Note: No. They aren't exclusive. Byleth isn't a player. Far from it.
Beside the warmth of a campfire, Edelgard sits. As the sun dips past the earth and day turns to night, its flame becomes more pronounced. It bathes her in a light of gentle orange in contrast to that of the half waned moon. The flame wavers beneath the influence of a brief gust of wind. Its flickering and fluttering is reflected in her eyes. She squints when a speck of ash flies into one, and her hand comes up to rub it away. That eye waters and she groans as she feels it wet her cheek.
Far too many days have gone by since her and Hubert's conversation in the garden, yet still its conclusion torments her. Byleth and Rhea are involved. Deeper and more intimately than she and Edelgard. As much as she wishes it to not be true, Edelgard has done the legwork herself and knows it to be.
It had come after their delve into the depths of the Abyss and their recovery of Flayn from Following one of their nighttime tea dates; Edelgard had obscured herself in the immediate vicinity of Byleth's room rather than head to her own. She endured the chill of the night and the scurrying of what she hoped not to be rodents in the bushes nearby until, finally, Byleth emerged from her room. She had stood in place for a time muttering to herself, shaking her head as a crease dug itself into her brow. Eventually she walked off. Soft and unintelligible words still poured from her mouth as she made a beeline for the Central Building in which Rhea resided. Edelgard followed at a distance, her boots removed to eliminate the clacking of their heels against the ground. Up the stairs Byleth went and Edelgard too. The lack of knights present along their route had alarmed her, and it only served to reinforce the suspicion that something illicit was underway.
When finally Byleth stood before those two massive doors leading to Rhea's dwellings, Edelgard precariously perched at the edge of the stairs and hidden behind the corner wall, it had filled her with a strange sense of foreboding. Watching Byleth wring her fingers as she tentatively stepped closer and closer to that door, it made Edelgard want to leap out from her hiding place and spirit her away. The desire to do so built upon itself as seconds passed one after another. Too soon had her chance to act passed and the doors creaked open. Unbidden by a knock, Rhea appeared in the hallway. Her hand ghosted across Byleth's cheek and upon her lips she laid a kiss.
Rhea's eyes snapped her way and Edelgard quickly but silently slipped down the stairs. She stared blankly ahead as she heard Rhea speak. Unlike Byleth, she did so abundantly clear.
"I'm glad you heeded my call to come tonight," she had said. "I'm afraid I've grown attached to you. The comfort you bring me is like no other, dear one. Yes. Come in." The doors clicked shut.
Edelgard sat there in her head for an unconscionable amount of time. She replayed those words and reviewed that brief interaction between Byleth and Rhea until it became no longer feasible to remain on the stairs. The Knights were shooed away, but it would be unthinkable for them to leave their archbishop unguarded for too long. They would return soon enough. Slowly she stood up with her knees nearly buckling beneath the weight of her troubled heart. And turn back she did toward those twin doors. Solid and sturdy as they were, no sound was permitted past them, but her imagination more than compensated for the happenings she knew to be occurring beyond them. Moans and lustful groans abounded in her head. That impassive face with the dull cornflower eyes devolved into a mess of lewd. She bounded from the stairs in hopes she would leave those fantasies behind at those twin doors, yet still they torment her. Each and every time she lay eyes on that impassive face with the dull cornflower eyes.
A reluctance to interact with Byleth had been fostered within Edelgard. Since the discovery of Rhea's and Byleth's tryst, Edelgard had not sought out her teacher for nighttime tea nor for private instruction, and when Byleth took the initiative to invite Edelgard herself, each time she was met with a halfhearted excuse and a speedy retreat. How Byleth might have looked at her following each attempt she did not know, because she had not the heart to meet her eyes. Edelgard barely had the heart to attend class at all. She had feigned illness for a time to justify a few days worth of absence, and thankfully, Byleth had only come to check on her one of those days busy as she was getting Flayn and Constance acclimated to school life. She had been forced to stand outside the door as Edelgard complained of fabricated cramps to ward her off. It was a silly and childish act that Edelgard had already begun to regret putting on in the moment itself, for when she looked at the door that separated them as her teacher's concerned voice bore through, she knew it to be a perfect visualization of the obstacle now erected between them. A door that she could open at any time should she so choose. Doing so might invite some unwelcome and troubling conversations into her life, but not doing so would ultimately lead their relationship to stagnate and soon enough to ruin when it had hardly even begun. She knew she had to open that door.
It is that conviction that has led Edelgard to where she is now, in the middle of an encampment some two days travel from Garreg Mach monastery. For a month's time, a settlement within Leicester had been troubled by a pack of giant wolves and the task to exterminate them handed to Byleth. She assembled a mixed bag of students from all three houses though heavily consisting of those of the Golden Deer given their familiarity with the land, and naturally, Claude had been chosen to embark on the assignment as her second-in-command. Edelgard, however, had wormed her way into the mix and stolen his place among the group, citing her need to make up for her absences as reason enough to do so. He had not contested her much over this matter and simply yielded with a snarky smile and quip about her forehead. Why he had given in so easily, she has no idea, but she is beyond grateful for the opportunity him doing so has netted her. The opportunity to speak with Byleth far removed from where Rhea lurks. They had spoken some since their outset and obviously interacted while in the midst of completing their assignment, but so far Edelgard has yet to strike up that dreaded conversation. She knows she must do so soon, but being pressed for time does not make it any easier on her. Sometimes it is all she can to do to sit and idly watch the flames of a campfire.
"Hello, Edelgard. May I join you?"
Mind distracted as it is, Edelgard could not at all register the approach of someone toward her. Standing to her right with hands clasped together nervously and her green eyes lit up by the flame of the campfire, Flayn calls out to her with a demure smile adorning her small face. Edelgard's eyes narrow a fraction at the sight of those green eyes and that green hair, both a sure indicator of the girl's true identity as one of Rhea's monstrous cohorts. Edelgard returns the smile despite herself. "Yes, feel free," she says.
With a little exhalation of effort, Flayn plants herself right besides Edelgard, sitting maybe an arm's length away. Edelgard returns her attention to the fire but can no longer lose herself in her thoughts. The presence of this green haired girl disturbs her. How could it not when such a ghastly being has drawn up so close to her. She wonders if maybe Rhea or Seteth had tasked Flayn with investigating her. She knows she had drawn a target on her back already with her pursuit of Byleth, and Jeritza's being outed as the Death Knight too has brought scrutiny to those affiliated with the Empire. Yes, she must be under investigation. It would explain why Flayn has yet to remove her eyes from her since taking her seat.
"Is there something on my face?" Edelgard asks.
"Oh dear. Was I staring?" Flayn says. She recoils as though it is entirely incomprehensible that her completely conspicuous behavior would be noticed.
"Intensely."
Pink spreads across Flayn's cheeks as she looks up and away from Edelgard. She taps her cheek as she hums to herself. "Well, it is just that you are so~o incredibly beautiful, Edelgard." Such a frank statement leaves Edelgard at a loss for words. "Your eyes are of a hue rare even among those of crestbearing bloodlines, and your hair is like silk- not only in color but texture as well, I am sure. How could I not stare?" As Flayn continues lauding her supposed beauty, she finds herself growing self-conscious.
An awkward laugh escapes Edelgard. She rubs her neck and refocuses on the campfire. "You flatter me far too much, Flayn."
"Oh no, not nearly enough!" Flayn exclaims. She scoots closer, prompting Edelgard to once more turn her way. "You are so very gorgeous, Edelgard," Flayn says as though it is a matter of fact and not her completely subjective opinion. "As cute as a button!"
Flayn sits considerably closer now, but the unease that had previously assailed Edelgard wanes despite this. Flayn's smile proves infectious and Edelgard cannot help but return it. She laughs just a tad bit uncomfortably what with all the flattery. "Oh please. I take after my mother plenty, so I know my face is appealing enough, but me cute?" Edelgard shakes her head. "I'm attractive in some ways maybe but not cute. I'm anything but. The person who comes to mind when I think of the word 'cute' is you, Flayn."
"So I am often told," Flayn says with what sounds like a resignation in her voice meant for someone far past her apparent age. "It's not exactly how I wish to be perceived, but yes, I am positively adorable, I know. But so are you."
Edelgard makes no attempt to contest the compliment but neither does she accept it. She allows Flayn's words to hang in the air as she appraises her. She decides then that she means no threat, least not on the scale that Rhea does. Flayn is still of Rhea's ilk, but Edelgard can hardly imagine someone so unassuming coming to her with ulterior motives. She decides to humor her. Reaching within her blazer, she pulls out a bit of candy and offers it to Flayn. "Would you care for some licorice?"
"I would love some!" Flayn happily snatches away the twig of licorice and snaps into it with zero hesitation.
Edelgard goes on watching Flayn for a time with the light smile across her face remaining. She too bites into her own licorice. "How have you been faring since joining our class? I know that experience with the Death Knight must have been quite the ordeal for you."
"Hm?" Flayn intones with a mouthful of licorice. She swallows it. "Oh, yes! Truly it was, but I shan't dwell on my unfortunate circumstances. Not when they have afforded me the opportunity to partake in learning with you all. Oh, how I longed to do so."
Those remarks baffle Edelgard. She had expected the girl to bear some trauma from her kidnapping, but it seems she has not a one. In the end, it amuses Edelgard. She laughs and offers Flayn another of her licorice. "It's astonishing how you're able to maintain such a positive outlook despite what you went through."
"In a world as drab as our own, one must find silver linings wherever possible, Edelgard," Flayn says. She happily accepts her treat and devours it just as she had done the last.
"Yes. That is true." As Edelgard sits watching Flayn enjoy her licorice, she can feel herself becoming endeared to the smaller girl. This presents a touch of conflict within her. She looks upon her abnormal traits- her vibrant green eyes and hair- and it saddens her. In but a few months time, this sweet girl will have become her enemy. "We should have spoken sooner," Edelgard says. "Just the two of us."
"Well, we are speaking now. Just the two of us," Flayn says, dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her sleeve. "It may be a while longer until the professor returns from the hunt, so let's make up for lost time, shall we?" Byleth along with Petra and Leonie had left some time ago in search of fresh food at the suggestion of the latter two. They and many of their party had grown tired of the dried meat and fruit and hardtack rations they were forced to subsist on during these multi-day treks. With darkness settled around them, they could not be gone for too much longer, but perhaps long enough to facilitate a short chat.
"Let's." Edelgard agrees to spend some more time talking with Flayn despite Byleth's impending return. She knows the time would better be spent steeling herself for a difficult conversation, but she cannot help but take an interest in the green haired girl beside her- and also want for a distraction from the inevitable. "Where do you hail from, Flayn?"
Flayn is only too happy to share. She appears giddy, excitedly bouncing on the ground as she speaks. "I was born in Enbarr. Mother and father encountered each other in a church there and not long after their union was I born."
"How romantic. My parents first met at the monastery, within the Goddess Tower during a ball on the last night of the Ethereal Moon." Edelgard laughs, thinking of that old story her father would tell her on the nights when she most had trouble sleeping. It was one of many about the mother who had long been absent in her life. Her father the emperor would take her up on his knee and relay tale after tale of the dashing beauty he had been so taken with. Their love had been a short but eventful one, lasting only until the time Edelgard herself was five or so. At that point, her mother had gone off for a time to parts unknown. Edelgard only saw her mother sparsely after that for the four years leading up to the Insurrection of the Seven, her estrangement the causal factor behind her many sleepless nights at the time. Still, she thinks back to the time spent with her mother and that spent with her father discussing her fondly.
Edelgard wonders then if their separation had been unavoidable, that of her parents and that of mother and daughter. Could there really have been no way to prevent it? She cannot help but liken her own situation to theirs. Are she and Byleth destined to part ways? Is she only staving off the inevitable? She hopes not but the fear that this may be the case still clings to her.
"It's funny isn't it," Edelgard laughs, a bit hollowly, "how spontaneously the spark of love can be ignited between two complete strangers?"
"And how suddenly it can be extinguished," she allows to go unsaid.
"Mm, no. I don't think it comical at all," Flayn says through a scrunched up face. She smacks her lips, probably just seeking out more of that licorice flavor. "The act of falling in love at first sight, I would think to call it heartwarming. Far from funny. One can only hope to experience such a magical event. Why, some people can probably go one thousand years without it happening once!"
Edelgard breathes an awkward breath as Flayn goes on talking and unwittingly hinting at her true age. "A thousand years seems a bit on the extreme side, but I have to say you're right. It really is a once in a lifetime thing." Now there is no doubt in her mind- Flayn means her no harm. She is but an earnest girl born into an unfortunate circumstance. What a shame. "Right. So you and Seteth don't share the same parents?"
Flayn stares at Edelgard quizzically. She tilts her head to the side in a silent question that provokes Edelgard to do the same. "Oh, goddess no!" Flayn laughs outrageously. "Why would you think- Oh!" She catches herself, her laughter morphing into a nervous little chuckle as beads of sweat bud onto her brow. She wipes at her face with the same sleeve used to clean her mouth. "That is to say our blood relation is there although somewhat difficult to explain..."
"Are you half-siblings?" Edelgard queries. "Aside from your hair and eye colors you don't share many visually similar traits."
"Half! Siblings! Yes!" Still nervous and giddy, Flayn latches onto the explanation conveniently proffered by Edelgard. "Seteth is my half-brother, but despite our slightly differing parentage, he is my beloved brother all the same." Edelgard nods, buying into Flayn's words and allowing the girl to breathe a sigh of relief.
"I can relate," Edelgard says. "I am my mother's only child and my father's ninth of eleven." She peers back into the flame of the campfire before looking down and for a time wondering if she should say what has come to mind. She releases a breath and decides that it cannot hurt to at least acknowledge. "And I suppose there is another... A little brother though we share no blood whatsoever. My siblings, I love them all dearly no matter the disparity in our relation."
"My, my... Such a large family. There must have been no shortage of merriment amongst you all growing up. So many little babies," Flayn sighs dreamily. "Oh, how I wish to one day have such a family of my own. Perhaps not eleven but maybe six- no seven children!" She squeals, quivering in excitement at the sheer prospect of motherhood. "Seven babies of my own, raised in a warm and cozy cottage just south of Enbarr, with a vacation home on the Rhodos Coast."
Edelgard makes no attempt to correct Flayn on the assumption that hers had been a happy childhood. For a time, it had been so, but the hell that had come not long after overrode the majority of her happy memories. She moves the conversation along to its next topic. "So you were born in Enbarr, Flayn. From the talk of your brother, you two have been here for quite some time. How long has it been since you last resided there?"
Flayn hums, her face scrunching again in that way Edelgard cannot help but find cute. "Far too long. I imagine it has changed a great deal since I've last been there. Hm. I'll probably need a guide while I'm there." She looks dead on at Edelgard, clasping her tiny hands together as she abashedly tilts her head to the side. "This may be inappropriate of me to ask with you being the imperial princess and all, but what say you to showing me around the city after we've completed our studies at the Officers Academy, Edelgard? I would so love to see the church my parents met in should it still be there."
Edelgard maintains eye contact with Flayn for a few brief seconds before turning back to the campfire. It pains her listening to Flayn's wistful dreams of motherhood and of returning to her city of birth. "I suppose I can do that," she lies, knowing full well this will not come to pass. She wishes then that Flayn had never come to the monastery. That she had not come to speak with her tonight.
"And perhaps the professor can join as well?"
Inadvertently, Edelgard's jaw tightens at mention of her teacher. She peers at Flayn from the corner of her eye, the angle at which she views the girl offering her nothing but green in her vision. She reminds herself to not become too chummy; although she has clearly already failed in that endeavor. She knows how things are meant to play out and that no good can come from becoming attached to the enemy. "Perhaps. You would want her there?"
"Yes, I would," Flayn says. "Wouldn't you?"
One shout of awe. Then two and three and more follow. Both Flayn and Edelgard face towards the commotion. There they see the rest of their class stood gathered around the returned hunting party. They split apart as Byleth emerges from within the throng with a boar carried between both her and Petra. Her features appear as subdued and placid as always as she goes on interacting with her students, and as she watches her, no longer feeling the need to look away, Edelgard believes she has found the resolve to have that difficult conversation.
"I would."
Time passes and eventually Flayn takes her leave, but not before leaving a glancing touch along Edelgard's forearm and a sweet little smile. She takes off to Byleth's side while Edelgard remains near the campfire. She sits there patiently waiting and gathering herself, intermittently speaking with schoolmates as they pass by. Before long, Byleth approaches the campfire as well.
Byleth comes with a massive pure iron skillet borrowed from Raphael, the Leicester local always keeping one on his person for occasions just as this. She sets it atop the flame supported by large flagstones to allow it to heat as she begins to break herbs to knead into the already bloodletted and butchered boar meat. She looks across the fire and skillet and for the first time in days makes eye contact with Edelgard.
"Hey," Byleth says.
"Hey," Edelgard responds.
Byleth's lip twitches when she receives an actual reply from Edelgard and sees that the girl does not try to escape her. "We caught a boar for dinner."
"Yes, I see that," Edelgard says, resisting the urge to click her teeth. Looking at Byleth, she cannot help but remember that night and all she bore witness. She no longer feels the urge to run away, but the repression of her sense to take flight only increases that of hers to fight. A bitterness wells up inside of her.
"I know you don't care for meat much, but Leonie gathered some herbs that should help take out the gaminess. Petra found mushrooms and onions too, so there's more than just that to eat."
"That's good." As Byleth continues her meal preparations, Edelgard stands. Byleth stops, a small frown on her lips as she watches her student begin to walk around the fire, thinking that she is leaving, but her worries are unfounded as Edelgard only moves to take a seat closer to her. Edelgard's nose turns up at the bold musk of the boar meat, but she remains where she is nonetheless. "Were you the one who caught it?"
"I was," Byleth says. The frown on her face dissipates, now being replaced with a languid little smile. "One arrow through the heart. It was just before dusk. We were lucky to be upwind of it."
"A single arrow. You've gotten much better with the bow," Edelgard says sounding impressed. She stares ahead at the skillet as Byleth begins to lay meat atop it. It sizzles and pops as Byleth retracts her hand slowly, unperturbed by the heat.
"I have," Byleth admits without an ounce of humility nor arrogance. Her face softens as she speaks. "Shamir is a good teacher. The more I learn from her and others, the more I can teach you all."
The look on Byleth's face frustrates Edelgard. Again, she is forced to relive those moments outside Rhea's dwellings as she wonders if this face had been the one made upon the touching of their lips. "So you do seek instruction from people who aren't Rhea. What a surprise." Her remarks are petty and come from seemingly nowhere, and Edelgard knows it unfair to unload onto Byleth the way she does, but how else to express her emotions she does not know.
The frown on Byleth's face appears again redoubled. She stops in her meal preparations to devote her full attention to Edelgard. "What do you mean?" she asks, truly befuddled. "Rhea isn't an archer. It's only natural I would seek out someone who is for assistance."
"Right." Edelgard laughs bitterly. She looks down at her feet. She breathes deeply then looks up right at Byleth. "You go to Rhea for other things. Magic. Sword training. Fisticuffs." She draws in close to Byleth, right under her nose, her voice a whisper but her tongue as sharp as a dagger as she looses the final word, "Fucking."
As Edelgard moves back, Byleth remains as still as a statue. Byleth looks down as a mixture of bizarre emotions pass over her face, eyes asquint, eyebrows wriggling up and down. Her lips part and close and her eyes dart to and fro, and Edelgard fears she has broken her. Worriedly, she says, "Nothing to say?"
As if a bell has sounded in her head, Byleth immediately turns to the meat being cooked on the skillet. She turns each slice over with her bare hands before then adding mushrooms and wild onions to the mix. When she turns back to Edelgard, she is nowhere near as composed as her usual self, but she appears far less close to breaking. She shakes her head with a frown carved light into its surface. "Not now," she says. "Once everyone else is asleep we can talk. I'll... I'll come get you."
Nothing more is said before the flames of the campfire. When the meal is prepared, all students gather round to partake in their teacher's cooking. Edelgard begrudgingly accepts a plate shoved into her hands by Leonie and, as much as she hates to admit it, the seasoned boar meat far beats hardtack and dried berries. They eat and successfully navigate conversations held among the class while masking any negative emotions on either of their parts. Before long, it comes time to settle in for the night and the campfire is put out as all students head into their respective tents, save for Hilda who instead intrudes into that of Marianne's and Flayn who remains under the supervision of Byleth.
With Flayn sharing her bedspace, how might Byleth slip out to her? Edelgard ponders this. She shakes her head figuring it best not to dwell on it, for Byleth will surely come. She settles in for as long of a wait as she must. Laying on the hard and cold earth, its dirt and grime separated from her only by a thin blanket and a rolled sheet to lay her head, she waits. She waits and waits, listening to the singing of crickets and the gusting of wind through trees, until finally, she swears she can feel Byleth nearing her tent. Edelgard leaps up and whips back the flap of her tent to find Byleth standing just outside. She stands there wringing her fingers with a crease set deep into her brow. Wordlessly, she turns toward the woods and Edelgard follows.
The distance they travel is not far, only being a five or so minute walk away from their encampment. Byleth leads them to a small clearing with a small break in the canopy, where moonlight streams down to supply adequate lighting for their discussion. She stops before a large tree partially stripped of its bark, high enough that the act was presumably committed by their hunted boar. She turns around with her fingers still wrung tight but looking a tad less distressed and gradually she calms down more and more. Edelgard stands opposite of her on the other side of the clearing, waiting patiently and allowing Byleth the first word. Soon enough she begins to nod her head and her mouth opens.
"How long have you known about what I and Rhea do? How did you find out?"
As ever, Byleth is straight to the point. A trait Edelgard normally is immensely fond of now brutal to her ears. Despite already knowing of what goes on between the two, to have it confirmed in so many words by the person she cares for is nothing short of painful. "I'd an inkling for a while," she says. "I confirmed it one night after we had tea. I saw you walking to her bed chambers. On another occasion, I saw you leaving them in the early morning hours."
Byleth's head falls and her arms dangle to her sides. "I'm sorry," she says.
Edelgard's response is a soft but gruff one. "Don't apologize." Frustration is apparent in her voice, but it is more aimed toward herself than Byleth. "We never did clarify what our relationship is, so you aren't at fault for seeking pleasure elsewhere." She then goes on to contradict herself, loudly exclaiming, "But if you'd been having urges why did you not seek me out? I would have... Done something," Edelgard says through ever reddening cheeks. Like the past few days, she is unable to look at Byleth but for an entirely different reason now. "Whatever you wanted if it meant... If it meant you not going to her."
"Even if I could not be the one to comfort you, of all people why her?" She begs the question. Edelgard approaches Byleth, backing her into the barkstripped tree as she goes on venting, saying what she has longed to for days now. "Anyone else, I could understand. I would understand! I'm no stranger to polyamory; being of imperial heritage it comes with the territory. Before I learned of your anatomical differences, I'd resigned myself to you taking a suitor or two had you want of a child. I'm not adverse to that even now, but... The archbishop... I can't. I just can't."
Hesitantly, Byleth lifts a hand. It shakes and quivers like that of a marionette led by the motions of a puppeteer and not her own as she sets it against Edelgard's cheek. It is an awkward action, and it shows on her face, but Edelgard readily accepts the calloused hand. "It's not like that," Byleth says. She attempts to retract her hand but Edelgard holds it fast. Byleth looks down and her voice comes out slow and feeble. "I haven't been having urges. I don't have urges. I never sought out anything like that."
"Why then? Why do you go to her side?"
Byleth looks back up. Then down. She fixates on her hand snared in Edelgard's grasp. It takes her a time as she sorts through the array of bizarre emotions brewing within her. She closes her eyes as that soft but chiding voice at the back of her mind guides her to the answer that most makes sense.
"My mother," Byleth begins, "I hadn't ever considered who she might be before coming to the monastery. Not really. I never really cared." Byleth does not look at Edelgard as she speaks. Her voice comes out flat, accented with an air of doubt following each word. "But when I met Rhea, I couldn't help but feel that having a mother must be something like that. I thought that... I wanted it to be her. My mother." She pauses, caught in her own head for a moment. Her face grows lax, scrunches, lax again, and her eyes meander to the side. "She didn't see things the way I did. She wanted something else. I just went along with it."
Longing for a mother's love. Edelgard knows this feeling well. To hear this longing had been directed toward none other than Rhea, however, does little to soothe her. Rather, it further deepens her resentment toward Rhea knowing now just how she had perverted and took advantage of such pure and childlike adoration. The warmth of the hand in her grasp is all that keeps Edelgard from setting off into a tirade. She chooses to direct her building frustration toward something more constructive.
"Hers is the body Aelfric attempted to resuscitate, yes? Your mother's. What is Rhea's connection to her?" When they had first met, Byleth had spoken of hailing from the Empire- Rusalka specifically- but with the discoveries made within the Abyss, it appears this cannot be the case. For whatever reason, Byleth's origins be so shrouded in mystery that she not know them herself. Until recently, that is. Her involvement with Rhea, while sickening, may perhaps have shone a light on this blank period of her life. "Why was she there, and how was her body in such pristine condition? You said she died when you were born, correct?"
Momentarily, Byleth's eyes close tight and her mouth twists. She shifts against the tree awkwardly, slightly pulling away from Edelgard but still unable to break away from her hold. "She was a nun at the monastery. I don't know any more than that. My father never told me anything specific about her growing up. I..." She pauses, a dejected sigh breaking apart her sentence. "I never cared to ask. It never mattered to me until... Rhea... Every time I bring up my mother to her, it leads to..." Byleth does not finish her statement. Her head declines further and her eyes become dull and listless. It is at this point that Edelgard can take no more.
"I told you!" Edelgard shouts. She throws down Byleth's hand to raise her own. Her finger juts out and into the exposed window of flesh of Byleth's chest. Her eyes grow fierce and she punctuates the end of each her sentences with the repeated digging of her digit into Byleth. "I told you she would take advantage of you! Now do you see just how vile a woman she is? That despot cares for naught but herself! She callously takes from and twists the whole of this continent to her every whim, and now she's doing the very same to you, my teacher. You must abdicate yourself from her."
"Rhea isn't perfect," Byleth offers meekly, her hand raising to catch the offending digit, "and what we do together I would prefer not to do with her, but she does mean a lot to me. As much as you do." That last statement causes the finger that had previously been assaulting to spur back to life and attempt to jab her again, and for a few seconds Byleth and Edelgard wrestle in this very silly way. Eventually, Edelgard grows still again with Byleth's hand holding tight onto her wrist. With their little squabble out of the way, they just stand their for a time, before Byleth asks a question far more inflammatory than she thought it to be. "Edelgard, why do you dislike Rhea so much?"
That simple question only incites Edelgard more. She tears away from Byleth's grasp and steps more into her personal space, standing right beneath her nose to push her flat against the tree. "Have I not made it abundantly clear? Is it not obvious?" Edelgard asks rhetorically. "The woman heads an oppressive organization that propagates division among the classes. She props up those bereft of merit or compassion simply because of blood-ties, all in service of her own avarice and hunger for power. Is it wrong for me to be opposed to such repugnance and depravity? I would say not."
"And to make matters worse, she's using you for her own sexual gratification. She's abusing you!" Edelgard finishes her small rant with her heart racing, her breaths coming in and going out harsh. She swallows as she watches Byleth's face contort and morph into expressions she cannot put a name to.
"I," Byleth starts. It is clear she wants to say something, but exactly what she does not know. She goes quiet then. Her face freezes with her mouth ajar and her eyes staring dead ahead, and it is at this point that Edelgard fears she may have gone too far, that this time she really has broken her. Then all of a sudden Byleth's neutral expression returns, as if she had just been reset to default. She closes her eyes. When they reopen, it is with a glint of sadness within them.
"It doesn't feel bad," Byleth says. "I just... That's not what mothers do to their children, right?"
All the tenacity and righteous anger that had fueled Edelgard up to this moment fades away almost entirely. That longing that Byleth expresses for a figure that had departed her life just as it had begun is communicated painfully well to Edelgard through her last question and watching the way she had worked through her emotions. "No. It isn't," Edelgard says. Her expression softens and she backs up a half step from Byleth, allowing the two some breathing room. "I understand that I cannot make you do anything you do not want, but I suggest you distance yourself from the archbishop. She is...not acting with your best interests in mind, I believe."
Byleth grimaces, keeping her head to the earth. She does not utter a peep more. What else to say, Edelgard does not know. She can only hope that her advice will be taken into consideration, but knowing now of how Byleth had so easily submitted to Rhea's advances, she is not sure it will make much of a difference. Oh, how she despises that woman. That beast. Thinking of her makes Edelgard bite into her cheek in frustration. It perplexes her, what motherly qualities Byleth might have seen in Rhea, but she cannot blame her for wanting to know such a comfort. A comfort Edelgard cannot compete with or provide herself.
Or can she?
"Look at me."
Edelgard cups the underside of Byleth's face, directing her eyes to her own. She wraps her arm about Byleth's waist, bringing her in close with her head angled down to maintain eye contact. "Look at me," Edelgard repeats. And she does. Unblinking, Byleth stares down into Edelgard's eyes without uttering a word for the longest. This staring contest is confusing for her, however, so as her eyebrows furrow she begins to ask the point behind it, only to be cut off by Edelgard just then.
"It hurt, did it not? Keeping what was being done to you to yourself. Being unable to depend on anyone else in your time of need." Edelgard's words come out tender and her eyes grow sympathetic and inviting as she stares upward. "It doesn't need to be that way. I am here for you, My Byleth. Whenever you are hurting, you can come to me. I will always be here for you." And Byleth wordlessly accepts that invitation that Edelgard's lilac eyes put forward, her own cornflower becoming absorbed and entranced by them. "All that I ask is that in return you be there for me when I most need you."
Edelgard's hand leaves Byleth's face bare, traversing to the back of her head now to pull her down further. Not for a kiss. She feels that gesture to be inappropriate given the context of the discussion they had both just endured. Standing on the tips of her toes, she guides Byleth's head down to rest on her shoulder as she embraces her and gently runs her fingers across her back. She feels vindicated in her combination of words and actions when Byleth reciprocates. Her arms curl around and ensnare Edelgard in a hold just a bit tighter. She nuzzles her face into the crook of Edelgard's neck, mouthing softly the girl's name.
"Edelgard."
"Yes, yes. I'm here for you."
Yes, this is the correct answer. It had been a test. One not intentionally manufactured by Rhea but all the same a test meant to gauge Edelgard's aptitude in handling such an unprecedented conundrum. She cannot compete with what Byleth desired from Rhea, but neither could Rhea herself. She had failed to grasp what Byleth wanted- needed- and simply took what she did. That maternal hole still exists in Byleth's heart, and where Rhea chooses not to fill it, Edelgard will do her utmost to provide affections that prove an adequate substitute. A hand to hold. A hug here and there. A shoulder to lean on. Someone Byleth can depend on for the emotional support she most likely never required before now. Rhea had her chance and squandered it, but Edelgard will not make that same mistake. She will be victorious in this game of love.
Seven days have elapsed since the strike force's departure. The days drag on as a humidity uncharacteristic to the climate of central Fódlan fills the air. Sweat glosses Edelgard's skin and makes the fabric of her clothes cling. It is a hellish and unrelenting heat reminiscent of summer in Enbarr. To stave it off, Bernadetta makes use of her talent of ice magic to fill the manor with large blocks of ice to offer some cooling effect. The ice, too, is useful for keeping perishable foods longer when placed in a cupboard, they find, and it allows them to enjoy cooled and sweetened tea much the same way Sylvain does when he works the gateway. Still, despite their best efforts, the heat wears on them. Especially Edelgard and in more ways than one.
Sticky clothes and sweat glistened skin- Edelgard isn't the only one to suffer this. Bernadetta too must make do with the heat, so she subtracts from her clothing, baring her arms and shoulders and much of her chest with only a tube like garment to hide away her unmentionables. Her shorts ride high and she exchanges her boots for more open sandals. She pins up the long locks of hair that cascade around her neck, showing off her nape. "Showing off" as Edelgard would put it. Teasing.
But Bernadetta is no tease, and Edelgard knows it. When her eyes stray to that exposed nape as Bernadetta stands before a cutting board, she knows she doesn't mean to entice. When she finds herself admiring those toned legs and backside as Bernadetta hefts a basket of laundry to hang on the clothesline, she knows it is not her intention to allow Edelgard to burn the sight into her memory. She knows that when they enter the bath and Bernadetta covers her breasts and nether region, her face aflush, she does not do so to provoke Edelgard's imagination to fill in those hidden details.
The days drag on as a heat uncharacteristic to her fills Edelgard's loins. Sweat glosses her skin and makes the fabric of her clothes cling to her sensitive and needy self. Bernadetta does not mean to be a tease, but she is. Edelgard does not mean to watch her the way she does, but she does. She watches her longing to touch and to be touched.
It is a longing that normally could be sated by her own hand, but being under surveillance every minute of every day prevents that form of self-indulgence. Instead she is left to stew in a burgeoning arousal with only her thoughts to comfort. Thoughts which, compounded by the sight of a Bernadetta more developed than Edelgard had thought possible, lead her to reminisce about that passionate night that led to where she is now.
A feathery light touch followed by a quivering kiss. Once calloused hands made soft in anticipation of a more sophomoric physical intimacy than the one they had shared caress scarred and ill-mended flesh. Eyes of seafoam consume those of lilac and their two forms press together, warm and melding with limbs interlocked as if they were designed for no others but themselves. Then comes the intrusion, a gentle but assertive push that sends her over the edge with just the thought of it alone.
Edelgard wriggles atop her bed, thighs pressed together and fingers wrung tight on her belly, close but still painfully far from her pelvic region. Remembrances of Byleth's body and their actions taken together do her no good; they set her into a more lustful state than before. Byleth takes center stage in her fantasies- the bits and pieces of Bernadetta she had glimpsed become overshadowed by the full-blown nakedness of her former lover. She wants for her. She craves to touch and be touched and to be filled by that wonderful body. She wonders if they might share some time alone upon her return.
Edelgard emits a stifled groan that goes unheard by Bernadetta when she finally catches herself. Her hands fly to her face and she swears it burns hot enough to scorch her palms. She reminds herself that she and Byleth are not on good terms and she ought not fill her head with daydreams of being taken by her, being thrust into, those luminescent eyes rolled back in ecstasy as she fills her mouth and repeatedly brushes the back of her throat.
Edelgard whimpers as she wrestles with her libido, turning onto her side as she feels herself continuously accosted by the heat that emanates from her nethers but pains the entirety of her body. It is a battle she had grown accustomed to over the years, though not as severe as it has sometimes been throughout her pregnancy, as it is now. Following what can be euphemistically referred to as their falling out, she had not sought someone to replace Byleth despite it being very apparent in that brief period of time between their initial union and said falling out that she possessed a fairly potent sex drive. Edelgard had instead chosen to bottle her sexual frustration as much as possible, only sparsely taking it upon herself to loose that frustration within the privacy of her bedroom and, on occasion, her office. Her office because it is where she most often doodled, idly drawing portraits of her once beloved that started innocent enough but grew more and more obscene as time went on, often ending as Byleth drawn posed in the most debauched of fashions. She hopes she dies long before that lockbox is discovered.
Thinking on it now, Edelgard knows that fixation had been an unhealthy one and that having some sort of outlet for that pent up frustration might have prevented her from making the decision that threw her life so off course. Desperate for a single night of pleasure, she had given into her desires and it cost her everything, and she is unsure she will not commit that same folly should the opportunity arise again. An outlet is needed.
"Um," Bernadetta squeaks from across the room, "is everything okay? You don't sound too good. Do you need me to do anything for you?"
Edelgard's eyelids slowly peel back and she takes in Bernadetta seated across from her. Hair done up in a messy bun with a much too revealing top and shorts, Bernadetta holds in hand her knitting needles and a ball of thick red yarn steadily being transformed into some piece that eludes Edelgard's knowledge. Bernadetta shines golden with sweat as the sun pours in through the window, and the sight of her slender fingers working such stifling material only makes Edelgard feel the heat more. She closes her eyes and shifts atop her bed. "I'm fine. It's just..." She grumbles, feeling that heat within her not wane for a second. "...Hot."
"It is." Bernadetta looses a miserable sigh in agreement. She whimpers. "The ice is helping, but it's still so unbearable. Should I get you more water or tea? Hot tea if you want to sweat?"
"Sweating a bit more may be nice, but I'd have to dress down some to get the full benefit. I don't want to sully your eyes with my wretched body any more than necessary."
"I don't mind!" Bernadetta declares in perhaps too overzealous an outburst. She retreats back into herself as Edelgard shoots her an inquisitive look. "I mean, um... Your body isn't bad. Everyone of us has pretty nasty scars now. Have you looked at my hands?" She ceases her knitting to lift her hands up. Realizing that she is too far away for Edelgard to get a proper look at them she sets her tools aside and springs up from her seat. Bernadetta clambers over to the bedside, turning her hands over forwards and backwards as she sits along its edge and displays her slender digits. "I've got a bunch of nicks all over them. And there's a pretty bad one on my foot where I got hit with an arrow. See?"
Again, Bernadetta hops up. She grabs her foot and lifts it into the air, showing off a sizeable scar where no doubt an arrowhead had been pried out. Edelgard's mind wanders, however, as she watches Bernadetta contort her body. The girl is limber and flexible and her skin so supple and flushed from the heat. She cannot help but wonder if Bernadetta is as soft and as warm to the touch as she looks and exactly how pliable she truly is. "Yes. I see you clearly," Edelgard says.
Bernadetta sets her leg down with a small smile playing against her lips. "So there's no need to feel ashamed or whatever. And if it's your belly that you feel insecure about, don't. There's plenty of people around who actually find pregnant women really attractive." A second of silence passes before Bernadetta realizes what she has said. A jumble of incoherent words spill out of her mouth as she tries to walk back her words. Edelgard watches her with amusement apparent in her eyes and the way her one eyebrow lifts. "Err, not that I'm one of them!" Bernadetta says, but this only seems to make her panic more. She then adds, "And not that I'm not! I just-! You're very attractive! With or without your belly!"
"You just love talking yourself into a corner, don't you?" Edelgard shakes her head, chuckling. She can feel it dissipate some, the heat within her. Perhaps laughter proved to be a sufficient remedy for her predicament as well? Bernadetta supplies plenty hilarity in that case. "I believe I understand what you're trying to say. There's no need for you to get so worked up." Edelgard rights herself on her bed, no longer on her side and now sat upright. It is a small one, but she does smile at Bernadetta. "I'm feeling a little better now, but I'll let you know should I want for anything."
Bernadetta appears satisfied with this response. She returns to her seat. She returns to her knitting, but not before glancing up toward Edelgard before quickly looking back down. Her lips press together thin as she minds her knitting.
Bernadetta goes back to her seat and the brief reprieve from her hormones too goes from Edelgard. It is an utterly nonsensical thing, how it comes and it goes without her say so, and her wants seem to have no bearing on it. Again, Edelgard thinks of that much needed outlet. She reasons that it would not hurt to ask if Bernadetta may be willing to aid her or to at least give her some privacy. Just a light touch or a few minutes to herself. She looks to the other woman already to find her looking right back at her, head down and eyes shadowed by her bangs.
"Bernadetta," Edelgard says more loudly than she intended. Her voice cracks, and she fears her neediness shows in it.
"Yes!" Bernadetta exclaims. She sits rigid in her chair with her hands and knitwork bunched in her lap. This reaction is odd and comes across almost as though she believes herself to have been caught doing something she should not have. "Lady Edelgard!"
Lady Edelgard. Perhaps it had just been a slip of the tongue, but Bernadetta's continued insistence on referring to her with honorifics peeves Edelgard. "How many times must I tell you to not call me that?"
"I-I'm sorry, Lady Edelgard!" Again, she says it. "Oh! Edelgard! What can I do for you?"
Just as quickly as it had come it is gone. Edelgard's libido settles back down to be replaced by a mild annoyance with her caretaker. She sighs, deciding now to sit up. With getting off no longer quite that appealing, she allows her mind to wander as her eyes do over Bernadetta. She settles on what Bernadetta clutches in her hands. A ball of wine red yarn steadily being spun into something she has not the imagination to guess what it may be. "I was just curious about your knitting. You've been at it every day since my coming here, and each day you seem to be working on a new piece."
Bernadetta perks up almost immediately as soon as attention is brought to her knitting. "Oh, I thought you could tell what all I was making. Um, just different things I think the baby may need or whatever. Booties, onesies, hats, blankets, and little plush toys. I'll use lamb's wool to stuff those. Mm... That's just the stuff I've been knitting though. I've made other stuff with different materials too. Are you okay with that? Was I being too forward?"
"No, Bernadetta. It's fine." Edelgard goes on looking at the red...thing that Bernadetta makes. Absentmindedly, she rubs her belly. "Have you really been doing all that since day one? Everyday?"
"Yeah. It's not much, but I wanted to do whatever I could to help out." Bernadetta shrugs, not missing a beat as she knits.
Edelgard's hand stops moving, her having taken notice of the subconscious motion. She looks down at her belly, contemplating what grows within it. Within her. "What you're doing is plenty. You've done more in anticipation for this child than I have. Not that that's hard to accomplish. Honestly, of the two of us, you're much more qualified and deserving to be a mother, Bernadetta." She never did intend on having any children. Not really.
"Aww," Bernadetta moans. She pouts, holding her hand over her heart as she shoots Edelgard a look so sympathetic it makes her full-body cringe. "Don't say that. No one deserves or doesn't deserve to be a mother, silly, and the baby isn't even here yet. You can't talk about what you aren't good at if you haven't even had the chance to give it a try."
No comment. Edelgard decides to cut the conversation short before Bernadetta can get going and undoubtedly end up snotty and crying all over her again. She sighs and leans her head back against the wall as she allows her mind to go blank. It does not remain so for long, however. It is inevitable that Byleth's face would bubble up from the nothing she attempted to lose herself in. Byleth's face is gradually unveiled by the darkness that is Edelgard's mindscape, a sullen and desolate look about her. Her face the last time they had seen each other weeks and weeks ago.
'I wonder,' Edelgard thinks, 'I wonder if she is-'
"I hope everyone is okay." Bernadetta's voice cuts in abruptly. She continues working her needles with a sad little look on her face. She looses a miserable sigh. "Do you think it's over already? The fighting?"
Edelgard cannot help but feel thankful for the interruption to her thoughts. Already she had gotten carried away thinking of Byleth, and had she let that thought go any further than it had, she is positive there would only have been a slew of more like it. "I don't know," she says. "I'd be lying if I said I knew of all the enemy's capabilities, and should they employ the use of their javelins and their golems, I admit the outcome may not be to our favor." She grunts at her mistake and corrects herself. "Your favor. But you defeated me quite handily. Should your forces attack with the same ferocity they had in Enbarr, the battle should be yours. At least that one good thing will come of all this."
Bernadetta looks more disheartened than before. She sets her needles down as she asks with more than a little uncertainty, "The javelins of light. You don't think they'd use them again, do you?"
"Of course they would. They would be foolish not to," Edelgard thinks to say. She hushes herself knowing how words so blunt will spur a grossly emotional response from Bernadetta. She knows silence is not the correct answer either when she hears the young woman whimper. It is with a groan of malcontent that Edelgard winds her neck and prepares to tell as pretty a lie as she can muster just to not witness Bernadetta's snotty crying face again.
"...let me in!"
But she stops, Edelgard's attention now drawn to the open window Bernadetta has situated herself beside. Bernadetta too looks toward the window, the shrill voice that had climbed its way up before sounding once again. The voice is a familiar one to Edelgard, being both childlike and exuberant despite the apparent exasperation filling each of its shouts. Bernadetta stands from her seat and clambers out halfway through the window. She unleashes a confused shout of awe, then saying the name of exactly who Edelgard had figured to be the owner of that irate and childish voice.
"Flayn?"
xxx
"Sylvain, I assure you I have no need of my brother's permission just to visit a friend."
"You do when that friend's a war criminal. Seteth would have my head if he knew I just said 'hello' to you. I'm not trying to find out what'll happen if he learns I let you in here."
Outside the manor gate, Sylvain sits stationed beneath a parasol with a glass of cool black tea and a book in hand, as is customary for him. With a leg crossed over the other, he languidly turns a page in his book, sparing half a glance up toward the pouty red face of the manor visitor. He releases half a laugh that he had tried and failed to conceal within the palm of his armored hand. This reaction of his only makes Flayn pout more which in turn makes him laugh more.
"You have nothing to fear, Sylvain," Flayn insists with a stomp of her foot. "Rest assured that the professor will not allow any harm to come to you on behalf of my brother. Now, please stop being so obstinate and let me in."
Sylvain ceases his laughter and offers to Flayn what seems like a genuinely sympathetic smile, but its appeal is diminished when combined with a shrug of his shoulders. "Sorry, Flayn. I just can't do that." Despite his dismissiveness- or perhaps in spite of it- Flayn does not appear ready to give in just yet. Sylvain reasons she must intend to stand her ground until either he relents or Constance arrives to replace him and bolster her chances of entering the manor proper. The second option is fine by him- as long as Seteth cannot link him to Flayn's contact with Edelgard, he can care less- but he in no way will allow her in while it is his duty to stop her. There is absolutely no chance of him budging.
"You sure are taking your job seriously for a glorified doorstop."
"Aw shit, here we go." Sylvain realizes he had not accounted for the inclusion of the manor's captive. He turns, rising from his seat and sees none other than Edelgard leaned against the bars of the gate with Bernadetta just a few steps behind nervously shrugging as if she could not have stopped this from occurring. "Edelgard. Glowing. Looking beautiful. What are you doing here?" He asks while pointedly looking at Bernadetta. "What can I do for you?"
"What can you do for me?" Edelgard asks with her teeth bared and her face pressed between the bars of the iron gate. "That much should be obvious. What else can a doorstop do but hold open a door? Allow the girl in. She is no threat to me and neither am I to her."
Sylvain looses a chortle of laughter, standing akimbo and looking entirely unconvinced by Edelgard's claim. "See you say that, but I'm positive Seteth would think otherwise. Better to play it safe. Safe for me that is. She's not getting in." He shakes his head and prepares to take his seat to drive home the point that he will not act in their favor, but he stops short as he catches a glimpse of Flayn looking at him with a profound amount of disappointment in her eyes that he had not seen before now. He looks back toward the gate, seeing Edelgard visibly seethe and spit at him. He prepares for whatever onslaught of words she has for him.
"You utterly useless buffoon! Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be off gallivanting and chasing tail elsewhere? It eludes me why Byleth would choose someone as inept as you to hold me hostage. Ah. It is because you are inept that you have been given this assignment. Rather than be allowed to join your betters and risk their lives on the battlefield, you've been given the easiest and most unbecoming job of them all. Watching a weakened girl more harmless than a damn field mouse!"
"Aren't you afraid of mice?" Sylvain asks bewildered.
"A doorstop not even half as good as the gatekeeper at the reception hall!"
Sylvain sighs. With a hand still against his hip, he picks up and drinks from his glass of cold tea. He sets it down with a refreshing gasp and goes to wipe his brow. He wonders how these women manage to get so worked up in this heat.
"Now that you've got wrong," Sylvain says. When he replies, his voice comes out calm and collected, but beneath it lies the quivering of something pulled taut. "The professor asked me to keep an eye on this place because she trusts me, and I agreed to do it because she's important to me, and whatever matters to her matters to me. Even if it means I'm protecting the likes of you, the person responsible for the deaths of one of my best friends and men I considered family." Sylvain grabs his jaw, flexing it with a simultaneous crack of his neck. "Makes no difference who it is or what it takes- if the professor says someone isn't allowed in, they're not getting in." His statement is resolute and leaves no room for discussion. Edelgard finds herself at a loss for words then, and Flayn seems to finally consider retreating. Sylvain cannot stomach this atmosphere. He sighs. "All that being said, she didn't say Flayn couldn't come in, and I doubt she would mind at all. Just promise me Seteth won't find out about this."
For whatever reason, Sylvain gives up on barring Flayn entry to the manor. He marches up to the gate and stands there waiting for Edelgard to back away. She stares up at him for a time, as if now she has only just realized their difference in stature. She does back away and the iron gate swings open. And briefly she is offered a glimpse of freedom. A stone cobbled road winding up through hills aplenty to Garreg Mach, no iron to entrap her. An impulse invades her to run, to sprint through the gate though she knows attempting to escape to be a fruitless endeavor. No doubt Sylvain will snatch and upend her in a heartbeat if it is what Byleth has requested of him, but still the desire to try is in her. Her chance is squandered, however, as Flayn bounds into the manor courtyard and the gate closes behind her. Escape is no more.
"You have my word, Sylvain. Thank you!" Flayn prances up to Edelgard and Bernadetta as giddy as can be. She waves to the taller and less pregnant of the two women, exchanging a brief greeting with her before turning her focus onto Edelgard. Edelgard who, despite having opened her mouth and vouched for Flayn's entry, now feels entirely unsure about what her motives were in having the green haired girl in. She had been the central figure in a war that ultimately would have lead to her death after all.
But if Flayn feels any unease or holds any grudge against Edelgard, she does a fine job of hiding it behind the precious smile broken out across her face. "Edelgard, I am ever so glad to see you again without the pretense of war."
The smile and greeting Flayn imparts to her leaves Edelgard stunned, but that had become a typical occurrence per her interactions with Flayn a long time ago. She responds to her stiffly yet feeling jittery at the same time. "It's nice to see you again too, Flayn. May I ask what's brought you here?"
"I've come to spend time with you of course," Flayn says. "I've only been afforded the opportunity thanks to my brother taking part in the raid. I would have come by sooner otherwise."
"I see," Edelgard drawls. She allows her eyes to fall to her slippered feet, then to wander over to Bernadetta who stands behind her, wiping sweat away from her exposed forehead. "Ah. It's hot out today. Let's move indoors where it's cooler and I'll prepare some tea for us. You like the sweet apple blend, right, Flayn?" She begins to lead Flayn toward a sitting room on the ground level, planning to escape way to the kitchen herself for even just the smallest amount of time to gather herself.
"I can do that," Bernadetta pipes up, the disgruntled look Edelgard shoots her going by completely unnoticed. "You two go on ahead and sit down. I'll have it ready in just a bit." She scampers off to the kitchen without another word, leaving both Edelgard and Flayn in the company of each other.
"Were you shocked?" Flayn asks as they step into the threshold of the sitting room of which at its center sits a massive block of ice slowly melting into a wash bin. She leads Edelgard in by the hand, having her sit first on a finely upholstered couch before planting herself down right beside her. It is somewhat cool inside, but with Flayn so close the ice may as well not be there.
"By?"
"By how much Bernadetta has grown," Flayn happily elaborates. "It was quite the surprise for me personally. She and Lysithea were the only two of our peers of which I had a height advantage. But now I am the littlest one once again."
"Oh. Yes, she has grown exponentially." The reminder of Bernadetta's bodily changes causes a resurgence of arousal to swell within Edelgard. Thankfully, it is short lived, only bothering her for a few short seconds. Still, as the heat within her loins dissipates, images of Bernadetta hiding herself away linger. "In all regards."
"Mhm. And you..." Flayn takes her time looking Edelgard from head to toe, appraising her slowly as she hums to herself. It all makes Edelgard feel a world of self-conscious. "Well, it doesn't appear that you've grown any taller, but my, oh my, your bosom is exceptional, Edelgard. Have your breasts grown so large because they are now engorged with milk?"
"Uh, er... I don't know. I guess." Edelgard had expected to hear yet another comment about the size of her belly. She believes she would have preferred that. However, as she looks into Flayn's eyes, she can see them divert to that very thing, so she decides to cut her off with talk of something else before she can get going.
"That man seems to hold Byleth in quite high regard. It's easy enough to see that he resents me, yet here he is guarding me at her behest."
Flayn sucks her teeth, the act itself prompting Edelgard to look at her as if she is someone else entirely. She must have picked the habit up from Claude. How she had found any time to be around him with Seteth meant to keep him well away, Edelgard will never know. "Well, second to me, I would say Sylvain is the professor's greatest admirer. Once upon a time, I thought him to be an extremely fastidious and flippant playboy- and he is to be honest- but astonishingly enough, he has proven himself to be a rather astute student under the professor's tutelage and quite the knight when under her command. I believe his affection for her has only fueled his growth as a man. That is to say, he adores her and seeks her approval in any way possible even should it be in performing tasks he may prefer not to."
"I see. It's amazing how she is able to bring out the best even in rubbish like that."
"Oh, Edelgard."
Bernadetta enters the room from a door from within the manor. She sets the table before Edelgard and Flayn with their tea and a plate of biscuits. She takes her time pouring them each a cup and chatting with Flayn, explaining how she had further developed her knowledge of tea etiquette through the help of Ferdinand. Before long she excuses herself to give the two time to catch up, going completely unawares of Edelgard's pleading eyes.
Flayn sips from her cup of tea, uttering how hot it is against her tongue. She then munches on a tea biscuit. Two tea biscuits. Three. Watching her enjoy her sweets the way she does, Edelgard must admit she had missed those past days in which she and Flayn could spend time like this without a care in the world.
"I must thank you for overlooking us throughout the five year period that the war raged and for periodically dispatching the bandits who had come to nest on the remains of the town below. You must have known my brother and I were still here along with the denizens of the Abyss after all."
Edelgard must admit she had not foreseen Flayn bringing to attention what she did. She sips from her own cup of tea, not quite enjoying the flavor of the sweet apple blend and needing to add more sugar to satisfy her tastes. "I had some inkling that you may have still been here, yes, but it isn't so much that I overlooked you. Not entirely anyway." She tells a half-truth. Gaining entry to the tomb beneath the monastery had been beyond Edelgard and her forces, but it is not like she actively tried to enter their depths aside from the pilfering which occurred immediately before the war. She could have poured her forces into the Abyss at any time had she the will to do so, and she is positive if she had set forces to permanently remain atop the ruins of the monastery, at some point Seteth or Flayn would have popped out to their doom. Yet she had not.
"Well, all the same," Flayn says. The dismissiveness of her remarks forces a laugh out of Edelgard. "I heard the professor visited a couple days before she left. Did you two decide on a name then?"
Again, Edelgard had not foreseen the direction Flayn would take their conversation. She takes being led around by the girl in stride. "So you know. How could you tell it was hers?"
"She told me of course. Well, not outright, but it became evident to me that she must be the person to have, erm, 'fathered'," Flayn makes a face, scrunched up and nothing short of perplexed by whether or not she could have used a better word, "your offspring given your prior history and the great lengths she has gone to ensure no harm befall you. When I posed my inquiry to her, she had no answer for me, but as you know, silence alone speaks volumes."
It had practically been an open secret that she and Byleth were involved, but that does not answer Edelgard's question in its entirety. "Yes, it does. How did you come to learn of her body? She told you?" It is possible Flayn had learned Byleth's secret from Rhea, but this is not likely. Flayn and Rhea, while of the same ilk, were not of the same depraved nature. Edelgard knew and still knows this well.
"Not so much that she told me." Flayn begins to twist curls into her hair, her cheeks painted a light pink that grow into a deeper red. "It happened not long after she had awoken from her nap at the bottom of that ravine. The professor was in need of a bath," Edelgard in the midst of drinking her tea spills some on herself as it goes down the wrong way, "and I, seeking to be helpful, sought to join her to perhaps wash her back. I saw it then- her male genitalia."
"Not the most pleasant way to find out." Edelgard coughs, expelling what liquid she can from her lungs with Flayn patting her back in a helping hand even as she continues to speak.
"I must admit I was at a loss for words initially, but that lasted no time at all." Flayn keeps her hand on Edelgard's back even after she has recovered from her coughing fit, and this causes Edelgard to look her dead on. "You see, I had been ever so enamored with the professor before then but dismayed at the fact that we lacked compatible genitalia for the means of procreation. I thought our union impractical in that regard, so it is no hyperbole to say that I was utterly elated to discover otherwise."
There is no hidden meaning in Flayn's words. She has made it abundantly clear what she is in pursuit of. "So you and Byleth are together?" Even as she says it, Edelgard has no idea how to feel about this conclusion. She is not distraught. She feels neither anger nor jealousy toward Flayn. If it had not been Flayn but Rhea however, that would be an entirely different story.
"Well, no, not exactly," Flayn says. She begins twirling her hair about her finger again. She starts to giggle. "There's been no appropriate time to discuss something so trivial with all that has been going on. It works out, however, because I did want to address the matter with you beforehand. Seeing as you are here and carrying the professor's baby, it goes to say that you take priority when it comes to having a relationship with her. That is to say, I wish to know if I may have your blessing in pursuing the professor." Flayn looks beside her to see Edelgard staring back at her slackjawed. Not angry. Flabbergasted yes but not angry. "Not so I can have her for myself! No, no! I wish for us all to be under the same household. One big happy family if you will." Edelgard is confused by this admission, but of course that is a natural response given its nature.
Slowly Edelgard turns back toward the table. She runs a hand over her face, it then finding its way to her neck as she winds it. She sits silently for a time, eyes boring into her half emptied cup of tea as Flayn ghosts a hand up and down her spine. It is not a bad feeling. There are few others she would allow to touch her like this. To touch her at all. She looses a sigh as she turns back toward Flayn who ceases to rub her back. "Flayn," she begins slowly, "I don't know what you think is going on, but I'm not here by choice. There is no relationship to be had between me and Byleth. She is my captor. That is all. I have no blessing to give, but by all means, pursue her. I can think of many a people far less deserving."
The answer Edelgard gives would be more than enough to satisfy most parties, but for Flayn it is not enough. She frowns as if Edelgard had rebuked her admission in its entirety. She clasps her hands together as her lip quivers and she angles her head down to her lap. Edelgard is sure she won't shed tears. Not over something like this anyway. Flayn had endured much worse already without batting an eye. Edelgard clears her throat and finally answers the question that had led them down this tangent.
"To answer your earlier question, no, I have not put thought into a name for this child. Byleth can pick whatever name she pleases."
Flayn lifts her head back up with something of a smile fighting its way onto her face. She shakes her head and forces a laugh. "That won't do. Especially since the professor is just as clueless about what name to bestow your offspring. Have you taken a gander at Rhea's book?"
Rhea's book? "That black tome?" Edelgard asks. "No. Why?"
Flayn shakes her head incredulously. "I suppose it is only natural you would spurn anything given to you by Lady Rhea." She sucks her teeth again. Harder this time. Definitely a habit born from loitering around the green eyed bastard. "She offered it as a gift to aid you and the professor in choosing a name. Apparently, the professor's mother also used that same book to settle on a name."
"That book?" Edelgard asks just to receive a nod of confirmation. Its title comes to mind and she fails to see how one might derive a child's name from something so macabre. "Byleth's name came from that book? How peculiar." She shivers some at the implications. She does wonder what Byleth's name may mean or what may be behind the name, but she is positive she would not enjoy anything bequeathed to her by Rhea. "In that case, I'll leave it to her. She can peruse its contents until she comes across something to her liking. There's no point in me picking anything. I'm dead after all."
A flash of something painful appears across Flayn's face, but she quickly expels whatever emotion had wormed its way to the surface. She altogether ignores Edelgard's last remark. "It doesn't have to be from the book. Whatever name pleases you is fine." Edelgard rubs her neck, looking away from Flayn now. She puts up no resistance to Flayn's insistence, but it is plain to see she remains unconvinced on this topic. Even so, Flayn presses on. "Please give it some thought. For me?" She lays a hand right on top of Edelgard's. "Your input is just as important as the professor's."
Saying "no" proves too difficult for Edelgard at the moment. As brusque as she normally may be, when speaking with Flayn she never could muster that same energy as she could with other people. So she remains tight lipped, refusing to say anything at all. She picks up her teacup and drinks from it and remains silent still even as Flayn goes on petting her. To be honest, she does not mind it all. It is not exactly what she had in mind but she did want to be touched.
A knock comes from the door, and a second later Bernadetta pokes her head into the room. "I'm, uh, not interrupting, am I? I wanted to give you two some time to catch up, but Sylvain said I shouldn't leave you alone."
Edelgard who still refuses to open her mouth shares a look with Flayn. The green haired girl sighs and stands from her seat. "No, you're not interrupting at all, Bernie. I actually should be on my way back now. I left Catherine alone with Rhea, and she's proving to be a handful with the professor absent."
Bernadetta steps fully into the room, moving to assemble the cups and plates atop the table onto a tray to bring back to the kitchen. "Oh. Well, it was nice having you. Right, Lady- er. Edelgard?"
Edelgard cannot help but roll her eyes at yet another of Bernadetta's slips of the tongue. She lets it slide. "Yes, it was," she says. She offers Flayn what she can. A smile. "Thank you for coming to see me."
Flayn's face is once more alight, with her now sporting an expression at least half as joyous as the one she had entered with. She leans down slightly to put herself at the same level as Edelgard, right in front of her face. "I'll be back again." And she plants a kiss right onto Edelgard's cheek before bounding toward the door. "Until next time, Edelgard. Bernadetta." And out she goes.
An exchange is heard between Flayn and Sylvain, followed by the opening and closing of the iron gate, and then silence. Silence. The silence stretches on as Edelgard holds the cheek Flayn had pecked. The kiss had come from nowhere and, quite frankly, left her beyond befuddled. She had been ambushed. She clasps her fingers in a pyramid before her face as red ekes out across it. Is she not too old for this? Too experienced by now? A kiss on the cheek should not produce such an overwhelming response in her. She feels so awkward sitting here trying to control herself. She is positive even someone like Bernadetta would respond more naturally. "Ah."
Edelgard looks across the table to find Bernadetta still hovering above it, dishes in her hands ready to be transported elsewhere. Much like how Edelgard had been frozen in time by that kiss, Bernadetta had been too, but why so when she is not the one who it had been laid upon?
"What's wrong, Bernadetta?" Edelgard asks.
Bernadetta nearly drops the tray of dishes in her hands when Edelgard says her name. She fumbles them but catches everything perfectly before they can shatter. "N-Nothing! Nothing at all." Something is wrong, alright. No matter how much Bernadetta may object to it, she is clearly caught up in some internal fit.
"Are you jealous?" Edelgard queries. Flayn is an adorable girl, and were it not for Seteth, her popularity among the student populace would have ballooned into something monstrous. Bernadetta always had her fair share of peculiarities, so to think that she possessed an interest in the same sex would not be too far off- Edelgard had assumed as much anyway. Not that Edelgard can call it peculiar, her interests being much the same or even more queer all things considered. "Did you want a kiss too? She must not be too far. I'm sure if you catch up to her and ask politely, Flayn will give you one."
Bernadetta grumbles something beneath her breath. Her grip on the tray in her hands tightens and she looks out the door Flayn had escaped through. Whatever it is she says, Edelgard cannot make it out. She asks her to repeat herself, and with much difficulty, Bernadetta does. "...I do want one but not from her."
Edelgard thinks to ask Bernadetta to repeat herself one more time, but she does not. She had heard her correctly the second time. It just did not seem like something the von Varley girl would say. Not to her at least. But then Bernadetta is not that same von Varley girl from five years ago. She has grown into a beautiful and, apparently, much bolder woman.
"I see," Edelgard says. She closes her eyes for a moment of contemplation, and she hears the telltale sign of Bernadetta anxiously shuffling her feet. When she opens them, she sees her doing exactly that, a bizarre little dance on the hardwood floor. Younger Bernadetta most certainly would have vanished from the room by now. "Bernadetta, come here."
Bernadetta spares not a second in doing as she is told. She goes to Edelgard's side still moving about anxiously but with no sign of her preparing to take off. Edelgard beckons Bernadetta to lean forward with a curl of her finger, and though it is not as expedient an action as the one before it, Bernadetta too complies with this wordless command. She leans forward just enough to be eye level with Edelgard, but she keeps her snapped shut, having grown bolder but not completely out of her old self. That is enough for Edelgard right now; just a little skinship will be enough to tide her over.
Much like Flayn had done to her, Edelgard presses a chaste kiss against Bernadetta's cheek. A quick peck to show affection. She pulls back feeling nowhere near as flustered as when she had been on the receiving end, but of what little excitement she feels the majority appears to have been imparted to her caretaker.
The tray of dishes falls from Bernadetta's hands, thankfully onto the couch where all they do is clatter some. Her hands now free fly to her face, clapped against it to unsuccessfully mask the crimson spread throughout it and contain what might have been an eardrum piercing squeal. She stands in place absolutely overcome by emotion, and Edelgard regards her with something a mix of subtle bemusement and intrigue. She believes she has found an outlet.