She wanted to balance surprising the enemy and giving enough information to allies so they didn't call it an outright deceit. To that end, officially Edelgard would stay at Garreg Mach so she could reinforce Count Bergliez troops if necessary; regardless of whether or not help was required, if they weren't done after a certain time she would go with her army. Claude and the Alliance soldiers didn't exactly factor in to it.

Her idea of 'balance' was to tell Count Bergliez, Claude, and the mercenaries her actual goal, then hope one group or another didn't say any more than they had to. A majority of the army would assume she was leaving to fulfill what was actually stated.

Edelgard wanted to catch Thales's mages unaware, if she could. To that end, she would go with the mercenaries—discreetly, if she could manage—and go towards Hrym territory. She would rather be there to fight those who slither in the dark than encounter Rhea or Dimitri; she could name a few reasons why the mages were more of a threat, especially in recent history. With Alliance soldiers supporting her, she wouldn't need to rush back if something happened.

It did require trust on both sides, but she preferred to handle this as soon as she could. In the chance that Rhea and Dimitri weren't with Fraldarius or Gautier, the Imperial army couldn't do anything else to further the war. It would become another waiting period—at least if she tried to attack those who slither in the dark, she could feel like something was done.

Count Bergliez and his soldiers left the day before; Edelgard planned to leave with the mercenaries when less people were likely to notice. She often spent most of her time at the monastery in the classroom—excluding meals on most occasions—so she hoped no one would notice. If anyone asked, she told a few of the Black Eagles to simply say she wanted to surprise the enemy. It was true enough.

Edelgard spent the day finishing most of her work. She managed to get through it all by the evening, so she went to the training area with the time she had left. They would be leaving soon.

She both did and did not expect Byleth to be there, but nodded some kind of greeting nonetheless. The mercenary paused and returned it with something like a little smile.

"Is everything ready?" Byleth asked.

"As much as it will be, for now," Edelgard replied. "The rest will boil down to fortune, however much I wish I could ensure the outcome."

There weren't many people she would admit that to; she knew the plan carried risks, and those who slither in the dark were more likely to prevail if it turned into any kind of large conflict. If it was anyone else, she might have avoided ever mentioning the possibility that they lose. For many, it was unspoken either way.

Byleth had a strange way of compelling her to be honest—it was refreshing, to an extent, but it still worried her. One day, Edelgard would say something she would rather keep to herself.

Byleth lowered the Sword of the Creator, glancing at the other weapons then back at Edelgard.

"Do you want to join me? I don't think we've actually trained together since the war started."

"We haven't," Edelgard agreed. "We've fought side-by-side more often—although I wouldn't mind changing that."

Byleth nodded, and Edelgard walked over to get an ax for her own use. The mercenary put away the Sword of the Creator and replaced it with a normal training weapon, then they began—alternating between attacking against or with each other.

Edelgard's thoughts wandered back to the academy; those early mornings when she would find the mercenary training. Her exact schedule—what she did when, and for how long she did it—was never very consistent with work. It was a nice change, to fight alongside Byleth without needing to look out for any other enemies. She could focus on their movements, how naturally they worked together.

They took a short break after roughly thirty minutes. They actually entertained something close to a conversation—not even about the war or what lied ahead in the next few days, but genuine, honestly rather pointless conversation.

That stopped when Byleth took out the Sword of the Creator again, and Edelgard recalled her initial fear upon seeing it.

She wasn't afraid of the mercenary herself anymore, trusting her loyalty a bit inexplicably—but strangely, Edelgard still held some concern for the mercenary.

The previously-cheerful conversation was exchanged for odd silence, and Byleth noticed. A full minute passed, with neither sure if they should apologize, explain, or continue.

"…Could you make me a promise?" Edelgard asked. Byleth offered a nod in response, but Edelgard had a hard time trying to phrase it. "Those mages… It's possible they may try to attack you, specifically. In anticipation of that, or to avoid it—could you stay close to me when we fight?"

Byleth's smile would be clear to anyone. "I would have asked to fight next to you regardless, Edelgard."

"I just want to be able to protect you, if anything happens."

"Likewise. Seems like we feel the same there."

It assured her to know Byleth wouldn't wander very far, even if she couldn't exactly determine why that felt different than having anyone else close by. After a moment, however, Byleth glanced at her with a more…curious expression.

"Is there a reason they would want to fight me, though?" Byleth asked. Edelgard, somehow, didn't expect the question. "You were the one that worked with and against them."

"That's true," Edelgard reasoned. Almost hesitantly, she gestured towards the Sword of the Creator. "But your power—how you use it—is strange to them. You bear a Crest that many assumed was lost, or even nonexistent; you use a Hero's Relic when the sword itself doesn't have a Crest Stone. I've heard a few threats on your life because of that power."

"I would have assumed they would…investigate, for lack of a better word. Killing someone rarely answers any secrets."

"Take it as a good thing: it means they have no intention of controlling you, or have accepted that they can't. They would rather control the source of power than know exactly how it came to be, especially with something like the Sword of the Creator."

Byleth looked prepared to continue—to question—and Edelgard realized she said a bit more than necessary. What prevented them from carrying on was someone else entering the training area.

Edelgard turned and nodded a kind of greeting to Hubert. Considering his expression—another thing so familiar from the academy—she wondered if he heard some of the conversation.

"Preparations are ready, Lady Edelgard," Hubert said. "We can leave at your command."

"Good. The mercenaries can start heading out now."

Hubert bowed in response, then left. Edelgard looked back at Byleth.

"You should leave with your father," Edelgard said. "As for the conversation, we can continue later. I can imagine your question, and I can answer it—just not if there are other people."

"You don't have to explain," Byleth reasoned.

"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't willing," Edelgard pointed out. She paused a moment, then offered a parting wave. "There are a few things I need to make sure are fine before I join the rest. Perhaps we can continue our lighter conversation on the trip."

Byleth almost smiled again. "I look forward to it."

Edelgard gave some kind of smile, then left the training area to confirm for herself that those remaining at the monastery won't have any trouble.