A/N: Happy 2020 everyone! I hope everyone had a good New year!
Chapter 14: In Plain Sight
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"Professor. I understand that you were looking to speak with me. Perhaps you would like some insight on how to write your next lecture?"
Balaiya finished collecting the papers from her desk, and looked up at Lorenz. "Yes– well no, I–"
"Hm? You do not need to speak with me?" Lorenz shook his head. "Why, unless of course you simply wish to be in my pr–"
"No." She didn't spare him any time to recover from the shock that consumed his face. "I don't need anyone's help with my lesson plans. But thank you. I asked to speak with you, because I've been getting complaints from many of the ladies in and out of my classes."
Lorenz gaped at her for a breath before he composed himself. "The ladies have complained? To you? About me? Preposterous! There must be some mistake."
Balaiya narrowed her eyes at him, could he really be so dense that he could not see the discontent that flashed across the eyes of many of the young women he tried to converse with? Then again… she tsked to herself and motioned for him to pull up a chair. Admittedly reading people was harder than she had initially expected, and only now was she becoming fully aware of that. It was surprisingly difficult, and she was learning through experience, a messy trial and error method. Then again, she was never trained in diplomacy.
He took a seat, but his back remained prim and sharp. Much like the features that made up his face. "I am heir to House Gloucester. It is bred in me to treat all people with respect. Rest assured, you will not find anyone more upstanding than yours truly."
"Perhaps, what you perceive as respectful treatment is not as universal as you expected?" She propped her chin up we with her thumbs, crossing her fingers in front of her chin.
"Hm, Perhaps the issue is that the splendor of my noble presence is driving ladies to distraction! If that is the crime, I do confess. I hope I've not troubled the ladies' hearts unduly."
Irritation pinched her and crawled into her chest. Was it merely a coincidence that he started his spiel with the same word? Or was he taunting her in some way? "Lorenz, to be frank, it is your advances that they find troubling."
He gasped and stood so fast the chair screeched backwards. "Outrages! Why that's absurd! Who would dare to alleged such slander?! I bet it was Claude– feeding you lies he is Professor, to know that schemer—"
"Actually, a number of the female students have approached me directly about the issue."
"Hmph, I do not know why you defend him so much Professor."
She felt her eye twitch.
He continued undeterred. "In any case, I suppose I have offered several of them the honor of dining with me. It is impossible to tell if even the most well-bred young lady is a suitable companion for me merely by the sight of her."
Well-bred? He spoke of women like one would of a mare up for auction! She exhaled slowly, then again, he did use bred to refer to himself in terms of his upbringing… did he truly not realize?
"So in order for us to get to know each other properly, it is appropriate that we dine together. Thus far they have all declined, oddly enough. For some reason they seem to be exercising some form of restraint while speaking with me. I would never insist, of course. But I will admit I have, on occasion, after a day's pause, issued repeated invitations– in the fashion and style of a gentleman, of course."
She repressed the need to scoff, he claimed to never insist yet contradicted that statement by saying he would repeatedly ask again after only a day! She sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Lorenz, you have to realize. That's the problem. If someone tells you that–"
"What?! Ridiculous! Dinner invitations from me, a problem? The very idea!" He chuckled and stuck his nose in the air. "I am a perfect gentleman. The son of a noble line! I've a wit like a rapier!"
Her brows shot up, wit like a rapier? She sighed and stared at the ceiling. While she hadn't held too many extensive conversations with Lorenz she knew one thing– she certainly wouldn't pay much if at all for his wit.
"And it takes but a glance to see I'm gorgeous!" He proclaimed proudly.
'Ah! Perhaps pride really is blinding!' Sothis exclaimed in her head. 'I do not think gorgeous is the proper way to describe this– piece of work. Has he not seen the back of his head? I wonder what has happened there.'
A slight snort slipped out and she started coughing to mask it. Clearing her throat she looked at him again. "Lorenz, sometimes we are—"
"No, I cannot believe such a thing. Are you sure this isn't the result of some sort of scheme?" He started pacing. His hand shot into the air as he waved and pointed at nothing in particular. "It cannot be otherwise. Someone clearly decided a conspiracy against me. Someone who envies my position, who seeks to soil my sterling reputation with foul rumors. How cruel."
Her eyes followed him like a pendulum as his shoes clicked out a steady pattern that seemed to emphasize every syllable he spoke. "Lorenz, you're not listening to what I—"
"Please, Professor." He stopped in front of her desk and looked down at her along the bridge of his nose. "Is it beneath you to fall victim to such petty and obscene tactics. I implore you to take greater care in the future. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a great deal of work to do. Farwell." He spun on his heel and click clacked out of the room.
"..." She just gaped after him, he'd not even heard a word that she said! Let alone allowed her to speak.
"How rude!" Sothis appeared beside her with her arms crossed. "He might be well-bred, but he certainly wasn't well-trained!" She scrunched up her nose. "I would certainly argue that first statement…"
"Hopefully he remembers at least some of what I said." Balaiya mumbled and stood herself. "I don't really know what I'd do if I get more complaints. Should I speak to Seteth about it?"
"Hm, I don't know. It seems he is only being incessantly annoying to the girls rather than truly harmful. Seteth may not want to deal with something like that. Perhaps you could bop him on the head, that might wake him up."
Balaiya left the classroom with a sigh and made her way to her father's office. She still needed to talk to him regarding what happened during his seminar. "I don't know Sothis, that would only get me into trouble, I'm sure of it."
"Which is a shame, because he obviously doesn't listen to words."
"Well, he can't have heard nothing. I just have to hope that whatever I did manage to say was enough."
"Hmm, well if he continues his behavior maybe we can ask Claude to go ahead and turn his hair gray." She crossed her ankles in the air and examined her nails.
"I'm surprised you remember that Sothis, it was quite a while ago." Balaiya glanced over at her curiously, but a frown etched into her face. "You don't always tell me when you're awake… do you?"
"No, why would I do that?"
Balaiya felt unease creep up her spine, similar to when she was a child and her father would catch her brother and her up to no good. "Well… I have not always made the best decisions regarding my um… students. Maybe some advice on situations would be nice."
"You really would like my advice? I didn't want to interfere in your life anymore than necessary…"
She glanced over at the girl, she didn't want to interrupt her? Could that be why she didn't appear too much? While she had noticed Sothis made her presence known more often as of late– it was still pretty rare. "I welcome your company Sothis. You're fun to talk to." She smiled to herself.
"Really? Does it not bother you that to others I am invisible? Possibly not even here? Some may think you crazy if they see you speaking with me..." She turned away to hide her face, but Balaiya felt in her chest a tightness– she knew she felt uneasy. Was there also sadness?
"I don't mind… they can think what they want." She climbed the steps and turned down the hall towards her father's office. "I know there are many things we don't know, but I feel a calm with you as I do when I'm beside my brother."
Sothis beamed up at her, and Balaiya felt the warmth of her smile effect her own being.
"That is kind of you, I am grateful for those words."
"So, what should I say to my Father?" Balaiya mumbled as she knocked on his door.
"Well, just be straightforward as you always have with him."
"Right." She sighed, and stepped into his office before he had a chance to allow her entry. "Good afternoon Father."
He looked up from his desk with a sigh of relief. "Ah, I was just thinking about you." He stood and moved to the other side of his desk. "You've certainly been busy– these last few days especially. You've been running all over creation."
She felt the corner of her mouth twitch at his jest, but she couldn't get herself to put the extra effort needed to allow the smile to show. She was far too troubled to do so.
"I've been looking for information about this assassination plot. I don't believe Lady Rhea is the true target."
"Really?" He pulled at his beard in thought and leaned on his desk. "Even so, the knights have their orders. We can't abandon our duty to guard Lady Rhea. Have you spoken to your brother about this yet?"
"I have. Briefly." She crossed her arms and surveyed the office absently. "Do you know anything about the holiday?"
"Eh, I know it's quite a shame it falls on you and your brother's birthday."
She turned back to him with a frown. "We were born after the festival's date was decided."
"Yes, I'm aware of that. All I know is what I used to tell you two as children– The Goddess's Rite of Rebirth is an important day to the Church of Serios, they say it's the day the goddess will return to walk among us…" He shook his head. "Not too likely if you ask me… Best if you keep that to yourself."
"Yes Father."
Not too likely? While she had never put much thought into the details of this festival, it still intrigued her. She wanted to know why he thought that way, but if he wasn't going to provide the information then she wasn't going to ask. She had more important things to ask…
"So, how did your seminar go?" Came her nonchalant inquiry. She stepped over to a small table to carefully inspect the board game that sat upon it. By the looks of it, it was a chess board. Each piece seemed to be made of either glass or crystal– much different than the rough hand carved pieces she'd often use when playing against her brother or father while resting in taverns on the road. She wondered briefly if Claude enjoyed chess, it'd been quite a while since she played the game…
"It went well. The students picked up on everything with gusto."
Irritation flooded her system, but she inhaled deeply to steady herself. "Did anything… out of the ordinary happen?" She didn't exactly feel like she was being straightforward, however she didn't want to accuse her Father of anything either. And while she knew Mercedes wouldn't lie, and she trusted Sylvain enough to know it had definitely happened… she wanted to give her Father that opportunity to tell her.
"Not at all. They did well. I don't mind giving the seminar every week actually."
She remained silent for a few more breaths but the demon that was her current annoyance hung too heavily on her shoulders, and she turned back to her Father— the knight from the chess board tight in her hand. "Why are you avoiding it Father? I know you know I know." She pursed her lips and slammed the piece back in its place– back in it's line of duty where it forever awaited it's orders of when to jump and only asking how high. The clank that sounded when it hit the smooth board did little to alter her current state, as she couldn't find it in herself to care whether it cracked or not.
"Bala, what are you talking about?" Came her Father''s confused reply. Which only served to fuel the flames in her chest further. Did he think playing coy would quell whatever burned within her?
"Father, do not act like I'm simple." She warned calmly though she clenched her hand tightly, till the blunt ends of her nails dug sharply into her palm.
"I'm not sure what you mean hone—"
She sent a cold glare his way and crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest. "Father, I know you– Sylvain Father, Sylvain, why did you do that to him?"
"You expect me to go easy on the boy? How are they supposed to learn properly if—"
"Father please, not everyone can learn by example." She grit her teeth. "Besides, from what I've heard– and yes,I trust them. You didn't just use him for an example– he was the example. And not for the seminar, but to prove some– some agenda? Some point?"
His jaw tightened. "Bala, do you really expect me to just stand by while this kid harasses you?"
"No, I want you to trust me. Yes I know you had to pull him away from me… but I would have taken care of it myself. I am not incapable, nor am I weak."
"He definitely got what was coming to him. Sometimes a guy like that will never lea—"
"Father, the purpose of the seminar is to apply more advanced instruction on a specific field of study. Not some no rules sparring session! You broke his bones Father!" She felt a hand on her forearm, and whipped her head to the side to see Sothis floating there with knitted eyebrows. The girl remained silent but kept her hand reassuringly on her arm.
Balaiya sighed quietly and took a steadying breath. She placed her hands together in front of her face in a gesture that would look pious to an onlooker. "Father, all I'm asking. Is for you to please trust me enough to know that if I ever want you to break anybody– that'll I'll tell you. I'm not trying to tell you how to do what's best. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself, but I strongly feel like the way you threatened him– verbally was enough to get your point across. Anything more was too much. These people are my responsibility, and I feel like I failed him because it was my own mistakes that allowed this to happen."
Jeralt looked at her with widened eyes, the silence that followed her small speech only lasted a moment before he cleared his throat and spoke. His words were slow and clear, his brow set in a serious line. "I hear you Bala. I don't want to apologise for what I've done to the boy– but, I am sorry that I've made you upset. You're right, I shouldn't have hurt him the way I did. I let my personal feelings get the better of me. I don't want you blaming yourself for my actions. Just promise me one thing?"
She took another breath, but this one was more subtle, and nodded once.
"Don't be afraid to hit these boys yourself. If I can't well then you should definitely be able to."
"I can promise that I'll do what I think is right for me in a situation like that." She moved over to the door. "But, I think if you apologize to Sylvain in some way– that will truly make me happy. Thank you for listening to me Father, I have a lot to do today so I'll be off." She spun on her heel and left his office before he could get another word in.
"That definitely went better than I thought it could have." Sothis murmured.
Balaiya sighed and quickened her pace. Though she knew Sothis wasn't being sarcastic, she couldn't help but feel soured.
"You are still feeling guilty for what happened are you not?" She was suddenly floating in her face– upside-down. An action that felt oddly familiar… "Then let us go to the greenhouse! You are always so happy amongst the flora. And we must check up on your gift for Claude! I wouldn't want them to wilt on us."
A smile snuck onto her face. "Alright… though I shouldn't stay longer than the time allowed for lunch break. I should also help everyone with guard duty." Her feet were lighter now as she made her way to the greenhouse.
"Excuse me? Professor?"
Balaiya stopped and turned to face who called out to her. "Oh! Cyril, hello." She faced him fully and looked over him quickly. "How are you today?"
"Um, I'm fine… I just wanted to let you know that Lady Rhea is always real concerned about you. She expects great things… I think."
"She talks to you about me?" Balaiya asked curiously.
He twisted his hands around the cloth hanging from his belt, and nodded. "Yes she does, please don't let her down, okay?"
She regarded him for a moment, the strange familiarity she felt when she first saw him began creeping up on her again. It hung over her shoulder like an apparition one could only feel. "I won't, I promise."
This seemed to be enough to placate him because his shoulders relaxed. "I hope you're not just saying that."
Shaking her head she offered a slight smile. "No, I wouldn't promise something I wasn't intent on keeping."
This brought a small smile to his own face. "That's nice to hear. Not many people seem to value that around here."
"Value what?" She tilted her head, she didn't want to pry but though he seemed shy, in conversation he didn't– not so much.
He crossed his arms. "Honesty."
She blinked, the familiarity growing stronger. "Honesty?" She echoed.
His brows furrowed and he huffed. "Yea…"
"Shamir said you worked for Lady Rhea– do you get paid?"
He frowned. "I get a roof over my head and as much to eat as I could dream of. That's payment enough. Plus I get to study with the best archer ever… you're awfully nosy, huh?"
Shock stuck her to the spot. She'd been called many things but nosey was definitely not one of them. He was just a kid and here she was prying information out of him! "I wasn't— well…" She frowned, and shut her mouth with a click. "I'm… just curious." She bit her lip and took a step back. "I'm sorry if I offended you."
"Huh? No I'm not offended. I'm just wondering why you seem so interested in me." He shrugged. "There's nothing too cool about me. I'm just an orphan from Almyra that was lucky enough to be taken in by Lady Rhea."
Almyra? Instantly all the maps she'd annalized of Fódlan whirled through her mind. "That's to the east of the Alliance… right?"
"Uh, yes."
A thousand questions surged to the forefront of her mind but she allowed only one to slip through. "Do you miss anything about it?"
He shook his head. "A lot of people ask me that when they find out where I'm from– but no. Not really. There's a lot I could say. But I won't. But since Lady Rhea likes you so much– I miss the food. There's nothing really like it. But one time Lady Rhea gave me a cup of shai– I mean tea that I really liked. She said it was from Almyra, but that didn't matter to me. I was just happy I got a gift from her."
Balaiya felt her ears prick when he spoke about the tea– he'd said… "Cyril? One more question if you don't mind—"
He sighed and crossed his arms again. "Okay, but hurry 'cause I have a lot to do today."
"You said, Lady Rhea gave you a cup of shai– what did you mean?" She bit her lip, anticipation started engulfing her and constricting her chest.
Annoyance crossed his face and he glanced to the side. "Eh, I corrected myself. I meant tea. Didn't I say that?"
"No, no—well yes you did but… why did you say it?"
He sighed and smacked his lips. "'Cause, it means tea?"
Her eyes widened as the realization struck her, hard like being struck in the side. "Oh." She whispered, and looked back at Cyril– who was looking at her like she'd grown a second head. "Thank you Cyril! I hope I didn't waste too much of your time."
He stared at her skeptically for a moment, but shook his head slowly. "No, it's okay. You're kinda weird, but not in a bad way."
"Ah, should I take that as a compliment?" Weird, wasn't a new one but the phrase not in a bad way had never been paired with it.
"I guess so?"
"Alright, then. Thank you." She smiled slightly and left down the hall, just a few paces away from running.
It all made so much sense! How could she not have seen it before? Granted she was more than dense in terms of geographical locations, and what to associate with said location before coming to the monastery– her father would just direct her sword and she would strike, it never mattered to her where she was. But now that she realized it, it couldn't make more sense. The disdain that flitted across the faces of certain people when they looked at him, the way the waitress judged him, the fact that he only just recently was named the heir to the Alliance, and that he won't speak about his mother's wearabouts— Claude was from Almyra. The best part was– he basically named Shai, tea.
She held her face in her hands as she hurried to the greenhouse, that must be why he was so secretive– he didn't want anyone to know. She paused and mentally went over all the faces of those from the Alliance that she encountered. They were obviously from Fódlan…
"Gosh Sothis… is everyone as clueless as I am?" She mumbled as she stepped over to her plot.
"Perhaps it is one of those things— how do you call it? Hidden in plain sight?" Sothis sat on the edge of the plot and tapped her chin. "Let's keep this to ourselves though. But! We can use this information to our advantage! Cyril says Rhea gave him a tea from Almyra. We should check the market square to see if we can find any."
Balaiya carefully watered each plant before turning to the girl with a confused look. "Why?"
"To give to him tomorrow of course! For his birthday!" She practically yelled.
Balaiya shushed her before she realized that Sothis could scream as loud as she wanted– no one but herself, and if in close proximity, her brother would hear… which meant not even the gardener that stood not five feet away.
"Is everything alright ma'am?" Said gardener asked warily.
"Oh, yes everything is fine." Balaiya did her best to look casual– though she had a feeling she didn't believe her.
"Hm, if you say so." She walked over with a pleasant smile nevertheless, and peered over at her plot. "Oh, look how beautiful the flowers have grown. You sure have worked hard."
"Thank you." She smiled and gently touched one of the petals of the daffodils she'd been nursing for so long. "I never expected to put so much effort into a simple hobby…"
"It is a wonderful one. I'm glad I was able to help you. Don't forget, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
Balaiya nodded. "Thank you."
The gardener returned to her station and Balaiya carefully unsheathed her dagger, "Okay, time to cut you free I suppose." She examined the bright blooms once more before slicing easily through the stems.
"Oh they look beautiful! You should tie a bow around them." Sothis said happily. "Ask the lady to see if she has something."
Balaiya glanced over at her and she motioned towards the lady eagerly. "Fine." With a sigh, she walked over and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, do you have a ribbon or something I can use to tie these together?" She held up the two daffodils.
"Oh! That's a good idea– are they a gift for someone special?" She smiled and started digging in her apron.
"Um, it's for a birthday."
"Here we go!" The gardener held up a ribbon nearly the same hue as the flowers and tied it around the stems– securing them together. "Ah, another birthday?"
For some reason Balaiya detected disappointed in her voice.
"You are too kind. I hope they appreciate your gift." She smoothed her hands on her apron.
"Me too…" Balaiya mumbled and turned for the door. "Thank you for your help. I—" She paused when something caught her eye. Turning fully towards it she discovered a fairly large blossom– the center was dark and as large as her palm, framed with golden petals. "What's that?" She mumbled quietly. "It's… like the sun."
The gardener walked over to her. "You like that? It's called a sunflower!" She sighed. "We used to have them often but someone stole all of the seeds! You wouldn't believe how devastated I was when I found someone was chewing them up only to spit them all across the cobblestone!"
Balaiya didn't take her eyes off the flower when she reached for her coins. "How much for one? I'd really like to have one."
The lady laughed softly. "No you go on and take it dear, you spend so much time and money here anyway."
"Really?" She turned then to look at her, and once she nodded her confirmation she carefully cut one to match the length of the other flowers, only slightly taller. "Thanks again." She waved over her shoulder and hurried back to her room to place them in a vase.
Once the flowers were sitting in one of the empty vases that laid about her room, she made her way to the market square.
Despite her having become a familiar face, the merchants were still generally formal with her.
"Good afternoon Miss! What can I get for you this day?"
She silently observed his wares as she usually did before speaking– just in case she found what she was looking for before needing to ask him. "I'm looking for some Almyran tea." She stated after a few moments.
"Ah, you are lucky today! I've got some Almyran Pine needle tea with me." He grabbed a small box from the crate below his table. "Only the finest."
"Is it from Almyra though?" She took the box and carefully inspected it.
"Of course. I wouldn't sell a loyal customer short!"
She produced the coin needed for the box and opened it curiously. The smell was definitely different than what she'd come accustomed to through Lorenz's teas. "Thanks, I'll see you around." She shut the box and once again returned to her room.
"I guess that's it." She mumbled and stepped back outside. "I'm pretty sure I missed lunch again." She sighed and started walking down the path. "Maybe I'll go and check on everyone's groups to see ho—"
"You sure seem busy."
Balaiya startled sightly and turned around to see her brother standing besides Shamir.
"You're running around a lot today." Byleth added.
Balaiya blinked at him and crossed her arms. "And I hope you haven't just been standing there all afternoon." She glanced at Shamir. "Hello, how has your day been?"
"We just finished some scouting." Came Byleth's straight to the point reply. "What have you been up to?"
"Errands." Balaiya replied in a similar tone.
"My day went as good as any on the job." Shamir said. "In just a few days this whole mess will be over– and I can finally sleep."
"Yes, that would be nice." Balaiya agreed.
"Let's meet up to train tonight. The festival is in a few days." Byleth said.
"Sure, I'll see you then." She took a step away and addressed them both. "Well, I'm going to check up on the students." She waved and hurried off.
Later when she got to the training field her brother was already there going over some warmups. She tied her hair back in a low ponytail– with a tie Hilda had given her, and jogged over to him.
"Evening Leth. How was your day?" She quickly started her stretches.
"Fine. You didn't eat much did you?"
She looked up at him and shrugged a shoulder. "I had a sandwich. That's enough. I've been busy."
"Hm." He tossed her a sword and she caught it easily.
"Anything new happen?" She tossed the sword between her hands to get a feel of the weight.
"No. I had a talk with Ferdinand about his work ethic. He sees Edelgard as his rival apparently. Wasn't too pleased when I told him he's not better than her– skill wise."
Balaiya faced him and swung her blade, he parryed easily and advanced quickly. She dodged back and ducked under his strike, then returned with one of her own.
In her own opinion, Ferdinand and Edelgard were on similar levels in terms of combat ability. It would be unwise to claim one is inherently better than the other since their fighting style differed so greatly.
"Do you think she's better?" She asked him curiously.
"No." He caught her foot before it hit his face and pushed her back with a simple flick of his wrist. "I feel like at least as of now– they are very similar in skill level. Ferdinand excels with the lance and is very good with the axe and sword, and while Edelgard doesn't use a lance, she is also very good with the axe, sword and she is decently skilled with reason magic."
"I agree. Though if you had to pick, who do you think is your best lancer?" She adjusted her footing and attempted a feint to the side.
He didn't dodge in time but managed to block her attack. "Obviously Dimitri, but you knew that."
"Did I?" She jumped back to put more space between them. "Maybe I was trying to get you to tell me your weaknesses."
"Hmph, well since I'm the one that teaches that class, I know your best lancer is Sylvain."
She knew that, she was confident in his abilities, but Leonie was no slack either. She trained hard and improved quickly.
"That doesn't count, since he was originally in my class." He swung his sword towards her middle.
She deflected it with the guard on her arm. "You were happy to see him go, admit it." She muttered.
Byleth took a step back and eyed her for a moment. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
She felt her eye twitch and her hand tightened around the handle of her sword. "Father beat him up. I was informed he had multiple broken bones– you didn't have anything to do with it, did you?" She watched him closely, on the lookout for any sign he might be keeping information from her.
"What? No. I wasn't aware of this… well, I did hear whispering about how he couldn't even match Father during the seminar, but nothing about the state he was left in." He lowered his sword. "He seemed fine in my class the other day."
"I see." She sighed. "Well, Father and I had a little chat… I'm not very happy with him right now. He doesn't seem to care that he can't handle the people here like he does with the troupe!"
"Why not? It's a military school– shouldn't we be harder on them? In all honesty they're allowed too much time to wander about."
"Leth, not everyone is capable of—"
"Hello Professors! Are you guys training? I was just about to finish up, but if you want to join in, I can stick around a while longer."
Balaiya turned to see that Leonie had joined them from a different part of the training area. "We could be awhile Leonie." She wanted to ask her brother a few more questions but, she didn't want any stray ears picking up on what she was saying.
Leonie waved her off and grinned. "Oh, no. It's fine! Just do your thing. Don't mind me. Come on. Don't be shy." She held up her lance. "How about you both fight me, head on? No holding back!"
Balaiya glanced over to her brother and meet his eyes, though she had questions for him still. She was sure on one thing— double taking Leonie wasn't going to happen.
"Leonie, let's just go through those new stances we went over last class." Byleth offered.
"Hmph, fine. But don't think for a second I'll give up!"
Balaiya decided she might as well join him, it was a good opportunity to polish up her lance skill.
Leonie was definitely talented she wouldn't question that, but by the time Byleth decided to wrap up for the night. The girl was beyond winded.
"Phew! I'm beat…" Leonie gasped and leaned on her spear. "But we're finally done."
"You didn't have to stay the whole time. If you wanted to stop, you could have said so." Byleth held his hand out to Balaiya, and she handed him her training lance. He turned to Leonie but she shook her head. He shrugged and put theirs both away.
"I was...already training when you got here, and I...finished right alongside you... Guess I...outlasted you, huh?" She took in a deep breath and jogged over to place her lance back herself.
"You know Leonie, it's not a competition." Balaiya sighed. "Improving on the battlefield shouldn't ha—"
"Speak for yourself!" She snapped and turned to her with narrowed eyes. "I'm always looking to improve. By the way, there's something I wanted to ask you two."
"Let's hear it then." Byleth said plainly.
"Are you two really Captain Jeralt's kids?" She crossed her arms. "I mean– it's a little suspicious that you guys look almost exactly alike. But you don't even look like him!"
"We're twins Leonie. And yes, as far as I'm aware we are his kids." Balaiya rubbed her temples, exasperated.
Leonie scoffed, and crossed her arms. "That's a pretty detached tone to take about your own family. Besides, I've never heard of twins being a good thing. Usually one dies. There was an old saying in my village that a mother can only bring one life in the world because that was all she was given. To give two lives?... Which one is the older one?" She shook her head.
"That's none of your concern." Byleth said with pursed lips.
Leonie continued undeterred. "I wonder what that put on Captain Jeralt…What's your opinion of him, then? You must look up to him, at least?
Balaiya frowned, but pushed the expression away, was she trying to make them feel guilty for existing? "I respect him, of course." This didn't seem to make Leonie happy.
"Hm. It doesn't sound like you really appreciate him. You guys didn't even know until you came here that he used to lead the Knights of Seiros, did you? If it weren't for him, both of you wouldn't be half the person you are now. Especially you." She shot a glare to Balaiya.
Why was she singling her out? She felt her skin crawl with unpleasant shadows of guilt that she had yet to put a name to… She placed a hand over her chest… could it be because—
"You guys probably never even thought about how lucky you are. Ugh! OK, this really bothers me! Listen up. I don't care if you're the teachers and I'm the student. I'm going to outshine you. I know you guys were some famous mercenaries before you came here, but let me tell you something... I'm going to be better than you ever were! In fact, I'll surpass you in no time at all, so don't blink. You might miss it!" She sent them both a glare and ran off.
They both stood in silence for a few moments, unease filling the space between them.
"Bala? Are you alright?" Byleth turned to her, his brows furrowed.
She rubbed her arm and nodded silently, the chill of her skin felt even stranger now, more than ever. Yes, she wore short sleeves due to the heat from the sun that morning, but could it be a different reason why she didn't have goosebumps? Still– she slipped her arms through the long sleeves of her cloak and gestured with her head to the exit. "I'm going to bed. I need to get up early tomorrow."
"Okay… I'm going to finish cleaning up here."
She nodded once and hurried off to her room. The strange unease seemed to follow her, even as she wrapped herself in her blankets.
"Sothis? Please make sure I'm up before dawn…I don't want to be—"
There was a gentle pat on her head before she lost consciousness.
Strangely enough she dreamt, for the first time since meeting Sothis. This though, wasn't really a dream. She just floated in a sea of darkness, a darkness with no end. She could feel nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, and yet– she was.
She woke to bright green eyes, and a wide smile, and whatever it was that had clawed at her from oblivion receded away into that terrible cold darkness it had come from. She made sure to do her best to lock it, and any thoughts related to it away.
"Get up Bala! You do not want to be late! Hurry upstairs so you can greet him!" Sothis shook her firmly.
"Oh, right." Groggily, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Another hot day. The sun hadn't even risen yet and she could already feel the heat creeping up on her.
"Wear this today." Sothis gestured to the dress that was slung over her chair— where she'd thrown it after wearing it the first time.
She yawned and lifted the dress from the chair. "Why?"
"Because! I do not like your silly questions!" Sothis pointed to her desk. "And don't forget the ribbon."
"Alright, alright." She mumbled and changed into the dress, then placed the headband on her head. "I really was thinking about giving this silly dress away…" She didn't have any use for it. As a mercenary, it'd be silly to bring the thing with her when they finally did go back on the road. She grabbed the box from underneath her bed that had the gift she bought in it then placed the flowers on top of it, and hurried upstairs.
"Oh, but Hilda gave that to you! I would at least keep it until you leave." Sothis disappeared once they got to the second floor.
Once they left? Why did that feel so strange to her? What would they do? Go back to living on the road? While she wasn't a vain girl by any means, she did enjoy bathing daily. That would certainly be missed…
She stopped in front of Claude's door and knocked on it gently— suddenly hesitant. She bit her lip. 'Maybe this wasn't a good idea…I could just leave it by the door?' She looked up and down the hall to make sure it was still empty, but then his door opened, and she whipped her head back around to face him.
"Can I help y—" His eyes widened. "Oh! Teach?"
She examined him carefully, by the looks of it– he'd already been up for some time, though he still hadn't changed from his sleepwear. She did her best to smile and held the box up. "Happy Birthday Claude!"
He gaped at her silently for at least five breaths– she counted, before he finally looked down at the box. "Uh– that's… for me?"
She huffed and nodded. "Yes…" She shifted her weight between her feet, and chewed her lip. Maybe this was a bad idea. Did he find it offensive somehow? Was that why he always questioned her gift giving? She was a teacher here, but there was no rule about giving gifts to students! She was the same age as some even…
She startled out of her thoughts when the weight of the box lifted from her arms. "Thanks Teach." He murmured, and brought the box over to his desk.
She made sure she stayed in the doorway. "Hurry up and open it." She waved her hand at the box.
"Alright, alright." He smirked, a laugh on his lips. "You sure are impa—oh." He stared down at the box for a moment before finally pulling the boots out.
"I hope they fit you." She called from the door.
He glanced over at her then sat in his chair. He ran his hand along the length of one of the boots then turned them upside-down to examine the sole. "These are from— wow…" He bent down to put one on. "Yeah, it fits great actually." He looked up at her owlishly. "You can come in ya know."
She shook her head, perhaps a little too fast. "No it's okay, I have some errands to run."
"I see…" He reached over and grabbed the flowers from his desk. "So, why daffodils?" He smirked, and waved them in the gaping space between them. "Lemme guess– it's because they're yellow? Like my uniform? Which is also because of the Golden Deer?"
She laughed slightly. "Yeah, you caught me. I'm not too creative." She started fussing with one of the buttons on her dress. " The gardener told me it was best to gift daffodils in pairs because it would bring bad luck if they are gifted alone." She shrugged. "I don't know how true that is but I grew another one– just in case. I read somewhere that they can mean new beginnings and to some, symbolize friendship. Either way, I think it fits."
He smiled and picked up the sunflower. "And this?"
A tiny mew interrupted them, and Shai ran over to her. She smiled and picked up the small cat. "Look at you! You've gotten bigger!" She pet the top of her nose. "You're so cute…" she murmured, and looked back up to find that he was still staring at her, quite intensely. The sunflower twirling slowly between his fingers. She was suddenly nervous again, and clutched the small cat close. "Oh right, well, that was a last minute addition… I saw it and… well, I thought of you…"
"Of me?" He blinked at her then smiled softly. "Thank you." He set the flowers down then opened one of his drawers. "Oh! That reminds me– I've got something for you too!" He fished out a vial from the messy contents, and met her at the doorway. "Soo, how about we make a trade?" He grinned.
"A trade?" She tilted her head up curiously. Up close she could see the faintest tint of pink had spread across his cheeks. She felt her hands itch and she held Shai closer to her chest.
"Mhm~ you gimme that adorable little thing in your hands, and I'll give you this." He held up the vial. "Sound like a fair trade?" He winked.
A gasp left her lips and she reached for the vial. "That was fast, I'm impre—"
He held it above his head. "Nuh-uh, you've got to release the beast." He snickered.
"Beast? No, she's a sweetheart." She sighed, and pressed her face into Shai's fur, then set the kitten on the floor. She scampered into the room.
"Ah, thank you m'lady!" His eyes shone with mirth, and he added some posh accent to his speech. "Please, take this– as a token of my gratitude.~" He grabbed her hand and placed the vial in her palm.
She stared down at their hands in silence, her mind racing to come up with an explanation for the heat that crawled up her arm and settled in her chest.
He dropped his theatrical tone, and with his other hand– closed her fingers around the vial. "Tell your mysterious friend to take just two drops of this at night to do the trick." His grip on her hands tightened, and he tugged her just a hair closer.
She felt her muscles tense. She wasn't one to easily allow people so close in her space. However on more than one occasion since arriving at the monastery she'd been put in such a situation. Often she did her best to handle the situation without resorting to punching someone in the gut. Life was different at the monastery– she wanted to do her best to, not so much to fit in, but to be accepted.
Which was one reason she was so bothered by the way her father dealt with Sylvain. Besides, she felt like she was a step closer to understanding the redhead, she didn't want her Father to jeopardize that any more than he had already…
On the contrary, she almost felt like she actively searched for reasons to stand in Claude's space. Or rather, put herself in a position to be in it. She always ended up so close to him. But she had decided a bit ago she needed to put a stop to such a thing. Which was why she refused to enter his room, but the way he tugged her towards it…
His thumb brushed ever so softly over her wrist, and she would have filed it off to be just a coincidence if not for the pressure he pressed into the insistent pounding that was her pulse.
A shock of something assailed her nerves and she felt the heat from before spread to her cheeks. Restlessness tingled through her limbs, but she dared not move, if only because she knew if she resisted even the slightest– he'd more than likely release her instantly. The memory of Sylvain cradling her cheek taunted her, and the uncomfortable shiver that had passed through her. And though she hadn't the opportunity to handle the situation herself, she looked back on it with more curiosity than offense– a bit perturbed, but curious none the same. It was not an action done by him alone, often in the past some rogue had tried to lay their hands on her person. Sylvain was just the first one that hadn't made her recoil in disgust. He'd also been the first not to walk away with broken fingers. Guilt prodded at her again, though in the end he walked away with much worse than that– if she had broken his fingers, would that have spared him from her Father's unnecessary fury? What could that have done for her progress with her student?
And why did the idea of Claude touching her face make her so curious? Shouldn't she also feel perturbed at the thought? And yet—
He'd only ever touched her arms or hands, always briefly. In fact, she'd been the one to invade his space on more than one occasion, but he never protested. That didn't mean it was welcomed, but the way he held her hands now stirred something within her, and it drove her up the wall not knowing what it was, or why such a simple action was eliciting such deep contemplation from her.
She made the mistake of looking up at his face and her pulse jumped into her ears. His eyes were carrying that something that seeped of danger, an open warning she chose to ignore. For what if it was something else? What if it was another mask?
Another tug, and she was forced to step closer into his space, lest he release her. "Camomile tea does wonders to promote a restful sleep,—" More pressure on her pulse. "tell 'em to mix it in with a cup of that, and they might even have pleasant dreams." His voice dropped slightly at the end, and she felt her throat go dry.
Tea? Was there something she wanted to ask him pertaining to tea?
"If you ever need more—" Yet another tug, and his thumb started pressing slow, electric circles into her skin. Each pass churned her stomach, it did nothing to ease the restlessness that strummed within her. The tips of her toes were now just barely crossing the threshold of his room. "Don't hesitate to ask me." He nearly whispered and leaned in closer to her, so much so she could no longer make eye contact with him. His hair brushed her cheek like a feather tickling the skin.
She felt rather than heard him say something into her ear, and she blinked dumbly at the wall. His breath danced a trail of fire down her neck and she shuddered. Then, faster than she could blink, he was back by his desk.
She nearly dropped the vial.
"Thanks again for the gifts!" He grinned lazily as if they had been previously discussing the weather. He raised a brow when she failed to move or respond. "Was there something else you needed Teach? I should probably get dressed for the day."
"Oh!" She inhaled sharply and glanced around his room. Her eyes landed on Shai sleeping by the window. It came to her then, tea! She looked over at him, but kept her eyes at his feet. "Do you… want to join me for tea after your classes today? We can meet in the gardens…" She trailed off towards the end, was this still a good idea?
He laughed lightly. "Sure, why not? I'll see you later, Teach!"
She nodded, and stiffly closed his door, she could think of many reasons why not.
The rest of the day had passed by steadily enough, she had passed by Claude once in the halls and she couldn't help but notice he was wearing the boots she'd given him. A pleasant warmth had settled in her stomach, and Sothis had nearly squealed with delight.
She ran into Mercedes on her way to meet up with Claude, and she seized the opportunity to delay her trip.
"Oh Mercedes!" She waved her over "Hi, how was your day?"
"Oh, evening Professor! It was alright. My feet are certainly tired from standing all afternoon, but I can't shirk my responsibility simply because of that." She smiled gently. "How are you?"
"I'm alright. I've been running a lot of errands these last few days. But I actually wanted to ask you something." Mercedes had mentioned she wanted to help out if she needed it. She just hoped that offer still stood.
"How can I help you Professor?" Her smile only brightened.
Balaiya relaxed at the sight, she wondered if Mercedes was aware how disarming her smile could be. "Keep this between us, but I wanted to bake a cake for my brother. And I was hoping you could help me out? The most I've ever really cooked was wild game so… I'm fairly new to the baking thing."
Mercedes giggled. "Oh? Is it your birthday? A little birdie told me that your birthday was this month. Though I wasn't sure if it passed already."
Balaiya tilted her head. Someone had told her that their birthday was this month? It couldn't have been Claude since she'd only told him the date. She supposed it didn't matter too much anymore since it was in two days. "Yes actually. We've never had a real cake specifically for our birthday, and he does love sweets. And it's on the twenty seventh this moon, but as you know– we'll be busy then. So I want to give it to him tomorrow."
"Oh that's a wonderful idea! I'll be so happy to help you! Did you want to meet up in an hour? There are a few errands I need to run myself." Mercedes asked.
"Sure. That will work." Balaiya shifted and crossed her arms. "I spoke with Sylvain already… he seems alright, but I didn't want to press him too much. Have you gotten the chance to speak with him?"
Mercedes folded her hands in front of her. "I'm glad that you spoke to him Professor. Even if he may not have seemed very grateful, I know it meant something to him. I didn't really get a chance to speak to him. I saw him in town earlier today, but I think I may have interrupted a date he was having…" She frowned. "He wouldn't look at me for some time, I only wanted to say 'hi '." She sighed quietly. "The lady got quite upset…"
"I'm sure he's not mad at you. He better not be."
"I guess it doesn't matter. He sat beside me for supper, though he didn't speak about much." She hid her mouth behind her hand. "I may have bored him by going on too much about this cute little store me and Annie found! It's got the cutest little trinkets and sashes. I'd certainly like to send something to my mother…" Her smile returned to her face. "Anyway, I should get going. I'll see you later Professor!" She waved and walked away.
Balaiya watched her go then continued on her way towards the gardens.
She wasn't sure if she was relieved or not when she got there to find that he hadn't gotten there yet.
"Sothis, I'm not sure if this is necessary. I already gave him a gift…" She mumbled as she set up the isolated table.
"Don't be silly Bala! You've already had tea with a few of the students what harm could it bring? Besides, I want to see how he reacts when you tell him about your discovery. Are you not curious as to why he is hiding this information?"
"I am, but—"
"Then hush! It's just tea anyway."
She sighed and finished brewing the tea. "I suppose…" she mumbled to herself.
A few moments later the rustling of footsteps in the grass caught her attention, and Claude slid into the chair across from her with a grin on his face. "Hey! I hope I didn't keep you waiting. I ran as fast as I could!"
Balaiya felt her lips tug into a smile. "Did you? Someone's in a good mood."
He chuckled quietly, and inspected the tea carefully. "You could say that… It has definitely been nice being treated with respect today." He picked the teacup up and brought it to his nose. "Wow, this smell! It's great, my fav in fact!" He grinned and set the cup down. "Lucky guess Teach?"
She felt warmth bloom in her chest, and she placed her chin on her hands, elbows on the table. "You could say that." A smirk snuck on to her lips. "So, what did you mean treated with respect?"
He shrugged and took a sip from his cup. His eyes closed and he sighed quietly. "I love this stuff…it's so soothing. The taste of relaxation~." He grinned, and leaned on the table himself, leaving only a foot between them. "Well the deer have been rather pleasant today. I didn't get nagged once! Can you believe that? "
"I suppose that is rather surprising. Not even Lysithea admonished you?" She raised an eyebrow as she brought her cup to her own lips.
He laughed. "Not a peep from our little fawn! Though I could just feel her wanting to burst when she woke me up from my well deserved nap. Though she was sweet as can be!"
"You took a nap during guard duty?"
"It wasn't all that long, just resting my eyes. Besides—" He rolled his eyes. "Lorenz wouldn't stop talking about– whatever he was talking about. Then he started arguing with Sylvain… needless to say, I took the opportunity to sneak away."
"Ah, well did you have a good day overall?"
He nodded. "Yes, but tell me. How about you?" He grinned. "How was your day?"
"It was alright. I've been pretty busy these last few days…" She glanced over at him and chewed the inside of her cheek. Was now a good time to ask? Should she just straight up ask the question? Or should she hint at it?
She leaned forward just an inch. Thinking back on her discovery with him sitting right here only further solidified her theory. Knowing now what she does, she wouldn't have believed him if he said he was from Fódlan– and in a way, he wasn't. Not really.
His laugh caught her attention, and she focused her gaze back on his face.
"Is my face, really that interesting?"
It was a teasing tone, she could tell that much, but the pink that had crept into his cheeks only deepened when she nodded once, eyes locked with his. "Actually, yes." After all, he was filled with so many secrets, and she was pretty eager to confirm whether or not she'd discovered his deepest one! Or at least one of them.
The shock was evident on his face, and he opened his mouth to speak once and only on the second try did he answer with another witty remark. Any trace of his previous fluster gone. "No matter how hard you look, you won't see what I'm scheming."
She leaned back into her chair and fixed him with a steady look. "I can try and guess." She countered with a slight smirk.
"You can try." He challenged her without hesitation, amusement shining in his eyes.
She took the opportunity. "Oh, that reminds me— you know Cyril, right?" She traced the lip of her teacup– the motion slow and lazy, though kept one eye on him.
"I've seen him here and there. Haven't gotten the chance to hold a decent conversation with him though."
"Well, I actually spoke to him yesterday— he's a nice kid. Rough around the edges, but I don't blame him for that. He too has had a rough life."
He nodded slowly and drank more from his cup. "It's unfortunate that we live in a time where children may grow up struggling. It's a never ending struggle, really."
"Did you know he's not from Fódlan?" She folded her hands on the table, and watched for any reaction carefully.
"I've heard the whispers." He answered simply.
If he had picked up on anything she was getting at he gave no indication to it. She huffed quietly, and sipped from her cup. He'd definitely be good at poker.
"Well, I asked him if he missed anything from home. He didn't have too much he wanted to share, but he was nice enough to tell me he did miss the food. Said there wasn't much like it here in Fódlan…" When he gave no response, she continued. "It's a shame that we're unable to get many imports here. I see nothing wrong with that."
He smiled slightly. "Ah, if only everyone thought like you— we'd be in a much better place."
"I guess that's a benefit of growing up isolated from world views… in any case. I think you should talk to him sometime. You two have a few things in common."
If she hadn't been quite literally staring at him she would have missed the slight tension that tightened his shoulders. "Oh? Like what?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. Did he want her to say it? Or was he seriously not catching on? She highly doubted that. He was clever. So why was he—
"Well, I'm pretty sure you both enjoy the same tea– he'd mentioned how Lady Rhea gave him some tea from his homeland. Funny thing though, he said the word for tea is Shai— You named Shai, tea didn't you?" She leveled him with a steady look. "Claude? You're Almy—"
The rest of her sentenced was muffled due to the hand that had been slapped over her mouth. The look of shock that had consumed his face matched the one she felt.
She sat there like that until she felt lightheaded, and only then did she realize she was holding her breath.
He released her, and she inhaled quickly, it was nearly a gasp, heat flooded her cheeks. She wished she was as witty as he was. But, they both seemed to be suffering from a lack of words to say because the silence only stretched between them— the tea long forgotten.
His uneasy laugh broke the quiet first, and she released her cup from the deathgrip she hadn't realized she'd put it in. "Well, ahem— I— sorry, I hadn't expected you to actually, ah—" He leaned away, and propped his elbow on the armrest, his chin supported by his thumb.
"So, you are then?" She mumbled after awhile.
"Hmm, I'm not too keen on sharing that information. Honesty, I never—" He stopped again, and resumed staring at her as if he was trying to read her mind.
"You weren't exactly trying too hard to hide it. I mean, once I figured it out. It became a little obvious to me. I almost felt like you were giving me hints."
He raised a brow, and crossed his leg over the other— his ankle resting on his knee. "Have I?" He mumbled more to himself than her.
"Well, when. I thought back on it… you often mention home, as if it's not very close. But you never said where. And I have heard you mutter things under your breath that I could hear, but not understand. At first I thought it was because I just didn't hear it, but it happened often. Often enough for me to notice. Then, the adorable name you gave Shai…" She scooted closer, and folded her hands on the table again. "I could go on, but I don't think I need to." She eyed him cautiously, she hadn't seen him look so guarded before. She was starting to feel like maybe, she pushed too much.
"You're sharper than most. I kinda feel like you've cut me open— and put me on display." He chuckled lowly, and rose a single brow in a perfect arch. "So what do you think?" He said slow and calculated.
"I… I would be honored if you taught me the language." She tightened her hands together, until her nails we're digging into her knuckles. She hadn't thought much about what to expect, or what he'd say. She just didn't want him to be offended.
His eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward in the chair. "Really?"
She held her breath, and nodded slowly. "Yes."
He seemed to be analyzing a hundred different things before he scooted closer and folded his own hands on the table, then gave her a wary glance. "You can't tel—"
A rush of relief washed over her and before she could fully comprehend her actions, she was pressing her index finger against his lips. "To the grave if I must." She murmured quietly. She'd already promised him that he could tell her anything, and she would keep it close. If he needed a reminder she was more than happy to give it.
He blinked at her a few times in silence, all the while his cheeks slowly flushed till the bridge of his nose was nearly red.
She felt heat creep back into her own face, and she slowly moved her finger down. His lips parted just enough for her to feel the breath that brushed against her skin.
His gaze was heavy and lidded as he pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, and scraped his teeth against the skin. The action much like one she'd seen him do before, only this time the skin seemed to demand her attention with the layer of glisten that covered it. "I'd love to teach you." He practically whispered.
Her pulse was quite suddenly screaming in her ears, yet she still managed to hear the soft voice that called out to her.
"Professor Balaiya? Are you around here? Do you still need my help tonight?"
Her eyes widened and she stood up quickly, jostling the contents on the table. "Damn— I should get going. I forgot I… I have to do a thing." She muttered, and hurriedly put everything away, save for the cup that sat in front of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it got so late." She took a box of tea from her basket, and set it in front of him. "Here, you can have this too." She placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Happy Birthday again—" She hurried off. "Don't stay up too much later." She called over her shoulder.
Her pulse was still threatening to burst her insides, and she didn't relax until she flagged Mercedes down.
"Oh, there you are Professor." Mercedes turned to her with a smile.
"I'm sorry, I got– distracted…" She rubbed her arms roughly in an attempt to remove the goosebumps that littered her skin.
"Oh, no worries." Mercedes gestured for her to follow her, which she gladly obliged. "Do you know what kind of cake your brother likes best?"
"No, I don't even know much about different kinds actually." She answered quietly. Why did she still feel so— breathless?
"That's alright! There are so many kinds! Why, there's yellow, chocolate, red velvet— my favorite actually, Oh! Carrot cake is also wonderful, and then there's also lemon cake and once I had this delicious—" She glanced over at her then laughed softly. "Oh, excuse me, I got carried away. We'll just make yellow cake! It's definitely a popular pick. Plus it's hard to find someone who likes cake that dislikes this classic!"
"I trust your judgement Mercedes." She answered truthfully, and did her best to listen to the older girls instructions, but her mind kept wandering. Kept going over her conversation with him. She scowled down at the bowl in her hands as if the contents needed punishment, her movements quickened as she mixed it into obedience. A pang of guilt bloomed in her chest, he hadn't seemed upset at all, so why did she feel like she did something wrong?
"Whoa! Professor, what did the poor mixture do to you?" Mercedes laughed and firmly pried the bowl from her hands, the sweetness never leaving her face. "You must put love into what you do with your hands, that way those that experience it can feel it too!" She started to mix it herself much more carefully than she had been.
Balaiya sighed, and sat down on a stool. "I'm not sure any of what I do with my hands is something I could do with… that."
"Nonsense!" Mercedes giggled and poured the mixture into a pan. "Everything has the capability of being done with love." She carefully set up some wood in the oven and started coaxing a small flame to start.
Watching her now only seemed to solidify her claim, even getting a fire to start was done with such care! When the flame crackled to life, it didn't roar into a blaze– it merely simmered, as if it was honored to be assisting her.
"I'm a mercenary Mercedes, many times I was paid to kill people… there's no love in that."
Once the cake was in the oven Mercedes sat down on a stool, and pulled her oven mitts off. "That is a difficult subject to talk about. I admit I don't fully understand why people do things like that. But I feel like I may have an idea. These are all of course just my own personal opinion."
"If you don't mind sharing, I'll listen." Balaiya wiped her hands free of any remaining flour on a nearby towel.
"Ah, well… I've done some time helping those in need. Many were people who used to live by the sword. From what I've gathered– they often feel like they have no choice. That there is no other pathway for them. The church I lived in made it their goal to help these people find a new path. So they wouldn't feel so lost anymore." She smiled, and scooted her stool closer to her. "You may have been a mercenary, but the goddess has chosen to lend you a hand, and guide you down a better path. Yes, a military school might not be much better, depending on how you look at it, but– you're a professor now! You inspire so many here. I know you put care into the lesson plans you offer your classes. And you said it yourself that you feel a responsibility for your students."
"I guess so." Balaiya rubbed her eyes with a sigh. Why did her Father chose to leave the knights? If he had stayed– then she and her brother wouldn't have had to kill so young… He pushed such caution into them about being in the monastery, but she still didn't know why. There was also the fact that being a knight surely should have paid him well, why didn't he get a small house they could have grown up in? Was it really necessary for them to grow up with one eye constantly open as they slept?
"The goddess has gifted us all with the ability to have compassion, and understanding Professor. The heart that gives all beings life is what signifies that we are capable of such things." Mercedes placed her hand over her chest with a smile.
A heart? Balaiya placed her own hand over her chest with a frown. She had no heart. Leonie had said her village believed a mother was only meant to birth one child at once. She'd discovered at a young age that she didn't have the same beat in her chest that her brother did. They'd just decided it was because they simply shared one. After all, as children they shared everything– why would a heart be any different? But then again, their father had drilled it into their heads rather quickly that they should never tell anyone about it. It was their little secret. But she soon grew to recognize the extra care her father took with her, as if he was afraid she'd break. Could she have been reading it wrong? Could she have been the reason their mother had perished? Mercedes believed the goddess gifted a heart to every being, but she didn't have one. Did that mean she was something else? Was her Father… scared of her?
She suddenly felt sick. She exhaled slowly to try and calm her thoughts. Thinking rationally would be the best thing to do. However, rationality didn't really explain her situation, did it?
"Professor? Are you alright? You look awfully pale all of a sudden." Mercedes's concerned voice snapped her away from her thoughts, and she quickly shoved the rest of it away. There was no point in thinking about such things…
"Huh? Oh, yes I'm fine. I was just… thinking. Is the cake done yet?" She stood from her stool and her knees cracked loudly. How long had she been sitting?
Mercedes nodded. "Yes, actually I took it out some time ago. You seemed pretty deep in thought, so I didn't want to bother you. But! It should be ready to decorate now!"
"Oh really? That's great." She moved over to the counter and grabbed another mixing bowl. "I'll get the frosting started then. Do you have that recipe still? The chocolate one?"
"Mhm! It's right here!" Mercedes tacked a handwritten recipe on the bulletin board above the counter.
Balaiya went to work mixing the frosting together, but her mind kept wandering to dark places. "Mercedes? Could you tell me more about that accessory shop you found?"
"Oh of course!" She smiled, and started cleaning off the counters. "So it's in this really cute little shop in town, down closer to this fancy hat boutique! Why I would have missed out on the place if it wasn't for Annie's good eye! Oh we should definitely go sometime Professor! Just the two of us! It would certainly be fun– oh if you don't mind of course! I just thought it might be nice to hang out with you! You know since we're so close in age and all."
Balaiya nodded. "That would be nice actually." She felt more than a little relieved that Mercedes had so much to say. She definitely needed to focus on something other than what plagued her thoughts.
She wondered if Mercedes could tell….
"You're going to be twenty yourself in two days huh? That's so great Professor! I remember when I turned twenty, my mother sent me this wonderful care package!– Oh! But the shop has things of all sorts of colors and sizes! There's even…
.
.
Byleth woke with a beam of sunlight pricking his face, and he sat with a groan. Training so intensely for the past few days had definitely done a number on his muscles, but it wasn't too bad. Nothing he couldn't trudge through.
The cold stone sent a chill through his body when his feet hit the floor and he suppressed a yawn, even in the privacy of his own room. 'Maybe I should get a rug or something…' It was warm out now and the stone was already so cold, just thinking about the winter months sent another chill down his back. A rug would definitely be a good idea.
He padded over to his desk and stopped before a brown box with a bow tied around it in yarn. Attached was a card that wasn't perfectly square. 'What is this?' He turned the card over to read the sharp scrawl that he'd come to recognize as his sister's script.
Good morning Leth,
Happy birthday to you! I have decided that today would be a good time to give this to you. I know it is early, but tomarr tomorrow will be much too chaotic for you to properly enjoy my gift. Besides, you are older than me anyway. (Just don't let it get to your head.) I know we've had our fair share of ups and downs, mostly because of me. I don't think I can put into writing how greatf grateful I am for your prescie presence in my life. I hope you like your gift.
-Bala.
.
He read the note once more before carefully standing it on the desk. This was the first time his sister had ever written something so nice for him, and he couldn't help the smile that threatened to escape. Granted this was also the first time they were actively writing and reading so much– but it was nice all the same. He'd gotten something for her as well, a charm hooked around a satin ribbon. The charm was no bigger than the pad of his thumb– he was going to give it to her tomorrow. He grabbed the small pouch from his desk and put it in his pocket. Today did make more sense considering the circumstances.
The box looked haphazardly put together, the string being the only thing that secured everything in place. Once the string was gone, the rest was easy to remove.
His eyes widened when he saw what it was: a cake. It was quite the cake. The frosting that covered it was brown– most likely chocolate, but what kept him from tasting it was the fairly large beetle that sat in the middle of it.
"What the hell?" He muttered, and grabbed the note again. He flipped it back and forth to see if he missed anything but there were no other words written. Was it alive? He looked back over at it and poked it with the card– nothing happened. Up close the beetle looked oddly familiar but he couldn't figure out why. Just what was Bala planning? He leaned closer to it and carefully grabbed it. It was a little dense for a beetle, even one of this size. Cautiously he broke a leg off and inspected it closely.
It was chocolate.
He laughed slightly, that's why it looked so familiar. From what he could remember, it was an impressive replica of the beetle he'd tricked his sister into eating when they were young. He smirked. He nearly forgot about it, apparently Bala never did. Just where did she get a chocolate beetle though? He popped the chocolate in his mouth then quickly dressed. When he was finished he cut two pieces from the cake and left to look for his sister.
He knocked on her door, surprised that she didn't answer he decided he'd walk around to see if she was nearby.
Up ahead he spotted Shamir, and he walked over to her. "Hello Shamir."
She turned to him and gave him a once over. "Hello Professor Byleth. Wandering around again? Do you need me to give you more work to do?" She crossed her arms. "Cake for breakfast?"
He rose a brow. "And I hope you're not planning to just stand here all day again." He held out one of the plates. "Do you want a piece?"
She rolled her eyes, and blew a strand of hair from her face. "You forget I had orders to guard this area. Besides, I went on a scouting mission the other day anyway—"
"That you asked me to help you with." He said plainly.
"Wha–" she smirked. "Fair point. But no thanks, I already had my breakfast."
A group of students walked by and waved happily. "Good morning Professor Byleth!"
"Hello. Morning." He couldn't do too much since his hands were occupied, so he just stared at them as they walked by. Though her did try to smile, but he highly doubted they noticed.
The girls of the group giggled, and hurried off.
"The students seem to like you." Shamir observed after the last of the group had scattered.
"It seems that way…" He really didn't feel like he was liked that much. If anything his sister was liked much more.
"Hah! And you're not modest about it. I like that."
Byleth gave her a skeptical look. "I wasn't exactly bragging."
"Still, I can't deny that you've got skills. It's a little strange, to be completely honest. I mean, look at you—." She gestured to him with a flick of her wrist. "Walking around with cake?"
"Nothing wrong with it." He reasoned.
"Never said that." She shot back and shook her head. "I had my doubts, but they were right to make you a professor."
He narrowed his eyes, and shrugged a shoulder. "In any case, I was surprised by their decision."
"I'd be suspicious of their true intentions, if I were you…" She crossed her arms again.
"I've been."
She snorted shortly. "I see. You're sharp. I like that. Over all, it seemed like it turned out just fine for you. I'll admit, it's unbelievable that you used to be a mercenary."
"Why's that?" He asked. Most were more surprised by the fact that he was a teacher now than his past as a mercenary.
She shrugged. "You're an odd one. But what does it matter? My opinion hardly counts for anything. I was a merc before coming here, but I can't imagine pulling off your fancy tactician act. I freeze up near royals and nobles."
Byleth pondered over her admission– being called odd or weird was nothing new. He definitely wasn't surprised she used to be a mercenary, in fact he was even more surprised when he found out she was running with the knights.
"You're an odd one yourself." He glanced around the area then looked back at her. "A mercenary turned knight? Sounds like a similar story. What lead you to that?"
"Well, it seems we're cut from a similar cloth. My family had nothing when I was growing up. There were too many mouths to feed, so I left. Joined up with some mercs for the pay. The work suited me. You deal with a lot of nobles when you're a merc. I didn't mind putting my life on the line, but I never liked having to bow and scrape to our noble employers."
"You're not a fan of nobles?" Hers wasn't an entirely unique story. Many that had nothing turned to working with the sword. Now, whether they took up honest work or not was another thing. But who was he to judge? He'd spilled his share of blood.
She shook her head. "That's what I like about being a Knight. I get to punch all the nobles I want." She smirked.
He felt his eyebrows raise.
"Hah! I'm joking. But the knights do make a good business partner."
"Business partner?"
"I don't believe in the Church of Seiros. It makes me a bit of an anomaly among the knights. Rhea took me in, so I became a knight to repay my debt to her. I may be a knight, but it still feels like I'm doing the same things I did as a merc. Who knows though? Maybe you and I will end up working together. Us knights are a pretty tough crew... I'm guessing you'd run circles around us though. Definitely good at cards. I still demand a rematch by the way. But, I'm interested to see where your path leads you."
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "We'll have to see, but for now– I'm hoping my path will lead to my sister. Have you seen her anywhere?"
She smirked again. "Ha, well I saw her heading toward the docs."
"Thanks."
He nodded his farewell, and hurried off in that direction.
Luckily, she was still around and was actually sitting on the pier with a rod in her hand. He nudged her with his foot. "Bala."
She looked up with a start. "Oh! Hello Leth." She eyed the plate in his hand and smiled. "Did you try it yet?"
"I wanted you to have some too." He sat down beside her and set the plate in her lap.
"Oh, thanks." Undeterred by the lack of a untensel she picked the slice up and bit a hearty piece off.
Byleth broke a small section off of his and ate it slowly. It really was good. "Did you make it by yourself, or?"
"No, honesly I asked Mersaydays to helf me." She said with her mouth full.
Lucky for Byleth he could still understand her. "That's nice of her. What about the beetle?"
She smirked and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "Oh, I got that from that sweet shop Claude and I found in the town, remember?"
He nodded. That was also where he'd seen Jeritza… an odd feeling crawled down his spine and he surveyed the area carefully. There was the masked man himself, watching from a few meters away.
Byleth narrowed his eyes and the masked man simply turned and walked away, as if he wasn't just caught spying on them. Unease settled in his stomach.
There was a light nudge in his side and he turned his attention back to his sister.
"Are you alright Leth?" She asked curiously. Her eyes glanced around the area before settling back on his face. "Is something the matter?"
"No." He didn't want her to worry over nothing, but then again– if Jeritza was stalking her as well… "Have you noticed anyone following you?"
"Following me?" She echoed and looked back out at the water. "No, I haven't. Have you?"
"Possibly. Jeritza. Keep an eye out, okay?" Quick and to the point. Just in case the strange man was still around.
"Got it." She shoved the rest of the slice in her mouth, then cleaned off her face with the water from below.
"So what are you doing here?" He gave her the small pouch he'd grabbed from his desk.
"I was trying to catch something so I can make a special dish–" She yawned and inspected the pouch curiously. "What's this?" She pinched the fishing rod with her knees, and opened the pouch. "Oh! Leth– did you…" She pulled out the satin ribbon and inspected the charm that hung from it. "You got me a necklace?" She elbowed him in the ribs. "I hope you didn't spend too much on this!" She hissed.
He rolled his eyes. "I can't imagine that intricate chocolate you got from the shop was cheap. Besides, don't worry about it– the charm wasn't too much. And if you must know, the ribbon was cheaper than a gold option. But on the plus you can wear it in different styles if you want. "
She held the charm closer to her face for a moment then tied the ribbon around her neck so the charm rested below her collarbone. "Yeah, but… my gift won't last forever."
He shrugged a shoulder. "Not much does. But I really do like it." He thought of the note and a small smile poked at his lips. "Thanks Bala. And Happy early birthday to you as well."
"Thanks Leth." She stood from the pier, using the fishing rod for support. "Well, I can't sit here all day. There is a lot to do. I had wanted to make something father makes now and again but—" She gestured to the basket besides her that held only a few small fish. Not exactly what they needed to make anything extravagant.
"They're not biting today?" He teased and stood as well.
"No. I was this close to carving out a harpoon." She held up two fingers awfully closer together.
That would definitely be fun to see. "I doubt that would end well. This pool doesn't have a shore. You'd just sink to the bottom."
"I know." She handed the pole back to the Fisher that ran the stand and carried her basket towards the dining hall. "It'll be like old times. You get to wait patiently while I make something edible from nothing." She shook the basket in his face. "But, it'll just be us so it could be easier."
"I don't doubt that." He answered with a slight laugh.