The next morning Lysithea returned to the classroom. She had finally been let out of the infirmary weeks after getting kidnapped and it was reassuring to be in a familiar place again. There were some changes though, mainly Flayn who had recently joined their class.

"Hey there Lysithea. You're looking good," Claude commented along with the smiles the rest of the Golden Deer gave upon seeing her.

"I'm feeling much better now actually, thank you," Lysithea replied politely before noticing the seat Flayn offered next to her. She promptly sat down next to the new student, who had apparently fit in quite well with the class.

"I'm glad that you could join us!" Flayn said. "It must've been tiring to be stuck in the infirmary all day."

"It wasn't too bad. I was able to get some reading done and catch up on the assignments that the Professor left for me."

Lindhart yawned. "Hard working as ever. I honestly would've taken the opportunity to get some more sleep."

"Not everyone has the time to waste," Lysithea replied quickly. She immediately regretted it when she noticed the concerned looks that her classmates gave her. "I… er not that there's any issue with how you spend your time."

Now she made it worse. Lysithea sighed. Perhaps the blunt approach was best. "I'm going to do my best to live my life and work toward a future with all of you. You don't need to be so cautious around me, I can handle it."

Thankfully enough Sylvain would suddenly walk into the classroom at that moment which got the focus off her, mostly because of the tired expression on his face and bags under his eyes. He usually put a lot of effort in his appearance so to seem him walk into the classroom in such a state was rare moment.

"Wow. You don't look good Sylvain," Hilda commented after he had gotten onto his seat and let his head drop onto his desk.

"I just spent the last two hours being scolded by Seteth and if that wasn't enough, he even forced me to listen to a story."

"Ooh was it about the fox and the squirrel?" Hilda asked.

"No, it was about the promiscuous rabbit. Did he also read you a story?"

"He did. You know he actually makes those himself."

Sylvain's eyes went wide. "He does!? Wow that's… actually really impressive."

"I know right? You have to tell me more of that story with the rabbit."

"I can't remember most of it off the top of my head, but I can try as long as you tell me more about the squirrel and fox."

"Deal!"

"Is something wrong Flayn?" Leonie asked Flayn who had begun pouting for some reason.

"My… brother has never written any stories for me," Flayn complained.

"Man, that isn't right," Raphael leaned over and patted the girl on the back. "A big bro should make their sis happy first!"

"Then we should have him make one then!" Hilda suggested. "With all of us. We can even have Ignatz make the pictures."

"Oh um… I don't think that-"

"Ignatz your artistic sense and abilities are impeccable," Lorenz commented. "I'm quite certain that you are more than capable of creating pictures for a book."

Ignatz put on thoughtful expression on his face before glancing at Flayn. Unfortunately for him he had been doomed the second that he was struck by the puppy eyed look that Flayn gave him. It was something the Lysithea herself had been on the receiving end on in the past. Really, only Seteth seemed to be immune to her charms.

"I will," he eventually agreed.

"Wonderful," Hilda cheered. "Now we just need Seteth to make a good story."

"Do you think we could also get Bernadetta to work with us?" Sylvain asked.

"Bernadetta? Why her?" Lysithea asked.

"She's actually a really good writer," Sylvain explained. "I accidently read something that she left behind and it was a real nail biter. I'm a fan of her work."

"You ever try telling her that?" Hilda asked. "I mean it seems like something she'd like to know."

"I tried but she's always running off or threatening to throw me into a fire. She doesn't believe me for some reason," Sylvain replied.

"That's probably because of all the women you sent crying in the past," Cyril replied bluntly. "She probably thinks she's just another mark for you."

"Yeesh. Pretty harsh aren't you Cyril."

"I have to agree with him," Lysithea said. "You've shown nothing that would give her reason to trust your intentions. If you truly wish for her to believe her then you have to be sincere for once."

"Even then she still might not want to talk to you," Marianne commented meekly. "It can be hard… to open up to others sometime," she finished while glancing at Hilda.

"She's right," Hilda said. "Sometimes you have to take on a whole other approach to get along with people. It was how I started hanging out with Marianne."

"Another approach huh…" Sylvain put a hand to his chin and looked at the rest of class. "I'm a little worried it might make things worse though, she's… delicate."

"She is," Claude commented. "But sometimes, all you can do is keep smiling and doing your best. You might want to ask the Professor for advice though, he seems to know how to act around her."

Sylvain nodded. "I will."

"We can discuss this after class," the Professor's voice suddenly called, out announcing his presence.

The entire class quickly turned around and was shocked by the Professor suddenly standing in front of all of them.

"When did you get here?" Leonie asked.

"When you started talking about Bernadetta," the Professor replied quickly before shaking his head. "It seems that your situational awareness is lacking."

"I don't think that's the issue Teach, you're just… surprisingly good at sneaking around," Clade replied.

"There are many you will meet in the battlefield that will be stealthier than I am. If you aren't aware of them that could get you killed." The Professor began to write on the board. "Today we'll have a lecture on surprise attacks in preparation for the mission we have next week." He then suddenly turned around and threw a piece of chalk at the still napping Lindhart. The chalk hit him dead center on the forehead and ended up knocking him off his chair. "You failed by the way."

"I'm quite aware Professor," Lindhart groaned from the floor.

"What's the mission?" Leonie asked.

Lysithea already knew before the Professor told them.

"In two days we're to escort Rhea so that she may execute the bishop leading the Western Church. They've used fog tactics in the past, so come in expecting that." The Professor threw another piece of chalk at Claude who promptly caught it with a single hand.

"So, the Archbishop herself is coming," Claude replied while casually twirling the chalk in his hand like he often would an arrow.

"Indeed. It'll be our job to protect her along with capturing or killing those associated with the Western Church."

"Preferably the former. I have a few questions I want to ask them."

"You're not the only one with questions to ask Claude," Lysithea commented.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to ask all about the people they worked with."

"How exactly are you going to make them talk?"

Claude shot her his trademark smile. "I have my ways."

Hilda rolled her eyes. "What are you going to do? Annoy them to death?"

"Hah hah," Claude laughed sarcastically.

"Claude? What is this?" Lysithea asked as she poked at the very large paper bag that her House Leader had suddenly deposited in front of her while she had been busy studying in the library.

Claude promptly reached into a bag and took out a package of some peculiar, yet still appealing, cookies.

"The Almyran sweets I promised you," he said before opening the package and popping one of the cookies in his mouth. He then offered the rest of it to her.

"That's… a big bag." Even she had to be intimated by all sweets in front of her.

"I could take it all back if you don't want them." Claude began to draw the cookies back.

"No!" Lysithea shouted as she quickly grabbed the package out of his hands. "I'll happily accept." She popped a cookie in her mouth and nearly moaned at the flavor. The distinct flavors of cinnamon, walnut, cocoa, and some sort of light spice all combined together in a cacophony upon her tongue. Those Almyrans certainly knew how to make their sweets.

"Where did you even get all of those?" she asked. It was hard to find any merchants from Almyra, much less those that actually carried such a large amount of perishable sweets.

"You don't become the leader of the Alliance without making a few connections," Claude replied cheekily with a smile on his face. "You like them?"

"I love them. These cookies are divine."

"Those are called Koloocheh and they're often served with tea. Why don't you put them down for a second? There's a lot of other things you need to try."

Lysithea reluctantly set the cookies aside. Those were some of the best cookies she ever had, how could the other things in that bag compare? She was answered by some strangely shaped fried dough that Claude placed in front of her.

"These are Zoolbia," he informed her. "They deep-fry flour batter in shapes like these before soaking them in a saffron syrup."

Lysithea promptly popped one of them in her mouth. It was a bit oily but the satisfying crunch in her mouth followed by the sweetness of the sugar and the floral notes of the saffron more than made up for it.

"And these," Claude took out another package of what looked like to be finger sized fried dough, "are Bamiyeh. They're made like the Zoolbia by being fried and soaked in syrup but they're made of a thicker dough for a more crumbly texture."

"You certainly know a lot about Almyran sweets," Lysithea commented as she popped another sweet in her mouth. At this point she didn't care about the faces she made in front of him. It was all just so good.

"Gotta know a lot about them considering how close they are to us."

"That makes sense. Know your enemy, especially those that are constantly trying to invade us." Lysithea took one of each of the three sweets and stuffed them in her mouth. It was a bit messy but the resulting rush of sugar was enough to cause her to shudder. "Why are they so busy trying to fight us anyway? They could've just taken over Fodlan by bringing these sweets over and selling them instead."

"I don't think there's anyone quite as fond of sweets as you are… though trying to establish some more trade with Almyra is an interesting idea."

"I'll have you know Claude that people love their sweets and the best way to a person's heart is through their stomach. People would think a lot better of Almryan's instead of thinking they're just savage invaders if they knew about some of these treats they made down there."

"I'm making my way into your heart?" Claude replied suggestively.

Lysithea crossed her arms, looked away, and tried to hide the light blush that appeared on her face due to the error she made with her words. She had seen him flirt with plenty of people in the past, men and women included, but this would be the first time it was directed onto her. He was worse than Sylvain in some ways. "Not at all… though I do appreciate all these sweets you've given me." They were certainly much better than the nutrition packed gummies that Lorenz had given to her.

"Aw Lysithea," he put a hand to his chest in mock discomfort, "you hurt me."

"I'd be surprised if you could actually be hurt with that face of yours."

"Once wrong with this handsome face?"

"You always seem to be hiding something underneath it."

"Nothing gets by you does it?"

"No… though it can be difficult to figure out what you're thinking about. You always seem to have your guard up about something."

"Aren't you the kettle calling the pot black?"

Lysithea raised her hands. "I admit I do also have a tendency to keep secrets, but at least I don't pry or force others to keep their guard up around me. Also, I have opened up somewhat unlike you." Not like she had much of a choice considering recent events. "You don't ever let anything out, even Edelgard's been more forthcoming to me at this point."

"Edelgard huh… she seems to put a lot of trust in you and Teach."

"More than you do."

"True… but it's not like you told me anything either."

"That's because you already figured it out yourself."

"It would still be nice to hear it from you personally rather than me having to figure it out from someone else."

"I didn't want you to know in the first place… or the rest of the class for that matter." Lysithea sighed.

"What about this? If I tell you something about myself then you tell me personally. I want to hear it from your own mouth."

"Depends on what you're going to tell me."

"My mother ran away from the Alliance to elope. That's why I wasn't legitimized as heir until recently."

That… was a surprise. She knew little about his personal life, as did most other people. It had certainly been unexpected when he had suddenly shown up a year ago and was announced to be heir.

"That would explain no one even knew about you until recently," Lysithea replied.

"Yep. Took some time to get back here and have my grandfather accept me as heir. He doesn't really get along with my father."

"I can imagine considering he took his own daughter away from him… where exactly did she run off to elope?"

"That I'll let you guess. So, is that enough to get you to talk?"

"A bit… what do you want to know?"

"How exactly did you survive what those mages did to you? It takes a lot of strength to get through what you went through."

It was a question that Lysithea had often asked herself in the past. "My parents, they're all that I have left… and vengeance. Wanting to kill every single one of them especially with what they just did to me is plenty enough motivation to survive and work as hard as I do."

Unlike Seteth, Claude seemed perfectly fine upon hearing her desire for vengeance. In fact the look on his face seemed to encourage it.

"That's a good enough goal as any, but five years isn't a lot of time," Claude commented.

"It isn't and that's why I have to work even harder from now on."

"What if I were to find a way to give you more time? Would you finally let yourself relax and take a break?"

"I find it hard to believe that you could ever find a cure for my condition. My grades in magic, and basically every other subject, are far higher than yours and I still haven't found a solution."

"You underestimate me dear Lysithea. Besides how else are you going to grow big and strong if you don't get your sleep?"

Lysithea sat up straight in her chair. "Are you fretting over me like a child again?"

"Not a child, I promise. This is my treating you like… like a princess! Now, come along, princess. Enjoy your sweets and your youth! Let me deal with those that threaten you!"

"Whatever it is you think you're treating me like, it's unendingly annoying."

"Should I treat you as a noble hero then? Draw your sword, Lysithea. If you wish to continue on your path for vengeance, then you must defeat me in battle first."

"…"

"Come now! Face me like the legend that you are!"

Lysithea promptly looked away and grabbed another cookie to eat. "In light of you providing me with these sweets, I will not use my magic on you today. Now leave me be so that I might eat in peace."

"You sure you want to be left alone in a haunted library?"

Lysithea promptly threw the book she was reading at his face.