"I owe all three of you an apology."
Byleth's first words are an admission of guilt and, judging by the collective faces of shock, were not at all what her former students expected. She feels the regret show itself on her face as she looks from stunned face to stunned face and takes in the weight of the five years or so that have passed. Of the months she'd wasted before Garreg Mach fell and she'd fallen off that damned cliff to that stupid magical blast. She shouldn't have just listened and treated them the way she had- like they were adults capable of making such decisions on their own and were fully independent soldiers.
"The Church of Seiros too owes you an apology- especially you two." She looks to Edelgard and Dimitri in particular. "I will personally assure you receive one." Somehow. It may take a little, or a lot depending on who she gets to first, convincing first. But the Church does owe them for their lack of awareness- especially over the Prime Minister.
"Uhh, Teach? You okay?" Claude's worry is clear in voice and expression.
The jumbled pieces of their pasts have made a truly horrific picture and while Rhea and Seteth aren't responsible for how things came about, they are responsible for failing to prevent it out of… what reason, she isn't sure. Reluctance on Seteth's end, he's too responsible to just go looking into matters unprompted. Rhea is more difficult but will have to be handled in another manner, she's the least likely of them to offer an apology after the fury she'd launched into after Edelgard had escaped from the Holy Tomb.
But they're adults, and if Rhea is who she believes her to be, Rhea doubly owes them.
"Why are you apologizing, Professor?" Dimitri asks. "Other than vanishing for five years to… sleep. Or whatever it was that occurred, I fail to see what you have to apologize for."
"I didn't report to the Archbishop and Seteth as I should have." She looks to Edelgard. "I should have informed them both over what we discussed during our discussions and found out what they knew- or didn't know."
"No. I would have denied it and worse of all, I would have hated you for the betrayal of my confidence." Edelgard manages to respond, still in shock but also alarmed by the gravity on her instructor's face. "I asked that you not mention it, you were only honoring your word. No one can blame you for-"
"Yes, they can, and they should." Byleth cuts her off. "I was your Professor and you were in my care. This was not a conversation to stay between friends, but should have been reported and help offered to you to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice."
Her eyes went back to Dimitri. "I saw what you struggled with and I should have mentioned that too. This," she gestured to Edelgard and their surroundings. "should have been prevented. Could have been had I spoken up."
"You don't know that." It's a choked whisper that comes out of Edelgard's mouth. "It wouldn't have made a difference, I would have…"
Byleth looks the Emperor of the Adrestian Empire in the eye. "You would have refused an offer to be rid of those who would do further harm just to spite the Archbishop and the Church as a whole?"
"I would have." It's a weak protest and they all know it. "I wouldn't… I wouldn't have been able to believe them, they lied about the past, Professor. They lied about Nemesis and the heroes-"
"What they lied about in regards to the King of Liberation doesn't matter to me." And it didn't. She was tired of hearing about that man and his wicked deeds and ways. How his power corrupted him and those in the Church who'd given her sidelong glances once her Crest had been revealed and her ability to wield the relic he once had was put on display. As far as she's concerned, the man is dead, will remain dead, and his legacy and origins can be debated and hidden or twisted as far as they want to.
It has no bearing on the present.
"What I cared about back then, what I care about now are you three and the rest of those I taught back at the Academy. The debates about history and fabrication can be left for times of peace when there is quite literally nothing but that to do." Her voice is raised, a rarity the three of them have seen a small handful of times and usually only on the battlefield. "Had I understood that you were still children and not peers, I would have done the right thing and prevented as much of the last five years that I could have."
"We were not children." Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude all protest. Glare at one another and then turn those glares back to her.
Byleth is unaffected by the thunderous looks sent her way. "You were seventeen. In Fodlan's eyes? You were children."
"You are not that much older than we are," Edelgard argues.
"I was in my majority when we met and have been for some time." Byleth counters. It's a stupid, childish argument but her point is unable to be argued against. Even if I don't… quite know how old I truly am. The diary implicates she's around twenty-five or twenty-six years old now after the five-year-long sleep, but Jeralt was never one for keeping dates straight. "We are not discussing my upbringing; we're discussing your time in and out of the Academy and why you are owed an apology for the failings of the adults around you."
"When can we discuss your upbringing?" Claude asks.
Dimitri and Edelgard both have an expression that states they too would like to discuss such a thing.
If I have my way about it, not until you're thirty; assuming I can keep you alive that long. She nearly says it aloud too. "When we aren't in the middle of a war."
There's a certain glint in Claude's eyes that Byleth does not care for and wholly implies the not-so-little schemer is about to be back on his 'best' behavior. He accepts the snarky response too readily and folds his arms over his chest to watch the rest of the back and forth. Edelgard's eyes narrow in response and Dimitri looks… a little too thoughtful.
I'm going to regret saying that. Byleth knows she's going to regret offering a solid answer rather than a vague one. What's done is done and she'll figure out a loophole out of it later.
Dimitri is the first to speak up. "Your words indicate you believe those at Garreg Mach, and thus the Church of Seiros, are responsible. Are you siding with… the Empire then?" He can't bring himself to say Edelgard's name or use her title and looks as though he's preparing for a particularly devastating blow.
"No." Byleth shakes her head in response.
Edelgard's eyes close as though her death has been decided.
"Neither am I siding with the Church."
Her eyes open again, surprised. "Then… whose side are you on?"
"Neither." She replies. Her gaze is clear and straight-forward as she regards her former students. "Neither side has claim over being innocent or guilty when both parties involved refused to open their eyes, share intel, and communicate."
"That's a pretty mercenary way of looking at it." The Alliance leader responds innocently. The other three give him a pointed look. He gives them a lift of his eyebrows in return. "Well, it is. As someone who's been on the outside of this whole conflict,"
Edelgard rolls her eyes. Dimitri snorts in response to that claim. Claude's been playing both sides against each other as best he can in and out of his territory in order to remain as neutral as possible. He pretends he doesn't hear them and keeps going.
"I'd like to thank Teach for agreeing with me on the matter, and Edelgard for actually taking the time to explain herself."
Edelgard looks as though she's weighing whether or not it'd be worth whatever Byleth's retaliation would be to smack the cheeky tactician. She restrains herself for the moment, takes a deep breath, and releases it before she speaks. "If you aren't on… any side, then where do you go from here?" She wants to say 'we' so badly. She can't. She can't make that assumption now that Byleth has made her stance somewhat clear. She doesn't believe the Church or Edelgard are in the right of it, which is more and less than she had hoped for out of this situation.
But it doesn't give any of them a clear direction as to where they should go from there.
"That depends on you," Byleth replies and watches their expressions shift from surprise to calculating in a heartbeat. "My rule stands; anyone who physically attacks one of the others is going to be incapacitated- and I will hear you even if I'm asleep- and in as painful a manner as I can muster until the storm ends and I can get you somewhere safe for retrieval."
Dimitri speaks up, again, choosing his own words carefully in spite of the frustration he feels mounting. "What do you wish to do? I," he can barely tolerate looking at Edelgard but forces himself to do so. Looks to Claude and then back to Edelgard and then, finally, Byleth herself. "know what I want, I assume these two also have their own ideas in mind. I assume you wish the war ended, but to what degree?"
How far, his expression demands, is she willing to go in order to achieve that goal?
"There are several ways this war can be ended." Byleth answers smoothly. "The ideal way, unlikely as it is, would be for the three of you to use the time we have while trapped in one place to treat it as though you are at the war table and discuss amongst yourselves what you are willing and unwilling to do to put an end to it and come to an acceptable resolution."
That's the one she wants the most but doesn't dare say. She isn't going to force them down her personal choice, not when their lives have been thus far chosen for them. As painful as it is, they have to decide this on their own and she has to live, as do they, with the consequences of their decisions.
"And if no acceptable resolution can be found?" He presses.
Her eyes are as cold as her voice as she replies.
"I can always end the war by killing the three of you here."