The night-shift pattern for the protection of Garreg Mach Monastery was remarkably rigid and predictable. By the end of his first week on-site, Hubert had memorised all of the guard's manoeuvres and routes. A week later, he could identify every sentry by posture and footstep alone and held a basic resume on each individual. Lastly, he had compiled a list of their personal weaknesses, both of character and physical, that he could exploit if required. He was scornful that an institute that housed what was supposed to be the finest fighting force in the land was so lax and calculable in its security.
It had become Hubert's habit to walk a patrol at least twice a night during the hours between the curfew bell and the sun's dawning. He varied the timing of his watch regularly in line with whatever other work he needed to complete and in order to avoid establishing a routine. Since Hubert only slept for four hours on any given day, he utilised the night as his time for the bulk of the work that he undertook covertly on behalf of his Lady.
Despite the regularity of his vigils, it had taken Hubert almost a month to add the nocturnal activities of his fellow students and the Acadamy faculty to his knowledge base. Early on, it was evident that the majority of the students slept heavy and undisturbed after long days full of physical and mental exercise. There were only a handful of exceptions to that rule.
The first identified night wanderer had been Marianne. Hubert still didn't know exactly what it was that consistently unsettled the quiet and withdrawn girl, but she evidently found greater security sleeping with the horses in the stable than she did within the four walls of her bedroom. He had quickly written her off as a risk to his Lady, based on her timidity, although he kept a wary eye on her movements just in case.
Dimitri had been a real cause for concern when he began to seek fresh air and exercise in the depth of the night. Hubert had spent a fair amount of time following the Prince, half expecting to find him participating in clandestine meetings about matters of state or intelligence gathering. It was not hard to establish after a little listening at the Prince's door that in actuality, his insomnia stemmed from harsh nightmares and anxiety. As time marched on, Dimitri began to find solace for his disquiet by creeping into Dedue's room, where he would stay until morning. Hubert had more than once spied Dimitri lingering outside Byleth's door as if debating seeking her company instead. To date, though, he had never seemed to gather the courage.
Aside from these two wanderers, Bernadetta and Linhardt both stayed up way into the night, restless but engaged in quiet activity in their own room. Occasionally Linhardt would miss curfew, but on those day's he would return to the dorms along with Byleth after spending extended time with her in the Library. Byleth also spent some after-hours company with Bernadetta, knocking quietly and being welcomed by the nervous girl. Whenever Hubert bothered to listen at the door or the window, he would hear low enthusiastic chatter and often the rare sound of Bernadetta giggling.
Claude was another that frequently missed curfew and Hubert had expected him to be bothersome and worthy of closer attention. Wherever it was that Claude was coming back from, once he actually got to his room, he turned out to be a heavy and enthusiastic sleeper, and always settled in until morning. He did occasionally knock at Byleth's door and would disappear into her room for a short while. Hubert's spying on their meetings garnered him nothing more than chat about the general goings-on around the Monastery, and the Golden Deer's students in particular. For all that Hubert wanted to find fault in this, he had to admit that if Manuela had been his form Tutor, he would have probably sought out someone else to discuss class issues with too.
The one student that Hubert was sure would provide him with a headache in relation to nightly location actually surprised him. He was more than aware of Sylvain's reputation with the ladies and had assumed that the lad would be unpredictable because of his conquests. It simply wasn't the case. Sylvain was always in his room by curfew, or on the odd occasion visiting with Felix – but never was he either hosting or visiting with any of the female students. It appeared that the depth of scandalous behavior for which Sylvain was often accused was greatly overblown, although the lad himself seemed amiable enough about being considered in that manner. Indeed Sylvain appeared to actively court the notoriety.
With the faculty, it seemed that only Hanneman was capable of resting solidly throughout the night. Seteth was rarely abroad in the corridors and walkways of the Monastery, but the light in his office window told the tale of an overworked retainer who never slept more than a few hours a night.
Hubert had tried in vain to find out more about the man who acted as Rhea's second in command, but details of his life before arriving at the Monastery twenty years ago were scant. All Hubert had been able to ascertain by speaking to those who worked with or for him was that Seteth was hardworking, firm but fair and that he cosseted his sister in the extreme. It was also known that he had been married at some stage but had lost his wife sometime before he took up his position in the church.
Manuela was a complete wildcard in where she could be found and in what state she could be encountered after dark. To give her her due, Manuela held her liquor well and she would advise whoever was in charge of the infirmary overnight where she was likely to be. If the handover that Hubert had overheard was a regular accounting, then Manuela definitely enjoyed explaining where she could be found, what she would be doing, and who she would be doing it with. Manuela was not subtle, and that was a saving grace in Hubert's eyes since he was able to avoid her with ease on his own excursions even though her appearance could be sudden and random. Thankfully, despite gossip to the contrary, Manuela rarely bothered the student dormitories at night. On the odd occasion, she would meet up with Dorothea in the girls' room to reminisce about being a songstress on the stage and all of the adoring fans, but again, Manuela's loudness made avoiding her scrutiny very easy.
Jeritza was an enigma. Hubert was beginning to wonder if the man ever did actually sleep. Every night the swords-master took to walking briskly in circuits around the Monastery and was both unpredictable and alert. He crossed paths with Hubert regularly, although it was rare that their meeting resulted in even the barest acknowledgment of each other's presence, let alone a conversation. The only time that Hubert actively avoided Jeritza was when the man was following Byleth, which he tended to do whenever he spied the Professor out on her own watch routine.
It was a strange kind of impasse that the three of them had. Hubert was not surprised in the slightest that Byleth patrolled every night. The peripatetic nature of the mercenary work and the dangers of the road had surely built into her a need to ensure the security of her location and a disturbed sleeping pattern.
They were - all three of them - aware of each other's routines, and Hubert was sure that Byleth knew that both he and Jeritza often shadowed her, although it was never mentioned or questioned.
Why exactly he found his own feet following the Professor so regularly, Hubert couldn't exactly say. Although the times differed each night, her route was the same. She would check both of the dormitory levels and the immediate area, then once she was satisfied, she would make her way down to the lake. Sometimes she would sit on the dock, dangling her feet over the edge and looking out over the water, and sometimes she would make her way to the more secluded spot that she had found behind the greenhouse.
Hubert realised that when she hid away, she was looking for privacy, but given the perversity of his nature, that was the time that he was most interested in seeing what she was up to.
It was always the same though.
He kept a good distance and he was sure that she was not aware of his presence because she would invariably lay on her back, looking up at the stars and begin a conversation with herself. Although he was too far away to hear more than a smattering of the words spoken, the conversation was just that. She would pause as if someone was answering her, and then her own words would follow.
At first, it had roused consternation in him and he wondered about the state of her mind. The confounding issue, though, was that this was the time when Byleth actually appeared the most peaceful and relaxed that he ever saw her.
By now, everyone was used to how hard and relentlessly the Professor pushed herself. Even on her downtime, she was rushing around the Monastery, stopping to chat with anyone and everyone who requested her attention. She had invited all of the student body to take tea with her at some time or another and she ran at least three sessions of open inter-house sparring sessions each week after class. Hubert had recently learned that she had started taking instruction in healing from Manuela as well as attending a patch of herbs and flowers in the greenhouse with Dedue and actively learning the required teaching each week for their lessons.
Hubert had finally come to the decision that Byleth's conversations with herself were likely only a method of processing her busy schedule. He had learned that she had never fostered any friends during her time on the road, and so talking with herself wasn't really allthat surprising.
What had surprised him this evening was that he witnessed Byleth leave the Monastery in the company of the newly returned Lady Catherine and Shamir.
He wasn't entirely comfortable with that particular development.
He was fully aware of Catherine and her past history but also knew that she idolised the Archbishop and looked for any opportunity to curry favour with Rhea. Shamir's birthplace and her own mercenary past were also concerning. While Shamir had no personal ties to the church, she was ambitious.
He could not fathom any good reason for them to engage with Byleth unless they had some kind of a secret agenda behind it, and although he had grudgingly become mindful of Byleth's abilities and skills he did also believe that her honesty and lack of guile could leave her open to her goodwill being abused.
That is why Hubert found himself loitering by the gates of the Monastery in the early hours of the morning, awaiting the ladies return. He was concealed well, although it would likely not have mattered if he had been stood in plain sight because when they did finally stumble back, it was obvious that the three of them were exceedingly drunk.
'That was fun, Byleth. We need to do it again once we get back from the mission.' Catherine slapped the Professor heartily on the back sending her flying. 'Oops!'
'S'okay…' Byleth managed somehow to get to her feet and grinned at her two companions.
'Get yourself to bed girl. Don't forget to drink water. Lots of water!' Shamir urged quietly, pushing Byleth in the general direction of the dormitories.
'Will do!' Byleth nodded and staggered off in the direction she had been pointed while Catherine and Shamir headed towards the Knight's accommodation.
Hubert waited a few moments intending to shadow her back to her room, but before he emerged from his hiding place, he saw that Jeritza had beaten him to it and was making a beeline for the Professor at a steady pace.
Waiting a little longer, Hubert followed behind the pair of them, interested to see if Jeritza was actually planning on making contact. He had never actually seen the swords-man do anything other than stalk behind Byleth but his intent seemed to intercept with her tonight.
The procession had managed to reach the dock of the lake before Jeritza made his move. Byleth had wobbled right up to the edge of the pier and then lurched forward, looking for all the world as if she were about to plunge right into the water. Hubert instinctively darted forward but Jeritza was much closer and far quicker.
He grabbed Byleth around the waist and hauled her back and away from the edge. It was a brave move and one that resulted in his legs being knocked precisely from under him, dumping him unceremoniously and hard on the dock with Byleth falling on top of him inelegantly, although she did manage to get her dagger to his neck despite her clumsiness.
'Hey!' Jeritza growled, pushing at her.
'Jetzrita… Jiztitra…' Byleth frowned. 'Oh, it's you.' She said finally.
Hubert chuckled and ducked down behind some crates. He had a feeling that the next few minutes had the potential to be extremely amusing. For him, at least.