Yuri was in the classroom. Balthus and Constance were dancing together, even though they couldn't hear the music from the surface. Hapi was eating a pastry while humming a song for them.

"Byleth!" Constance grinned when she saw me. "Come dance with us."

Yuri stood up. I'd brought a plate of cake slices with me and set it down on the nearby desk.

"Ooh, cake," Hapi said.

"I thought you guys might want some," I said. "I only brought one fork, though."

"No worries." Hapi picked a slice up and ate it like a piece of meat pie. "Mmm. This is so good."

Balthus and Constance stopped dancing to eat some cake. Constance took the fork, while Balthus and Yuri joined Hapi in picking the slice up. I sat down in a chair near Hapi, covering my mouth as I yawned. It was getting late.

"How was the ball?" Constance asked me. "Did you dance with anyone handsome?" I nodded, which caused Constance to gasp and tap Hapi's arm. "Oh, do tell us, with whom did you dance with?" Constance said.

Hapi shrugged Constance's hand off her arm.

"Just my classmates," I said. "And other classmates. And my brother." I could tell that Yuri was staring at me. I shifted in my seat.

"So, like, everyone?" Hapi said.

"No, only like three," I said, blushing.

"Do you think there will be more cake left over?" Hapi stood up. "I'm going to go steal some. You wanna come with, Constance?"

Constance was still eating her slice. "I need tea with this cake. I'm going to brew myself a cup."

"I'll go with you, Hapi," Balthus said, flexing his bicep. "I bet they've got some good meat, too."

"Sweet, come on, let's go." Hapi and Balthus left the classroom.

"I'll return the plate, Byleth," Constance told me, leaving the classroom too with the plate and fork in her hands.

"Mm, that was good," Yuri said, licking his lips. "Sweet."

I smiled. "Didn't you want to go to the Goddess Tower, Yuri?"

"Really?" His eyes lit up. "You want to go with me? Wait." He darted out of the classroom. I did wait, leaning back in the chair. Yuri was back a few minutes later. "I had to get the frosting off my hands first."

I stood up. "Okay, let's go then."

We took the tunnels up to the surface. We passed the Great Hall on our way to the Goddess Tower. We could hear music and voices and dancing footsteps. Yuri paused at the entranceway.

I tapped his shoulder. "Do you want to dance?"

Yuri glanced at me. "Do you?"

I wasn't sure, but it looked like Yuri did. "If you do."

Yuri smirked, taking my hand and pulling me into the Great Hall. "See? You can still read my mind."

We danced our way towards the middle of the room.

"I see you've got some practice in." Yuri's smile was so wide that I couldn't help smiling back. Even though I was sure people were watching us and wondering about who Yuri was.

"Yeah, it's not too bad," I said.

"Nice makeup," Yuri said. "You look beautiful."

I blushed. "Thanks. Mercedes did it," I said. The lipstick had faded since eating dinner. "It's probably going to take an hour to get it all off."

"It looks nice." Yuri smiled. "Quite the feat, getting to apply makeup on you."

"Well, Annette and Mercedes are both quite persuasive. They even got Ingrid." I smiled.

"Ingrid?"

"She's my classmate." I found her across the room. "Over there, dancing with Dimitri."

Yuri spun us around so he could get a look. "Ohh. She's Galatea's daughter."

"Yeah, you've heard of her?"

He nodded. "Of course."

The song was ending, the long notes fading. There were fewer people dancing, now. I tried to find the clock on the wall to see what time it was. "One more?" Yuri asked.

"All right."

"So who did you dance with?"

"You want to know?"

Yuri shrugged. "You don't have to tell me."

"Dimitri, Claude, and Byleth," I said.

He raised his eyebrows. "Huh, I thought there'd be more."

I shook my head. "Not my thing. Dancing."

"Really?" Yuri's lips curled up in a smirk. "Have you tried spinning?"

"That's even less my thing." My eyes narrowed.

"A gentle spin." Yuri took my left hand off his shoulder and pushed me away.

"Yuri!" I spun around once before finding myself in Yuri's arms again. I gripped Yuri's shoulder. "Okay, not that bad, but still don't like it," I said.

Yuri laughed.

When the song ended, I decided to get a drink of water before we headed for the Goddess Tower. "Do you want another slice of cake?" I asked him.

Yuri shook his head. "I'm going to say hi to some people."

I nodded and left him at the Great Hall. There were still a few people at the cafeteria, eating cake or cookies for dessert. I grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down. I washed the cup and returned it, before heading back to the Great Hall. There was maybe an hour or two left before Seteth would shut the ball down.

Yuri was dancing with Hilda, her pink hair swaying in the air. I watched them, smiling at each other. A flash of jealousy hit me. They looked good together. My stomach twisted. What if Hilda liked Yuri? No, no. I pushed the feeling aside. I was being petty.

Someone stepped beside me. "Hey, Byleth."

"Hey, Edelgard," I said. I lifted a finger up, remembering. "Um, do you have a title you go by?"

Edelgard smiled. "No, Edelgard is just fine. Would you care to dance with me?" Dance with Edelgard? Well, Yuri was a bit busy right now.

I cleared my throat. "Um, okay."

I took Edelgard's hand and let her lead the dance. Wow, getting to dance with all three of the house leaders. Were they really not as popular as I'd thought?

"You know, after we graduate, you could join me in the Empire," Edelgard said.

What was with the house leaders and trying to recruit people? I opened then closed my mouth, before saying, "Thank you. That's very kind of you."

"You're strong and smart. I'd love to work with you," Edelgard said.

Me? Had Edelgard looked in a mirror recently? "But, you're super smart and strong," I said. "I heard from Byleth that you're top of his class."

Edelgard chuckled. "Is that so? That doesn't mean I don't need reliable allies. The Empire is full of corrupt nobles. I'll need people to take their positions."

"I've already promised His Highness Dimitri," I said.

"I'm not surprised." Edelgard smiled. "Dimitri has an eye for talent, too." I really wasn't sure what sort of talent she meant. Wasn't everyone at this academy smart and strong? So why me? Though, most of the Black Eagles would probably end up working for Edelgard in the future. But to be recruiting outside of her class?

The song ended, and Edelgard released my hand. "Thank you, Byleth. I had fun. Have a good night."

"Me too. Thanks, Edelgard." I smiled. She walked off to talk to someone else, while Yuri stepped into view.

"Someone's popular." Yuri was smirking.

"Come on, let's go," I said.

We left the Great Hall and headed for the Goddess Tower. We had to climb the stairs up to it. There were a few pairs of people standing around. I leaned against the banister, gazing out at the monastery below us, the forests beyond, and the little town even further away. Lights twinkled below, from torches and lanterns.

"Wow," I said. The sky was sparkling with stars. The moon was a sliver of light, with a few clouds drifting past it. "The view is amazing."

"Yeah." Yuri rested his arms on the stone.

"Have you been here before? Last year?"

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, but it was a cloudy day. We couldn't see the stars." We? Had he been here with someone else? Again, jealousy clenched its fist around my heart. Who was it? A pretty girl? A cute boy?

Yuri looked up at the sky. There was a light in his eyes that I hadn't seen in years, but it was slowly coming back now. I took Yuri's hand. Whatever. It didn't matter who. He was here with me now. "Let's make a promise."

He raised our linked hands up and kissed my hand. "To stay together, forever."

"Partners." I squeezed his hand. My heart was filling up with warmth and love and fondness. I smiled. "I love you."

Yuri blushed. "I love you too, Byleth."

"But don't expect me to say that on the regular." I looked away, cheeks burning. Yuri laughed and pulled me into a hug.

"Don't worry. Like I said, just be yourself. I wouldn't want it any other way."

I wrapped my arms around Yuri. It scared me, a little, how much Yuri could embrace and accept every part of me. I was scared that I couldn't do the same for him. Did I really know him as well as I thought I did? It was like trying to find the deepest part of the ocean. How do you know if you've reached that point? You don't, until you're proven false and find somewhere in the ocean that's even deeper down than you'd ever been before.

This high up and this late, the wind was a bit chilly. When a breeze blew by, I shivered. Yuri's arms tightened around me.

"What do you think I'm thinking right now?" he asked.

"You're cold?" I said, because I was a little cold.

"On the contrary." Yuri snuggled his head closer to mine. "You're warm."

I met up with Byleth the day before the month's mission. He was pacing back and forth in his small bedroom while I sat at the desk chair. Byleth stopped moving and stood in front of me.

"I need you to watch my father's back."

"Jeralt? He's coming with us?"

Byleth nodded. He turned and walked to the end of the room, where the door to the bathroom was. Then he spun around, walked back to his bed, and looked at me again. "His back, specifically. Someone's going to stab him with a knife."

"Who?" I narrowed my eyes.

Byleth sat down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees. He stared at the wooden flooring.

"You know, don't you?" I asked.

"I don't know." He shook his head. "How much to tell you."

I leaned forward and lowered my voice. "Who is it? I won't tell anyone."

"I know you won't," Byleth said, glancing up at me. "But…" He turned away. "I don't know what will happen."

I bit my lip. If someone was going to try to stab Jeralt, and Byleth wanted me to try to prevent that, would I end up getting stabbed instead? Would it be like with Professor Manuela and the Death Knight?

Byleth took in a deep breath of air. "It's Monica."

"The red-haired girl you found with Flayn?"

Byleth nodded. "After the mission completes, she'll walk up to my father with a question. Then, she'll walk around him from his right side and stab him in the back. I can't…" He let out his breath. "I can't interfere, not by myself."

"So, you want me to try to protect him," I said. Byleth nodded. "Okay. I'll do what I can."

"Just, don't die," Byleth said, sitting up straight. "It's fine, if my father ends up dying, then it's just fate."

"How can you say that? If you know this is going to happen, don't you think that's a sign from the Goddess for you to change things?" I frowned.

Byleth shook his head. "No. Just, don't die, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded and rubbed my left arm, looking away. "I wasn't planning to."

A small smile appeared on Byleth's face for a second. "Good. Thanks, Byleth." He stood up, so I did too. It was getting late. He opened the door. "See you tomorrow."

As Byleth had predicted, our mission was to save some students in an old church from monsters that'd appeared. While Petra flew towards the far left corner to save a student, and Ferdinand raced after, Byleth had Jeralt and I fight the middle monster with Hubert. The monsters weren't too difficult to take down, not after I'd fought Aelfric's monster form. I dodged a few attacks, led a few gambits, and soon it was defeated. We moved forward to regroup with the others.

My stomach was tossing and turning as I watched the monsters fall one after the other. It meant we were nearing when Monica would try to stab Jeralt. I didn't see her among the students, and she stuck out with her blood-red hair.

Ferdinand dealt the finishing blow for the last monster. The students we saved met up with us, while Jeralt dismounted from his horse. I stuck by his side, a hand on my sword, eyes darting left and right. Where was she?

The students gathered around Byleth. He was talking to Edelgard when Monica hopped over to talk to Jeralt.

"Wow, you were really cool, Mr. Eisner," Monica was saying.

"Thanks, now head on over to where the professor is," Jeralt said. I was a step or so behind Jeralt, to his left, waiting.

"Yes, Sir!" Monica said. I watched her feet tiptoe around Jeralt from his right side. Then I saw the gleam of the blade. My dagger met hers with a loud clank.

"What?" Monica's eyes widened. Her lips were as red as her hair. Byleth was running over, drawing his sword, when someone warped between Monica and Byleth. A tall man with white hair and white skin. He blocked Byleth's sword.

Monica took my momentary distraction to swing at Jeralt again.

"No!" I threw my left hand out. I knew I should have dual-wielded daggers. The knife cut into my hand. My hand burned. I dropped to the ground and stabbed my dagger into Monica's foot. She screamed and leaped away.

"Get the hell away from my daughter!" Jeralt was yelling. I could see the shadow of his lance on the ground near me.

My hand was bleeding. My vision reddened then filled with dark spots.

"You can't die here yet," an unfamiliar voice said. Monica was laughing. A shrill cackle that grated my ears. There was a whoosh, and when I looked up, Monica and the strange man had disappeared. Warped away. Byleth and Jeralt both rushed to me.

"You okay?" Byleth asked. I was just trying to breathe. "Lindhardt! Come here."

"I'm going to pull the knife out," Jeralt said.

"Oh Goddess." I was sweating from the pain. Like someone was twisting the insides of my hand, like a fire was blazing within.

Jeralt gripped the knife handle. The blade had gone through me. I could see blood dripping off of it. Lindhardt knelt down beside me and was healing me.

"Oh Goddess." I grabbed Byleth's hand and squeezed. "Don't count down. Just yank. Anytime."

"Got it." Jeralt nodded, then he pulled the knife out. I gasped, more pain filling my senses. Then everything turned black.

Thanks for reading!