There was no opposition when they moved forward. Edelgard assumed Duke Riegan would have heard of their advance, yet the lack of soldiers seemed to imply they were willing to risk a confrontation at Derdriu.
She advised caution, and some soldiers were left behind at a few points to ensure they wouldn't be cut off as Count Bergliez's troops had been. Without anyone to fight, they made it to Derdriu at the end of the month.
"There is still time to surrender," Edelgard called out to the city. "We can avoid fighting if you lay down your weapons."
First, silence—then Claude came into view unarmed. He walked cautiously, but he still seemed to be assessing the situation, glancing over the troops before finally looking at Edelgard.
"I'm not here to tell you the place is yours," he said, "But I did want to talk. Mind if we could exchange a few words, Emperor Edelgard?"
She nodded, taking a few steps forward. They met halfway between her army and Derdriu, one armored and armed and the other seeming to work on pure trust she wouldn't stab him.
"I'll make this quick, but simply put—we will fight. No one here will spare any effort to keep Derdriu and drive Imperial soldiers out."
"Likewise, I don't intend to leave this place empty-handed."
Neither spoke for a second, then Claude sighed. "There's more I want to say, but that can wait until after the battle. I hope this will go quick enough that we can both chat again later, more extensively."
"If it should come to pass," Edelgard mused, "I do look forward to speaking with you more. Leicester will need to consider its choices if the Empire wins."
"'If' the Empire wins?" Claude echoed, entertaining something of a chuckle without much emotion behind it. "It's not like you to be so uncertain, Edelgard."
"I'm merely hesitant to sound like the woman who promised a great future, and ended up in hiding instead."
He understood, nodding after a moment. He waved and left without another word, and she turned back towards her army.
Edelgard waited to give the order for them to move into the city until Claude disappeared inside it. First priority went to the ports, avoiding the houses and any townsfolk therein—a majority of them had retreated, but there wasn't any need to cause more damage than necessary. Among the enemy soldiers were former Golden Deer—she could only put a name to a few of them, but she recognized or remembered most of the faces—and Judith von Daphnel.
Some of Thales's mages did come to aid them, and for the most part she let them be; if they happened to be directly in her way, however, she treated them as she would anyone else. Certain members of the Golden Deer targeted the mages as well, even succeeding in killing some of them. Thales only provided a small force, and within the first two hours of fighting they were routed—gone or dead, and as long as someone was close to her Edelgard could be anywhere she wanted in the battle.
Every one of the Alliance's soldiers fled farther into the city after being greatly injured, and the Imperial soldiers retreaded outside the city when met with similar circumstances; a mutual trust and unspoken agreement of sorts meant that both sides were able to fall back without being pursued. Their performance, overall, was comparable to the mock battles—only Claude commanded them, instead of Hanneman.
After taking the ports, the Imperial army moved through the city and forced a majority of the soldiers to rout. In a few hours, they made it to where Claude was giving orders.
The Alliance's heir must have seen the army and laid down his bow. Every other Riegan or Daphnel soldier followed suit, and Edelgard made her way towards Claude. She didn't let go of her weapon, but she lowered it.
"You agree to stop fighting, then?" Edelgard asked.
"For now," Claude replied evenly. "You can consider this a victory against Leicester."
Some soldiers behind her seemed pleased or relieved to hear it, and Claude continued after a moment.
"The Alliance won't interfere as you move forward, so long as you don't provoke us," Claude said. "That's the official declaration; it's too early to say if Leicester will fight with or against the Empire, considering the circumstances."
"You're honest, if nothing else," Edelgard noted. "I'm impressed."
Claude offered a shrug, putting on something of a smile. She found it a bit fascinating that he could still manage something close to nonchalance when the Alliance's capital had just been taken by enemy soldiers. The outcome must have been among his preferred ones.
"I figured being honest about it would be better than lying. I have the feeling you would appreciate it, after Gloucester and Phlegathon's betrayals."
She nodded. At the very least, it was a warning should the Alliance act again later. She could plan out future strategy with that in mind.
—
Claude left them to do whatever they needed to. The Imperial army decided to leave the next day, probably back to Enbarr or Garreg Mach to start planning their invasion of the Kingdom. One nation down, one more to go, in their eyes—at least for now.
He waited near the edge of the city, nodding a greeting when Edelgard arrived. No one else was with her—that he could see, anyway—but she did still have that dagger. He wondered if Dimitri regretted giving it back.
"Thanks for meeting up again," Claude said as warmly as he could manage. "I just have a few more questions—since they aren't directly related to the war and more of a personal curiosity, I figured it could wait until you had some free time."
"Just make it quick," Edelgard replied, frowning a little. "I still have things I need to do."
"First things first, then—how well did you know Dimitri before the academy?"
She gave him an odd look, then replied with nothing but honesty. "I didn't."
"He mentioned you were old friends?" Claude said, partially trying to prompt her and partially confused.
"I can't recall ever meeting him, much less being friends," Edelgard admitted. "I first saw him when we were all introduced to the rest of the academy."
Dimitri must have been mistaken, then; he could tell Edelgard was genuine. But then…
"Would he have any reason to go through your room after you left, do you think?" Claude asked.
Edelgard paused for a moment. "…He has some idea that I directly helped in certain tragedies, when I wasn't aware of the group at the time. I can't change his mind on that."
There was silence for a few seconds, then Edelgard sighed and turned away. Claude let her take a few steps before he spoke up again.
"I don't know if it means anything," he said, "But Dimitri doesn't really seem interested in hurting you. He's told me once that he doesn't want to fight."
"…That would make two of us, for her sake," Edelgard murmured. After another second, she glanced back at him, and actually spoke like she intended for him to hear. "Yet he's already made his choice. What Dimitri seems to want and what he actually does fails to match up—you say he doesn't want to fight me, but he tried to kill me when I attacked Garreg Mach. There's nothing either of us can do for him now unless he's able to listen to the truth."
Another few quiet moments, then Claude dared to ask one last question.
"So if you go to the Central Church and Dimitri defends them, what would you do?"
"If, by some odd chance, he understands, I'll give him the same offer as I'm giving the Alliance."
"And if he still fights?"
Edelgard frowned and looked back ahead of her. "There are other ways to enact 'revenge' than outright aggression; if he doesn't realize that, he won't be able to live in a world after the war."
He watched her walk away, recalling two things: Dimitri rushing off to return her dagger, and that same man glaring at the spot where she used to stand with murderous intent.
