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"The two would spend the rest of their days living happily ever after…"
Robin shut the book closed and let out a sigh. Normally a book like this would at least make her feel something, yet she found herself with a frown. Why did she feel so hollow inside?
Robin replayed the contents of the book in her head- an epic romance adventure story about a princess who gets swept up with pirates and falls in love with the so-called “Pirate Prince”.
The Princess of the story was brave, quick-witted, and sharp with words and actions, while the Pirate Prince was secretly kind and loyal, but wore a suave expression at all times. Robin could see the appeal of the romance.
Sumia had raved about this book at their last book club meeting, so Robin had been excited to read it. Sumia’s romance fantasy stories had become quite the guilty pleasure for her. She found herself staying up late reading them after their meetings.
Normally she was happy to finish those books, yet here she was, upset about something she didn't even comprehend.
Her thoughts twisted and turned over the plot details once again. The more she thought about it, the princess of the story started to make her think about Sumia. She knew Sumia loved to project herself into her books.
Sumia was truly fit to be the beautiful, yet brave princess of any fairytale. But then she thought about the prince. A kind and loyal man who is secretly a prince? Well Chrom could fit that description any day.
“...Chrom…” the frown returned. Was that truly the kind of person Sumia would fantasize about in a story?
Sumia loved her romance novels of all sorts- a knight who falls in love with the forest maiden, an arranged marriage between a prince and princess of warring nations that turns into true love, or even a woman who falls in love with a beastly creature who was secretly a prince. All a beautiful girl and a handsome man.
Chrom was certainly someone special, even apart from his lineage. He was Robin’s best friend and closest ally. She would lay down her life for him. She had heard every sort of rumor about the two of them being in some secret relationship. But that was never her reality.
Robin never had those feelings for Chrom. She couldn't love him in that way. No man in the Shepard's had caught her attention in that way. She wondered if she was just too focused on work, or if she just was incapable of those feelings.
Robin laid her head down against the pillow of her bed with a sigh. A girl like Sumia truly did deserve to find the man or prince of her dreams, just like the ones in her fairytale romances.
~
Robin skipped breakfast the next morning. She couldn't really find her appetite while her mind was still clouded with her thoughts from the previous evening.
She had tasks to do anyway. Her job didn't stop just because she was having problems. It was inventory day. She needed to make note of what the army needed so she could go buy supplies.
Robin hurried over to the training grounds to check weapons first. She swung open the doors to the supply room and saw Cordelia inside.
“Good morning Robin. Just sharpening the swords today.” Cordelia said, still focused on her work, as dedicated as ever.
“Morning, Cordelia. Don't mind me, just need to take count.” Robin closed the door behind her.
“Oh, already done. Here.” Cordelia handed her a note with the exact count of all weapons, shields, helmets, and anything else in the room.
“Oh, wow, thank you!” Robin knew she shouldn't be surprised, yet she still found herself shocked that someone would put that much work in for something that wasn't even their daily task. Then again, it was Cordelia- one of the most dedicated soldiers they had. This certainly would save her a lot of time today.
Robin hesitated to leave, as she took another look at Cordelia. She knew Cordelia and Sumia would sometimes share books as well, and Robin knew Cordelia loved the same romance books as Sumia.
“Cordelia… Can I ask you something?” Robin felt a bit embarrassed to ask.
“Of course, what can I do for you?” Cordelia met Robin's gaze.
“Okay, so you know how Sumia and I often meet up and share books we've read? Well last week she shared this book with me.” Robin took the book out her bag to hand to Cordelia.
“Oh, I had shared this one with Sumia originally. Great story.” Cordelia said with a dreamy sigh, “What did you think about it?”
“W-well, I finished it last night and instead of feeling satisfied, I felt… empty? Sad? I don't even know. Something about it bothered me.” Robin sat down next to Cordelia as she pieced through her thoughts, “When I thought about it more, I realized I think it was the actual relationship in the story that bothered me. The characters reminded me of real people.”
Cordelia nodded along, “I understand. I also saw certain people in the characters.”
“But that was what bothered me. What if I didn't like who it reminded me of?” Robin asked.
“Hmm, well I guess it depends on what you mean and who you envisioned. May I ask who you saw within the characters?”
“The princess was Sumia, and the Pirate Prince was Chrom.” Robin answered.
“I also saw the prince as Chrom.” Cordelia said sheepishly, “I think I understand where your feelings come from. Sometimes when I read these stories, I wish it was me in them. So when it ends, I feel a little sad that it's over and that it's not really me.”
Robin didn't quite understand, but she let Cordelia finish.
“I think among all of us women in the army, you don't have to worry about Chrom falling for someone else. You have the best bond with him.” Cordelia said with a sad sting.
“Oh! No, no! That's not what I meant!” Robin tried to correct. “Cordelia, I don't love Chrom.”
“O-oh! I'm so sorry to imply that- I just thought- I mean, we all thought-” Cordelia quickly grew flustered trying to respond.
“It's okay, I know a lot of people think that's the case. I admire Chrom, greatly, but I do not love him in that way.” Robin looked away, unsure why she even felt ashamed to voice that.
“Hm, well perhaps if it's not Chrom you're thinking about, it's the other person you're envisioning in the story.” Cordelia regained her composure, “You said you saw Sumia as the princess? Perhaps your emotions are from the idea of seeing Sumia fall in love with someone like Chrom?”
Robin sat there, speechless. It was like Cordelia had hit bullseye on her thoughts and emotions.
“Robin, I think you don't love Chrom- you love Sumia. She's the one lingering on your mind.”
Robin felt her heart double its pace within her chest, and her face started to heat up. Was this what love felt like? “I-I don't know. I don't even know what love for another person feels like.”
“Well, when you love someone, you want to spend all your time around them. They brighten your day, even give it purpose. They're the most handsome- or beautiful- person to you, and they occupy your thoughts every day and night.” Cordelia sighed again.
Sumia was truly the most beautiful woman Robin knew, from her smile to her elegant composure. She was endearing, even if she was quite clumsy and loved to ramble on about her day, or her books, or her fortunes. Robin could truly listen to her talk all day. In battles, Robin always was close by to keep her safe. Their weekly book club meetings were the highlight of Robin’s week.
Everything finally made sense. Like a puzzle finally completed, Robin understood. This was love.
But this love wasn't normal. Robin had never read a story with two princesses falling in love, or a lady Knight and her maiden, and tacticians didn't get the girl of their dreams. Tacticians took a backseat in life to ensure that everyone else was happy and safe.
If Sumia truly wanted to be with someone like Chrom, she would live with that. She would bury those feelings and smile and support her best friend and her love. The mere thought brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them away as she returned to reality.
“Robin? You had spaced out there… Are you okay? I didn't mean to upset you…” Cordelia looked concerned
“No- not at all. You actually clarified things for me. Thank you. If we could please keep this between us, however.” Robin asked, trying to hide her feelings
“Of course. I promise.”
“Thank you, now I should be off. Thank you again, Cordelia. I appreciate our talk.” Robin hurried out of the supply room.
She took quite a long walk to the outskirts of Ylisstol, where the buildings seemed quite a far distance away.
She sat against the base of a tree and looked out to the grassy plains. She felt the breeze against her skin, grounding her. Now that she was alone, she let the tears fall where no one could see.
A tactician must stay strong for their people. A tactician stays cool under pressure.
A tactician doesn't worry themselves with emotions and love, and yet she couldn't ignore the emotions that overtook her.
As the tears ran dry, she took some deep breaths. She couldn't be gone for too long. She hoped she looked better than she felt, but she moved back towards the castle. Back to work.
Robin barely ate anything at dinner, choosing to just take something to go, making up some lame excuse about needing to plan the next battle strategy. Before she left the dining hall, she caught a glimpse of Sumia sitting with Chrom and Lissa and Maribelle. Right where she belonged.
Her heart hurt, but she turned and left the dining hall.
Back in her room, she sat at her desk and sighed, “Okay Robin, you give yourself tonight to have a pity party and feel sad, and tomorrow we're over it. We have work to do!” She tried really hard to convince herself. It wasn't really working.
Besides, she had book club with Sumia tomorrow evening. She needed to be over this by then. She can't avoid Sumia forever.
Robin tossed and turned all night, hardly sleeping. And the few moments she did manage to sleep were filled with useless dreams, just there to taunt her about her situation.
Eventually she gave up on sleep and started her day early as the sun rose with her. She had plenty of tasks to fill her day and keep her busy. Less free time, less time to think about her sadness.
Robin snuck into the dining hall, trying to be as quiet as possible. All she wanted was to grab an apple and be on her way. She didn't need to alert the dining staff that she was there.
“Good morning Robin.”
“AH- oh, uh, hi Kellam!” She stumbled over her words. She swore Kellam spawned right in front of her. There was no way he was there when she got here.
“Early morning, huh?” He asked.
“Y-yeah. Busy day, so just grabbing something to take with me.” She lied.
“Makes sense. Well, take care Robin.” He was always so earnest.
“Thanks Kellam, you too.” She grabbed her apple and hurried off.
Robin ended up back at the training grounds to do one last inventory check over the tomes and staves since she had neglected to finish her work yesterday. Then she needed to hurry off to the markets in town to buy everything they needed. Normally she liked to see if anyone was free to help, but today she wanted the alone time.
She made note of the stock on the paper Cordelia gave her yesterday, finished her apple, and got a cart ready to head into town. All she needed was a horse to carry the cart. Robin dragged the cart over to the stables, but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard a voice.
“Robin! Good morning!”
Robin turned around to see Sumia, waving and smiling at her and she walked over. Robin's heart threatened to stop.
“H-hi Sumia. Morning.” Her words failed her. What a pathetic excuse of a sentence.
“You're up early.” Sumia commented, “Heading into town?”
“Yup. Gotta buy the supplies. All the supplies. Like normal.” Yikes. Get it together, Robin.
“I can join you! I just need to feed the horses and then I'm free for the day- until book club, of course!” Sumia shined her lovely smile at Robin.
Of course she wanted to come along. She can't just turn her down, that would be rude. But she also felt like she was going to combust on the spot. “I could definitely use the help.” Robin laughed sheepishly.
“Perfect, just give me a few minutes!” Sumia turned towards the stables and got to work.
Robin stood awkwardly next to the cart, waiting, trying to ease her heart. Perhaps this would be a not bad opportunity to talk about the book and gauge Sumia's thoughts about it - while also getting a read on her thoughts about Chrom.
“Okay, just about ready!” Robin heard Sumia shout out from within the stables.
“No rush!” Robin responded. She felt a little bad plotting all this out, but planning ahead was her specialty.
Sumia exited the stables, leading a horse by its reins towards the cart. They got the cart attached to the horse and began to walk towards the market.
“It's such a beautiful day out, it's sunny, but not too sunny. Breezy, but not too breezy.” Sumia smiled towards the sky. Robin smiled at her.
“So what are we getting today?” Sumia asked, turning her attention towards Robin.
Robin shifted her focus to her paper, “Thankfully we don't need too much today. Mainly just some new swords- Fredrick said a few broke this week during training. Oh and whatever staves I can find. And maybe a few tomes. Nothing too crazy.”
“Oh I heard from Lissa that a new merchant was in town for a little while! Apparently he was selling stuff from far away. We should stop by!” Sumia seemed quite excited about it.
“We can do that.” Robin said with a smile. Sumia's enthusiasm was quite infectious.
The market was full of vendors today, some local, some travelers. Robin always liked to see what the traveling merchants offered- it was a good way to get rare weapons.
As Robin haggled with one merchant, Sumia wandered off towards another stall. Robin paid the vendor and loaded her cart with the swords she just bought before Sumia caught her attention.
“What do you think, Robin?” Sumia held up a beautiful purple necklace up to her neck.
Robin could start to feel her face heat up. She couldn't just tell Sumia that it matched her beauty even though her thoughts were screaming that at her. “It looks very nice on you.” Robin fought against her thoughts to form a cohesive response.
“I bet it would look really nice on you! Purple is really your color. You should wear it more often, Robin.”
Robin could die right now and be at peace. She had to turn away to hide how red her face had turned. “N-no, it's much too fancy for me. I wear practical clothes. Jewelry is nice, but I'd be worried about ruining it.”
“Well maybe for a fancy occasion you could wear something like it. I would love to see you all dressed up for a ball!” Sumia was not letting her catch a break.
“I doubt I'd get to take that much time off to enjoy a ball. It would have to be a very special event.” Robin countered.
“Maybe for a wedding.” Sumia responded.
A wedding? Whose wedding? Why are we thinking about weddings??
“Eventually Chrom will have to settle down, now that he's set to take the Exalt title. I wonder who he'll ask to marry.” Sumia asked.
“W-who do you think? I can't say I really know who Chrom would be interested in like that.” Robin trailed off. This would be her best opportunity to see how Sumia felt about Chrom.
Sumia smiled and answered, “Well, knowing Chrom, it'll be someone special but also someone who understands him.”
That didn't give her anything to work with.
“Say Chrom were to ask you to marry him tomorrow, what would you say?” Way to be forward, Robin.
“Oh, well… I’d have to say no.” Sumia smiled sadly, “I respect Chrom greatly, but I don't love him. I'm afraid I may be waiting for someone else.”
“Wh- I mean, really?” Robin asked, honestly shocked.
“Did you think I loved him?” Sumia asked.
“Well, all the romance books you give me are about princes and men that all seem to resemble Chrom. I mean, the last book we shared- I thought perhaps you saw yourself as the princess and Chrom as the Pirate Prince.” Well cats out of the bag now, Robin.
Sumia seemed a bit surprised, but eventually it led to a faint laugh, “Oh no, Robin. I didn't see myself as the princess at all! She's so brave and daring…” her voice trailed off.
Embarrassed, Robin said, “I'm so sorry for assuming things!”
“You know…” Sumia stopped, like she was trying to form words together, “You actually reminded me of the princess.”
“Huh?”
“She was so smart, and brave, and cool. And you're all of those things combined! I didn't actually see anyone in the prince when I read it. I just kept thinking about the princess and how much I admired her.” Sumia had the faintest of a blush on her face.
“C-can we go somewhere a bit less crowded?” Robin asked, and Sumia nodded.
The two left the market and found a quiet spot by the river.
“...You really thought of me?” Robin finally asked.
“I'm sorry for being so forward with my words. I hope I didn't offend.”
“No! Not at all.” Robin felt so embarrassed. She spent all this time on her, apparently wrong, assumption about Sumia. “It just surprised me, is all. I don't think anyone has ever thought those things about me.”
“Oh Robin, I think you're so amazing. I truly admire your drive and ambition, and how much you care about everyone.” Sumia grabbed Robin's hands, “You really are special.”
Red-faced and heart pounding, Robin carefully formed her words together.
“Sumia… I… I can't be the knight or the prince you read about in your books. I have no status, no title-”
“I don't need any of that.” Sumia interrupted, “You're already my knight, my protector, my closest friend, my ally. You're all I need. Just as you are. You don't need to change anything or be something you're not. I love you the way you are.”
“...Love? You love me?”
Sumia let go of Robin's hands and she pulled Robin in for a kiss. And Robin could've sworn the world stopped at that moment.
As they moved away from each other, Robin spoke up, “I didn't think you felt the same way. I didn't know-”
“I always admired you, Robin. I thought I wasn't good enough for you! I'm the clumsy girl who just barely became a Shepard. You're one of the most important people in the Shepards. I was so happy when you wanted to spend time with me and share books. I thought maybe getting you to read some of my romance books would give me the courage to say something sooner. But I was scared. At first, I wasn't sure if you liked Chrom, but the more I watched you and spent time with you, the more I could tell you didn't feel that way about him.”
Those damned rumors would have to end at some point. This certainly wasn't the worst way to end them. No one would be suggesting either of them liked Chrom if they were seen together now.
“Sumia, I'm sorry for being so unaware. I liked you this whole time, but I never truly let myself think about it until recently. But then I was scared I wasn't enough. I was scared you were interested in someone else.”
“You're all I need, Robin…” the two shared another kiss.
Perhaps this was their own sort of fairytale. A new romance story, unique to them.
Perhaps the tactician really can end up with the most beautiful girl in the Shepards.