'Well, you certainly know how to cause a stir, don't you!' Dorothea accused as she entered the staff bathing pool, and splashed her way over to Byleth and Mercedes.

'Oh, did Manuela ask you to come along and help too?' Mercedes smiled at the songstress.

'Yes.' Dorothea laughed lightly. 'Manuela was fretting that the heat of the bath might make our delicate little flower pass out again, so I offered my strong arms to ease her mind.'

'Seriously, I'm absolutely fine.' Byleth moaned. 'If you have better things to do…'

'What could possibly be better than an uninterrupted morning bathe with two beautiful women?' Dorothea laid back in the water, closing her eyes and sighing happily. 'The staff facilities are so much better than the student ones.'

'I've never used them before.' Byleth admitted. 'They are usually booked, and I can never be bothered to check the list when I head down here.'

'If I had the chance, I would be here in a heartbeat.' Mercedes agreed with Dorothea. 'In the student ones, you are lucky if you get a proper chance to relax.'

'I was planning on just washing up, and…' Byleth began.

'Oh no you don't, Professor!' Dorothea cracked open one emerald eye to regard her sternly. 'You are going to allow your lovely students a chance to indulge for once… and that means you have to stay! Manuela said we have this booked for two hours.'

'Seriously? Two hours?' Byleth huffed, but she laid down her soap on the side of the pool and relaxed back. 'I suppose I could manage a while. For the two of you.' She conceded.

'Wonderful!' Dorothea had closed her eye again and was making soft hand movements in the warm and fragrant water. 'Gives us plenty of time for me to get all of the gossip from your mission then. It will be quite a coup for me, everyone is desperate to know more!'

'I assumed all of the tales would have already been told.' Byleth was surprised. 'The Blue Lions have been back for days now.'

'To be honest…' Mercedes said quietly, 'The rest of the students have been rather kind in not pushing us about what happened. Dedue and I have been spending much of our time with Ashe. Dimitri has been in and out of meetings. Sylvain and Felix have kept mostly to themselves, although I don't think anyone would bother to try and get information out of Felix anyway. Annette has simply thrown herself back into schoolwork.'

'Ingrid, however, has been closeted away with our Lady almost exclusively since she flew in and raised the alarm.' Dorothea noted.

'She has? With Edelgard?' Byleth sounded surprised.

'Indeed.' Mercedes agreed.

'It was mayhem here when Ingrid arrived.' Dorothea continued. 'She didn't know much apparently, only that you had an army marching straight at you in a magical mist.'

'That's pretty much all there was to know.' Byleth shrugged.

'Ingrid joined with the Black Eagles for the couple of days until the Lions were brought home safely, and Edelgard immediately took her under her wing.' Dorothea seemed to have tensed, she sat up and leaned against the side of the pool. 'Of course, poor Edie does lack for good noblewoman company in our house. There is Bernadetta, but that little sweetheart is terrified of Hubert and can barely speak under Edelgard's scrutiny, and even though Petra is an actual Princess, she is a political prisoner…'

'You are bothered by Edelgard being friends with Ingrid?' Mercedes inquired astutely.

'Hardly!' Dorothea let out a laugh that was just a little bitter. 'Heaven knows I have tried to extend the hand of friendship to her Highness, but with very little success. Good for her if she has found someone she can relate to.'

'You shouldn't give up trying Dorothea!' Byleth advised. 'It may be that Edelgard has the same predicament that I have, especially with the two of you.'

'What? You don't like us?' Dorothea's eyes turned hard.

'It's not that!' Byleth rushed to explain. 'I just don't have a great deal of experience with the company of other women. There are female mercenaries, of course, but they tended to avoid me on the road when I was younger. One explained to me once that they were wary of being made into some sort of nursemaid simply because of their sex.'

'So… you find female company harder than male?' Mercedes asked delicately.

'I suppose. I am just less used to it. The younger girls are easy to deal with since they are just kids, and Catherine and Shamir are martial and that I understand - but you two…' Byleth looked up shyly. 'You are both so composed, feminine, and admirable. I have realised that neither of you are okay with fighting and killing, and that's all I've ever known.'

'Oh, Professor!' Mercedes chuckled.

'What on earth do you find admirable about me?' Dorothea demanded. 'I understand appreciating Mercedes, but really! I am just a common street brat who happened to be lucky enough to have a voice.'

'And beauty…' Mercedes murmured.

'That will fade.' Dorothea replied pragmatically. 'That's the only reason I am here, you know!' She looked directly at Byleth. 'You are correct. Learning to kill is something I find abhorrent, although I do understand the necessity to protect oneself and those you care for.'

Byleth nodded.

'Manuela suggested that I attend the Academy.' Dorothea continued. 'I am not ashamed to admit to you both that my aim is to find someone to marry, perhaps a Knight, who will look after me when my looks and my talent fades. I refuse to end up back in the streets - ever.'

'I see.' Byleth said thoughtfully.

'Do you?' Dorothea contested. 'Not everyone appreciates the necessity of taking the initiative while you are still in your prime, and you still have something to barter with.'

'Anyone would be lucky to be with you. You sell yourself short.' Mercedes said firmly.

'You do have a lot more to offer than you appear to think.' Byleth agreed.

Dorothea blushed the first time either of her companions had seen the girl become flustered.

'Does that mean that either of you would take care of me in the future then.' She blustered.

'Of course!' Byleth replied in confusion. 'If you were in need, you could always count on me.'

'Me too.' Mercedes added. 'We should always be there for each other!'

'Right... I didn't mean… that is, obviously…I see…' Dorothea stood up suddenly, her face aflame. 'I just remembered a thing that I need to do!' She stated as she climbed out of the bath and quickly wrapped herself in a towel. 'You aren't going to faint or anything, are you, Professor?' She added.

'I'm pretty sure I will be fine.' Byleth looked confused.

'Good. Great!... I will get onto that thing right away then.' Dorothea practically ran back into the changing room.

'What happened?' Byleth asked worriedly to Mercedes. 'Did I say something wrong?'

'No, dear. You said something right!' Mercedes beamed and pulled her into a hug. 'Dorothea definitely needs to be reminded that she is special and is worthy of care sometimes is all.' She explained.

'Life would be so much easier if I understood people the way you do.' Byleth said sadly, resting her head against Mercedes's shoulder.

'You do just fine.' Mercedes promised. 'Honestly, Professor, when Seteth brought you back here, still unconscious and so beat up, it caused such a ruckus. Everybody wanted to see you, everybody worried about you. Perhaps you need to be told how much people care about you too!' Suddenly Mercedes chuckled. 'Especially my brother…' She added with a smile.

Byleth groaned. 'What is it with you and Flayn?' She queried.

Mercedes eyes went wide. 'Flayn thinks that Seteth…' A grin broke out on her face. 'That would certainly explain his reaction when he burst into the tent where I was caring for you in the field.' She mused.

Byleth shook her head dismissively. 'You know Jeritza was there too?' She asked.

'Yes.' Mercedes nodded. 'He appeared in that same tent the night before Seteth arrived. I have no idea how he got to us with all the extra security, but he was decidedly cranky. You knew that he'd followed us then?'

'Yes, he was the one that told me that Lonato was marching towards us. I saw him later as well when I went to deal with the archers.' Byleth paused. 'He wasn't quite himself by that stage. Was he okay when you saw him?'

'Well apart from being worried about you and trying to pretend that he wasn't, yes he was fine. He insisted that I keep his presence a secret.' Mercedes replied. 'It was all a mass of confusion anyway – from the moment that Jeralt found the note indicating the potential assassination plot on Lady Rhea.'

'Dad told me that it's been crazy here since he got back here.'

'Mhmm.' Mercedes agreed. 'No-one has actually seen the Archbishop of course, but the word is that she is livid that Lord Lonato was rallying hatred against her personally, and raging that someone dares to think they can take her down in her seat of power on such Holy a day.'

'I know that I don't truly understand Church matters, but I really am surprised that there is such a level of anger against the Archbishop.' Byleth said mildly.

Mercedes looked concerned. 'I suppose the church is a political entity just like any other in principle.' She said carefully. 'Anyone that holds and wields power will build enemies, and not everyone will agree with the person in charge. Garreg Mach is central to the church and the stronghold of the organisation. The other churches are officially orbital offices. As I understand it, that doesn't always sit so well with the leaders of the Western Church. The Southern church is no longer in existence, and the Eastern church tends to stay out of disputes as it is small in comparison.'

'It's confusing, isn't it.' Byleth sighed.

'It's all about power, as so many things are.' Mercedes agreed sadly.

The chatter dried up as both girls got themselves clean and then dressed.

'I have to take you back to the infirmary.' Mercedes told Byleth apologetically. 'Manuela's orders.'

'I know.' Byleth sighed. 'I've had the argument with her already. Seteth and Jeralt weighed in as well, so I lost.'

'You should let yourself be taken care of for a change.' Mercedes replied, insistently. 'I have no idea what actually caused you to lose consciousness for so long, but I would wager that the amount of work and stress that you take on might have something to do with it.'

Byleth shrugged uneasily. 'I probably just pushed myself a bit too hard.' She suggested. 'I am still getting used to the responsibility of having all of your wellbeings on my conscience. I've only really had to concentrate on keeping myself alive before.'

'You did a sterling job, Professor – the Lions all agree that you managed an impossible situation far better than should have been expected, but I do feel that we could have shouldered a bit more of the action if it meant you didn't have to suffer so much.'

'A learning experience for everyone.' Byleth nodded.

'Yes.' Mercedes smiled. 'An excellent way of looking at it!'

When they came out of the bathhouse and into the bright morning sunshine, they bumped directly into Hubert, who was loitering intently outside.

Might I be permitted to walk you back to the infirmary, Professor?' Hubert asked politely.

'Excuse me, I am in charge of the Professor's care.' Mercedes stated firmly.

'None the less, I would greatly appreciate a chance to check on our dear teacher's wellbeing.' Hubert replied with a menacing leer at the healer.

'It's okay Mercedes.' Byleth placated.

'You do realise that I have been Edelgard's personal protector for fifteen years and no harm has yet come to her. I believe I am quite capable of managing to see the Professor up a few flights of stairs.' Hubert bowed.

'You'd better make sure you keep her safe or you will answer to me.' Mercedes warned menacingly.

'Oh.. how sweet. It's like being threatened by a duckling…'

'My money is on Mercedes if it comes to blows.' Byleth noted. 'It's fine, really.' She smiled at Mercedes. 'Thank you for your help this morning. I feel so much better for the bath and the company.'

'You're welcome.' Mercedes smiled back at Byleth and sent Hubert a final dirty look before she turned and left them alone.

'Hey, Hubert. Thanks for the stinkweed.' Byleth started walking in the direction of the main building.

'It seemed apt.' Hubert chuckled and took hold of her arm. 'Please…' He insisted. 'Allow me to assist you. I wouldn't want to face Mercedes's ire, now would I?'

'I can manage.' Byleth insisted.

'If you refuse to take my arm, then I will have no option but to carry you.' Hubert threatened.

Byleth stopped and turned to look at him. 'What an interesting suggestion…' She smirked. Hubert shook his head and sighed heavily at her. 'Oh, okay then…' She linked her arm with his and they started moving again. 'So where is Edelgard?' Byleth asked.

'All of the house leaders and the Professors have been called to a meeting with Rhea.' Hubert told her. 'I suspect you will be filled in later.' He paused for a second. 'Odd set of circumstances all round.' He said mildly.

'You mean Lonato knowing that he didn't stand a chance of success and yet carrying a potentially sensitive letter on him anyway?' Byleth asked.

'Very good Professor!' Hubert said warmly. 'I will make a spy of you yet.'

'I haven't had that much chance to think about it.' Byleth admitted, 'But Lonato wasn't a fool… facing him showed me that much. Being able to pull one over on my dad, even for a short time, is pretty unique too. No way he would be carrying such a note if it wasn't meant to be found.'

'I think that it means he was courting his own death too. A waste.' Hubert agreed.

'So why do you think Rhea is receiving pre-warning of an assassination attempt?' Byleth asked, intrigued.

'I know why I would do it.' Hubert admitted.

'Misdirection?'

'You really aren't just a pretty face, are you?' Hubert actually sounded surprised.

'Wow, that's not at all condescending.' Byleth grouched. 'Hang on… did you just say you think I'm pretty?' She chuckled.

Hubert sighed again. 'Talking to you is like trying to herd cats.' He complained.

'Aww, you love a challenge.' She squeezed his arm. 'We should definitely talk about this later though.' She added as they came up towards the infirmary. 'I'm not sure that we should risk our speculation being overheard.'

Hubert opened the door for her to enter and followed her in.

'How long are they keeping you prisoner?' He asked. 'You already look a whole lot better than you did when Seteth brought you back.'

'I can leave tomorrow if all is well.' Byleth replied happily.

'Back to lessons on Monday?' He inquired hopefully.

'Maybe… I haven't been told anything solid yet.'

'I beg you Professor. Get better quickly.' Hubert said, his expression pained. 'As much as I hate to compliment you, having Hanneman and then Jeritza as our teacher's for the last week has been… trying.'

Byleth couldn't keep the smug expression from her face. 'Hubert… are you actually saying that you missed me?'

'I suppose I am.' He admitted sourly.