Hubert is on Ferdinand in an instant, as soon as he's made his presence known.
It all happens so quickly that Byleth doesn't even register what's happening, that Ferdinand is even there, until Hubert has him pinned to the wall, with a look that could absolutely kill. One moment, everything is as it should be, and the next, they have an intruder that Hubert has already restrained. How did he find them? How long has he been following them?
"What the hell are you doing here?" Hubert hisses, and Ferdinand trembles, his mouth open as he struggles to find the words to speak. If he weren't terrified, he could probably fight his way out of Hubert's grasp rather easily, but he seems too scared to even move, let alone try to fight.
"I-I-I...I-I didn't...H-Hubert...you...and she...a-and, when…" Nothing that he says in response makes a bit of sense. His fear has rendered him incoherent, and they aren't going to get an answer out of him this way. What's more, they run a much bigger risk of attracting attention like this.
"We're getting him out of here," Edelgard says. "Hubert, you can let go of him now."
Hubert nods and steps back, and Ferdinand takes a few shaky steps, looking like he's contemplating running away, wondering if he can even escape this situation. Before he has the chance, Edelgard has lunged at him with such speed that Byleth hardly registers her movement, and she restrains Ferdinand, standing behind him with her arms hooked through his.
She's a good deal smaller than him and shouldn't be able to overpower him with brute strength alone, but she isn't playing by the same rules as anyone else here, so it's no difficult task. Hubert clasps his hand over Ferdinand's mouth while Edelgard carries him to the car, muffling any protests that he might have, and they toss him in the back seat, with Byleth sitting up front so that Edelgard can keep him restrained until they get him back to her house.
~X~
By that point, he's finally settled down a bit, probably only out of necessity, knowing that screaming and fighting won't get him anywhere in this situation. He's still pale with terror as they bring him inside, and Edelgard stands closest to the door to block any attempts at escaping. There is a moment of tense silence before Ferdinand finds his voice again.
"Please!" he cries. "Please don't kill me, I won't tell anyone! I promise, I won't, a-and I'll even do anything you want, just please don't...please don't…"
"And just why shouldn't she kill you?" asks Hubert, his voice coming out more like a snarl as he steps closer to Ferdinand, who shrinks under his gaze. "It isn't as if we can trust you with this. You've always wanted to find some information you could use against Edelgard. With this, I'm sure you could ruin her as much as you've always wanted to."
"N-no!" Now, he seems close to breaking into sobs, and he shakes his head furiously. "That's not true, I won't! I-I'll quit the student council if I have to, okay? Is that enough? Please, I can't...you can't!"
Sighing, Edelgard says, "I want to avoid anything that's going to draw attention to our school. If anything were to happen to one of my classmates, that would inevitably bring the mystery closer to me. It's too suspicious, and besides...I don't exactly want you dead, Ferdinand."
For the first time, he starts to smile a bit and says, "I promise, you won't have to worry about me! I'll just forget everything I saw! I don't even know what I saw, really, so how could I…"
"Why don't you try and explain what you think you saw?" asks Byleth. Hubert scowls at her, but she wants to know exactly where they stand with this. If Ferdinand leaves here with the idea that Edelgard is simply a very fast, very strong serial killer, there's a chance he'll tip off the police anyway, but maybe, if he understands her circumstances, they might even have an ally in him.
It's not something that either of them would ever consider on their own, she knows, but she also knows that things have always been more than what they appeared with Ferdinand. As much as they like to pretend, no one in this room actually hates him, and she's sure that even Hubert doesn't actually want him dead, and just wants to do whatever they have to to make sure that Edelgard doesn't come under suspicion.
"I...b-blood," he says. "I saw a lot of blood, and Edelgard was...it's not real, is it? You're not really a...the killer isn't really…"
"As unbelievable as it may sound, that's exactly the truth," Edelgard says. "Imagine how frustrating it must be for me, to have you constantly badger me about dying my hair white when this is actually just one of the many side effects of what happened this summer."
And so, just like with Byleth, she explains things to Ferdinand, with Hubert interjecting with his side of the story, and Byleth joining in to explain how she got brought into all of this. Ferdinand simply listens to them, trying to process all of the information at once, which is something that Byleth can relate to.
By the end of the story, he has a lot to take in, and all he can say is, "This all sounds completely unbelievable, but I saw enough for myself...I know you're not making it up."
"So, there you have it, Ferdinand," Edelgard says. "What you walked in on was me doing something unpleasant but necessary, and something I would appreciate you not exposing to anyone. I really would hate to kill you."
Ferdinand laughs, but it's a shaky laugh and he pales considerably. "You have my word. I...I swear on my life, I won't tell anyone what I saw tonight."
"You'd better hope you keep that word," Hubert replies. "I would not take the promises you've made lightly, if I were you."
"If she wasn't already scary enough, you sure would be," Ferdinand mutters. "And you're not even the vampire in the room."
Ferdinand ends up staying the entire night with them, occasionally asking more questions about the situation, while never actually telling them why he felt the need to follow them from the dance in the first place. In the back of her mind, Byleth wonders if this was what he wanted all along, minus the finding out Edelgard is actually a vampire thing. Was he following them just because he wanted to try and hang out with them?
As it is, it seems like they'll have to spend a lot of time with him either way, all to make sure that he can be trusted. Today will be the first and many, and he'll likely have many more questions along the way.
"By the way," he says, "I'm...not really sure how any of that works and I'm sorry if this is a weird question, but...are all three of you dating each other, or is it something else?"
Either he's incredibly perceptive or they've not done a good enough job hiding it, but explaining their relationship dynamic to him is absolutely the least strange conversation they've had tonight.
