I woke up early to have breakfast with Edelgard. The room was dark, and Yuri was still asleep. I lit the lantern beside the bed, trying to be quiet. After changing out of my pajamas, I kissed Yuri on the cheek, blew the light out, and opened the door. Light seeped in.

"Byleth?" Yuri said, voice quiet and groggy. I froze in the doorway. He was sitting up, rubbing his eye. "You're leaving?"

"I didn't want to wake you up," I said.

Yuri stared at me and waved. "Have a safe trip."

I stepped back towards the bed to give Yuri a hug. He was warm. "I'll see you soon," I said.

"Mm," he said. "See you."

I met Edelgard at the cafeteria. It almost felt like we were attending the academy again, except instead of other students dining beside us, it was other soldiers. Hubert joined us and kept staring at me. It was unnerving. I could feel his gaze boring into my skull, and I couldn't help but fidget in my seat.

"So, you said you're not representing the Kingdom or the Church," Edelgard said, in between bites of toast and eggs. "How are you planning on convincing the Church to go along with this? I doubt they'd be all right with us stripping away their authority and power."

"I've been thinking about it." I leaned forward more. We had the entire table to ourselves. The other soldiers were chatting, quietly, and looking at us every few minutes. "I was hoping to focus on convincing Lady Rhea that the Crest system isn't good for the Church either. After that, maybe Lady Rhea could see that the best way to break the Crest system is through the individual countries and through law. I don't think it's something the Church could do by themselves."

Edelgard nodded. "And then? Do you think you could convince Lady Rhea to let go of her power?"

I bit my bottom lip and sipped my glass of water. That was a lot trickier. I wasn't too sure. I was hoping that if I could convince the Fodlan leaders to work together, then that'd be enough to convince Lady Rhea to relinquish. It was either that or face war. But would that be enough?

"If we can get the common people on our side, that'd definitely help," I said.

"Hmm." Edelgard stared at her plate for a second. "Yes, I agree, but it's not that easy."

"If we get the Kingdom and the Alliance to agree, that'd also help pressure the Church to compromise with us."

"But the Kingdom is harboring the Church leaders right now," Edelgard said. "What makes you think the Kingdom will side with us?"

"Because we don't want war," I said.

"Dimitri doesn't want war?" Edelgard raised her eyebrows. "Or you don't?"

I swallowed. My palms were sweaty. I poked at the eggs in front of me with my fork. "Of course, His Majesty would prefer no war."

"But you don't know for certain," Edelgard said.

I nodded. I couldn't make decisions for Dimitri. "That's why we need all the leaders to meet and to discuss."

"Does that mean you've contacted Claude too?"

I nodded.

"You're very on top of things." Edelgard smiled. "Very well. When do you think everyone could meet?"

It'd take at least ten days for a letter to reach Claude, and another ten for him to respond. Then he'd have to travel all the way over. I'd already brought the meeting up to Dimitri, so he'd arrange to leave the capital for some time for this meeting.

"We're meeting here? I'm not sure if the leaders will feel comfortable with so many soldiers."

"Then where would you suggest?"

"Garreg Mach is fine, but I think it'd be best if you removed some of your soldiers first. We don't want this to be a battlefield," I said, which, in hindsight, was a little ironic. Garreg Mach had already been a battlefield.

"I can arrange that, if you can guarantee me that the Kingdom won't be bringing too many soldiers. I know there'll be some knights for Dimitri's safety."

"Do you have a specific number limit in mind?"

"Hmm… Twenty-four," Edelgard said. "All parties will limit their numbers to twenty-four. How does that sound?"

"Including the leaders, any of their guards, other nobles, or assistants?"

Edelgard nodded.

"All right. That sounds good to me. I'll pass the note along to Claude." It was happening. I couldn't help the smile growing on my face. "How about a month from now? It'll take some time to get a letter to Claude."

Edelgard nodded. "Very well, but no later than a month. We don't have time to waste."

After breakfast, Edelgard and I continued hashing out ideas in the audience room. We discussed how we could get the common people on our side. We talked about how to improve the quality of life for subjects, ways we could discourage thievery and banditry. At noon, we returned to the cafeteria and ate with the rest of the Black Eagles students. They were a special task force now, Edelgard told me, while Hubert protested Edelgard revealing such information to me.

"She's still working for the Kingdom," Hubert said.

"I know," Edelgard said.

"How do we know Byleth isn't a spy?"

"We've been keeping track of her movements." Edelgard stared at Hubert, and he closed his mouth, shaking his head. "You have, too."

"I think it's nice to see Byleth again," Caspar said.

"It's certainly better than having to fight you," Ferdinand said. Both had bright smiles on their faces.

"You're returning to Fhirdiad today?" Petra asked.

I nodded. "I'll be back in a month, with His Majesty, hopefully."

"The Professor… You don't think he's actually dead, do you?" Dorothea asked me. I shook my head.

"No, he wouldn't die that easily," I said.

"I agree," Edelgard said.

"But then where is he?" Lindhardt asked. I shrugged. We avoided political topics and talked about family and friends and how the monastery was faring. There were several Empire servants here keeping the place clean and orderly.

Once we were done eating, Edelgard walked with me to the monastery gates. The same servant who'd taken my horse away was waiting with my horse.

"Thank you for the visit," Edelgard said. "Please send a letter before returning."

"Otherwise, we won't let you return to the monastery as easily," Hubert said, with his arms crossed over his chest.

I smiled at them. "Thank you. I'm really glad we got a chance to talk, Edelgard."

"Have a safe trip." Edelgard waved. I mounted my horse and waved back. I nudged the horse into a trot and headed off.

When I returned to Fhirdiad, I reported to Dimitri first. Dimitri still wasn't used to receiving people in his throne room, so we usually met in the drawing room to the side, where we had our regular meetings. When I entered, as usual, Dedue was sitting beside Dimitri, but there was a new face in the room. Ingrid waved at me.

"Ingrid!" I grinned and waved back.

"Hey, Byleth," she said.

"What are you doing back?" I asked.

"I'm back to work as His Majesty's knight. My father still wants me to find someone to marry, but the war has higher priority right now," Ingrid said.

"Well, I'm glad to see you." I smiled. I looked at Dimitri. "Your Majesty." I bowed.

"Don't worry about that, Byleth," Dimitri said, shaking his head. "How was your visit?"

I told him what Edelgard had told me, how we could all meet and discuss compromises and treaties. "I know you said you'd be willing to meet, but what about Lady Rhea?" I asked.

"Hmm… You do have good ideas, but I don't know if Lady Rhea would agree to them," Dimitri said, resting his chin in his hand.

"I'll talk to her tonight," I said.

"No, it can wait until tomorrow," Dimitri said, meeting my gaze. "You should rest up for now."

"All right. Thanks, Your Majesty."

I returned to my room to write a letter to Claude. His response had arrived during my absence. After dinner with Rose and getting Byleth's notebook back, I retired to my room to plan my verbal attack against Lady Rhea.

Convincing her that Crests were bad wouldn't be too hard, since they were literally from the blood, bones, and hearts of her people. But I'd have to hide my source of knowledge. And how could that tie into diminishing the Church's power? Lady Rhea probably liked to punish criminals because it meant she could punish anyone who acted against the Church. Squash rebellions and silence dissenters. Edelgard was right. I doubted Rhea would want to relinquish that power.

If only Byleth were here… I wondered what he'd say or do. But he wouldn't be able to persuade Lady Rhea either. The last time I'd talked to her by myself, she was fuming over Byleth's betrayal. I wrote up a letter for Edelgard, informing her of my safe return and that I'd keep her posted on whether Dimitri, Claude, and Lady Rhea would agree to our plans. Then, stretching my arms above my head, I called it a night.

The next day, I went to see Lady Rhea in her guest room. Her bedroom was next to Flayn's and Seteth's. I knocked on the door.

"Lady Rhea? It's Byleth."

"Come on in."

I opened the door and stepped in. The room was set up like mine, only there weren't papers and books everywhere. Rhea was sitting at the desk, an opened book in her hands, and a map of Fodlan spread out in front of her.

"Dimitri told me you'd talk to me today," Rhea said, snapping the book shut. She set it down, standing up, and gestured at the couches. "What is it?"

I wondered how much Dimitri had told her. "It's about the war. I'm trying to work a compromise between the Empire and the Kingdom, and hopefully with the Church too. I don't want this war. Lady Rhea, you don't want this war, right?"

Joining me at the couches, Rhea folded her hands together and looked to the side. "Of course not, but it depends on what cost."

"That's exactly why we should try to find a peaceful solution now," I said, leaning forward. "If we fight this war and lose, we won't be in a position to set our conditions. We'd be forced to beg for our lives."

"What makes you think we'll lose the war?" Rhea narrowed her eyes at me.

"They have the professor on their side," I said.

"That doesn't mean we still can't win. Your brother is…" Rhea stopped and gazed down at the floor again. She sighed. "He was supposed to be like Seiros and receive a divine message from the goddess."

"How do you know he didn't? Don't you think the fact that he's on the Empire's side is a sign from the goddess that they're right?"

"No, that's impossible!" Rhea folded her arms together and glared at me. "Sothis would never-"

"But it's been centuries since the last message from the goddess," I said, waving a hand in the air. "How would you know otherwise?"

"You're saying that the goddess is approving of this child attacking the church? Impossible." Rhea shook her head.

"It's not that Edelgard doesn't like the church. She wants to diminish the church's power," I said.

"There's no way Sothis would agree to that."

"Maybe there are church officials who are corrupt," I said. Rhea's eyes narrowed even further. Her nostrils flared. This wasn't going as I'd imagined. Making her angry wouldn't help persuade her. "And decreasing the church's authority would help remove those corrupt people. Also, Edelgard wants to remove the Crest system."

Rhea sighed, massaging her temple.

"Don't you think the Crest system isn't ideal too?" I said. "It's more harmful to our society than it is beneficial. Sure, people with Crests are on average physically stronger than those without a Crest. But that has nothing to do with leadership. Why should a few people who are physically stronger lead countries? What about wisdom, communication skills, and empathy?"

Rhea shook her head. "You're being naive, Byleth."

Oh no. I swallowed, one hand curling into a fist. "The physical strength means that they could abuse their powers too," I said. "Are you really going to say that having a Crest has never burdened you?"

Rhea frowned but didn't say anything.

"Lady Rhea, have you ever taken a good look at the Hero's Relics? Don't you think they look a lot like bones?"

Rhea's lips pressed into a tight line. "What is your point, Byleth?"

"It's just… they don't look like any of the other holy relics, like the Chalice, for example," I said. "Why would the goddess make the Hero's Relics like that?"

"I don't know, but she must have had her own reasons," she said, but there was a tremor in her voice. The truth was that the Hero's Relics were made of bones, and Rhea knew that. She was Seiros after all.

"Lady Rhea, please think about it - the Crest system and its merits and downsides," I said.

Rhea shook her head. "I will. Give me some time, Byleth."

"Of course." I smiled. "Thank you. I really hope we can work something out, Lady Rhea. If we do, imagine how many lives we could save from this war."

She didn't smile back. "Yes." She stood up, and I took that as a signal to leave, so I stood too. Rhea nodded at me. "I'll come talk to you again after I've given this some thought."

"Thank you." I bowed and headed for the door. "Have a good day, Lady Rhea."

Rhea had her back turned to me, already walking back to the desk. "You too, Byleth."

"Your Majesty, could I write a series of essays about the Crest system for the public? Do you know if there's a newspaper that'd publish something like that?" I asked Dimitri, during our afternoon meeting. If I wanted to get Dimitri onboard, it'd be easiest if I could get the public onboard.

"What are you planning on writing in these essays?" Dimitri said.

"How the Crest system is harmful to society," I said. "Would you prefer it if it was more objective? Instead of a one-sided argument?"

Dimitri shook his head. "No, that's fine. If your essays get enough attention, I'm sure there will be people who dissent and argue back."

"They'll be anonymous. I'd prefer if they'd be published anonymously anyway," I said.

Dimitri nodded, resting his elbows on the table. "There's the major newspaper company in Fhirdiad. You could ask them, if you brought an initial draft."

"Great, thanks!" I smiled. "I wanted to get permission first."

Dimitri smiled back. "Good luck. Let me know before you leave. One more thing, before you leave, could you go talk to Miss Vinley?" Vinley was the one managing palace affairs - hiring servants, assigning work, ensuring every guest was comfortable.

"Yes, of course," I said with a nod. "I'll see you later, Your Majesty." I bowed then stepped out of the room, leaving Dimitri with Lord Rufus.

Vinley had a small office behind the throne room. I knocked once. "Miss Vinley? It's Byleth," I said.

"Come on in," a voice said from within.

I entered, closing the door behind me. Vinley was a rather small, middle-aged woman, with short, curly orange hair. She smiled at me, round glasses framing her green eyes. "Please take a seat, Miss Byleth. Have you heard about your room situation?"

I did, settling into the cushioned armchair. "No, I'm not sure what's going on."

Vinley clasped her hands together and leaned forward. "You see, the room you're currently in is in the southern east wing, which is usually reserved for guests. You're an official advisor of His Majesty now, and advisors usually stay in the northern west wing."

I had no idea what she was talking about. I raised an eyebrow. "I see."

Vinley chuckled. "Are you sure?" She reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a piece of rectangular paper. She unfolded the paper revealing a map of the palace. Vinley pointed at a room in the right bottom corner with the end of her quill. "This is your room. You can stay here, if you'd really like to, but it'd be best if you moved here soon." The feather moved to the top left corner. "You'd also get your own office here." She gestured at a cluster of rooms to the right.

"Oh," I said. "I see. It shouldn't be too hard for me to move. I don't have much."

"Excellent." Vinley leaned back into her seat. "There are a few open rooms in the northern west wing, so you can take a look and pick one."

"What are the other wings for?"

"The southern wing is all for guest rooms. The northern east wing is where the royal family stays," Vinley said. "After you've selected a room, send a servant back to me telling me which room it is. Feel free to move when you'd like to."

I nodded. "All right. Thanks. Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you, Miss Byleth," Vinley said.

I stood up, smiling. "Have a good day, Miss Vinley."

For the next two weeks, I spent every other morning with Lady Rhea, trying to persuade her. She wouldn't agree to anything definitively. Since Lady Rhea wouldn't budge, I started talking to Seteth and Flayn about the matter. If I could convince them, they could help convince Rhea.

I drafted up two essays arguing for the destruction of the Crest system. I had to do some research. I wrote to Sylvain asking if I could use his story with his family and brother as an example, names removed, of course. I asked Ingrid, Dimitri, and Dedue how they felt. I went into town and interviewed random people. I asked Lord Rufus if there were any texts involving Crests, and Lord Rufus sent the royal librarian to my room with a small stack of books.

Miss Vinley wanted me to move, but I didn't know how to pick a room. When Rose heard of the situation, she checked out every room and finally chose one for me. "You'll like this one," she assured me, before sending a servant off to Vinley with the news.

Claude wrote to me saying that he'd see me at the monastery. Sylvain said he wouldn't mind if I used his story, if it was anonymized, and that he'd want to see what I wrote. I sent him a copy of my second essay, asking for feedback and advice.

I shared my drafts with the team and made revisions based on their responses. Rose took a look too, but she didn't have any criticisms. She returned the papers to me with a smile and said, "I'm proud of you, Byleth. You're trying to change the world."

"It's not my idea, though," I said, smiling. "I'm just supporting it."

But I felt warm inside and couldn't stop myself from hugging her.

Since I was so busy, the two weeks flew by, but I also felt myself gradually falling ill. It started with waking up feeling a little dizzy. A few days later, my throat hurt, so I began drinking lots of warm tea. I had periodic headaches, and sometimes my head would spin even if I wasn't moving. For the most part, the symptoms didn't bother me, until I was training with Jeralt.

"You're slower today," Jeralt said.

"I know." I was out of breath, and my body felt heavy. "I'm just tired."

"Let's call it a day for now then," he said, leaning on his lance.

"One more time." I lifted my sword up.

Jeralt shook his head. "No, we're done. It's important to rest when you're tired, or you'll risk injury."

I wiped at the sweat on my forehead and nodded. "Fine." I couldn't afford to take time to rest, though. We had the monastery visit coming up in two weeks. I could relax after that.

On Monday, since Dimitri insisted that I take someone with me, Ingrid accompanied me to the publishing company. We walked through the main street, passed bustling store fronts, to a two-story brown brick building. It was a bookstore on the first floor, while the second floor was where the company printed their books and newspapers.

But, even after I showed them the brooch engraved with the royal family's insignia that Dimitri had given me, the chief editor refused to publish my essays. "It's too controversial," she told us. "What do you think is going to happen? All the nobles with their Crests will be at our throats. You want to publish this anonymously? Then they'll want to know who wrote this. They'll boycott our publications and put financial stress on us."

"I'm a noble," Ingrid said, pointing at herself. "I can promise my family won't do that."

"You're only one noble out of many, though." The editor shook her head. "Not everyone will agree with you. There's a reason why you want it published anonymously right? You claim to work for His Majesty. If you wanted this published under royal orders, we could do that."

"No, thank you for your time," I said. I turned towards the exit.

"Are you giving up?" Ingrid asked me as we were descending the stairs. "We can try another publishing company."

"Is there another one nearby?" I said.

"Yes, they're smaller, though," Ingrid said. "Come on. I'll show you the way."

The second publishing company was further away from the palace and required less squabbling to see one of their editors. Unfortunately, their response was the same: "No, sorry, we can't publish this."

I sighed as we walked out again. "Sorry for dragging you on this trip, Ingrid."

"It's no problem. You know, there's still one more place we could try," Ingrid said.

I looked at her. "Really? I don't think they'll publish this though."

Ingrid rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, they don't really have a good reputation. Their newspaper is known for exaggerating stories, and their journalists are often caught stalking nobles or celebrities around, trying to dig up some dirt. Their headlines are more like who's cheating on who and which new noble had a baby with a Crest recently."

I rubbed my chin, thinking. That did sound like they'd be more willing to publish something controversial.

"Why do you want it to be anonymous?" Ingrid asked. We were standing outside. It was getting late, with the sun hanging lower in the sky. I was hoping we'd get back before dinner time.

"I… don't know," I said with a shrug. "I know that I don't want the royal family to get tied up in this, because then it might look like they're trying to replace the nobles with commoners to gain more power."

Ingrid nodded. "I could see people believing that."

"I also want people to think for themselves. If they read this essay, and they don't know who wrote it, don't you think they'd take everything with a grain of salt? There's no credibility behind it," I said. Ingrid nodded. "They'd consider their own experiences of the Crest system and develop their own opinion. Do people know I'm an advisor?"

"You were at the coronation," Ingrid said. "Some people will recognize you."

"How far is this other company?" I asked.

"They're at the outskirts of Fhirdiad. Maybe a thirty minute walk from here."

"Are you up for it?"

Ingrid nodded with a small smile. "Of course!"

The third publication company had a small office with only three desks, one printing press machine, and two bookshelves. There were only two people inside, and one of them took my manuscript, flipped through the first few pages, then looked at me. "And how much money are you looking for?"

"Money?" I said. "Oh! None at all. I just want it published, anonymously."

"Hmm." The guy narrowed his eyes at me. He had a short, brown beard and a long, narrow face. He turned in his seat to the other person. "Hey, Arelia, take a look at this."

The young woman looked up from something else that she was reading and took my essay from the other man. She skimmed through within a few minutes. How could these people read so fast?

"Hmm." She tapped her chin with the back of her quill. "It has potential."

"Arelia here's our editor," the guy said, pointing at her. "I'm Ereik. I manage the printing and selling."

"I'm Byleth. Nice to meet you," I said and shook his hand. "So you could publish it?"

Arelia was scribbling stuff on the paper. "Come back in three days. I'm going to mark your essay up with suggestions."

"Okay, thanks!" I said. I reached into my bag and pulled out the second essay, passing it to Arelia. "Here's a second one."

"A series, huh." Arelia added the second stack of papers to the first. "All right." She smiled at me. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Byleth."

Thanks for reading!