'Hey, Bernadetta… Bernie… could you open the door please?' Ignatz stood and waited patiently, 'It's just me.' He added. 'It's your friend, Ignatz, and Marianne is here too.'

'Are you sure she's in?' Marianne asked timidly. 'You have been knocking for five minutes now.'

Ignatz nodded silently. 'I can hear you, Bernie.' He called. 'You know... I haven't seen you since our last training session before I left on the Lion's mission. I'd love to see how you are.'

'Fine! I'm just fine!' Bernadetta's voice squeaked.

'You missed the archery session this morning, so I was worried.' Ignatz explained.

'Bernie was dragged to a house meeting.' Bernadetta's voice was desolate. 'We were commanded to hunt for assassins… but not Bernie. No! Bernie is not that stupid…'

'I think you are meant to simply be looking for clues, not actual assassins.' Ignatz said gently. 'No-one would expect you to face a killer alone.'

The door creaked open a crack.

'Edelgard would expect it!' She disagreed. 'Hubert would happily use me as bait. Poor... poor, dead Bernie…'

'It's Archbishop Rhea, who is the target.' Marianne whispered, wide-eyed. 'I don't think you have anything to worry about. Not really.'

Bernadetta stood aside to let them into her room and closed the door firmly after a nervous peek outside.

'So, the Eagles are on the hunt for answers too then, huh.' Ignatz said, clearing some knitting off of a chair and indicating that Marianne sit.

'I will be in trouble for not going out and detecting stuff.' Bernadetta replied glumly. 'If the assassin doesn't kill me, then Hubert will for neglecting my orders.'

'Where would you go to look for clues? If you were to leave your room?' Ignatz asked curiously as he sat himself down next to Marianne. 'I don't have any idea of where to begin.'

'I asked around at the stables.' Marianne told them shyly. 'Nobody had heard anything, though.'

'Hmm.' Bernadetta screwed up her forehead in thought. 'If I were to look for information… which I'm not… I would start by determining the most heavily guarded places.'

'Why?' Ignatz asked.

'Well, if the assassins are a diversion, they are looking for easy access to somewhere. So that would be somewhere that is hard to get to normally.'

'That's a good point!' Ignatz agreed enthusiastically.

'It's what I used to do at home.' Bernadetta admitted. 'I was always listening for whenever a messenger arrived. They would canter up the drive just under my bedroom window, so I always knew when they came.'

'What did you do then?' Marianne asked, intrigued.

'Well, I knew that my father would be engaged with them for a while, so I could use the time to slip out of my room and go wherever I fancied. Sometimes, after a messenger's visit, my father would actually leave the estate altogether for a while.' Bernadetta sighed happily at the memory.

'So you'd wait for a distraction and then act.' Ignatz was chewing thoughtfully on a fingernail. 'That makes a lot of sense, Bernie. So we should take a look at where guards are guarding right now!'

'Oh no, not me!' Bernie insisted. 'I'm staying right here!'

'I wouldn't let any harm come to you, Bernie, you know that!' Ignatz promised. 'Plus, we have Marianne with us, and she is a healer, so even if we did get hurt…'

'I'm not the best person to take either Iggy.' Marianne was staring at her hands intently. 'You know I am unlucky to be around.'

'That's just silly, Marianne.' Ignatz insisted. 'I always feel totally lucky when I am in your company…'

'Why do you think you are ill-fated to others?' Bernadetta asked, frowning.

'I'm cursed…' Marianne said very softly. 'It is best to keep your distance.'

'C…cursed?' Bernadetta stuttered.

Marianne nodded sadly.

'Well, that's a load of crap.' Both Ignatz and Marianne were startled by the vehemence of Bernadetta's words.

'I assure you…' Marianne began.

'It's people that hurt people.' Bernadetta insisted with a tone of total finality. 'What is this curse, anyway? Some kind of magic?'

Marianne shrugged, her face red.

'Magic, hexes, jinxes… they are cast by people.' Bernadetta knelt down beside Marianne. 'Most people scare me, Marianne, but you are not one of them.'

'B…b..but why?' Marianne asked, her liquid eyes wide.

'I don't feel the slightest bit of threat from you.' Bernadetta explained. 'You aren't big or loud or mean. You don't sneak around or say nasty things. Your smile is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen!'

'You hardly even know me!' Marianne objected, her blush crimson red now.

'I am aware of everyone. That's just how it is when you are scared all the time.' Bernadetta looked up with her eyes screwed shut, trying to find the words to illustrate her point. 'Sometimes... I do get it wrong, I become fearful of someone who doesn't really deserve it… like Dedue. He is so very big that it can be intimidating! Also, if someone comes up to me when I don't expect it - I react badly because it frightens me.' Bernadetta sighed. 'I am also afraid of saying the wrong thing to people and pushing them into hurting me because of my own stupidity…'

'That's a very hard way to live.' Marianne said softly.

'I think Professor Eisner was the very first person that I became completely unafraid of.' Bernadetta continued. '… Which is nuts because she is certainly dangerous… but not towards me… never towards any of us.'

'I find her intimidating…' Ignatz whispered.

'You are just fearful of wasting people's time.' Bernadetta said firmly.

'Bernie is right about that! You apologise more than even I do!' Marianne smiled gently at Ignatz.

'I have started to try and see people more objectively now.' Bernadetta smiled tentatively at Marianne. 'So, I don't care if you are cursed, whatever that means. I think you are kind and that's far more important.'

'Thank you.' Marianne murmured.

'And I think you are splendid!' Bernadetta added to Ignatz.

'Oh! Well… um…' Ignatz spluttered, his own face turning just as red as Marianne's.

'So, the three of us… scared, cursed, and apologetic… no-one would fancy our chances at solving this mystery, right?' Bernadetta suddenly grinned. 'I say, let's be fierce. Let's do it!'

'Blimey.' Ignatz removed his glasses and began to polish them on the arm of his tunic. 'I… I… say… err… bring it on!'

Marianne giggled softly. 'What's the worst that could happen?' She smiled.

'We could all die horribly.' Bernadetta replied levelly. 'But at least we'd have died trying!'

~0~

The morning had passed slowly for Byleth. First, Manuela had insisted on a very detailed examination before she would allow Byleth to leave the infirmary, and then the faculty had met for their weekly roundup, which of course, had taken longer than usual due to discussion about the mission for the month and the Rite of Rebirth.

By the time Byleth managed to get to the dining hall, she was completely famished, but her appearance precipitated a deluge of well-wishes and company, and actually managing to obtain some food and eat it required both patience and in the end a fair bit of firmness. It was mid-afternoon before she managed to get away.

Myles wasn't on duty when she took a turn around the building to walk off her eventual lunch, and Claude had been nowhere to be seen either, so on a hunch, Byleth scurried down to Claude's workshop to see if they were there.

'Hey, teach! Good to see you up and about properly!' Claude welcomed her warmly when her instinct was proved correct.

'Professor.' Myles inclined his head in her direction, and Byleth was just about to question his formal address when Linhardt's head popped up from behind the huge workbench that dominated the room.

'Oh, hello!' Linhardt squinted at her in surprise. 'So, you know about this place too then.'

Byleth nodded, looking quizzically at Claude, who smirked at her confusion.

'Teach was the one who told me I should be listening to the stuff that you have to say, Lin.' He stated. 'You were quite correct, of course, Teach. Don't you ever get bored of being right all the time?' He winked at Byleth.

Myles snorted. 'Don't praise her too much, or she will become insufferable.'

'You recommended me?' Linhardt looked astonished.

'I figured you two both enjoyed weird experiments, and at least if you do them together, it might minimise the risks…' Byleth replied.

'You wouldn't be saying that if you'd heard any of the things they'd been discussing in the last hour…' Myles sat back in his chair, resting his feet up on the table. 'Scary stuff, Professor. I reckon you've unleashed a monster.'

'Right now, we are simply discussing possibilities of what items might be vulnerable or worth stealing from this place.' Claude frowned at Myles. 'Linhardt has tried breaking into almost as many places as I have on his own quest for knowledge, and of course, Myles has the insider knowledge, so between the three of us, I was looking to shake something loose.'

'Not that it's been much use.' Myles added. 'Rumours and theories abound in this place, but no-one really knows what's behind most of the locked doors.'

'And most of the locked doors aren't locked by conventional means.' Linhardt added with a frown. 'I have never seen anything like some of the lock-devices I have come across here.'

'The sheer size of the place is also a problem.' Claude added.

'There must be plans of the Monastery.' Byleth said. 'I can get hold of those. I am working with Seteth and my dad as well as the students.'

'That will only be useful to a degree.' Myles informed her. 'I'm not sure that anyone knows the extent of the underground space here. Nearly a thousand years of extending and rebuilding. Not to mention places that have been abandoned. There are literally miles of inaccessible hidey-holes or specifically locked sections.'

'Really?' Byleth looked skeptical.

'We are in a mountainous region. There is a load of rock beneath the main Monastery, and it has been utilised. I have seen some of it with my own eyes.' Linhardt agreed. 'Some of it is most definitely unstable too.' He added.

'I had no idea you had done so much exploring.' Byleth accused him. 'Do you let anyone know where you are going in case anything happens to you?'

'Of course not!' Linhardt looked appalled. 'I would likely get expelled!'

'I need to un-hear this…' Byleth's head had fallen into her hands in despair.

'On the plus side… we know now!' Claude patted Byleth's shoulder. 'I can watch his back.'

'Because that fills me with so much confidence.' Byleth moaned piteously. 'I am supposed to be the responsible one here! Now that I know you are off doing stupid things – I should be reporting it. If something were to happen…'

'Professor!' Linhardt came forward from behind the table and took both her hands. 'You actually care, don't you?' He was beaming at her.

'Well, of course, I do!' She exclaimed.

'Not something that I'm all that used to.' Linhardt admitted. 'How about I promise not to head off into anywhere that is dangerous? Would that alleviate your worry?'

'Would you mean it?' Byleth challenged.

Linhardt chuckled. 'You know me, Professor. Getting into trouble is… too much trouble, even to sate my unquenchable curiosity. Add upsetting you into the mix as well… it's a heady deterrent.'

'Okay.' Byleth nodded.

'Although, if I did have a need to go somewhere in particular, how about I promise to let you know? Invite you along even…'

'That would ease my concern.' Byleth agreed.

'You don't have an issue with him hunting down and stealing items for examination?' Myles asked curiously.

'I put them back… eventually.' Linhardt declared. 'It isn't the thing that is of worth to me, it's examining and understanding it.'

'What he said.' Byleth agreed.

Myles laughed. 'You guys are fun!'

'Shouldn't you have an issue?' Byleth queried. 'You are the one paid to protect the Monastery after all.'

Myles shrugged. 'He puts them back... eventually' He mimicked sagely. 'No crime there that I can see.'

'So, this is all very heartwarming stuff… but concerning our upcoming problem, we don't appear to be any further forward.' Claude was rubbing some kind of formula off from the blackboard in the corner of the room. 'Thoughts?'

'Really, if the guards don't know much about the underbelly of this place, then I doubt an outsider would either.' Myles spoke up. 'I'd suggest the target has to be somewhere more accessible.'

'I like the idea that you are the target.' Linhardt said to Claude. 'We haven't really covered that yet.'

'Thank's Lin. I'd like to leave that till last if I may. I'm actually hoping we don't have to consider it at all.' Claude muttered. 'It's just as likely to be Dimitri or Edelgard.' He added.

'I dunno Claude.' Myles was smirking at him. 'You're a pretty annoying kinda guy. Just saying.'

'Agreed.' Linhardt nodded.

'Poor Claude. I like you. Sometimes...' Byleth consoled.

'I hate you all.' Claude grouched.