Chapter Text
At first, it was simple. Or rather simple to explain, hard to internalize. Nohr was now under Hoshidan rule, forced into an unconditional surrender. Three of the royal family are now dead, Leo and his sister Camilla are all that remains.
Well three. No, two. Leo thought to himself. Corrin made a choice, an irreparable one. While their bond can never be truly severed, Leo can’t deny to himself he in some fashion hates Corrin deep inside. For what happened to Nohr. Father. Xander. Elise. Even Camilla.
As the eldest, she was to inherit the crown but Camilla did not want it. She shirked her responsibilities as Queen, bending over backward to please Corrin. Or rather Corrin’s
siblings. The true siblings.
Leo hated them all. The now newly ascended King Ryoma. It would accurate to say he was Hoshido’s wrath given form. His weapon, the Rajinto, was truly a blade not to underestimate, it would burst and boil through flesh like a hot knife through butter. It was he who set the motions to cast Nohr apart like a vulture descending on a rotting carcass.
Cheve, a once loyal dukedom of Nohr had formally changed its allegiance to Hoshido. There are even whispers that the new appointed Duchess of Cheve is secretly courting the King. But Leo hardly cared, he just wanted for even a moment, be given the fantasy...to drive a dagger in both their backs and leave them to hang dry by the sun.
The rest of Corrin’s siblings were hardly worth a mention. Prince Takumi looked to be boastful and arrogant, a horrific prospect to ever dare be in his presence. Princess Hinoka seemed cordial enough, a fine lady, but nothing that warranted further thought on his part. Princess Sakura’s mannerisms reminded him a lot of Elise, and it pained his heart to dwell on that thought.
But none of them could hurt him more than to see his beloved sister, Camilla do everything and anything to please them. All for whatever little scant time being with Corrin. Her routine would consist of readying herself and spending all her time with the Hoshidans and their officials. It was fruitless, Corrin hardly ever came.
Soon enough it came time for the Hoshidans to leave, and Camilla truly drove into a frenzy. Demanding Corrin to stay, but alas Camilla was rebuked. When that failed, she suggested coming to Hoshido. They were pensive, as they would be. They cited that as the new Queen, she best stay with her people. Camilla immediately countered by say Leo could rule in her absence.
Leo lingered on the thought. Is that how little he meant? Was Corrin more important? Even after the deaths of their family? She’d still pick Corrin? Even when he...loved her.
Camilla by her lonesome in her chamber, in tears. Discussions of visits had fallen apart, and Camilla knawed on her nails. It was an old bad habit of her’s. Leo hasn’t seen her do that since they were children. Back when their mothers plotted their schemes. He remembers once hiding behind Camilla’s skirt, as their mothers darted insults and threats. Leo remembers how tenderly Camilla embraced him, amidst the fear and panic in their lives. He remembers her promise, that they would be together forever...
He turned his attention to Camilla and touched her cheek, cleaning her tears. “Xander and Elise wouldn’t like to see you in despair like this.” The words cut deep into himself as well, he had done his best to stray hold his deepest anguishes and rage looming underneath his surface.
Camilla rose from her chair, removing her crown gently on her desk. . “I don’t want this Leo….this was Xander’s-”
“It’s beautiful on you.” He interjected, presenting the crown back. Leo raised the crown atop her head again.
Camilla looked at Leo with a pained expression, tears began to flow down her face. “I’m going to see Corrin.”
“Camilla-”
“You can’t stop me.”
“And what? You’re just leaving? What about the people? Nohr?” Leo began to raise his voice, growing frustrations in him began to surface.
“I need our family back!” Camilla yelled in response. “The three of us! Without Corrin here, it’s all for naught. We bent, I did whatever I could to make the Hoshidans happy. At least give me the grace to see Corrin.”
Leo couldn’t hold back his rage. It was always Corrin. Corrin was all that mattered. Their home could rot for all she cared if it meant just one more time with the person who cast all of them aside. “WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN TRUE BROTHER HERE?”
There was a silence. No words between them. Even Camilla stopped her tears. She lifted the crown off her head and walked out the door.
Leo never felt more wretched.
Camilla left just as she said she did. There was no formal declaration of abdication. Leo figured she didn’t even think to formally do so, just walked out in a fury. Without their Queen, the weight of regal responsibility would fall to Leo.
Leo should have known better. He was well versed in the craft of persuasion and political machinations, and yet he could not convince even his dearest sister to stay. What an idiot, he thought to himself.
First a week passed, it was uneasy at first. There were several protocols and loops in the law that Leo had to circumvent. The appointment of governorships was solely the matter of the current monarch, but with Camilla gone, and Leo as acting regent and the prime minister had no choice but to set the precedent of him doing so. He wondered on the ramification of what he was doing.
Did his Father have the same thought when he engaged so frivolously with concubines and maids? Is Leo unwittingly setting up a war of succession and internal strife in the making? Leo prayed he was doing the right choice.
From a week became a month, then two, then half a year. It was clear that Camilla was not returning anytime soon. Or if at all. With no other option, Leo ascended the throne. His coronation was formalized as Camilla was in absentia. Should Camilla ever come back it’s very well possible a civil war could break out. Leo pestered on the thought. She was prone to her frenzies when things didn’t go as the way she intended, if Selena’s departure was any indication. Camilla would never dare harm him? She did not enjoy ruling yes..but if met pleasing Hoshido? Would she ask him to abdicate for that reason?
The Hoshidans were largely uninterested in the shift of authority to Leo, so long as the laws and edicts in place were carried. Along with appropriate taxation to Hoshido, reparations...in exchange for food. Leo knew their surpluses were easily sold higher than they would be sold in Hoshido. Even accounting for travel and relative abundance, he could only feel that Nohr had become a tributary to Hoshido.
Two years had passed since Leo took the throne, and things were operating smoothly. Or as smoothly on the surface it would seem. But today things had turned for the worst. Camilla had returned.
Leo immediately had his servants prepare her a bath and a warm meal within his private study. He wanted to see his sister again but was nervous. Did she hate him? Why come back now? Why is she here?”
Leo walked into this study to his sister, sitting on a bench with a plate stepped aside and empty. Camilla did not change much from when she left, Leo was told her hair was in disarray when she arrived and she wore Hoshidan linen but aside from that she was much the same.
Camilla looked eagerly toward Leo, watching his movements like an attentive mother. Leo sat beside her on the bench. “Camilla.”
“Leo..I’m so..happy to see you again.”
With his right hand he raised it up to her cheek, she returned his embraced by nudging her forehead to his. “How I’ve missed you so much, Sister.”
Leo let go of his embrace and spoke somberly. “I’m sorry...for what I-”
“It’s alright Leo...I understand now...why you said what you said..” She said, with a melancholic tone to her voice. “Though...the outburst wasn’t necessary..”
“Yes...I don’t think it was…”
Camilla sat up, her arms crossed, she looked to be deep in thought. “I left for Hoshido, as you know. But I couldn’t say I was welcomed. Corrin did what could be done, but soon enough I had to leave. I walked out of the castle, I was treated cordially by all the Hoshidan royals.”
Leo could see how Camilla’s eyes shuttered. Camilla did rarely cry, but when she did, it was truly something awful to see. But to hold back her tears like this? With such intense restraint in her eyes was something unlike he’d ever seen.
“But Corrin? Not even a goodbye.”
There it was.
“I will cherish those memories with Corrin.” Camilla turned to face Leo, embracing him. “But my family is here.”
The time with Camilla was wonderful, to have company again in dreary Nohr was greatly appreciated. Leo loved his country very much, but he can not deny the political landscape of his home gave him too many headaches and sleepless nights. Camilla deferred to Leo’s rule, but she did her part in help shoulder Leo’s burden.
They were a family again. His thoughts lingered again on his foolish childish fantasies. It was spoken in panic, nothing more.
One afternoon they took a fine dinner by their lonesome, both were exhausted and ready to unwind. Fresh brisket. It was Hoshidan but Leo didn’t care at this moment, he just wanted to rest. He dug into his food gleefully, the broth sticking to his cheek.
Camilla got up from her chair and leaned over to him, wiping the broth off his face. “Come now, Leo. You’re not a child anymore.”
As Camilla came to clean his cheek, look couldn’t but look at Camilla’s chest. She wore a fine dark violet dress, with a black fabric draped across her chest. But from the angle she was leaning, Leo could see darkness between where her breasts would lead. Leo closed his eyes and Camilla dutifully wiped his face. Even now, as an adult and king, the should be paragon of the Nohrian people, he could not control his vices.
“There now. All clean.” She gave him a warm smile. Camilla returned to her chair, pouring wine into their cups. She raised her cup. “A toast?”
His eyebrow raised. “To what Camilla?”
Camilla smiled again, tilting her head. It shot a warm feeling into Leo. “To us. To helping me realize what I truly wanted, Leo.”
“It could hardly be considered by doing entirely. You found that answer yourself, Camilla.”
“I know. But without you placing the thought in my head, I wouldn’t have reached that conclusion. I would still be in Hoshido, unwanted and unwelcomed.” She replied, with affectionate eyes toward Leo.
Leo smiled back raising his glass. “It’s good to be together again.”
The rest of the night was pleasant enough, they joked and bantered over whatever trivialities in they’ve been attending. Leo told a story of how he had to settle an inheritance dispute between three half-siblings with no will left by their mother. It was exhausting to Leo, but in retrospect, Leo wondered why he found it a bother to begin with.
Camilla soon got up and raised her hand toward Leo. “Dance with me, like we used to.”
Leo smiled, his courage was lifted their hearty dinner together.
Leo raised his hand toward the side of Camilla’s waist, and one locked with her’s. Camilla leaned in close. “And remember you can’t step on my heels, you have to actually dance.”
“I’ll try.” He chuckled.
In complete privacy they danced across the room, twisting and turning clockwise. The warm feel of her hand, the bright smile on her face, his hand on her body, it was all heavenly to him. It reminded him so much of when they were children, Leo too shy to ever ask another girl to dance with him would always ask Camilla. Camilla always refused to dance with anyone, she had no interest for any suitor. But with Leo, she would always warmly accept his invitation. Sometimes she would invite him.
Camilla began to slow down, turning closer back to the table. “Ha...a bit tired...might I rest dear?”
“Of course.”
She sat on her chair, taking in a deep breath to regain her composure. Leo could see the pursing of her lips, how they expanded as she took in every breath. Within a few moments, Camilla regained herself. “I’m sorry about that Leo-”
Leo tilted his head forward slowly toward Camilla’s face. She didn’t move, she didn’t stop or impede him. Leo placed his lips to her’s, light pressure applied against them.
He moved away, to witness her reaction. Camilla’s expression was in shock, but she did nothing. She didn’t turn her face to disgust, nor did she rebuked him. Camilla merely stayed there and looked toward Leo.
“This is rather..surprising, to say the least..” She began. Her voice was still calm and warm. “For the longest time, I had fixated too much on Corrin. I never did realize how much turmoil I brought upon you.”
Camilla touched Leo’s cheek tenderly. “How long?”
“Since we were children.” He shied away Camilla’s hand and walked up. He pointed toward the corner of the room. “I remember.” He lifted up the curtain. “I hid here when our mothers were fighting. You came to fetch me and clean the tears off my cheek. I first believed you were an angel, sent by the gods to save me.” Leo could feel the tips of his fingers on edge, almost dripped in sweat, but when he rubbed his own fingers against his palms he could feel nothing but cold.
“I still remember when you said, you’d be with me forever. To wipe away all the bad, and make me happy. I think it was then, I saw you not as a sister. But as something more.”
He left it at that. “It wasn’t your doing. I had placed too much faith in you, no one should place too much faith in any person one as I did.”
Camilla got up from her chair, meeting him in the eye. She pressed her lips to Leo.
Leo was taken aback, he was confused. Was she?
“Leo...this is all very surprising to you..and me...but I...I’m sorry for my neglect.”
“Camilla, it wasn’t your fault. I’m just a foolish-”
“We’re both foolish then,” she interrupted. “This is all new to me, but I did admire for how...self-determined you were. You..needed no one...all your strength came of your own volition. If you couldn’t beat Marx in the sword...you would do it in magic. If not by sheer strength like I could, then by outsmarting your opponent.”
A warm blush came over her. “It was your finest quality..”
Camilla slowly walked toward Leo, embracing him in her arms. Her right hand just back to his head, lowering him to her chest. “From now on...it’s us..togethr..”
Leo placed his hand just to her lower back, and other to her shoulder blades. He could smell the luxurious lavender emitting from her, could feel the soft fabric of her dress, and could hear her beating heart just above her breast.
She raised his chin and pressed her lips with passion. Locking in motion their longings for another.
Camilla broke away to catch his attention. She took Leo’s arms and walked to her quarters. In sweet embrace and no troubles, neither in past nor future.