~Corrin 

The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed. Did the little minx run away already?

I pushed myself up from the bed, getting ready to go find her wherever she'd snuck off to when a noise in the bathroom caught my attention.

"Lilly? Are you there, darling?"

"Uh... yeah. One second."

A few minutes later, she waltzed out of the bathroom in a new simple grey dress, this one cut probably just a little shorter than the one from yesterday.

The dullness of it did nothing to take away from her beauty, however, and I had to wonder how the deal with Tarka not only solved my problems, but also landed me the hand of the most gorgeous, smart and thoughtful woman I have ever met.

"There's my little firecracker. Did you sleep well, honey?"

She blushed at the nicknames but came to sit next to me at the bed.

"I did. Thanks. What about you?" she asked nervously.

"Well, I went to sleep next to an unbelievably gorgeous woman last night. I'd say it was fucking fantastic."

She blushed again and glanced away.

"Sooo... what's on the agenda for today?"

I scratched my chin as I thought for a second.

"Well, today should have been more negotiating with your embassey, but we sent them away yesterday..." I said grinning sheepishly.

"I guess today, you can acompany during my duties and I can show you around the kingdom. What do you think?"

"That sounds like a lovely idea!" she beams and I smiled back before excusing myself to bathe and get dressed.

I'd invited her to join me of course, but sadly she'd refused. I really did despise bathing alone but I wouldn't begrudge my shy princess this. Perhaps she wouldn't mind if Hugo joined me though? Next time, I guess.

I truly had been surprised by the turn in conversation last night. And how she's so open to all these new concepts. My gorgeous wife-to-be keeps on proving that she's the perfect match for me.

When I was done, we walked together to the office where Hugo was already waiting with two cups of coffee.

"Morning," he said, handing me my cup.

"Morning. Thanks."

He turned to Lilly and offered the other.

"I wasn't sure how you'd like your coffee. Is this okay?"

"I've never had coffee." She said, taking the cup and sniffing it curiously. "Real ladies drink tea." she said mockingly.

She took a small sip before twisting up her face.

"Too sweet!"

"Seriously?" Hugo scrunched up his face at her. "That's a normal amount of sugar. You like that shit bitter like him?"

He pointed at me as if I'd committed some kinda crime.

Grabbing the cup back from her, he mutterred "Fucking masochists," under his breath before disappearing.

Lilly just stood in confusion before he reappeared again with another cup.

"Here you go," he said, handing her the new cup.

I noticed he'd kept the old cup for himself, mixing even more sugar into it.

I chuckled, guiding Lilly along to seat on the couch as I collected some papers off my desk, then I settled next to her, taking a sip from my own coffee.

"Don't worry about him," I said finally, "He's got the biggest sweet tooth and considers sugar to be a god  above Amina herself."

She smiled at that before persing her lips in thought.

"I'd meant to ask.... what are your views on Amina. You said most Aellan's believed in her in some way. Do you?"

I considered her question briefly before deciding on a way to answer.

"Yes and no. I believe she existed and was extremely powerful and is probably the reason we're all alive today."

"But...?" she pressed and I sighed. My little firecracker really liked to dive into these controversial topics without warning, huh? Not that I was ashamed of my beliefs and practices or anything. I just didn't want to say anything that might scare her away.

"But I don't beleive she was ever a god. That she'd created us or that there as nothing before her."

"Hmm" she hummed but added no further insight into her thoughts. She did appear rather pensive though.

"What about you, Hugo?"

"Me?" he asked in surprise, "Well honestly, before Corrin, I didn't really believe in Amina at all. He's managed to rope me into his theory of things. It makes a lot of sense. You should ask him more about it someday."

She nodded wordlessly and I took that as a cue to start sifting through all the paper work I needed done today.

Lilly observed quietly for the most part, but every now and then, she pitched in with her thoughts and I have to say, my little firecracker was really good with numbers. She had an eye for detail and was able to quickly point out any irregularities she noticed. Hugo popped in and out as he carried out his own tasks for the morning.

By noon, we'd gotten through the bulk of it and I decided to take her into town for lunch.

I offered her my hand and she took it only to squeal in surprise as we appeared in the heart of the kingdom.

"Hey! Warn a girl!"

"Sorry, love. Come let me introduce you to some people."

She nodded, linking her arms in mine and I took her around the town.

"So they really just all call you by Corrin or sir?" she asked after some time

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. I'm not really one for all the fancy titles. So stuffy and formal." I answered. "You hungry? We should get some food now. We've got more work to do after this."

I led her towards a restaurant owned by a good friend of mine.

"Corrin!" a high sqeual greeted us as soon as we stepped inside. "Uh! where have you been?" the culprit, a woman with a wild mane of red locks framing her freckled face, smashed herself against me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips.

I cast a quick glance at Lilly but she didn't seem upset. Maybe a little surprised.

"Just running a kingdom." I responded to Desi.

"Lilly, this is Desdemona. She's the owner of this place and one of my best friends. Desi, Princess Lilliana. My fiancee."

"Oh. OH! Shit! I forgot that was happenning." Desi said covering her mouth in shock. "Was it ok for me to kiss you? I'm sorry, Princess! I wasn't thinking."

Lily smiled back shyly to reassure her. "It's alright. I don't mind."

"Oh, thank Amina! I almost thought I'd managed to offend our new queen already!"

She quickly shuffled us to a table, holding a cheerful conversation with us as we decided on what to eat. Her bubbly personality seemed to put Lilly at ease just like I'd hoped it would. Before long, the two were chatting along like good friends and both seemed to be a bit disappointed when Desi had to excuse herself to go check on her other customers.