Chrom ran into Robin immediately after breakfast. She was waiting for him not far from where he sat, as how other servants did. Of course, he should have expected that. She was blushing furiously, eyes on floor and playing with her fingers. There was no denying that she heard the whole conversation, his big mishap and his quick denial and declaration of their current relationship. Everything was a big mistake. Just as they were already on their way to having a more… civilized and equal relationship and possibly start a romantic one, Chrom had to go and shatter whatever route available for him. How was he supposed to continue on now? He had no idea how to approach her. Regardless of that, he was met with a greeting and Robin running up to him to remind him of his duties for the day, with Robin immediately acting professional like she did earlier.

"After that, how you decide to use the rest of your day is up to you milord." Chrom was not really listening to her tell him his daily schedule. He had memorized it from years of Frederick repeating it to him every morning. Unsurprisingly, his tasks in this world did not differ from the ones he had in the original world before tensions with Plegia started arising. He was still thinking of his big blunder. It was a thought that occupied his mind throughout the whole day.

"And for now milord, Sir Frederick is expecting you for your lance training. He has instructed me to direct you to the training grounds after your meal. Shall we go milord?"

The day had gone by peacefully so far, with Robin a constant presence by his side. At training, Robin patiently waited on him with a towel to wipe his sweat and a drink to freshen him up. During the council, she held his papers for him and handed him whatever he needed. During the small breaks that he would have, Chrom would talk to Robin about little things, to which she'd respond formally and stiffly, much to his exasperation. To his surprise, the day wasn't so tiring and he was sure it was because Robin was there with him. And it was also partly because she did not mention anything about the events that morning; otherwise he would turn into a mumbling mess almost instantly. At the end of the day he has already forgotten about it and was more than looking forward to finishing all his tasks as soon as possible so that maybe, he could ask her out for tea. He had never been so impatient in all his life.

When he finally finished reading and signing all the paper work assigned to him, Chrom was, more or less, already in the process of composing different lines on how to ask her, if she had any free time that is. However, asking her seemed to be harder than he initially thought, and he found himself taking huge, deep breaths, making him look like a dying fish out of water, gasping desperately for air. 'This is it', Chrom thought. Commence scenario number one, line number one. He quickly turned to Robin, who was then standing beside him, organizing the papers he had set aside. His sudden glance to her made her stop uncomfortably, making her stare at him cautiously.

"Robin. Do you have free time this afternoon?" he asked.

"Um… unless milord sends me on an errand, I believe I have free time." Great. Proceed to scenario number one, line number two.

"You have free time then? What do you usually do during that time?

"I usually just read to Lady Lissa or follow her around whenever she wishes to look around town. Accompanied by Sir Frederick or Sir Stahl of course."

"No hobbies you want to do?"

"Nothing that I could think of milord." So far so good, he has to quit stalling and ask her. She is unoccupied after all. She stopped and frowned, thinking. Chrom watched her as she did. This is going smoothly. He thought. "Well then, would it be alright if you—"

"Oh yes!" That was a quick answer, Chrom had to admit. Although that sounded very much like an exclamation rather than an answer. Proceed to scenario number one line fo-

"I'm terribly sorry milord, but Lady Katarina had asked me the other day to help sort out her tactical books as she did not have time to do so these past few days. I understand that it was very reckless of me to just answer her without consulting you or Lady Lissa first, but I have already agreed to it. W-Would it be alright to offer her my assistance? I-I understand if you would not allow it." She mumbled, looking very regretful. He clenched his fists.

When he gave her his consent that was the first time he saw her smile so brightly in this world.

Ah damn it all. Damn it all to hell and back. Chrom was slowly dying on the inside. He didn't want to rush Robin and yet he just couldn't get a chance. Why must people interrupt him when he was just about to make a move? He'll never get anywhere like this. He sighed. What was he supposed to do then?

"Do you… can I help?" he mumbled. He was sure she wouldn't hear, but a small "what?" from Robin proved him wrong. She was staring at him with a surprised expression, as if she did not expect that at all. "Milord, that's not- that's not a very relaxing way to spend your afternoon." She stated.

Normally, he would say, 'I could say the same for you' but if this Robin and the Robin of his world were the same, she'd take it badly and give him a winning argument that would leave him speechless. Only, this Robin would certainly do so in the most polite manner he could think of. And so he settled for the best response. "I, well… you see I—"and there he was again, unable to say what he wanted to say. Robin was looking at him expectantly, almost like how the Robin back in his world did and he was still stuttering his words.

"Milord, maybe it's best you should rest, you've had a very long day."

"No, Robin I- I just… want to talk to you… more." He said. It's true he's just using the current situation as an excuse to spend more time with her but he was growing desperate and being desperate meant that being subtle was already out of the question. Robin looked away for a moment and smiled. It was faint, but it was there, Chrom was sure of it.

"Milord, you don't need an excuse to talk to me." She mumbled. "It w-would be a delight to converse with you."

That led him to an afternoon with Robin in Katarina's study. The sheer amount of books present was no surprise as Katarina was not only the army tactician, but also Emmeryn's advisor. The study was neater than Robin's tent but still relatively messy. Apart from books and papers lying around, there was no sign of the tactician. When Chrom asked, Robin simply answered with 'Lady Katarina had other things to attend to.' They spent their time mainly arranging the shelves and putting the books in place, organizing the papers, Chrom reaching up the higher shelves while Robin instructed him and sorting out trash. It was Chrom who rambled most of the time although he had managed to make her read to him an excerpt from a random book that he picked up. He wasn't really listening to her read, he was just thinking of how lovely her voice was. It didn't matter if she was shouting a deadly magic spell in the heat of battle, mumbling inaudible tactical maneuvers during war councils, bickering with him or simply reading aloud like this. All that mattered was that she had a beautiful voice and his name sounded best when she said it. No, everything just sounded a million times better when she talked.

His only regret was that their clean up finished sooner than expected. Of course, Robin would read and sneak glances at books from time to time, but even that wasn't enough to slow her down. She worked fast as usual. After that, Robin had suggested him to visit Emmeryn and ask her out for tea. The two headed for dinner along with Lissa who, this time, kept her teasing to the minimum and instead, talked of how she had managed to make Frederick waste time with her. Once dinner was over, Robin excused herself and bid him goodnight, as Lissa had apparently called her back for the day. Chrom spent the remainder of the night sitting in the palace courtyards, looking at the sky and thinking about nothing but Robin.

As Chrom was about to go back to his room, he heard a few soft steps walking over to him. The steps quickly stopped right behind him. He wondered who could be venturing outside at this time of the night. Frederick did not have anything to discuss with him, Emmeryn should be sleeping by then. A servant would have said something by now, instead of standing idle behind him for so long. It could only be Lissa, and if he knew any better, this would be about her ingenious plan.

Without turning around, he finally addressed her. "Lissa it's late. I'm about to sleep, whatever this is, it can wait tomorrow." That would certainly silence her. Although, it wasn't Lissa who was behind him. Immediately after those words left his mouth, Chrom finally turned around and realized that he had addressed a disappointed-looking Robin who held a tray delicately in her hands with a teapot and a pair of teacups and plates to match. She was avoiding his eyes.

"R-Robin! What brings you here?" he stuttered. The servant looked up abruptly, a slight tinge of fear and guilt present in her eyes. "I-I-I'm so sorry milord! I did not stop to think that you were about to retire for the night! A-Ah please um… I'm sorry, you must be really tired, I must leave you to rest." She said shakily. Before she could turn away, Chrom laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"No wait, you came here for something. I'll hear you out." He smiled as kindly as he could, while he watched her look down at the tray on her hands. "Y-Yes milord."

Chrom watched her pour him tea. She moved elegantly, her slender fingers clasping the handle of the tea cup with grace that he thought only saw when she drew magic from her hands. "Milord, your tea." She pulled him out of thoughts when he saw her holding the cup out to him. He took it gratefully. It smelled wonderful. She sat next to him, looking at him expectantly but saying nothing.

"Why visit me at this hour?" he asked.

"Well um—I thought milord would want a nice cup of tea to help sleep. I heard from Lady Lissa that this is a habit of yours." She answered.

That wasn't true at all. He could sleep just fine without any drinks. But any excuse to talk to her was welcome. "I suppose you could say that. This flavor, it's my favorite. Did you also hear that from Lissa?" at his question, Robin furiously shook her head. "Um no… I well- Whenever Sir Frederick cannot attend to it, which is rare, I prepare your tea. Sir Frederick has given me specific instructions as to what you and your sisters prefer and how it is to be prepared, so brewing tea is something I might be familiar with."

"Ah, I see." And from then, suddenly began another moment of awkward silence. Chrom had a lot of things to tell her, a lot of stories to share, a lot of questions to ask, but they would never come out of his mouth. The glinting necklace she wore distracted him and he suddenly found himself debating whether he should ask her or not.

"So… yesterday, I just happened to be there but… you and Gaius?" Chrom swore that it did not sound like that at all in his head. Actually, he did not mean to ask at all, but he just suddenly blurted it out. Either way, he sounded cooler about it like, 'that's a beautiful necklace you're wearing' or something akin to that. But of course, what comes out of his mouth is something not very charming.

"Excuse me? Me and Gaius? I think you have the wrong idea." She quickly replied, crossing her arms. "Gaius is a sweet guy, but I don't think we'd see eye to eye if we were to engage in such a relationship. Did you have any idea how hard it was to get him to stop bribing me? It was annoying the whole time. I'm actually amazed Lady Sumia could put up with it. Milord." The last word was added abruptly after she finally noticed who she was talking to, surprised at her sudden and rude outburst.

"I-I'm sorry milord, I did not mean to—"

"That's fine, that's fine. I actually find it very refreshing to hear you talk like that." Chrom laughed. That sounded like the usual Robin just now. Chrom watched her go quite red in the face. Of course, rather than paying attention to how she just talked to him so casually, he was paying more attention to the fact that she herself, had denied having any sort of romantic relationship with the ginger haired thief. Tonight was turning out to be a good night.

"So, is that necklace a bribe then?"

"It was supposed to but… he said it was to show gratitude. Also, he made it himself so I suppose it would be a waste to refuse it."

"He made it himself? But by the gods, that's amazing. I thought it was worth a good bag of gold on the market!"

The night drew on and the tea had already turned cold when the two of them finished their conversation. Robin was still adjusting for the most part and Chrom was still trying hard to be as casual as he once was without rushing her and yet, they finally managed a civilized, undisturbed moment. Twice. In a single day. That was a big achievement. When Robin had excused herself, the both of them were wearing contented expressions.

"Robin." Chrom called out before Robin could leave the room.

"Milord?" she asked, looking back as she balanced the tray on her hands.

"Robin I... I hope we can talk like this more. As friends, I mean. And please, call me Chrom. Just Chrom. This is the last time I'll ask this of you."

"Would that be an order milord?"

"No… a request. From one friend to another." He smiled.

Robin turned away slightly before turning back to face him. She was smiling, looking so beautiful standing there in front of him. "Of course… Chrom." He was right. His name really does sound better when she says it and he was feeling victorious right now.

A.N.

Well there goes another chapter. Honestly I have a general idea on how this story is going to end and what's going to happen, but I have no clue on how to progress their relationship. I suck at romance see? (especially since I'm starting to lose grasp of Chrom and Robin's personalities. I write 2nd gen kids better) hahah well, I hope you guys have had a great holiday! New Year's coming too so... well yeah

R&R please! Thanks for taking the time to read and all those guys who follow/fave/give reviews

I'm serious when I say your reviews give me an idea on what to write, really