10/27 Wyvern moon
"Thank you for sharing a cup of tea with me Edie"
"I have no problem to spend time with you, Dorothea. Besides, until the beginning of next month we won´t be having any classes"
She was drinking a cup of tea with Dorothea in the gardens of the monastery. A gentle breeze was blowing and there was no sign of clouds in the sky, but she knew that in a few weeks the real cold would enter the monastery. Most of the students were enjoying their hard earned free time and she really couldn´t blame them for that.
"The Professor has been very nice with us, letting us rest. He is nicer than I expected, but I can´t complain about it"
"We were the winners of the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion. He knows we have earned it"
A few days had already passed since she revealed to him the secret of her second crest, the Crest of flames, and since then she couldn´t avoid thinking about him and the scars in his chest. "They are similar to mine, but I´ve never heard them talking about a second weapon and the fact that they want me to gather information about him makes me think that it is unlikely they are the perpetrators of those old wounds. Who had done that to you, my Teacher?"
"Edie, are you listening?"
She was a bit startled by the voice that interrupted her thoughts until she realized it was Dorothea.
"Forgive me, Dorothea, I was just lost in thought" She used to pay attention but the recent events had been draining her attention. "And from next month I will have to be wary of Monica again" she thought.
"Don´t worry about that Edie" Dorothea said as she sipped a bit of her tea. She then paused for a moment, as if she was thinking carefully what she was about to say. "You must be really busy lately. Tell me, since when are the Professor and you dating?"
She was sipping her own cup of tea as she heard Dorothea´s question. The moment she heard it she coughed.
"W-What are you saying Dorothea?" she asked, feeling her cheeks starting to get hot.
"I saw both of you leaving the monastery at night, riding the same Pegasus. You spent more than an hour alone out there with the Professor Edie, don´t play the innocent with me" she said with a teasing smile.
"Were you spying us?"
"I had my own plans, but they didn´t materialize. Don´t make me remember that" she sighed. "I was about to return to my room when I saw you and the Professor leaving together. I had so much curiosity that I decided to wait and it was worth it. However, both of you are too cold. Why didn´t give the Professor a goodnight kiss, Edie?"
"Y-You are misunderstanding things Dorothea" she said as she felt her heart fighting to leave her chest. "We weren´t doing anything…inappropriate. You are just having a misunderstanding. I´ve just wanted to visit a place I´ve never been before alone and asked for his help"
"So boring Edie" Dorothea said sighing. "And here I thought I was watching a blossoming love story. How cruel from you Edie to make feel excited about it"
"I told you that you were just misunderstanding things" she said, feeling a bit relieved.
"I was too optimistic. Then you just like him?"
"What?!" she said, her composure completely lost.
"If you don´t do anything you may eventually lose him Edie"
"I only see him as…"
"As a Professor? Not so sure about it. I´ve been with you for months Edie and I´ve seen how you act around him. I don´t understand what it´s wrong about that"
"I…" she was too embarrassed to say anything. Had she turned into someone so easy to read?
"Tell me simply yes or no. Would you be happy if he were with someone else?"
She remained silent for a moment, hearing her heartbeats in her ears. She then looked at her. Dorothea was waiting for her response, her face serious.
"No" she said, her voice almost a whisper.
"Thank you for your sincerity Edie." Dorothea said smiling to her. "The fact that you can fall for someone makes me happy. I almost want to sing"
"Don´t talk aloud, please!" It was enough she had to confess her inner feelings to her, she didn´t want the rest of the monastery to find about them.
"Don´t worry Edie, I won´t tell anyone. We are friends after all" Dorothea said smiling. "Then I have to prepare a strategy to make things work."
"You don´t really have to do anything" she said, looking to her surroundings.
"Why not? Are you just going to do nothing?"
"I may eventually have to marry for political reasons. If that brings a better future for Fódlan so be it" It wasn´t the future she wished for, but she knew from the bottom of her heart that that would be the most probable outcome of her future. She also knew that with people like Kronya and Solon around her she couldn´t indulge herself in the blossoming feelings she was experiencing, no matter how regretful it may be.
"The noble talk again." Dorothea sighed. "The nobles already have their military skirmishes. Why do they have to use everything for their benefit? At least you are willing to afford to sacrifice your own happiness for a greater good, but I can´t avoid feeling a bitter taste in my mouth when I hear those words coming from you"
"It is my duty as the future ruler of the Empire, but I promise you I will change this world for the better"
"Hearing the confidence of your words makes me happy. But don´t sacrifice everything for the sake of others. I wouldn´t want to see a beautiful flower like you dry so early"
"Thank you for your gentle words Dorothea, I really appreciate them" she said to her with a gentle smile.
"Besides, it is still too early to give up. I will fight for your blossoming love story Edie. I will do my best!"
"You don´t really need to do anything Dorothea. And please, be quiet. They are going to hear us" she said as she blushed again.
….
"Lady Rhea wants to speak with you"
"I will go, thanks for telling me Cyril"
"By the way…"
"Yes?"
"Congratulations for your victory. I heard it was a great battle"
"Thank you Cyril" he was tempted to rub his hair as he said so, but he knew it would unadvisable to do something like that with him.
Byleth followed the little boy to the audience room. A few days had already passed since Edelgard´s revelation of her second crest, but he couldn´t stop thinking about it.
"There are a lots of things we don´t understand about this world." commented Sothis inside his head.
"You are right"
He found Rhea waiting for him in the audience room. The moment their eyes met she gently smiled to him.
"Good morning Byleth, I am pleased to see you well. I am sorry to summon you, but there are some important matters that need to be settled."
"I don´t have any problem. What can I do to help you?"
"I think that it is more appropriate to hear the information from the source itself. Please, come over here" she ordered, looking at someone behind him.
When Byleth turned around, he was surprised to see Ignatz, Raphael, Alois, Shamir, Ingrid, Claude and his own father approaching. When their eyes met he smiled to him. It had been a while since the last time they had seen each other.
"So many people! Why do you have to resolve everyone´s problems? Is the almighty Church short of troops?" complained Sothis.
"I´ve received a letter from my father" said the shy Ignatz "There have been reports of beasts attacking merchants in the alliance territory, mainly in the territories of Gloucester. The attacks have occurred with more frequency now and I want to intervene before the situation gets any worse"
"I heard about that too. It seems that we couldn´t wipe them out completely the last time I was sent to deal with them" his father said.
"Ignatz was about to leave by its own, but I convinced him to ask for your help Professor. If you were able to defeat me so easily I´m sure you won´t have any problems with a bunch of monsters" laughed Raphael.
"We have also received reports of Pirates approaching Derdriu" explained to him Shamir, in her usual serious tone. "We have to prevent them from attacking the city. We have to leave as soon as possible if we want to arrive to the city before the attack"
"Unfortunately, the territories of the Alliance are short of troops so they have requested the help of the Church" continued Alois.
"We suffer attacks from pirates from time to time, but this one appears to be quite bit so I requested for some help" said Claude "If you don´t mind let the Golden Deer students accompany you this time. It´s a problem that it's affecting our own country, after all"
"I don´t mind"
"Professor" said Ingrid, clearing her throat. "I´ve received a letter from my father talking about my new marriage proposal, but when Dorothea took it from my hands she vehemently opposed to any engagement with him. She says that his fortune is stained by blood and that we would find the truth about it if we go to Ailell. Since he is a noble from the Alliance I beg you to accompany me."
"I will help you with anything I can do"
"Since you are taking care of three different tasks I will be accompanying you" said Jeralt "I´ve just returned here, but I don´t mind lending a hand. Is that ok for you Rhea?"
"I have already stolen too much time from both of you. Besides, together and with the Goddess´s protection I am sure that these events will be promptly resolved. Alois and Shamir will be accompanying you too"
"Like the old days Jeralt" laughed Alois.
"I´m looking forward to working with you, Byleth, Jeralt" said Shamir.
"Me too"
"I will tell the rest of the Golden Deer about it Teach. We should leave as soon as possible or our problems are just going to get worse"
"We will leave tomorrow at dawn"
"Since we are trying to resolve three different tasks we should establish an order. The merchant routes are on our way to the Alliance capital and we could use our return to resolve the problem with that noble. Is that ok for you, young girl?"Jeralt asked to Ingrid.
"There is nothing settled about my marriage so I can wait"
"Very well. Then our first problem to deal with will be the merchants, after that the pirates and finally that little noble. We don´t have time to waste so make sure that everyone is ready tomorrow. We won´t be waiting for anyone"
"Said and done Jeralt" smiled Claude as he left.
"Thank you Professor" said Ignatz with a shy smile.
"I told you Ignatz. I was sure the Professor would lend a hand. It is going to be our first time out there together. I will give my best shot" said Raphael, patting his back, as him and Ignatz followed Claude.
"I must thank you Professor. I will go to prepare my things too"
"Take care Ingrid"
"We will be doing the same."
"It´s a dream come true! I will show what I can…"
"Alois, less talking and more preparing" Shamir said as he carried him out of the audience room.
"I will pray for the best of outcomes. May the Goddess be with all of you"
"Thank you Rhea. Byleth, come with me to my room. We have to prepare our travel plan"
"Of course father"
They left behind the audience room and headed to the room of his father. His father was still wearing his battle armor, but didn´t appear to be tired by it.
"I´ve just arrived and I´m leaving again. I was about to meet you, but that little boy said that Rhea requested my presence"
"Cyril. He told me to meet her too"
"He is always serious, but he is a good boy. At least we are together again. I heard that you won the Battle of the Eagle and the Lion. It was a pity that I wasn´t there, but I´m proud that you did it" he said as he rubbed his hair.
"My students gave their best"
"I´m sure about that. It´s the main event of the academic year after all. They are all very nice. The real problem is that their parents aren´t that nice" he said as he sighed. "We killed a few of those beasts a few months ago, but it seems that the mastermind behind the attacks is acting again. And we can´t forget about the pirates approaching the capital of the Leicester Alliance. That country has always been unstable, but to this level… The north and the east are turning into a mess. We had a rebellion in the west. If we were working as mercenaries again we would have plenty of work across all of Fódlan"
"We will have to be more careful from now on. I will have to tell my students about this change of plans. I promised to give them some rest, but I hope they can understand"
"They will. You are his Professor after all" he laughed as he opened the door to his room. "I need to search some maps of the region. There aren´t many natural obstacles on our way, but we have to make sure to avoid wasting our time"
"Father, I wanted to ask you something"
"Go ahead son, no need to be so formal. You can ask my anything" he said, as he kept searching the maps.
"How do you feel when you fall in love with someone?"
Hearing his words, his father suddenly stopped and slowly got up again.
"Of all possible things I didn´t expect to hear that from you"
"I´m sorry"
"I´m not criticizing you. When I fell for your mother I couldn´t stop thinking about her, about what could make her happy. My heart was thriving every time I saw her and, as a time passed, we eventually grew closer. Are you feeling like this for someone? I can help you if I know the lucky lady´s name"
Byleth stood silent for a moment. The frequency he had been thinking about her had increased as time passed and he had been feeling things he hadn´t felt until know when he was close to her. Thinking about it, he realized that what he was experiencing could be called love. But even if it was love he couldn´t do anything about it. When the academy year ended their paths would take different directions.
"Aren´t you giving up too early? Well, I can´t really give advice about something like this. You are free to decide whatever you want. The fact that you can feel something like that is enough for me" said Sothis sitting on her stone throne, a gentle smile on her face.
"I might have, but I won´t do anything about it" Thinking about it was easier than saying it aloud, but he did it nevertheless; even if a part of him was saddened by the fact that she would eventually leave the monastery.
"Oh I see. She must be a noble if you are saying something like this. You don´t know what could happen if you try, but I won´t press you on this matter anymore. Don´t worry, someday you will find someone that suits you" his father said, rubbing his hair. "Help this old man to find the maps. I´m sure I put them over there, but I can´t find them. I guess that I´m growing old" he sighed.
After helping his father he decided to search for the Black Eagles students. He was turning a corner when he came across with the person who had been occupying his mind the last few days.
"Hello Edelgard. I didn´t expect to see you here" he then looked to Dorothea "Hello Dorothea"
"Hello Professor, just the person we wanted to see the most, right Edie?"
"I don´t know what you are talking about Dorothea" Edelgard said, her cheeks a bit red. "But I must admit that the Professor´s presence hasn´t been intolerable to me"
"So cold" she sighed.
"I wanted to tell you something important"
"Something important?"
"Yes, for the following days"
"Could it be?!" Dorothea exclaimed with a singing voice.
"My Teacher, please continue. I´m afraid that Dorothea is implying unrelated things" Edelgard said her ears turning red.
"We will be leaving tomorrow to an expedition to the Leicester Alliance. I´m sorry for interrupting your rest, but it is something urgent. The student´s of the Golden Deer and Ingrid will come with us. I want you to tell the rest of the students about this matter"
"Professor, you ruined the mood with your expedition talk" complained Dorothea. "But since you are helping my dear Ingrid I will give it a pass. I´m happy she decided to ask for your help. Come on Edie, we don´t want to let down our dear Professor"
"Control yourself Dorothea" Edelgard said hurriedly walking past him.
"These two are really strange today. I wonder what has happened to them, especially the little Princess" Sothis said
"I wonder what they were talking about"
"With so much work you are doing for the monastery you should get a better payment"
"I have no complaints about my wage. It is enough to buy everything I need. Talking about it, I will have to buy more equipment for our current tasks"
With nothing much left to do at the monastery Byleth headed to the town to prepare his equipment for the following day.
…..
Closing the door behind her, Edelgard sighed relieved. She tried her best to persuade Dorothea about giving up her plans, but she wasn´t sure she had succeeded. It was almost relieving to know that from tomorrow they were heading to the battlefield again. "I will cherish these memories forever, but I can´t put my plans at risk just for the sake of my own happiness".
She was about to touch her armored bear stuffy when she heard someone knocking the door.
When she opened it she saw the face of that disgusting creature.
"Good evening Monica"
"Good evening Edel. I was waiting for a visit from you, how rude!"
"I told you to not use my name like that. It disgusts me"
"I heard we are going on an expedition to the Leicester Alliance. I can´t wait to join the fight" she said with a smile, but the way she was smiling made her shiver.
"If you ever hurt any of them you will pay for that with your life"
"Menacing me uh? Don´t worry, I will be a good girl. I wouldn´t want to be sent to investigation again" she said, her eyes showing a bit of fear before she changed to her usual self. "I will be preparing my equipment. I hope you can rest well"
As soon as she came she left, leaving Edelgard alone with a bitter taste in her mouth. "She enjoys pestering me, but she will regret that. At least, we will have capable warriors to get her under control if she tries to skip her orders" she thought. She looked to her desk, but she didn´t see any letter from her uncle. She had been asking about the whereabouts of Jeritza, but she had only received silence as an answer.
"I have a bad feeling about this" she thought as she sat on her bed, embracing the armored bear stuffy that her Teacher had gifted her what appeared to be another life. "If life were easier I could…No, there is no point about thinking something like that" she said as she embraced the stuffy harder.
10/28
"Are you going to bring the Sword of the Creator?"
"We are going to face monsters and pirates. It would be reckless if I didn´t use every weapon at reach"
"You are right about that, but don´t abuse its power. You know what happens when you do it" warned him Sothis.
"Don´t worry. I have learned from my mistakes"
The outside was still dark when he left his room, already wearing his travelling clothes. He then headed to the gates of the monastery.
"Good morning Professor. It seems that you are an early bird too" commented Shamir, that was already wearing her sniper clothes. "This is going to be our first time fighting together. I´ve heard about your ability with the sword, but I´m curious about how many weapons you can handle."
"Apart from the sword I can use the axe and the lance"
"How about bows?"
"I barely use them" he had to admit.
"Lances and bows are the things I specialize. You don´t have to worry about that. This trip is going to be a long one. I can give you one of my bows if you want to practice a bit during our journey"
"Thank you"
They remained silent after that, although it wasn´t an uncomfortable one. They didn´t have to wait for too long until his father and Alois appeared, although it could be more appropriate to say that Alois was chasing his father.
"Jeralt, wait a second!"
"I already know that you are looking forward for our little trip, there is no need to repeat it every single time" he sighed.
"I just wanted to thank you properly. Besides, to make things go smoother I spent part of the night preparing some jokes. I´m sure that the students will enjoy all of them as I do" he laughed.
"You really are helpless" Shamir sighed.
"Come on. Byleth, what do you think about my jokes?"
"They are terrible"
"Oh, really? Even if you say so you will change your opinion when I read the ones I wrote this night. Just wait for it"
"I will be making the first guard then" Shamir said.
After a short while the students arrived. The first ones to arrive were the leaders of each house. Claude was accompanied by Hilda and Edelgard was accompanied by Hubert and Monica.
"Good morning Teach, the rest of us will arrive in a moment. Don´t worry, you won´t have to wait"
"Waking up so early has already exhausted me" Hilda said while yawning.
"Good morning Professor. I can say the same about the Black Eagles"
"You don´t have to worry Edelgard. I´m sure they will arrive punctually. Your Pegasus and Petra´s are ready over there" Edelgard had a gentle smile on her face, but he noticed a shadow of anger the moment Monica approached him.
"I will do my best too, Professor. I will show you that I´m not a frail flower" Monica said with a wide smile.
"You are so lively Monica. I supposed you would be more introverted after everything that has happened to you" commented Hilda, looking at her with a serious face.
"It´s my only way to overcome the difficult times I´ve experienced in my short life."
"I didn´t mean to criticize you. I was just curious about that, that´s it"
They didn´t have to wait for too long until the rest of the students appeared.
"Professor, you lied to us. You said we were free to rest until next month"
"Don´t complain so much Linhardt. This will be another opportunity to grow!"
"You are really lively Caspar" giggled Hilda.
"That´s the problem" Linhardt said sighing.
"If the Professor wants me to come I will go"
"Of course Petra, the Professor is pleased to see all of us together" smiled Dorothea, although her eyes were more focused on Edelgard.
"I will do my best too, but please don´t send me to the frontlines"
"Don´t worry Bernadetta"
"Lorenz, what a wonderful opportunity to meet again!"
"The pleasure is mine Ferdinand!"
"Oh no, I forgot about those two" sighed Dorothea.
"I agree with her, the blowfishes" commented Sothis, making him smile.
"Look Lorenz, the Professor is pleased to see us reunited again"
"Good morning Professor. Hello Edelgard" said Lysithea, approaching them accompanied by Marianne and Leonie.
"Jeralt! I can´t wait to fight again alongside you"
"Merciful Goddess, please protect us"
"Sorry for making all of you wait" Ignatz said, accompanied by Raphael and a still sleepy Flayn.
"Now that everyone is here, let´s head to the Alliance" he said as he rode his mount to the gates of the monastery, heading to the east.