Scene 4: Game

"Lucina."

Despite the soft grass underfoot, Robin must have heard Lucina walking towards her. She had turned her head to see Lucina's approach and greeted her with that single word, spoken in complete business-like fashion.

Lucina stopped in front of the tactician and greeted her in return: "Robin."

They had previously arranged to meet in front of the barracks at this time, and Lucina was glad to see that the other woman had indeed shown up. The upcoming task was of vital importance. Lucina would've been steamed if Robin had attempted to avoid her – but at the same time Lucina probably would have understood it. Evasion would be a normal reaction, after their earlier conversation in which Lucina had questioned why Robin spent so much time loitering around her father's tent, and how did she always find another excuse to be with him, and she really ought to be more careful about how she behaved in front of a married man, or else.

Robin had given the excuse that the army tactician couldn't help needing to meet with the leader all the time. Fair enough, Lucina supposed, but that didn't mean the tactician couldn't take advantage of all this time to gradually pull the leader into a seductive trap. As Chrom's loyal daughter, she needed to make sure it didn't happen. She had lost her family once, and now that she had regained it, she was certainly not going to see it ruined again – not in any way.

Well. At any rate, Robin was here. At least she could keep her word in that respect. But that didn't mean Lucina would lower her level of suspicion.

"Thank you for letting me follow you again today," Lucina said.

Robin shrugged. "If this is what it takes to make you trust me, I'm all for it."

"So what will you be doing first?" The weather this morning was exceptionally pleasant, cool with a nice breeze in the air. Lucina hoped that they would not be leaving this in order to stare at crinkled maps inside a stuffy tent all day.

"I've got an appointment." Robin started walking, so Lucina followed after her.

"Who are you meeting?" Lucina couldn't help it; her voice came out sounding like a dagger's jab. "Is it my father? Another strategy meeting?"

"No," Robin answered casually. "I'm not seeing your father. I am going to talk about strategy, but it will be with someone who's just a bit more precious to me."

Based on that, Lucina assumed that Robin meant her husband.

Lucina's plans ran into a stuttering block when the two of them approached a small hill with a large tree at the top. Even from a distance, and even though he sat in the shade of the tree, Lucina could tell who was there almost as soon as the hill came into sight. That form in that familiar black coat couldn't be mistaken.

Of course. Lucina should've seen this coming, now that she thought of it. The problem was that she tended to think of Robin more as the army tactician, and less often as Morgan's mother. Somehow it had slipped Lucina's mind that she might, at some point, need to explain to the love of her life why she was doggedly tailing his mother with a wary gleam in her eye.

Morgan clearly hadn't expected to see her, either. Confusion blanked out his face when Robin walked up to him with Lucina in tow. Lucina looked back at him, nervousness making her head into a muddled mess, and this silence continued for what seemed like days. It seemed he was waiting for her to speak first. She really, really hoped that her face would somehow communicate everything, because she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Hello, Morgan," Robin said cheerfully. "Ready for today's game? I see you've got the board set up already. Nice." She sat down opposite him, on the other side of the game board that lay in the grass. "Let's see if today your strategy can come close to beating mine."

"Um," Morgan replied. His eyes flickered to Lucina, who had remained standing where she was, as an awkward spectator. "Can I ask why Lucina is here?"

Lucina opened her mouth to speak, but failed to make a sound.

"Oh, don't mind her," Robin said. She talked as if commenting about the weather. "I'm letting her follow me around for a while so she can make sure that Chrom and I don't suddenly tumble into a passionate affair with each other. But don't be concerned, dear. She has assured me that she'll be quiet and polite and won't interfere with my work. Now then, shall we play?"

That was probably not what Morgan was actually worried about.

He glanced tentatively between his mother and Lucina, his head turning back and forth a few times, before deciding which one of them to address. "Mother, I'm sorry, but please excuse me for a bit."

He looked back at Lucina. She had still not moved from where she stood. She must appear as a frozen statue to him and Robin, but in her mind's eye, she could picture herself frantically stumbling through a foggy forest at night, searching for the right words. Never before had speaking to Morgan been so difficult – and this feeling only worsened when a shadow of despair crossed over his face. At once, she hated seeing that expression on him.

"Lucina," Morgan said. "What are you doing? Is it true that both our parents' marriages are in danger?"

Please smile again, she thought desperately, for she had never meant to make him upset. She longed to tell him that he had nothing to fear, but it would be tough to say those bold words to him when she was right in the midst of tracking his mother's steps. She could hardly tell him to ignore a looming threat when she, herself, was taking it so seriously.

"Lucina," Morgan repeated, his tone entreating her for a reply, but she remained too shamefaced to produce any words.

"Morgan."

Up until this point, Robin's voice had always been light and informal, as if she saw this as just another sunny day of her sunny life. Now, however, she spoke her son's name with a definite, commanding weight.

He turned his head to look at her again. Robin was the very picture of calmness. "You have nothing to worry about, Morgan. I'm just indulging the princess's imagination for the moment. You and I both know the truth: I love your father. I have eyes for no one else, least of all Chrom."

Lucina just couldn't help it. She couldn't stop herself from bursting out, "What do you mean, 'least of all'?"

At least that terrible distress was off Morgan's face now, but she didn't want to think about how her own face appeared to the two staring at her. The words, suddenly mad and free-flowing, were surely contorting her appearance. "Are you insinuating that my father is less attractive than the average man? How could you say such an absurdity! You're with him all the time; I can't believe that you would be so oblivious to his charms. He is gallant and wonderful in a way that is unparalleled by other men. Your indifference is beyond insulting!"

Though Robin wore a friendly smile, somehow her face and her voice both seemed cool as snow. "I thought you did not want me to fall for Chrom."

"Wh-what? Ah, that's right. I don't. Except I do? I want you to appreciate him! You need to be aware of how great he is. Oh! Except you really shouldn't, too much!"

Why was it that she could never avoid looking like a madwoman in front of others? It didn't help that Robin continued to sit there, at the spot by the game board, with total composure.

In her befuddlement, Lucina turned to Morgan. "Speak to me. Help me puzzle this out. Why do you think your mother hasn't fallen for my father?"

"Ah . . ." He scratched his head as he thought of an answer. His face was a bit red. She was already regretting dragging him into this mess. "I'm not sure. I'd rather not dwell upon it. Actually, I'm really glad that my mom never married your dad, because if she did, I guess that would make us related. And then we wouldn't have fallen in love and gotten engaged. At least, I hope we wouldn't have."

To hear about how much he treasured their love, so much that he didn't want to consider any alternate fates, made her want to melt into sweetness. She got to enjoy this feeling for precisely one second before Robin's head whipped around and Lucina was cringing under the woman's focused gaze. "Did he say that you two are engaged?"

Morgan's eyes widened, startled. "Didn't you know, Mother? I thought Lucina already told you."

Lucina sighed in a futile effort to breathe out some of her embarrassment. It was true that she had proposed to Morgan recently. And since she was the one who'd done the asking, it was more or less assumed that she would also be the one to tell his parents about it.

She had truly meant to do that sometime. She'd promised Morgan she would. But she kept delaying the moment, because every time she imagined approaching his parents and telling them that she'd essentially stolen his hand right from under them, she felt as scared as a child.

She hadn't admitted this issue to Morgan because she saw no reason to trouble him about it. She'd been certain that she would naturally get over the fears at some point. Just not this soon.

"So you two are getting married," Robin said. "This should be interesting."

Lucina could only hope that after many years of having this woman as her mother-in-law, there would come a time when Robin's expressions weren't utterly smooth and unreadable to her. Then again, considering her future plans, she might not end up seeing Robin all that much. Still, that didn't mean she wanted to ruin this current moment.

She coughed awkwardly. "Um, I had a speech prepared, Robin. I am in love with your son –"

"Is there anything in this speech that I don't already know?"

"Well . . . since you already know that we're engaged, I guess not."

"Don't give her a hard time, Mother," Morgan mumbled.

"No, it's all right," Lucina said to him. "I can handle this." She honestly did feel stronger with him around. Maybe not as cool as ice, but at least assured enough to get though this situation.

Robin's tone seemed a tad softer this time, but she was still far from going easy. "You've done this in an odd order, haven't you?"

"I didn't plan to ask Morgan first, but it ended up that way. Um, I just got lost in the rush of that particular moment and –" She returned to cringing when Robin raised an eyebrow. The rest of her explanation came out in a hurry. "And I ended up proposing to him on the spot, and since he's already said yes, I guess it's a bit too late to ask his parents for permission to have his hand. So, I apologize that I'm not asking you so much as simply telling you. But Morgan . . ."

Morgan said that he would still marry me in any case, even at the cost of you, if it came down to that.

It wasn't until this exact instant that Lucina finally realized what a significant statement that was, coming from him.

"I hope," Lucina said, changing tracks, "that you will eventually forgive me for what I am doing right now."

"You mean, accusing me of trying to seduce your father?"

"Uh, yes, that too. I was actually referring to breaking the news of the engagement out of the blue. But I will have to eventually apologize for this too . . ."

"And also that one time you attempted to kill me."

"Y-yes, but I thought you had already forgiven me for that one."

"Oh, I have," Robin replied in a chipper tone. "And if my son really loves you, then I'm sure that when the time comes, I will forgive you for today as well. So don't fret."

Out of the three of them, Robin was the only one who didn't carry an air of awkwardness when the board game finally began.