Why did the Archbishop always have to be so frustrating?

Despite herself, Edelgard no longer thought Rhea was the monster she had once believed her to be. And yet, a part of her wished she still did. Because then she could blame her. Rhea allowed the Crest system to flourish, which had resulted in the deaths of her brothers and sisters, and when she saw what had happened to Edelgard as a result, she had the nerve to be horrified?

At least if she had been a monster, her holding humanity back would have just been because she didn't care. If she truly did care, though, then why couldn't she see that this was the best way?

Why did she insist on clinging to her failures? Was it pride? Or perhaps she just didn't understand how bad things had gotten?

Part of her wanted to storm back into the room. To lay out all of the atrocities that had resulted from the archbishop's poor choices. But she decided against it. She had said enough. Let Rhea reflect on the consequences of her actions herself.

Ultimately, it didn't matter. Either way, the Church would lose its power. Rhea and her fellow "Children of the Goddess" would see their grip on Fódlan broken, and they would fade into obscurity. Maybe Rhea would understand then, once she saw what Edelgard would accomplish.

If not, well, she wouldn't be able to do much about it. She wouldn't risk her child's life starting a conflict. Edelgard was sure of that much. Without the Church, she wouldn't be too much of a threat. And by the time the child would be old enough to protect itself, the New Empire would be too firmly entrenched to be collapsed.

As Edelgard teleported again, she realized another thing that annoyed her about Rhea. The downside of hiding Rhea in a remote location meant Edelgard had to teleport multiple times to reach her without being seen. And between teleports, she had to land in places no one would see her.

She realized the problem when one of her hidden spots was being used by two people who also wanted to remain hidden.

Two people who weren't the people she least wanted to see, but she still really did not want to see them.

For several seconds, Edelgard just stared as Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd and Dedue Molinaro. And they just stared back. The tension then broke when Dmitri slashed at her with Areadbhar.

Edelgard dodged, then drew her knife in time to deflect Dedue's followup attack. Doing so left her off balance, however, and Dimitri kicked her in the side.

She dropped to the ground, and Dimitri pointed his lance at her throat.

"Before I kill you, I want to know. Why did you do it?" Dimitri snarled.

"Why did I do what? I've done a lot of things. You will have to be more specific," Edelgard answered.

"Don't play dumb with me. Duscur! Why did you murder my father?" Dimitri shouted.

"I had nothing to do with Duscur!" Edelgard replied, her voice more shrill than she would have liked.

"Liar!" Dimitri accused. "You were there! You wore the Flame Emperor mask! Your pet warlocks that you sent to kill me were there then as well!"

"I was just a child when the Tragedy of Duscur happened!" Edelgard rebutted. "I only acquired the Flame Emperor mask two years ago!"

"Dimitri, I think she may be telling the truth," Dedue told his friend.

Dimitri looked at him, then back at Edelgard. "Who gave you the mask? Tell me, now."

"If he kills Thales, we lose our chance to find Shambhala," Edelgard thought. "Those Who Slither In the Dark will get away once again." But it didn't look like she had much choice. "It was-"

She was interrupted by the sound of an explosion. While the two were distracted, she teleported away.

Once she had reached Enbarr, she saw that Hubert had teleported with her. "That explosion. Was it your work?"

"Yes, that's right," Hubert confirmed.

"Were you following me?"

"Following them, actually. One of my agents informed me that two men matching the descriptions of Dimitri and Dedue had been acting suspicious in Enbarr. I wanted to find out whether they were genuine or Agarthan replacements. Dimitri's reaction to your presence confirmed their legitimacy."

"Interesting," Edelgard mused. "Should we deal with them now?"

"It's your choice, but I would not recommend it," Hubert said. "When the time is right, Dimitri is a weapon that can be aimed at Arundel. His death at Arundel's hands can be a rallying point for the Kingdom against Those Who Slither In The Dark. After which, the power vacuum left by his death can be filled by the Empire."

"Yes, that's a good plan," Edelgard agreed. "Hubert, may I ask you something personal?"

"If you wish."

"The future we're building. Do you truly believe in it? Or are you just doing this for my sake?"

Hubert relaxed ever so slightly. "I won't deny that at the beginning, I was acting out of personal loyalty alone. But as I came to see your vision, your conviction, I truly did come to believe in it. The future we are building will be a bright one."

Edelgard smiled, but her smile faltered when she heard Hubert whisper, in a voice she clearly wasn't meant to hear, "It has to be. All we have done cannot be for nothing."

"You too, huh?" Edelgard thought as Hubert gave voice to the fear that had haunted her.

Often Edelgard would be annoyed at Hubert's insistence on doing her dirty work for her. But in this moment she was more thankful for him than she had been for anything else.

When she had resolved to stain herself so others could live, she hadn't truly known how hard the path would be. But at least she didn't have to walk it alone.

Edit 5/31: Fixed the spelling of Dimitri's name.