After confirming when Arundel would come to the monastery, Edelgard knew exactly what she wanted to ask of him. She waited near the monastery's entrance, opting to give him no time to think of a clever excuse if he didn't already have one. He must have expected some kind of protest for his actions.
She stayed there until he came in; she spoke once he was close.
"You've long been due for a visit, Uncle," Edelgard noted, as nicely as she could muster. "Shall I give you a brief tour, or do you want to skip to the important things?"
"Thank you for the choice," Arundel replied, his tone matching hers, "But I have quite a lot to do, and I'm sure that you have other tasks you would rather focus on as well. Is there any place we can speak without interruptions?"
"I've asked to use the Black Eagles classroom; we're discussing matters specific to the Empire, after all. No one will bother us."
"Perfect. Lead the way, then."
Edelgard gestured for him to follow, and brought him to the Black Eagles' room. Hubert stood by the door, bowing in greeting to her alone.
Arundel cast her a look of feigned hurt. "You won't speak with me without a watcher?"
"For both your sake and Lady Edelgard's," Hubert responded to him coldly, "I do not trust that words will not bleed into actions. I will not step in unless asked to."
The man offered no further protests, going inside the room and sitting behind Manuela's desk, idly going through some of the papers after a moment. Edelgard remained by the door.
She had to control her words and tone so the conversation still looked civil to any passerby.
"Why didn't you tell me about your plans last month?"
He smiled without any true emotion. "You would have stopped it; simple as that. Even if it aided you in the end, the sacrificed lives—"
"They weren't sacrificed, they were wasted. What could you have gained by poisoning an entire village?"
"Perhaps your anger should be directed towards the church. They could have done much more to prevent it—they could have offered greater support than allowing the survivors to live away from their home, forever reminded that their lives will never be the same."
"You were the one that took their homes away from them, and while the church could have done more, that's not my main concern. How can I be sure you haven't planned more tragedies without my knowledge? I know you're capable of things greater than Remire as well. You didn't even meet with me the entire month."
"Is that any different from your aide doing things without your permission?"
"I trust Hubert not to act in his own interest—he does what he believes will benefit me, and I accept that. I don't have that assurance from you; given our history, I have no reason to. Your people have ultimately harmed Fódlan more than you've helped it—as soon as we have the support we need, this agreement is over and you will suffer for all the crimes your people have committed."
He only laughed. "I would be interested to see you try. I look forward to it, even."
Edelgard couldn't think of any way to argue further, so she sighed and took a moment to remind herself that others were still walking past the classrooms. She shouldn't get too loud, lest they notice or overhear; that was the hardest part of her meetings with her 'uncle.'
Arundel stood up to leave, but she spoke up before he could say any goodbyes.
"One last thing," she said. She took a single step closer into the room. "What's your excuse for never telling me that Anselma married King Lambert?"
He paused for a second, then laughed again. "I thought it would be an interesting experiment."
"I'm due more explanation than that," Edelgard replied firmly.
"Very well." He crossed his arms and spoke simply. "She helped us achieve our goals in the Kingdom. She wasn't very happy there—she wanted to see her real family. We promised she would and she helped us."
"You lied to her, you mean," she corrected him. He moved to leave, but she wasn't satisfied. "Did you kill her? Lead her into the Tragedy, then get rid of any evidence?"
Now to the door, he cast her a cold smile. "I invite you to look for yourself. You enjoy taking matters into your own hands, after all—if you see it suitable to cut ties, neither of us have to go through these dreadful meetings anymore. But please do enjoy the coming ball; she always loved that memory."
He left less than a minute later. She sighed—she still needed to confirm that he would be providing mages in a later month, despite the urge to stab him for all the trouble he's caused her—but let him go. Hubert moved from his spot near the door.
"Do you want me to look into it?"
"Although I hesitate to ask… If you don't mind, yes."
"You need to stay focused on what's ahead of you. Don't worry about causing me any trouble; it's too much of a distraction otherwise."
Or, in other words, Hubert was ready to research it and withhold or lie about the results if it turned out to be harmful. At least she knew he did it in good faith, and if she pestered him enough he would tell her the truth.
Edelgard fixed Manuela's papers again, the extra time meaning that a few students came by and asked for her help. She agreed to help, almost surprised at how undeterred and normal she sounded despite the aggravating conversation before it.