Welcome to my Yuridetta slow burn. This is set post-Blue Lions route, hence why Dimitri is King, and I promise that there is a very good reason for that. This is going to be a veeeery slow burn, but I will attempt to do my best with it. I hope you enjoy!

Bernadetta had expected the end of the war to bring her peace, but as she held the hand of her dying mother, she realized that peace would not come so easily to her.

Six months into her rule as Count Varley of the newly unified Kingdom of Faerghus, Bernadetta von Varley kneeled on the floor next to her mother's bedside. She held her mother's thin and wrinkled hand close to her chest, watching as Lise von Varley's breaths became slower and shallower.

"Bernadetta," her mother whispered. "Can you hear me?"

"Mother!" Bernadetta pressed herself closer to the bed's satin sheets. Her hair, though usually brushed these days, was tousled and knotted. Her grey eyes were red from sobbing, and dark circles hung from her eyes. "I—I can hear you. Bernie's here."

"Good." Lise turned her head toward Bernadetta, and Bernie could see how frail she looked. Her skin was thinly stretched across her face, sweat dripped down from her forehead, and each time she blinked, it seemed harder for her to open her eyes again. She rustled beneath the purple sheets, facing Bernadetta as best she could. "I want you to listen to me, Bernadetta. Before I go to be with the Goddess."

Bernadetta could only nod, facing herself to hold back her tears.

"Remember this night," her mother said. "Remember when you were so scared you couldn't stop shaking."

Bernadetta looked down and saw her hand trembling violently in her mother's grip. She took a long, deep breath in, but when she let it out, her only seemed to shake more.

"I'm not scared," she whispered. "I'm just sad."

"My daughter." Lise rubbed her finger against Bernadetta's wrist. "Do not lie to yourself. You know what you feel."

"I don't want to feel this!" Bernadetta nearly shouted. "I don't want to remember this. I don't want to you die—" Her voice choked on the final word.

"I don't want to die either." Her mother took a deep breath. "I want you to remember this, because I want you to remember what it means to be afraid. You know what it means to be afraid, Bernadetta."

"Why does that matter?" Bernadetta brushed her tears away. "I'm scared all the time!"

"And yet you've managed to survive a war." Lise licked her lips. "You've managed to survive your father."

Bernadetta felt her heart rise in her chest. She opened her mouth to protest, to say: "No I didn't! I can't stop thinking about him!". But her mother cut her off.

"You know what it is to be afraid, Bernadetta. And you know what it means to live with fear. You survived your father, you survived a war, and you will survive this." She squeezed Bernadetta's hand harder. "You are strong enough to be Count."

"I'm not!" Bernadetta cried, burying her face into the sheets. "I'm not good enough. I'm too weak, too scared, too clumsy, too everything! I can't!"

"You can." Bernadetta felt as her mother carded her finger's through messy purple hair. "And you will."

They stayed that way for ages. Bernadetta let her heart sob, not caring if the guards outside could overhear. When it seemed like there were no more tears left inside of her, she lifted her head to look up at her mother.

"I've always loved your hair," her mother whispered. Her voice sounded hoarser than before, and she did not open her eyes. "That came from my side of the family. Your eyes though, those you received from your father." Her breaths were short. "Forgive me… for not being able to protect you… from him."

Bernadetta's lips trembled. She pushed down the sob in her throat and held her mother's hand once again. "I forgive you."

"The Archbishop was kind… to banish him. Thank her… For me. He can no longer hurt… you." Lise's voice dropped to a mere whisper. "I love you, Bernie."

"I love you too, Mother." More tears fell down Bernadetta's cheeks, and she had no strength to wipe them away. She watched as her mother's chest rose and fell softly, and watched as the breaths slowly lost more of their force.

"Remember… what it means… to be… afraid…" Lise whispered.

"What?" Bernadetta shook her mother's hand. "What does that mean? Mother?"

Lise's grip on Bernadetta's hand slackened. Her chest slowed to a quiet halt, and her head fell to one side. Bernadetta looked into Lise's face, and somehow, despite the months of sickness that took a toll on her body, her mother's face looked peaceful.

Bernadetta wailed.

Yuri had to admit, when they told him there was a problem in a nearby village, he didn't expect to find a half-dead demonic beast in a crater the size of Constance's ego.

"Well," Yuri said, tossing his hair to one side. "I guess there's a first time for everything."

The Underground Lord, a title he begrudgingly tolerated, slid down the crater wall, throwing up a layer of dust that had settled on the packed dirt. His cape fluttered gracefully behind him, attracting his prey's attention.

"Hey there." Yuri smiled at the creature. "I doubt you remember, but if you do, now's the time to give me your name."

The beast responded with a resounding roar that bounced off and around the crater walls. Similarly to those Yuri had encountered before and after the war, the beast looked like a large reptilian creature that was covered in pale red bandages. It had a long, pointed tail that swished harmlessly in an attempt to scare Yuri away, and half of its thick jaw was just… gone. Bloodied teeth and a flickering tongue were all that remained.

Like the others, it did not have eyes in the traditional sense. Instead, all it had was a glowing red stone at the tip of its snout.

"Not talkin', huh?" Yuri knelt down next to the beast. "Someone, or a lot of someones, put up a good fight against you. Not good enough though, 'cause you're still alive. So, wanna tell me who brought you here?"

The creature roared into Yuri's face, blowing his messy chin-length fringe out of his eyes.

"No? That's fine. I'll figure it out for myself." He stood up, brushing off the flecks of dust that had fallen on his pants. "But I think you've suffered enough."

The beast raised its head once more. Another roar rumbled out of its more—

And it was silenced with a swift strike of Yuri's blade.

Yuri sheathed his silver sword and the demonic beast began to fade into flecks of red dust. The red crest stone fell away from its disintegrating body, and Yuri deftly caught it with swift fingers. Slowly, the entire creature was whisked away by a light breeze that flew through the crater, flitting away until the corpse of a young man in farmer's clothing was all that was left.

"Have you found anything?" The village leader, an older man named Tobias, peered over the edge of the crater. They were a slight ways away from his village, far enough that the people had only encountered the hole a couple days ago. Upon seeing the corpse of the young man left in the demonic beast's place, he inched his way down. He stopped just short of the young man, crushing his eyes shut at the sight of the boy's vacant eyes.

"My condolences," Yuri said as sincerely as he could, discreetly pocketing the fallen crest stone. "I didn't know him, but I'm sure he'll be missed."

"He will be." Tobias whispered, running a calloused hand across his face. "He was my cousin's boy."

"Is there anything you can tell me about him? Any details the could give a clue as to why they might have taken him and turned him into a beast?"

"He was just a farmer." Tobias shook his head and exhaled softly. "He wanted to leave, to get more out of life. He didn't want to stay in the village, but I promise you he never—he never would have wanted this.

Yuri nodded. "It's not an exactly pleasant way to go. They obviously wanted to kill him, hence the crater the size of a small army. Too bad for them, whatever magic they threw at him wasn't enough to outright kill, meaning that they didn't want anyone to know that someone still has to power to create demonic beasts."

"Magic?"

"How else are you supposed to get a massive hole in the ground? Other than hiring a squadron of gravediggers in the middle of the night."

Tobias shook his head. "But how did they do this to him? Is there any chance that they'll come back? Are we all destined to turn into beasts?"

"Stay calm," Yuri ordered. "You're the leader of this village, and I expect you to act like it. For the first question, I can't tell you. As for the second, I doubt it. According to reports we've received from other villages, whoever is coming through here leaves once they take what they want."

Tobias' eyes darted from side to side until they desperately landed on Yuri's face. "But they'll stay away right? You'll stay to fight them off?"

A neighing of horses came from outside the crater. Yuri smirked. "Not exactly."

Yuri and the village leader hiked up the side of the crater, coming into view of a battalion of mounted men and woman. They came in armed, some with swords hanging in arms reach, though most of them strode in with shining bows draped across their backs. Near the front, one of the riders held a flag showing a great sword shattering its opponent's blade. And next to him was the group's leader.

"Hey, Mockingbird!" Yelled Leonie Pinelli, the young and confident leader of a new band of Fódlan mercenaries.

"Lovely to see you, Leonie. Found a good tavern nearby?"

"Yeah, but I don't think they accept cocky know-it-alls." Leonie trotted up to him and slid off her horse. Her bright orange hair had grown somewhat, as had her muscles, which stood out prominently underneath her mercenary gear.

"Understandable." Yuri extended a gloved hand out towards her. "This is your protection. The company of the second Blade Breaker."

"The elite company." Leonie settled her hands on her hips.

"I used your fancy title. Take it or leave it."

"Leonie Pinelli." She said to Tobias, ignoring Yuri's comment entirely. She held her had out to Tobias, who shook it gratefully. "The leader of the best company this side of Garreg Mach."

"About time." Tobias grimaced. "We've had some support from the Crown in terms of food, but we are far away from Fhirdiad. We have to rely on the new Lord of Gaspard territory. On a boy who barely knows the basics of ruling!"

"I suggest you watch your tongue," Yuri said with more force than he intended. "Ashe Ubert may be new to governing, but he was once a commoner like us. If there's anyone who's best equipped to help you, and willing to hire a mercenary company to defend your village." Yuri turned back to Leonie. "That would be him."

"Ashe is a good guy, and he has good taste in elite mercenary companies." Leonie shifted the bow across her back. "We've got horses, good men and women with real-life combat experience, and the best equipment money can buy."

Yuri smirked. "I'll bet. Tell me, how is your main patron doing? I've heard rumors the new Lord Gloucester recently rejected another marriage proposal from House Conand."

"Yuri, don't make me shoot you." And based on the way Leonie was sliding a sharpened arrow from her quiver, Yuri decided that it might be a good idea to leave it at that.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to be rude." Tobias inclined his head toward the both of them. "It seems the Crown and Lord Ubert may care about us, after all. I have the first job for your company."

"Yes?" Leonie asked.

"There's a boy in that crater. I need you to retrieve his body and wrap it in a cloth, any will do. I need to tell his parents their son is dead, and I would rather they not seem him lying in a ditch."

That wasn't exactly a mercenary's job, but Leonie nodded her head anyway. She ordered two of her men to do as the leader had asked, and they followed her direct order with no hesitation.

"What about our people who've already been taken?" Tobias asked in a hard voice. "There are still five of us missing. They've been missing for days, and I know—I know what happens to someone when they disappear like that."

The way the man said his words, it made Yuri realize why he was the village's leader. He may have been desperate for the Savage Mockingbird's help, if his panicked call for help was anything to go by, but his eyes were earnest. This was a man who cared about his people, and that was something Yuri could respect.

"I fear you may be right." Yuri sighed. "I can't guarantee that your people are still alive, but I can tell you I'll do my best to figure out what happened to them."

He didn't spare a glance back at the crater.

"You're a good man, my Lord."

Yuri ignored how Leonie choked on her own laugh. "I'm no one's Lord, and I'm not a good man," he said. "I just happen to be a guy who's getting pretty tired of people thinking they can get away with anything they please."

"Then I shall inform the almshouse you generously donated to that you are, as you say, not a good man."

That's because you don't know about everything else I've done, Yuri thought bleakly. He brushed the man aside. "Don't make me regret coming here."

"My Lord. That's a new one." Leonie grinned.

"Don't you start as well." Yuri turned his head away from Tobias and spoke quietly. "Stay on your guard. Whoever was here has crest stones, and they turned the farm boy into a beast."

"What!" Leonie exclaimed. Luckily, she recognized her mistake soon enough and switched to a lower tone of voice. "But the war is over. Why would anyone still be doing this?"

Yuri resisted to urge to sigh. "I don't know, and I don't like not knowing. My best guess is the boy stole a crest stone from one of one of the people who were taking him away. He probably activated it without knowing what it was."

"I'm gonna report this to Ashe." Leonie said. "It may just have been a group that stole a few crest stones from battlefields, but it could be something bigger."

"Just don't get cocky and get yourself killed."

"Do you want an arrow in your leg, Yuri? 'Cause at this rate, that's what you're gonna get."

"General!" Armand, a young man Yuri had met in Abyss and one of his best scouts, rode up to the small group. He was short and thin and could barely hold up a sword, but damn was he quick on a horse. He and his mare slowed to a halt next to the small group. "There's something you should see."

"Go ahead," Leonie said, pulling her pack of her own horse's saddlebags. "I'll start setting up my company around the village."

Yuri gave her a quick nod, then turned to follow Armand as he trotted further away from the village. After a short trek, the scout slowed next to a muddied side road that led away from the village.

Yuri knelt down beside the road, careful to keep his cape away from the mud. His eyes scanned the thin stone road. The thing about rural roads is, compared to those that connect larger towns to the capital and the continent's main bridges, they were often made with fewer stones. These stones were also more prone to dislodging themselves and sinking deeper into the ground, letting mud seep into every one of its cracks.

And sometimes, that mud leaves an imprint. In this case, it had left imprint of more than a dozen footsteps, all of them traveling toward the southeast of Fódlan.

"Looks like we have a trail." Yuri stood up and smirked. "And I'd hate for it to run cold."

"Lady Varley, is it possible for you to leave your room? There are some matters that we need your approval on."

"Not today!" Bernadetta yelled from her bed, holding her stuffed hedgehog, Adrienne, close to her chest. "How about tomorrow?"

"That is what you said yesterday, Lady Bernadetta." The stewardess, an older woman named Jeanne and the only steward who seemed to tolerate Bernadetta's habit of hiding away, spoke patiently. "Speaking of yesterday, we also need your approval on the documents we gave you—"

"Eeep!" Bernadetta ran to her desk and exchanged Adrienne for the high stack of papers she had finished reading through last night. In a flash, she opened her door just enough to slide the parchments out to Jeanne. And before the woman could jam the door open, Bernie pressed it shut again.

"There!" She said triumphantly. "You have all of the papers from yesterday. Everything that I approve of has been signed, and everything I haven't has a detailed list of why I don't like it on the back of the parchment. You can just slide the new papers under my door, I read everything, and you come back tomorrow. Now you don't have to ask me to explain anything! It's perfect!"

"I… suppose that is sufficient. Thank you, Lady Bernadetta." A fresh stack of papers and envelopes were slid under Bernadetta's door. As Bernadetta picked them up, she leafed through the documents, ranging from treasury reports to unopened letters from other nobles. Though the thick oak door, Bernie heard Jeanne take a deep breath. "Forgive me for asking, but are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Bernie squeaked, accidentally crinkling the paper in her hands. "Everything's fine. Just need some time to adjust to everyone, you know?"

"The loss of a parent is no easy thing to overcome. Is there anything we can do to make it easier for you? Would you like to go outside? Take in some fresh air?"

"No!" Bernie felt her cheeks flush. That's not how a count's supposed to sound like, right? She had to be firm. Commanding. That's what her mother said, before the sickness fully took over. "Umm, I mean. No, thank you. I don't want to go outside. The air in here is perfectly fine."

Jeanne sighed, but not unkindly. Bernadetta had listened to enough of the stewards to tell the difference. "As you say, Count Varley. I'll return tomorrow. Perhaps a new day will do you some good."

Bernadetta pressed her ear to the doorway and listened for the familiar click clack of Jeanne's small heels echoing down the hallway. After a few moment, the echoes grew fair, and Bernadetta let out a long sigh of relief.

"Finally. Some peace and quiet." She returned to her desk and deposited her new workload. She slid into her desk chair, which was much larger and far more comfortable than the ones in Garage Mach, and reached out her hand toward her well-worn quill.

But instead of the quill, her fingers brushed the soft purple fabric of her stuffed hedgehog. Bernadetta pulled Adrienne closer, tracing the delicate gold lining with a slim finger, until she laid eyes on the small signature on the hedgehog's belly.

For my dearest Bernie. Be strong, and be brave.

It had been a gift for Bernadetta's tenth birthday. Her mother had presented it to her a few days after the birthday, as business in Enbarr had prevented her from arriving at the main estate sooner. Bernie didn't mind, though. She got Adrienne! The most beautiful hedgehog she'd ever seen, and she was even made out of purple and gold, her two favourite colors! Bernie had jumped up and hugged her mother tighter than ever before, and she had marvelled at how talented her mother was.

Her mother was brilliant. Even though she was only the wife of the count, she had taken over her father's duties when he had been under house arrest. She had continued House Varley's work, dealt with merchants, became the best healer in the territory, and kept the House afloat until Bernadetta assumed control of the estate. And when Bernie had been made Count, her mother had helped her with understanding the protocols and needs of the whole territory. She had been by Bernie's side the whole time.

And now she wasn't.

"Mother, I think know what it means to be afraid." She held Adrienne close to her chest. "It means not being able to do anything."

"Is this really where the trail stops?" Yuri asked as he ran his hand over the packed dirt.

"Yep," Armand replied. "I've scouted the area further down, and this is the last of the tracks."

Yuri and his crew had followed the trail for several days, only stopping for meals and late-night rests. They had traveled beyond Rowe territory, past Magdred, and down a thin road that cut through the Oghma mountains. It was a road to small for armies the size of those he had fought with in the war, but for his company of two dozen soldiers, it was sizeable enough. They were fairly close to Garreg Mach, but that also meant that they were near new roads for their target to take. Roads that held less of a trail.

Yuri stood up and walked past Armand's horse, taking in a better view of the landscape before him. "They must've switched to the main road. And unless these people are dumb enough to run straight to Garreg Mach, there's only one way they would go."

Yuri looked out at the grand plains of Varley County. Though nothing spectacular, the County was a lush green with flowers dotting the many fields—a benefit of not being a battlefield for the war. Several farmers tilled away at the soil, but they were few and far between, as Varley County was not the land's breadbasket.

No, thought Yuri as he looked out toward the southern horizon. The real power is over there.

A long stone road cut through the sprawling green pastures, twisting and turning its way across the land. It was a two days' journey by foot, but even from that distance, Yuri could clearly see the sprawling town of Vallais. A long stone wall circled the town's perimeter, yet it looked stunted compared to the many tall houses and building that stretched across the land. The houses got taller and taller the closer one looked to the town's center, leading to the tallest, and largest, structure in the land. Standing tall with high walls and towers eerily similar to those of Garreg Mach Monastery, House Varley was at the center of it all. It shined and looked over all of Vallais, so much so that both locals and nobles alike had called it the capital of Varley County.

Before the war, as Yuri and every commoner knew, the nobles of the former Adrestian Empire had preferred to spend much of their time in Enbarr instead of their own territories. But since the land had officially become part of the Kingdom of Faerghus and those who followed the King had claimed their noble titles, many of the new lords chose to reside in their own territories rather than in the former capital. Some said that they did so in order to please the King, while others suggested that it was Faerghian customs seeping into the southern part of the country.

As for the new Count of Varley, Yuri had a pretty good idea as to why she stayed in her territory.

"Well, well, well." Yuri shook his head. "Looks like it's time to pay good old Bernadetta a visit."