a/n: Double chapter update?! Cuz why not! Enjoy!

It was like the banquet never was.

Days turned into weeks quickly with the war, with Charlotte back on the battlefield, assuming her duties as a soldier, and Leo back to his duties as a prince of Nohr. The day after the banquet, it was Odin who picked Charlotte up and saw her back to their battle camp, saying that Leo had gone on ahead and couldn't accompany her. It almost felt like he was avoiding her, but it was also a relief. Charlotte wasn't sure if she was ready to face him, either.

When she was by herself, at night, she wondered if that evening meant anything to Leo at all, if him being forward meant anything at all. There was a pang in her chest whenever she saw Leo, passing by her, too busy to notice her. She noticed that she almost had no more desire to go around flirting with the men, as if it had begun to feel hollow and pointless. Even as she put on her armor every morning, she almost always remembered Leo's seemingly obvious distaste for it.

But war was something that took it's toll on people and consumed everyone's time and strength, and so the curiosities were often pushed to the back of her mind. Staying alive and focusing on the fight ahead was more important.

It was only one day, when she'd gotten a letter, that Charlotte found she coudln't ignore it anymore.

The letter, from her parents, was full of joy. Thanking her profusely. Wishing her safety in the war. Telling her to care for her health, and get enough sleep. Telling her about a visit from a royal physician. About a frequent supply of food, or money. About royal servants helping them out and telling them that they've found a nice home in the countryside, and would soon help them move there. Prince Leo's servants.

It was generous of him, that was for sure, but Charlotte found herself feeling unsettled, and almost... upset.

Is this his way of making it up to me? With money? Why does it feel like he's just stomped on all the hard work I put in for my family, accomplishing in an instant what would take me years to do?

But then again... isn't this exactly what I wanted? Make money out of a rich man? Well, I guess that's sort of done right now. My parents are getting enough money... And I didn't even need to marry a rich guy to do it.

But why am I so upset...?

While Charlotte had been trying to figure out an opportunity to confront Leo over his generosity, the chance presented itself-Leo soon summoned her to his tent, claiming it was for some military purpose.

"Lord Leo?" Charlotte called out, and then went inside as soon as Leo told her to come in.

His tent-bigger than most, of course, because of his standing-was unchanged from how she last saw it, from what seems like a lifetime ago when he'd asked her to go out with him for the banquet. At the center of it was a desk almost always stacked with paperwork and books, illuminated by a small table lamp. Leo sat before it, caught up with some reading.

"...You asked for me?" Charlotte started, standing before him awkwardly. She wasn't sure what he wanted this time.

"I want to promote you, like I promised," he said, not yet bothering to look up from his paperwork. "But before that, there's something I have to ask."

"O-Oh, yes, sure, anything, milord."

He finally looked up to her and then help up a piece of paper-her military records. "I thought you never made it past border guard since you chose the position deliberately, but then I came upon this... It says you received a penalty for... 'immoral conduct'. Any superior looking at this would never give you a promotion, then. So, pray tell, what is this, 'immoral conduct'?"

"H-Huh," Charlotte paled, looking as if the question was a cold slap on the face, much to Leo's confusion. Her eyes widened when she saw the military record between his fingers, as if never in her wildest dreams did she expect Leo to ever look at it.

"...Well?" Leo prodded her on.

With a blink, the previous stunned expression on Charlotte's face melted away, replaced by a nervous smile. "It's... you know...!" she said. "Nothing but a misbehaviour here and there, nothing major!"

"Charlotte," Leo said, voice stern and demanding. It was clear to him that she was hiding something. "If it's nothing major, then I'm willing to strike it off the record. But before I do, I'd like to know what it is. I have to know what I'm getting myself into and if it'll have any sort of backlash on me."

She fell quiet, eyes fixated on the ground, and then mumbled something. Leo had to ask it out of her again.

"...The team captain sort of... he came onto me..."

He blinked a few times, not hearing her enough. "Excuse me?"

"...It was my first assignment," she said, more audibly now, but still looking away, sounding a bit reluctant to tell the story. "He forced himself on me. He knew of my situation with my parents. He said he'd give me money. I said no. I said no, again and again, but he wouldn't stop... He said if I kept refusing, he'd write up a report about me for insubordination... I... I was weak. I tried to report him to the higher ups, but I was dismissed for lack of evidence. He'd found out what I did though... and so, there, he made a charge against me. ...It's been five years now."

She had said it all without even making eye contact, as if scared of what she would see in his face and his eyes-not wanting to see a look of disgust or disappointment in his face. And not wanting to let him see her eyes, glossy from her emotions.

"And where is this person now?" Leo immediately asked, the first question that sprung to mind.

"...He's dead now."

"...Good."

If Charlotte had bothered to look at him, she would have found him livid with anger, silently wishing he could somehow kill a man already dead.

"...And that's why men are pigs," Charlotte said, as if to herself. "From then on, I decided I'd never let a man use me, I'd much sooner beat him to it. And it made for such good money, too, haha!"

She let out a chuckle, but there was no humor in it, only anger.

It was in that moment that Leo finally understood her.

He remembered the way she hardly shuddered even at the most well-meaning of stares. She was used to being treated like an object, and has long accepted it, and instead tried to bend it to her advantage, using it to survive.

He wished she'd never have to be that way again.

"...And what do you think of me?"

The question surprised Charlotte, who finally turned her head to look at him. He was serious, looking almost as if he were desperate for an answer.

She blushed under the intensity of his gaze, and from the conflicted feelings inside of her. "That..." she said, "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"Your opinion of men isn't unfounded, but I hope we can agree that it does not apply for all men," Leo said. "For one... I promise to judge you fairly, Charlotte."

I was wrong about you, Leo thought.
I thought you were just another selfish blonde who wanted an easy life, using whatever means.
But I was wrong about that, and I've never been happier to be proven wrong.

"...But you're just the same, aren't you, milord? You've taken advantage of me..."

Leo knotted his brows, looking offended. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you're the one who used me to get your pestering mom off your back, even going so far as to steal a kiss-"

"I promised you a promotion, and you're getting it," Leo reminded her, with a sigh. "You agreed to it. And... I recall you said kissing was no big deal... But if I did make you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry."

"You're sending my parents money," Charlotte said, finally getting it out. "What do you want?"

...So she'd found out. Leo went quiet for a moment. It was bound to happen sooner or later, he knew. "...I don't want anything," he said. "I just wanted to help."

"Yeah, right," she said, dismissively. "Men only 'help' because they want something."

"What do you propose I want, then?" Leo asked. "I'm a prince of Nohr; if I wanted something, I could just easily use my authority and force you."

"What do I propose you want? Hmm..."

What happened after had been too fast for Leo to recall how everything exactly happened-but he remembered the books on his desk tumbling over, getting winded and pushed down from his desk chair, and Charlotte's strong thighs straddling his waist, pinning him down to the ground before she kissed him.

"C-Charlotte-" Leo tried to voice his resistance as soon as Charlotte pulled away from him, but soon enough she silenced him with another kiss. All Leo could do was keep up and kiss back, trying to not get distracted by the warmth of her body, or the weight of her soft breasts pressing against his shirt.

Her kisses were aggressive, trying hard to not stop for a break, as if she were trying to stop him from getting a word in. Almost as if she were... upset, or angry, and was desperately trying to insist on what she thought.

He didn't want that.

"...Charlotte," Leo said, turning his face away from hers as soon as he could, "...This isn't what I wanted. If you thought this was what I wanted, you're a bit mistaken."

Charlotte pulled away from him, looking down at him with surprise. "What...?"

He gently pushed her away, and sat up, slipping away from her. He smoothed down his shirt, which had been slightly hiked up by her assault, and then reached up to the headband in his hair, trying to check if it was in place.

"I'm not helping you because I want your body," Leo said.

Charlotte looked at him in disbelief. "...Could it be that you're into men instead?"

"Oh gods, no!" Leo immediately retorted. "Are all men pigs to you? And then less of a man if they aren't? Will you just accept my kindness without thinking I want something in return? You don't seem to have trouble accepting money from a couple dozen other fools before me."

"T-That's because I..."

Because she knew exactly what they wanted, and she could dangle it in front of them, using it to control them. She could lure them in, bait her with her actions and her body, get them to do her bidding. But Leo was right. He was a prince, someone able to get anything he wished easily. If he didn't want her body, what more could he want? To control her and indebt her to him? An apology because he regretted ever being associated with her? How could he keep looking her in the face then, if that was that?

Or was it just kindness, like he said?

"Because, what?" he asked, prodding her on. "You don't seem to have trouble accepting gifts from other men. So just take it. I don't want anything in return. You don't have to pay me back."

It was because all those other men were in my control. They were simple and I could tell what they wanted, Charlotte thought. But Lord Leo, you're... You're not like that.

"...What a mess," Leo said, shaking his head. If he meant the situation, or the mess of books on the floor, Charlotte didn't know.

"...I'm sorry," Charlotte offered weakly, straightening her own clothes and trying to pick up his books.

Leo immediately stopped her. "Leave it," he said. "It's alright. You don't have to apologize for anything. I've done the same to you, sometime ago... I guess this just makes us even now."

"Y-Yeah, I guess..."

"Not that what I did before was proper at all..." Leo said, sounding a bit upset-at himself. "You should have slapped me. I didn't have any right to touch you without your consent, regardless of my station. It... bothered me so much that you didn't care. You should... You should care for yourself more. ...You're much more than an object to trade off for wealth."

He was still avoiding eye contact with her, his expression distraught. But when he mentioned that she should care for herself, that she was worth more... his expression softened, his voice dripping with concern.

He cared for her so much, it hurt.

"...I need to finish up with work," Leo said. Charlotte knew it was his way of saying he wanted to be alone, asking her to leave. She quietly got up, turning her back to him.

"And Charlotte..." Leo suddenly said, as if an afterthought, "You're right. There's plenty of terrible men in this world. But... not all men."

He willed himself to focus and go through the rest of the military paperwork, and when it was done, he finally let out a huge sigh.

His eyes fell on Charlotte's records, her 'misconduct' written down in black ink.

The truth was, he'd already had some sort of idea of what it was about before asking her, asking Niles to ask around among the border guards for what could have happened.

She doesn't talk to much. She doesn't have a lot of friends. The border guards are mostly male, and they call her a whore behind her back. The men who show her kindness or give her gifts do so because they're betting she'll put out. The only other option was to beat them to it and use them first.

He grabbed the offensive piece of paper and whispered a fire spell, the edges of it catching on fire, slowly consuming the rest of the parchment until it turned to ashes. It never was. It never happened.

Leo wondered what kind of woman Charlotte might have been, had it all never happened.

Perhaps she'd still be smitten by the idea of nobility, like she'd confessed she was when she was a child, but not obsessively so. Maybe she would weigh men for their character, and not for their gold.

Perhaps she wouldn't feel the urge to wrangle money out of men, and find other, more modest means to make extra income.

I know I'd pay a good dime for those boxed lunches.

And maybe then, she'd have found a good man who was willing to share the burden with her, and help her with her family. A man who did not look at her as an object or a piece of conquest.

The same way I...

The same way I look at her.

a/n: While we all know that Charlotte tries to get money for her family and the game covers that, why she chose to prey on men for that purpose is never really explained. Charlotte doesn't seem to really like men and says in some supports that she's tired of all the attention, and probably just thinks that men are dumb and easy prey-making it likely to me that deep down, she probably was a bit of a man-hater, generalizing and stereotyping men. I loved the Charlotte x Leo A-Support so much because it touches on that. Leo encourages her and supports her "real self", while at the same time trying to educate her that not all men are the same, without invalidating her bad experiences with them. It sold the pairing to me and shows how thoughtful Leo can be as a partner, wanting the other person to become their best and improve instead of just tolerating them. He's so precious T.T