The New Beginning
I was packing. Uncle Arundel had told me that we were returning to the Empire.
I didn't have many items in the first place, but I was still packing diligently. I…honestly don't know why. Something in my mind tells me to do so, stating past experiences as evidence, though I don't remember ever packing anything in my life. Then again, I've only lived for sixteen years, so what do I know?
I was folding the last couple of shirts when a swift knock emerged from the door.
Embarrassingly, I didn't hear it. I was too busy folding my clothes. The person knocked again, and yet again I did not realize it. I had moved on to the pants.
"Your Highness!" The first thing I heard in my stupor to finish packing was the servant's voice. Her loud and annoyed voice caused a bucket of cold water to crash into me, calming me down from my earlier task.
I blinked and stood up.
"Yes?"
"May I enter, Your Highness?"
I sigh to myself. I never cared for the formalities of noble life, and the actions of the servants had always ticked me off. Something whispered to me, asking me whether that was me or someone else, but I ignored it.
"Yes, you may," I look around the room, and decide to sit on my bed.
The maid comes in and scans the room, her eyes tightening when she sees the results of my packing.
"Your Highness, you do not need to bother yourself with the preparations of the journey. You only need to call us. We live to serve you," The maid shakes her head.
"But what if I want to pack? It calms my mind,"
"Someone of your stature should not be engaged in activities so beneath them," She shakes her head. "In addition, the youngest heir of House Galatea has been waiting for you for some time now. It would be best if you did not keep her waiting any longer."
That gave me pause. The youngest heir of House Galatea? So, Ingrid? Wait, why was Ingrid here? I specifically didn't tell her about leaving because I wanted to avoid this conversation.
Who told her?
Or did she find out by herself?
I can simply pretend to have forgotten in the former but in the latter…
Well, she is going to choose Glenn anyway. No need to distance myself further.
I groaned as a sharp hammering pain slammed into my forehead. I stumble off the bed, gripping the nightstand.
The maid's face fills with panic.
"Are you alright, Your Highness?"
As soon as the pain appeared, the pain disappeared. I frowned as the end of a sentence enters my mind.
"...go for it!"
I shake my head, trying to dislodge whatever my mind cooked up.
Now is not the best time.
"I'm fine," I nod to the maid, standing up. The pain had disappeared completely now. "I'll go down to meet with Ingrid. Please don't pack for me, I want to do it myself."
The maid blinked quickly but nodded nonetheless.
I thought to myself the entire way down the stairs to the first floor. I thought about what I was going to say to Ingrid. I thought about what would happen
Ingrid was sitting on the waiting room's vibrant crimson couch, sipping a cup of tea.
The smell of Chamomile hit my nose in a massive wave. The aroma calmed my nerves.
It's not surprising that Ingrid brewed up a pot of Chamomile. She had a soft spot for the tea, and honestly, so did I, even if I found a mixture of Hresvelg, Bergamot, and Mint more pleasing.
"Hello, Ingrid. I didn't expect to see you today," I greeted her with a smile. She swung her head around, a loud and enthusiastic response readied at the tip of her tongue. She then realized that we were indoors and such a loud greeting would probably not be appropriate. Plus, it would wake El, and she hates it when we mess with her sleep.
"Prince Heinrich," She settled for a more formal greeting. "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. In all honesty, I wasn't sure if you'd allow my visit."
I took a seat on the opposite couch facing her. As I sit down, I realize that there are two teapots, both simmering out thin white steam.
The smell of the tea caused some kind of emotional memory to surface, and the word "Yorkshire" gets hammered into my mind.
"You brewed some of my personal blend?" I raised an eyebrow at Ingrid.
The usually stoic girl smiles and suppresses a rising mass of giggles. I didn't know my facial expressions could be that funny, even if a voice in my head says that I do.
"Indeed, Prince Heinrich. I took the liberty to brew you the mixture that you had described to me the last time you visited the Galatea estates. You called it 'Yorkshire Blend', correct?"
I nodded, but I internally wince. It wasn't like Ingrid to be so stiff around me. Well, might as well tear off the bandage now.
"Ingrid, what happened? You usually aren't this stiff around me," I asked her. She blinked at me while I poured myself a cup of Yorkshire.
"It was that obvious, huh?" Ingrid sighed.
I snorted lightly.
"Neither of us truly cares for the rules of the nobility. You've never once called me Prince Heinrich. Something's bothering you, isn't it?"
She went silent for a while, before nodding sullenly.
"I-I wanted to say goodbye, I suppose,"
I winced.
"You knew,"
"I found out," She shook her head. "You were growing more and more distant lately and I just- I wanted to know why. So I asked around. Anyone and everyone that I could talk to. Dima, Sylvain, Glenn, even your sister. Nobody knew why, until I started to ask the servants here."
"They told you,"
"Not…exactly. They told me that your family was preparing to leave the Kingdom. I…put the pieces together myself,"
I bit my lip. This was the worst-case scenario. A part of my mind yells at me to lie, to make an excuse, to say that I was too busy lately and that my return to the Empire had weighed too heavily on my mind. The second I thought that, though, something else beat that idea into pieces.
Why the hell do I want to lie to her? She already knows, I would just be making it worse. Stop hurting her and tell her the truth. Repair the burning bridge, don't burn it further. I will make sure that you do not lose a friend here.
I took a deep breath, the cool Faerghusian air chilling my lungs. I exhaled deeply. My silence seems to etch more lines onto Ingrid's face by the moment.
I suppressed a dark chuckle. I don't even know if it will work, or if Ingrid will forgive me.
Oh well. Can't be worse than what was going to happen anyway.
"I'm sorry,"
All of the worry and sadness, anger and grief drained out from Ingrid's face as she blankly stared at my face, blinking rapidly.
She is really cute when she's surprised.
"I'm sorry, Ingrid. I-I wanted to leave without hurting you. I had planned to slowly withdraw from your life until one day when I'm back in Enbarr being scolded by Father, you would finally wonder where I was," My voice gets shaky. I…don't know why. "I suppose now I've been found out, I can only ask for your forgiveness. I thought it could work, and it didn't."
Ingrid stares at my face some more and then gets a confused look on her face.
"Why did you think that would be the best course of action?" She asked simply.
"I wanted you to be happy,"
"You wanted me to be happy, and yet you wanted to disappear from my life? One of my closest friends, gone without a word or warning? How would that make me happy?" Ingrid gripped her right hand tightly, then sighed, letting all of the tension flow out of her shoulders.
I winced. Despite being more of a knight than a noblewoman, Ingrid was just as bright as her father. It's not a surprise that she found out about my intentions.
"I'm sorry. I was never that good at making plans…"
She gave me a sad smile.
"Don't say that, Heinrich. I understand that you thought you were doing the best for me, and I am touched by that, but you thought wrong,"
I chuckled slightly and sipped some tea. It tasted brilliant.
I must have had a satisfied look on my face because Ingrid giggled.
"What…?" I gave her a questioning stare.
"You just look so satisfied. It's just so different from how you usually are. Prince Heinrich, the brilliant young prince of the Empire who has the pain tolerance of a battle-trained knight, the intellect of the best scientists of the kingdom, and the stoicism of a Royal Guard despite being barely into his teens, contently drinking tea? Even Glenn would laugh," Ingrid gave me a bright smile.
I snorted. The gloomy heir of Fraldarius would not laugh just because I gave a look of content satisfaction.
"I doubt it. Glenn would smirk, not laugh. I think he is incapable of laughing. You remember that tickling contest, don't you? Dima practically got under his skin, and yet he simply stared," I smiled at that memory.
This caused Ingrid to laugh harder, placing her teacup on the table in order to not spill it.
"Still, I'm sorry, Ingrid. I have a couple of days left before we're leaving. Want to spend them together?" I asked her after she finished laughing. She picks up her teacup again and smiles.
"I would love to,"
"Thank you. I wouldn't want to make you spend time around me unless you wanted to. Not when you have two potential suitors. Who's the second one anyhow? Sylvain?"
"Goddess, no!" She then stared at me with a confused stare again. Those green eyes of hers dug holes into me, and I could only stay still then. "Wait, you still don't know who my second marriage proposal is to?"
I shook my head.
"Not a clue. You never told me,"
"I see…" I spied the slight flicker of mischief sparkling in her eyes.
"What are you hiding, Ingrid?" I raised my eyebrow at her again. It's become a habit at this point.
"Absolutely nothing, Heinrich. The tea is very good, isn't it? I didn't know your uncle stocked up this much wonderful tea," Ingrid quickly changed the topic.
I shrugged, both at the change of topic and her question. I didn't want to talk about Ingrid's marriage suitors anyhow, and, the tea was unusually good for something that Uncle would buy.
I frowned.
It took me a couple of seconds but the memory resurfaced of how we managed to get this tea.
"Ah! El went out a couple of days ago to buy some tea leaves. The ones that my uncle got were, and I quote 'unexcusable charlatans' that were trying to 'deceive us into believing that they were tea leaves'. Her words, not mine,"
She had been incredibly insistent on getting different tea leaves. Though, I suppose it was worth it. She managed to get some Hresvelg Blend, and that's already enough to ensure she had my gratitude.
"So, Heinrich, what are you planning to do once you go to the Empire?"
I bit my lip.
"I…honestly don't know. There isn't much I want to do. Perhaps learn magic? I could enrol in Fhirdiad if I wanted to, but I prefer using tomes to focusless magic anyhow. It makes it easier to control the glyphs even if it lowers the casting efficiency. I can get better results with a tome than a sigil anyway. It's weird, you know? From what I understand, it's strange that I can get the same speed and power with a tome that I can get with a sigil. Sure, I've removed all of the parts of the spell that slow down the cast, but it shouldn't be that fast anyway. I'm sure something happened-" I catch myself before I can ramble on more, and shoot a glance at Ingrid.
She was looking at me with her eyes slightly glazed over. I cursed to myself. She didn't have the same interest as me in magic, and she probably understood very little of what I just said.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bore you," I bow my head slightly.
Ingrid blinked and waved me off.
"Don't worry about it, Heinrich. It's always fun to listen to someone talk about something that they're interested in. Plus, you're always there when I discuss lance forms with Sylvain. Though, you hide your thousand-yard stare better than I do,"
I winced again. She had noticed that too…huh…
Before I could say anything, another voice came down the stairs accompanied by the pitter-patter of bare feet against the hardwood.
"Henry…? Why are you up so early…?" Edel's voice travelled down the stairs. She was still wearing her nightclothes and looked barely awake. I suppose I awoke very earlier; it was six in the morning after all. But then again, Ingrid, Glenn, and I all awoke very early to work on our training, so I've gotten used to it.
"El! Put on something that isn't your nightclothes! Ingrid's here!" I hissed back. This stopped Edel in her tracks, my words causing a bucket of cold water to crash into her thoughts, waking her up. She flushed red amid an amused Ingrid and rushed back upstairs after apologizing.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that, Ingrid…"
"No worries, Heinrich. I am the guest in your house"
…
…
The memory drifts away.
[20th of Great Tree Moon, 1185]
[Cloudy]
…
…
"Heinrich?"
"Foldan to Heinrich, are you there?"
"Heinrich!"
Ugh. Was Claude always this annoying? I remember him as a talkative man that didn't have any tact, but I don't remember him being this bad.
It's just my luck, then. Heinrich gave me complete control of our body right before when the game starts. Hell, I'm not even supposed to be going to Garreg Mach in the first place. Heinrich was incredibly adamant that he would not attend. I think he saw what was going to occur in the monastery and wanted nothing to do with it. Then, around six months ago, I woke up in his body fully in control. He gave me a happy laugh and let me take over.
Fucking hell.
Now, I have to deal with this shit. Father (I can call him that, right? He is technically the father of this body) and El (Oh gods, that's going to be a difficult conversation to have) had tried to convince me to go for nearly five months before I relented.
And that's why I'm here, next to Remire Village, on my way to Garreg Mach. Why it was nessesary to bring Claude and Dimitri is beyond me. Edelgard isn't going to force the mantle of leader of the Black Eagles to me, right?
Oh, who am I kidding. That's exactly what she's going to do.
Still, with Heinrich's survival, I've noticed some massive changes to the timeline. For starters, from what Dimitri has wrote me, Ingrid hasn't taken Glen's death nearly as much as she did in canon.
Furthermore, Edelgard is more…rather, less intense? While she her personality has definetly changed from when she was a little girl, it hasn't changed too much. She became…more normal? Somehow, this brown-haired version of Edelgard is less future Empress and more overexcited princess. Then again, that's exactly what she is here, isn't she?
Ugh, I have so much work to… My hair's going to go white…
Speaking of hair, it has, in fact, gone white. I guess even with the major crest of Seiros and two souls, I can't get away from my life-force being sapped by the two conflicting crests, huh?
I've dyed it black to avoid suspicion, and because I will never get used to brown hair. I want to see a head of black when I look in the mirror, not hazel, damn it!
"Don't bother, Claude. Henry's been out of it recently. Let him be," Edelgard's voice registers in my mind, though I don't pay attention to the conversation
"Really? His Imperial Highness has been out of it recently? I wonder what's on his mind. A girl, perchance?" This ilicits a groan from Edelgard and a sigh from Dimitri. I hate that this is the first thing that Claude thinks of then I enter one of my stupors. What I hate even more is the fact that he's right this time.
"More likely a better way to cast a spell. He used to spend so much time studying spells when he was in the kingdom," Dimitri supplies. I've noticed that this Dimitri's a lot calmer internally. What changed? Who gave him therapy?
"Right, right. Can't forget that mister Imperial Highness has already created a new spell in the twenty years of life he has lived. What was it called, 'A Blossom of Burgundy Flowers'?"
That was enough to break me out of my stupor.
"It's Blossoming of Burgundy Flowers, Claude," I snap back at the brown-haired heir to the Alliance.
After my soul had merged with Heinrich's, but before his soul disappeared into mine, he had been inundated with my memories. One of the ones that he was fascinated by was the Nuclear Bomb. 'A wonderfully horrific weapon of mass destruction' he had called it. He tried to replicate it despite my numerous attempts to dissuade him.
The worst part?
He succeeded.
A massive amount of fire and black magic mixed with technical know-how from my world created the single most destructive spell known to this world. It wasn't as strong as a nuclear bomb, oh by the hair of the elders, it wasn't even close to the bomb that reduced Nantes to a smouldering, irradiated ruin.
But it was still the most powerful fire spell ever invented. Stronger than Micaiah's Pyre, barely stronger than Arvis's Valflame, and leagues better than Bolganone.
A Thousand Burgundy Flowers, he called it.
The spell that Claude just mentioned, Blossoming of Burgundy Flowers, is a toned-down version of the spell, more in line with Bolganone than true Valflame.
Thankfully, Heinrich was able to only let Blossoming of Burgundy Flowers leak out to the public and was able to keep A Thousand Burgundy Flowers a secret, even from the Slitherers.
"I'm sorry, your Imperial Highness," Claude put both of his hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't mean to insult your miraculous creation."
I snort. I didn't expect Claude being this annoying. Then again, he is the same type of character as Virion, so I suppose it's not too surprising.
"Stop calling me Imperial Highness. It's not even a proper title, Claude," I sigh. Why exactly Heinrich thought I would make a good prince I have no idea. I hate being coddled and pandered to. Then again, so was Heinrich, but I don't know how much that was my soul or his.
"What were you thinking about, brother?" Edelgard asks me. She's sitting next to me on the log next to me, the flame from our campsite flicking in her purple eyes.
"To be completely honest?" I shrug. "Claude was right."
This causes Dimitri and Edelgard to give me shocked stares while Claude starts laughing.
"Henry, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying exactly what I'm saying. For once, Claude is actually right about me, though not in the way he thinks,"
Edelgard bites her lip while I glare daggers at Claude, shutting him up.
"Well? Do elaborate, Henry," Claude smirks at me and uses my nickname. I don't remember permitting him to do so, but then again, I don't remember much. That's all Heinrich.
"Don't call me that. That's family members only," I fold my arms, staring at Claude until he says a quick "fine" and nodding. "As for what I was thinking about, I was thinking about Ingrid."
Dimitri nods while Edelgard looks at me with another confused look. Oh gods, I don't know why she keeps doing that. Stop staring at me like that, it's creepy, sis!
"She's at the Academy this year," Dimitri nods. "You were wondering how to act around her…after everything…"
"Right on the money, Dima," I nod. "Speaking of everything that's happened, how are you holding up, Dima? You haven't written in a while."
After we went back to the Empire, Heinrich, at my subconscious suggestion, wrote to all of his friends in Faerghus. Obviously, I couldn't write when the Slitherers were pouring dragon blood into my veins, but when I got out, I started writing back again.
It was around six months ago when Dimitri sent his last letter.
"I've been busy. Felix didn't want to go to the Monastery," He shakes his head. "I've been trying to get him to. It's like trying to wrangle a boar."
I know when he's lying, but I don't call him out on it. Too many ears and too many mouths.
He then turns to stare right into my purple eyes.
"I hope you still know how to use a sword, Heinrich. He's been wanting to fight you for a while now,"
I groan internally. It's not that I don't know how to use a sword, quite the opposite, actually. Heinrich learned swordplay from Glen, and I was no slouch in fencing either. The only problem that my style of fighting is so different that I don't even want to try and explain it.
I'll have to find a excuse then…
"He'll be disappointed. I've spent too much time on my spells, unfortunately. Looks like you'll be his sparring partner for a while, Dima," That's a good excuse, right?
The blonde prince groans. Thank the gods, it is. Rather, thank Sothis, I guess? She's stuck inside Byleth at the moment, but I should still thank her.
"I feel bad for you, you know? The Blue Lions seem like a handful this year," Claude chuckles, patting Dimitri on the back.
"You have no idea…" Dimitri sighs, dejected.
"I'm sure that brother has it worse. He has not even met with our class yet, and we have already gotten some terrible reports," Edelgard lifts her nose.
For fucks sake, Edelgard. Please calm down a little bit.
Thankfully, both Dimitri and Claude take it in stride, with the former shooting me a sympathetic smile and Claude barking off a laugh.
"While my sister would love to compare worthless metrics like how difficult our houses will be to control, I find it tasteless," I sigh. "Speaking of tasteless, how in the name of the go-Goddess is the camp food this terrible! I swear, this bread can be used as bricks!"
I take the foodstuff in question and smack it with my fist. Despite my strength and crest, the brick of bread simply stares back at me, my fingers a little numb from the strike.
Gods and the Goddess know I have inane pain tolerance, so of course, I don't feel any pain.
"Heinrich, I don't think you're supposed to eat them like that," Dimitri frowns. "Try dipping them in water first."
As if it was that easy. You thought I didn't think of that?
"I already tried that, Dima," I pick up a large bowl with another brick of bread completely submerged in the water. "Look, this stuff is tough as nails. Literally."
I extract the piece of bread and try to break it over my knee. A tiny prickle of pain shoots through my knee, though it's so small I don't even have to ignore it. The beige brick stares back at me. I feel humiliated.
This piece of bread managed to humiliate a prince. Go fucking figure.
"See?" I point to the lump of bread on my knee. "I'll give you five Gees if you can break it with that crest of yours, Dima."
Dimitri shrugs and produces a loaf of bread. He puts a hand at each end and tries to bend it.
Try is the key word here. The lump of bread stares at the Crown Prince of the Kingdom in disappointment.
Bewildered, Dimitri tries again. Same result.
On the third try, the air behind Dimitri flashes with the Crest of Blaiddyd. A loud crack can be heard, and the bread gives way. Slightly.
A large crack can be seen at the top of the loaf, though it barely reaches halfway into the loaf and very few fragments came out of it.
Dimitri blinks at the stubbornly tough piece of bread and sighs.
"I was not expecting this…" Dimitri remarks.
Claude is starting to look worried.
"Is…is there anything else to eat besides the bread?" The darker-toned man asks.
"Nope. Nothing at all. I have some jerky, though," I reach into my coat and grab some beef jerky wrapped in paper. "I'm not sharing with you, Claude."
Claude and Dimitri stare at my meal, the former with hunger and the latter with amusement.
"Did you bring jerky for this reason?" Dimitri chuckles a little bit. "For once, I can't make fun of your overpreparation. Can I have some?"
"It's called being prepared for the worst, not overpreparing, Dima," I chuckle, amused. I rip a piece of the meat and hand it over to the blonde man.
Claude's eyes track the piece of dried meat hungrily.
I also rip off a piece for Edelgard, though she refuses. She fumbles around with her uniform's pockets, brushing multiple strands of brown hair out of her face before she produces a piece of smoked meat.
Good on her, she's also prepared.
"Good job, El. Being prepared is always good," I nod to myself.
At this point, Claude is drooling.
"Claude, did you eat anything at lunch today?" Edelgard asks a question that probably doesn't need an answer.
"I…did not. So please, your highnesses, could you please spare some of your meat?" Claude put his hands together.
I pop a piece of jerky into my mouth and let the salty flavour flow through my mouth.
"No," I shake my head. "I told you not to call me your highness."
Claude winces.
Dimitri looks ready to give Claude a portion of his meal.
That's not ok. Claude needs to learn a lesson today, and giving him food would defeat the whole purpose of it.
"Dima, don't give him any. This is teaching him to be nice," Dimitri blinks a couple of times, confused, but eventually nods.
"Hey! I am nice!" Claude replies, indignant.
"Then explain-" Edelgard's rebuke is interrupted by the sound of horns screaming through the early morning air.
Seriously, Hubert? You still went ahead with it, even after everything I've said?
For fucks sake…
Well, this is one way to encounter Byleth and Jeralt…
AN: Hello there! Acardia here!
Not much to say here. I'm releasing this at the same time as White Clouds, Lavender Storms. Go check it out if you want.
Acardia out!
