think of her in the same way he thought of Camilla, there was no denying that. He and Elise hadn't been family in a very long time, if ever.

Now, in this new hole he had dug for himself, he would be forced to keep their meetings a secret. To keep Elise a secret.

She's a secret. She's… MY secret. The words excited Corrin. Elise is my secret…

"I'm just teasing," Felicia giggled, smoothing out his sleeve and tugging his shirt to center the buttons; her words awoke Corrin. "I'm just glad you're feeling better, Corrin. It doesn't really matter why."

"Thanks, Felicia. Me too."

"Don't miss breakfast, okay?"

"Wouldn't for the world."

Corrin was halfway there when Felicia's words sunk in. "It doesn't really matter why."

Guess she didn't totally buy it, but she didn't pry. Felicia's not the type to.

Shrugging it off—realizing it wasn't that important—Corrin let it go, and he kept walking.

March 11: Breakfast

Camilla hadn't noticed him yet as he peeked through the cracked-open door. She sat alone at the same table in the gardens, twisting her fork between her fingers.

Corrin noticed that she seemed a little antsy. A pang of guilt struck him; it's my fault she's like this.

Knocking on the door as he pushed it fully open, Corrin gave a pallid smile and entered. Her head snapped to him, and she stood.

"Room for one more?" he offered wanly.

Camilla was too contrite to play along. "I'm so sorry about yesterday," she began, and she seemed to have more to say—knowing Camilla, she probably had a full penitent speech planned for her darling brother—but Corrin waved away her concerns.

"I should apologize. I overreacted yesterday. Honestly, Camilla, if I were anyone else, you wouldn't have put up with my nonsense."

She shrugged, as if to say, "Yeah, so?"

Corrin chuckled. "So, I'm sorry. I was having a bad morning and I took it out on you."

Camilla smiled. "Oh, sweetie. Put your tray down so I can give you a hug."

The prince laughed.

It wasn't long before the royals were situated at the table, casually sharing a meal. "Sausage and waffles today," Corrin noted.

"Mm-hm. Nothing fancy here, unfortunately, but this isn't Castle Krakenburg."

"Not far from how the Northern Fortress was."

"Hm. You think so?"

The prince shrugged. "I guess most of Nohr is like this. At least, civilized Nohr. I don't want to think about the more impoverished areas." He sighed. "Though I have to for work."

"Mm!" Camilla half-smiled through her full mouth, and she took a moment to swallow. "But that's why you're here, is it not? To change things."

"Guess so," Corrin conceded. "With Ryoma's influence, these trade agreements should help all of Nohr."

Camilla's expression flickered, but was quickly back to the warm smile Corrin was accustomed to. "Of course, honey. Hoshido's abundance could end the shortages infamous to Nohr."

"No bias or anything," Corrin chuckled, raising his mug of tea.

Camilla raised hers as well, clinking it with her brother's. "No bias, of course. I'm certain Hoshido has things it wishes to gut from Nohr in return."

They shared a chuckle at Camilla's half-joke before sipping their tea.

Camilla slipped her mug back onto the table, still smiling. "Ah, this takes me back. Do you remember your first cup of tea, Corrin?"

"Sure do." Corrin already had a grin on his face. "My retainers didn't want me to get attached to caffeine at such a young age, so you snuck it to my quarters and we had a secret little teatime."

Camilla smirked mischievously. "Oh, and you hated the taste. 'So bitter.' But you forced it down anyway to seem grown-up."

She reached over to ruffle his hair, and Corrin stopped her hand habitually. "Yup. Forced it all down. You'd bring it again and again, and I'd drink all of it every time. Eventually I got an…" He swirled the liquid around the cup, staring into the steaming drink. "…Appreciation for it."

Camilla laughed lightly.

"I've been trying the same thing with strong alcohol," Corrin added, and Camilla laughed harder. "So far, no luck."

"Hahaha… heh." Camilla wiped a tear from her eye. "Gods, Corrin, I've missed you so much."

Corrin's smile softened. "I've missed you too, Camilla. Things… haven't been the same." Realizing he was leading the conversation down a dreary path, he elected to return to the previous subject. "I remember Elise would chastise you for serving me tea, too. Heh—she said once, "If he hates it half as much as I do, then you're torturing him!" Heheh."

"Mm. Yes, I recall."

Corrin frowned at her expression—as if a bad taste had entered her mouth. Maybe she doesn't like the tea either, he mused, though he dismissed the joke for genuine curiosity a moment later. Not a blatant enough look on her face, however, to bring attention to.

"She did really hate tea as a child, didn't she?" Camilla pondered. "Unlike you, she didn't even try to drink it. Always insisted on drinking milk at tea parties. Milk!"

"Ohhh, Elise's tea parties," Corrin chuckled. "Whenever you four would visit me in the Fortress every other month, she'd insist we have one." He furrowed his eyebrows. "…Wait, she would always make me drink milk while everyone else had tea! I always assumed it was to pacify my retainers… Ha! So that's why!"

"How considerate of her."

Corrin noticed a miniscule shift in Camilla's expression once again. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, but, again, he didn't pry.

"…Yeah, well, we're both learning something new today," Corrin continued, his grin returning. "Now don't tell anyone I said this, but Elise and I would sneak off to have a special, secret teatime with just the two of us… though, obviously without the tea. Eh? How's that?"

"Ah…" Camilla smiled wanly. "I'm sorry, Corrin. Everyone knew about that."

Corrin's face fell. "Oh, gods dammit! I thought I had one secret over everyone!"

"Sorry, sweetie." Camilla's eyes glazed with nostalgia, and she stared down at her cup of tea; she'd centered it on her empty plate. "…Goodness, yes, I remember. Xander and I once stood at your door and just listened to the two of you prattle on. It was so inane, such childlike discussion, but we were both enraptured." She shook her head. "Haha… yes, I remember those nights. She would fall asleep at the foot of your bed, so I would sneak in after the two of you fell asleep and I would carry her off to her own room." Her eyes focused on Corrin. "Oh, Xander and I would stay up late talking about you two. We were both sure that the two of you would end up—"

Camilla hesitated, and her smile flickered. Corrin's own expression faded.

"…What's wrong?"

Camilla shook her head quickly, reaching for her tray. "N-Nothing, I just… almost said something inappropriate." She flashed a smile at her brother and stood from the table. "Come along, dear. Work beckons."

Corrin rolled his eyes with a groan. "Ugh. Yeah, yeah. Shouldn't be late."

"Naturally. Come along, sweetie."

Carrying his tray and teacup, Corrin followed a pace behind Camilla, watching her curiously.

March 11: Evening

"Are you and Camilla fighting?"

Elise blinked, taken aback by Corrin's bluntness. She pried her eyes off of the flower between her fingers to stare at him. "Huh?"

"Camilla was weird at breakfast this morning, and it was only after we started talking about you that she got a little reserved," Corrin explained.

"Y-You guys were talking about me?" Elise brushed one of her pigtails over her shoulder. "Was it about how pretty I am?"

Corrin snapped his fingers. "Focus, Elise."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Elise scratched her head. "Hmm… No, I can't think of any reason she'd be mad at me. Wait! I did kinda sneak into the wagon. I, uh, didn't warn anyone I was leaving." She frowned determinedly. "Hmm, but I don't think that'd really make Camilla mad."

Corrin sighed. "Thanks anyway."

Elise seemed to notice Corrin deflating, so she hurriedly added, "I-I'll talk to her, okay? How's that sound?"

"Would you? That'd be great, Elise, thanks."

"Course!" She patted the spot next to her, and Corrin moved slightly closer.

For a moment, he enjoyed the breeze and watched the fort in the distance. It was so quiet from this far away. So still.

Corrin wiggled his toes; he had some grass on his feet he'd have to rinse off later. Well, it was worth it for the feeling of it between his toes.

"What were we talking about before you threw that Camilla thing out of the blue?" Elise tapped her chin thoughtfully.

Corrin pondered for a moment as well, but he soon snapped his fingers with clarity: "Retainers."

Elise brightened. "Right!" She patted his knee. "Tell me about your retainers! What are they up to lately?"

Corrin crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Hmm… Well, Kaze is working with his brother at the moment. If I remember right, I think they're in Mokushu. Shura's running for office and has big plans with what to do with the country, which Hoshido needs to have a hand in; they're neighbors, after all. You didn't hear this from me, but I'm willing to bet Shura's just going to rename the place "Kohga" and call it a day if he gets elected." After a short chuckle, the prince tilted his head, mind wandering. "Let's see… Silas works guard duty for me, I had lunch with him yesterday… Jakob is here, he's basically running the fort, keeping the staff on track and competent… And Felicia is here too. She works for me on a daily basis… As for the oth—"

Elise clapped her hands together. "Oh, Felicia! I always liked her a lot. How are you two?"

Corrin frowned. "We're… good?"

Elise paused, calculating her reply. His confusion seemed to have thrown her. "…Good!"

"…Good?" Corrin furrowed his eyebrows. "Anyway… what about you? How are Effie and Arthur?"

"Busy," Elise said with a nod. "I told you I left without warning? Well, that means I didn't warn Effie and Arthur either. I did leave 'em a note, though." She waved it away, grinning. "Oh, they'll be fine without me!"

Corrin chuckled. "Should I be expecting the two of them to bust the doors down looking for you?"

"Nope! Hee hee." Elise winked. "I planned for that, though. I'll tell them you kidnapped me, and then they'll beat you up!"

"You little…" Corrin hissed through grinning teeth, before changing the subject. "Oh, speaking of Felicia. I slept really well this morning, but when she asked why, it felt weird to tell her the truth."

"That we played together? What's weird about that?"

"That I didn't tell her I was going to play with you, I guess," Corrin said. "It would've looked like a secret tryst."

"So your solution to that," Elise began dryly, "was to actually make it a secret? Oh boy, nothin' tryst-y about that."

Corrin cringed. "S-Sorry. I'll tell her the truth about our meetings in the morning."

"Now don't be so hasty," the princess lectured. "You might've been dumb about it, but that doesn't make it not awesome."

Corrin didn't know what to say to that.

"What I'm saying is…" Elise's lavender eyes were aglow, staring into space. "Oh, man, a secret! Have you really not told anyone?"

"No, I haven't. You?"

"Nope, it's never come up. So that means…" She touched his shoulder excitedly. "You and I have a secret from everyone!" She gasped. "This is just like those not-tea parties we used to have as kids!"

"Ah, Elise… I'm sorry, but it seems everyone knew about those from the beginning."

"Whaaat?! Aw, you've gotta be kidding me!"