"No no. No. Nonononono." Byleth raises a brow at the mumbling behind the bathroom door. She's all the way over on the bed, putting her weathered boots on for the day. Today's plans are all great, because Byleth finally talked Edelgard into going into town with her to shop for some groceries. She just really wanted to make a home-cooked meal all on her own for dinner, without the interference of all of the wonderful, but impersonal, chefs that cook nearly every meal for the entire staff. Even better, Byleth already had plans to drop some rose-scented oils into their bath tonight, since Edelgard said she'd feel comfortable enough to share the tub for the first time in a few weeks. Knowing them, their bathing would probably get them more dirty than it would clean, especially if Byleth pampered Edelgard by washing her hair for her. Byleth catches herself smiling off into the distance as she leans back on the bed, imaging Edelgard's heavy breaths whenever they so much as kiss for more than a minute. Her mind was just about to wander even further into bliss before-
DOOF!
The heavy bathroom door smacks into the wall with such strength it will undoubtedly leave a gash in the plaster. Byleth of course snaps out of her stupor and stands, ready for anything.
"The ring," Edelgard breathes. "It's gone." Byleth just blinks. "Your ring. Your mother's ring. It's-it's gone Byleth. I lost it. I lost the one thing I-"
"-I'll look in there. Check the bed, ok?" Edelgard nods somewhat uneasily before going silent and doing as told. Byleth notices she's still in her long sleeved pajamas even though she was in the washroom for ten minutes or so. She must have tried going for the ring first thing and looked around for it. No matter, Byleth's confident she'll find it. So she looks. Two minutes go by. It isn't in the place it always is, in it's specific blue box that matches the color of Byleth's hair that's next to the sink. Another minute goes by. Nothing. Well maybe a slight twinge of anxiety itches Byleth's neck now. Three minutes pass. Four. ...I can't find the ring either, Byleth realizes, crouched over on the freezing floor tiles. She hears Edelgard shouting from the bedroom,
"Dammit! This is-HOW?! How is this happening?!" The frantic throwing of pillows and bedsheets and clothes urge Byleth to intervene, and she gets up off her knees with a pop of cartilage and a groan. All that fighting is making me weak now. "I couldn't have lost it. I just-no. Nonono. It's not really happening," Edelgard denies, smiling forcibly at her hands that are gloveless, and now, ringless. When she notices Byleth moving in the corner of her eye, she spins on her heel and desperately asks Byelth if she found the engagement ring. The empress shakes her head, nervously scratching her opposite arm. Edelgard's face falls, and she kicks at one of the pillows on the floor by her feet rather childishly. Byleth would laugh if the situation weren't this one.
"Get your clothes on while I keep looking," Byleth tells her wife. Edelgard sighs, but gets to it nonetheless. "You still have the wedding band, right?"
"Yes." The emperor quickly bends down at the bedside table and puts the simple knotted silver ring on her finger. Why Edelgard keeps her two rings in separate places has always been a mystery to Byleth, but she hadn't tried to correct her. Maybe she should have in the end. "Alright. You'll still look?" Byleth nods with a confident smile, so Edelgard relents and mopes her way back to the washroom to get changed. As soon as the door shuts, Byleth lets out a shaky breath and rubs her forehead, nearly taking off a brow, before getting right to work.
….
….
….
Skkt. That dreaded door opens again. Edelgard walks in on Byleth with her face to the floor, checking under the dresser and the bed, and Edelgard just drops her head into her palms and whines. This is ridiculous, she thinks, completely aggravated at herself for her failure to take care of something so important. Byleth gave me her mother's ring, the one thing she has left of her, just for me to-"Dammit!" Her shouting urges Byleth to get off her knees and walk over. The comforting hand Byleth rests on her wife is shrugged away. "Don't. I don't deserve coddling when I-"
"-El it has to be somewhere. Besides, it's just a material item. It's not-"
"-No but it's not just a thing, Byleth! I've worn that ring for three years, and it's comforted me in the moments you aren't by my side or-"
"-I know. But it's OK. If it's gone it's gone." Edelgard grits her teeth and tilts head to the side, trying her hardest to hold back another reply because she's getting angrier by the second. Sensing this, Byleth takes a step back. There have only been a few times she's seen her wife this upset and it's never a good thing; more like a raging storm that threatens to tear apart all of the things closest to it. "El," she softly calls, "I can ask someone to craft one just like it."
"I don't want it." Byleth frowns at the sharp response, but Edelgard pays no mind, she just bends down to pick up the blankets and pillows thrown about just to whip them back at the bed. "Let's go. We had plans."
"But-"
"-Let's go," Edelgard repeats, using her emperor voice through and through. Byleth's chest tightens up, because she knows full well this is Edelgard shutting her out right now. I get it. This is upsetting for me just the same. ...I can't really replace a ring that meant so much to my family. Things happen anyhow. Byleth forces herself to believe that, or else she'd probably be stuck with her hand through the wall. This is such shit.
Any of the palace's staff that sees them picks up on the tense mood immediately. Instead of the polite chatter that they usually strike up with Edelgard and Byleth, they just give curt nods. Well, all except Hubert who's standing out in the front gate area where he looks to be scolding the head of military affairs, Caspar, who runs away the second Hubert turns his back.
"...Everything alright, Your Majesty?" Edelgard sniffs and says nothing, breezing past him uncharacteristically. Hubert's face twitches before he looks to Byleth who's been consistently lagging a few steps behind her wife this entire time.
"The engagement ring is missing," Byleth whispers flatly, eyes looking tired now. She already knows she's in for a rather long and stressful day out, because if Edelgard is in this bad of a mood already, Byleth can just imagine how miserable she'll be out in public when people no doubt rush to speak with her again and again. At least they chose to wear their black hooded jackets with slim trousers and button down shirts, so only a handful of people will recognize them.
"Oh no," Hubert breathes, and for once he looks just as devastated as anyone else. It makes her smile despite it all. He's a good friend. "May I search your quarters? And Her Majesty's office?"
"Please," Byleth mumbles. Edelgard's already up ahead, opening the gate while the gatekeeper tries to argue he can do it for him, after all it's his job, but… Edelgard just shakes her head and he backs off, clearly picking up on the mood. Byleth winces and Hubert squints his eyes.
"Perhaps a shabby replacement can be made?" He suggests.
"Well that's the thing. I don't want it to be less than the real one." Byleth huffs up a bitter laugh and adjusts her hood over her head. "Guess I'll be ring shopping instead of anything else today."
"Good luck, Your Majesty. I know you'll pull off some sort of a wonder nonetheless." He bows deeply and she pats him on the shoulder before hurrying off, Edelgard already left the palace grounds. Come on, she thinks tiredly, having to nearly jog her way to her wife.
When Hubert gets to Edelgard's office, he checks every inch, only finding hidden half moldy sweet buns he rolls his eyes at. He checks in the drawers and the rest of the shelves that are stocked with history books and catalogs just like always. Under the large heavy rug, he finds nothing more than dust. He spends another half hour earnestly searching the emperor and empress's private quarters just to yip like a kicked animal when he looks under the bed and finds a treasure trove of their locked away toys for pleasure. He shivers violently when he remembers walking past the doors just the other day to accidently overhear Her Majesty crying out the empress's name. Repulsive. I should have maimed that teacher right then and the-He clears his throat and stands up, slicking his hair back. If Edelgard were to hear such unhinged thoughts, she'd have his head on a stake no doubt. He tries to force his mind into a more positive direction, but when he notices Edelgard has her dagger out on the bedside table, he can't help but twist it around in his hand and reimagine all of the horrified screams he tore out of his foes throats when he had to-
"Hahaha-ggh. Enough," he spits, covering his mouth with his own large, gloved hand. Her Majesty said such outbursts must stop. ...But then again, she isn't here right now. "Hahaha!"
In the Streets of Enbarr:
The two of them are quiet as they swiftly walk down as many side streets as they can, wanting to avoid main roads for obvious reasons. They haven't said a word, either, because both of them are scared of one thing or another. Their fights can spiral out of control fairly easily, what with Edelgard being far more blunt than necessary and Byleth bottling in her words until she bursts. Most famous was their one and only shouting match out in the imperial gardens when guests from Faerghus decided to ask too many deep questions about Edelgard's past and the Tragedy of Duscur, and it had the emperor all riled up. Of course, she couldn't start screaming at those guests, if she didn't want a diplomatic incident, so she blew up at Byleth about her lack of response when the questions were being asked.
"You can't even stand up for me!" Edelgard had yelled, flailing her arms around as Byleth knelt on the ground, picking off some dead petals on the carnations she had been growing. It took her a long time to get her huge selection of carnations to bloom, and she tried her damndest to nod along and listen until Edelgard picked up a couple of dead petals off the ground and threw them at the empress's feet. Byleth stood up so fast that she got dizzy, which was made even worse when she finally snapped and started yelling back at her wife.
"Listen. ALL I DO IS STAND UP FOR YOU!" The intensity of her voice even had someone as intimidating as Edelgard recoiling, let alone all of the servants tending to the garden. Then instead of calming down, Edelgard started yelling about this and that, just for Byleth to nitpick every detail and--Oh Sothis, we are a mess at times, Byleth thinks tiredly. But I'd have it no other way. She's my heart, after all.
Just before they step out into the street, a block away from the grocery store, Edelgard abruptly halts, and Byleth nearly smacks into her from behind.
"El?" Edelgard doesn't respond with words, but she hugs herself and paces backward deeper into the alley; it's a sure sign she's dwelling on something negative in that pretty head of hers. Byleth frowns, but leans up against the side of a barrel of something as she waits.
"In five days we'll have known each other for ten years," Edelgard states. Her arms are still wrapped around her ribs and her back is bent, like she's physically hurting as she says, "I lost the ring. I really lost the ring." Byleth was just about to open her mouth and uselessly repeat that it's alright, that she'll get a replacement for it, because it is not them. The ring may be a symbol, but their love is no different with or without it. But she can't say any of this because Edelgard's choking back a sob, covering her face with the back of her shaking hand. "I can't believe I've done something so-hick! Just careless!" Of course her whine becomes a full on sob, and Byleth's heart lurches as Edelgard's frame wracks with her whimpers.
"El please," Byleth softly calls, hurrying to wrap her wife up in a hug that Edelgard throws herself into. "You don't need to be so upset. I'll go and talk to a jeweler right now."
"I don't wa-hhn-want a new r-ring. The one I had was mine." Byleth lets out a long breath before resting her hand on the back of Edelgard's head and gently pulling her wife's face into her neck. Edelgard's clearly trying to quiet herself by pressing her mouth hard against Byleth's collar, but it hardly works, and the empress tries to think of another time she's even heard Edelgard cry like this. She's not even sure Edelgard is breathing with all of these ragged sobs spasming her frame.
"My heart, breathe for me. Come on." Byleth pulls back just enough to try and wipe some of the tears from Edelgard's flushed face. She just looks so… pitiful like this, that Byleth can't help but want to end it as fast as she can. All of her being wants to fight for her wife, because she swore Edelgard would never have to hurt like this again after the draining war against Those Who Slither in the Dark ended last year. So she does what she knows, and presses a hard kiss to Edelgard's wet lips, surprising the younger woman whose breath hitches. Only a few more weak cries come out of her, and Byleth kisses her again, just as chastley, but she holds it longer.
"I'm sorry," Edelgard whimpers, narrow and puffy eyes looking up at her light. "I've made such an abysmal mistake, my love." Byleth patiently shakes her head no, and reassures Edelgard that,
"It could happen to anyone. But please, let me go get you a replacement. I want you to have two rings on your finger." Edelgard looks reluctant as she hesitates to answer, so Byleth goes about fixing her wife's hood instead. "I've already decided I will do it. So tell me when you've regained your strength, and we'll continue on to the grocery store." There's obvious dissatisfaction etched into the lines on Edelgard's face as she furrows her brow, but Byleth doesn't care. Her El will have that ring, and this time, it will be one she gets to design to perfectly suit her wife. Still, there is the slightest empty feeling when she takes Edelgard's hand and doesn't feel that original ring there. The last piece of her mother's finally gone… it sure does sting. "I'm going to be at Anna's for a while. Meet me out front once you buy-"
"-Alright. I will," Edelgard relents, pulling her hand out of Byleth's grip. They both spin on their heels and walk about a foot before Byleth feels a tugging on her sleeve again. "I forgot to kiss you goodbye for now." Though Edelgard doesn't take more than a moment to act once the words leave her lips, and she threads her fingers through blue hair seconds later. "I'll find you later then, my love."
At Anna's Shop:
"Professor!" The redhead squeals, already clambering over the pile of stuff beside her counter just to side hug the empress. Even though Byleth's told her friends to stop calling her that, she allows it when they're out in public. It's much better than someone yelling out her new title just for pedestrians to dog pile her with praise since Edelgard has put the poor woman on such a high pedestal. "What are you in for today?"
"A new ring for Edelgard."
"Oh! I do know a good jeweler," Anna whistles.
"That's just what I wanted to hear. But I can't really draw, though I have the idea clear in my mindseye." Without looking, Anna leans over the counter and grabs a sheet of parchment paper and a heavily used dip pen that looks about as antique as the ones in the palace.
"Describe it to me. But first," Anna spins open a bottle top and dip the pen into the ink that smells sort of… floral. "What's her ring size?"
"A six and a half," Byleth answers.
"And does she like silver or gold?"
"Silver."
"Good. More affordable. How many stones?"
"Two. One crimson, one indigo," Byleth decides, folding her arms under her breasts.
"And does she like a flat band or more of a twisted kind, like a pretzel almost."
"Well-" Byleth and her stand around, bouncing ideas back and forth off of one another for the better part of a half hour as Anna draws out ideas. Every now and then she gifts Byleth with little knowledge about how these things are made, but what the empress really needs to know is, "Can it be done in five days?"
"Uh. Well. I suppose it could… though melting silver ore is a bit finicky at times. And those colored stones might take more than a few days to import…." Byleth's face falls and Anna winces. "You know what, Professor? It will be. Just because you're such a good customer." Anna can almost swear that Byleth's ears perked up like a happy dog, and she chuckles to herself, high and loud. Then there's a hesitant knock on the rickety wood door. "Come on in! Oh, Your Majesty! Hello." Byleth's eyes lock with Anna's and the merchant smoothly covers up the design plans with a heavy book. When the empress notices the heavy paper bag Edelgard's lugging with one arm, she hurries to try and take it from her. Edelgard just bats her away.
"Now now. I don't need you to dote on me, my love. Have you finished whatever it is you're hiding from me?" Her voice has grown a little softer as she teases Byleth, which the empress greatly prefers over the tight, short responses she was getting before.
"Yes. I'm done. We can head back now." Edelgard nods and says goodbye to Anna just as Byleth does the same.
"I'll see you Monday morning," Anna whispers to Byleth, who smiles in thanks. The door shuts with a thud, gaining the attention of a young boy, most likely in his early teens. He locks onto Byleth, blinking at her once, twice, and then a third time before recognition lights up his eyes. Edelgard smiles to herself as Byleth waves to him, and he blushes fiercely in response before bashfully itching his neck and skirting into the closest store. The two walk on, looking around and making sure things are going well in town. Being in the palace feels so separate from being out in the streets, seeing the pedestrians shuffling about and working their jobs with smiles on their faces. They pass by a street vendor selling patchwork quilts, and they can't help but overhear a customer speaking to the seller.
"Isn't it romantic?" the customer dreamily sighs, holding a coin in her hand just so she can gaze at it. The seller looks… annoyed that the money isn't already in his pocket, but the customer seems to notice nothing. "For the emperor to put her wife on the newest coin-and a coin that holds so much value no less! It's so sweet! She could have just put her own face on it like the past emperors have."
"Uh-huh," goes the seller, stretching his arms over his head. "I think that's only an Enbarr thing. If she really wanted to go all out, she should've forced the rest of Fodlan to use the same coin." Byleth laughs under her breath at his response. Sure. It would have been real easy for El to do that. The coin only debuted a few months ago. Though Byleth can remember the day well, when Edelgard showed it to her.
"My love?! Come here," Edelgard had beckoned. Byleth dropped her lesson plans that she'd been working on for her return to teaching (which won't be until the next school year) and wandered into Edelgard's office that is across from her own. The two of them almost stay exclusively in the West wing of the palace where their offices are, the bedroom, the washroom, and then the stargazing room that Byleth gets lost in about eighty percent of the time. When Byleth had walked in, Dorothea was perched on Edelgard's desk, and the empress wondered how she got away with that, because anytime Byleth sat on Edelgard's desk, the emperor threw a fit since ONE paper got bent at the edge when they tried to have spontaneous sex before. Still, she greeted Dorothea with a polite nod.
"Oh come here, By! I didn't even know you were in your office, you're so darn quiet." She found herself wrapped into a tight hug that cut off all oxygen before Petra came into the office as well. "Hey sweetie."
"AH, Dorothea. I have been wondering where you are. Empress Byleth! I am filled with happiness to see you again!" Once the Brigidian queen got her hug in, Edelgard cut them all off with a cough.
"Now that you've said your hellos, I must show you something, my light." The excitement had Edelgard all jittery, and Dorothea mumbled about how cute it was under her breath as she pulled Petra closer so she could rest her head on the queen's shoulder. Byleth wandered closer to where Edelgard was bent over, pulling out a velvety pouch from an oak cabinet near her massive desk. Her hands that were shaking were now clasped over the pouch, and her lilac eyes grew slightly wet as she turned to face her very confused wife. "Byleth," she started quietly, "You know you mean everything to me, don't you?"
"Of course," Byleth laughed, because how could that even be a question. Edelgard bit her lip slightly, and grinned when Byleth's eyes shot down to stare. The tenseness in her shoulders passed once Byleth rested her hands on Edelgard's arms, silently encouraging the woman to say what she will.
"You're the most valuable thing in my life, and I want the entire country to know that. So…" At last Edelgard undid the tie on the pouch, and the velvet against her gloves had such a calming sound that it made Byleth's ears tingle before Edelgard pulled out a gold coin; one that had Byleth's face in profile on it. There had been very few times Byleth's jaw had ever fallen open in response, but that was one of them. Dorothea and Petra laughed light-heartedly, and Dorothea's eyes were looking a little damp at the open and honest display of affection in front of her. Byleth took the coin from the emperor's hand and just stared at it, completely at a loss for words even still. Edelgard scanned her wife's face, her own lips twisted into a dopey smile. "I'm sorry I didn't ask for permission to use your likeness first."
"No, El, I-This is…." Byleth's words had pittered off, and her thumb traced over every line.
"Do you like it? Truly?" Edelgard asked, wringing her hands together behind her back. Byleth blinked and just looked right through Edelgard, who blushed faintly in response. Even to this day, Byleth's eyes say more than any words ever could. Forgetting where they are, Byleth closed her fist around the coin and pressed it against her heart while her other hand snaked around the back of Edelgard's neck and pulled her in for a hard, nearly bruising kiss.
"I love it," Byleth answered once they pulled apart, their faces were still close. "I love you."
The silly little grin on Byleth's face is ripped away when Edelgard shrugs off her hood and pushes the grocery bag into Byleth's arms. With the grace of the royalty she is, Edelgard clears her throat and approaches the customer and the seller. Even though she's at a respectable distance, and she isn't wearing her intimidating crown, the two startle.
"E-Emperor Edelgard! Hello!" the man stutters, bowing deeply and nearly hitting his head on the counter on the way back up. Edelgard smiles, but her eyes look aggravated as she crosses her hands behind her back. It's a trick Hubert taught her for when she's talking to people she's lost her patience with, otherwise Edelgard has the bad habit of moving her hands rather aggressively, and Byleth used to have to tap her lower back to remind her to stop.
"Hello. I overheard you speaking about the new coin."
"Ah y-yes Your Majesty," the woman says, showing the coin off in her palm. "It's gorgeous. And very sweet that you'd do such a thing," she repeats. A few passerby stop and do a double take, because seeing the emperor without countless guards surrounding her seems… off. Byleth grits her teeth as she finds herself searching the crowd for any threatening faces, a habit she'll never get over.
"Yes. ...And soon that coin won't just be in Enbarr, it has already spread to Faerghus last month, and then further northwest sometime this month. Why, even the queen of Brigid has accepted it into her country." She makes pointed eye contact with the seller who's picking at his tight collar. "So does that work for you, Sir? Have I made enough of a gesture to show the world how much I love my wife?"
"I… yes, Your Majesty. Yes. I… apologize for my words," the man wheezes. Edelgard grins and nods to the woman before blindly handing the seller what he's owed and a bit extra.
"Have a good day," Edelgard finishes, putting her hood back on to signal that she's done, and that the eyes burning into her need to avert their gazes, now. She walks to Byleth, silently takes the bag back under her arm, and beckons her to follow closely. The streets are no doubt quieter before the erupt into gossiping whispers and laughs.
"...You're so hot when you get all worked up," Byleth snickers, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Shush. I will hear not a single doubt about us from anyone's mouth."
"Tell that to the Faerghus lords," Byleth sighs, recalling when she was on horseback with Felix, and a group of men started shouting at her. They only stopped because Felix started barking back at them, going on and on about how terrifying Byleth is with a sword and how she can strike their lowly bodies down and whatnot. Edelgard shifts the groceries in her hold and takes Byleth's hand.
"We both find ourselves in the gazes of the entire country and beyond. There are too many fools who I can't forcibly change. Just know that you have my permission to put those ignorant people in their place. By any means necessary."
"...It doesn't bother me," Byleth replies. "I'm used to people talking about me." And Edelgard hates that it's true. She wishes she could change people's minds, but she settles on changing the superficial things, stripping them of their titles and every other painstaking thing she's done. They walk on, chatting again. It's nice, a good distraction from the lost ring for now. Just before they get onto the long brick path to the palace, Byleth pushes Edelgard along and sneaks off to see her favorite flower-woman, who immediately gets a bouquet ready. When she meets with Edelgard again, who's talking to Caspar out front, her lilac eyes sparkle at the sight of the flowers in the empress's hands. It's an especially gorgeous bunch of white and yellow carnations and forget-me-nots tied together with white paper and a cerulean blue bow. Caspar hums and grabs the groceries, taking them inside for the two as Edelgard hugs her wife in thanks. She's smiling again, Byleth thinks, feeling lighter inside.
Monday Morning; Anna's Shop:
DingDing-Tfft.
"Is it here?" Byleth asks in a hurry, rushing over to the counter. Anna just smiles and bends over, coming back up with a small black box in her hand. "Yes! Thank you!" Byleth scrambles to get the money out of her pocket and tosses it onto the tabletop before popping open the lid of the box and cautiously pulling the ring out. She inspects the underside of the band, where an engravement is now, perfectly centered in script. Anna's head tips to the side and her fingers knock on the wood. "It's exactly how I imagined. Thank you so much, Anna."
"Such praise from you just… stops my heart, Professor. Now go and get your girl." Byleth firmly nods, waving animatedly back at the merchant before zooming down the street like a madwoman. Instead of going through the front of the palace, she sneaks around to the side where the kitchen doors are, and about five cooks scurry over with dishes of freshly made pastries, from donuts to sweet breads to cookies to cakes, all topped off with piping hot bergamot tea on the side.
"Thank you for working so hard," Byleth says. "It means the world to me." Her heart is beating a mile a minute. The women all giggle like little girls as she looks into their eyes. A loud sigh gets the empress's attention and she turns back to the door to see Hubert there, looking as dark as ever. "Did you get the picnic blanket out?"
"Of course. But… do you mind not thanking the staff so… seductively? They're all distracted now." Byleth raises a brow and looks back at the women, bringing the plates of dessert outside as they gossip about… something that Byleth can't make out.
"What are you talking about? They're always like that when I'm around." Hubert narrows his eyes and shakes his head. I suppose she can't change her voice, he thinks. "Can you help me carry this tray? I'm going to go grab a vase to set out there." Hubert stops her with a hand on her wrist, and his fingers are freezing even through the gloves.
"Allow me," he says with a bow. "Her Majesty is just finishing up with a lord in the greeting hall." The empress says her thanks, pats him on the arm, and gets moving. He watches her as she goes and allows himself to smile crookedly. "Yes, you do treat her well, Professor. Thank you."
Minutes Later:
"What on Earth did you plan?" Edelgard blurts, nearly tripping over her own skirt when Byleth pulls her around a corner sharply. "You are going to pull my arm out of its socket while you're at it, my love."
"I'm just… excited," Byleth admits, not bothering to slow down as they go down the steps so fast that their brains don't have time to catch up with their feet.
"You are going to fall down these stairs, and I will laugh at you." Byleth chuckles, winking at Edelgard over her shoulder. When Byleth gets to the bottom landing first, she lets go of Edelgard's hand to instead swoop her off of her feet and carry her bridal style. "Byleth! Down! No." Byleth pays no mind to it and enjoys the looks of the servants as they watch their "brutal" emperor's heels dangle dangle helplessly off of her feet. She eases them through the doorway to the kitchen and Hubert eyes them with disapproval before opening the door to pass through. "Hubert," Edelgard huffs. "Tell her to put me down. Please!"
"..."
"...Hubert," Edelgard whines. Byleth is cracking up on the inside.
"You two stay cool out in this heat," he lectures, walking inside without another word. Byleth silently thanks him with a little twitch of her lips, and he does the same behind the closed door. Once they stalk their way through the garden, and Edelgard finally sees the elaborate set up beneath the white gazebo in the center of the garden, Byleth sets her down, and she swears birds start singing louder.
"My light," the emperor sings, eyes wide as she takes in the lavish set up. The tiers of desserts are the first things she fixates on, and she can feel her stomach twisting with hunger already. "Byleth you are a treasure."
"You can gorge yourself on sweets, with me, my heart." Edelgard hums deep in her throat and pulls her gloves off, stuffing them into her dress pocket before putting her hands against Byleth's cheeks. Their foreheads knock together and their noses bump before they lock lips. Byleth's always liked the way Edelgard's powder pink lip stain tastes, and it's even more delicious later, once it's on the tip of her tongue and she can enjoy the remnants of it in her own mouth after they part. "Come on. Let's get out of this sun." Edelgard happily does, so, refusing to let Byleth's hand go as they sit down on the checkered fabric beneath them. The empress feels thoroughly spoiled when Edelgard clambers into her lap, straddling Byleth's legs so Edelgard can feed the both of them. She especially loves when a bit of frosting from the cake soils her lip, and Edelgard smirks at her before sucking on Byleth's lip to clean it off. The desperate groan that peels out of Byleth's throat is no lie. They eat and eat until their stomachs burn, and they both collapse onto their backs, with Byleth's arm thrown around Edelgard's neck, with long hefty sighs.
"...I'm in pain," Byleth mutters.
"...As am I."
"...Was it worth it?"
"Absolutely," Edelgard sings, turning slightly so her cheek is pressed up against Byleth's shoulder. Her hand not tucked under herself drags along Byleth's stomach, skips over her breasts, and fiddles with a piece of blue hair that's grown out quite long. The empress has been trying to grow her hair out more evenly with bangs only to one side of her face, and since she's been following Edelgard's hair routine, her hair is growing as soft as can be. Edelgard's fingers don't stay there too long, because she absolutely has to trace her finger along Byleth's sharp jaw, tap her playfully on the chin, and then find purchase against the cheek opposite her view. "You are so breathtaking, my love." An amused sniff comes from Byleth's nose.
"I pale in comparison to you."
"Nonsense," Edelgard argues, pulling at Byleth's earlobe in retaliation. "Not a day goes by that I don't open my eyes in the morning just to have my heart stop when I set my sights on you." Byleth turns her head slightly, just to look at Edelgard a little better. There's such a calm, soft, smile on her lips that she only ever gives Byleth; of which the empress knows, and she appreciates it more than anything outside of Edelgard's general presence.
"I… feel like there are just no words that will ever be enough to explain how much I love you, El." For whatever reason, without thinking much of it, Edelgard says,
"I dare you to try." Byleth smiles and puts her arm behind her head, propping them up a little more.
"Excuse me if I seem to stumble, but… it's everything really," Byleth explains. "I worship even the sound of your steps as you walk down the hall. I jump out of my seat when you knock at my office door. When we have the time to share meals outside of dinner together, I can hardly keep my food down, because I'm just so… giddy being around you. Whenever I'm traveling for work, and the postman gives me a letter with your wax seal on it, my eyes literally water. And whenever I talk to someone, our friends or… some merchant who has no idea who I am, I find myself bringing you up until I lose all of my breath." She chuckles, and she shuts her eyes as she continues. "Sometimes, at night," she says, more seriously now, "when I wake up to you crying in your sleep, I… cry for you. Because, it's-it's like I can feel it, all of the pain you have still in your heart. But when I kiss your forehead, and I whisper into your ear to remind you that I'm still there, you stop crying. And more and more, I long for that feeling of connection between us. It comes so naturally, and it feels right. Like nothing else in the world. And I guess that makes sense… because you… are my world, El."
Sniff.
Byleth opens her eyes and looks over at Edelgard who's bashfully wiping tears from her eyes. It just about melts the empress's heart.
"I'm overwhelmed with your love right now," Edelgard mutters, "You amazing woman." Suddenly Byleth becomes hyper aware of the box tucked into the pocket of her sleek new jacket Hubert left in her office for her this morning. Another thing she must thank him for.
"There's one more thing," Byleth says, reaching into the pocket. The two of them sit fully upright, and Byleth kisses a tear falling down Edelgard's cheek before introducing the box to Edelgard's tiny hand. When the emperor glances down, her head immediately snaps back up.
"You didn't."
"I did." Edelgard is on the verge of crying all over again, and she curses herself mentally for being so emotional at such a happy time as if she's a cliche woman in some romance novel. Pop! And just like Byleth did when she first saw the coin with her likeness, Edelgard's jaw falls wide open. Byleth smiles foolishly down at her wife, who's pulling out the ring and treating it like it's the most fragile thing in the world. The band looks a lot like Byleth's mother's ring, but one stone is crimson, for Edelgard, and one is indigo, for Byleth. She turns the ring just so, and sees that on the inside of the band, it reads; My heart, My light, Our life.
"Byleth?"
"Yes?"
"I am about to cry again."
"I'll hold you until you're done," Byleth breathes, and she does just as promised.
Hours Later:
Edelgard falls into the bed with Byleth on top of her, both of them already shed of any and all clothing. Their mouths refuse to part as they clamber up the mattress, and the sheets rustle under them when they kick down the bed's duvet. Earlier they were practically ripping each other's clothes off, but now that they're in bed, they've slowed down, taking the time to kiss passionately and graze their hands over each other's bodies. Picking up on the mood, Byleth knows what kind of night this one is, so she tries to reach under the bed for the toy that has one smaller piece for Byleth, and a longer one for Edelgard. She grins when she has to struggle to reach because Edelgard leaned over with her, peppering kisses down her neck and shoulder until Byleth just barely grabs hold of the box they hide away and unclasps it. Once the toy is resting on the bed,up near the pillows, Edelgard bites her lip in earnest, and a flood of arousal pools between her legs. She feels like it must be leaking onto the sheets, and if it isn't now, it will soon. Byleth's eyes grow too heavy to keep open as she presses hot kisses to the underside of Edelgard's wrist and moves down her arm, stopping to leave a dark mark on the emperor's clavicle.
"Think of me when you see this," Byleth orders, talking with her huskier voice that squeezes more arousal out between Edelgard's thighs that she's desperately squeezing tight so she can at least get some friction.
"I will," she rasps, nonverbally asking for more of anything when she pushes her chest out. Byleth sighs, completely enraptured with the sight of her wife's breasts. She ducks her head, licking at a nipple lazily before taking it into her mouth. "Hhh, Byleth~." Her front teeth bite down on the hardening bud, coaxing out another moan that sounds even better than the last. The empress settles down on Edelgard's side so she can run a hand back and forth over Edelgard's stomach, skipping past where Edelgard needs her most, to press and knead the younger woman's thighs, all for the sake of easing Edelgard into this. Seh continuously switches back and forth between Edelgard's breasts, leaving marks now and again, but when her fingers wander between Edelgard's legs and her middle finger presses against her clitoris, her finger literally slips down, and she nearly presses inside of Edelgard by accident.
"...Wow." You are completely soaked, my heart.
"I know," Edelgard says, laughing only for a moment. Two of Byleth's index fingers play around, spreading the wetness all over Edelgard's lower lips because she knows her wife likes the feeling more than she lets on. The emperor keeps squirming under her touch, just begging for Byleth to go in already. "Can… Do you think we can just use the toy already?"
"Mmm. Tell me if it hurts, though." You are so sweet even years later, Edelgard thinks, getting up on her elbows to watch as Byleth shuffles between her thighs on her knees. With ease, Byleth presses one end of the toy into herself, but… it looks like she's soaking too, because it slips out twice. They both grin, probably thinking the same thing before Byleth nudges Edelgard's shoulder with her own. "Lie back for me." The excitement in Edelgard's stomach is unrivaled. They've had sex many times. They've switched up positions, tried doing it in different rooms, a handful of things, but none of them ever come close to how good it feels when they do it like this. Face to face. Breasts pressed together. Byleth above Edelgard with her elbows on either side of her head tucked under the pillows so Edelgard's long beautiful hair can fan out across the top. Just… perfection. But they aren't quite there yet.
Edelgard grabs onto the tip of the phallus, stretching her arm between their bodies as she guides the toy against her. When her thumb brushes up against Byleth's clitoris, the older woman whines and her eyes squeeze shut. A satisfied smirk eats away at Edelgard then. She presses the toy into her wetness, smearing it thoroughly, and then there. Right there! It goes in so easily now, and they both moan out probably louder than necessary. Their bodies shiver, and goosebumps appear all over their skins at the first slow thrust of Byleth's hips. With her head fully pressed back into the pillows, she opens and closes her eyes, watching Byleth as her jaw sets. The empress is always so focused on Edelgard's body, her brows tight as she listens to the younger woman's moans, seeking out the pace that causes her breath to hitch. Her head always dips down so she can drag her tongue over the long jagged scar on Edelgard's chest as if she's cleaning it like some sort of animal nurturing another. When she does it this time, Edelgard cries out, because Byleth's hips snapped forward just right, and when Byleth lifts her head again, her eyes looks so sincere, so ready to do anything for the woman under her.
"You, Byleth… are so go-hnnh-good to me. Aren't you?" A satisfied grin tugs at the empress's lips, and she leans her hips in closer to Edelgard so she can gently jut into her, getting that toy nice and deep now. Edelgard's legs wrap around her wife's hips, pulling her in impossibly closer because deep is just everything.
"I try." It's Byleth's turn to watch Edelgard, whose chin is tipping further and further up so more of her throat is exposed as she moans somewhat breathlessly. The rings on Edelgard's fingers feel cool on her back, but the coolness dissipates quickly once Edelgard starts pressing her closely trimmed nails into Byleth's skin. Scratch me, Byleth begs on the inside. Come on I love when you do that. Well now she's dead set on that, so the empress slides her arm underneath Edelgard's waist and presses her in closer, manually grinding Edelgard's hips up into it.
"MMM-hah!"
"That feels good, huh El?"
"Y-Yes!" Byleth thinks she might be getting lightheaded, but who cares. She gets up on her palms and starts moving just a little faster, keeping her pace steady. The sound of their skin slapping is lethargic. They want to hear more. Edelgard's eyes are dazed out as she looks up, unashamed by the redness on her face or the whininess in her voice as Byleth takes her. She gives herself to Byleth, really. That's a victory in its own right. "You're doing so-hhh-so well."
"You are too," Byleth pants, catching her breath a moment later just to have it taken away when Edelgard's fingers pinch and tug at her nipples. It trips up her rhythm, and she has to shake her head to get back into it. Edelgard laughs at her, light and free, and it's maybe the most beautiful noise Byleth's ever heard in her life. "Goddess, I love you, Edelgard!" A sharp cry chokes the empress up and Edelgard looks up at her with wide, wanting eyes that most likely mirror her own blue ones. Just like that, the switch flips in them.
Byleth ruts against her wife, and Edelgard keens, finally digging her nails into Byleth's back and completely cracking any sense of rationality the empress had in her. She lets out a mixture of a growl and a moan and drops down, tucking her hands under Edelgard's perspiring back before nipping at Edelgard's quivering jaw. The pure instinct, the rawness of Byleth's movements now drive Edelgard insane, and now she just… can't stop herself from moaning.
"Ungh, Byleth! Byleth! More, more!" Her hands grab at Byleth's backside, squeezing the flesh and pulling her wife into her as her hips are pushing up so the toy can just get that. Much. Deeper. Until it almost hurts but it's just right and Byleth is breathing into her ear, telling Edelgard she's beautiful, and she's hers, only hers, and she's-
"Fuuuuck," Byleth bleats, gritting her teeth and stuffing her face into Edelgard's tensing neck. Edelgard is clenching so tightly on the toy that any movement of Byleth's just has Byleth's slippery insides squelching on the glass of the thing. In a desperate attempt to finally get them there, Byleth starts humping into her wife with all she has, and the entire bed rattles and squeaks under the force of it. "FUCK, Edelgard! El! Hhn-Nnnh!" Edelgard is panting underneath her, her mouth completely open to the air. Her nails are probably leaving so many marks down the empress's back now, poor Byleth will be sore later. She instead presses her hand on the back of Byleth's head, rubbing encouragingly at her scalp as Byleth's cries grow strained. Edelgard's in awe as Byleth cums, harder than she has in a while. The strangled cry of her name sets Edelgard off, and her orgasm washes over and swallows her whole.
Edelgard's insides pulsate around the toy for a full minute before it stops, and elation has her body shivering even with Byleth's warmth on her. She twitches hard when Byleth exhaustedly pulls out, flopping over onto her back. The empress pulls the toy out of herself, and Edelgard catches the long string of arousal that sticks from the end of the toy to the inside of Byleth before snapping in the middle, and she somehow feels herself already getting warm down there. She clicks her tongue when her wife tosses it blindly over the side of the bed.
"...You realize you're going to get arousal on the carpet," the emperor scolds lightly, turning onto her side with her head propped up on her hand.
"Who cares?" Byleth mumbles, throwing her arm over her eyes. Edelgard's ok with that, she can stare at Byleth's body without judgme- "I can feel your eyes burning into my skin, you goof."
"Goof?! Just who do you think you're speaking too? You... "
"You what?" Byleth teases, "You perfect specimen?" She laughs at herself, and Edelgard rolls her eyes hard. Just as Edelgard was about to speak, Byleth bites down on her tongue and snorts. Actually snorts. And Edelgard can't hold back her laughter after that. She's never heard Byleth laugh this hard over something so silly but it's absolutely precious in her mind. Byleth's never laughed with little heehee's or pfff-hahaha's before, but now Edelgard, determined in all things, swears to herself she will make her wife laugh this way again.
"Alright alright," Edelgard breathes, trying to cover her mouth to stop herself from smiling because it hurts. "My stomach can't take anymore giggling." Edelgard pushes Byleth's arm away from her eyes, and they look at each other, not saying anything for a while. The sun is completely down now, so Edelgard's pretty glad she lit a candle by her bedside table earlier. This is one of her favorite parts of any night, getting to just look at Byleth. She thinks about when she was younger, when Byleth was… gone, and she had cursed herself for allowing her mind to forget the face of the person who swept her entirely off her feet and changed her life through and through. Edelgard had tried drawing her teacher at least forty times in those long five years, and she tried painting her even more so. When people said they'd help, to say whether it looked like Byleth or not, she grew agitated, lashed out at even Dorothea, because no. No one should have known her teacher's face like she did. The moment she saw Byleth again, five years later, at the flop of a millennium festival, she made an oath to herself that she'd never let a day go by that she didn't look at the face of the person that sums up her entire world.
"What are you thinking about?" Byleth quietly asks. Edelgard didn't even notice Byleth had been trying to clean her with a wet rag she brought in earlier until now. Edelgard embarrassedly shakes her head and takes the rag from her wife's hand, cleaning herself roughly. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. It's just a sappy thought is all."
"I like sappy," Byleth shrugs.
"I know you do," Edelgard hums, kissing the tip of Byleth's nose. "Are you satisfied with tonight? Shall I do anything more for you?" her wife shakes her head, and some blue hair tumbles over her shoulder.
"I just want to hold you now." Edelgard's heart flutters, and she kisses Byleth sweetly on the lips before turning over. Quickly does Byleth move closer, pressing her chest to the emperor's back and then wrapping an arm around Edelgard's wide waist. It feels nice, how Byleth's hands never stop moving, they always run along her sides, up and down her arms, and Edelgard just lets her. She moves her arm so Byleth can touch more of her stomach, and her hand falls in front of her face, the hand with the rings on her finger. This airy little sigh rolls off her tongue, but she doesn't have long to stare at the rings because Byleth's hand comes up to interlace their fingers, hiding the back of Edelgard's hand against the bed. "You really are beautiful El."
"Mm. I doubt you'll be saying that soon. My Father got terribly deep wrinkles under his eyes by the time he was thirty-five. Same with my Mother."
"I don't care," Byleth tells her, kissing the back of her head and breathing in the soft floral scent of her wash. "I would still think you were beautiful even if you were four-hundred pounds."
"...That may well happen, seeing as how much you spoil me with treats."
"Then so be it," the empress chuckles, dropping her head against the pillow.
….
….
"You've said so many things that have genuinely touched the deepest parts of my soul today," Edelgard mentions. Her voice is soft, vulnerable just like the powdery blue jewel that hangs on her forehead when she has her crown on. Byleth finally realizes that gentleness used to be brokenness. It was how she looked when they met again, when five bitter years went by without warning. Edelgard wasn't the arrogant girl she used to be; she was a strong, powerful, yet incredibly lonely woman then. But she isn't now. Not with Byleth at her side. "Perhaps I should try to say some, too."
"You don't have to. I feel how much you love me in everything you do."
"I'm glad for that," Edelgard sighs, "But I should try, just as you did."
"Alright."
"You're brave, my light."
"So are you El." They smile, but they don't turn to face each other. Edelgard's glad for that… she has a hard time even now, being open at times. She's so used to repressing. She had to get used to it even as a child.
"You changed my life the moment you walked into it. You saved me then, at Remire, and you have saved me so many times since then. Even as a child, I never felt… safe. Obviously, under this very palace I was… defiled and…" she trails off with a shiver, her throat getting tight. It seems dark in the room. Like the cells… like… stop this. Don't let your mind go there. "Even before then, I felt unimportant, as though I was a spare to my Father, who had so many children that he didn't even bother to speak to half of us. My Uncle changed, he acted… oddly around me, to say the least. It wasn't… right, the way he touched me-I-"
"-El," Byleth interrupts, letting go of Edelgard. "Are you… going to be ok talking about…?"
"I'll just get to the point," she chokes out. She doesn't continue until she feels Byleth's hand on her again, calming her down. "Despite everything, all of my fears, all of my… trauma, I suppose. It's just you Byleth. You make me feel safe. Completely safe. And I never thought I'd have the right to feel that way."
"You deserve the world, El." Edelgard sniffs sadly, only half believing that to be true. But Byleth pulls her closer, wrapping both arms around Edelgard's stomach and sharing her warmth, her light so to speak, with Edelgard. It doesn't seem dark in the bedroom anymore. It's not scary. Nothing can hurt her now. "I'm so glad you trust me."
"As am I. ...As am I, my love. I fear I wouldn't have ever made it this far in my life without you."
"I don't want to even think about it," Byleth whispers, because she knows it's true. One person, no matter how strong, can't hold the weight of the world all by their lonesome. But two people. Well… we've proved it's possible haven't we? Byleth thinks. We hold up the weight of our world. Together.