They managed to make some arrangements with the Imperial ministers without Duke Aegir nor Arundel getting in their way. Edelgard had to rely on their word—she could only say that she will have the authority to get rid of them, not that she currently held such power—and trust that they wouldn't immediately tell it all to the world.

She found it a bit difficult to put such faith in them, but the risk would make future plans go by smoother. If she could frame the coming war as one against a corrupt church, even better; more support can be gained if people believed they were fighting for a holy cause.

Edelgard didn't bring any schoolwork with her so she could do nothing but rest on the way back to the monastery. She knew things will only get busier, unfortunately; she wanted to take as many chances to take breaks as she could. To her surprise, Hubert hadn't brought anything with them either—he didn't protest as she caught up with some sleep in the carriage.

They were only truly gone for a week and a half, coming back to the monastery during the school day. Edelgard went to the reception hall first to find Manuela. Her professor seemed to have just finished teaching, all students giving their attention to Hanneman instead while Manuela sat down at the table set aside for the professors.

Manuela offered a wave as a greeting. "Welcome back, Edelgard. Is everything in Enbarr sorted out now?"

"For the time being, yes," Edelgard replied.

"That's good. The work you missed is in the classroom; try to get it all done by the start of next week. Don't worry about attending the afternoon's instruction for today."

"Thank you. I'll start the work as soon as I can."

Manuela nodded, and Edelgard went back to help Hubert put back what little they took with them. When that was finished, they both went to the Black Eagles' classroom and began to look over what they had missed. Only Manuela and Monica came to join them, both with the intentions of helping should either need it.

Most of the work was completed before the end of the day, with an agreement that they could always ask for more help if they needed it. The concepts made sense after the brief explanation from Manuela, so Edelgard didn't believe she would need anything more than that. Manuela left after a little while to eat, leading Monica to speak more directly to Edelgard and Hubert.

"I am proud to report that there weren't any troubles with the class," Monica said. "Ferdinand and I were able to keep everyone in check, although they did seem more willing to go to Dimitri if he wasn't busy."

"I can't say that's surprising; he's still considered as apart of the Black Eagles' shared class," Edelgard mused. She looked through the work again; she can finish up the rest tonight, if not tomorrow, depending on how many people came by in the evening. "And everything else?"

Monica frowned. "Therein lies the regrettable things—I'm honored that you trusted me to look into that mercenary while you were away, but I'm afraid I couldn't make much progress. I've tried speaking with everyone who might know something about her, but all I heard were minor stories about battles that ultimately said nothing about the woman herself."

"We would have the full story by now if it was easy," Hubert pointed out. "Someone seems to have a reason to hide her past, but we aren't aware who is hiding it and whom they're hiding it from."

"I can't imagine it's coincidental," Edelgard agreed, "But we don't have enough resources on our own to look into it." With all of her papers sorted, she stood up and looked at Monica. "I assume she's left already?"

She hesitated. Monica was asked to look into Byleth's history as a way to help Edelgard—they told her the mercenary could make a good ally, provided her background wouldn't cause any issues. It wasn't a lie, and they could expand on it if they needed to. Whatever else Monica had to say, she seemed to think they wouldn't like to hear it.

After a second, she must have deemed it better to say it quickly than wait to be prompted.

"A few days ago, Byleth was introduced to all of the students," Monica said carefully. "We're told she'll be accompanying us on missions as a Knight of Seiros."

"That's…unfortunate." A certain feeling of disappointment came with the news, but she expected it—feared it, to some extent. "Nothing could have been done to prevent it, however—you don't need to look like you're solely responsible, Monica."

Monica bowed in apology, but didn't say anything else.

"Rhea did speak with Byleth after we retrieved the Sword of the Creator," Edelgard recalled, continuing on. "Considering the mercenaries were invited to come along to the mock battle, I assume Rhea's had the thought for a while now."

A part of her wanted to analyze their previous conversations for any signs of unwillingness—or, to a lesser extent, deceit. Byleth hadn't seemed pleased that Rhea wanted the mercenaries to continue working, at least, and for the most part she seemed to avoid places with lots of people. There wasn't any proof, however, so she didn't say it out loud.

The conversation ended there. After a moment, Edelgard led them towards the dining hall for dinner.