A week later, and still no word from Thales. All the silence did was further assure her that he wasinvolved in that village's—Remire's—troubles, at least to some degree. She noticed that Tomas had left the monastery as well; Monica implicated the librarian to her kidnapping. Knowing what they could do and recognizing the similarities, Edelgard believed her—Rhea was never told due to failing to ask, Flayn's safety having came first and Monica becoming a mere afterthought once she recovered.
She had a lot to do. Enough time had passed that the great lords needed more instruction or input; she gained Rhea's consent to revive the Southern Church, thus needed to send the letter confirmation to Count Varley for his own use. Count Bergliez required more supplies and Edelgard had to find a way to let Count Hevring know without Aegir or Arundel noticing, since the two didn't want to speak directly. Among that, she still needed to go out again to try to talk with Thales.
In essence, for the time being she was less of a leader and more of a go-between. Combined with her duties as a student, she unwillingly had to accept that her free day would be spent doing paperwork. She was just grateful that Manuela allowed her to use the Black Eagles' classroom, and that Hubert and Monica were there to provide some assistance.
She got through about half of it in two hours, then looked for more distractions as the duller tasks still needed to be done. Hubert reminded her to keep working fairly regularly.
After the fourth or fifth time, Hubert sighed. In the hour that passed, she had only managed to get through one of the more difficult papers.
"Why don't you take a short break?" Hubert asked, some frustration mixed with a small amount of genuine concern.
Monica cast him an almost worried look. "That's a rare sentence. You've never seemed to care for distractions."
He simply frowned and looked at Edelgard. "You're not getting much done at this rate," he explained. "I will do some of it while you're away—step outside for a few minutes, and come back when you're ready to work again. There's no use in forcing you to do this for now."
It still surprised her, but she nodded. "Thank you. I'll return within the hour."
"May I come along with you?" Monica asked after a second of hesitance.
"I wouldn't mind," Edelgard replied, standing up. She looked at Hubert for his response, and he only went to where she was sitting.
"I work best alone. You're better suited for anything but desk work with the amount of time you spend watching Lady Edelgard shuffle through papers."
Monica smiled, ignoring the small insult, and Edelgard murmured more thanks before they left. She let Monica lead, bringing them to the dining hall. The older of the two quickly decided on making tea, so Edelgard sat down to wait for her. There weren't many people there, and by now many students had started their chosen tasks for the day.
She noticed Byleth coming into the dining hall, and watched her for a moment. The mercenary wandered somewhat close, frowning slightly.
"Are you looking for someone?" Edelgard asked.
Byleth looked at her and nodded a greeting, her expression changing in the small way it did to confusion, then neutral again.
"Someone from Jeralt's Mercenaries is supposed to come," Byleth explained simply. "Jeralt himself hasn't heard of my recent situation, and the archbishop won't let me leave to talk to him. It's…"
Edelgard guessed the emotion based on what she could read off her expression. "Frustrating?"
"…That could be it." Byleth gave her a somewhat curious look, stepping a bit closer to the table for easier conversation. "How could you tell?"
"I have a lot of experience observing people," Edelgard replied, remaining relatively nonchalant. She didn't consider much of the words before she said them, despite her previous decisions. "It's hard to tell, but I can notice the smaller changes better than some others. It helps that many people I speak to regularly are…far from emotional, we'll say; the kind that only smiles on the battlefield."
"I've been told I don't even have that." She let out something akin to a small, humorless chuckle or a sigh, wandering even closer to partially sit on the edge of the table. "You don't get a nickname like the 'Ashen Demon' by showing emotion."
Monica returned with tea, glancing at both Edelgard and Byleth as she sat the tray down. Byleth didn't make any comment, only sparing a look to see who came and remaining where she was.
"I believe I got it right this time, Your Highness," Monica reported, pouring out two cups of tea before sitting down. "Please let me know what you think."
Edelgard nodded, knowing from a few other occasions that Monica wouldn't drink anything until she had. Not wanting to drink the tea hot, however, Edelgard looked at Byleth for a moment.
"Is the other mercenary late?"
"They should've been here by the end of last month," Byleth responded, glancing back at her. "I assume the events in Remire Village is the cause—most of our free time is spent there, so it's as close to a home as some of the mercenaries have. About half the company would rather stay there to try to help, Jeralt included, than leave unless the pay was suitably compelling."
"If things get worse, the Black Eagles will be going out alongside the knights," Edelgard noted. She turned back towards her tea, picking up the cup and blowing away some of the steam. "I heard you would accompany the students on certain missions as our support?"
Byleth nodded. "That's right; for the most part I'll be with students. I've already asked to be assigned to Remire's case whether or not the situation improves—so I might be with you and I might not, depending on what happens."
"Regardless, I do look forward to seeing you fight, no matter when that opportunity comes," Monica said. Byleth turned to look at her for a second, but Monica's full attention was back to Edelgard. "Is the tea cool now, Your Highness?"
To answer the question, Edelgard held up the cup, blew on it again, then took a small sip. "It's excellent, Monica, thank you. We can have this, then return to Hubert for work."
Monica beamed at the praise and nodded, having some tea herself and carrying on with some conversation. Byleth left after a moment, murmuring some goodbye that Edelgard echoed, and the other two stayed a little longer than the promised hour. However, Edelgard was able to work more efficiently until everything was complete, so Hubert didn't seem to mind.