Goddess Tower
The warm glow of candlelight from the grand chandeliers above gave the entire ballroom a dream-like appearance. Bouquets of deep, red roses in full bloom added to the effect, as they were well out of season but likely tended in the Garreg Mach greenhouse for the occasion. Wearing their formal uniforms, the sleek black trimmed with shining gold embroidery and accents, the room full of students brimmed with nervous energy.
Why do they all hesitate to ask another to dance? Sothis complained resentfully, since she did not have a physical form with which she could engage the world. Byleth had a feeling the tiny goddess ached to cavort with the others and sample all the party food.
Because they are terrified of being rejected, I suppose, the soldier answered her spiritual parasite. Better to imagine a blissful what-if than the bitter taste of harsh reality.
The response only half-satisfied the green-haired dragoness however. Would it not be better to know that the object of your affection does not return your feelings so you can find a partner more worthwhile?
Byleth shrugged, unable to provide a satisfactory reply. How would I know?
Edelgard was dancing with an unremarkable young man, but she flashed a charming smile as they swayed in time to the music nonetheless. Byleth imagined with some amusement that Hubert currently hid in a corner wishing the boy ill. He had, after all, vowed to "destroy" all of Edelgard's "unworthy suitors" the evening before. The mercenary expected all who experienced the misfortune of encountering the brooding young man on their way to the heir of the Empire would be "convinced" one way or another.
As Byleth observed the crowd, Claude, the leader of the Golden Deer approached her and offered his hand to the professor. Her sapphire eyes blinked in surprise, but she accepted his hand and followed the striking young man to the dance floor.
"It seems we are making others jealous," Byleth teased the son of House Riegan, nodding her head toward a swarm of young ladies who pouted at the sight of Claude dancing with another woman.
"I'd say you're more popular, Teach," Claude shot back as he led her in the rhythmic motions of the waltz.
Byleth sighed. "I don't see why," she muttered in annoyance. "I am not as good with people as I am on the battlefield."
Claude's turquoise eyes flashed with uncertainty. "I wouldn't say that, Teach. Give yourself some more credit!" He winked at her. "Then again, they don't call women such as yourself femme fatales without reason, am I right?"
Is he… flirting? Sothis wondered. She paused to consider the suit. He is a handsome boy, I will admit.
I have no intention of romancing anyone tonight, Byleth snapped back silently. But she quickly composed herself. "You are clearly flattering me, Claude," the blue-eyed woman chuckled. "And while I hope that charm serves you well in life, don't forget your brains."
"Don't you worry, Teach. I use them all the time," Claude assured the teal-haired woman, with a two-fingered tap to his head as the music faded away. "Thanks for the dance." They parted ways and no sooner than the Golden Deer had vanished to claim another partner of his own, another young man appeared before her to request the next song be his to entertain her. He was gangly and awkward at best, but Byleth could not refuse politely, so she decided not to do so at all. It was a ball, so the attendees were expected to dance.
But once one student was humored, more of them joined the ceaseless fray and the mercenary eventually became tired of entertaining dull, naïve boys - and a few red-faced girls - who knew nothing of the world.
After a few hours, Byleth eventually escaped outdoors, slipping past the crowd with the excuse of fresh air. When she discovered that just beyond the doors of the ballroom were also relatively occupied, the vessel of Sothis sought a more private spot to collect herself inside a nearby tower.
Finally, a moment of peace! Sothis practically sighed with relief. Who knew dancing was so tiring?
Byleth herself suppressed a yawn when she heard the echo of approaching footsteps. The teal-haired woman adjusted her stance, ready for any potential attack. But it was Caspar who appeared from the darkened corridor, not some would-be assassin. "Hey, Professor!" the physical training-junkie shouted in greeting. "I was looking all over for you." The sky-blue haired youth stopped before her, one hand on his hip as he used the other to solicit an answer from her. "What are you doing up here? I think this place is supposed to be off-limits…"
"Off-limits," yet you are also here, Byleth almost said aloud. She noticed his sleeves were already rolled up to his elbows as he normally wore them, despite the formal occasion. Byleth half-wished the female uniforms allowed the same kind of adjustment to cool off one's body.
"If it's only 'supposed to be...'" she countered with a smirk. "Then clearly it is not an enforced rule."
Caspar's eyes twinkled at his teacher clearly dismissing monastery rules. "Heh! Good point!" the punch-happy lad agreed. "No one follows that rule anyway, and I heard no one from the monastery really cares," he added with an upward motion of his shoulders.
Had her student heard something interesting about lax security within the monastery? "Where did you hear that?" Byleth asked casually.
Caspar scratched his head. "Huh. I can't remember her name. It was just some girl who started talking to me last night."
But this was not the first time Byleth had heard one of these tales of obliviousness from her smallest male pupil. It turned out he was quite popular with the girls his age - at least until he opened his mouth to say something unintentionally heartless. Like how he called Bernadetta a flopping fish the night prior. It began a whole wave of misunderstandings, especially for Petra. Once again, Caspar is clueless… she sighed internally.
This does not bode well for the poor girl, Sothis concurred with her host. It is not a good sign when a boy cannot even recall your name.
Caspar continued his rambling. "She was trying to get me to leave the ball tonight and go to the Goddess Tower with her. She wouldn't say what she wanted to do here though. Said it was a secret or something."
Does he ever stop to breathe and think things through for even a moment? Sothis inquired in awe of Caspar's inability to read the room.
"I told her I'd be too busy dancing and stuffing my face with food, so she left," the blue-eyed boy recalled. He shrugged, "Don't know why, but she didn't seem too happy about it. I guess I was curious though, so I came to check it out. That's when I saw you walking this way, so I followed you in."
Wait… This is the Goddess Tower?! Byleth realized in an internal panic. This is the last place she wanted to be. This was the epicenter for raging teenage hormones and sappy love confessions for one night only and of course she stumbled right into the trap like a fool.
This was bound to lead to all sorts of confessions from infatuated teens because Byleth was perfect in their eyes. Whenever she made an embarrassing or morally ambiguous mistake that would cause major harm to her reputation, it was easily undone. Now she would definitely have to hide. "Why on earth would anyone do something so stupid?" Byleth thought aloud, angry at herself for not being more discerning about where she hid from the throngs of students.
But Caspar, unaware of Byleth's internal dialogue, believed that her question was directed at him. "Isn't it? She wouldn't explain herself and she got angry!"
Byleth blinked, held her hands to her ears and redirected her flow of consciousness. No matter her mistakes, the professor would have to address the elephant in the room. "I was referring to you," she informed the boy in a half-truth. His lack of attention to social aspects had certainly caused a problem that Byleth recognized. While teenagers were not the most direct beasts, both Caspar and the girl were at fault in their own way. Caspar simply avoided the pain and awkwardness by being so thick-headed.
"Huh? Why?" the student seemed taken aback by the idea.
The woman sighed heavily. "Think, Caspar! This girl tried speaking to you for the first time the night before the biggest social event of the year and wanted to see you alone."
Caspar tapped his chin with a closed fist as he pondered the situation over again. Impatiently, Byleth rushed toward him and slammed the wall behind him with her fist. "Don't overthink it," she warned. Then again, Garreg Mach's newest lecturer was not sure the short kid could do such a thing.
I believe this is what aggressive males who are not skilled in verbalizing their emotions do when they are trying to confess to a female… Sothis pointed out, addressing Byleth's stance.
Immediately, Byleth backed off upon hearing such news and hoped that her student would get the wrong idea, but Caspar's eyes lit up with realization as he misinterpreted his professor's actions in a completely different way. "She wanted to fight me!" he exclaimed, tapping his right fist into the open palm of his left. "Aw, man, I don't normally fight girls, but if she really wanted me to show her a thing or two, I coulda done that. Why didn't she say so?"
The mercenary felt her stomach drop in disbelief. There is no sense trying to tell him, Byleth decided dejectedly. Even if I tell him directly, he will find a way to dodge understanding.
"Well, it's all over now," Caspar lamented the supposed missed opportunity to duel. "Can't change what's in the past."
"Maybe you should worry about the past a little," Byleth said, despite herself. So you don't continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.
"Ugh. Really? I just don't like to dwell…" Caspar rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "But if you say so, I could keep it in mind." He dropped his arms and lifted his shoulders. "Anyway, I'm going to head back to the ball. You coming?" His eyes scanned the empty room of the stone tower. "Doesn't look like there's anything too exciting going on here."
"...I'm going to stay." She needed another break before returning to the crowded ballroom. For an entirely different reason now.
"Alright. Don't stay too long though. You might catch a cold," Caspar reminded her out of polite concern. "Welp, I'm starting to get hungry again. Time to fill up on some more food!"
Byleth allowed her face to fall into her hand and lean out the window of the tower. "I hate teaching sometimes…" she growled. "I am not equipped for this."
Sothis laughed. Children will be children! Perhaps someday he will understand.
Or someone will take it upon themselves to make him understand their romantic intentions.
Perhaps that, then… Sothis agreed.
Byleth had finally begun to recover from Caspar's inhuman ability to completely miss the point when Hubert strolled in as if he owned the Goddess Tower, crossing his arms over his chest in a manner that Byleth read as calculatingly intended to be both protective to his person and intimidating to others: "Here for a tryst, Professor?"
The woman froze. Hubert had not seen what happened with Caspar, had he? Is he making fun of me?
"I won't interfere, the dark-haired man assured his teacher. "I shall take my leave at once." Hubert lowered his arms and bowed condescendingly. "Farewell."
Byleth frowned. She was not about to let him get away with this. "What do you mean, a tryst?" she queried, raising an eyebrow.
Hubert feigned innocence, a quality from which she suspected he rid himself many years ago by necessity or choice. "You have arranged to meet someone here at the Goddess Tower, have you not?"
Byleth shook her head. "No, not at all." The instructor did not want any misgivings about her intentions of hiding herself in the romantic hotspot for a while, especially when she was in a respected position within the monastery.
"I see," he replied, stone-faced, though he did not seem convinced by his tone of voice. "Apologies for the misunderstanding." When Byleth did not budge from her spot at the window, Hubert's face betrayed the slightest of smirks. "Then I take it you are unfamiliar with the rumors about this place?" he gesticulated toward the stone walls surrounding them.
"What rumors?" Byleth held a loose fist up to her face to play coy right back. It was not all a lie. She knew that the students often came here to make a love confession, but this was not the only room in the tower. Besides, perhaps there was some other lore of which she was unaware. There were so many useless things Byleth did not know that were second-nature to "civilized" society here in Fódlan.
"There is an old legend that says promises made between lovers here are sure to be fulfilled." Hubert shook his head with disdain. "If you believe that sort of thing."
No, I do not, Byleth thought to herself. What separated infatuation from something more permanent - call it love or companionship - was commitment. Dedication to the cause. Otherwise, why would her father Jeralt still long for her mother who had died so many years ago?
The man's gloved hand tapped his chin. "I would have expected you to be familiar with the story already, considering how popular you are. I was certain that someone had asked you here."
"That is not the case," the teal-haired woman answered flatly, with a shake of her head.
Hubert mistook her curt reply for disappointment. "No need to sound so dejected. I suspect those who wished to ask were simply too daunted to try," he assured the professor confidently.
Byleth began to wonder if perhaps Edelgard's suitors were not the only ones the wannabe spymaster drove away this evening. "But thanks to their cowardice, I am gifted with this opportunity to speak with you."
He considers it a gift to speak with you? Sothis questioned.
He's being sarcastic, I'm sure, Byleth insisted. "I thought you were refusing gifts from me lately?" Ever since she drugged his coffee, Hubert had been annoyingly cautious about his meals afterward. So much so that the woman wondered if he was skipping meals altogether.
But Hubert uncharacteristically ignored the jab and redirected the focus of conversation. "It's clear you have never felt at ease around me, as a result of how little trust there is between us."
Oh, Hubert, if only you knew how many failed assassination attempts I've made you forgot to maintain that self-esteem of yours… "I trust that I know you far better than you think," Byleth admitted, if only because the dozens of attempts on her life gave her distinct insight into his personality.
There was an odd silence in which the brooding young man did not speak. It was unlike him not to have the last word on a subject, if he could help it.
"I should get back to the ball, regardless," he proclaimed to excuse himself from the scene. "I imagine there would be quite a scene if you turned out to be lying."
Byleth finally turned her gaze away from the window. "You don't believe me?" she probed with a mischievous smile. Then again, the mercenary did not need the citrus-eyed student to believe her. Teachers often told lies, even if they were meant to be said in good faith.
His head oscillated in non-verbal confirmation. "Trust is not in my nature." But he did add in a more gentle tone, "Good night." He bowed at the waist, this time without the mocking exaggeration of movement, and backed away into the shadows.
The goddess-mortal duo reviewed the events of the night and decided that nothing majorly damaging had been done. Caspar would remain clueless, even if Byleth had accidentally given mixed signals from her ignorance. She was convinced that all would be forgiven over a good duel, should the event in which her pupil decide to take offense and defend his honor should arise.
As for Hubert - well, he was always going to think ill of her in some manner. No need to correct their interaction at all. If he had seen her with Caspar and wanted to accuse her of inappropriate conduct, he would have hinted at it already. If only for some leverage over his teacher. Her oldest student enjoyed those little games. Byleth liked to crush them. It was something to pass the time.