Dedue tries to spend as much time as he can in the infirmary while Mihail is recovering. It's only a two-day holdover, really just to make sure that there's nothing left in Mihail's system after many physicians have looked over him and the other three victims.

But Dedue knows his friend. And therefore he isn't surprised when he has to put up a stone wall to stop Mihail from trying to leave his bed, sitting in a chair next to it.

"Est vis!" Mihail hisses, tapping against the wall to see how sturdy it was. Dedue can hear Manuela chuckling from her own bed. (This is violence!)

"Non est," Deude responds, sure that there's practically no chance that Mihail will break the wall, even with a rebellious look on his face. "Nisi sim hic, exeas." (No it isn't. If I was not here, you would have fled.)

Mihail flops back onto his bed, not moving as Dedue brings the wall back down. "I'm bored," he whines. "Is there anything to do here?"

"I have a deck of cards in the desk," Manuela says, sitting up and looking over at it. "If I was allowed to get out of bed-"

Hanneman stares her down from where he sits behind it. "Don't even think about it, Manuela."

Mihail leans forward, and Dedue leans in so that Mihail can whisper in his ear. "Certamen numerus..." Mihail asks. (Contest number?)

"Viginti et quattor," Dedue tells him. "Ea superior eo est." (Twenty-four. She is more victorious than him.)

Mihail snorts. "You hate to see it."

In the end, Hanneman does get the cards, and Flayn and Monica join in as Mihail is explaining how to play Imperium. It takes a while, but soon the cards are dealt out, and Dedue has to fight the smile on his face as he looks at his hand.

A few plays go by, and Dedue thinks he's about to go out before Flayn puts down her last four cards and calls for a revolution. He's lucky to get third place as everyone else starts easily beating his cards, Monica going out just before him. To his amusement, Mihail comes last.

"So," Flayn starts, looking at her new hand after Hanneman deals them out, "you said something happens next round when I win?"

Dedue nods. "You give two cards of your choice to Mihail, and Mihail has to give you his two best cards."

Manuela laughs. "That's rich! I love this game."

"You have to give Monica your best card," Mihail tells her. Hanneman covers Flayn's ears just before she starts cursing out the entire room.

"Imperium is really a thought experiment," Dedue tries to explain after she's finished. Mihail starts the new round with one of the lower cards. "The way that it is taught in Duscur is to show that taking things by force isn't necessarily the best way to keep a group of people together."

Hanneman immediately brings it up to some of the higher cards and Manuela groans as she passes her turn.

Mihail shrugs. "I think we forgot about the imbalance of power."

"That too," Dedue says, playing a king. "It's a lovely parable."

Monica grins as she places a joker and everyone at the table passes. "Yeah, but it's an even better game."

Lysithea and Edelgard walk into the infirmary sometime in the middle of the second day. The sight of the shorter girl reminds Dedue of how strong Lysithea's magic is. The lack of Hubert following Edelgard carries a different air into the room. The color of their hair almost painfully reminds Dedue of how white Mihail's hair is now.

Monica and Manuela are out the door before Hanneman can even tell them no. Hanneman himself glances at the two girls before simply nodding his head and walking out too, his footsteps getting softer as he enters his office. Flayn had left earlier that morning, grumbling about leaving her "new friends" as Seteth picked her up looking more put together, relaxing almost immediately at the sight of her safe and sound. Mihail looks up and shares a look with the other two white-haired people in the room, and all three of them stay silent. For a moment, Dedue wonders what the three are thinking, and then he blinks and notices that all of them are looking at him.

"De," Mihail starts, rubbing his neck. A signal to trust him. "Exi et mane?" (De, step out and stay for a while?)

Dedue simply nods, gives Mihail a warm smile, and makes his way out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaning against the wall. He can hear Hanneman and Manuela arguing in Hanneman's office, and watches as Monica opens the door and sneaks out of the room again, skipping down the hallway to head to the rest of the monastery. He shakes his head at the girl's antics and waits for Mihail to finish and come get him.

Part of him wants to tap into the stone and listen in on the conversation, but he respects the privacy of everyone in the room enough to just be content to hear their muffled voices and hints of whispers, being unable to pick out any words. As far as he can tell, their conversation is nearly over by the time Claude steps into the hallway and looks at him funny. "Is Mihail okay?"

"He's fine," Dedue says, patting the wall next to him. Claude leans on it, keeping the bag that he's carrying on the other side of him. "He's busy making secrets I can't hear about right now."

Claude chuckles. "You sound confident that you'll hear them later, though."

Dedue shrugs. "I find that overconfidence is a problem I have," he says, remembering the near countless amount of times that his childhood hubris set him up for failure.

"Really? Don't believe it," Claude says casually, shaking his head in disbelief. "Although, I guess I haven't talked to you enough times to judge that, with you always hanging around Dimitri."

Dedue is somewhat glad about that. Mihail may be able to deal with the future Duke, but Dedue knows that he is not well-equipped to deal with piercing eyes and quick tongues. "Oh well," he says, somewhat apologetically. "You'll get revenge on me for ignoring you when you steal Mihail for the evening."

"Aw, don't think of it as revenge," the house leader quips, smirking. "I need to have a good rapport with a potential brother in law."

When the words register, it feels like there was a landslide underneath him for a moment. "Excuse me?" Dedue asks, staring at Claude.

"It's nothing," Claude says with a wink, his braid moving as he shakes his head. "How long do you think that meeting is gonna take?"

Dedue shakes his head in confusion. Claude is definitely not his type of person. Mihail could have the teen with a light tan. "Let me send him a message."

With a bit of effort, a loose stone falls out of the ceiling and into Dedue's awaiting hand. He focuses on the message for a few moments before placing it into the wall behind him, letting it absorb and send the rock through. He hears it clack against the stone floor inside of the room after going through the wall, and there's a few moments before it gets picked up. Dedue nods at Claude.

Claude hums, eyes curious. "That's a sweet trick. Did you already prepare the wall?"

"What?"

Claude's eyes widen. "Nothing! I don't know how magic works at all, honestly," he says, and Dedue stares at the house leader. "You won't be upset if I take a bit more time away from you, right?" Claude asks, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a secret that you'll probably hear later."

Dedue nods, his mind preoccupied with how strange the younger man was acting. He opens his mouth to speak, closing it quickly when the door opens, Edelgard stepping out. The heiress nods at the two of them in the hallway as she walks away. Lysithea barely gets both feet out of the door before Claude pulls her into a hug. Dedue calmly looks down the hallway, giving the two their own private moment until he can hear the clicking of Lysithea's shoes as she heads down the hallway. Dedue watches Claude close the door behind him as Manuela finally dashes out of Hanneman's office, practically flinging herself down the hallway.

When Claude and Mihail talk, he only really hears a whoosh of something, Mihail's voice getting louder, and frantic hushes during their private conversation. As Claude and Mihail both walk out, Dedue notices that Claude's hair is more messy than usual with the braid somewhat askew and the strap of his bag now resting on the other shoulder.

Hanneman simply sighs and lets Mihail leave early. "You at least didn't try to sneak away," the Crest scholar says, grabbing a bottle from a hidden drawer in the infirmary.

Mihail can't step foot into the dining room. Dedue sees him freeze for a second as they barely step into the reception hall. So he's quick to guide Mihail to his own room, closing the door behind them.

Mihail lets out a breath. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Dedue simply says. "Should I go get some food? Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine," Mihail says, although the twiddling of his thumbs tells a different story. "I just want to put my hair back to normal and sleep like the dead."

Dedue raises an eyebrow. "How are you supposed to do that?"

"Claude gave me a few bottles of dye he made," Mihail admits after a moment, pulling out the jars, and Dedue is impressed with how accurate and vibrant the colors are. "Mind helping me?"

The two spend the hour dying and styling Mihail's hair. After cutting down the sides, over mugs of ginger tea, and with a late dessert run to the dining hall pass the time as they wait for the dye to stain and saturate the white hair, when they rinse it out in the basin. Dedue braids the green streak down like Mihail had it before, then when it looks correct, he does the other braids, soon all three lying down like nothing is different at all, like they're still in Duscur, like Dedue isn't under Dimitri's gaze and Mihail isn't effected by the experimentation.

During this time, Dedue learns that the same people who stole Mihail away from the king's assassination years earlier have come back to make sure that the Crest they had placed in him was still working. Mihail's voice is oddly monotone during all of this, and immediately after Dedue finishes with the last braid, he calmly pulls the younger child into a hug from behind, simply just hoping to comfort him by any amount. It takes a few more moments before they split apart and continue working on their appearances.

"So," Dedue starts as Mihail takes a pair of scissors and starts to trim Dedue's hair, "what does this mean for you?"

Mihail is quiet. The only sounds are the sounds of them breathing and the snips of the scissors as he expertly trims the ends of Dedue's hair. "Well," he says after he finishes, putting the scissors down, "apparently, before they got to me, the process wasn't complete yet. I could use the Crest, but with some time, it would've faded." Mihail sighs and takes a deep breath. "Now it's permanent," he continues, and Dedue's heart breaks at how his voice trembles. "It and all of the horrible side effects."

There's an even longer silence before Mihail looks at his own reflection in the glass. Dedue deeply appreciates how well the dye worked, especially as he holds a shaking and crying Mihail as the night continues, the light of the moon glowing on them as they console each other, baptizing them as brothers in a foreign land that is in someway directly responsible for their trauma.

"I hear if Mihail knows your secrets, he's somehow able to put them all on the wind so that everyone knows about it."

"For the Goddess' sake, isn't anyone going to tell him that his creepy earth powers aren't allowed? Or are we all just afraid he'll attack us with them?"

"That princess from Brigid is weird. I think she's lost her mind, talking to bushes and what not. It's always a sad sight to see."

"Shamir is too calm. I hear that she has some sort of monstrous ritual she does every time she fires her bow that takes a little bit of humanity out of her."

"I swear I saw Cyril change a broom into a mop! I tell you, the boy practices witchcraft and it's a shame that he doesn't truly follow the teachings of the Goddess, no matter if he preaches about how much he loves Lady Rhea."

Lorenz palms a piece of paper into Dedue's hand when he shakes it that morning. When Dedue looks at the interaction between Lorenz and Hubert, he thinks he can spot the small moment where Hubert receives the note the Leicester noble gives him.

He looks away and reads the note he has. It's a lunch invitation for two. More specifically, it's for him and Mihail.

He quietly taps Mihail's arm and passes the note along. Mihail glances at him and nods, an eyebrow raised in question.

Dedue shrugs, cutting into an Aliel pomegranate.

During their morning combat practice, there's a break where Byleth has to talk to a few knights. Dedue watches as Mihail starts floating an arrow around him, excitedly chatting with Ashe and Annette. He taps his foot against the stone and sends two pebbles up into the small cyclone that Mihail is controlling.

Mihail curses at him as he catches the pebbles. It takes some obvious effort, but with cheering from Annette, he ends up separating the pebbles and the arrow into two smaller gusts. "Hey Annette," he starts, and everyone near the two is immediately on alert, remembering the explosion that happened when they tried to combine lightning and healing spells once, "do you still remember how to hold your spells?"

Annette casts her wind spell and holds it, her face scrunched up in concentration. "Yeah."

"Great. Catch!" Mihail tosses the stones in his left hand. Annette quickly dashes forward to catch them in her own gust of wind. Unfortunately, neither of them were paying attention to the lance in front of the girl.

Luckily, Dedue is paying attention, and with a stomp of his foot, the lance sinks into the floor just before Annette catches the stones and celebrates. Dedue lets out a sigh of relief that no one got hurt as the lance pops up next to him, softly spat out of the ground. He catches it and turns to put it away.

He freezes as Ingrid is suddenly in front of him, angrily tapping his chest with her finger. "Are you really trying to steal the monastery's property?" she asks, as if she can't believe he'd do it in broad daylight.

"Esne stolida?" he grumbles before shaking his head. "No," he says in a tone of forced politeness. "I am simply going to put the training lance where it goes when no one is using it." (Are you dumb?)

"I was using it," Ingrid claims, holding out her hand. "Now, if you could please hand it over. I'll have to go replace it."

"Why should I give it to you if you're just going to get a new one?"

Ingrid's face seems to morph through multiple emotions before it just turns red, whether it's from anger or embarrassment something that only she and the world will ever know. "Why are you using unsafe and forbidden magic in the training yard?!" She shouts, and everyone's attention is on them now.

Anger and hurt hits Dedue like water against a cliff, but he works to keep his voice steady and calm. It would be very dangerous for him to be perceived as angry or dangerous right now. "Duscis magic isn't harmful-"

"Is that what your people said before they murdered Glenn?" Ingrid snaps.

The courtyard is silent now. Dedue can't even hear any person's breath, an errant gust, a faint neigh of a horse. It's as if Ingrid has just turned everything off, forcing him to be the newest target of monastery's attention for a few moments.

The blonde looks pyhrrically triumphant, a strong gaze of hatred bearing down onto Dedue. He stands there, trying to figure out the best way to try and lower the intensity of the situation without looking like a violent person himself.

Mercedes, bless her soul, places a hand on Ingrid's shoulder. "Ingrid-"

"No! Stop trying to cover for him," Ingrid shouts, pointing a finger at Dedue. "If your magic isn't so harmful, then why did you just use it?! If you weren't going to steal the staff, why did you have it be swallowed up by the floor? I was watching you the whole time, and you waited until no one else was looking to pull that trick!"

Dedue raises an eyebrow as he listens to what she says. "You were watching me the whole time?" he asks.

Ingrid looks exasperated. "Yes!"

He holds up the lance. "And this is your lance that you practiced with?"

Ingrid stamps her foot. "Of course it is! The lance that you were going to steal!"

"Then you also saw that I moved the lance before Annette could trip over it, right?" He has to fight the smile that threatens to plant itself on his face when Ingrid starts stammering.

Felix scoffs and shakes his head. "Again, Ingrid?" he asks, annoyed. "A good knight keeps track of where his weapon is."

Ingrid flinches when Felix says 'his'. Although Dedue can tell she has her own problems going on, he can't seem to bring himself to care that much after how she's treated him over the years. He nods and smiles at Annette as she thanks him for looking out for her, and then he glances at Mihail and coughs twice.

Mihail gives him a light shake of his head. And Dedue knows that there's nothing else that he can do about that, so he doesn't. Good luck to Ingrid. Hopefully Mihail doesn't have too much sway over Professor Byl-

Dedue's eyes widen when he spots Seteth staring at Ingrid with a look of muted fury on his face. From how stiffly the man seems to move when he's leaving the training grounds, Dedue thinks that Ingrid has very little chance of continuing to act the way she does without consequence. The idea puts him in higher spirits.

"Ah, I see you both have joined us," Lorenz says, gesturing to the two empty chairs at the table. "Please, take a seat. I've already ordered food to be brought out to the table."

Mihail takes a seat, looking at the other people at the table. Dedue sits down on the right of him, looking at Hubert. The two nod at each other before facing Lorenz.

"What is this about Gloucester?" The pale mage grumbles. "My time is precious to me."

"Hubert," Edelgard admonishes, sighing. "I am so sorry for his behavior, he's just upset that Ferdin-"

"I am not upset," Hubert shoots back, sitting straight up in his chair. "I am simply annoyed. I should have come alo-"

"Hubert, please," Lorenz says, attempting to regain control of the situation. "I haven't even made the tea yet."

"Tea?" Dedue asks, still wondering what all of this was about.

Lysithea leans forward. "Oh, are you gonna do your tea magic?"

Hubert scoffs. "There is no such thing as tea magic."

Lorenz raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Oh really?" he says, his voice carrying the faintest tinge of a noble challenge. "Then you wouldn't mind if I tried it right now, I assume, if there's no such thing."

Dedue and Mihail share a look as Hubert nods confidently, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. Lorenz reaches underneath the table, pulling out a small tea kit. Everyone watches as he fills the small kettle with water and heated it up on a hot stone. He calmly poured it into the six handle-less mugs with royal purple engraving that matches the kettle. With an ease and precision that could only come from practice, he poured the mugs back over the kettle.

Dedue realizes that every time Lorenz finished pouring each mug over the kettle, the earth shifts a tiny bit, starting from directly under the table and spreading to a few feet beyond the edge of the table, covering every person seated at it. By the time the last mug has been emptied, Dedue realizes that it feels like there is a small barrier at the edge of the shifted earth. He refocuses on Lorenz as the man puts loose tea leaves into the kettle and refills it. The purple-haired student looks back up at the rest table. "Would anyone like to switch mugs?" he asks.

"Are we supposed to?" Mihail asks, looking around them as if he's looking for something. Dedue doesn't know what he's looking for until he realizes that the air is a bit more still than it usually is when he's around his pseudo brother.

Lorenz shakes his head. "Don't feel forced to," he discloses. "It is simply a practice to make sure that everyone at the table feels comfortable about drinking the tea."

"It's a way to prove that you aren't poisoning anyone," Hubert accuses, pushing his mug away from him.

Lorenz calmly swaps it with his own, not even reacting to the tone in Hubert's voice. "That too, if one wants to be so morbid. Anyone else?"

Lysithea shakes her head. Dedue thinks that it's mostly because of her connection to him.

Mihail and Edelgard, to his surprise, do swap their mugs, first with each other, and then with Lorenz. Dedue chooses not to change his mug, not sensing anything malicious from the barrier and the shifted earth underneath them.

Lorenz simply nods after everyone seems comfortable with the mugs in front of them and starts pouring out the tea. It has a strong, flowery scent with hints of citrus and mint. Again, Dedue feels the earth shift and the barrier strengthen after each mug is filled.

After refilling all of the mugs, Lorenz gives everyone another opportunity to switch mugs. Hubert again swaps with him. No one else does. Mihail reaches out and grabs his own mug, seemingly about to pick it up before Lorenz gently places his hand over it. "Please," he says cordially, "as the host I need to prove that the tea isn't poisoned."

Mihail calmly let go of the mug, staring at the purple-haired man for a few seconds. "Sure," he answers.

Hubert chuckles. "I wouldn't drink anything until Gloucester drinks first," he says, eyes still on the host of the lunch. "He could've planned every exchange of mugs to make sure that he doesn't get poisoned in the end, but that's a very difficult thing to do. So, why would he even take the risk with 5 of us here and drink his own poison? In fact, I wouldn't drink that mug now that his hand has been over it, Vessyl."

Lorenz smiles at the retainer before he looks back at Mihail. "Excuse me," he starts, "but if you don't feel comfortable with that mug, I will gladly either trade it with mine or repour the tea."

Mihail's eyes are unreadable to Dedue from this angle, but from the body language he can read, it feels like this situation is a near-perfect repeat of what happened between the ambassador's son and the house leader of the Golden Deer. "I would love to trade mugs with you, Lorenz," Mihail says, grabbing his mug and holding it up towards the noble.

"Of course," Lorenz says, taking the mug without complaint and sliding his own across the table. "I take it you feel comfortable now?" Mihail nods, and Lorenz's smile holds strong as he takes a drink from his new mug. A few moments pass before he puts it down, and he seems to be perfectly fine. "If we wish for this conversation to be a bit more private," he advises, "everyone has to at least sip a bit of their tea before adding anything."

Dedue stares at the dark reddish purple tea. "And why would we want a private conversation?" he probes.

Lysithea takes a sip of her tea. "I don't want to talk about why three people in the monastery now have had white hair without a little bit of privacy," she boldly disseminates.

That gets everyone else to quickly take a sip of their mugs, with even Hubert doing so, although he does slightly hesitate. Dedue taste pomegranate and lemon and something slightly bitter, maybe the root of a flower or dandelion.

A light shimmering dome slowly fades into view over the table, with a character in the same style as Rius' Dagdan magic directly above them, at the dome's apex. The cooks bring out plates and silverware to the table, comfortably able to pass through the shimmering space and not even reacting to it, as if they couldn't see it. Lorenz thanks them as they place everything at the table and walk away. "Feel free to make your tea to your liking now," Lorenz says, picking up his fork and knife. "As long as one of us doesn't leave the table, no one outside of the dome will be able to hear what we're saying."

"That seems like a lot of secrecy and sorcery," Mihail remarks. "Looks like tea magic is real."

Hubert both scowls and raises an eyebrow. Dedue thinks that means he's stuck between being amazed about the demonstration of magic and torn that he's incorrect about magic.

Lorenz nods. "Thank you. It's a lovely and flexible ritual my mother taught me when I was younger," he admits casually as he takes the cover off of his plate. "Please, feel free to dig in. It has been a while since I last had it, but Beast Meat Teppanyaki is rather delicious. I also ordered some Daphnel Stew just in case the taste doesn't agree with you."

Lunch is interesting, for lack of a better word. Dedue can't help but feel like everyone is holding back details of very different, yet very important things. Edelgard, Lysithea, and Mihail are constantly looking at each other as they slowly and carefully talk about the generalities of Crest implementation (which is horrifying, especially because the details that they're sharing are brutal, even in such a buried version of the truth), Lorenz calmly deflects questions about the ritual (which only drives Dedue's curiosity because the word ritual makes it sound non-Fodlan in nature and Lorenz doesn't seem to be too worried about showcasing it right now, even if he prides himself on acting like the most Fodlanian noble), and Hubert accidentally slips up and mentions "future plans" (which both makes sense and makes Dedue want to keep an eye on the man because there are at least five people in the monastery who you want to steer clear of if they say they have any future plans and Hubert von Vestra is at least three of them).

It's interesting, and as Dedue finishes his tea and feels the start of a headache coming on, he finds that it's also somewhat infuriating. It's been simmering under the surface like a volcano slowly building pressure for a long time, but Dedue knows he can't simply try and not cause tremors if he wants to do a better job of keeping himself and his friends safe. If he wants something to happen, he's going to need to start doing the work himself.

So as soon as he's respectfully able to, he gets up from the table and makes his way to the greenhouse. He breathes a sigh of relief as he sees that there is enough space to plant a few more flowers and plants next to the one with mostly black petals with a lone green mint one, rolls up his sleeves, and gets to work.

It's during their evening lessons that they learn about the tourney of practice bouts occuring that weekend. The rules were simple, for each category of sparring, which comprised of all 5 physical weapons, 3 types of magic, riding, flying, and heavy armor, all three houses would pick a representative. Each house member had to participate at least once, and the house with the most points won a celebratory sauna day during the week.

"And points are scored by doing what again?" Sylvain asks, yawning.

Byleth sighs, rubbing their forehead. "You get a point for eliminating an enemy, and the last fighter standing gets an extra point."

"We have to think strategically about this," Dimitri says, pulling out a piece of parchment and copying all of the categories onto it. "Since we have nine students, that's an advantage for us, but all nine of us have to fight at least once."

"Just put me down for swords and we'll be fine," Felix snaps. That's the only category he gets put into. At the end of the meeting there's a solid plan, and Dedue nods his head as he steps in for the gauntlet and heavy armor bouts.

Later that evening, he's sparring with Dimitri, gauntlets against axes. It's a light spar, both of them more focused on passing the time until dinner starts then actively working on new maneuvers. He blocks a swing and steps back to regain a defensive position. "Dimitri?"

"Yes?"

He steps forward and lightly jabs at Dimitri. "Do you have any word on Duscur?"

Dimitri takes the punch and tries to retaliate. He misses. "Mihail and I just sent off a joint letter asking Kleiman to send terms of negotiation for the land that he has right now."

Dedue nods. "That's good," he says, recentering himself to get ready for the next strike. "What about afterwards?"

Dimitri stumbles, his second swing wide. "Afterwards?"

"The land that was burned and destroyed. We'll need help building it back up," Dedue discloses, capitalizing on the fault and calmly tapping Dimitri twice on the head. "At the very least, Mihail would have at least mentioned some form of repayment."

"He did." Dimitri fell back into a defensive stance. "I'm not sure if it's wise to make so many demands so quickly right now, since my uncle is currently in my position as Regent to the king."

Dedue simply does not advance, slowing down the spar's rhythm. "Does that not make him your voice?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

Dimitri lunges forward, Dedue deflects the blow. "It does," the prince maintains.

"So why do you not ask him to simply tell Kleiman what to do?" Dedue inquires. "Or start raising and holding funds for Duscur? You've done the same for other matters."

Dimitri tries to stab forward again. It's all too easy for Dedue to dodge the attack. "I don't want to put my uncle in that awkward position," the blond discloses. "We still need to show the kingdom that the people of Duscur can be trusted."

Dedue stops fighting. "Of course," he lies, remembering the ire that a 15 year old Dimitri got for extending the budget for pegasus knights. "It is nice that you're thinking in the long term. Maybe we should continue this discussion over dinner, you seem very distracted."

Dimitri grips the lance even tighter, and even from his viewpoint, Dedue can see the metal plates over the gloves that the prince wears bend slightly. "I'm fine," Dimitri declares, eyes slightly colder now. "I still need to do a few more training strikes. If you want to go eat, please make sure you save me a plate."

Dedue nods and walks out of the training hall, quickly changing into fresher clothes. Before he goes into the dining hall, he goes into the greenhouse to check on a flower with blue and yellow petals. It has developed small thorns on its stem in his absence.

He's eating his dinner when he sees Petra hold a berry in her right hand for a few seconds before she eats it. The gesture is normal, she's even talking to Dorothea. But Dedue swears that a small bite appears on the berry before Petra swallows it.

Mihail goes off to Abyss while Dedue checks in with his plot in the greenhouse once more tonight. All of the flowers are alive, and besides the blue and yellow one, the one with pegasus wing leaves, and a blue flower with thin leaves and petals, none of them seem to be overly aggressive. For plant based standards, at least. He spends some time watering and checking in on each and every flower individually. He's nearly done with the last flower, a red and black one, when he notices that the flower with green and silver petals is looking directly at him a leaf curled to touch the stem like it's an arm akimbo.

"You're up late," Hapi says from the door of the greenhouse. Dedue rolls his eyes and continues working.

"I could say the same to you."

"No you couldn't," The older woman quips, kneeling beside him. "You don't know my sleeping hours."

"That's not a good thing," Dedue notes, before actively realizing that Hapi is in the greenhouse, above ground and outside of Abyss. "How did you even know I was here?"

She shrugs. "The stars told me."

"How did you know it was safe to visit me?" he asks, not sure how she would be able to see the stars from underground.

"The stars told me."

Dedue puts down his watering can. "I'm not going to get a clear answer, am I?"

Hapi smiles. "Not unless you can talk to the stars," she drawls. "You missed the reunion, by the way."

"I know," Dedue says, starting to double check his work. "I already had mine with Mihail. The others should get their private moments, too."

"You should've been there," Hapi continues, voice filled with laughter. "Ci nearly bowled Mihail over when he entered Abyss. Rius lectured and threatened him for 3 minutes straight."

Dedue raised an eyebrow. "Only 3 minutes?" he asks, puzzled. "Rius is losing steam."

"Really? He seemed pretty passionate about Mihail 'not making' any 'dumb decisions' that 'may lead' to him 'being in danger'." The two of them started chuckling at Hapi's liberal use of air quotes.

"Trust me," he confides, "when we were younger, he could go on for at least 4 minutes."

"Huh," Hapi says. The green and silver flower wilts slightly. "I guess that I just never grew up with that many people."

Dedue glances at the flower and the woman out of the corner out of his eye. "Mihail has been talking about restoring Duscur," he informs her. "Should I tell him about the Astrum?"

"If you want to," Hapi offers. "I don't think we were hit too badly in the Murder."

Dedue hums. "How was it like, living in the mountains?"

"It was nice," Hapi answers. "I got really good at climbing things, if you can believe that."

"I can," Dedue says with a shrug

Hapi smirks. "Es animus." (You're a fool.)

Dedue smiles as he sees her flower perk up. "Cognosco." (I understand that.)

"You should probably get going," Hapi tells him, sitting down on the pavement and crossing her legs. "You have a busy day tomorrow."

"Did the stars tell you that?" Dedue asks, making sure his tools are safely put away.

"They did," Hapi admits. "They also said to wait 7 minutes after you leave before I start making my way back to Abyss. There's a guard patrol incoming from the marketplace."

Dedue's eyebrow rises. "The stars cannot be that precise."

"You have a loose stone in the corner of the room where you keep your lamp," Hapi states, giving him a dry smile. "It's enough space for you to hide any random gold you that come across in the monastery."

Dedue nods. "I see. Stay safe, Hapi."

"You too, D."

It feels like no time passes at all until the morning of the tournament. Classes are cancelled for the day. Breakfast is a quick and less social affair, with even the more interconnected people in the monastery sitting with their own houses. There's catcalls and banter and a sense of competition in the air that seems to follow everyone as they change and get ready for their bouts.

Flayn angrily pouts at her seat next to Seteth, who personally forbade her from being a part of the tournament in exchange for being a part of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion later in the month. Rhea sits in her own chair on the sidelines, smiling serenely as she gazes out at the crowd that forms along the stone edge of the training grounds. The staff are proportioned around the arena, in different places in the crowd. Each professor is with their house, going over last minute preparations and strategies. Dedue nods when Byleth asks him if his gauntlets and armor are ready.

After some time, Jeralt blows into a horn to get everyone's attention. "Everyone listen up!" he shouts, and the last of the talking spectators gets quiet. "The rules to the tournament are as follows. As your professors should have already told you, we will be using training weapons only. When it comes to the cavalry, flying, and heavy armor bouts, each combatant will be able to pick a training weapon to use during that bout. There will be no use of blessings prior to a bout. Most anything goes inside the bout. Once the bout has commenced, a combatant can be eliminated after getting hit three times, being forced out of the fighting area, or by resigning if they take a hard enough blow. If I believe that a combatant is about to be dealt a serious and harmful blow, I will call off the bout and award points accordingly. Let this be known"-Jeralt stares into the Black Eagles section of the crowd-"There will be no purposeful maiming. You will incur a penalty for personal maiming. Do I make myself clear?"

Hubert nods. After a few more moments, so do Linhardt and Dorothea.

Jeralt looks towards the Golden Deer. Claude and Lysithea nod.

Jeralt looks towards the Blue Lions. Everyone in the Blue Lions turn to face Felix. Felix bristles and nods.

"Good," Jeralt says. "A house will receive a point if their combatant eliminates an opponent. A house will receive another point if their combatant is the last one in the bout. At the end of the tournament, the house with the most points is the winner. Are we clear?"

There's a resounding cheer from the crowd, and Jeralt leans back into his judging chair. "Will the sword fighters please step into the pit?"

Felix barely nods at everyone before he leaps into the pit, training sword at the ready. He's confident and focused. Petra waves at the Black Eagles, accepting a hug from Dorothea before she does a backflip into the pit. She catches her sword as Casper tosses it to her. She's confident and happy.

Marianne takes the stairs into the pit. Dedue can feel her uncertainty through her footsteps in the floor. She grips her sword so tightly that her light tremors are easily visible on its wooden blade. She gives everyone a weak smile as the Golden Deer cheer, rowdy and loud in their support of her.

Dedue would swear on his life that she nearly jumps when Felix's eyes narrow on her.

Sylvain whistles lowly. "I hope Petra gets her out this bout quickly," he mutters.

"Sylvain!" Ingrid scolds. "That's rude. At least try and root for Felix."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I think Felix is going to win," Sylvain whispers, "I just don't want him to kill her."

Jeralt blows the horn, and Felix and Petra both immediately dash towards Marianne. The crowd goes silent as Petra reaches her first.

As nervous as she looked, Marianne wielded a sword rather well. The crowd gasps as she parries the first of Petra's blows, retaliating with a wide and panicked swing that the princess of Brigid easily dodges. Marianne shrieks as she misses, closing her eyes and quickly bringing her sword back in front of her just in time to deflect Petra's second blow. As she looks back up at the fight, Felix strikes, and the Crest of Fraldarius glows as Marianne faints at the sight of him, the sword going over her head as she collapses.

Jeralt pauses the bout and Cyril calmly walks over and revives her with smelling salts. Marianne wakes up, gets to her feet with Cyril's help and waves at the cheering Golden Deer.

"Why do you think they're cheering?" Ashe asks.

"At this point?" Annette says, shrugging. "Who knows."

Petra wins the bout after she baits Felix into over-committing with a feint. The Black Eagles cheer and Shamir changes the scoreboard.

Black Eagles - 2

Blue Lions - 1

Golden Deer - 0

The bout with lances is over in less than a minute. Ferdinand bows out immediately after Dimitri catches him in the chest with a strong swing, and Leonie only manages to hit the prince once before she's eliminated.

Black Eagles - 2

Blue Lions - 4

Golden Deer - 0

Edelgard and Hilda both look at Sylvain as he grins at them. They then look at each other, nod, and yell out battle cries as they run towards him, teaming up to make sure he is eliminated first. Hilda gets to eliminate Sylvain, but Edelgard gets to win the bout.

Black Eagles - 4

Blue Lions - 4

Golden Deer - 1

The Golden Deer starts chanting Hilda's name after the scoreboard shows their first point. Jeralt has to take the moment to quiet them.

Ashe is quicker, Ignatz is more accurate, and Bernadetta's arrows are stronger. So when they all bowed out at the same time, Jeralt just gave each house a point. Shamir looked proud as she changed the scoreboard.

Black Eagles - 5

Blue Lions - 5

Golden Deer - 2

Dedue calmly lowers himself onto the floor, noting that Caspar and Raphael would be fighting him. He takes his gauntlets, makes sure that they're fastened properly, and waits for Jeralt to start the match.

As soon as the match starts, he feels Caspar start running towards him, and he quickly decides to deal with the blue-haired firecracker. They trade blows, two each, and as Caspar backs up, Raphael catches him in the gut to eliminate him.

Dedue thinks about his options. He needs to hit Raphael three times without getting hit once. The stone of the floor hums underneath his feet, and Dedue remembers that Jeralt said that nearly anything goes in a bout.

So he runs forward and gets two good punches on Raphael before falling back and focusing on the stone. When Raphael throws his first haymaker, Dedue stomps, and a thin pillar of stone erupts from the ground and catches the punch before it hits him. Raphael looks confused as he throws a second punch and Dedue does the same thing.

As Raphael retreats, Hilda shouts, "Isn't that cheating?! We can't do that!"

"Too bad," Jeralt says. "Sometimes you have to deal with a person who can do something you can't. The match continues."

Dedue looks back at Raphael just in time to duck under a third punch and catch the fourth with another pillar. In a flash of inspiration, he works to shape the pillar over the blond man's wrist so that it's easier to deliver the third tap and win the bout for the Blue Lions.

Mihail and Ashe cheer the loudest as Jeralt declares him the victor, and Dedue can't help but notice all of the shifty looks he's getting, even from a few people in his own house. As he starts lowering all the pillars back into the ground, he sees the smile on Raphael's face as he heads back up to the Golden Deer, and Seteth gives him a nod while Flayn's eyes are still wide and excited.

Black Eagles - 5

Blue Lions - 7

Golden Deer - 3

Marianne reenters the pit with far more confidence than she did in the first bout, nodding at both Mercedes and Linhardt.

A glyph appears underneath Mercedes as she fires white magic at Linhardt. A glyph appears underneath Linhardt as they fire white magic at Mercedes.

The grin on Marianne's face as she claps her hands together and summons a pillar of light onto Mercedes is shocking. Linhardt bows out immediately afterwards.

The Golden Deer quickly haul her out of the pit and onto their shoulders when she wins the bout with another holy pillar. She blushes and covers her face as they all chant her name.

Black Eagles - 5

Blue Lions - 7

Golden Deer - 6

Annette trips over her own shoe. Lorenz screams as he ducks and his hair catches on fire. Dorothea smiles and sings an opera as she continues to fire lightning from a safe distance.

Black Eagles - 8

Blue Lions - 7

Golden Deer - 6

The three dark mages of the Officers Academy stare each other down. The crowd is the quietest it's ever been. Rhea herself is on duty to make sure that none of the dark magic leaves the arena. Everyone watches as Mihail flicks his wrist and forces a few small stones to jump off of the ground into a small twister.

"There's no spellcasting outside of the required magic," Hubert taunts.

Mihail smirks. "Did you see a glyph?" he asks, making the stones dance in the small twister he's holding. "Is there a sigil around my hand?"

Jeralt sighs. "I'll allow it," he decides, shaking his head. "I swear, some of you kids really are pulling out every trick that you can for this."

Lysithea attacks first, conjuring up a swarm of insects that Mihail is somehow able to blow away. He fires back with a dark bog that falls onto the white haired girl. He launches out two more stones immediately afterwards and Lysithea looks furious that she's been eliminated so early.

Hubert conjures up quick flying lights, and Mihail grunts as the spell hits him. Mihail screams, and there's a dark echo that fills the entire arena as Hubert is blown back by the force of the spell.

Mihail capitalizes by launching two more stones and claiming the victory. He bows to Rhea, one of the only people who doesn't seem at all unnerved by what just happened, as she gently claps. Flayn looks confused, and Seteth has an eyebrow raised.

Felix shakes his head, probably to stop the ringing in his ears. "I hate dark magic sometimes."

Black Eagles - 8

Blue Lions - 10

Golden Deer - 6

If anyone had to bet on someone attempting to fight dirty during any bout, people would've probably put gold on Claude. Or Hubert. Sylvain. Hilda. Linhardt. Hubert. Felix. Dorothea. Hubert. Hubert.

So it's a shock to everyone when Lorenz makes his strategy to scare the horses to go outside of bounds instead of attacking the riders. He wins by a landslide. Half of the Golden Deer cheer for him while the other half starts calling him a hypocrite, and his face turns red as he tries to defend himself.

Black Eagles - 8

Blue Lions - 10

Golden Deer - 9

Ingrid smiles as she leaps onto her pegasus. She grabs the lance that Dimtiri offers her and chooses to fly closer to the center of the arena.

Everyone watches as Petra and Claude get on their respective mounts. Everyone watches as the two pick bows. Everyone watches as they look up at Ingrid, then at each other.

They nod.

During the bout, Jeralt legitimately can't tell who shot Ingrid out of the sky, so he awards both houses with a point. During the following aerial duel, Dedue sees Petra mutter something to herself before Claude's wyvern is suddenly blown off balance. She places the training arrow right on his forehead right before he falls off his mount, and swoops down to catch the heir before anything bad happens.

There's a silence before they start laughing as Petra lands. Dedue spots the shock on Lorenz's face and the confusion on Mihail's. He resolves not to touch that mess with a ten foot pole.

Black Eagles - 11

Blue Lions - 10

Golden Deer - 10

Dedue could have been nicer in the last bout. He didn't have to abuse the weight of the armor and turn the battlefield into a maze of barriers as he practiced his archery. But he really wanted that private trip to the sauna.

Besides, he wasn't even perfect with it. Raphael threw his axe at Edelgard to steal the point away from him.

"And the winners, with 12 points, are the Blue Lions!"

The celebratory feast is rowdy. Raphael claps Dedue on the shoulder as he enters the dining hall. Edelgard is chatting with Hubert and Caspar. Linhardt is somehow sleeping through the noise of Hilda shouting about how well Marianne did. Lorenz and Claude are sitting with Mihail and Mihail is talking about something, probably not aware of the somewhat fond looks that Claude and Lorenz are giving him. He catches Dorothea's eye and she smiles and walks over to him. She barely takes her seat before the Archbishop walks into the dining hall and asks for everyone's attention.

"I simply want to congratulate the Blue Lions again for their victory in the bouts," Rhea declares. "But on a wider scale, I do believe that with the talent and hard work I've seen today, you are all going to do splendid at the Battle of the Eagle and Lion."

The dining hall erupts into cheers, and Dorothea rolls her eyes as she takes another bite of food.

Rhea holds up her hand and the hall quiets down again. "For the last part of my small announcements, I want to reward the students who did the most work for their houses. If I call your name, please stand up so that Seteth and Flayn may give you your due earnings. For the Black Eagles, Edelgard von Hresvelg with 2 points, Dorothea Arnault with 3 points, and Petra Macneary with 5 points."

Dorothea's eyes widen as Seteth hands her a bag of gold. She places it on the table, and the weight of it causes Dedue's eyes to widen too.

"For the Golden Deer," Rhea continues, ignoring the small gasps as people start to realize what the rewards are, "Raphael Kirsten with 2 points, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester with 3 points, and Marianne von Edmund with 3 points."

It's at this moment that the bulk of the dining hall start to catch on to how much gold is actually being given out, with more shocked gasps and many small yelps. Raphael is talking about sending the entire bag to his little sister, Marianne simply just stares at hers as she holds it, and Lorenz silently tries to push his bag in front of Leonie, who immediately shoves it back in front of him.

"And finally, for the Blue Lions, Dimitri Alexaindre Blaiddyd with 3 points, Mihail Vessyl with 3 points, and Dedue Molinaro with 4 points."

The bag that Dedue receives is definitely hefty. He shakes it, and the sounds of coins clinking is even more surprising. Mihail hunts him down almost immediately as Rhea leaves the dining hall. "Frater! Est magnum!" (Brother! It's huge/great!)

Dedue immediately pulls him in for a hug. When they split, he knows that there's a huge smile on his face that perfectly matches how he feels inside, like a entire field of sunflowers in Central Duscur. "Scio!" he says excitedly. Mihail takes a seat next to him and they place the bags next to each other. "Cogito est quinque Virgilii." (I know! I think it's 5 Virgils.)

"Cupio." (I wish it is.)

Dorothea clears her throat. "I got 250 gold," she mentions, holding up her bag. "You guys might want to double check yours just in case."

Right. Dedue thanks Dorothea as he starts counting out the gold in his bag. It takes him a significantly longer time than it seems to have taken her. Mihail gives him a thumbs up after he finishes counting his own bag. He's just about to say something when Petra appears at her side and hugs her. "'Thea, can you count my bounty quickly?"

"Sure," Dorothea says, lightly blushing as Petra pecks her on the cheek and hands her the bag of gold. Dedue watches as Dorothea works through the bag in less than 2 minutes, not even removing a piece of gold. At one point, she pauses in her count and looks up at Dedue with an eyebrow raised.

He feels his face get hot, embarrased at getting caught staring. "My apologies," he says, "I'm impressed at how well you count money."

"Yeah, it's a little trick I picked up on the streets of Enbarr," Dorothea mutters, going back to her task. "You know, half of the guys I've dated here are shocked that I can keep track of money. Some even say it sullies my pretty little voice to do math."

Dedue thinks back to their first actual interaction, the informal dinner. "That's not smart."

"I know, right?" Dorothea laughs, handing Petra her bag back. "There's 251 pieces of gold, I wouldn't let them know about the extra, darling." Petra blushes as Dorothea turns back to face Dedue. "Some guys even call off the date right there because they consider it immoral for me to be able to do whatever property taxes they need."

Dedue opens his mouth to ask Dorothea exactly how she learned her way around money, but Felix forces himself in between him and Mihail with a grunt. "The boar told me to ask you two to give your gold to the knights," he grumbles.

Mihail looks as confused as Dedue feels at the request. "I thought the knights had enough gold for the next year," the black and green-haired teen says, eyes inquisitive. "Did their last proposed budget fail?

"The last budget that they had passed," Dedue says, remembering the ludicrous amounts of gold given to the Kingdom's recruitment programs. "It was at least 10,000 Virgils."

Felix's eyes narrow. "10,000 what?"

"500,000 gold. But the actual budget was around 518,000 gold if I remember correctly," Mihail answers for him. Dorothea and Petra's eyes shoot wide open.

"The knights of Faerghus get 500,000 gold a year and still ask for donations?" Dorothea asks. "Know your worth, I guess."

"They're important," Felix snaps. "The boar is giving away his whole prize to them. The least they could do is 50 gold."

Mihail snorts. "A whole Virgil? You're joking, right?"

Felix bristles. "Why would I be?" he mutters, giving Mihail an unfriendly look. "What else would you spend it on?"

"My house when I get back home?" Mihail says incredulously, holding his bag of coins close to him. "What else would I spend it on?"

"Protection of your house, obviously," Felix says. "What if your house gets attacked?"

Mihail bites his lip, and Dedue knows that he was about to make a comment about Faerghus that would have been dangerous for his health later on down the road. "Houses usually don't get attacked in Duscur," He says instead, and Dedue stands up, makes his way around Felix, and sits back down next to Mihail, placing his hand over his younger pseudo-brother's wrist in solidarity.

"Huh," Felix says, "strange." He leans forward, ignoring Mihail to look at Dedue. "You'll give something though, right? You're the boar's lapdog."

Dedue feels the wall around his face break in an instant, mortar and bricks disintegrating into ash at Felix's words, letting the shock and hatred on his face be clear to everyone who's watching. The stone that Felix is sitting on tilts and the Fraldarius falls backwards with a yell. Dedue looks down at the table to calm himself before he does a lot more with the earth around him. He tightens his grip on Mihail's wrist.

"Felix!" Ingrid shouts, running over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. The boar's dogs-"

"Oh, so now it's both of us!?" Mihail hisses, and Dedue looks up to see that Felix is standing up again. Mihail stands up too, with Dedue still holding onto him. "You're disgusting for coming over here and trying to force us to give away our earnings to a country we aren't even a part of."

"You need to pay for the Tragedy!" Ingrid shouts.

"You need to pay for the Murder!" Mihail yells back.

Sylvain steps in between them, hands up. "Guys, we're in the dining hall-"

"You called them dogs!?" Dorothea shouts, climbing over the table to stand in front of Felix. "What's wrong with you?"

"It is wrong to call them dogs," Ingrid starts, "but-"

Dorothea head snaps so she can glare at the blonde her dark green eyes narrow. "Ingrid," she begins, voice low and measured, "if you say one more word about them I will be held responsible for my actions, and I don't want to be right now, okay?" Ingrid nods and backs up. Dorothea turns back to face the swordsman. "Now, you"-she jabs at Felix's chest-"What do you think gives you the right to stand there and demand that people give away their money and to call them dogs when they don't want to? Huh? Is that noble title on your head making you dumber? Did you lose too much breath during your swordplay? What is it?"

Felix starts stuttering before he points at Dedue. "The boar saved his life," he spits out. "The least he could do is give some gold back to the Kingdom."

"And if Dimitri came over and asked me like a friend," Dedue spits back with a venom on his tongue he normally doesn't have, "I would have done so. But he did not. So I won't."

"That's selfish!" Ingrid argues. "You owe Dimitri your life!"

"And he owes me my home back!" Dedue shouts, the anger of the past years bubbling inside of him. He jumps when someone places a hand on his shoulder, only to stop tensing his shoulders when he realizes it's Ashe.

He can see Dimitri's blond head nearly at their table when Felix speaks again. "Fine! Whatever you and the boar come up with is none of my business. But you"-he points at Mihail, and Mihail glares at him-"You owe me for killing my brother."

The dining hall falls into shocked silence. Dedue nearly sees pink.

"I was 13, you idiot!" Mihail shouts, wrenching his wrist out of Dedue's grip and pointing at Felix. "Are you so stupid as to think that a 13 year old could murder a trained knight?"

"So it was you and your family," Felix snarls, "everyone in the Kingdom knows that."

Dedue is positive that if he isn't seeing red right now, Mihail is definitely is. "We were ambushed! On the open road! Like the Kingdom says! There were too many people! I ran away to live!"

"You ran away because you were scared to see it through like your parents!" Felix roars. Petra gasps. It's a ripple effect as everyone pieces together what Felix is insinuating. Dedue nearly leaps at Felix himself, only stopping himself with Mihail pointedly rubbing the back of his neck. "You ran away," the swordsman continues, "and now you're trying to waltz back into our lives. You owe us for that."

Mihail climbs onto a table, standing up and staring down at the noble with dark blue hair. "Let it be known, Fraldarius," he declares, using a stray breeze to bring his bag of gold into his hand. "I owe you, your smug attitude, your repugnant face, and your lack of a decent mind nothing."

There's no motion for a few seconds. Then Felix leaps at Mihail. Dedue uses a part of the bench to block a direct path to Mihail. Petra catches Felix and forces him down onto the table. Dorothea holds onto Ingrid's waist as she tries to charge in. Mercedes and Annette look scared as they back away from the table a few seats down. Sylvain is just turning his head back and forth, looking at his childhood friends. Ashe stays where he is, patting Dedue on the back.

Dimitri looks conflicted as he finally arrives at the scene. He sighs and goes to pick up Felix, holding him up off the ground effortlessly as the swordsman struggles to try and get out of his grip. "I think it's time we retired for the night."

"Are you going to get her too?" Lorenz asks, pointing at a struggling Ingrid.

"Ingrid doesn't mean any ill will, honestly," Dimitri says. "Neither does Felix. They're just both upset about their performances in the tournament today."

The look on everybody's face in the dining hall shows that they don't fully believe that.

Dimitri starts walking over to the door, carrying an angry Fraldarius. "We'll see you all in the morning."

As they leave, Mihail climbs down off the table and is immediately whisked away by the Golden Deer. Dedue reaches to grab his own bag of gold, and Ingrid snatches it off the table. Dorothea looks upset that she got out of her hold.

"This," Ingrid says while backing up, "is going to the kni-"

Caspar trips her and catches the gold bag as she drops it. Ferdinand catches her as she falls. Hubert calmly places a hand on each side of her head and magically puts her to sleep. Edelgard crosses her arms. "Does anyone want to carry her to her bed?"

Sylvain, Mercedes, and Annette take the opportunity to leave the hall, carrying Ingrid out with them. Ashe follows after a few moments, wishing Dedue a good night and to come find him if he wants to talk later.

Linhardt yawns, waking up from their nap. "Did Fraldarius snap yet?"

"Not the time nor the place, Hevring," Edelgard hisses at them. She faces Dedue. "If that happens again, let one of us know." Her tone tells him there's no room for argument, so Dedue just nods. "Do you want someone to help you back to your room?"

"That won't be necessary," he says, grabbing the bag as Caspar slides it down the table. "Thank you all for your actions, but-"

Dorothea groans. "Please don't finish that sentence or I will definitely be held responsible for my actions. You don't deserve that."

Dedue looks over at Mihail, who is directly in the middle of the Golden Deer. Marianne, Claude, and Lorenz are fussing over him while everyone else is keeping watch around them. "I am aware of that," he says, getting ready to leave. "But between words and blows, words don't have a chance to pierce the skin."

He takes a detour to into the greenhouse. The flower with sword-shaped petals and the flower with "pegasus feathers" both contain small pockets of a toxic sap now.

Seteth angrily sighs as he paces back and forth in front of the Blue Lions classroom. He stops, turns to face them, and then turns away with another angry sigh and starts pacing again. "Ridiculous," he mutters, his voice still audible being the only one in the classroom. "This is utterly ridiculous. And during a celebratory dinner, of all things. What started this?"

"Felix came over-"

"The boar asked me to-"

"That was rhetorical." Seteth says, and both Mihail and Felix quiet down. "Please note that I have already heard what I believe to be accurate accounts of the event from multiple people who weren't involved. I already know who did what." He turns to face the classroom again, crossing his arms. "Now, I am also aware of the reported history of Faerghus and the repeated history of some people involved in last night's altercation. I find it to be no excuse for the behaviors exhibited last night. Mr. Fraldarius and Ms. Galatea are to spend their next 3 free days with me- Sit down, Ms. Galatea."

Ingrid slowly sank back into her seat.

"Where they will spend time helping the monastery staff and we will talk about why they believe that harassing their fellow classmates is acceptable," Seteth continues, "Mr. Blaiddyd is to join me in the afternoon so that we may discuss how to diffuse tense situations. Mr. Molinaro and Mr. Vessyl will spend part of their lunch today helping the staff cook and clean. Do I make myself clear?"

"That's it?" Ingrid asks, incredulous. "They caused Felix to fall on the floor."

"Ah, Ms. Galatea, if you wanted to spend 4 days with me, you could have just asked," Seteth says, staring at the girl. "As it stands, the only things that they have done wrong were warping church property, which was fixed by Mr. Molinaro without reprimand or demand this morning, standing on a table, and being involved in general public disruption. Mr. Fraldarius called them both derogatory names, accused one of being a murderer, and then insinuated nasty things about that person's parents. You yourself have a history of antagonizing them and insinuating nasty things about them as well."

Ingrid's face turns red as she glares back at the Archbishop's Hand. "Mihail threatened me once!" She shouts, in a tone that Dedue finds that he can't stand because it sounds like she believes herself to deserve better treatment than them.

Seteth glanced over at Mihail. "Mr. Vessyl?"

"During a training bout, Ingrid refused to let me heal her afterwards. She even went as far as to swing her lance at me herself," Mihai' says, and Dedue glances at Ingrid for a split second before he looks away, instead choosing to try and support Mihail. "I may have overstepped myself and made a comment about how if this was how she was going to treat her comrades as a knight, she may join her fiance sooner than she thinks."

The room is deathly quiet after Mihail speaks. Felix is glaring at him, Sylvain's mouth is wide open, and Ingrid has a smug smirk on her face. Seteth clears his throat. "Hm. Mr. Vessyl, you can spend the afternoon in the cathedral today. Ms. Galatea, you have a 5th day with me."

The smirk falls off of Ingrid's face. Dedue lets a small smile dance across his.

"Does anyone else have something they want to add?" The room was silent. "Good. I believe that Professor Eisner has a wonderful lecture for you all today on battle maneuvers. Happy Monday."

As Seteth leaves, Sylvain yawns and leans back in his chair. His hand is right in front of Dedue's face, with a folded piece of paper in it. Dedue grabs it before Sylvain sits back up and opens it.

Hey, meet me in my room this afternoon? I just got some ginger tea.

Dedue rolls his eyes. Of course the redhead could remember what tea he drinks.

It's honestly a surprise when they win the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. Dedue considers Byleth to be a genius for putting Ingrid and Felix together to deal with some of the stragglers far away from him.

The air of the celebration dinner is charged. Claude, Dorothea, Lorenz, and Petra all sit at the Blue Lions table with them. Dedue smiles as he and Petra talk about their experiences during combat. He nearly spits out his food as Petra tells him stories about even more assassination attempts.

"How do you know about them every time?" he asks.

Petra smiles. "I have friends in small places," she admits, subtly tapping her shoulder, and Dedue sees a little spirit shimmer into existence as it sits there, waving at him.

Dedue smiles back, amazed at the sight. "I assume that these friends you have are everywhere?"

"That could be said," Petra says, as she picks up another forkful of food. "It is a great part of Brigid culture. The bushes have eyes, you know."

"And the air can touch a wing," Dedue remarks, remembering the flying bout. "Impressive."

"Thank you," Petra says, eyes twinkling with humor and mirth.

They then switch the conversation topic to the weather. Dorothea and Claude get into an argument about the difference between cloudy and overcast. Mihail, Lorenz, and Petra all look on with near far away gazes.

Dedue and Ashe share a look with each other as they each take a drink. Dedue just finds himself wondering how Mihail is going to deal with having two suitors.