Chapter Text
Annette knocked on the door, and danced nervously from foot to foot as she waited for the door to open. Almost as soon as her fist had rapped on the wood, she was struck by how silly of a request this was. There was no way it would be granted. She should just leave, and not bother-
The door opened, and it was too late to run. Lady Cornelia, court mage of the Royal Family of Faerghus, stood in the doorway, in the middle of her preparations for bed. A look of momentary complete surprise fell over her face.
“Annette Dominic.” Cornelia said more than asked. “What brings you to my door so late in the evening?”
It was now or never.
“I… I want to learn from you again.” Annette said.
Cornelia cocked her head. “Oh?”
Annette nodded. “I… I want to find a way that I can help the war effort. The conflict with Adrestia’s been raging for the past four years, and I… I have friends on the front lines. So anything that I can do to help them…”
Cornelia nodded. “A noble outlook. Why me though, if I might ask? Surely there are better people to teach you magic of Faith or Reason. Your friend… Mercedes, yes? She’s a wonderful White Mage. And the boy… Sylvain? Quite the talent for Black Magic.”
“I… yes, but…” Annette swallowed, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “I want to learn Dark Magic.”
Silence reigned, and Annette opened her eyes. Rather than upset or dismissive, as she’d feared she might be, Cornelia seemed to be appraising Annette… considering her carefully.
“Where did you get this idea?” Cornelia asked. “Dark Magic is powerful, yes, but its mastery is decidedly more dangerous than Black Magic. Who inspired this choice in you?”
“I… I’m close friends with another student from Garreg Mach, Lysithea. She’s… she’s a natural. A prodigy. And she’s done some amazing things with Dark Magic. And for all the things that Black Magic can do, it seems that Dark Magic’s potential is far deeper. We wanted to work together, but she’s all the way in Ordelia, in the Alliance territories, and with everything going on, it’s barely possible to write, much less travel. But…” Annette looked to Cornelia. “You’re… I remember learning from you back in the School of Sorcery. If anyone here could teach me, it would be you.”
“That was a long time ago, darling. I’m flattered that you’d still think so highly of your old teacher.” Cornelia leaned against the doorframe, and thought for a moment longer before speaking.
“This would not just be instruction, then?” Cornelia asked. “You also have plans to research?”
Annette nodded, a little more confident. “Yes.”
Cornelia smiled. “Get some sleep. Eat a good breakfast. Come see me in the morning. We’ll gauge your abilities then. If I think you have promise… I’ll take you as a pupil.”
This was so much farther than Annette thought she’d get. Cornelia was actually considering it?
“Th-thank you, Lady Cornelia!” Annette said, bowing quickly before turning to leave. “You won’t regret this, I promise!”
Annette was out of earshot when Cornelia chuckled, and turned back to her room. “No, darling… I won’t.”
*** *** ***
Annette soared through her morning routine the next day. She almost forgot her shoes as she raced out the door, barely washed the soap from her hair during her shower, and nearly choked on a pastry as she wolfed down her breakfast. Anything to get to Cornelia’s door just a little bit faster. Anything to prove herself sooner. Anything to know.
She nearly pounded on Cornelia’s door as she arrived. Cornelia wore her usual Court Mage dress and an amused smile as she answered the door. “My my… eager, aren’t we? Come in, Annette. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Annette nearly bounced through the open door, and gasped as she took in her surroundings.
She’d never seen Cornelia’s quarters before, but they were far larger than anything Annette had seen allotted to a servant of the crown. Annette’s room barely had the space for the bed, dresser, desk, and table she’d crammed into it. Cornelia’s room seemed to have nearly all of the amenities she could possibly want, and more than enough space for all of them. It was easily ten times the size of Annette’s own quarters, with an entire wall dominated by a vast set of bookshelves. A cooking range and dining setup were arranged on another wall. There were arrangements in one corner for sleeping and personal use. A pair of tables in the middle of the room, one for eating and one for meetings and study… if it weren’t for the lack of a toilet and shower, Annette figured that you’d almost never have to leave the room. And then she saw the open door that led to just that.
“It is impressive, isn’t it?” Cornelia asked, scanning the room. “The benefits of being the Royal Court Mage. I don’t make use of all of the facilities. I don’t use the range for much, but it’s perfect for making tea. It’s certainly nice to have everything I could need all housed in one place, though.” She turned back to Annette. “But you’re not here to gawk at my room, are you, Annette?”
Annette tore her gaze from the room, and returned it to the woman before her. “N-no. I’m ready to prove myself.”
Cornelia smiled, and nodded. “Come, sit down. Have a drink.”
Cornelia directed Annette over to the work table, where a cup of tea sat. Cornelia directed her to the seat near the cup, and took the other for herself. They both sat down, and Annette took a sip of the offered tea. It was a sweet brew, with a taste that lingered pleasantly in her mouth long after she’d swallowed.
Cornelia began to drill Annette on her knowledge of magical concepts. She started with basic ideas; concepts she’d learned years ago, back at the School of Sorcery. They were fundamentals. Things any practicing mage should know. Annette was feeling good
Then came the harder stuff. Technique. Advanced mechanics. Spell Circles and Sigils. Foci. Roots and Reason and Faith. Stuff she’d only learned at Garreg Mach, and then only close to the end of the year. Stuff she only knew because of conversations with Mercedes or Lysithea, or because of her own hours studying in the monastery library. It was all stuff she knew, but the questions kept getting harder to answer, and Annette was feeling less and less confident as it became clear to her just how much further she still had left to go, and how much Cornelia clearly expected of her.
And then, the moment she’d been dreading came: Cornelia asked Annette a question she didn’t understand.
“W-what?” Annette asked.
Cornelia asked again. It didn’t make any more sense the second time.
“I… I don’t…”
Cornelia paused, and asked again, this time rewording it. Annette simply shook her head.
And then it began. Question after question that Annette simply couldn’t answer. Questions she’d never even considered asking, or didn’t have the depth of knowledge to understand. By the time it was over, Annette nearly had tears in her eyes. She couldn’t look at Cornelia. She was certain, positive that she’d failed the test that Cornelia had set out for her. That she’d disappointed her old teacher. That she’d-
“Good job.” Cornelia said, standing up. “We’ll get started immediately.”
Annette looked up at Cornelia with shock and confusion. “W-what?” She asked, sniffing. “But I thought-”
“There are obviously gaps in your knowledge.” Cornelia said as she approached. “But given what I understand about your schooling, your experience, and the things you want to learn, most of them are unsurprising.” Cornelia smiled reassuringly. “Contrast those gaps, then, with your frankly impressive baseline of understanding, surpassing even some of my co-workers. And add to that your desire to push yourself, to expand your knowledge…” Cornelia hummed contemplatively. “Yes, you might certainly have some promise.”
Annette blinked, caught off-guard by the praise being leveled at her. Did that mean…
Cornelia stood from her seat, and motioned for Annette to do the same. “Come with me. I want to see what I’m working with. Talk and theory is all well and good, but let’s see what you can really do, hm?”
*** *** ***
They went outside, then, to the training grounds, and Cornelia set Annette up in front of a row of training targets.
“Show me everything you can do.” Cornelia said.
Here, Annette excelled. She was able to demonstrate her practical skill with her magic, not just her book knowledge. Cornelia ran her through her entire repertoire of spells, both Black and White, and Annette shredded the targets in front of her.
Annette fired off one more blast of Excalibur, and stopped to take a short break.
“Excellently done, Annette!” Cornelia said, walking up. “I’m impressed!”
Annette smiled. Compared to the stress of the test over theoretical matters, this test of her practical capabilities had been so much more pleasant. And Cornelia’s praise was uplifting.
“You’re a wonderful mage, Annette.” Cornelia said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I have every confidence that, with my tutelage, you will surpass every goal you set forth.”
Annette flushed with the praise and confidence that Cornelia spoke with, “Then… you’ll teach me?”
Cornelia nodded. “Yes, Annette. I will teach you.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Annette said, hugging Cornelia for a moment, before decorum seized her and she backed off. “I, um… Thank you, Lady Cornelia.”
Cornelia smiled. “I expect great things from you, Annette.”
*** *** ***
The next day, Annette began a new routine. She woke, cleaned up, got dressed, and got her food, and then joined Cornelia in her room for breakfast. They ate and spoke, and Annette drank the tea that Cornelia brewed as Cornelia briefed Annette about what she had planned for the day.
Once they’d both finished eating, Annette’s instruction began. That first day, it was just book learning. Establishing familiarity with unfamiliar concepts, making connections to things Annette already knew, and growing her confidence with the subject matter at hand. They only stopped when personal needs grew too great, when hunger loomed too large for concentration, and…
“I suspect that will be enough for today.” Cornelia said. “The hour grows late, and you should sleep. You’ve already made great leaps today. I’m proud of you.”
Annette smiled at the praise. She did feel like she was making good progress, and it felt nice to have it recognized. “Thank you, Lady Cornelia. It’s thanks to you.”
Cornelia smiled back, and handed Annette a key.
“This is the key to my room.” Cornelia told her. “I have matters of the Royal Court to attend to tomorrow morning, and may have other duties to attend to for the duration of your tutelage. However, that’s no excuse for you to miss out on opportunities to learn. Come to my room in the morning and let yourself in. If I’m here, we’ll continue our instruction as normal. If I’m not, my library is yours to peruse, and my facilities yours to utilize until I return.”
Annette’s eyes widened at the trust Cornelia was already placing in her. “Th-thank you! I’ll make sure I put this to use.”
*** *** ***
Annette let herself into Cornelia’s room the next day. True to her word, Cornelia was absent, but she had left a pot of tea, still warm, on the stovetop, next to a cup and a note, written in Cornelia’s immaculate penmanship: I’ll be gone until after lunch. Please enjoy! Annette smiled, poured herself a cup, and carried it over to the bookshelves. She looked over Cornelia’s impressive collection, scanning it for something useful to read.
Cornelia’s expansive collection was meticulously organized in a way that Annette appreciated. Religious texts, history books, and chivalric tales each had their own section of the shelves, and her tomes on magical theory and treatises on its practical applications were helpfully split based on the type of magic. Annette was able to quickly find the tome she’d been working on from yesterday, the beginner’s level explanation of Dark Magic’s concepts, and sit down with it at the work table. She hummed happily as she took a sip of the warm drink, and picked up where she’d left off yesterday.
***
“My sweet girl, have you been here the whole time?” Cornelia asked.
Annette looked up from the book she was reading, surprised by her entry and confused by her question. “Y-yes? I was waiting for you to get back so we could start. Did you think I’d leave?”
Cornelia looked completely surprised. “Annette, it’s far past lunchtime. I thought you might have at least left to get something to eat.”
Annette frowned, confused. “What?”
“My meetings dragged on today, and were far more involved than they normally are.” Cornelia explained as she approached. “It’s almost suppertime, Annette, and you mean to tell me you haven’t eaten since breakfast?”
Annette finally felt the pangs of hunger that her deep concentration had been suppressing. She was starving. Had she really gone so long without eating?
“I had some tea.” Annette offered. ”I-I’m sorry.” She stood up. “I’d gotten so wrapped up in my studies, I didn’t realize how much time had passed.”
Cornelia lifted the book off the table to peek at its cover. “This is a new tome.” Cornelia observed. “One of my volumes on magical practicum.” Cornelia looked meaningfully at Annette. “Did you finish the beginner’s theory?”
Annette nodded. “Yes, I did.”
Cornelia grinned. “I’m proud of you, Annette. Your diligence is marvelous. Go. Get something to eat. We’ll call it a day here, and tomorrow, I’ll see how much of the theory you understand. You’ve done well.”
Annette beamed at the praise. “Thank you, Lady Cornelia! I look forward to it.”
*** *** ***
They began alternating, then, between theory and practical applications, and slowly but surely, Annette began learning to wield Dark Magic. Every accomplishment of hers was celebrated, and as the days turned to weeks, Annette found herself spending more and more time in Cornelia’s quarters. Their lessons drew on, lasting longer and longer as Annette began mastering the beginner concepts and moved on to intermediate skills and theory. She even began stocking some of Cornelia’s cabinets with foodstuffs so that they would be able to prepare their own meals using Cornelia’s facilities. Annette didn’t mind cooking for the two of them. Cornelia was making Annette tea, so the least she could do was cook a little every now and then, especially when the meals drew even more praise from her teacher.
As she began tackling practical applications of Dark Magic, the lessons grew more intense. Learning about the magic was one thing, but harnessing its power, and learning to use it turned out to be something else entirely. Cornelia would occasionally subject Annette to potent spells, and demand that Annette reciprocate in kind to prove her progress or her understanding. In their quest for improvement, Cornelia would accept nothing less than perfection from her student, and Annette was keen to deliver it for her.
She mastered Miasma within a week of starting, and Mire had followed quickly behind that. But Luna had been a major stumbling block for her. Cornelia had warned her, of course, that it was an intermediate spell, and vastly different from anything she’d ever worked with. That it wouldn’t come to her overnight, that she shouldn’t give up on it because it hadn’t come as quickly as the rest. And through every disappointing setback, Annette persevered. And through every earned accomplishment, Annette celebrated.
And one day, she finally did it. A perfect, complete casting of Luna. No mistakes in the circle. No problems with the channeling. No magical feedback issues. She was so proud of herself for finally managing to do it.
And so was Cornelia.
“Such talent!” Cornelia said. “Annette, I’m truly impressed by how far you’ve managed to progress in such a short time.”
Annette blushed. “Thank you, Cornelia, but I can’t take all of the credit. It’s thanks to your help and support that I’ve been able to do as much as I have.”
Cornelia laughed. “So modest! Come with me.”
Cornelia led Annette over from the table to her personal corner of the room, where Annette never went, and placed her in front of a full body mirror. Her teacher stood behind her, a full head taller than her, and placed her hands on Annette’s shoulders.
“Do you know what I see, Annette?”
Annette shook her head.
Cornelia’s hands squeezed Annette’s shoulders. “I see an amazing woman who could do anything she sets her mind to.”
Annette blushed. “Th-thanks.”
“Say it.”
Annette frowned. “Say what?”
“Look yourself in the eye and say it.”
Annette realized what Cornelia was telling her to do, and faced herself in the mirror. “I… I am an amazing woman… who could do anything she sets her mind to.”
Cornelia’s hands trailed down Annette’s arms. “‘I am capable of great things.’”
“I… I am capable of great things.” Annette repeated.
“‘I am powerful and confident.’” Cornelia whispered into Annette’s ear.
“I am powerful and confident.” Annette said. And she was starting to believe the things she was saying.
Cornelia’s hands swept from Annette’s arms to her sides. “‘I can have whatever I want.”
“I can have… whatever I want.” Annette repeated.
“And what do you want, hm?” Cornelia asked softly.
Annette bit her lip. “I want… a reward for my hard work.”
Cornelia chuckled low in her throat. “Of course. Simply name your reward.”
“I want you… to touch me.” Annette said.
“You’ll have to be more specific than that.” Cornelia’s hands inched inwards and down. “Do you want me to touch you here?” She asked, rubbing circles around Annette’s navel with her fingers.
Annette hummed pleasantly. “Lower.”
Cornelia’s fingers walked their way down from her navel to her pubis. “Here?” Cornelia whispered teasingly.
“Lower.” Annette insisted.
“Your dress is in the way.” Cornelia pointed out. “Do you mind if I deal with that?”
Annette didn’t trust her voice anymore, and nodded.
Annette watched in the mirror as Cornelia’s hands ripped her dress open, exposing Annette’s plain white panties. Annette trembled in Cornelia’s arms as her fingers finally reached their destination, and moaned as they slipped under the fabric of her panties to brush against her slick heat.
“Mmm… such a good girl. You’re already so wet. You know exactly what you want, don’t you?”
Annette shuddered as she felt one of Cornelia’s fingers slip inside of her, her pillowy breasts pressed against Annette’s upper back. “More… I want more…”
“Of course.” Cornelia said, slipping another finger in. “Anything for my star student. Such a diligent worker deserves a little relaxation. Just let me take care of everything for you.”
A hand brushed against Annette’s chest, and pawed at her breast beneath the fabric of her dress, then wormed its way under her clothes and found what it was looking for.
It broke the immersion of the fantasy a little, to have Cornelia’s other hand phase through her dress to find her tit, but Annette was far past caring at this point. She was two fingers deep in her pussy, thrusting in and out beneath her panties as her free hand snaked under her nightie to play with a stone-hard nipple.
Annette’s mind adjusted her fantasy anyway. She wasn’t wearing her dress anymore… she was wearing a shirt and pants. So much easier for her favorite teacher to navigate. Cornelia’s hand slipped easily under her pants and the hem of her shirt to pleasure Annette. Cornelia’s imagined praise filled Annette’s ears, tingled up and down her spine, and heated her body dangerously. Cornelia’s name was on Annette’s lips and filled her gasps as she worked herself to a fever pitch. Her body buzzed with pleasure as Cornelia teased Annette about how beautiful she looked when she was about to cum…
And Annette made a mess of her bedsheets as she finished.
As she came down from her high, Annette extracted her fingers from her cleft and laid splayed out on her bed, breathing heavily. It hadn’t been the first time she’d had a dream like this, with Cornelia showering praise upon her for a job well done, but it was the first time she’d taken the dream in such an arousing direction, and it was definitely the first time she’d pleasured herself to it. Part of her felt bad fantasizing about Cornelia’s innocent praise. But that part of her grew smaller and smaller every night. Tonight, Annette had felt so good about the praise… she couldn’t stop herself.
As she slowly drifted off to sleep for the night, Annette hoped that she’d really make a breakthrough with Luna tomorrow… She couldn’t… wait…
*** *** ***
Two months later, Annette had mastered Hades. ‘The ultimate combat spell,’ as Cornelia had described it. It had been an immense undertaking. The capstone of Annette’s knowledge of Dark Magic’s combat applications. The culmination of everything she knew and could do. It had taken her two and a half weeks of nearly non-stop work to make the breakthrough.
And it had finally happened. She’d worked hard, perfected her technique, and finally, finally managed to absolutely obliterate a training target with the spell.
And Cornelia was ecstatic.
They broke for an early lunch, and the whole while, Cornelia was layering praise on an increasingly flustered Annette, talking about how proud she was and how amazed she was at Annette’s prodigious rate of learning.
“Y-yeah.” Annette said. “I’m glad that I’ve come so far. It feels good to have this level of mastery.”
Cornelia smiled. “Of course. The power you wield now is a testament to your diligence and determination. I doubt anyone could best you as you are…”
Cornelia’s face fell slightly, a shift that Annette noticed immediately. “What’s wrong?”
Cornelia shook her head. “Oh, nothing. Just… if your classmates and allies shared your same commitment to improvement, I wonder how easily we could win this war with Adrestia.”
Annette frowned. “I… I don’t think that’s a fair comparison.” She said.
“Perhaps not.” Cornelia agreed. “I doubt that your more martial companions could ever reach the same ceiling of power that you have now, simply by virtue of the vast differences of your skill sets. It’s one thing to swing a sword, and another to harness the fabric of the world itself.”
That hadn’t been the point that Annette was trying to make, but she realized it did hold some truth.
“And while I certainly can’t speak for your magically inclined friends,” Cornelia continued, “I must say that I’ve never met a mage as adept as you.”
Annette smiled at the praise. “I… do you really think so?”
“Of course!” Cornelia said. “It’s like you told me when you first came to me, asking me to teach you. You wanted power to protect your friends on the battlefield. You came to me because they weren’t able to teach you the skills you needed to do it. My dear, you’ve known all along that your friends need your protection. They need your help. They can’t do this alone.”
Annette nodded. Cornelia was right, of course. That was why she’d come to Cornelia. To help her friends.
“You know…” Cornelia said. “Now that we’ve finished your training on offensive magic, perhaps we should start work on other kinds of Dark Magic. I happen to know a spell or two that would be quite relevant to your goals.”
“You do?” Annette asked.
“Indeed.” Cornelia said. “It’s a spell that you can use to improve your allies… make them stronger.”
“Like the Ward spell, but Dark Magic?” Annette asked, intrigued.
“Not really…” Cornelia said. “It would be simpler to demonstrate it on you. Would that be alright?”
“Y-yeah! Of course!” Annette agreed.
Cornelia smiled wide, and stood up. Annette watched as a glowing pink magical circle swirled into existence between them. Annette’s eyes flashed over the symbols and sigils woven into the circle, trying to parse the spell’s effects from the casting. She saw symbols for mind and body… and change…
And then the circle flashed as Cornelia cast her spell.
--- --- ---
For all of his magical prowess, Cornelia had always thought that Solon was remarkably incompetent. Had anyone else been responsible for overseeing the infiltration of Garreg Mach, Cornelia was certain that things would have developed so much better than they had. Jeralt could have been dealt with in a way that didn’t tip their hand, they could have made off with more of the crest stones from the Holy Tomb… and Kronya could have survived the assignment to return as an infiltrator.
She’d been such a useful agent. It had truly been a shame that she’d been so thoroughly wasted by Solon’s ineptness. But, Kronya had inspired Cornelia.
She knew, like everyone else, that their tenuous alliance with the Adrestian Empire would not last forever. Should the ascendant Emperor win her war with the Church and its allies, she would come for them next. But they were still allies in the meantime, forced together by necessity. They could not abandon Edelgard without risking even greater exposure than they’d already suffered at Garreg Mach. And so, agents of Agartha sowed chaos in the Kingdom and the Alliance, and granted just enough of an advantage to the Emperor's forces in the field that she would not be too suspicious.
But while Thales and others were convinced that the best way to achieve their goals of conquest was to destroy the Church, its allies, and the Imperial brat - either in one fell swoop, or piecemeal, after years of war had taken their toll - Cornelia believed that control of the continent could be achieved through the more subversive means they’d already proven could work.
Kronya was the key. She was a potent prototype, with a few remediable flaws in execution. With a little tweaking in the process, Cornelia was certain that Agartha could seize control of the continent from the shadows, and emerge triumphantly to take their rightful place in the world once again.
Thales had mocked her before all of her colleagues for her ideas. She would bow to his will for now, but when she proved him wrong, she would revel in his despair. She would lead the new Agartha in his stead.
Of course, her plans required infiltrating the Church and its allies yet again, no small feat with so many resources and opportunities wasted in previous years. But when a certain red-headed mage from Garreg Mach’s Officer Academy had ended up in Fhirdiad, still connected to her classmates from the school, Cornelia knew her opportunity had arrived.
She’d spent a great deal of time perfecting the spells and techniques she would need to use, and resolved to worry later about approaching the girl.
She hadn’t expected Annette to come to her instead.
It had been an incredible stroke of luck, a chance occurrence that Cornelia had immediately seized upon. It hadn’t mattered that her preparations were incomplete, she’d been handed a chance she’d never have again.
She happily took the role of teacher to her eager student, all while plying her with a drugged tea that left the poor girl all too eager to please her as she tested the spell she would use to seal the fate of Fódlan.
She’d experimented on Annette with the spell before, but now was the time for her to truly set her plans in motion.
Annette stared back at Cornelia with a stare that was half-blank, half-intense. Like she was simultaneously listening intently and so zoned out she wouldn’t understand anything Cornelia said.
But she would understand. And she would internalize. The pink glow in her eyes assured Cornelia of that. Whatever Cornelia told her while she was in this state would become truth to the girl. So long as Cornelia didn’t try to impose anything too world-shattering, her mind would make the necessary leaps of logic to accommodate the changes in her worldview. But Annette had been so wrapped around her finger, so helpless when she’d cast the spell… Cornelia was sure that Annette would make the perfect agent.
“Annette.” Cornelia said softly. “As thanks for all of the things that I have done to help you… you are going to help me, now. You are going to help me bring order to Fódlan… and you will start with your friends from the Officer Academy.”
“... help you… bring order…” Annette mumbled, internalizing Cornelia’s words. “start with… friends…”
“Yes… your friends…” Cornelia said. “You know that they are too weak to stand against the Adrestian Empire on their own.”
“... too weak… to stand…”
“But not you.” Cornelia told her. “You are superior. You know best.”
“... superior… know best…”
“You will change them.” Cornelia said. “Make them help you like you help me. I will teach you how to bring them under your influence.”
“... change them… make them… help… teach me how…”
“And with my instruction and your help, your guidance, you and your friends will topple the Adrestian Empire.”
“... we will… topple the Empire…”
“Good girl.” Cornelia said. “Now… awaken.”
Annette blinked a few times, and for a moment, it seemed like nothing had happened. But Cornelia looked closer, and saw Annette’s mind racing behind her eyes as her conscious mind caught up with all of the changes her subconscious had received. Cornelia braced herself, ready to cast the spell again if need be.
Then, Annette laughed lightly, lips settling into a predatory grin.
“Well, my teacher…” Annette said, with an edge to her voice like a newly sharpened knife. “When will I learn how to do that?”
“In due time, Annette.” Cornelia assured her. “That and more, all in due time…”