Verdant Rain Moon 1180:
Seventh of the Verdant Rain Moon:
Thanks to the masked people that have had attacked her at night, Byleth had developed a habit of awakening incredibly early in the morning and not even her exhaustion could keep her sleeping through the night. The bags under her eyes persisted, but they were at least not too bad, and she hoped they wouldn't alarm anyone. While she wasn't pleased to be up so early, she was at least able to catch up on some work that she had fallen behind on.
A knock on her door, had broken her out of her thoughts. Momentarily, she glanced at her window and noticed that the sun was shining through her curtains. A little wave of panic overwhelmed her as she feared that she might be late for class. Forgetting to make sure she looked presentable, she rushed to open the door, hoping that it wasn't Seteth with a lecture. Relief washed over her when she discovered that it was Claude and Ingrid, and it was still early in the morning.
The two were glaring at each other, but quickly stopped when they noticed Byleth. "Good morning!" they both shouted in unisons, before just as quickly going back to glaring at each other.
Byleth watched them for a bit before returning their greetings. Instantly they stopped their little match and gave her their full attention. They talked over each other as they both invited her to breakfast. Unsure of what to make of their little fight, she agreed to eat with the both of them, which Claude momentarily scowled at it.
After quickly getting ready Byleth walked out to see the two of them glaring at each other again. Before she could ask about it, they were quick to change the topic and rush her out of her room. Frowning she glanced at Sothis, who simply shrugged her shoulders. At the students' insistences she started to head towards the Dining Hall.
"So By," Claude said, drawing out each word until he had her complete attention. He smirked at Ingrid for a moment before slipping into one of his fake smiles when he looked at Byleth. He didn't say anything, but he did slip one of his hands around hers. She glanced down at their now entwined hands, but quickly returned her gaze back to Claude, who now couldn't look her in the eye and had a pinkish tint to his cheeks.
Gasping loudly Ingrid pulled everyone's attention onto her. Without giving the older woman any warning, she latched herself onto Byleth's other arm. When the professor didn't do anything, she gave the duke heir a smirk, who returned it with a scowl.
"By!" Claude nearly shouted and pulled on her hand. Clueless as to what was going on Byleth innocently gave him her attention, while ignoring Sothis' cackling. Ingrid also began to pull on her arm and called for her, but Byleth ignored her when Claude started to speak again. "Once class is done, we should go into town."
"Ha!" Ingrid shouted before the older woman could say anything. "By already made plans with me!" Claude scowled at her and that seemed to cause Ingrid to have a smug smile. "In fact, our plans are so big that By will have no time to spend with you." With an arched eyebrow Byleth stared at the younger woman, who seemed to be clueless of the look.
Dropping the scowl Claude turned to Byleth and tugged on her hand until she looked at him. He gave her the most pitiful look he could muster, and she gave him a frown in return, but that didn't seem to bother him. "By, can I please join you?" She could tell that he was deliberately trying to make his eyes as big as possible, and she rolled hers in return.
Just as she was about to speak, Ingrid started speaking over her and she quickly shut her mouth and sighed deeply through her nose. "You cannot join us! It is a private lesson! Go bother your own professor!" As if for added measure the normally easy student stuck her tongue out to which Claude returned with it with a dirty look.
Byleth groaned but just as she expected she was ignored. She hadn't seen Ingrid act like this since they were kids and she used to fight against Dimitri for her attention. But this time, it was much more annoying, but that was probably due to Claude's matching attitude and Sothis howling with laughter in the background.
"So? By can teach other students!" the Golden Deer leader spat back. "In fact," he said with way more sass than was necessary, "she has given other students outside of her class lessons. Yours truly is one of her best students!"
As the two once again dissolved into a glaring match the professor finally reached her limit and pulled her arms free. Gasps and confused words stumbled out of the teens' lips, but Byleth didn't say anything to them and simply walked away. The students' calls for her fell on deaf ears as she had been way too busy trying to tune out Sothis' unwanted commentary.
Thanks to Claude's and Ingrid's little fight, Byleth had completely forgotten that today had been an important day, forcing her to rush and get everything ready in time for class. Marianne had walked into the classroom a little bit before everyone else and that was perfect as the professor needed some time to go over a few things with her. With barely concealed excitement, Byleth watched as Marianne made sure she had everything she would need to start her new class. She couldn't wait to see the reactions from the rest of her students, especially from a certain boy.
While Byleth might have been excited Marianne was the complete opposite. She tried to assure the poor girl that everything would be alright but that didn't seem to do much. Unsure of what else she could do the professor could only reiterate that she would help Marianne with any problems that may arise.
Byleth failed to soothe all of Marianne's worries before the doors, to the classroom, were blown open and cheers of good morning quickly filled the air. When all eyes landed on the shy girl, she was quick to hide partially behind Byleth, who gave her a soft smile in assurance. Ashe's surprised shout of Marianne's name caused the poor girl to hide fully behind the older woman, and he looked like a sad puppy that had just gotten scolded.
Byleth waited until everyone was settled before she addressed her class. "Good morning," she started off. Even though she had been teaching for a few months now, she still wasn't quite used to doing such a proper greeting so often, but she pushed her discomfort aside. Much to her new student's displeasure she stepped aside and revealed Marianne to everyone. "From this day forward, Marianne will be a new student joining us. I know I don't have to say this, but I hope you all will be nice and help her get settled."
Cheers rang out as most of the students welcomed Marianne. The timid girl avoiding looking at anyone, but she did express that she was happy to be joining them; though her voice was quiet, but Byleth was sure no one was bothered by that. Smiling down at the student, Byleth knew that her new student would be alright.
"Now, we just have to decided on where you will be sitting."
Almost immediately Ashe got onto his feet and waved a hand high above him. "She can sit next to me!" he said, in volume that Byleth almost couldn't believe came out of the normally soft-spoken boy. As if realizing what he did, he quickly sat down and lowered his head. "I mean if Marianne wants too…The seat next to me is available…", his voice slowly trailed off.
While Byleth had managed to hide her chuckle, Sylvain didn't even try to have the same courtesy as he openly laughed out loud, causing Ashe's cheeks to turn a shade of pink. Once he had settled down, he recommended the spot next to Ashe, as it was "the best seat in the class". Ashe's blushed deepened and he turned slightly away from the loud man.
Shyly, Marianne picked the "best" seat. The nervous but also excited little smile that Ashe was sporting throughout the whole class period was impossible to ignore and almost everyone else were sporting their own little smiles. Thanks to his genuine happiness the rest of the class went smoothly.
With class over, there was nothing to stop Ingrid from personally escorting Byleth to the academy's stables. When Byleth tried to tell her friend that there was no need for such a service she was ignored, and she struggled to not sigh as she felt like she was going to get a repeat of that morning. They arrived at their destinations with no distractions; and Ingrid was quite pleased, and the older woman decided to keep her thoughts to herself.
Ingrid hummed a happy little tune, as she ran over to the only Pegasus in the stables. While Garreg Mach did provide students with Pegasus to use during their time there, students were allowed to bring their own and that's what Ingrid did. Her Pegasus was the one that Glenn had given her and seeing the majestic creature again always brought a smile to Byleth's face as well as some wonderful memories.
Byleth watched as Ingrid got her Pegasus ready. The student happily went over all the steps needed to prepare for practice and to ensure that the Pegasus was happy and healthy. The older woman was pleased to discover that all of the prep was the same as a regular horse with only a few minor differences.
"So, this what you two had planned," a male voice said, from behind them. Swiftly the two women turned around and had vastly different reactions to the person that dared to interrupt them, Claude. With his arms folded across his chest he was leaning against the stable's walls but as soon as he had their attention, he began to walk towards them.
"Go away Claude," Ingrid grumbled. She tried to pull Byleth's attention back to her, but Claude maintained a tight grip on it.
"Who is the one teaching here?" Something about that question bothered Byleth for a reason she wasn't so sure, and she looked away in shame.
"Not that it is any of your business, but I am teaching Byleth how to become a Pegasus Knight." Ingrid only spoke the truth, but it only seemed to intensify the bad feeling Byleth was having; and the stare that Claude was giving her wasn't helping.
"Now By, you know that it is not the proper method you are to follow when it comes to learning new skills."
Ingrid started a rebuttal, but the professor wasn't listening. As loathe as she was to admit it Claude was right, and normally Byleth would have no problem following proper protocol, but the problem came from who she would be receiving the lessons from- Manuela or Seteth. Normally she liked Manuela, but the older woman recently dumped, and she would either be drunk or take her frustrations out on Byleth, because she had her pick of the two most eligible bachelors in all of Fodlan (whatever that meant). And Seteth was…well Seteth, a man she wasn't sure she could trust.
Once she began to squirm under Claude's gaze did he finally look away and she was able to breathe a little more easily. When she heard him sigh, she reluctantly looked at him. He closed the distance between them and while she had no reason to run away, she still felt rooted in place. As soon as he could he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her attention to the last stall that housed a white, young wyvern in it.
"If you are trying to become a flying warrior you should become a Wyvern Rider! They suit you far better than a Pegasus!"
Byleth pressed her lips into a thin line as she looked at the head of the wyvern that was sticking out of its stable. A powerful creature probably suited her better; she lacked the grace to match a Pegasus, but still she wanted to become one. Trying and failing she tried to swallow away the bitter feeling.
"That is not true!" Ingrid practically yelled as she pulled Byleth out of her Claude's grasp. "A Pegasus suits By perfectly!" With wide eyes the former mercenary stared at her friend, who was completely unaware of it. "Now go away, you are distracting us!"
"Hey, I just have as much right as you to be here!"
The two teens began to argue back and forth. Rolling her eyes, Byleth looked towards Sothis, who was sporting a dumb grin. Groaning she thought about just walking away but decided against it, though the idea wouldn't leave her.
When she spied a knight watching them, the professor knew she needed to put an end to the fighting. She rubbed her tired eyes, before slowly dragging her hands down her face. With another loud groan she stepped between the two teens, who thankfully stopped fighting.
It took a bit of pushing but she got an unpleased Claude to agree to leave, but she did have to promise to spend sometime with him. She had expected for Ingrid to be pleased with the outcome but by the frown she was sporting, Byleth got the messaged that she wasn't but the student refused to explain what was bothering her. With a sigh from the both of them the lesson continued, but neither woman were obviously not into it anymore.
"It must be so difficult to be so popular," Sothis snickered and Byleth refused to acknowledge her.
It seemed like Dimitri's brief return home was to be terrible all three days; he never expected to have a great time, but he found it almost laughable at how horrible it was. The morning of his departure was filled with various people reminding him that he must maintain a great relationship with Byleth, and some of them even thought to "encourage" him to court her. He was left feeling sick all morning. It did surprise him that his uncle never mentioned anything about it; and if Dimitri didn't know any better, he might have believed that his uncle was displeased to hear about Byleth's news.
All the reminders came to a sudden end when some devastating news had arrived for Margrave Gautier. The prince wasn't allowed to be privy to the information; and so he was left to fear what the news could be related too. He prayed it wasn't an attack from Sreng. Tensions remained high as an emergency court was held, without him involved.
It felt like an eternity before the court ended, but it had only lasted a little over an hour. Margrave Gautier didn't spare anyone a single glance as he left in a rush. Various other nobles left soon after, though they did give him their regards before leaving. While he still remained clueless much of the tension did leave him as the other nobles did not seem so tense before they left.
Lord Rodrigue had been kind enough to assure him that it wasn't an attack from Sreng, but the duke still didn't share what the news was about. Dimitri did try to take comfort in knowing that there wasn't a threat of war at least; but the margrave's reaction still worried him. His father figure did his best to convince the prince that everything would be alright and that the duke would be joining him on his return to Garreg Mach.
On any other occasion Dimitri would have been thrilled to be traveling with Lord Rodrigue, but not that day. He knew Lord Rodrigue wasn't escorting him for the sake of it, but because whatever the news was about was possibly going to require the church to be involved. There was also the fact that Dimitri wasn't quite ready to be around the duke just yet; the uncomfortable conversation they had shared just a few nights ago was still very fresh. But for the sake of appearance as well as to hide his emotions, Dimitri put on his princely smile and assured Lord Rodrigue that he was happy to be traveling with him.
At least Dimitri would be able to see Byleth soon.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Sorry for the short chapter after such a long wait, but I felt our love birds' little reunion would be better served for the next chapter.
I hope you guys are all safe and healthy!