Dorothea gasped, a dainty hand flying to her lips. "What! Hubie and the professor?"
"Shhhh! Please be keeping your voice down!" Petra scolded, "I am not fully certain yet, but it seems quite possible." Petra glanced around the dining hall, through the ambient noise it seemed no one had overheard their conversation. Good.
"How adorable. They make a cute couple." Dorothea giggled before lowering her voice. "I must say, I feel a little jealous! How did you find out anyway? Those two aren't exactly a pair of open books."
"Well…" Petra replied before taking a sip of water, "I may have overheard the professor and Hubert talking last week – I was looking to see if she would be helping me with training. I was surprised they did not notice me."
"Well aren't you the little sleuth! Do tell," Dorothea replied eagerly.
"It was like, if he could have another life, he would be devoting it to the professor. But he cannot as he is already dedicated to Edelgard. But now I'm hearing rumours that they are spending a lot of time together."
"Oh that wicked man, playing with our dear professor's heart like that." Dorothea had completely abandoned her meal at this point. She placed her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her palms – a mischievous glint in her eye. "Looks like I'll have to ask Hubie to marry me!" she added gleefully.
"I…. do not see how that would help," Petra said with disdain, crossing her arms. "What are you planning?"
"You mean, what are we planning," Dorothea replied, her chair almost toppling as she stood. She grabbed Petra's arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, we haven't a moment to lose!"
"I am thinking that this is not a good idea," she replied, allowing Dorothea to haul her out of the dining hall, "What if he is accepting your proposal?"
Dorothea smirked. "Well, there could be worse things than marrying into the Vestra family! Come on! We have work to do."
With the war council adjourned, Byleth let out a breath of relief. She stayed seated as everyone began to exit the room. She looked over the paperwork in front of her over the noise of heavy wooden chairs shifting back into place and the footsteps of others eager to leave. Under the murmurs and clatter, she caught a glance at Hubert, talking with Edelgard as they left the room. They had spent a lot of time with each other recently, but whatever they wished to speak about was always pushed to the side to discuss the war effort. Not that they would have been trading sweet nothings to each other. She had come to accept that there was no room in his life for her. Anything cute between them was just to occupy the time, and sate his odd fascination with making her blush. Besides, she had much on her mind now. The strike force would be setting out to take the port town to Derdriu within days, and with that, came facing Claude.
Still, whenever she thought back to that evening… She rubbed her arm to calm to goosebumps.Now is not the time, her logical mind soothed. She turned her eyes back to the paperwork, then to the clock. It was getting quite late in the day.
"Professor?" A familiar voice said rather sheepishly.
She turned to find that Petra hadn't left yet. "Oh, Petra, what can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you would like to go get something to eat at the dining hall," she said, a slight tension in her voice that Byleth could not quite place.
"Hm. Maybe later? I want to go through this report one more time,"
"If you do not eat you will not be taking in the information properly! Besides, the dining hall will be closing soon."
Byleth was not used to Petra being so demanding, but perhaps she was right. "Alright then, you win," she replied with a tired smile, a break and food sounded quite good.
They made their way past the old house quarters, the sight of them bringing her back to her academy days. Not much had changed inside since the Monastery fell all those years ago. It was as if everyone wanted to preserve the memory of before the war, of a simpler and happier time. They walked past the Blue Lions house and something caught her eye, it was Dorothea and Hubert having a conversation inside.
It seemed he hadn't noticed her passing, his back toward the door.
"Oh, professor," Petra said quietly, "I think I left something in the council room. My apologies, wait here and I will be coming back in no time."
Before she could reply Petra was already running. She sighed and her curiosity burned – she was sure Dorothea may have spotted her, but not Hubert… She walked in a few circles, her eyes falling upon the building a couple of times, Eavesdropping is wrong, they could be talking about anything, she said to herself, trying to calm her inquisitiveness… Yes. they could be talking about… Anything.
Before her logical mind could grasp a semblance of control, she found herself leaning against the wall, a few strides from the door, Hubert's voice clearly heard from inside.
"Seems it's my turn not to understand. Did you just propose marriage as a way to get to know me? How exactly would such an arrangement benefit me?"
What are they…? She burned with a hundred questions, Why is Dorothea proposing marriage to Hubert? And why is he even entertaining the thought? And how had I completely missed this?
"Oh, it'll benefit you," Dorothea said confidently.
"Go on."
"Well this 'path' you are walking with Edie will have one more loyal follower, Isn't that enough?"
"I suppose it may well be. Your contribution to our cause has been noteworthy. I've no complaints about your battle prowess either. And if you are able to walk the path I do… That would be very special."
"So, will you consider it? This is all because of you, you know. You make me wonder what it's like to be wholly devoted to another person."
"Heh. All right. I'll consider it."
They continued speaking, but Byleth could not hear another word. She felt hurt, hurt beyond what she thought capable. Was he just toying with me this entire time? Was he lying when he said he could never devote himself to another? What the hell is this? She steeled herself and strode off, fresh anger burning through her veins.
The whole way up towards the library an internal struggle played out in her head. Hubert had clearly told her that being with her was out of the question, let alone marriage. But now he was considering it with Dorothea?
She opened the door to the library, almost pulling the handle from the door. She knew he would be here soon; it was where he was most nights.
It had been a while. The night strode ever onward, the wax of the candles was burning low and the light of the full moon sent crystalline light trails thought gaps in the bookshelves. Byleth groaned, shifting her weight in the large velvet chair. She was half reading a book on lost crests, eyes hovering over the page she had already read three times over. Nothing was sinking in. Frustrated, she closed the book and held it by the spine in one hand.
"What am I doing?" she whispered, feeling defeated.
"Hmph… Odd," Hubert remarked as he examined the broken door handle. "Whoever did this will regret -"
"YOU!" Byleth barked without thinking.
"Is that any way to greet – Ah!" Hubert quickly dodged the book hurtling towards his face. "What is the meaning of this!"
Byleth picked up another book. She wouldn't be surprised if her body was glowing with ire at this point. This was not the confrontation she had in mind, but it was too late to hold back now. She had no idea why she was so upset. "How could you LIE to me like that!" She threw the next tome with murderous vigour.
Hubert evaded, barely, book hitting the wall with a heavy SLAM. "You'll have to be more specific, and I would appreciate it if you calmed – don't you dare," he said as Byleth reached for the candlestick next to her.
She hesitated for a moment, waiting to see what he would say next.
"What is going on with you? Explain yourself at once!"
She picked up the candlestick, brandishing it like a weapon. "I overheard your conversation with Dorothea," she replied bluntly, "you should have been honest, instead of toying with me."
"Ah, I see, this is about the marriage proposal? I must say, that caught me off guard as well."
"And you're considering it? After everything you said to me?" She took a confident step forward, intent on bringing him pain.
Hubert stood unwavering, watching her through careful eyes. "It seems you have this all wrong, I have no intention of marrying that harpy of a woman. I can barely stand to be in her presence most of the time."
Byleth's eyes widened and she suddenly realised how ridiculous she looked, her grip softened, candlestick lowering. "Really? Then, why didn't you say no?"
"Outright declining a marriage proposal is greatly frowned upon," he explained as he walked towards her. "But given your limited knowledge of the customs of nobility, it hardly surprises me that you didn't know. It is probably why Lady Edelgard covets your opinions so. Untainted by the drivel of a high-born life."
"I see… I owe you an apology then." She was aware of how silly her outburst must have appeared, internally cringing, weapon hanging to her side.
"That is hardly necessary, Byleth." He was closing in and she stood her ground, faltering when he brought a gloved hand to cup her chin. "The fact that you got so angry about it is quite endearing."
"Are you going to do anything about it?"
His smile wavered. "You know that I don't have room for –"
Byleth tensed, ready to swing for his head. "Then why did you say something in the first place? You say this will amount to nothing, but your actions over the last week have said otherwise."
"Unfortunately, I can't seem to stay away from you. Your aura is… Vexing." He reached out and grabbed the candlestick, dropping it to the floor.
"You're doing it again," she whispered, he was so close she could smell his cologne – a mingling of incense and sandalwood.
"I know," he replied, copying her hushed tone. He tilted her head upwards. "Every day I wake and regret the things I have said to you recently. I try to stop myself but then…"
She silenced him with a chaste kiss.
Something about him being so close, that hushed tone, that heady scent, the way he looked at her. Everything about him filled her senses. It was the first time she had kissed anyone, the sensation of their lips brushing sending a gentle buzz through her mind.
Tentatively, she pulled a hand up to brush her fingers through the back of his hair. Hubert returned in kind, grabbing her waist and deepening the kiss.
They then parted, his breath hot against her cheek.
"Now who's the one giving mixed signals?" he said with warning.
"Think of it as revenge," she said before bringing their lips together again.
Hubert knew this was wrong. It would make his personal life far too complicated. If he was to devote himself, body and soul, to Lady Edelgard, then there should have been no room to pursue such flights of fancy. And yet, he found himself incapable of pulling himself away from the blasted, beautiful, obstinate woman in his arms. How soft her lips and deep her gaze.
"Very well, simply revenge."
For now, he could pretend that it was just the two of them alone in the realm. She, a small pocket of light in his world of shade.
Hubert smiled.
What is this woman doing to me?
