After all the excitement of the ball, everything resumed as per usual for the Guardian Moon; the next large event would be graduation, which Edelgard both looked forward to and dreaded. The student body as a whole seemed excited—yet they expected grand parties and celebrations at home, all while Edelgard sat in the Black Eagles' class or her room, plotting for war.

She would advise them to make the most of the time they had now, but she knew it would come off too grim for anyone to take it to heart.

When the house leaders were pulled aside to hear about the month's mission options, Edelgard hesitated choosing one. She wanted to know which one Byleth would be assigned to, so she could keep an eye on the mercenary; by now, one part of her feared the Relic and it's wielder, and the other worried about Thales learning about the sword. A conflict between being scared of Byleth, or for her. Edelgard couldn't understand the reason for the latter, making it seem pointless despite failing every attempt to move past it.

Dimitri nor Claude chose a mission either, so for now nothing was decided. All three gave the reasoning of considering their options, and bringing it up with the other students in their respective houses; Manuela and Hanneman didn't seem to mind, just reasoning that they had to give an answer prior to leaving.

Edelgard returned to spending the free day in the classroom working on replies and plans. For now, at least, Thales gave her permission to use as many of his people and their monsters as she saw fit—she didn't know if that would change, but for now she included them. His mages could reduce the losses of Imperial troops, and their support would make the battle easier.

She knew there were other people who could draft ideas for how they would begin their war. She just wanted to have an idea of what those plans were, and had the education to make them. Besides, Edelgard didn't yet have the time to reveal the addition of Thales's people—their temporary alliance made it hard to explain, a force that helped them now but would be the cause of another war once the church was taken care of.

Hubert and Monica were with her, either helping or trying to help respectively. Hubert worked efficiently with managing things with the other nobles or the Southern Church—Monica did best checking through what he finished to ensure it sounded genuine. There wasn't necessarily silence—someone occasionally spoke up for one reason or another—nor did any of the three particularly seek out conversation.

They had the door closed, to keep the winter chill out. Someone knocked, and Edelgard was the first to stand and answer, having just finished a letter attempting to explain battle preparations to Count Bergliez.

To both little and much surprise, Byleth was behind the door. She offered a small nod as a greeting, which Edelgard returned.

"Rhea's changing the students' missions around," Byleth explained. "There's a large amount of monsters around a certain area—everyone will be heading there instead of separately."

"The knights are better suited to fight anything too powerful," Edelgard noted. "No one here has much or any experience fighting beasts."

Byleth let out something like a small, quiet sigh. "She doesn't think it's a concern. She just wants me to use the sword while everyone's watching—worst case scenario, the students fall back and whatever knights Rhea does send will handle it instead."

Edelgard murmured a kind of acknowledgement towards it. "Thank you for letting me know." She paused for a moment, then added, "Were you thinking of training sometime today, to practice using the Sword of the Creator? I'm working right now, but I would like to join you if you do go out."

Another thing that came out without her considering it. The request surprised her, to some extent, because she thought she decided she had seen enough of the Relic for the time being. She knew Hubert and Monica were both watching, whether or not they seemed to be.

Nonetheless, Byleth nodded. "I wouldn't mind. Fighting with someone would be better than practicing by myself—and I'd rather train alongside you, since we've fought together before. Alois, Catherine, and Shamir are still gone, so you're my next best option."

Edelgard smiled for a second before she realized she shouldn't have any reason to. Hubert spoke up from behind her.

"You just finished a good portion of your work," he said. "It would be better to start training now when some people are still sleeping in."

Edelgard glanced back at him for a moment, but he hadn't looked up and just continued working. She didn't want to outright question him, however, lest he change his mind. She wouldn't take any opportunities for free time for granted.

"I'll come right back when we finish," she promised.

Hubert offered a kind of parting wave while Monica only frowned, and after a second Edelgard and Byleth both went to the training area.

Hubert waited until the door closed behind the two before he stood up to look over what Edelgard had done. It was about as much as he expected—perhaps a little more than what anyone else could finish in the same time. She was getting more efficient, if nothing else.

Monica cast him a curious look while he looked through the remaining papers.

"I didn't think you would let her go," Monica noted. "Especially not to train with that mercenary."

News that Byleth could wield the Sword of the Creator became widespread the day before—the same day the house leaders were given initial choices for their missions. He guessed that, somewhere during the hours since, Rhea decided that everyone should see the mercenary-knight wield an old Relic. It made him more wary of Byleth, but regardless…

"They've already trained together," Hubert replied simply, "So they already know how the other fights. That's too late to correct."

"What about that…topic we discussed during the ball? You just saw them talking—I assumed you would keep Her Highness from speaking with the mercenary further."

"I've been at Edelgard's side for fourteen years, with a few exceptions; I know how she acts better than most." He sighed, not particularly fond of admitting the rest. "If Lady Edelgard doesn't already trust Byleth, then she wants to. I agree that the mercenary poses a threat, but at this point I can't stop her; if she's going to try to make her an ally, she will try until she knows it isn't an option."

"So you aren't going to prevent it?"

"I can take care of the problem after the fact, but she's already made her choice."

Monica frowned, but didn't pursue the conversation. Hubert continued looking through the papers.

He would handle the situation if it got out of hand. It was too late to keep her from getting close—too late to keep her from getting attached. He would let her try to recruit the mercenary, and if it failed then he would take care of it. As much as he didn't want to admit it, that was all he could do for now.