Bernadetta let out a sigh of resignation as she calmly reached into the shadows before her to retrieve a tray full of assorted tea supplies. Slowly, but surely, the violet haired girl used the sounds of the eroded floorboards beneath her feet to navigate her way through the darkness permeating the air.

Her intended destination: a dimly lit table in the middle of the room, acting as a faint beacon of light in this vast ocean of shadows. Though her view was further obscured by the disheveled strands of hair lingering in front of her face, Bernadetta put on a welcoming smile upon finally reaching the candle-lit table, where a pair of identical seats on both sides silently awaited her arrival.

Perched atop the closest seat to her was a familiar stuffed bear garbed in a comfy looking blue suit, the sight of which brought a flurry of cherished memories rushing to her mind. Yet the girl was swiftly given a grim reminder of why she was here in the first place when her gaze wandered down to the gaping hole in the bear's chest and a rusted Sword of the Creator idly leaning on the side of the chair.

Ignoring the loud grumbling in her stomach that erupted shortly afterward, the girl dutifully placed her tray down on the table and proceeded to pour a pair of hot, steaming cups for both herself and the unmoving bear. With the preparations finally complete, Bernadetta readily claimed the remaining seat for herself, and simply sat in silence as she watched the unmoving stuffed doll on the other side of the table.

The tea in both cups went untouched for an excruciating amount of time, in which Bernadetta instead opted to blankly stare her beloved stuffed teddy with barely held back tears. Her gaze restlessly wandered back and forth between the doll's eyes and the empty hole in its chest before the silence was eventually broken.

'I'm sorry… please forgive me… I'm really, really sorry…!" Bernadetta finally cried out, reaching out from across the table to snatch her stuffed bear away from its seat, unceremoniously knocking the toy's teacup over along the way.

"We had such a bright future ahead of us… we were so close to getting our own happily ever after together… and then I just had to ruin everything at the last second!" the purple haired recluse tearfully broke down as she pulled the doll into a tight embrace. Too emotionally overwhelmed to speak another word, she maintained her hold on the bear for what seemed to be an eternally before finally deciding to place it firmly on her lap.

With a quiet whimper, she slowly reached into her pockets to retrieve a small unmarked packet, tore a hole across the top, and shakily emptied its white, powdery contents into her now cooled teacup. She spent a few tense moments of hesitation staring into the unassuming liquid before her in contemplation before eventually taking hold of the cup and lifting up to her mouth.

"Just wait for me a little longer… I'll be home again soon…"


Bernadetta awoke with a loud gasp, her breathing severely labored as she frantically scanned the familiar surroundings of her beloved room. The headache she suffered from the night before was a thing of the past, but in its place was an even greater heartache that gnawed away at her every fiber. The bedsheets in her hands were stained wet with the tears she had unconsciously shed over the course of the night, and her entire body began shivering uncontrollably the moment she sat herself up.

"I thought I was past these…"

Just off to the side, she found a familiar teddy bear sprawled out on the floor, similar in stature to the one from her dream, albeit with its chest left fully intact. Breathing a light sigh of relief, Bernadetta slowly rose up to pluck the toy off the floor and safely tuck it underneath the blankets where she'd just laid moments ago.

"…I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need some fresh air." the lilac haired recluse flatly stated after a while, having motionlessly stared at the bear for a minute straight. Though still under the effects of drowsiness, she slowly sauntered her way to the door, a single key firmly in hand as she made an active effort to avoid setting off any of the traps she had laid about the area.

Upon finally arriving outside, Bernadetta instantly froze in place, internally debating whether or not to dart off to the left, just as she had always done in her original time. The negative thoughts plaguing her mind would surely disappear in an instant if she simply threw herself into her professor's arms once again, and yet…

Instead, the girl violently shook her head and set out in the opposite direction with no clear destination in mind. She aimlessly wandered through the monastery's empty grounds, and only came to a stop upon coming across the monastery's fishing lake, where she instinctively walked over to the edge of the pier to stare blankly into the water below. A disappointed sigh escaped her lips as Bernadetta found her younger form staring back at her, having hoped against all odds to catch a glimpse of her older, more developed self instead.

"Are you just going to stand here moping for the rest of the night?" Sothis tiredly asked out of nowhere, letting out a tired yawn as her purple haired companion continued to peer into her own reflection.

"I'm not bothering anyone, am I?!" Bernadetta sharply snapped back against the Goddess's inquiry. "I just don't know what else I can do right now…"

"Is there anything preventing you from simply going to see your professor? I know your heart desires it."

"No- yes, I mean- argh!" Bernadetta audibly groaned, frustrated at her inability to form a coherent reply. "It's not as easy as you're making it out to be! I can't just go up to Byleth and tell him I'm from the future! He'll think I'm crazy!" she took a moment to look up from the water's surface before continuing. "Why did By even choose to save me back then? I clearly wasn't worth it…!"

"You should not dare to speak of such a thing so lightly." Sothis sternly warned, her tone growing more serious with every word. "That is the gravest insult possible to his memory."

"Don't you get it?! I should have been the one to die in his place… and I'm not even remotely cut out for changing the future like this! If anything, I've only made things worse!" Bernadetta forced her eyes shut as she mentally cried out in anguish. She remained silent for a few moments thereafter, expecting to hear a scathing reply from Sothis in return, yet it never came.

Instead, her eyes were forced back open when she felt a tiny hand impact the side of her cheek, carrying enough force to nearly knock the girl right off her feet. When she returned to her senses, Bernadetta was surprised to find herself standing in a familiar black void as a livid Sothis stared back at her with a look of disappointment and annoyance.

"O- ow… you're supposed to use the front of your palm when you slap somebody…"

"Is that truly your greatest concern at the moment?" Sothis asked in exasperation as her companion placed a hand to her reddened cheek in pain. "Regardless, there is something I wish to show you..."

With the snap of a finger, a large window of light suddenly appeared within the void. A single look inside would reveal a scene that Bernadetta recognized all too well. It was a vision of her future self's fateful encounter with Nemesis. It was a vivid memory she desperately wished she could forget.

"You are not to look away under any circumstances." Sothis cautioned as the vision proceeded to show Bernadetta's older self tumbling off her horse to the muddy ground below. Everything was just as she recalled it. The lavender haired archer was left cowering on the ground, awaiting what seemed to be certain death from a bloodthirsty warlord, all while Byleth desperately rushed to the scene, Sword of the Creator outstretched to strike at Nemesis from behind.

"What…?"

It only went to serve as a great shock to Bernadetta as she witnessed herself getting skewered by her attacker's cursed blade. With an ear piercing cry of anguish that soon followed, Byleth immediately rewound the hands of time to change his lover's grizzly fate, but to no avail. Bernadetta saw herself helplessly struck down once again as Nemesis deftly avoided an explosion of magical energy that erupted under his feet.

It seemed that no amount of adjustments to the professor's strategy could prevent this tragic result from coming to pass. To Bernadetta, it was naturally unsettling to watch herself getting killed in so many different fashions, but it was the increasing despair on her husband's face that truly hurt to watch more than anything.

One Divine Pulse after another, Byleth threw himself at Nemesis with reckless abandon until he finally managed to lay a retaliatory slash across the old warrior's back, and even then he was still too late to change his lover's fate. Instinctively, Bernadetta tried to reach out her hand to comfort the professor as he sorrowfully kneeled down to cradle her lifeless body in his arms, only to ineffectively pass right through the ongoing vision like a ghost through a wall.

"Nobody could have anticipated the twist in fate that came after, but now do you understand the price that was paid to grant you this opportunity?" Sothis calmly asked. Bernadetta could only manage to let out a weak whimper and a weary nod in response as Byleth triggered his final remaining Divine Pulse. From here, the ensuing events played out just as she remembered them, with her beloved professor willingly trading his life for hers and impaling himself with his own blade to deal a single decisive blow to Nemesis.

"I… I see…"

"I should not have to spell this out for you, but the Byleth you knew would never wish for you to give up on yourself so easily. Nor do I believe you should allow this once in a lifetime opportunity of yours to go to waste."

"Yeah… you're right…" Bernadetta quietly muttered as she hastily wiped away the tears that had fallen down her face during her recollection. "I really owe him that much… and if he went through this much trouble to save me from my fate, then what happened with Jeralt…"

"History has a strange way of repeating itself." Sothis claimed as the black void surrounding the pair began to dissipate, bringing her human companion back to reality in a matter of seconds. "As you've seen for yourself, there are some fates that simply cannot be averted. What happened with you was nothing short of a miracle, if I am to be frank."

"Then I'll just have to make the most of that miracle." Bernadetta resolutely stated. With a hand clenched over her still aching heart, she turned around to return to her den for the night… only to abruptly stop in her tracks the moment she noticed two unknown figures speaking with each other atop the stairs to the dining hall.

In a panic, the girl instinctively turned back the clock by several minutes and leaped into the nearby fishing shack to conceal her petite frame from sight. It didn't take long for one of the two figures to reveal itself to the girl in hiding: it was none other than the masked professor Jeritza, who scanned the environment around him with the eyes of a hawk as he slowly patrolled the seemingly vacant road before him.

Bernadetta didn't dare to move a muscle as she watched the enigmatic professor slowly climb the stairs to the dining hall to meet with a strange hooded man carrying a small pouch in his hands. After a relatively brief exchange of words, the hooded figure disappeared in a puff of smoke, after which Jeritza proceeded to set out in the direction of the monastery's main gate.

"Professor Jeritza… what could he possibly be up to at this hour?"

"You had best think twice before deciding to follow after him."

"No, I've made up my mind. I'll need to take some more active measures if I really want to make a difference from now on." Bernadetta quickly dismissed the Goddess's words of warning as she set out to trail the masked professor's movements from the shadows. "Besides, I can always retrace my steps if he ever manages to catch me. How hard could it be?"

"I genuinely wish you would refrain from tempting fate like that…"


"Greetings, Professor Jeritza! Nothing to report! Off on another expedition to town, are you?"

"Do you have to go out of your way to bother me every time I leave the monastery?" Jeritza replied to the Gatekeeper's enthusiastic greeting with a scowl of thinly veiled annoyance.

"Well, of course! No soul can slip in or out of these gates without me noticing!" the cheerful guard proudly proclaimed, blissfully unaware of a certain purple haired student slinking off into the deserted marketplace below.

"Of that, I am painfully aware…"

"I swear that one time was only an accident! I thought you were a kidnapper coming to snatch away one of the students!"

"If only you knew…" Bernadetta silently commented as she slipped her head out from behind an abandoned stall.

"If he's heading out into town, you can't expect to continue stalking him out in the open like this. People are bound to take notice of you."

"Don't worry, I thought about that ahead of time. I've got just the thing for the occasion!" Bernadetta confidently proclaimed as she opened up an unmarked book out of nowhere.

"…Were you just carrying that around with you this entire time?"

"There's no time to question it, Jeritza's already on his way out!" Bernadetta deflected, quickly ducking underneath the stall before the masked professor could look in her direction. Once Jeritza stepped foot outside the monastery, his purple haired pursuer quickly followed suit, vaguely pretending to bury her nose in her novel as she slipped through the gate into town.

Much to Bernadetta's surprise, the town's streets were still relatively packed with people, even at this late hour. Risky as the prospect was, she was left with no choice but to stalk Jeritza from a closer distance if she didn't want to lose him within the crowd. Thus, ignorant of the many odd stares she received from folks passing by, the girl proceeded to throw herself into the fray without hesitation.

Such a change of plans slowed down the process considerably to say the least, as Bernadetta instinctively jumped back in time whenever Jeritza so much as glanced in her general direction. With her own gaze constantly alternating between the contents of her book and the movements of her target, there were many moments where she failed to notice the tails of resting cats or shards of shattered glass strewn about the ground.

Although it took a great number of delays to make it so far, Bernadetta's pursuit was allowed to come to a temporary halt when Jeritza paused at the doorway of a seemingly inconspicuous house. Within moments, a shady figure emerged from within to engage in a light conversation with the masked professor. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, the girl found a dark corner to take refuge in and spy on the professor's discussion from behind the safety of her precious book.

Granted, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary with the scene unfolding before her eyes, yet deep within her mind, Bernadetta was thoroughly convinced that the aloof masked man was up to no good. It was only a matter of time until-

"What's up, Bernadetta?"

"GYAAAAH!" the timid girl instantly let out a startled scream and jumped back in time once again before she could even pinpoint the identity of the person who snuck up on her.

Making a mental note to steer clear of the corner she was just hiding in, Bernadetta shielded her face with her book as her eyes frantically darted around the area in search of an alternative location. But as fate would have it, this plan would also fall flat on its face when an unfamiliar finger tapped the girl on the shoulder in the midst of her intense brainstorming session.

"What's up, Bernadetta?" the same voice from before cheerfully parroted a greeting. Suppressing the urge to scream, the purple haired time traveler turned around to find Sylvain beaming a welcoming smile in her direction. "I don't think I've ever seen you out on the town like this, especially not at such a late hour. Do you have a secret date lined up with someone?"

"Oh, hi Sylvain… fancy meeting you here…" Bernadetta courteously returned the redhead's enthusiastic greeting. "I don't have time to deal with this now…" she silently added, shielding her face with the pages of her novel as she expectantly waited for time to rewind once again… only to be met with an awkward silence as Sylvain awaited a proper answer from the girl.

"Why isn't this working…? Why isn't this working?!"

"I believe you may have used up the last reserves of my powers for the night."

"What?! Couldn't you have warned me about this earlier?!" Bernadetta angrily questioned the Goddess's casual admission.

"Do not place the blame on me for your inability to manage your own abilities!"

"So, you know, it's not exactly safe for a girl like you to be out wandering the streets so late. Haven't you heard rumors of the Death Knight floating about lately?" Sylvain eventually interrupted the shorter girl's internal argument with a tone of genuine concern.

"Oh no, I've heard all about those stories. How a mysterious masked figure has gone around kidnapping unsuspecting maidens in the middle of the night…" Bernadetta subtly leaned around to stare at Jeritza for a short moment, who was luckily still embroiled in his own conversation. "I can totally watch out for myself, though."

"You didn't exactly see me coming with your nose buried so deep in your book like that." Sylvain smirkingly retorted with a raised eyebrow. "Then again, that must be a really good book if it's managed to grab your attention so thoroughly."

"Oh, yeah, it sure is…!" Bernadetta lightly chuckled. "I just can't get enough of this story. I can hardly wait for the next volume to come out, you know?" she spat out the first excuse that came to mind in the hopes of diverting Sylvain's attention away from herself.

"Ooh, that sure sounds promising. I don't think I've ever seen this particular novel before, though. Would you mind if I had a look for myself?"

"Sure, I don't see why not…" Bernadetta let out a short sigh of relief as she handed the book off to Sylvain. She didn't exactly pay much attention to its contents herself, but judging from the way the Blue Lion student's eyes lit up at the open pages, it must have been just as good as her description implied.

"Wow… this really is incredible! It kinda reminds me of that manuscript of yours I found in the library a while ago."

"Yeah, it's… wait, what was that?" Bernadetta's jaw dropped slightly at the mention of her manuscript.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to hand it back to you for ages since you left it behind in the library, but I just wound up reading through the whole thing before I had the chance. It's a really impressive piece of work."

"Just… accept… the compliment, Bernie…" Bernadetta desperately told herself before she could say anything she'd potentially regret. "Is that so…? I'm… happy to hear someone liked it so much…"

"You bet I liked it! And this story feels so simila-" Sylvain's eyes suddenly widened in shock before he could finish his sentence. "Whoa, this is different…"

"Er, what's different…?" Bernadetta asked, a tone of dread creeping into her voice as she noticed Jeritza wrapping up his own conversation out of the corner of her eye.

"This chapter in the middle is, uh… I think I'll just read it out loud for you."

Bernadetta felt a lump form in her throat as Sylvain cleared his throat in preparation. Worse still, it seemed as if Jeritza was just starting to take his leave as well. She could only hope that she could wrap up this literary discussion of hers as soon as possible.

"A mischievous smile formed upon the reclusive heroine's supple lips as she peered into her professor's hypnotizing blue eyes. This was her opportunity to claim his body as her own." Sylvain began, eliciting a horrified gasp of realization from Bernadetta. "In the blink of an eye, the heroine suddenly threw herself into the professor with all her might, sending the two of them tumbling into the soft bedsheets below. With an eager nod of consent from her love interest, the heroine proceeded to reach for his trousers and-"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Bernadetta cried out in abject horror before Sylvain could continue any further. Now acting on pure fight or flight instinct, the lavender haired student violently snatched her book away from the boy's hands and planted a single debilitating kick right between his legs.

"UGH…! C- critical hit to the sacred stones…!" Sylvain wheezed in a high pitched voice as he crumpled to the ground with an undignified thud.

"Oh, gods, I'm so sorry!" Bernadetta apologized in shame upon realizing what she'd just done, wincing in sympathy as Sylvain clutched his shattered groin in a display of unimaginable pain. Faced with few other options on her end, the girl hastily threw her novel into a nearby alleyway and reluctantly ran off to leave Sylvain to wallow in his own misery.

"I… I promise I'll make this up to you some other time, alright?!" Bernadetta hastily called out as she darted off into the streets in search of Jeritza, who was shockingly nowhere to be found. Frantically, she continued to run down the path in the vain hope of catching another glimpse of the masked man, but her search ultimately turned up empty after a full two minutes of scanning the darkened streets around every corner.

"…Great. That's just great. I completely lost him… I think that's enough aimless wandering for one night…"

"Stealth is hardly your area of expertise, to say the least."

"Gyah! Who said that?! Whatever it is you're plotting, it won't work! I'll fight you-" Bernadetta immediately erupted into a frantic rant, only for her words to fall flat the moment she turned around to find Hubert staring down at her with an unamused expression on his face.

"I would advise against attempting to castrate me like you did with Sylvain earlier." the enigmatic retainer grimly warned, much to his former classmate's visible terror.

"Ah, er… Hubert…! Wh- what are you doing up at this hour?!" Bernadetta instantly fell back on her old cowering instincts under the dark mage's intimidating presence.

"I believe you should be more concerned with your own predicament, Bernadetta."

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it! You can't have me executed without any proof!" the purple haired recluse fearfully backed away as Hubert reached into his pockets with a sinister chuckle. However, rather than an assassin's knife, the item Hubert procured in his hands turned out to be the unmarked novel Bernadetta had tossed away just moments ago.

"It was rather careless of you to discard of such an… intricately detailed piece of literature like this."

"Intricately detailed… you didn't happen to read any of that, did you…?" Bernadetta nervously asked, internally dreading the answer that was sure to come next.

"Why, I couldn't possibly resist the temptation. And I must say, the author of this novel seems rather familiar… I trust you must have heard the name Erica von Eisner before?" Hubert asked with a fiendishly knowing grin.

"I- I didn't write any of it if that's what you're trying to imply! Th- that's just my mother's name!"

"Your mother's name is Theresa von Varley, and there are no other Eisners to be found other than your professor and his father." Hubert saw through the girl's lies as if he were peering through an open window. "I can easily recognize a poorly masked pseudonym when I see one."

"…Goddess, please strike me down right this instant."

"I'm afraid I must decline. This embarrassment is yours to suffer alone."

"I'm sure it would do us both a world of good if you refrained from explaining your disturbing fantasies regarding your professor." Hubert shortly cut in as he leaned forth to offer the girl's book back to her. "Now then, since I've done you a favor, perhaps you could repay me by answering a simple question…" the retainer continued, prompting an audible gulp from his former classmate in response. "Why have you been stalking Professor Jeritza around town like a serpent in the grass?"

"Y- you couldn't possibly know that…!"

"I serve as Lady Edelgard's eyes and ears throughout every corner of Garreg Mach. There is little I do not know." Hubert boldly proclaimed.

"Okay, I believe you!" Bernadetta immediately threw her hands up in innocence. Such a bold statement would likely come off as incessant bragging from any other individual, but she could clearly see that Hubert truly meant every word he said. "I just happened to come across Jeritza in the middle of one of his patrols, and I got curious enough to follow him when I saw him leaving the monastery… I swear that's all there is to it!"

"So I see… you would do well to avoid sticking your nose where it doesn't belong if you wish to avoid any unnecessary trouble, Bernadetta." Hubert sternly warned, eliciting an even louder gulp from his former colleague. "Lady Edelgard's words of caution, not mine. I would heed them to the letter if I were you."

"A- and if I refused…?" Bernadetta reluctantly asked, mentally slapping herself for even daring to think such a thought.

"My, you've certainly grown quite bold lately, haven't you? It would be a real shame if this empowered spirit of yours were to be snuffed out. I'm sure it could have been put to better use with if only it served a different purpose." Hubert left Bernadetta with one last sinister chuckle, leaving the girl frozen in fear until he finally left her sight altogether.

With Edelgard's loyal retainer no longer breathing down her neck, Bernadetta was free to release a held breath of her own as her back hunched forward in a tired heap. Now was definitely a good time to return to the monastery and claim what few hours of sleep she could before the dawn of the next day.