"Hello~," Felicia called out to no one in particular, only to receive an echo and silence in return. "Where is everyone," she said with a huff. Upon her awakening this morning she could not find neither hide nor hair of her fellow staff. She was nearly about to give up when she finally received a response.

"Felicia is that you?" a meek voice called from the kitchen.

"Lilith!" the maid said, ecstatic to find another soul in the nearly empty fortress. "Have you seen my sister or Jacob? I can't even find Gunter."

"You don't know?" Lilith asked, her head cocked to the side. "They left for the Windmire this morning."

"Windmire?" Felicia repeated, surprised. "How come?"

"A messenger arrived this morning with a letter from King Garon himself," Lilith explained. "They were requested to return to the capital immediately for special orders."

"What?! This is the first I've heard of this."

"Flora said she she'd go to wake you, did she not?"

Felicia thought back to earlier this morning. Now that the Lilith had mentioned it, she did remember her sis trying to wake her at some point. She thought it was nothing more than a dream, so she simply rolled over and returned to sleep. "I guess I slept through it," Felicia said abashed as she scratched her cheek. "Anyway, how are you and I supposed to take care of this entire fortress by ourselves?"

"Not to worry," Lilith said with a smile. "The letter said that the king would be sending vassals to assist us in watching over master Corrin in the other's absence."

Felicia let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I was afraid I'd have to do all the work myself."

"Luckily it won't come to that," Lilith said with her own sigh of relief.

"What was that?" Felicia asked, missing the other girl's quip.

"Nothing!" Lilith said quickly. "Anyway, I believe the vassals should be arriving soon."

They made their way to the castle entrance, and sure enough across the bridge were was a group trio disembarking from their carriage with supplies. It was a simple trio or; a burly fellow dressed as a cook, a petite woman wearing a maid's attire, and a man with a crooked nose in the dashing garbs of a butler.

"Greeting," Lilith said with a polite bow. "We hope you found your trip peaceful."

After receiving a glance from Lilith, Felicia followed in suit. "Y-yes, we're glad you came all this way to help us care for master Corrin."

"Anything for the royal family," the woman said with bow. The burly fellow scoffed and received a quick elbow to the ribs from the woman. "This should be enough to sanction our duties here," the woman said as she presented Lilith with an envelope bearing the Nohrian royal crest.

Lilith gave it a quick once over as she looked between the letter and the trio. "Everything seems to be in order," she said with a smile. She had received enough letters from the royal family to know that both the seal and Garon's signature were the genuine article.

"Then, would you kindly show us where to we can stow our effects?"

"Certainly," Lilith said, gesturing towards the castle. "Just follow me."

Felicia however, did not seem as excited. Something bothered her about the trio. They had an off-putting air about them. Literally. Not only did the three seem like an odd fit for vassals but they smelled heavily of dirt and a scent that reminded her of iron. But what was it? She could not be sure.

As they entered the castle Corrin appeared within the main hall. "Oh, there you two are," he said with an innocent smile. "I was worried that everyone had left."

"I would never leave your side master Corrin," Lilith said.

Though Lilith's feelings were earnest and pure, Felicia could not help but find herself bothered by her fellow maid's eagerness to remain at Corrin's side. Was this the feeling known as jealousy? No, Felicia tried to convince herself otherwise.

"Who are these people by the way?" the noble born asked with a cock of his head.

The trio looked between themselves nervously before the fellow with the crooked nose stepped forward. "We're vassals of King Garon," he explained with a bow. "We were sent to assist in your care." The man wore a smile as he explained the situation, his eyes narrow like a sly fox.

"Really?" Corrin said excitedly, taking the man's words as the whole hearted truth. "Then allow me to thank you prematurely for your work," Corrin said as he seized the man's hand and gave it a shake. "There's been so many fresh faces in the castle recently," he said with a beaming smile aimed at Felicia. "I hope we can all get along."

"Y-yes my lord," the trio said with bows of their own.

"Just give us a moment to get situated, and we'll be read to rend to your every need," the petite woman said with smile.

"Don't worry yourself too much," Corrin said waving the notion aside. "Felicia can assist me for the time being while you get comfortable."

"You re most gracious my lord," the woman said, this time giving an over emphasized bow.

"It's nothing, I'm sure Felicia won't mind," Corrin said with another smile directed at the pink haired maid.

"Y-yes! I mean no- I…" Felicia sighed in defeat before taking a moment to calm herself. "I'll be right with you my lord," she said with a bow before hurrying off to the kitchen to prepare Corrin's breakfast.

"Right this way," Lilith said in turn, leading their guest off to their temporary lodging.

"Here you are my lord," Felicia said as she gingerly set a tray of food before Corrine. She took a moment to set the plate of food before him before pouring the noble a cup of tea, careful not to spill the teapot's scalding contents onto the noble (again).

"As always, you have my thanks Felicia," Corrin said with a smile before taking a sip from his cub. "While I'm glad that my father sent other servants in their place, I'm a little sad that the others aren't here with us."

"I see..." Felicia said, a little dejection in her tone. "Everything would be a lot easier with Jacob and my sister here."

"Oh forgive me!" Corrin said quickly. "That's not how I intended for those words to come out. What I meant was that in the time you've all been here, the castle has felt much livelier compared to all the years I lived here. We're like a little family here."

Felicia could feel her heart fluttering again. The way Corrin spoke so highly of his vassals, made her feel like they were more than simply noble and retainer.

"But I do suppose some good has come of it," Corrin began, directing a winning smile at Felicia. "I can take this chance to spend more time with you."

"M-my lord?!" Felicia squeaked. "You shouldn't say such things to your servants." The maid did her best to hide her blush. Even with the Ice Tribes naturally low temperature, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"I mean it," Corrin said with another laugh. "There's so much about you I don't know. What's it like where you live? What's it like to be a member of the Ice Tribe? And so much more."

Felicia's heart thumped in her chest. Corrin's expression was so pure and earnest as he looked at her that she wanted to give him her entire life's story then and there. She opened her mouth to speak and said "I'm sorry, I think I hear Lilith calling me! I'll be right back my lord!" The maid quickly ducked out into the hallway. Once out of view, she brought the tray she carried up to her face, trying to hide her embarrassment. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," she repeated to herself as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

Felicia could feel the heat burning in her cheeks from the joy she felt from Corrin's words. She would tell him one day. Tell him about her life and her homeland, maybe even about all the butterflies he gave her. Someday...but for now, she had to check on her Lilith, even if she it was originally just a ploy to escape.

The maid made her way back to the kitchen and found her vassal accompanied by the other servants. "I've been looking everywhere for you Lilith," she said with a smile before looking between the others. "Did you find everything to your…" Felicia's words slowed to a crawl. Something was wrong. A thick silence hung in the air as she looked between everyone. The large fellow was standing awfully close to Lilith as the man with the crooked nose coyly hid something from view. And then there was the slim woman who was trying to remain all smiles. Finally Felicia's eyes fell on Lilith, who gazed back wide-eyed.

"Is everything okay in here?" Felicia, her voice gentle as she inched closer.

"Yes," the woman assured. "No need to worry. We were just asking her a little about the castle and lord." The other two nodded along, supporting the woman's story.

Lilith however, did not. Ever so slightly, the servant shook her head, hoping that Felicia would notice. She did, but the pink haired maid wasn't the only one.

The slim woman's eyes shot over to the others. "Hey! Shut her u-"

It was like someone has fiercely struck a gong. Felicia had thrown her metal tray across the room, striking the woman square in the face. Seeing their fellow comrade fall the other two sprang into action. The man with a crooked nose produced a knife while the large man advanced forward, looking to retrain Felicia. But Felicia had a few tricks up her sleeves. She kicked at a nearby cabinet, the move seeming to be all for show…until a knife that had been tucked away above fell into her hand. With the grace of a dancer and the accuracy of the most skilled bowman Felicia threw the knife across the room, catching the man with the crooked nose in the hand and pinning him to the wall. The fellow stared in disbelief at the knife that held him in-place, before looking back at the one who had put it there.

The large man continued forward, wanting to pin the maid down before she could do more harm. He wrapped his arms around the girl in a vice like grip and tried to shake the will to fight from her. But Felicia's training had made her tenacious. She kicked at the edge of the counter, giving herself enough force to head-butt her attacker. She could faintly hear the sound of bones crunching beneath the impact of the blow. The man's grip loosened if only for a second, but that second would be his downfall. Felicia reached toward her thigh, where she had kept her personal knife. She whirled the object around and thrust into the man's gut, twisting it before ripping the object out. The large man sunk to his knees, clutching at the wound, trying to stop the red river that she had created. But it was all futile as his vision went hazy and collapsed into death's cold embrace.

Felicia turned her back to the man pinned to the wall, he frantically tried to make his escape, forgetting about the knife that held him there. His death came with a slash across his neck. A quick and somewhat painful end.

"Ugh…" the slim woman stirred awake, her head ringing from Felicia's initial blow. Her eyes popped wide when she noticed the state of the room. Both her comrades already a bloody mess, and a woman what looked like a dainty maid clutching a knife in her hand. Though the knife was bloodied, its sharpness was nothing in comparison to the icicle glare that Felicia shot the woman. The woman tried to crawl away and run, but she felt a chill wash over her body. Not a metaphorical one, a literal chill. Her body shivered as she felt something hold her back and roughly turn her over. A hand closed around her throat as Felicia hovered over her, poised for the kill.

"Please…don't…" the woman pleaded. "We were only in it for the money!" she begged for her life as her body ran colder and colder. She could even see mist with every word she spoke…and then, she felt nothing.

Felicia stood up, but did not admire her handiwork. She looked at the knife in her hand, and cleaned the specs of blood from her cheek. "I don't think I could ever tell him this…" she said in melancholy. "Are you okay Lilith?" she asked in her usual sing-song voice.

"Y-yes," Lilith replied meekly, little shaken by the innocent smile of the blood splattered maid before her. "They came with an official seal from the king. I didn't expect them to be bandits. What'll we do? What if Corrin finds out-"

"Leave it to me," Felicia said sternly.

"Wha-"

"We're not going to tell Corrin," Felicia said, her voice growing cold. "We'll tell him that they were suddenly called away when another messenger arrived." Lilith's eyes grew wide and panicked as she saw no hint of humor in Felicia's eyes. Whatever the maid was plotting, she was completely serious on the matter. "Just leave it to me."

Time quickly passed as Lilith did her best to distract the Corrin as Felicia did what she could to cover up the scuffle in the kitchen. It wasn't long before another trio of riders had returned to the castle in the dead of night.

"Felicia!" a blue haired maiden cried as she burst through the castle doors, sided by a gray haired butler and a battled hardened knight. "Felicia!" she cried out again when she heard no immediate answer.

"Shhhhh," a voice called back. "Keep it down. Master Corrin is trying to sleep," the voice explained. The trio turned to see Felicia calmly descending down the stairs.

"Are you alright?" Flora asked, her hand still gripping her knife.

"Where are the vassals the king sent?" Jakob asked, skipping straight to the point.

"Is Corrin safe?" Gunter asked.

Felicia was taken aback as she was bombarded with questions. But the maid collected herself before calmly saying. "Everything is okay. Master Corrin is safe."

"What do you mean?" Jakob asked studying the girls face.

"I took care of it," she assured them, her demeanor unchanging.

And like a light bulb turning on, they all understood what she meant. They all let out a sigh of relief before stowing their weapons, able to finally relax since they discovered the bodies of the true vassals buried just off the path.

"Good work," Flora said with a congratulatory pat to her sister's shoulder. "I'll go check on the young master to-"

"I'll do it!" Felicia interjected. "You want to make sure you didn't disturb him right? I can do it."

Flora turned raised a quizzical brow at her sister's sudden excitement. But seeing Felicia there, her cheeks ablaze and struggling not to smile, she knew exactly what it was. "If you wish. I am tired after all, I would like to rest."

"T-thank you!" Felicia said with a bow before racing up the stairs. She rushed all the way up to Corrin's door before taking a minute to adjust herself. She took a deep breath before peeking through the door. "Master Corrin, are you awake?" she asked in a whisper.

"Felicia, is that you?" Corrin asked as he stirred in his bed.

"Sorry for disturbing you," she said as she slipped into the room and moving to the boys bedside.

"It's alright," Corrin said with a shake of his head. "I was worried, I heard a loud noise and what I think was yelling."

"Don't worry about that," Felicia said with smile, "That was just the other getting back home."

"Oh…" Corrin said plainly. "Then, have my father's vassals left already?"

"U-unfortunately, they were called away," Felicia said, delivering her lie as best she could.

"Ah. Well, 'when duty calls', as they say," Corrin said with a small laugh.

"Y-yes," Felicia said with a laugh more forced than genuine. "Well I don't wish to keep you awake any longer," she said as she rose from the foot of his bed.

"Felicia wait!" Corrin called before she could move too far. "I'm glad you're alright."

"…what do you mean?" the maid asked as she glanced over her shoulder.

"When I heard those noises, I thought the keep was under attack. I was worried something may have happened to you. I don't know what I'd do if something really had…" Corrin said, his voice trembling with genuine fear for his vassal's life.

"You're too kind Corrin," Felicia said turning to face him as she fought to hold back tears of joy. "But I'm not going anywhere, I'll always be at your side." She reached out to touch- no, caress Corrin's cheek. But the moment her fingers touched his skin, Corrin drew back and let out a yelp.

"C-COLD!" he said as he touched his cheek.

"I-I'm sorry!" Felicia apologized before bolting out of the room, embarrassed that she had blundered such a tender moment.

Left alone with his thought, Corrin could only laugh at his maid's antics. "Some things never changed," he said with a laugh that quickly turned into a coughing fit. He touched his hand to his chest, feeling an intense pain within. "It's getting worse," he said through gritted teeth. "But I can't let the others worry…I can't…"

TBC