Spoiler Alert: Contains spoilers for the ending of Conquest.

Leo once said—rather jealously, looking back on it—that Xander was born to rule. It wasn't entirely untrue, though he would never be so immodest as to agree. He liked taking care of his people and rebuilding his country and mending the many wrongs they committed. It was a duty he gladly embraced.

But when did he agree to embrace all this damned paperwork?

Someone flicked his brow. "If you keep scowling, your face is going to get stuck like that."

"I think it's too late," Xander said ruefully. "How many times did Camilla tell us that when we were children?"

"Too many." Corrin threw herself in the chair across his desk. She was so small, he could barely see her over the stacks of papers. He obligingly pushed them aside. "And we'd stop because she told us we were ugly enough as it was."

"No, she told me and Leo that—she told you and Elise you were too cute to be upset."

"So silly," she said fondly.

They sat in silence for awhile, and he even started paperwork again. He always felt rejuvenated in her presence, as though she alone could lift the weight from his shoulders. But when he glanced up, just to trace the familiar lines of her lovely face, he saw that she was staring pensively out the window, her chin propped up on her hand.

What did she think of with such a melancholy expression? The gods knew she had enough grief to contemplate a lifetime over. Ryoma, gallant in his sacrifice. A younger brother whose resentment and bitterness had cost him everything in the end. Fathers she never really knew, friends who loved and died for her. Azura the songstress whose melodies still echoed on moonlit lakes. And two sisters, alive yet so far out of reach. Ah, how he ached, that he could not offer her a remedy for her wounds.

"Little princess—"

"You're still calling me that?" Now she turned to him with her impish smile. "Even though I'm queen now, and not so little that we don't have two sons?"

He groaned. "Don't remind me. They're giving me such fits I have half a mind to stick them back in the Deeprealms. I expect trouble from Kana, but since when did he start dragging Siegbert into his escapades?"

"You should be relieved Siegbert is having fun," Corrin said. "You yourself said you regret not being able to spend more time with us, so I think we should be happy he has that privilege."

"Yes, perhaps it's not so bad…but pouring ice water down the back of Beruka's neck is a hazard to all of us."

Corrin giggled. It was like music to him, soft and merry, and he had the sudden overwhelming urge to kiss her. "Then maybe we should just be happy they're alive at all."

Taken by impulse, Xander stood and rounded the corner. She was surprised by his abruptness, but her mouth was sweet and eager and she laced their hands together. He always admired how quick Corrin was to offer affection; it was never something that came freely for him, so he pursued it whenever it struck, wanting to give back even a fragment of all that she gave to him.

"I love you," he said. "If you're troubled, or lonely, you can always come to me. I know I'm not the warmest person, but there is no one dearer to me than you. I'm sorry for everything that transpired and for what you suffered for us. For Nohr. If there's something I can do to ease your pain, tell me and it will be done. If there's something I can give to make you happy, tell me and it will be given."

Corrin took his face in both hands and held it while she gazed seriously up at him. "I won't ever stop grieving for Azura and my brothers," she said, "but that I still have you in my life is all the happiness I need. You owe me nothing. Our family is still together and even larger than I ever thought possible. Don't sell yourself short, darling. You do far more than you realize."

Her scarlet eyes had never been so tender as she pulled him down and kissed him again. What would leading a nation matter, in the end, if Xander did not have Corrin at his side? He was Nohr's king, but she was the one who made it so. She was a man made better through her love, a dragon unfurling at dawn and a tired country rediscovering itself, and he would follow her today, tomorrow, and for all their days to come.