Edelgard met with Thales that night, going to the usual spot outside of the monastery. As expected, he was waiting for her.
"Considering I've heard no other reports, I assume all of my people involved were killed?" Thales asked.
"They were," Edelgard replied. Her voice held no remorse, simply because she didn't have any. "That Relic was taken as well. Your experimentation with it has come to an end."
"A time will come to retrieve it. Once something passes into our possession, it's only a matter of time before it returns to us."
She didn't offer a reply. With her job done, she turned to leave, but Thales seemed to want more than a report.
"I've heard that you'll be taking a trip to Enbarr after the mock battle."
"It's nothing that would interest you," Edelgard said simply. "There are some things that will make transitions go much smoother; I want to take care of them before it was absolutely required. I won't bother Arundel's side of things for now."
"Very well, then. Only, bear in mind you still require our assistance for those transitions—it would be a shame if something happened due to a…conflict of interest, we'll say."
She couldn't tell if Thales believed threats actually worked, or if he simply found them amusing. They stopped bothering her fairly quickly; she would sooner fight two wars at once than die by the hands of him or his people.
She only slightly glanced back at him. "Is that all?"
"Yes, that's it. Do have some caution on your way back; it's quite dark out. Be careful where you step."
Edelgard didn't offer much of a response, simply returning to the monastery. A time to consider his words would come later.
…
Two weeks passed since they returned from the previous mission. She woke up with the image of a nightmare still vivid, at first thinking she had returned to that dreaded cell. There were no sounds—the nighttime cry of insects had ceased earlier in the month—and in that silence she thought she could hear rats or mice above or around her.
She convinced herself to sit up and look around. The nightmares themselves were so clear, on some days she remained trapped in them until she fully assured herself she had passed that point. Edelgard noted the surroundings as a way to reminder herself of that, fear being gradually replaced by frustration at said fear.
The rose garlands were still on the desk, completely dried out and withered by now; she guessed by the amount of light in the room that it must be early morning. After another minute, she decided to just prepare for the day; she could rest later if she needed to, and stepping outside her room sounded very appealing at the moment.
While the idea of getting up early seemed good in theory, in practice Edelgard didn't have anything to do that could keep her mind off of the old memories. Any work she could do was with Hubert, and it felt childish to wake a friend just to fill in the silence. She tried going over what she would miss while she was in Enbarr, but almost immediately ran into something she needed Manuela to explain.
A little annoyed but without any tiredness to encourage her back to sleep, Edelgard opted to visit the training area. If nothing else, it would be practice for the mock battle. The chances of anyone else being there was slim, but she could be productive with her extra time.
There was, however, someone in the training area. She already had a record of surprising her.
In the second Edelgard took to consider leaving, Byleth lowered her sword and turned towards her. Another second and Byleth spoke.
"I didn't think anyone else would try to train this early."
"Likewise. Still, do you mind if I joined you?"
Byleth shook her head, and Edelgard offered something like a thankful smile in return. For a little while, then, they just trained independently of each other, Byleth resuming and Edelgard picking up her own weapon.
After a little while, Byleth lowered her sword again and paused. When Edelgard glanced at her, Byleth looked like she wanted to say something, realized Edelgard was watching, then let out a very quiet sigh.
"Any reason you came here?"
"There's a mock battle this month; I thought I could practice."
"Before the sun's fully risen?"
"…I had some trouble sleeping." She paused for a moment, then carried on with the conversation. It was better than complete silence, at least. "And your reason?"
"I'm used to getting up early. I realized there aren't as many people in the training area in the mornings, so this has been my routine for a week or so."
"Are you still waiting on your payment from Lady Rhea?" For the most part, she was just curious; otherwise, she couldn't think of a reason the mercenary would stay. Byleth seemed to avoid the knights and students if she could, hiding away for most of the day just to appear at strange times. Edelgard couldn't even recall ever seeing Byleth in the dining hall for meals.
Byleth's expression changed a little, closer to a frown. "The mercenaries got paid, but the archbishop wants us to follow the students to Gronder Field. Saying 'no' wasn't really an option."
"That doesn't surprise me. She must have some kind of interest to speak with you privately, and she doesn't seem like one to let intriguing people to just…walk away."
Edelgard didn't realize she actually said it until Byleth cast her a somewhat questioning look. She hadn't noticed the conversation felt so easy until then; she let her guard down, however briefly. She couldn't quite afford to trust this woman, however helpful her aid could be in the future; their efforts to learn more about her have only come up with information they already knew.
Maybe she was just more tired than she thought.
"I'm going to head back to my room," Edelgard said after a moment. She wanted an excuse to leave, now that the calming nature of the conversation bothered her.
"The sun's almost completely up," Byleth pointed out.
"There aren't any classes today; I can try to get some more sleep, at least."
Byleth didn't look entirely convinced, but didn't protest. Edelgard put away her ax, pausing and speaking without thinking after she reached the exit.
"Thank you for talking with me, regardless."
(A/N: I know there's a little bit of mood dissonance here, with Thales's report coming first and then Edelgard talking to Byleth. Apologies for that, but I do still want to include both parts. In general I will warn that there tends to be a mood shift whenever there's a bonding chapter, as a fair warning.)
