Charlotte looked puzzled, a knot in her eyebrows as she proceeded to attend to Leo for the rest of the evening. Her strength. Leo claimed to like the very thing she always tried to hide, the thing she thought was least appealing about her. The thing men found frightening about her.
Leo's mother seemed to have caught the expression on Charlotte's face. "Weak, useless men like weak, useless women," she said. "Truly strong men have no need for useless lambs. They need a woman who can hold their own, who can stand beside them, and not behind them."
She looked around the ballroom, as if surveying the people in it-from Garon, sat at the center table, to his children scattered about. "Garon's wives were strong women, each of them," she said. "Katarina rode into battle with him when she was in the peak of her health. His concubines, like Camilla's mother, all had the strength of will to claw their way from the commons up to the top. Even Elise's mother, while of frail condition, was not one to be trifled with."
Leo felt a little... odd, hearing such an tale from his own mother, hearing her even discuss Garon's other women. Maybe having another woman at his side made her loosen up, and open up more.
"...And women like you," he said. "Smart women who knew what they wanted and got it."
"Hah!" Lorraine chuckled. "I'm not dead or behind bars. I must be doing something right."
"You mean, latching onto my every success?" Leo retorted. "Sitting in your manor while I spend every night on the battlefield?"
"Lord Leo..." Charlotte squeezed on his arm, as if trying to warn him. He was taking on a dangerous tone, and Charlotte was worried. He wanted to avoid scandals this evening, but it looked like he was about to start one himself.
And his mother, just as proud as him, was not about to back down. "You think that after all I've been through to get here-that I do not deserve a break? I've spent my entire youth getting her, raising you..."
"I'm not responsible for however you chose to spend your youth," Leo snapped. "If you chose to spend it sucking up to my father, what do I have to do with that?"
"Why don't you listen to your woman? Didn't you just hear her saying a moment ago that without me, you would be nothing?"
"Her opinions and mine are two different things. She can have her own without needing to manipulate me to it, the way you try to do every man."
They were beginning to raise their voices, and draw glances in their direction. Charlotte grew even more frantic. So much for not causing a scandal. "Lord Leo..."
"Ehem," behind Leo, Odin had sensibly appeared, Selena not too far from him. The retainer addressed Leo, trying to get his attention. "Milord Leo, may I ask something? It will only take a moment of your time. About the latest magical journal..."
Leo broke his stare-off with his mother, finally turning to Odin and leaving with them, taking the escape that he was offered.
"Ungrateful child," Lorraine muttered under her breath. "You there," she said, to Charlotte. "Come with me."
Selena stared at Leo, who had an aura of gloom surrounding him as he held onto his glass of wine, already his fifth. She was reminded of Camilla-a very pissed off, and angry Camilla, who would then just grab a bottle of liquor and head for the baths, not to be heard of for hours. She and Beruka had learned to just give the princess privacy in those moments, making sure no one disturbed her.
"Alrighty, milord, that's about enough," Odin said, grabbing the bottle of wine just as Leo reached out to it. "Need I remind you what happened last time you got drunk? You ran around the castle, yelling 'Xander, this is not a phase, this is who I am-'"
Selena chuckled. "T-That's because he kept treating me like a kid!" Leo explained, growing flustered, his face red either from the drinks or from embarrassment. "Besides, that was a few good years ago. It's not going to happen again."
After putting down his drink, he looked around and seemed startled, as if he'd just noticed something. "...Where is Charlotte?"
Selena and Odin blinked at him, as if they couldn't believe what they were just hearing. "What kind of man doesn't even notice that the woman they took to dinner is gone?" Selena said, with genuine surprise.
"You, uh, kinda turned your back on her a second ago milord," Odin said. "Maybe she thought you were going on without her."
"...I assumed she'd naturally follow me, like women are supposed to," Leo said, with a groan.
"...I'm pretty sure that's sexist," Selena said.
"Then don't tell Camilla," Leo said. "I'll go look for Charlotte."
Lorraine led Charlotte into a curtained alcove, one among the many in the Royal Ballroom. The thick, red curtains blocked out the view of the banquet behind them, and before them was the view of the rest of Castle Krakenburg-all aglow with the orange evening lights, casting shadows here and there.
Charlotte wondered what Leo's mother might want, but the woman got to the point quickly. "You're not a noblewoman, are you?"
Charlotte tensed up, panic flashing on her features. Was she that obvious? And she thought her acting had been flawless, with Leo backing her and pulling her away before anyone could ask and prod about her origins. "Well I..."
Lorraine approached her, and without reason, suddenly gave her a firm shove to her shoulders. Not firm enough to be an assault, but enough to come as a surprise-or to send an ordinary maiden tripping down. But Charlotte hardly budged.
"See? Who are you fooling?" Lorraine said. "You're a gorgeous young thing, but you can't hide your stance and reflexes. You stand like a soldier. You talk and smile at everyone but your eyes also scan the hall, as if looking for threats."
Charlotte swore under her breath. She was pretty sure she'd gotten her damsel act spot-on, and she'd trained that facade for years-but she'd been a soldier for longer, and looking around and scanning for threats had become second nature to her as a border guard. Niles warning her that assassinations and attacks may well happen even during a royal banquet did not help much, either.
"It's almost as if he hired a bodyguard," Leo's mother said. "Did you come here under his orders?"
"...He invited me and it sounded like fun, so here I am," Charlotte said, doing her best to not make her voice waver. And it was true-while he had personal motives, Leo did just invite her to dinner, and she agreed was all it was.
"No need to be wary of me," Lorraine said, "I care not for your station, or where you came from. Nohrian kings aren't new to marrying commoners, or having them as concubines. This is at least a step up from before... I had almost thought that boy had completely no interest in women."
"...What with the war, I don't think Lord Leo prioritizes looking at women," Charlotte said, speaking slowly, trying to weigh her words before saying them. "The same could be said for Lord Xander. I think they take their duties as princes seriously, and would commit to those first before anything else."
"Getting married is part of their duty," Lorraine snapped. "They need their heirs. That Prince Xander doesn't even have someone at his age is preposterous. What do they suppose would happen if both him and Leo die in the war? Camilla or Elise could try to inherit the throne, but Nohr will likely be thrown into civil war with noble houses trying to take the crown."
Charlotte imagined what it would be like to be in their shoes. The pressure was heavy, and most likely almost suffocating. She could imagine Leo or Xander were wary of women because of that heavy burden of responsibility-that it wasn't just marriage, it wasn't just love-it was the future of the whole kingdom on their shoulders.
And I'd been a fool, just trying to get their attention, thinking I'd score a royal and live a mundane and happy life.
"...Leo would be king someday," Lorraine said, as if to the air, but nonetheless it snapped Charlotte from her thoughts.
"...I don't think Lord Leo intends to be king," Charlotte said, again trying to be careful. But she thought she knew well enough that, competitive Leo might be, he certainly wasn't vying for the crown. "He holds Lord Xander in high regard, and respects him a lot."
"What do you know?," Lorraine said, "You haven't seen the way that boy sulks when Xander outdoes him in something. He pretends he never wanted whatever it was that Xander won, but deep down it torments him. He's a competitive boy deep down. And I want him to win."
Charlotte remembered the sulking Leo at her side, when Xander asked her to dance. While he expressed displeasure, he didn't much try to stop Xander. As if he knew where Xander stood, and knew he didn't have a chance.
"...I looked up to Katarina," Lorraine suddenly found herself saying this. "She was an amazing woman who could stand beside Garon with pride, taking her place with him in the battlefield. No matter how I tried, I could never become her... so I buried myself in academia and studies, hoping I could be what she was not. But even now that she's dead... I could never be better than her. I'd never wish Leo have the same disappointment in his life. When I saw him take up magic instead of the sword, avoiding what Xander was doing... I knew he was the same. I never want Leo to stay in the shadows. Second prince. Second place. No... Someday, Leo would be king."
"Excuse me if I'm rude but... that just sounds like you're imposing your own experiences on your child. You don't know if this is what Lord Leo even really feels," Charlotte said, speaking up, even if she knew full well that she was treading on thin ice here.
"You barely know him. I'm his mother-I know how he feels."
"No, Charlotte is right. I have no intention of being king."
The voice startled both women, both turning towards the curtains, seeing Leo pushing it aside to invade their privacy. "I'm... I'm touched by your concern, mother," he said, "but Xander is the crown prince. That much won't change. What do you propose I do? Upstand him until his own subjects doubt him? Pry the crown from his head? What good would that do for Nohr? I'm going to find my own path, and support him-not compete with him."
He stood there, staring at him, as if waiting for her rebuttal, but she said nothing. So he turned to Charlotte now, taking her side, as if ushering her away from there.
"So..." his mother began, "A soldier in your own army?"
Leo was confused for a moment, until he found his mother looking over at Charlotte. So she had figured it out. "Where she comes from isn't relevant," Leo said.
"Why is that so? Because she's not real? Did she come here under your orders, Leo?"
She hit the nail dead on the center, but Leo was too proud to surrender. "That's not true."
"Oh, really now? Wasn't this all to show up your elder brother? Showing him that you're ahead of him, even if it's in one thing only?"
This is why you get yourself your own woman, Xander. You're just jealous I brought home a girl before you did.
She was dead right about everything. True, he'd gotten Charlotte for other reasons-for her, in specific, but she was right as well. There was always that tiny voice in his head who rejoiced in his triumphs over Xander, no matter how trivial. Am I really that rotten of a person...?
He looked back at his mother, who was giving him a challenging look.
Leo never backed down from a challenge.
He turned towards Charlotte, drawing her towards him, and then he leaned down and kissed her.
Charlotte felt herself stiffen, her body frozen in shock. She quickly recovered though, feeling Leo's hand lightly cup her chin, as if directing her to kiss him back. And so she did, trying to ease away the tension and kiss him.
She never knew Leo would go this far, or act so impulsively. She had already gauged that he had a short temper for people he did not like, and that he had a big competitive streak... but she never knew he would take it this far.
When he pulled away from her, he said, with absolute conviction:
"I'm in love with Charlotte."
He soon pulled Charlotte away from the alcove and his mother, and back into the ballroom, his fingers entwined with hers as he held her hand. Charlotte wondered if he knew what he was doing. He'd barely turned around to look at her, to explain what in the world just happened. He kept looking ahead, as if trying to scan the ballroom for somewhere quiet to go to.
"Charlotte," he finally addressed her, much to Charlotte's relief, "I'm growing a bit tired. Maybe we should head back to my room."
She nodded in agreement, but almost immediately after that, one of Garon's attendants found Leo, and called on his attention. The king wanted to speak with him and Xander. Charlotte caught Leo give the slightest, most inaudible of groans, even after he told the attendant that he would be on his way. It was the king. He couldn't refuse.
And he couldn't bring Charlotte to see Garon, either. He'd already committed one impulsive crime-declaring a damn good lie of having feelings for her-and he feared that if she'd met Garon he'd have to end up saying far more grave things. "I'll be back soon," he told her, "Please, don't wander around on your own. Find Camilla or my retainers. I'll come find you when I'm done."
Charlotte didn't make a move to find his retainers or siblings.
Instead, she found herself wandering the halls outside the ballroom, finding a deserted balcony away from the hubbub of the banquet. She just stood there, looking outside the view, trying to collect her thoughts. From the banquet hall, she heard cheers from the crowd, calling out praises for King Garon and his sons who where winning a war.
Her fingers idly went up to her lips, still with an aftertaste of bitter wine from Leo's kiss.
Maybe he was drunk.
There was something in the way that he declared his love for her with such certainty and conviction that made her knees weak. Surely every girl in Nohr would just faint at such a declaration, from Prince Leo, no less. It made her cheeks feel warm to think of it.
I should be over the moon with joy-a prince declaring love for me! This is the stuff my fantasies are made of! But...
But it also made her sad, because she knew it was a lie.
A/N: Shoutout to Rhadamir and YoakeYoru for the reviews last update! Means a lot! (And I get super happy when there are new CharLeo shippers! Thanks for everyone else who reviewed as well. Let me know what you think of this update. :3