11/29 Wyvern Moon
The day was completely gray as Byleth patrolled the aisles of the monastery. Since the events of Remire the security in the monastery had been reinforced and it wasn´t strange to see group of guards patrolling the aisles. The classes had been suspended until the beginning of next month, but Byleth knew that it would take more time than that for most students to handle the recent events.
"We barely know anything about them and their objectives" he thought as he headed toward the students dormitories.
He had been one of the first to access the former librarian´s room, but he hadn´t been able to find something of interest. The room was extremely modest and there wasn´t any signs of hidden passages within it, but that didn´t mean that they were safe. He had the ominous feeling that they were going to hear about them soon. Recalling their appearance he remembered the pale skinned people he had seen in his visions.
"I wonder if they are Argarthans"
"Do you mean the people of your visions? They might be, but those events took place a long time ago. Even if they are related to them they weren´t the ones that took part in the war you see in your dreams. They share some traits with humans, yet they are completely different from them. I wonder when that divergence took place"
Thinking about it he continued his patrol until he came across with Ferdinand, which was standing next to one of the windows.
"Oh, hello Professor."
"Hello Ferdinand, how are you doing?"
"It´s still difficult to believe what had just happened a few days ago, but I guess it isn´t something easy to forget" he said, his face darkened by the recalling of the events of the last days. "However, I´m glad that we were able to save most of them. If we weren´t there I fear that the outcome would have been worse"
"You did a great job" he said patting his shoulder.
"I appreciate your words, Professor. Talking about Remire, it was the village where you first met Edelgard. Now that I think about it if you and Jeralt weren´t there it would have ended into a tragedy too…or one of the three knew that soldiers were staying at the village. Well… the truth will remain in the shadows. The only thing we can do is imagining it"
"What do you mean?" When he first met with the leaders of the three houses they had already been around the village for several weeks, but he didn´t recall any kind of peculiar visitors arriving to the village during that time.
"Don´t mind my words Professor. I was just thinking aloud about events related to Remire. As you know, Remire is in imperial territory even though it is extremely close to the monastery. By chance or not, I´m glad that you were able to save all of them. I think I will have a cup of tea. You are free to accompany me if you want to"
"Thank you for your offering, but I must continue patrolling the grounds of the monastery until new order"
"Understood. If you feel like resting I will be in the main hall. I may be able to talk with Lorenz. I need someone to spend some time with" he said as he left him alone.
As he continued his patrol he thought about Ferdinand´s words. The attack of the bandits in the surroundings of Remire was a really strange event. Why would they try to attack a group of students heading to the monastery even though those students were escorted by the Church forces? It was a risky objective for a group of bandits.
"Do you think they were hired by someone?" Sothis asked inside his head.
"The leader of the bandits said something about it in his last moments. I haven´t thought about it until now, but it makes sense that they were hired by someone else. The real question is who was interested in that?"
"One of the Professors ran away due to the bandit attack and you were the one to occupy his position. Among all the members of the monastery they could have chosen someone else yet the archbishop decided to entrust you with that position. Maybe their real objective wasn´t attacking the students, but infiltrating the monastery taking advantage of that vacant"
Thinking about the staff of the monastery Jeritza face came to him. "Jeritza was the only one I recall staying all these months in the monastery. He didn´t have any tasks so he could have been a suitable Professor instead of me"
"And that Jeritza is the Death Knight, right? And the Death Knight works for the Flame Emperor. In that case you could say that the bandit attack was a plan of the Flame Emperor to infiltrate in the monastery. As a Professor he would have more freedom to move around the monastery without being questioned and he could get in contact with the students easier, but unexpectedly you got rid of that possibility"
"The Flame Emperor had his own agent working in the monastery and the kind of Tomas had Tomas working at the monastery. Seteth said that Jeritza was hired as a recommendation from the Empire. That could mean that there is someone in the Empire interested in infiltrating the monastery, but why?"
"This conversation is really interesting, but we can only wonder about the intentions of those lurking in the shadows. If we were able to catch one of them we may get some extra information that we need, but until then we can only make hypothesis about it"
"The more we look into it the less I understand" He felt that there was something odd with all of it, yet he couldn´t do anything about it. "We must search for the truth to avoid further problems"
"Have you turned into a detective now? Talking about wondering about things, I can´t stop thinking about the words of the archbishop. Am I the same Sothis that the one which is worshipped by the Church? In that case, why am I inside your head? It doesn´t make any sense. Does it make you a god or something like that?"
"I don´t think so, since I´m mortal, but even if you are the Goddess I don´t mind you staying inside my head"
"From time to time I would like to take a walk by myself, but I´ve grown fond of your company" she smiled to him. "You should continue your patrolling or people would start to think you are just daydreaming"
"You are right" he said as he continued his path.
12/1 Ethereal Moon
The weather has turned even colder as the days passed, but there wasn´t still any sign of snow, although by the look of the clouds the first snows would start to fall soon. As a response to the lower temperatures torches had turned into a common sight within the grounds of the monastery and the audience room wasn´t an exception to it.
"Good morning Byleth. I hope that you and your students are doing better" Rhea greeted him with her usual smile, which appeared to reserve especially for him.
"Some of them are still impacted by the event, but I can´t really blame them. The events that took place at the village will be difficult to forget"
"It is true that the events of last month were especially tragic, but I hope that the celebrations of this month can bring some light to the sadness they must be feeling." She said adopting a praying gesture. "This month is a particular one compared to the rest of the months. In consideration for your efforts I won´t give you any assignments outside the monastery"
"But that doesn´t mean that you can forget of your duty as a Professor" Seteth continued. "One of the main events of this month is the White Heron Cup. It is a competition between the members of the three houses. Each one of them must choose a representative to take part into it. As a Professor you can´t take part in the competition, but it is your duty to choose one of your students as a class representative"
"I will talk about it with my students"
"That´s not the only thing that´s going to take place this month. To prepare for the departing of the Goddess the monastery must be adorned accordingly. Decorating the aisles and the classrooms is an activity that most students enjoy and I am sure you will lend a hand on this matter too. I have also received a proposition for making a play from one of your students. If I am not wrong, the student´s name is Dorothea. She wants to use the money earned from the play to raise funds for the villagers of Remire."
"I will help with that too" He said lightly smiling. He knew that Dorothea had experience with Opera and theatre and he didn´t mind lending a hand for the poor villagers.
"I am afraid that you will be quite busy this month." Rhea said with a gentle smile. "After the White Heron Cup the main event of this month will take place: the night of the Ball. In this case you will have to take part in it, since each house leader and their Professors are the ones to open the Ball for the rest of the students. I hope you can give me a turn to dance with you, Byleth"
"A Ball? And you are going to start it with your dear little Princess. That is an interesting turn of events" Sothis said with a teasing smile.
"I don´t know how to dance"
"That is something easy to resolve" Seteth said. "Practice makes the master. If you can defeat countless enemies I don´t think you have something to fear from a couple of dancing lessons. Don´t forget that since you and the other two Professors are the ones that are going to open the ball you are going to be observed by the rest of the students. I don´t want you to underperform before them since they hold you in high regard. I wish you the best of lucks"
"You have plenty of time until that day comes so I wouldn´t worry too much about it, Professor. I am sure you will surprise all of us once again"
"Talking about putting unnecessary pressure on someone" Sothis sighed inside him.
"Even if most students are going to be busy with all these tasks find some time to teach them as usual. I wouldn´t want Flayn to underperform just because is this month of the year"
"Understood" he said as he left them behind.
"This is going to be an interesting month. And no more fighting for a while. I think that I´m going to enjoy it"
"It really appears to be a month completely different to the previous ones" he said to her as he headed to the Black Eagles' classroom.
All of his students were already there, waiting for him. Everyone except Monica, that appeared to be still ill.
"Hello Professor, did you hear about my idea for this month?" Dorothea said, greeting him with her usual smile.
"I did. I will tell all of you about what we are going to do this month. First of all, we have to decorate this class and the aisles of the monastery with elements appropriate to this season of the year."
"That sounds great! I´m feeling like a kid again"
"You haven´t changed at all though, Caspar" Linhardt yawned.
"I can make some decorations for the monastery, since I know something about sewing" Bernadetta shyly offered.
"That would be great. The more we can do the better. There is also the idea of Dorothea."
"I want to make a play to light up the mood of all of the students and at the same time I want to send the money we may earn to the villagers of Remire"
"That sounds like a fantastic idea, Dorothea" Edelgard said. "May I ask which play is the one we are going to do?"
"Since is a play for the villagers I thought about one of those famous chivalry stories. I think that the Professor would do a good role as the protagonist of the story" she mischievously smiled. "When I have thought all the details I will tell all of you"
"In that case let me continue with my explanation. The White Heron Cup will take place in the following weeks. Each House must choose a representative to take part in it. If there is someone interested feel free to tell me now" he said as he looked at Dorothea.
She was about to talk when Ferdinand talked first.
"In that case let me be the representative of the Black Eagles. I will show all of you the talent of Ferdinand von Aegir!"
"I thought you were changing a bit, but you are still the same" Dorothea sighed. "I´m also interested in participating in that event"
"That means that we should have a competition to choose who is going to be our representative. It will be an impartial trial about our talents. Don´t you think it´s a good idea Professor?"
"In that case I want to participate!" Caspar roared.
"You, dancing? That is really a surprise" Linhard said with his eyes wide open.
"More than the dancing part I like the competition aspect of it. I will give my best shot to it"
"I will do the same. If I win people might know more about the dancing aspects of Brigid. Besides, I think that I can dance quite well"
"That´s something I want to see too, even if we are rivals" Dorothea said with a smile.
"I will give it a try too. I want to see my brother´s reaction" Flayn giggled.
Byleth thought that nothing good could come from it, but he didn´t have any objective reasons to refuse her.
"Don´t look at me. I promise to make some decorations, but don´t make me dance" Bernadetta said trying to hide from his side.
"I will pass too. It would be a waste of everyone´s time" Linhardt said.
Nodding at him he then looked at Edelgard. She was about to speak when Hubert talked.
"With Lady Edelgard´s permission I think I would take this opportunity to participate"
"Oh, my. That is really unexpected. I didn´t think you were fond of dancing Hubie"
"More than interested in dancing it would be interesting to see Ferdinand´s face when he is defeated. If he can´t win against me I would proof that his meaningless challenges against Lady Edelgard are just empty words."
"You are so confident you will defeat me, but your technique is quite lacking, Hubert. No matter the rival I will defeat all of you. I will proof that I´m the best dancer of the monastery!"
"I must admit that this sounds like an interesting event for all of us" Edelgard said with a faint smile, looking at all of them.
"It seems that we have quite a demand for this competition. We should organize a tournament to resolve our little differences" Hubert chuckled, a sinister aura emanating from him.
"Then before the main event takes place we will hold a competition within this house to select our representative for the task. As your classmates Edelgard, Bernadetta and Linhardt will be the judges"
"Better than moving I guess" Linhardt sighed.
"Finally, a great ball will take place at the end of the month. I´m sure that most of you have already heard about it. The assistance is obligatory, but I suppose we won´t have any problems with it. According to Rhea, the Professors of each house open the ball for the rest of the students accompanied by their respective House Leaders." He said as he looked directly at Edelgard. "However, I must admit I don´t have any experience regarding dancing"
"Oh, that is interesting too" Dorothea giggled. "Don´t worry Professor. I´m sure that Edie will be a great teacher for you, but in case you need any help I will lend a hand too"
"You can count with me on that matter, my Teacher. If you were able to dance too I would be extremely surprised about your upbringing"
"I hope that you don´t waste Lady Edelgard´s time. A disappointing performance would be only on you to blame"
"Don´t worry, Hubert. I will do my best too" he then looked to the rest of the students. "Then it is settled. We will prepare for the White Heron Cup, Dorothea´s play for the villagers of Remire, the decoration of the monastery and the night of the ball. However that doesn´t mean that we will be skipping class for the time being"
"That´s asking too much Professor" Linhardt complained.
"Don´t worry. It will be a theory class"
"Theory is like a fight. I remember your words, Professor"
….
"Now that the class has ended you are free to do as you please, but remember that we will be decorating our class tomorrow and those of you that are going to participate in the dancing contest should practice for it"
"You should practice too, Professor, although I think I leave you in good hands" Dorothea said with a teasing smile. "I will prepare the play too. I´m looking forward the things will be doing this month"
One by one they started to leave the classroom, except Edelgard, which was waiting for him.
"My Teacher, when do you want to start your dancing lessons?"
"I guess that the sooner the better, but I can wait in case that you are busy with all the preparations"
"You don´t have to worry about that. I´m pleased to return the favor to you since you have been aiding me all this time. We could practice in the afternoons in this room if it is of your liking. There is enough space and I don´t think we will have any problems practicing here since it is our own class"
"That´s a good idea. Is it tomorrow a good day for you?"
"It is. Until tomorrow then" she said with a smile. "I will think about the decorations for our class too"
"See you tomorrow Edelgard"
After watching her leave the room he decided to head to the greenhouse of the monastery. Even though the wind was already chilly, the interior of the greenhouse hadn´t changed a bit. It appeared to be a good place to stay as the exterior grew colder. He wasn´t the only one to think the same.
"Hello Professor!" greeted him Petra.
"Hello Petra, what are you doing here? Are you checking some plants?"
"I was practicing here for the dance contest. It is the place more similar to Brigid around this monastery"
"Do you miss your home?"
"I do, but this place isn´t as bad as I thought. When I arrived first here I thought I would be considered a hostage, but Edelgard has been very nice to me"
He knew that Brigid had been on the losing side in the last war against the Adrestian Empire and as a consequence Brigid had turned in a vassal state of the Empire, but he had the hope that with students like her and Edelgard the future would be brighter.
"I´m glad to hear that. I´m sure that with you as the next leader of Brigid great things will happen"
"Thank you Professor. A lot of people don´t know about Brigid, but I´m sure that if they learnt about it they would come to appreciate it. That´s why I will give my best to win this competition. To show Brigid´s culture to the rest of the students"
"I won´t spoil your dancing lessons then. Good luck" He was curious about what was going to prepare Petra as a dance, but he could wait until the day of the competition within his house.
"Thank you, bye Professor"
After leaving behind the greenhouse he decided to head to the entrance of the monastery. The area was filled with merchants that were trying to sell all their goods to the inhabitants of the monastery. He wanted to buy some presents for Bernadetta and Dimitri since he knew that their birthdays were approaching.
"Greetings Professor! Nothing to report" said the gatekeeper. Even if their interactions were minimal he couldn´t avoid feeling friendly with him.
"I see that you are doing your work as usual"
"It is my duty after all. Finally this period of the year has finally arrived" he said with a smile. "It is my favorite month of the year and I´m sure that most students will enjoy it too"
Byleth knew by the look of most of his students that they were looking forward it. It made him feel happy despite all the suffering they had to endure the previous month.
"I´m sure about that"
"The great Ball is quite an event every year. Even though the event is focused on the students that doesn´t mean that the members of the Church can´t take part into it. I don´t know how it started, but I must congratulate the first person to start this custom. However that it´s not the only event that takes place during this month. Do you know anything about the Goddess Tower?"
"The Goddess Tower?" Byleth recalled going to that place during their exploration of the monastery to prevent the assassination attempt against Rhea. "I thought that that place was out of bonds"
"It is an area exclusively reserved for the members of the Church as you could realize by its name it holds a deep meaning for the members of the Church. It is the place where some rites take place every year and it is usually out of bonds for the students, but once a year that prohibition is lifted."
"Why?"
"I´m not sure how the events originally unfolded, but that place is said to grant the wishes of those who visit the place at night. About a hundred of years ago a pair of students made a vow to stay together no matter what and their wish was fulfilled. Since then lots of pairings try to go there to make their wishes come true. I envy the youngsters around here" he said sighing.
"Did you meet someone there?"
"I was a student here too, but no one appeared… However, that doesn´t mean that I have to give up. Maybe someone is thinking about me and I haven´t realized yet. It would be unfair if only the student´s wishes could be granted. By the way Professor, do you have someone in your mind?"
"Someone I want to meet…" he thought as Edelgard´s face appeared in his mind, making his heart ache a bit.
"I may have"
"That´s not a proper answer at all Professor" he laughed. "In case that you didn´t have someone I planned to invite you to make our wishes come true, but I guess that you have another person in your mind"
"How about you?"
"Well, I don´t really have anyone right now, but with all the events of this month I´m sure that something might happen. If the day after the ball you see me with a smile on my face you will know that it was a success"
"I wish you the best of lucks" he said with a faint smile.
"You too, Professor. To be fair, I´m a bit envious of you. You are quite popular, did you know?"
"Really?"
"Of course! I´m the Gatekeeper so I know quite a bit about the things happening around the monastery and I can assure you that. Anyway, I hope you have a great day"
"See you later"
"Wishes been granted by the Goddess herself, how interesting. If I am the Goddess does that mean that I´m capable of granting wishes? I´ve never heard about it"
"It may be just a custom, nothing more"
"Even if you are right about that I would like to be able to do something like that. Besides, when the gatekeeper talked about the Goddess Tower the little Princess´s face came to your mind. I would like to lend a hand about it"
"There is no need to do something about it"
"Are you feeling embarrassed about it? You heard the gatekeeper and the archbishop. This month is a peculiar one, even if most months have been really strange since our arrival here. I´m looking forward all the things that are going to take place here"
After buying everything he needed he approached the fishing pond, where Alois and his father were fishing. He had bought something for him too, since he knew that his birthday was at the beginning of the month.
"Hello Byleth!" Alois greeted him with his usual smile.
"You are really expressive Alois. You haven´t changed a bit since the first time I´ve met you. Hello son"
"You are the one that hasn´t changed a bit. Even now you are an expert fisher. I really envy your technique. Why don´t you teach me?"
"I tried once, remember? When things don´t work there is nothing I can do about it" Jeralt sighed before looking at him. "What are you doing son? Do you have any plans? If you want you can join us"
"I have nothing in particular to do today. Tomorrow I will be helping my students to decorate the classroom and the monastery"
"This is my favorite part of the year. The world gets sweeter if you know what I mean"
"By the way Alois, happy birthday" he said as he handed him a fishing float.
"You did remember Byleth, thank so much!" he said as he crushed him with one of his hugs. "You said that you will be helping your students with the preparations of this month. If you ever need me I´m here for you. Let this Alois lend a hand!"
"I can´t…breathe"
"Alois, I know you are fond of my son, but you are going to kill him at this rate" he said laughing.
"My bad"
"Don´t worry. I´ve got used to it I guess" he said as he picked a fishing rod.
"He has always been like that. There are some things that never change I guess"
"This really feels like the old times"
"Particularly the fact that you still suck at fishing" Jeralt laughed.
"That´s a very mean comment Jeralt, but I must admit that you have a point there. The fishes appear to hate me!"
"That is because you shout a lot" he said with a faint smile.
"Sorry. I can´t control myself sometimes" he said sighing. "Let´s talk about something different. The White Heron Cup is going to be quite a celebration. I´m going to be one of the judges so even if you are Jeralt´s son, that doesn´t mean that I will let your student win easily"
"Who are the other judges?"
"If I´m not wrong Manuela and Shamir. Manuela really enjoys watching the performances of the students and in the case of Shamir I asked her to join us since we have to be at least three judges. But the best part of the month won´t happen until the night of the Ball." He said with a dreamy look.
"You appear to have fond memories of it"
"Of course I have. It was the first time I danced with my future wife. I can´t describe with words the magic I´ve felt that night. You may think otherwise, but I´m actually quite fond of dancing, but she was even better than me. After the Ball we agreed to meet more often and after a while I declare my feelings for her and she accepted them. Now I´m happily married with a precious daughter. I have nothing to complain, although I would like to see them more often"
"Is her a member of the Church?"
"She was one of the maids that served Lady Rhea back at that time, but she currently lives in one of the villages nearby. Luckily she didn´t live in Remire. If something had happened to her…"
"I know how you feel Alois, but I´m glad that your wife is alright"
"Thank you Jeralt. How about you? Do you have any fond memories of this month of the year? You were the leader of the knights for quite some time before you left and returned again"
"I had a couple of dances with your mother. I wasn´t quite gifted, but she was patient with me" he said fondly looking at him.
"I´ve never seen you dancing, except after hearing those tavern songs when we were travelling around Fódlan. I would have paid to see something like that"
"Don´t hold your breath Alois. I think my days of dancing are done, but I´m looking forward the banquet of the night of the Ball"
"By the way Byleth, are you planning to invite someone to dance? I can teach you some dancing skills if you want to impress someone"
"Thank you for your offering, but I have no one in my mind, although I must practice since I will be opening the Ball to the rest of the students" As he said that his father looked at him with a fond smile, but he say nothing about it.
"Oh I see. I forgot about that custom. Anyway, if you ever need my help I´m here for you"
"If you keep talking you are going to miss a good catch, Alois"
"Agh! You are right!"
They continued chattering as they fished. By the end of their fishing session his bucket and the bucket of his father were full of fish, while Alois´s was lighter weighted, although he didn´t appear to care about it.
"This was surely a good day. It feels nice to rest of my duties from time to time"
"Don´t say it aloud Alois. Seteth may hear us"
"Ugh, you are right about that"
"After a good session of fishing it is time for a good meal, don´t you think Jeralt, Byleth?"
"You are right Alois. Do you want to have a meal with your old man, son?"
"Nothing would make me happier" Hearing his response Jeralt couldn´t avoid smiling.
"I guess that I really like this time of the year" he said as they headed to the canteen.
The place was unusually crowded with students, member of the Church and the villager they were able to rescue from Remire. Looking at some of the children, he couldn´t avoid feeling sad about them.
"I know what you are thinking, but we did what we could. For now the only thing we can do for them is keeping them safe until they have found a place to continue their lives"
"Lady Rhea is really a nice person. She ordered to use the empty classes as a temporal shelter for those who have lost everything, although part of the villagers have moved to the village next to the monastery since they have some relatives living there"
"You have always had a soft heart, Alois" Shamir said approaching them accompanied by Catherine.
"Hello Shamir, Catherine. You can be a knight and have a soft heart I guess"
"Of course, I´m not criticizing you" she then looked at Byleth. "You did an impressive job back at the village. Your father has really trained you well"
"You are complimenting the Professor, but you don´t do something like that to me, Shamir"
"Are you feeling insecure just because I didn´t compliment you? And here I thought you were considered a mighty warrior" Shamir laughed.
"No need to be like that. I guess that this month makes you being nicer, even people like you Shamir" Catherine said taking a seat before looking at him. "It´s been a while since the last time we trained. I would like to cross blades with you soon. If you don´t train hard enough you will bit the dust the next time we fight. Don´t let these fancy celebrations distract your fighting spirit"
"Don´t worry I will remain focused on my duties"
"You really are confident about your abilities" Catherine laughed. "I guess that Rhea wasn´t wrong about choosing you. At first I thought she was mad, but she appears to have made the right decision once again. By the way, how is Cyril doing?" she said as she looked at Shamir.
"He is devoted to protect Rhea as always, but he is doing his best so I can´t really criticize him. You two are so devoted to Rhea that he would suit you as an apprentice"
"You said it as if it was a bad thing" Catherine laughed. "By the way Professor, have you thought of taking someone as your apprentice?"
Byleth had never really thought about taking an apprentice. He knew that his father has taught fighting techniques to Alois and Leonie, but that was when he was travelling around the world as a mercenary, unless he could consider all his students as an apprentice.
"I think that my students are my apprentices"
"You really have started to think like a real Professor" Shamir laughed. "Although you are most of the time outside with them fighting enemies so I guess that it isn´t that different to the mercenary life"
They continued talking and eating as he thought about their conversation. It was true that they were battling for the Church across all of Fódlan, but the bonds that had been formed between them were something that had come to appreciate for the first time in his life. When he was fighting as a mercenary alongside his father he valued the lives of his comrades, but he had never suffered about them as he had when he had witnessed the deaths of some of his students.
"You must thank me for saving you dear student´s lives. If it weren´t for me your reputation of invincible Professor would be in peril"
"I thank you for that, but I know that I can´t abuse my luck. I will keep alert to protect all of them"
"Byleth, your lunch is going to get cold"
"Ah, sorry Alois"
After the lunch with the members of the Knights of Seiros he decided to head to the student´s rooms. The wind was already furiously blowing outside of the building and he sensed that in no time they will witness the first snows.
"What are you doing here? Are you going to visit the little Princess? Can´t you wait for tomorrow?"
"It´s not that. I´m just curious about Monica´s health"
The usual cheerful student had been missing all their classes since their expedition to Remire. Seeing Edelgard less stressed was a relief, but he knew that as a Professor he had to watch for the wellbeing of all of his students. He searched her room, knocked on her door and waited a few moments, but nothing happened.
"It looks like no one is there" he thought.
"Professor, are you looking for Monica?" Hilda asked him as she approached him carrying a bunch of books.
"Yes, do you know where she might be?"
"I´m barely familiar with her, but these last days I´ve seen her in the library. I was going there. If you want we can go there together."
"Thank you"
"No problem. In that case, could you carry these books for me? They are too heavy for me"
He knew that she wasn´t sincere about that, but he didn´t mind lending a hand with something as trivial as that.
"I have no problem carrying them for you. Let´s go"
"Thank you. Claude should be more like you" she sighed. "He is always saying that I´m too lazy for my own good, but this month I will show him that he is wrong. After all, dancing is one of the things I like the most. Finally this monastery is going to hold something similar to a festival"
He knew that Hilda was fond of fashionable things so he didn´t surprise him to know that she was looking forward the events of this month.
"I´m sure that it will be a good month"
"That was unexpected coming from you, Professor. I thought you would say something as "focus on your studies" or something like that. Manuela is quite easy going on matters like that, but in the case of Hanneman is completely different"
"They have quite the personalities"
"Talking about personalities, don´t you think that Monica is a bit off? I´ve heard that she was shy back when she was here last year, yet she seems to be more cheerful and outgoing right now. It is as if she had changed her personality to be friendlier"
He barely knew anything about Monica´s past. He knew that she was the daughter of Baron Ochs, a noble from the Empire, but apart from that her everyday life up to her mysterious disappearance was completely unknown to him.
"How do you know about it?"
"I´ve heard the gossips of some of the Church members and I´ve met her once last year before her disappearance. The students that attended the monastery with her had already graduated so they were the only source of information about her and I was frankly curious about her since when I first met Monica, she appeared to be the shy type. She may be dealing with her trauma using a different personality than her own."
"You may be right about that. You appear to be quite perceptive about this kind of things"
"It´s what you would consider instinct" she said with a smile. "I hope that nothing strange happens from now on"
"We won´t be having any assignments outside and I will be here to protect all of you"
"A confident answer" she said as they arrived to the library. "Look, I was right. She is over there"
Monica was chatting with some of the students that held their classes in the lower levels of the monastery. He wasn´t acquainted with any of them, but he vaguely recalled some of their faces from the events of the mock battle at Gronder Field. The moment she realized his presence she approached them, accompanied by some of the other students.
"Hello Byleth, how are you doing?"
"I was looking for you. You have been missing for more than a week"
"I caught quite a bad cold, but I´m better now. I promise to get back to work as soon as possible. I was just enjoying some of my spare time with a group of friends. They help me to forget the difficult times I had to endure when I was kidnapped" she said as she looked to the group of students surrounding her.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Professor. I know that you are the main Professor of the Black Eagles. Our victory in Gronder Field is something I will never forget"
"The pleasure is mine. We won´t have any assignments this month so I hope you can completely recover from your illness. Tomorrow we will start decorating the class if you want to come to aid us"
"I will consider it. It would be a pity if I fell ill again. See you later Byleth" she said with a smile, closely followed with her group of friends.
"I´m quite surprised by the amount of friends she has been able to make, although all of them are from the general classrooms of the monastery"
"Hey Teach, Hilda, if you are going to stay there talking it would be better if you take a sit with me"
"Oh Claude, I didn´t see you. I´m sorry"
"No problem"
He didn´t want to be rude and since he had made all this way to arrive to the library he didn´t mind spend some time with the Golden Deer Students. He took one of the magic tomes of the library and started reading about it. Hilda pretended to be reading something, but she was making a new personalized accessory.
"What are you reading Claude?"
"Just stuff about the history of Fódlan. There are some things that are good to refresh from time to time. Do you know when this monastery was built?"
"As far as I know it was built a thousand years ago. This year will mark the 995th anniversary of the building of the monastery"
"That´s a lot of time" Claude laughed. "With such a long history you would think that there would be more information about it, yet I´ve barely found any information regarding its origins. I heard that you went to Tomas…no Solon´s room. Did you find anything interesting?"
"The place was completely empty apart from some furniture. I checked all the walls and there weren´t any secret passages"
"This monastery must be full of them, but we barely know anything about it, although that isn´t surprising since the information about this place is so lacking" Claude said, more thinking to himself that talking to them. "Changing the subject, how are the preparations for the White Heron Cup. Everyone is talking about it"
"We have yet to decide who is going to take part into it. How about your class?"
"If I tell you know I would spoil the surprise, don´t you think Teach?" Claude said winking an eye to him. "You will soon know about it. I´ve heard that there is some kind of prize for the winning of the tournament, but I haven´t heard anything more about it"
"You are always thinking about the potentials rewards. Wouldn´t it be better to just enjoy the moment?" Hilda said while sighing.
"A reward is what makes things more interesting, don´t you think Teach?"
"In that case we won´t lose" he said with a faint smile.
"You sounded like Edelgard. I told you back then Teach, between Edelgard and Dimitri I was the best option" he said joking, although he noticed that his eyes had a bit of disappointment on them.
They continued chattering and reading for a while until the sun started to set.
"I´m already tired" Claude said yawning "Nothing better to end the day than to have some food, do you want to accompany us, Teach?"
"Thanks for the invitation, but I´m not hungry. Go ahead without me"
"No problem, see you tomorrow. Let´s see which class is going to be the best decorated" Claude said as he left the library accompanied by Hilda.
After putting the book in its place he left the library and headed to his own room.
"This day was surely a long day" Sothis said.
"From time to time days like this aren´t that bad"
"I´m glad to hear that coming from you. I wonder what kind of accessories have prepared your students for the decoration of the monastery"
"No matter what they have prepared I´m sure that our class will be the best decorated."
"You are showing again your favoritism" although she was smiling, sitting on her stone throne.
"I think I will make some decorations too for the class"
"Oh, that sounds really interesting. What are you planning to do?"
"If I told you know I would spoil the surprise. You will discover in a moment"
"You really sounded like the smiley guy, but I guess I can wait" she said as he walked towards his room.
…..
"Have you found anything new about Monica´s whereabouts, Hubert?" she asked.
The sun had already set and the wind was furiously blowing outside the walls of the monastery but her room was comfortably warm.
"She appears to have some new friends with the students from the general levels of the monastery, but I haven´t found anything beyond that, although the fact that she has been able to make "friends" is disturbing by itself"
"Why would be pretending something like that? Do you think she plans to make use of them?"
"It would be a stupid move with most of the knights here in preparation for the events of this month, but we shouldn´t ignore her whereabouts. Her reckless attitude is something to take into account, but I don´t think she would do anything unless being told so. Have you received any news from the Death Knight?"
"He has returned to the Empire, but the damage is already done, the fact that they have used them in their experimentation in Remire angers me" As days passed, she had thought about all the possible intentions of their kind for the use of the Death Knight and she suspected they had done their best to frame her Flame Emperor persona with those events.
"You shouldn´t have appeared in front of the Professor and his father wearing that disguise. It was a really dangerous bet, you could have been killed there or worse send back to the archbishop"
"I´ve told you before that I need all the help that I can gather to fulfill my objectives. The Professor has an extraordinary strength and he is the wielder of the Sword of the Creator. If he joined our forces we could rely less on them, until the time we get rid of them arrives" She knew that Hubert was worried about her wellbeing, but she knew that she had to take some risks if she wanted to achieve her objectives. Besides, she had the hope that he could eventually side with her. "Even if he didn´t trust the Flame Emperor completely he must have realized that we aren´t on the same boat" A part of her knew she had to prepare for the worst outcome, but her heart still had some hope.
"I know that you hate working with them, but directly opposing them would have meant the death of us all. They think that they have the upper hand on this matter, but when they realize what awaits them it will be too late. I promise to cut a bloody path for you, Lady Edelgard"
"I appreciate your words Hubert. Talking about preparations the imperial succession is approaching. Are they suspicious about it?"
"Duke Aegir is completely blind about our movements. The same could be said about my father" he chuckled. "The rest of the great Houses seem to be more focused on their mundane disputes so I wouldn´t worry about them"
"How about my uncle?" The regent could create for them important problems if he realized in advance what they were planning to do.
"His arrogance blinds him. I know that every misstep could send us to our premature deaths so I´ve been especially careful with our contacts. I can assure you he doesn´t suspect anything about our plans"
"That´s is relieving at least" she sighed. "Keep an eye on Monica. We must avoid her doing something dangerous here"
"Consider it done" Hubert said bowing to her.
"Changing the subject, I was impressed about you taking part into the dancing competition"
"Even if I´m not too fond of those kind of events that doesn´t mean I wouldn´t enjoy crushing Ferdinand´s dreams of winning" he said with a sinister smile.
"Don´t treat him that harsh. Even if he is always trying to compete with me I know that he doesn´t have any bad intentions behind him. He isn´t like his father, after all"
"I know that, but I´m sure he will eventually thank me an appropriate lesson of modesty. Now if you forgive me. Good night, Lady Edelgard" he said as he bowed again and closed the door behind him.
After he left she sat on her bed and sighed. The events of the village had been a painful reminder of how powerless she was against them, but she didn´t plan to back down on her plans. "I will be the one to have the final word after all of this ends" she promised to herself. Thales, Solon or Kronya, it didn´t matter. She would crush them all when the time comes.
Looking at her desk she realized she still had plenty of decorations to make. She had decided to lend a hand on that matter and she wasn´t disappointed by her handcrafting skills.
"I wonder if he would like them" she thought as she sat again on her chair in front of the desk. "I must make sure to teach him properly too" Teaching her Teacher about something as mundane as dancing was an interesting turn of events, but she didn´t dislike it. In fact, she was glad she could help him. "He has helped me all this time. It is the minimum thing I can do for him" she thought as she continued making decorations, her mind relieved from the worries that had been tormenting her since the events of Remire for a while.