"Excuse me?" Seteth asked, his brow furrowed as he scanned the expression of the timid young student before him.

"I- I said I would like to request a transfer to the Golden Deer house."

"What is the meaning of this, Bernadetta?" Edelgard shot a suspicious glare at her estranged classmate. "The school year has barely just begun."

"Er, I know that…" Bernadetta shriveled up under the watchful eyes of her impromptu interrogators. "It's just that I feel like joining the Golden Deer would benefit my studies more. It's… full of archers, and… I'm an archer too, you know?" she scrambled to come up with a convincing story for her decision. "And I'd prefer to keep as much distance from Edelgard as I can…" she silently added to herself.

"I see…" Seteth clasped his hands together in contemplation.

"That can't be your only reason." Edelgard crossed her arms together as she continued to eye down her classmate. "You do realize we have a mock battle coming up in only a matter of days, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that…" Bernadetta lied through her teeth. "I'm sure you'll do just fine without me th-"

"Nonsense!" Edelgard snapped, pounding a fist on Seteth's desk which caused her lavender haired subordinate to cower in fear. "I understand that you may have had problems adjusting to your life at the monastery, but I assure you, we have given you no reason to-"

"Edelgard, I would please ask that you refrain from vandalizing school property." Seteth calmly cut in as he rose up from his chair. "I have a proposition to make."

Bernadetta's eyes immediately lit up in response. "I'm listening."

"If you truly believe that the Golden Deer house is the best fit for you, then you'll simply have to prove it." He shot a silencing glance towards Edelgard before continuing. "Your grades have been suffering as of late, but if you can actually improve your studies in your time with the Golden Deer, then I shall wholeheartedly approve of your decision."

"Th- thank you so much!" Bernadetta quickly lunged forward to shake the instructor's hand in gratitude. "I promise I won't let you down!"

"That's good to hear, Bernadetta." Seteth nodded in approval. "In addition, I fully expect you to aid in bringing your new house to victory in the upcoming mock battle.

"Professor, are you sure about this?"

"This is a perfectly reasonable arrangement, wouldn't you agree, Edelgard? Or are you so unconfident in your leadership abilities that you cannot compensate for the loss of a single member of your party?"

Edelgard's expression softened and she remained silent in response. Taking this as the perfect cue to leave, Bernadetta gave a respectful bow to her two compatriots before making a beeline for the door.


"I'd say that went about as well as it could have gone." Sothis suddenly chimed in, prompting her new companion to jump out of her boots in surprise. "Come now, you really have to get used to this sooner rather than later."

"You can't just pop up out of nowhere like that!" Bernadetta protested, clutching her chest in an effort to steady her breathing.

"Ah, I suppose I can hardly blame you." Sothis sighed. "Your professor was like this too when we first started conversing."

"Wow, really? It's rather hard to imagine that…"

"You should have seen the way he tripped over himself when we first tried this!" Sothis giggled in recollection. "The strange looks he received from his fellow faculty members were simply priceless."

"You know, it's actually kind of comforting to know that Byleth could be just as jumpy as I am." Bernadetta joined in on the petite Goddess's laughter. "But you've got me thinking… If your future spirit is within me right now, does that mean there's another version of yourself lurking in Byleth too?"

"You know… that's a good question." Sothis began to ponder. "I'm tempted to ask him myself, but for now it would best if we refrained from-"

"GWAAAAHH!" the pair's train of thought screeched to a grinding halt when a student collided with Bernadetta in the middle of the hall, spilling a small mountain's worth of books all around them.

"Oof… Heya, Bernadetta." the familiar redheaded student waved at her. "Sorry about the mess, I didn't see you there."

"I- it's alright, Sylvain. I'm not hurt…" Bernadetta moaned as she sat herself up. "I'll help you sort out your books for y-"she immediately paused as her attention was drawn to the titles and covers of the books before her.

"ZW's Guide to Catching Hunnies?"

"Direct Tethering for Dummies?"

"The Aesthetics of Being the Catcher?"

"Men and Women: Beneath the Sheets?!"

"Who approved these books?!" Bernadetta's cheeks flushed bright red as she shot a disgusted look towards Sylvain.

"How utterly repulsive…" Sothis agreed. "Perhaps you should just leave him be."

"Say Bernadetta, since you're here, there was this… book… I… wanted to talk to you about..." Sylvain looked up to find that the girl in question was nowhere to be found. "Hello? Bernadetta? Where'd she go?"

Bernadetta let out a sigh of relief as she rested by the door to the library. "As long as I'm here, this should probably be a good time to catch up on my studies again…" she thought to herself before making her way inside, but the girl was quickly stopped in her tracks when she caught wind of a familiar face napping on one of the desks.

"What is it this time?" Sothis asked in annoyance. "You're not scared of sleepy old Linhardt, are you?"

"It's not that, it's just…" Bernadetta responded as she quietly tiptoed through the library. "I'd rather not talk about it, all right? I'm just gonna grab a book and leave."

"There's no use hiding your thoughts from me, you know." Sothis was quick to remind her. "I know you ended up-"

"Why hello, Bernadetta. It's quite rare to see you out of your room like this." the Goddess was suddenly interrupted by a yawn from Linhardt, sending many a chill down Bernadetta's spine.

"Er… I won't be long." the timid girl responded, making an active effort to avoid looking her classmate in the eye. "I'm sorry I disturbed your sleep."

"I'll say." Linhardt stretched out his arms with another yawn. "You're not exactly the stealthiest person in the world. I could hear the floorboards creaking from a mile away."

"Ugh, dammit Bernie…"

"What brings you here today, if I may ask?"

"Nothing! Nothing!" Bernadetta yelped as she increased her pace towards the nearest bookshelf. "I'm just here to pick up some books, that's all! Th- that's what libraries are for, right?!"

"There's no need to state the obvious for me." Linhardt slowly shook his head at the girl's antics. "I'm only here to rest for the afternoon."

"Yeah! Right! I knew that!" Bernadetta cried out, swiping as many books as she could at pure random. "I'll just let you get back to your business, alright? I swear I won't bother you again!" the purple haired girl hastily apologized before bolting out of the library in the blink of an eye.

"What a sad, strange little girl…"


Bernadetta wound up becoming the unwanted center of attention when she found herself surrounded by her newfound Golden Deer classmates. Even though the people surrounding her were ones she had been fighting alongside for the past year, she still felt more like an herbivore amongst a hoard of carnivores than another member of the herd, so to speak. It was almost jarring to note just how different her allies looked half a decade earlier.

"Well, I'll be. I don't think I've ever seen you out of your room for more than a minute before." Claude lightly teased as he circled the newcomer with his hands behind his head. "This must be a new record, huh?"

"I'm already starting to regret everything…"

"Hold your tongue Claude, there's no need to pressure the poor girl on her first day here." Lorenz was quick to reprimand his house leader.

"Relax; I'm only trying to give Bernie a proper welcome. After all, she left the Black Eagles of her own volition, right?"

"I am rather curious about that..." Lysithea put a hand to her chin in deep thought. "What exactly made you want to switch houses so badly anyway?"

"Oh, you know, it's nothing special." Bernadetta mumbled under her breath. "I just thought I'd… fit in better with you guys, that's all."

"Aw, now that's just sweet of you." Hilda cooed over the shorter girl in adoration.

"So you just wanted to make friends with us all along? Well, that's great! We'll all welcome you with open arms!" Raphael joyfully announced as he took a bite out of a kebab he'd been keeping with him.

"Uh, yeah. I'm… really happy to be here with everyone." Bernadetta nervously muttered as she steadily backed away from the crowd of her eager peers. "Now if you could all just give me some room to breathe, that would be perfect."

"Hey there Teach, I was wondering when you'd show up." Claude suddenly piped up, waving his hand over to the classroom's doorway.

"H- huh?" Bernadetta slowly turned around to find herself face to face with the Golden Deer's new professor. "Oh, B- Byleth! It's- so good to see you here!"

"Greetings… Bernadetta was it? I've been informed of your recent transfer." the teal haired professor took a moment to survey his new classroom. "But how do you know my name? I don't believe we had the chance to meet yesterday…"

"Ah, well..." the girl had backed herself into a metaphorical corner. "Who hasn't heard of the legendary Ashen Demon? You're only the greatest mercenary to roam the land and the son of the esteemed Captain Jeralt!" she twiddled her fingers together as she blurted out the first explanation that came to mind.

"Wow, Bernadetta." Leonie chuckled out loud. "I had no idea you were such an avid fan of our new professor. I've never even heard of him myself until just recently."

"Well now. I'm… rather flattered to hear that." Byleth awkwardly cradled the back of his neck with his hand in response.

"Ack! Sothis, bring me back a few minutes!"

"I am NOT turning back the clock every time you fumble over your own dialogue!"

"As all of you may have surmised, I will be serving as your primary instructor from this day forward." Byleth explained as he made his way around to the center of the room among the murmurs and musings of his new students. "I'm afraid we won't have much before the upcoming mock battle between our three houses tomorrow, so today we'll be reviewing the fundamentals of battle to get a sense of where you all stand on that front."

"…And Bernadetta?" Byleth's attention turned to the direction of the room's doorframe.

"Y- yes?!"

"I'd appreciate it if you could come back into the classroom now." Byleth gestured to the girl in question, who had managed to subconsciously back away into the middle of the field outside.

"Gah! Stupid Bernie!" Bernadetta mentally berated herself, her face glowing crimson as she closed her eyes and scurried back into class. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kick me out, I promise I'll behave!"

Redoing the school year was going to be a lot harder than she thought.