"That would have resulted in your death." Edelgard tells him, not entirely surprised by the answer but annoyed by it nonetheless. She expected him to want her dead and definitely expected him to be the one to deliver the final blow. But to be willing to do so at the cost of his own life so easily makes no sense to her.
He can see the number of questions coming to mind. What of his Kingdom and the rest of Fodlan? His childhood friends, that retainer of his? What of the Professor? Weren't they reason enough to continue to live?
His eye moves back to the door. It's safer than watching her expressions shift, subtle as they are, to alarm and then calculating and back again. She is easier to read than Byleth by a long shot, but they are similar enough in their stoicism that it's difficult for him to tolerate longer than a few moments at a time. After a moment or two, he nods to confirm the statement. "Yes, it would have."
"And you found that acceptable?" The disbelief in her voice is clear and, for a moment, he has to restrain the bubble of laughter, ugly and dark, that tries to rise from somewhere in his gut.
"It was." He let her have that one for free. This time. The next one would count against her total number of allotted questions she'd won. "You could say that I have long prepared myself specifically for that exact result."
Dimitri is no fool, quite the opposite in everything related to strategy, battle, and of course some of the nuances of political maneuvering and diplomacy. Certain subtle cues, however, are completely beyond him and he is a lost cause on a good day when it comes to reading specific overtures and signs from women. Edelgard's expression is one of those cues; she looks furious with him and he, for the life of him, cannot figure out why the news should shock her when she herself was on the very same path.
He shifts his weight a bit to ease the ache building in his hip. "Your anger comes as a surprise to me, Edelgard," he replies. It isn't that he needs to tread carefully around her now or spare her feelings by lying. "Given the path you yourself walked, you must know that you faced a similar fate in the end?"
She mimes the number two with her own fingers, just as he had, and isn't quite able to wipe the angry look off her face. "Similar yes, but your path is different than my own. I expected you to demand my life and have your vengeance, go on to unite Fodland under the Kingdom's banner and… do whatever it is that you had decided on in the after."
"I had nothing concrete in mind." Dimitri tells her. "Ideas, matters of some importance that would have been put into place once I was gone. But I was not truly… living with the future in mind. I lived for revenge. Against you, against those who opposed me, and anyone else who I decided would have been an enemy. Even my time at the Academy was solely to arm myself with the knowledge, tactics, and strength to carry it through."
That strikes a particularly painful chord with the woman in front of him. Dimitri is not proud of the admittance, but as per their agreement, full disclosure and honesty in regards to whatever question is asked of them is the only answer he is allowed to give her. He may have lost much of himself during the past five years, but he has always, always tried his damndest to hold on to what little honor he has left.
Even if all that happened to be was adhering to whatever oath or word he gave.
Dimitri replays her answer to his second question within his thoughts and looks for something he may have missed that would indicate a trick, a trap of some kind that he can use to continue to mistrust her. He seizes upon the mention that her path, her way of thinking is somehow different. "You said yourself that this is revenge on the Church, on those who stood by and did nothing, and to free Fodlan from its influence. You entered the Academy for the very same purpose as I did. What is the difference between us?"
Edelgard is the one to look away this time. Her eyes go to the door he's been watching throughout most of the difficult game they play and focus on it as though anticipating the Professor and Claude to return at a most inopportune, or perhaps fortuitous, moment. When no sign of either of them arise, she looses a sigh and allows her shoulders to slump.
"By that reaction, it must have something to do with… what you experienced when you were taken back to Enbarr." Dimitri responds after a moment.
"They always refer to you as though you are nothing more than some feral beast with as much intelligence and foresight," Edelgard muses, her tone sardonic. "I suppose none of them were around to see the results of your exams from the Academy."
Dimitri offers little more than a dark chuckle in return and awaits an actual answer out of her.
The chuckle actually gains him something of a smile out of her. It's a bitter one and she shakes her head after a moment. "It does have to do with the experiments I was put through." She confirms. "I would, however, ask that you… please allow me to answer that question at a later time."
"You would prefer Claude and the Professor to be present when you do so." His tone is more neutral than he thought himself possible of in the moment. Part of him suspects she didn't trust him and thought he would attack her in return.
"No, actually, I would prefer neither of them know, but Claude may suspect or otherwise know already if he's aware of the experiments that were performed on Lysithea." She is bothered and it's clear in both voice and the way her brow furrows inward.
"Why the delay?"
"Selfishness, for the most part. And I should claim that as your final question." She responds with a mock scowl in his direction. "But, I won't. Just to set the record straight, my reluctance is not out of fear that you or anyone else will respond violently, or that there will be some sort of retribution. It isn't appropriate to answer. Not while the war is still ongoing and has yet to come to an official end."
The longer he watches her fumble through the explanation, half of one anyway, the worse his stomach churns. Whatever her reason for not wanting to discuss it in the here and now, it has enough significance for the future that she wants to delay it as much as possible. Not out of fear, or so she claims, but out of a sense of duty to the war not yet officially ended.
What answer could possibly change what they have already decided?
He watches her out of the corner of his eye as she plants her hands firmly in her lap. Her back is straight as an arrow shaft and twice as stiff and her gaze remains straight ahead on the door. If he had to hazard a guess, she was hoping for someone, anyone to come through that door and interrupt their conversation for the next time they would be left alone together. He didn't believe they would have another opportunity for some months to come, if not years, and rather than be cheered or relieved by the idea, he's… conflicted.
Resentful, because it gets in the way of confirming whether or not he can possibly learn to trust her by keeping watch over her every move and word to ensure she adheres to their agreed-upon terms. Irritated, because he doesn't like the idea of being babysat as though he is utterly incapable of keeping himself in check. He doesn't necessarily blame anyone for not trusting him currently, but it's still irritating to know people doubt his ability to keep his word.
"Would you be willing to keep what I tell you from the Professor and Claude? At least until I'm ready to tell them." Edelgard speaks after another long moment. She looks at Dimitri, her expression determined and eyes filled with anxiety. "And promise me you will not allow what I tell you to alter your words or actions in the future; if you can do those two things…"
Dimitri inclines his head all of once in silent agreement. There is a familiar pressure in the air the likes of which he recognizes from the moment they had run into the Professor and Sir Jeralt at Remire Village, the moment in the Holy Tomb where Edelgard had been revealed as the Flame Emperor, and again when the monastery was attacked. A moment of tension that whispered of a path that, once chosen, cannot be taken back and that would decide the course of destiny once and for all. Whatever Edelgard is about to tell him will change a great deal. As before, Dimitri finds himself helpless to fight against the current of fate and so, for the moment, braces himself for the next wave to crash down upon his life.
"You asked me where the difference in our paths lie. You have time, Dimitri. You have more than enough time to make mistakes, to rectify them, and to repent for the pain and lives you have taken along the way." Edelgard says, picking and choosing her words very carefully without looking at him. "As a result of the experiments, after what was done to me in the dungeons… I don't share the luxury of time."
There is a tense silence so thick, so maddening he feels a bubble of laughter rising up in his chest. Laughter. He doesn't know why the inappropriate response, but it's there and threatening to burst free as Edelgard falls silent. Her throat works against what he imagines is a lump the size and weight of half the blasted Empire and the final words fall, damning, from her lips in a husky whisper.
"I have five years left to live."