The decision for Byleth to go to the Holy Tomb was made days after they returned to the monastery; it still wasn't officially told to the students yet. She just knew that Edelgard would have liked the early notice.

She had come to the audience chamber earlier than Rhea must have assumed, and wound up eavesdropping on some of it. Neither Rhea nor Seteth made a mention to it, so they must not have noticed.

A week later, and Byleth tried to work through it the best way she knew how—training and ultimately trying to just ignore it. Sothis entertained half of a conversation while she practiced using the Sword of the Creator.

"Could you ask Rhea about what you overheard?" Sothis asked, musing more than anything.

It was early enough that no one would interrupt them—the only person who did wasn't in the monastery at the moment. Byleth responded to her like normal.

"I'm not exactly willing to admit I overheard," she replied. "Closed doors serve a purpose."

"If they didn't want to be heard, they should have spoke quieter," Sothis reasoned simply. Byleth lowered her sword, and Sothis continued to discuss it. "I am curious about the reason for going to a tomb."

"Rhea mentioned history being made." It was the first thing Byleth had heard, before they started talking about the goddess. "It feels like she's right, but…"

"Dread overwhelms the significance of it. Something might happen, albeit not what Rhea hopes for. I feel it as well—perhaps more strongly than you."

Sothis paused for a moment, then went on with the conversation. "If you're worried, Jeralt told you where his mercenaries would be. You could meet back up with him."

"I would rather stay here for now," Byleth replied. She didn't voice the reason, but Sothis still understood.

After a second, Sothis chuckled. "Your thoughts stay with that girl, don't they?" Byleth didn't offer a response, even though Sothis would know either way if she was right. "She's strong enough to overcome obstacles, I'd imagine; she has power not unlike yours, after all. You know where she will be after the school year ends, as well, so locating her would not be an issue. There's no cause for concern."

"…A part of the dread when I think about the Holy Tomb is about her," Byleth admitted quietly. "I just feel like I need to be there. Something is going to happen in the Holy Tomb, and whether or not that still occurs if I'm not in the monastery, I want to stay so I can help her. All I ask is that you let me use your power if I need to."

Sothis would be smiling if she could, and prepared to tease before someone else came into the training area. Byleth tensed—they were just talking about eavesdropping, all while one half of the conversation was literally inside her head—but relaxed after she saw who it was. No one she had just been discussing, anyway.

"You're…Dimitri, right? One of Edelgard's friends."

The leader of the Blue Lions nodded. "Yes. I've seen you around the monastery, but we haven't spoken much."

She slid the Sword of the Creator back in its sheath. "Are you here to train?"

"Actually, I wanted to know if you've seen Edelgard," Dimitri said, sounding a bit sheepish.

"She came by earlier to say she was leaving the monastery for a few days," Byleth explained simply. Edelgard herself had reasoned it as 'a warning for a warning,' in exchange for telling her about going to the Holy Tomb. "It sounded like they needed her in Enbarr."

He frowned. "With graduation being so close, I don't understand why they couldn't just wait. She'll be gone for more than a week."

He hesitated at the door long enough for her to ask a question.

"Did you want to talk to her?"

"Not necessarily," Dimitri reasoned. He showed her a dagger—the one Edelgard usually had. "I found this and wanted to give it back to her."

"You could put it in her room?" Byleth suggested.

Dimitri shook his head. "I would…rather give it to her myself. I want to ask her why I found it."

"She probably dropped it somewhere, or she forgot to take it with her and someone else picked it up."

Oddly enough, he looked like Edelgard for a second—his expression implied that he thought more than what he said out loud. Finding Edelgard's dagger must mean something more to him than someone losing it.

Dimitri murmured a form of thanks and left. Byleth remained in the training area for a little bit longer before she left as well.

For months, he was supposed to be looking out for signs that Edelgard might be associated with the people causing trouble throughout the year. In all honesty, if he knew leaving the monastery and listening to those two people—the Flame Emperor and someone else—would bother him so much, he'd have stayed.

Her dagger was left behind where the Flame Emperor had stood. The implications scared, angered, and confused him all at once.

Dimitri didn't want to believe that Edelgard could be responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur, like the Flame Emperor said the other man's 'people' were. Did she know her mother died there? Had she been lying when she said she was never told about Anselma marrying Lambert, and she willingly took part in her mother's murder? The murder of so many people?

And for all the trouble the uncertainty gave him, he knew that, in the end, he would never ask her. The fear of being right—of needing to kill her to avenge them—would stop him. For better or worse, he knew it would. If he learned the truth, it would be by her terms.

Only circumstances in that moment could tell how he would react then.