(A/N: Sorry for the very short chapter. But I'm trying to update more often so hopefully more to come soon!)
Dedue entered the greenhouse as the sun was setting and the glass structure was ablaze with orange light. The long day of classes and training was done, and he finally had a moment to slip away and tend to the flowers while Dimitri was taking a break at the sauna. Around this time there was seldom any other person at the greenhouse, so Dedue was surprised to see a figure kneeling before the Duscur blooms he had so carefully raised.
He was even more surprised when he approached the figure and discovered it to be Eve, sitting on her knees and humming an unfamiliar tune to herself as she gently caressed the leaves of the plants. There was a gentle peacefulness about the scene that almost made Dedue feel as if he were intruding on a private moment.
"I've always loved the flowers of Duscur." Eve said softly, though it still startled Dedue.
"I don't mean to intrude." He said and bowed slightly to apologise.
"Duscur was so beautiful." She mused, eyes still locked on the flowers before her.
"Duscur is no more." Dedue said, matter of fact.
"I wish I had been there." Eve still didn't look up at him. And though she didn't specify where she meant, Dedue knew exactly what she was talking about.
"No, you don't." He shook his head. "It was a bloody massacre."
"I should have been there." Dedue picked up the slightest waver in Eve's voice as if she were fighting with all her might not to let her emotions show. "I could have…could have…"
"There is no guarantee that any lives would have been spared had you been there." Dedue came to kneel beside Eve to water the plants of his homeland.
"Maybe so." She said bitterly. "But every time he looks at me, I see it in his eyes."
Dedue didn't answer. He knew she was talking about His Highness. And Dedue couldn't deny that the thought had also crossed her mind. Eve had kept her crest a well-guarded secret for all this time. But had she been in the right place at the right time, if she hadn't been determined to hide her power, perhaps the unrest in Faerghus could have been avoided.
"I know he doesn't mean to do it." Eve sighed, continuing despite Dedue's silence. "But it's like every time he looks at me, he sees what could have been. There's so much pain in those eyes that realise if only I had been there his father would still be alive. It's only a matter of time before Felix starts looking at me that way too."
"Felix?" Dedue turned to look at Eve, puzzled.
"I told him." She sighed again.
"Does His Highness know?" Dedue asked.
"He was there." She answered before turning fully to face Dedue. "Do you blame me?"
"Blame you for what?" His brow furrowed.
"I've hidden my crest all this time because of my own selfish desire." Eve's gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. "Had I not kept it secret, had I been there in Duscur, things would have been so different. Lambert, Glenn… Lives could have been spared; Duscur could have been spared. And I know Dimitri knows all this. And whether he realises it or not, his gaze is so accusatory."
"It doesn't matter." Dedue answered after a moment of thought.
"Doesn't matter?" Eve echoed in astonishment.
"Whether or not things would have been different," Dedue stood from his crouch, "doesn't matter."
"You're telling me you don't ever think of what could have been?" Eve stood as well, her joints popping and Dedue wondered just how long she had been sat there. "You're telling me you don't look at me think that if I had just been in the right place at the right time all of that pain Dimitri tries so hard to hide would be gone?"
"What's done is done." He replied flatly. "You can't change that. Like I said, there's no guarantee your crest would have changed the outcome."
Eve stared into Dedue's eyes for several moments, searching them for any words he might have left unspoken. He looked back at her, unwavering. It was true he was very aware of the implications her crest held, but he tried not to think about it. His Highness had given him a new purpose in life, so Dedue focused solely on that. It was no use thinking about Duscur or dreaming about what could have been. Anything that distracted him from serving His Highness didn't matter.
"I wish Dimitri felt that way." Eve finally broke eye contact and wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't stand the way he looks at me."
"His Highness does not blame you." Dedue shook his head lightly, thinking back to when Dimitri had explained their situation to him.
Dedue had been vehemently against the whole arrangement initially. Eve was a stranger with an unknown power that had somehow managed to stay hidden for all this time. She was calculating, intelligent, and powerful. Should she decide to turn against Dimitri, she would not have too much trouble doing so.
But Dimitri had insisted that things would be okay. He spoke of how Eve had saved Rodrigue, how she had a staunch loyalty to House Fraldarius that she would never betray. He spoke of her resilience and of her vow to try her best to be a good wife despite the circumstances. His Highness wholeheartedly believed that Eve was a good person, trustworthy. And perhaps his subconscious was aware that Eve could have saved his father in Duscur, but Dedue was sure he did not consciously despise her for it.
"Do you think he'll ever stop looking at me like that?" Eve asked earnestly, again allowing Dedue to see a sliver of sincerity in her expression.
"That is up to him." Dedue answered.
"I don't want him to hurt anymore, Dedue." She whispered as if afraid he might actually hear her. "He's been through enough, and all I do is keep those wounds open."
"We cannot change how people look at us." Dedue knew this all too well. He heard the whispers, saw the looks of distrust.
"You'd be surprised." Eve exhaled in a humourless laugh. "I've lived so many lives at this point it's hard to remember who I am. All I do is change how people look at me."
At that Dedue frowned. There was much he did not know about Eve. Even with the information he had been given, it didn't seem like anyone knew anything about her truly. She had practically materialised into existence just a few weeks ago. And while he did not necessarily trust Eve, Dedue couldn't deny that she had come into His Highness' life from a trustworthy source. Dedue had a suspicion that if anyone knew more about her, it would have to be Lord Rodrigue.