Before I start the chapter, I feel like I should clarify something. I do not truly hate Edelgard. At least, not entirely. Like I said, she's not Caesar, she's House. I do think that some of what she accomplishes is laudable. The pre-game status quo definitely had to go, and while Edelgard isn't a perfect solution, she still ends up accomplishing some good. The problem is that there were better ways to accomplish that available, and she didn't look for them. Had she ever actually talked to Claude and (after pinning the blame for Duscur on Thales) Dmitri, and more importantly listened to them, she could have accomplished more with far less bloodshed. Rhea may have disliked it, but with the three of them presenting a united front, they maybe could have at least persuaded her to hear them out. (Read: they could have persuaded Byleth and Seteth to hear them out and gotten them to get through to Rhea.) I get that she had reasons not to trust them, but anyone is better to work with than Thales Inculta. Just because I disagree with her actions doesn't mean I'm inclined to always think the worst of her. But equally, just because I recognize that she had some good points doesn't mean that I think she was justified.

I'm not saying Rhea's actions were justified either, but she's more aware of that than Edie, both in canon and here.

Hope this helps give some perspective.

Edelgard and Hubert left the cell in silence, and neither of them spoke of anything that happened within until they reached one of their secret meeting rooms. The rooms were designed to be entirely spy-proof, with no places a spy could listen in, but Hubert checked the room thoroughly before they moved on from idle conversation about events that were public knowledge.

"The room is clear," Hubert finally told her.

"I know what you are probably thinking. You think I should have asked for something in return for helping her," Edelgard said.

"Actually, it could end up being a good thing that you didn't," Hubert contradicted. "It becoming known that you threatened a baby's life to blackmail the Church could end up being a point of rebellion. Never mind that the nobles do it, people can be rather myopic when it comes to morals.

"It's not as if we aren't planning on removing most of them," Edelgard pointed out.

"Quite. Regardless, this could give us an opportunity. When we are in more of a position to move against Those Who Slither In the Dark, we may be able to pin the abuses of the Church on them, as a corruptive force that caused the Church to stray from its principles, thereby painting us as the defenders of the faith rather than its attackers. We have evidence that they did so with the Wester Church, and can likely make it look as if they did the same with the Eastern Church. We can return Rhea to show that we bear no ill will towards the faith itself, and when we remove much of its political power, we can justify it as a way to prevent the Church from being infiltrated by deceivers again. It may be enough to convince the Church to work with us in good faith."

Edelgard frowned. "Was that a pun?"

Hubert looked slightly embarrassed. "Not an intentional one."

Edelgard thought about it. "I would prefer to disband the Church, but this may be needed." People who relied on faith were weak, but forcing them to give up their faith would only serve to break Fódlan further, which it would be preferable to avoid. Taking away the Church's power without removing it completely would work. But it did still leave one problem. "The Church would have to cooperate."

"True, but you just potentially opened a line of communication. Convince Rhea that you want to work with her, not against her. Get her to see your way of thinking."

"I doubt she would be so eager to give up her power." Rhea's fear for her child was genuine; Edelgard would not dispute that. And it was possible that her apparent benevolence wasn't an act; the idea had been floating around in her mind since the Archbishop had allowed herself to be captured covering the escape of her congregation, but she had only now allowed herself to seriously consider it. But even if she did have a more human side that Edelgard hadn't known about, if she didn't care about power, she would have stepped down as Archbishop some time ago.

"Then find something that she wants, and use that. Or if she won't be reasonable, we can use the 'fact' that she was powerless to stop the 'deception' to convince the Church that she isn't fit to remain Archbishop, and negotiate with her successor."

"Which probably won't help, as her successor will more than likely be Seteth, and that leaves us with the same problems," Edelgard thought. "Let's table this discussion for now. Do you have any ideas for getting the Archbishop to a secure location without Thales noticing?"

"You insult me. I have eighteen fully-formed plans."

That evening...

An old man with a gray beard walked weakly to a shabby-looking building and knocked on the door. The person on the other side opened a slot to talk through. "What do you want?"

"I'm here to play a game of chess," the old man said. "You invited me, remember?"

"When was our last game, and what was the final move?"

"Our last game was sixteen days ago. I had the white pieces. On move 46, I played rook to d6, attacking the pawn on c6. You resigned because you could not defend the pawn, and the only way to stop me from promoting my c-pawn was to sacrifice your bishop."

A brief pause. "Yes, you definitely played chess with me before. Come in." The door opened, and the old man hobbled through.

After the door closed behind him, he stood up straight and removed his fake beard, revealing the face of Hubert von Vestra. "Chess?"

"Of course," said the other man, who was tall but not absurdly so, had long black hair pulled into a ponytail and an eye patch, and probably would have been considered quite handsome.

Of course, that was the face of the man he had killed and replaced. Corvis was an Agarthan, which meant Hubert had to be wary of him. Hubert was completely sure that Corvis hated Thales, as evidenced by him setting the Agarthan King on fire during an attempt to capture Acting Archbishop Seteth, but he also knew that the man was a pyromaniac and murderer who wouldn't think twice before killing someone in cold blood. The only reason Hubert could put up with him was because Corvis was useful for now.

Specifically, he was a useful asset for screwing Thales over. "I need the entirety of Those Who Slither In the Dark to be distracted for a day."

"Interesting," Corvis replied. "I doubt you're planning on making your move against them immediately." He moved a piece on the board.

"Of course not. Consider it a long-term investment. One that the Empire will not share with Thales." He pushed a pawn forwards. "It is imperative that he does not find out about it."

"Hmm," Corvis thought to himself. "I may be able to do something. But even if Thales is distracted, he will have spies, both Agarthan and human. He won't call them all off."

"I know who the Agarthan spies are," Hubert replied as he developed his knight. "There is only so much that can be done to cover up an absence long enough for an Agarthan to replace someone. As for human spies, I have already ensured that no one involved is in Arundel's pocket, and I am leaving a false paper trail to throw anyone else off the scent."

"Well then," Corvis mused. "In three days' time, I can arrange a power struggle in Shambala that will call for Thales's personal attention. If you move then, you can take advantage. Don't tell me what you are planning. I want to figure it out for myself."

A thought bother Hubert. "If I may ask, why are you helping Edelgard? I want to know."

"That question calls for a story," Corvis said, capturing a bishop. "When I was still human, the thing I loved most was chaos. I never felt more at peace than when I was surrounded by the smell of burning and the sound of screaming. Upon becoming this," he shifted briefly into his Agarthan form, "I discovered a kind of chaos I could never have hoped to enjoy. The chaos that can be found in history. Where words spoken between two people can cause a war on a completely different continent.

"Thales wants to make the entire world slaves to his will. A world where nothing ever changes. That is a world I don't want to live in," Corvis said. "But Edelgard? She wants to try something no one has ever tried before. Will she build something that will last, or will it crash and burn? I want to see what happens."

"I suppose that is as much reason as can be expected from a madman," Hubert thought.

"Checkmate, by the way," Corvis said as he moved his rook to f4.

Three days later, Lord Arundel was meeting with Edelgard. "I have good news. In the most recent battle, Dmitri Blaiddyd went missing and is presumed dead. Without him, the Kingdom will soon fall."

"Are you sure he's dead?" Edelgard asked. "It could end up complicating things if he resurfaces."

"Not entirely," Arundel admitted. "His death, if it happened, was not at the hands of one of mine. But regardless, the Kingdom is currently weakened, and it allows for an opportunity to sway the Kingdom nobles to our side. It will be far more difficult for him to present a threat if he still lives."

"Yes, it is fortunate," Edelgard agreed. "Was this all?"

"No," Arundel said. "I wanted to discuss the Nabatean once more. If you would allow us to harvest her blood..."

"We have had this conversation before," Edelgard told him. "The Archbishop will not be harmed unless I say otherwise."

"But think of--" he was cut off by one of his minions teleporting into the room. "Lord Thales. There is a...situation in Shambala that requires your immediate attention. Razal is attempting to activate the Javelins of Light."

"The fool! He'll doom us all!" The two of them immediately teleported away, leaving Edelgard alone in the room."

"That is one hell of a distraction," Edelgard thought to herself.

Hubert, accompanied by two guards, escorted Rhea to the carriage that had been requested for her transportation to her official holding site.

"The Death Knight should be dealing with the spy tracking us by now," Hubert told her. "We're scheduled to stop at a maintenance depot for fresh horses. Several unmarked carriages are waiting there, with no record of them. You will be placed on one of them that will take you to the actual holding site, where you will stay until the baby is born and you both are well enough to travel. Afterwards, we will discuss the best course of action."

"Thank you," Rhea said softly, almost whispering, seeming as if she was finally relaxing.

"Don't thank me. I just do as my Emperor commands."

Rhea looked at him. "I do have one question. You are Edelgard's right-hand man, so you should know. Byleth. Is he still alive?"

"The Professor? To tell the truth...we don't know," Hubert told her. "He hasn't been seen since Garreg Mach. But we never found the body, so he may still be out there."

Rhea said nothing, but Hubert read between the lines. "The Professor is the father, isn't he?"

Rhea nodded sadly. "He is."

Hubert's strictly professional expression softened ever so slightly. "I would not give up hope just yet. I've seen him fight. Dying is not something he does well."

We have now saved the baby. The only thing left to do now is make sure we still have a Fódlan for them to grow up in.

Corvis is more or less a plot device to allow Hubert to manipulate the Agarthans, to be honest, but at the same time, if I was going to write a traitor to the Agarthans, I did want to at least give him a bit of a personality. He's not even close to being a main character, but he'll show up again when we actually get to the fight against the Agarthans. That won't be for a while, though.