It took a long moment for Byleth to realize just where she was when she awoke the next morning. She only vaguely remembered following her father and one of the knights to the commander's quarters after their meeting with the archbishop. There, she and her father had done little beyond unpacking their night clothes and setting up a makeshift bed for Byleth on the simple couch in the study before turning in for the night.

With a yawn, the young mercenary pushed herself to her feet, taking a moment to stretch out some of the soreness from her cramped sleeping position. As she began rummaging through her bag for a set of every-day clothes, the door to the small study creaked open. "Ah, you're awake," Jeralt said, briefly poking his head around the door. "Come on out once you're dressed. There's a letter for you."

'A letter for me?' Byleth hurried to change, her curiosity thoroughly piqued. After stuffing her night clothes back into her bag, she made her way out into the main room of the commander's quarters. Her father was seated at one of the two couches in the center of the room, reading over what she could only assume was a letter he'd received as well. Her own letter was set on the small table between the couches, and she picked it up with little hesitation as she took her own seat, eager to sate her curiosity. She carefully broke the seal that was holding the letter closed and unfolded the paper, a little surprised to find the actual message to be quite short:

Byleth Eisner,

Allow me to again formally thank you for your assistance in protecting our students. The reports of your actions have been truly inspiring to hear. It would be an honor to have someone with your skill and courage take on the role of a professor at the Officer's Academy here in Garreg Mach. I have little doubt that you would be an invaluable asset not only to the academy, but to the students you would be guiding as well. This is a sudden request, I understand, but I hope you will consider it.

May the Goddess bless you,

ARCHBISHOP RHEA

The archbishop's flowing handwriting made the letter a little harder for Byleth to read, so it wasn't until the fourth read-through that the message clicked. "She… wants me to teach?" she muttered to herself, perplexed. After reading the letter one final time, she refolded the paper and set it on the table.

"I had a feeling she'd try and rope you into staying somehow," Jeralt sighed, setting his own letter to the side. "Looks like the two of us are going to be stuck here a while. Goddess, what a mess. I'm sorry I got you dragged into this, too."

Byleth stared blankly at the folded paper in front of her, chewing her lip in thought for a moment. "I can't really refuse this request, can I?"

Her father shook his head. "Probably not, no. Unless you'd prefer to join the Knights with me, that is. I doubt Lady Rhea would be too opposed to that alternative…"

"Yeah, I'm not sure that would be a good fit for me. But, being a teacher? I don't even know what all that would entail." She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. The more she thought about the prospect of being a teacher, the less foreign the role seemed, especially when she remembered times she'd needed to help some of the newer mercenaries she and her father had worked with in the past. What concerned her most about the idea was the lack of information.

Before she could fully make up her mind, however, Jeralt pushed himself to his feet, his own letter in hand. "You may want to ask the archbishop about it, then. Unless things have changed, she spends most of the day in the audience chamber, where we met with her last night."

Byleth stood as well, stretching out the last bit of soreness from her sleep. "I assume you won't be coming with me, huh?"

The man shook his head again, folding the letter into his pocket as he made his way towards the simple bedroom, pausing in the doorway. "I'm afraid I have a busy day ahead of me as well. You should be fine on your own. Just… watch out for Lady Rhea. She may be up to something more than just trying to make you a teacher…"

The shift in her father's tone at the end caught Byleth by surprise, but she nodded in agreement. She trusted his judgment, and knew he wouldn't have given her a warning like that without good reason. "I'll be careful," she responded simply, picking up her letter and making her way out the front door.

"Ah, Byleth! I hope you didn't have too much difficulty finding your way here."

Thankfully she hadn't, though she felt that was mostly due to the directions she had received from one of the knights she passed on her way. That, and her uncanny ability to memorize pathways, something she had picked up from all her travels as a mercenary. "No, ma'am," she replied, unsure of what else to say in addition.

The simple answer seemed to relax the archbishop, her expression softening a little. Byleth hadn't noticed any tension in the woman at first, but seeing some of it fade made the remainder more obvious. 'Was she really that worried I'd get lost?' she wondered to herself, but quickly decided that there was likely more to Lady Rhea's stress than something so simple. "Good. That's good," the Archbishop said, a subtle shifting of her gaze all but confirming Byleth's thoughts. "I… presume you were able to read the letter I sent you?"

"Yes, ma'am. And I was hoping I could get some clarification about your request. What exactly would being a professor entail here? I hardly think I'd be the most qualified person to teach the students here much of anything." She realized, a little belatedly, that she should probably speak a bit more respectfully to someone of the Archbishop's standing, so she cut herself off and began to stammer out some semblance of an apology.

Lady Rhea simply chuckled and shook her head to forestall the apology, seemingly unperturbed by the mercenary's candor. She motioned for Byleth to follow her as she made her way towards the side of the audience chamber and down a hallway to a simple office space. "Admittedly, there are two roles you would be taking on, though they go hand in hand. Primarily, you would be the house leader for the Golden Deer house, watching over our students from the Leicester Alliance. It would be your job to encourage them with their studies and to guide them in realizing their potential."

'Vague, but I guess it sounds simple enough.' Byleth nodded as she thought the woman's words over for a moment. "That doesn't sound too complicated. What about the second role?"

"Battlefield tactics and combat, working alongside our weapons instructor," the Archbishop stated, taking a seat behind the ornate desk near the window. "Professor Manuela focuses on magic and the arts while professor Hanneman is more versed in history and mathematics. As this is an officer's academy, they will need to know how to lead as well as fight, and who better to teach them than someone with hands-on experience at both?"

Byleth had to admit the logic was sound, and even the simple explanation had done wonders to put her mind at ease about the proposition. Given that her alternative was to join the Knights of Seiros, she had little reason to turn down the request. Before she could say anything, however, Lady Rhea spoke again. "Before you make your decision, why not take a moment to speak with the students? Get acquainted with the academy and see if it feels right for you. Afterwards, come let me know what you decide."

"I'll do just that," Byleth replied, giving the Archbishop a polite bow before taking her leave, retracing her steps back through the audience chamber and to the ground floor of the academy building. Since speaking with the students seemed something of a daunting task, especially as she had no idea who was actually in the Golden Deer house, Byleth decided to start by learning her way around the academy. As she left the main building, however, she spotted a pair of familiar figures at the far end of the courtyard, and quickly made her way over.

A smile formed on Dimitri's features as he raised a hand in greeting towards the approaching mercenary. "A surprise seeing you here. We figured you'd probably be joining the Knights, what with your father being the former captain."

Byleth shook her head. "No, I'm actually going to be joining the academy," she responded, more for her own benefit to help the reality of the situation set in.

"Truly? With your level of experience, you could probably be a professor here." Edelgard's voice barely hid her surprise. "Do you know which house you'll be joining, or will you just be doing general studies at the monastery?"

"Well," Byleth hesitated for a moment before deciding to just tell the two, "I'm going to be the new professor for the Golden Deer house."

Mixed measures of surprise crossed both students' faces, though she thought she saw a hint of disappointment hidden in their expressions for a moment. Dimitri was the first to speak, his smile returning a bit broader than before. "That's exciting news, to be sure. Will you be taking over tactics training as well? I believe the previous Golden Deer professor held that position."

"Who's taking over what now?" A third, equally familiar voice made Claude's presence known as the tanned student rounded the corner of the building the three were standing next to.

Edelgard gestured towards Byleth as she turned to face her peer. "It seems our erstwhile savior will be in charge of your house this year," she said simply, the words sounding almost surreal to the mercenary coming from someone else.

Raising an eyebrow, Claude turned fully towards Byleth. "You mean as a professor? I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, a mercenary as skilled as yourself. Then let me be the first of the Golden Deer to welcome you to the academy."

"Glad to know there'll be at least one familiar face," she responded, feeling herself starting to relax a bit more.

Dimitri chuckled softly. "More than one, to be sure. I may have my bias towards the Blue Lions, but I doubt you'll have much trouble winning over the Golden Deer. Besides, as the combat instructor, you'll be getting to know the students from my and Edelgard's houses as well."

"Indeed," the white-haired girl affirmed, her slight smile growing seemingly in spite of herself. "Perhaps a round of introductions would be in order during lunch?"

Byleth's own smile brightened at the idea. "I would like that very much."

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. After the myriad introductions at lunch, Claude had taken it upon himself to make sure Byleth got a "proper tour of the academy," which included a fair number of backways that were easy to overlook. Before too long, the boy got called away by another of the students—Lorenz, if she remembered correctly—and Byleth was finally left to her own devices once more. After taking one more walk through the monastery gardens, she figured now would be as good a time as any to report her decision to the Archbishop and made her way back towards the audience chamber.

The doors were closed when she arrived, however, and one of the acolytes informed her that Lady Rhea was currently meeting with a visiting dignitary. "I'll come find you once she's done, if you stay nearby."

Bidding the acolyte thanks, Byleth let herself wander the upper floor, quickly catching a familiar voice coming from one of the offices in the main hall. Sure enough, she found her father seated behind a desk shuffling through some papers, mumbling to himself as he often did when doing something tedious.

"I thought you'd be stuck at the barracks all day," she said wryly, leaning on the doorway with her arms folded, grinning at the man. "I didn't know the captain of the Knight's would spend all his time doing paperwork."

Jeralt just shook his head, leaning back in his chair and looking up at his daughter. "He usually doesn't, but since the current captain is getting on in years and has trouble keeping up with the responsibilities of the job…" He gave an exaggerated shrug and gestured at the stacks on the desk.

Byleth couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle, knowing just how much being cooped up in an office probably bothered Jeralt. "Well, at least you dodged being reinstated as captain. Sounded like you were dreading that more than a little."

"That's true, though the more I think about it, the less opposed I think I am to the idea. It's just unexpected, that's all." The man sighed, stretching a bit as Byleht made her way into the office, taking one of the extra seats near the desk. "But that's enough of that. I assume you made a decision about your offer?"

"I did. Turns out Lady Rhea wants me to teach tactics here, as well as be the house leader for the Alliance students." Jeralt quirked an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt. "They seem like good kids from what I could see. And I'm pretty sure I met that apprentice you told me about."

That caught Jeralt's attention, a look of genuine surprise briefly crossing his features before he smiled, letting out a soft laugh. "Figures Leonie would find a way to get here. She may be a handful at times, but she'll work harder than any of the noble kids here, I guarantee it."

Before she could decide whether her father's words left her feeling more intrigued or nervous, a gentle knock sounded from the doorway, grabbing both of their attentions. The acolyte from earlier gave a shallow bow. "Miss Byleth? Lady Rhea is ready to see you now. She said she'd be waiting in her office for you."

With one more glance towards her father, who gave her a simple gesture to go on without him, Byleth stood and followed the young acolyte back towards the audience chamber. Sure enough, the Archbishop was waiting for the mercenary in the simple office where they'd spoken that morning, accompanied by Seteth and a much younger looking girl whose hair was a slightly darker shade of green to that of the Archbishop's. Before Lady Rhea or Seteth could say anything, the girl spoke up excitedly. "Oh, you must be the new professor here! It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Flayn, Seteth's little sister."

"The pleasure is mine," Byleth replied, unable to suppress a smile at the girl's enthusiasm, noticing the others smiling slightly as well out of the corner of her eye. "I apologize if I'm interrupting anything."

"Not at all," Lady Rhea replied, standing and motioning the mercenary over as Seteth quietly ushered Flayn from the room. "I hope you had a pleasant first day here in Garreg Mach. Were you able to do as I suggested?"

There was an unexpected look of concern in the woman's eyes that took Byleth off guard. Most nobility seemed to have ulterior motives hidden in simple questions like these, but Lady Rhea seemed to genuinely care that Byleth felt comfortable here. "I did, ma'am. It's certainly different from what I'm used to, but I have no doubt it'll quickly feel like home."

Again, the Archbishop seemed to visibly relax at her words, but before she could say anything else, Seteth rejoined them and interjected. "I presume that means you've accepted the Archbishop's offer of becoming a professor here?" After a nod of affirmation from Byleth, the man huffed softly. "The students in your care bear the weight of Fódlan's future on their shoulders. I admit I feel hesitant to entrust them to someone lacking in trackable history, but if Lady Rhea is willing to put her trust in you, then I shall as well."

While Seteth's tone did little to put Byleth at ease, it wasn't the first time she'd heard such comments, and she did her best to take it in stride. She gave a polite bow, straightening before replying. "I will do my best to live worthy of your expectations." Though the only reply she received from the man was a nod, Byleth decided to count the slight softening of his expression as a victory.

"I have no doubt you'll fill the role well," Lady Rhea said warmly, pulling the mercenary's attention back to her. "You should be aware, however, that we will be holding a mock battle of sorts between the houses at the end of the moon. Usually this is just to set a baseline for the students so we can measure your progress, but we also look forward to seeing your own abilities as well. Until then, do not hesitate to reach out to us or your fellow professors if you need any assistance settling into your new role."

After another brief exchange of thanks and pleasantries, Byleth took her leave from the audience chamber. She reconvened with her father in his office to let him know the result of the meeting before deciding she would retire early for the evening; from the looks of things, Jeralt had a few more hours before he'd be done, and she was far too drained to wait up for him.

"Good thing I still have one more day before I'm officially a teacher," she reminded herself as she made the familiar walk back towards the commander's quarters, watching the colors of the sunset fading into twilight by the time she arrived. She did little beyond removing her boots before climbing back into the makeshift bed, sleep overtaking her mind mere moments after she closed her eyes.

She dreamed of a girl on a roof, the sunrise reflected in her eyes.