The first thing Byleth noticed was a strange lack of Sothis. She hadn't entirely realized the girl had a distinct presence until it didn't seem to be there. She could actually feel her own heartbeat, as well, making that the second thing she noticed.
A moment after that, she noticed the voices.
"…It shouldn't take me very long; Hubert has likely handled everything but the official announcements, at least."
Byleth stirred. She slightly opened her eyes—she was in the infirmary, with no one else on the second bed, but someone sat at the table and someone was by the door—and spoke quietly.
"…What happened?"
The person at the door—Edelgard—turned around and gave her a relieved smile.
"We killed Rhea," Edelgard replied, walking over to Byleth. Carefully, she sat down at the foot of the bed; Byleth sat up so she could see her better, but Edelgard looked towards the floor instead, frowning now. "Then, you fell. Your heart wasn't beating for a few seconds."
"I worried you, didn't I?"
Edelgard sighed. "'Worried' puts it lightly, honestly. I thought I lost you."
From the table, Jeralt offered a humored chuckle. "She barely left your side, kid."
"It's been less than an hour," Edelgard replied, giving him a small frown.
"And you've been concerned the entire time," Jeralt maintained.
The emperor turned away from Jeralt, a faint blush only growing when her eyes met Byleth. Instead of protesting against Jeralt, Edelgard spoke to her.
"Are you feeling all right now?" Edelgard asked kindly.
Byleth nodded, and Edelgard gave a little smile in return. After a moment, she stood up to leave.
"Knowing you're awake, I should—"
Byleth moved quick enough to catch Edelgard's hand before she stepped away. Although the emperor tensed, Byleth stood and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you for staying," Byleth said quietly.
Edelgard's smile returned. "We promised we would live past this war. I just wanted to be the first—or among the first—to know if it would be upheld or broken."
"Still. I'm grateful. It's better than waking up alone; then I would wonder if something happened to youafter Rhea died." Byleth looked at Jeralt. "And that's the same for you."
"I mostly came to make sure that one"—he nodded towards Edelgard—"didn't worry herself too much over you. Just let someone come in to look at you and make sure you're good to go before you head out."
"I'll send in Professor Manuela on my way out," Edelgard said. Byleth let go of her hand so she could leave. "We can meet a bit later. I expect to be busy for a few hours while everything is being finalized."
Byleth nodded. "I can find you once everything's settled."
Edelgard smiled a little wider. She hesitated a second, then offered a small wave and left the infirmary.
—
Fortunately, the wait seemed to give everyone else time to gather their bearings. Edelgard found Hubert in the Black Eagles' classroom, flipping through a book; he had already collected all of the reports, and shared them after Edelgard prompted him.
"Only a few places within the monastery were damaged," Hubert said. "The repair of those areas won't take especially long. Aside from the knights who got in through passageways, no enemies entered the monastery; the town has sustained some damage as a result, but very few people living there have been reported missing or dead so far."
"And Abyss?" Edelgard said.
"The only mages they saw were among that first group," Hubert replied, frowning. "None were captured, so for the time being we can only make guesses towards their objectives. Dimitri and the others returned to their rooms when the fighting ended."
Edelgard nodded. "With any luck, news of Rhea's death will reach everyone; there shouldn't be enough people willing to fight for a dead leader. This war is close to an end."
"Indeed." He almost sighed, closing the book and looking at her. A bit colder, he said, "I assume the mercenary is awake again?"
"She is," Edelgard agreed, "But why the change of topic?"
"I've said before that I have reservations about how trusting you are in Byleth," Hubert explained. "Monica mentioned the possibility to me, once, that the reason could be love. Initially, I assumed you would have guarded yourself against such feelings; I can't even begin to count all of the times I've been proven wrong since then."
She could almost predict the rest of the conversation from here. "Let me guess—it's either 'As emperor, you should stay away from others, away from distractions' or 'There's still no guarantee Byleth will help future endeavors after this war.'"
"For once, you've guessed incorrectly," Hubert replied. "I can tolerate distractions; you have been 'distracted,' essentially, for two years, and yet we've still managed to kill one of the largest threats we've faced. And, if you've realized any feelings enough that you've accepted them, it's reasonable for me to guess you have already confirmed that the mercenary won't betray you—I won't be able to convince you otherwise, even if I'm still skeptical."
"Where lies your concern, then?" Edelgard asked, honestly a bit surprised.
"With Rhea's death, one war has ended," he said simply. "However, we still need to fight those who slither in the dark—and the sooner they are taken care of, the better. My current guess is that Byleth will help in that second, quiet war—if only because she had witnessed Remire's destruction, and wore some form of scowl for a while after it. My only question is if you could accept it—if you could move on, in the event Byleth died in a battle that will earn no one true recognition."
"I would have to," Edelgard reasoned. "Even if precious few knew there was more fighting, I can't let them see me mourn. Thales would take the reaction as a victory in and of itself."
It wasn't the answer he was looking for—if only because it was a bit incomplete. Hubert simply sighed and picked up the book he was reading earlier.
"…I'll trust your word. The coming battles will not be yours to fight, regardless."
He left before she could protest. Even if they were best suited for it, the coming battles weren't necessarily all Vestra's either.