Interlude 5: Ingrid

I'm a little surprised and confused by these foreigners. Calming them down to a state that didn't have the girl—whose name I learned was Lucina, yes, that Princess Lucina—trying to cut anyone who strayed too close to the couple into meaty ribbons took much longer than expected. The language barrier was definitely a problem; Linhardt was the only person who could actually talk to the pair, and it seemed that Professor Robin's language classes weren't as affected as I would have hoped.

Oh yeah, pair. Of people. Supposedly.

That dragon thing that crash-landed in the courtyard after slamming into the monastery? Yeah, apparently he can pull the same trick that the Nabaeteans can and turn into a normal-looking human being not too long after regaining consciousness.

Apparently, the blue-haired girl is named Lucina Lowell, and the green-haired dragon-person-thing is named Marc Nagathus. Lucina is the Princess of Ylisse, and the eldest daughter of the current Exalt, which is what they call their King-slash-Emperor. So, the two of us are in the same boat when it comes to responsibility at birth. Or in my case, responsibility at rebirth. Meanwhile, Marc is Professor Robin's son. From a different marriage, supposedly. I'm not sure if getting a lover while still being married or marrying a dragon lowers my opinion of Professor Robin more.

The half-dragon's Fodlani is leagues above the Princess's, and Linhardt finds it easier to converse with him. Unfortunately, a good number of people within the Black Eagles don't trust a single word coming out of a dragon's mouth—for good reason.

This seems to make Princess Lucina rather annoyed, as she has no idea what we're trying to say and most of the time spent trying to talk to two of them was spent trying to get her to corroborate the stuff that the dragon said.

This is how I find myself sitting across from the eccentric pair with Hubert on one side of me, looking incredibly menacing, and Linhardt, Lysithea, and Dorothea on the other, looking very tired. It's the fifth time we've tried to converse with the two this week, and we keep getting stuck on a single word. I'm loath to trust anything a dragon says…but we're just not going anywhere.

Princess Lucina is sitting with her long blue hair that reminds me of Professor Byleth's hair—before she 'received the blessing of the goddess' and had her beautiful blue hair turn that horrid shade of bright green—in fistful in her hands. She had taken off the blue butterfly mask that she was wearing before, and I have to say…are all people with that specific shade of hair all so pretty? I mean, my teacher is incredibly beautiful, and this princess comes oh so very close to beating her. I mean, just look at those eyes—

Ahem. Right. You have to be professional, Edelgard. Don't give Professor Robin more ammunition to tease you with. Stay strong.

Honestly, the princess is wearing less armour than I would have expected from someone who was supposedly taught by Professor Robin. A brilliantly crafted breastplate covers most of the blue-haired princess's upper body, but it stops just short of her torso, protecting only the parts that would have already been protected (somewhat) by her ribcage. Her abdomen is completely uncovered by any metal, instead being protected by heavy fabric. At least her limbs are all accounted for, with both her arms and legs being clad in metal plates painted a deep rich blue. Although…all things considered, the lack of protection of her abdomen, pelvic, and upper thigh area might be due to her fighting style…argh, I can't remember what Professor Robin said about armour layouts!

All in all, if her prowess with that glowing sword earlier hadn't already proved it to us, I wouldn't doubt for a moment that this girl fell closer to me on the sliding scale of how much martial training a noble got when compared to say…Lysithea.

One question I do have for her current outfit is…what is up with that tunic? It seems…rather out of place. While I'm not the best when it comes to fashion…ah, I should really stop talking. Dorothea is probably going to yell at me for another hour or two if I continue down that line of thought.

Anyway, the half-dragon has more…I hate to say it, but a more sensible fashion sense. A purple-black coat with crimson edges is draped over the dull grey of chain main, and underneath is a khaki tunic. His pants are the same colour of beige, with a pair of heavy-duty boots on his feet. At least to me, I think that he's dressing better than his human compatriot. Discounting, of course, the massive metal shackles bound to his wrists and ankles to prevent him from doing anything unexpected.

Princess Lucina had protested loudly when we did it, but Marc seems…rather calm despite literally being in chains. Then again, he could probably snap those chains with a bit of effort, so it makes sense in the end.

"Alright," Linhardt sighs as he pulls out another notebook the pen he's using reaches the last page of the previous journal. "I must say, mister Marc, your Fodlani has improved immensely."

"Father always said that I learned fast," Marc shrugs with a slight hint of pride in his voice. "And conversing with native speakers is the best way to learn a language, after all."

"That…is true. To summarise, your name is Marc Nagathus—"

"Correct."

"—your father is Robin Nagathus—"

"Yep."

"—he's the prince of a nation called Plegia—"

Oh yeah, we found that out about Professor Robin. Does some of the things he's said make…slightly more sense?

"I must remind you that he doesn't really like that title…"

"—right, right. Furthermore, he's been missing for the past…how long was it?"

"Half decade. He did technically die, so it's understandable that we couldn't find him for this long."

See, this is why I don't like anything relating to Professor Robin. It very quickly and very effectively gets you desensitised to things that should be a really big deal!

"It's rather annoying, you know?" The half-dragon sighs and shakes his head. "I mean, I've already gotten Chrom's—er, Lucina's father's permission for me to marry her, and I know dad will let me, but since he's not around right now, well…it certainly put an annoying hole in my plans."

I'm sure he's joking, but Linhardt writes it down in his notebook too.

The princess then frowns and asks Marc in a language I don't understand…to which Marc responds in a language I don't understand. Hey, look, I can't learn a language by just looking at some books really hard, ok? I'm not Linhardt! I do catch the words 'idiot' and 'stupid' a couple of times, though, when the conversation very quickly devolves into an argument.

I say argument, but Marc was laughing the entire time. I'm pretty sure I saw a blush on the princess's face.

Ugh. Please come back quickly, my teacher. I can't stand this much of Professor Robin's influence without you here to contact that.

"Ahem…could we please return to the topic at hand?" Hubert clenches his teeth. He's been rather tired of Marc's mannerisms, and Marc hasn't done anything to stop his personality from rubbing harshly against Hubert's.

"Huh?" Marc blinks as he dodges his…

Fiance? Girlfriend?

I quietly ask Dorothea what kind of relationship this would be, and the best answer the songstress replies is 'Lover', so that's what I'm going to refer to the pair from now on.

Marc continues to answer Hubert's question after he dodges his lover's fist that was aimed straight at his face. "Right…uh…apologies, but what were we talking about earlier?"

"We were reviewing what we talked about today?" Marc yawns. "Hey, when's lunch?"

"Prisoners like you need not know when you are fed!" Hubert snaps back, obviously done with Marc's attitude.

"Prisoner? I'm being kept as a prisoner?" Marc raises an eyebrow and stares at Hubert for a moment, before turning his amber eyes that remind me too much of Professor Robin's piercing glare…at me. "I was not aware of that."

"You. Are. In. Chains. How are you not a prisoner?"

"Hubert! Please! You're not making this situation any better!" Linhardt groans. "If you have nothing better to do than just stay here making angry faces at our guests, then you can leave!"

"I am here because—"

"Hubert." I intervene in a calm voice. "Listen to Linhardt."

"I…yes, Your Majesty…" I cut him off mid-rant, and it takes him a moment to bow.

"I apologise for my colleague…he's been a bit…jumpy…recently."

"Jumpy?"

"Hmmm…irascibilis?"

"Ah, understood. I'll keep that in mind for future reference. No worries, we all have those days…"

"He just…never mind," Linhardt shakes his head. "For your information, lunch is always after the sixth bell of the day."

"Ah…so we have…one and a half bells left until lunch?"

"Yes…why do you ask?"

"Eh. No reason."

At this point, Princess Lucina shoots her lover an irritated glance and tries to respond, but her Fodlani…leaves a lot to be desired.

"Him want clock resetting. Not mystery."

"I do not!"

Lucina tries to spit out a couple more words in our language, but fails, returning to her mother tongue and seemingly berating her other half in rapid-fire Archanean.

"Temptado! Temptado!" Marc raises his hands in surrender(?) and agrees to do…something. He mutters something in his language that earns him a swift whack in the small of the back for his trouble. He must have said something that the Princesses didn't take well.

"What's…going on?"

"Alright, alright!" Marc sighs before giving Linhardt an apologetic smile. "Ah, nothing. I just wanted to see if I could align my pocket watch. I'm…not actually sure what time lunch is at, but, eh…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ah, see, I haven't been able to spool up my clock recently, so I think it's a bit out of whack. I just wanted to see if I could have gotten a commonly defined time so I could see if I could realign my watch."

"How bad is it?"

"Well, it says that dawn should be in four hours," Marc smiles bitterly. "And I'm pretty sure the sun is already above us in the sky."

"That does seem to be a rather large problem," Linhardt chuckles. "Anything I could do to help?"

I catch Hubert muttering something under his breath, and I shoot him a pointed look, which he promptly ignores by cursing a little too loudly for my liking.

"You got a clock?"

"Uh—yes. It's…twenty past eleven right now."

"Oh, sweet. Thank you."

The green-haired half-dragon happily fishes out a tiny yet elegant watch from one of his coat's many pockets. He spends all of two seconds fiddling with it before nodding, satisfied, and chucking it back into his coat.

"And…I believe that this will wrap it up for today. I will have to discuss everything we've learned with my colleagues and associates, but it was great talking with you again, Marc, even if we had some hiccups due to some unnecessary side conversations."

I can feel Lysithea and Dorothea's eyes slowly move to Hubert, who scoffs silently.

"No issues. Happy to help," Marc grins.

After this, we vacated the room that we interviewed-slash-interrogated the pair in while the guards escorted them out to their own room in what was the non-officer student dormitories. I hear Marc's laughing and Lucina's groans of annoyance echo down the hallway even as they quickly leave our line of sight.

"Aren't they so cute together, Edie?"

As if she was still in an opera and had a cue, the moment we round the corner Dorothea starts to giggle maniacally.

"W—Well…" I try to respond as delicately as I can. "They certainly do have a certain charm to them."

"I know, right? Hey Hubie, do you think we'll ever be like that?"

The sudden change of topic prompts my most loyal vassal to stiffen considerably as his significant other now moves over to him and wraps her hands around the broody mage's arm. I'm not sure if I should compare this move to a lover's embrace or the constriction of a particularly stubborn Boa. As Felix informs me, it's not all too different.

"Don't—eugh…" Hubert tries to respond, but chokes on something and sputters for a moment. It takes me a moment to realise that Dorothea has been rather…forward with what she wants to do. I quickly avert my gaze.

"Ugh. Could you two go somewhere else to do that?"

"Hmmm? Whatever could you be talking about, Lysithea?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! The only reason you're here in the first place was to get a gauge on their relationship. Considering what you've just told us, I expect that information to be fairly obvious now!"

"Now, now, Lysithea…" Linhardt interrupts and puts a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "There's no need to be that abrasive. Let them be…"

"I…that's…fine…"

"Edelgard, I'll have my report drafted by the afternoon. I'll see you after the ninth bell if you want to discuss anything, but before then, I need to process some papers that Balthus sent over from the alliance. Hopefully, they're containing some good news and not more bad news."

"I…hmmm, Linhardt, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"Of course, so long as I can actually do it."

"Can you get Professor Robin and Professor Byleth's room cleaned out?"

"Cleaned out…? Should we be the ones doing that?"

"Well, perhaps not cleaned out…made livable again?"

"Sure…that won't be overly difficult…but why…?"

"We found some people to take care of that room and everything inside, right? They're even a loving pair that should really be married but due to some reason can't."

Hubert gets my intentions much quicker than Linhardt does.

"Your Majesty, you cannot be serious! Letting them free already?"

"Huh…? Oh, that's what you mean? I'll get started right away."

"No, Linhardt, do not do that. Your Majesty, they are an active threat!"

"Oh, Goddess's sake, shut up, Hubert! I can't believe you're capable of saying such drivel!"

"Stay out of this conversation, Lysithea. It's for your own sake. You know nothing of the current situation."

I rub my temples as the two other people capable of dark magic within a hundred miles of my current location start a fierce verbal fight. Well, maybe that Marc can also do some strange dark magic similar to those creepy black flames that Professor Robin can summon once in a while, but I digress.

Linhardt and Dorothea both try to calm their respective partners down with little to no effect, and only a rather snappy verbal command from me is able to shut them down to any effect.

While I would love nothing more than to ignore this and chalk it up to a random spark of violence, I know better than that. We've all been extremely high-strung for the past month, with each near-crisis adding more and more balls to the already extremely difficult juggling act that we're performing.

Responding to both the coup and assassination of Dimitri in the Kingdom and the installation of his much less predictable uncle on the throne had already pushed our normal administration to the limit. The one-two-punch of the alliance crumbling into pieces and the subsequent attempted annexation of Country Ordelia by a joint Phlegethon and Goneril force pushed our administrative branch right over the edge of the cliff and into the pit of anarchy. Sure, we easily fought off the invasion, but at this moment in time we not only do not know how many troops either side has or lost or what actually happened on the ground. It's all a big blank because none of the reports have made it over to either Garreg Mach or Enbarr.

Now, with the Empire's offensive capabilities slowly being restored and mobilised, the Imperial Army is in a complete and total state of anarchy and confusion, with contradictory reports being flung all over the place, entire memos trails being buried under so much bad documentation to make tracing anything nigh impossible, and the reports from the treasury basically amounting to: "We've given up, this is how much we think we're spending. There's a uncertainty margin of around…80%. Good luck!"

Now, with the Black Eagles Strike Force officially not officially deployed (Linhardt invented a 'Combat Capability Training Exercise' for the strike force to go on), the strain of administration has increased even more on those of us who remained here. I'm forever grateful that Caspar allowed me to keep Dorothea here to reduce the workload, but with Felix, Bernadetta, Petra, Mikal, and Zonzi all gone, it's put even more strain on everything.

I sigh. I really need to find some time to just…get away from everything. And just…lie down. And…sleep. Thankfully, things are finally winding down enough, so, fingers crossed, I'll be able to find that time soon.

Well, it took all of two hours for all of those plans to go straight out the window. You'd think I'd learn my lesson about jinxing myself at that point, but no. I just had to say those words.

This day can't possibly get any busier.

I had said after having to eat an incredibly rushed lunch due to an alarm going off due to an unauthorized pegasus knight being spotted in the horizon (I mandated that the sky watch keep tabs on not only the ground but also the air after Marc and Lucina blindsided us a month ago.) that turned out to be one of ours. Still have to sort out that problem.

Then, I had forgotten to give the Archanean couple their passes when I let them go, and so I had to track them down in the dungeon and enter paperwork hell to get them out of the dungeon. At the very least, I know now that the identity checks are being conducted. That's…slightly reassuring, I guess?

Oh, and remember that lone pegasus knight that I talked about earlier?

Yeah, that was Ingrid.

On the one hand, I'm really, really happy that she's back and most importantly, safe, but by the ignorant goddess I have so much to do already!

When the young heir of County Galatea finally got through everything and appeared in the war room—I had assembled every member of our class who I could reach on such short notice—I had to contain what would have been a loud gasp. Dorothea wasn't able to contain her shock at Ingrid's state, however.

"Ingrid!? What happened to you? What did they do to you!?"

A concerningly large number of bandages are wrapped around her face, covering half of her head. Her hair has been cut short, probably to facilitate the bandages currently wrapped around all the way to the back of her head, specks of dark red leaving no doubt as to what had occurred underneath all those bandages. The side of her face that had been left alone sported multiple patches where the skin was discoloured, the bruises forming a sickening collage of green, blue, and violet.

The rest of her body doesn't seem to fair any better. She is still in the classic black and gold uniform that the church had provided all of us at the start of the year, but you wouldn't know it from the rags that she's wearing. There's so much dried blood on her body that one could be forgiven for assuming that the original colour of the uniform had been dark red. A massive gash is visible on her thigh, though the skin underneath has healed without a scar. Other smaller cuts and gashes on her limbs aren't so clean, however, and a particularly large rip near her shoulder shows a reddish-brown scab forming underneath her shirt. Her entire left arm and shoulder has been wrapped in a similar bandage, and probably need to be changed sometime soon; a bandage should be white, not black.

"Well…a lot, as you can see…" Ingrid manages a slight smile before taking a seat.

"Ingrid…ah…if I may…" Linhardt stands up, his healing staff at the ready.

"Oh. Yes, of course. That would be a great help."

"Ingrid, you still haven't answered my question! What happened?"

This causes the blonde girl to wince.

"I…It's a long story."

"Obviously! I don't think you get this hurt without a long story behind it!"

"You'd be surprised…" I hear Linhardt mutter.

"Oh, Linhardt…would you please elaborate?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I've seen Professor Byleth get more banged up after a single round of sparring with Professor Robin."

"I…hmmm, you're right. Still, I don't think Ingrid fought anyone close to Professor Robin's level."

"No—o, I did not. I…what I did…Edelgard," The blonde girl suddenly turns her head to face me. "Dimitri is missing. There has bee—"

"We know this already, Ingrid," Hubert sighs. "We have contacts in the kingdom. A coup occurred."

"That…yes."

"And…?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What's your point?"

"And more importantly, did you get caught up in the coup?"

"I…yes, yes I did. I was flying to Fhirdiad on an errand for my father when the coup happened…and…I…I…"

The pegasus knight takes a moment to collect herself before continuing.

"Whatever your report said, it's worse. The Agarthans…they're…they're…"

"Ruthless? Sociopathic sadists? Completely and utterly unhinged?" Linhardt raises an eyebrow as he finishes patching up Ingrid's wounds. "Also, you should have had these wounds looked at before you came in here."

"Yes…yes, I know. It was bad. There was so much…so much…blood…entrails…the screaming…I…I didn't see everything but…"

The hollow and empty eyes that Ingrid is now showing me are painfully familiar. She hadn't been inside my uncle's laboratory before Professor Robin blew it up with the largest fire spell I've ever seen. I had seen these eyes before…on everyone who was with us under that accused facility…

"Oh, you poor thing…Lin, can I touch her?"

"Hmmm? Yeah, go ahead. The wounds should be basically fine now."

Dorothea stands up as Linhardt returns to his seat. The songstress embraces the Pegasus Knight in a large and tight hug.

Everyone just kinda sits there for a while, not wanting to interrupt this moment.

"T—thank you…Dorothea…"

"There's no need to thank me."

"I…yes. Oh, and before I forget, on my way back here I found a couple. One of them claimed to be Professor Robin's son—"

"Marc and Lucina?"

"Are those their names?"

"Yeah."

"They got here before I did?"

"Mhmm," Dorothea nods. "They're a cute bunch."

"Good. I…I think I owe them my life," Ingrid chuckles before wincing slightly.

"Wait, what? Seriously?"

"Yeah…I asked them for some medical equipment and some food. When I met them on the road, I hadn't eaten for…for…I'm not sure how long. After I escaped, I just kept…I just kept running. I kept flying on Maria until she couldn't fly anymore, and then we kept walking until I couldn't walk anymore. I repeated this over and over until I got near the Rhodes coast, where I happened across them. Or rather, they happened across me, and didn't immediately try and kill me, despite know who I was."

"Oh…wow…"

"Please, I know that Marc…that's his name, right? Yes? Ok, please don't treat him too harshly. I know he's a Nabaetean, but…"

"He's…not."

"He's not? But, isn't he—"

"Apparently not. He's from a different marriage."

"Ah. I see."

"Ingrid. Is there any other information that could be useful to Her Majesty at the current moment? Allegiances within the Kingdom, perhaps?"

"I'm getting there, Hubert," Ingrid sighs. "Counties Galatea and Charon have remained tacitly neutral through all of this, though I'm pressuring my father to try and break away from the Kingdom if at all possible. Though I hate to even think about such a thing happening…I…this…"

She takes a deep breath.

"In the current state of affairs, County Galatea cannot support the throne. I believe Count Charon shares the same sentiment. Fraldarius, Itha, and Gautier are in full revolt against the crown. I'm not sure how well that fight is going, but Duke Fraldarius was last seen on the battlefield. He hasn't been seen ever since. The small counties, Rowe, Geraint, Elidure, Duval, and Dominic have all either bent the knee or have had their reigning count replaced with someone who has. The Viscounties have all state tacitly on the side of the Crown, though for how much longer they're allowed to maintain their own independence is unknown."

"Wait, County Dominic has sided with the crown? What's happened to Annette?" Lysithea's voice seems strained.

"I don't know. I don't know many details about how the Blue Lions are doing, but Dedue is dead, Dimitri is missing, Sylvain is fighting alongside his father against Prince-Regent Rufus, and the lack of news about Mercedes has made some people believe that she's fallen through the very earth, and Ashe has taken on the duties as the head of House Gaspard. I'm not sure if he can be swayed to our side…but…"

"We're going to have to try. Gaspard has one of the only safe passages across the Oghma Mountains anywhere close to Garreg Mach."

"Yes…that's why I wanted to see if I could sway him. He…he…he has to see that this can't be good, right…? He wouldn't…just…leave the people of the Kingdom to…die…at the hand of…He can't! He won't! But…but…why…?"

Ingrid winces.

"Did something happen?"

"No, I just…I can't stop thinking about it…I don't understand how…how any of them…how any of the other lords…how could they? They…we…swore an oath. That we would help the people of the Kingdom no matter what…and yet…they threw that…all away. For what? Why? Why would they do that…?"

"The reason why they would let their only child be taken away to be experimented on: Fear and Cowardice."

"I…yes, that does seem to be the reason. Edelgard, I ask of you, no I plead with you, we must free the Kingdom from the Agathran's slimy grip!"

"It is about time we finally got around to using that military that the Professors oh-so-kindly left us, yeah?"

I jump slightly in my seat as a different voice—still having a little bit of that signature Faergus accent—suddenly speaks up from behind me.

"Y—Yuri! By the goddess, you scared me!" Dorothea nearly jumps out of her seat. "Good thing poor Bernie isn't here; I don't think we would be able to get her out of the ceiling!"

"Yuri…I didn't see you there. I wasn't aware that you were still in Garreg Mach…"

"Oh, that's because I wasn't."

He waves a piece of paper in my face, causing Hubert to growl dangerously, before placing down a piece of slightly aged parchment on the table.

"I've been in the abyss tearing through all of the record rooms and archives to get you that. I hope that solves more problems than it solves. You're welcome, by the way."

He finishes his sentence with a sly wink, which promptly causes Ingrid's skin tone to shift more into the red spectrum. While I think that wink was supposed to be aimed towards me, I think it caused more unintentional damage. It's not like Ingrid has been hiding her crush very well, has she now? Well, I think it's still a crush. I haven't been keeping track of the romances of everyone in my house very well, now have I? I'm still a little surprised that Hubert and Dorothea got together. The last time I checked, Dorothea was wanting a slightly more spicy romance in…well…Ferdinand.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but please come back already, Professor Robin! I need your slightly creepy ability to sense who's getting together with whom! I'm already getting lost in the web of relationships that have sprung up around me!

I read the piece of parchment that Yuri had placed in front of me. It's written in Professor Robin's exquisite—if a bit hard to read—handwriting.

|—|

To whomever it may concern,

I am writing this as I prepare for my travels. Byleth and I will be away for some time, and we'll be back in…well, hopefully soon enough. If things go poorly, well…

I'm sure Edelgard will be able to tell you quickly enough.

Oh, yeah, I should probably put this in her just to future-proof this. To all those who directly report to me, listen to Edelgard as if she were me. Got it? Good.

Valete,

Prof. Robin

3rd of the Ethereal Moon

|—|

"Oh…Yuri…this…this is dated to a couple of weeks ago…are you sure it'll still…work?"

"Hey, Professor Robin's handwriting is a terrifying thing to try and recreate. This was the best that I could do."

"If you say so…" I mutter to myself. "Hubert? What do you think?"

"While it's not…what we hoped for, it's certainly usable. At the very least, we can resume offensive action with all of our combat-ready units. That's…reasonable."

"Linhardt?"

"I concur with Hubert. The administration is not going to like it, but they'll understand, at the very least."

"Understood. Linhardt, Hubert, Lysithea, go over Professor Robin's contingencies and draft an invasion plan of the Kingdom, the Alliance, and both the Kingdom and the Alliance."

"Of course, Your Majesty!"

"Sure. I'll get it done."

"If you say so…"

"Dorothea, could you draft up a message to send to Caspar about our plans? If at all possible, I would like to have the Strike Force reinforced with the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Ranger Companies, but I need a secure line of communication for that to happen. You're allowed to borrow Yuri if you need anyone to smuggle anything."

"Consider it done!"

"Allowed to borrow…I mean, you could have phrased it better…"

"Ingrid…I…I forbid you from doing anything other than going down to the medical unit and getting yourself some rest. Linhardt, you're going be her medical ward."

"What! Your Majest—Edelgard—I can still—"

"If you need me to do it, well…I think I can. I don't think Ingrid will like it too much."

"That's fine."

"What—! I must protest! I can still—"

"Ferdinand…I'm going to have to leave you behind to deal with all of the bureaucracy. I know that—"

"Don't worry about it, Edelgard. Someone has to do the hardest work, after all."

I raise my eyebrow at that. Looks like Professor Robin's threatening-slash-tutoring has managed to completely flip Ferdinand's view on administrative work. I'm honestly even more afraid of the man now. Brrr…

"Edelgard, I am still capable of fighting!"

I elected to ignore the pegasus knight's continued dissertations and instead responded with a glare that I hoped could say what I couldn't voice out loud.

Not now! After the meeting!

Thankfully, she understood and stopped talking, looking down with a face of both annoyment and frustration.

"Lastly…Yuri, could you recall the rest of the former Ashen Wolves from their respective duties? I believe we will need their skills later on."

"Of course, when I'm not being borrowed by Dorothea, that is."

"That's all you needed to say. Everyone, I now adjourn this meeting of the Imperial High Command. For the Empire and Humanity!"

"For the Empire!"

"For the Empire and Humanity!"

"For the Empire and Humanity…"

"For the Empire and Humanity!"

"For the Empire and Humanity."

"For Humanity."

AN: Hello there! Acardia here!

Another update within a week? In this environment? More likely than you'd think! With Acardia Plus, you'll get newer chapters, faster!

In all seriousness though, this chapter was already on the back burner for a while. I just touched some stuff up, and here we are!

Going forward, I think I'll adopt more of a plot-point per chapter system that I have for my other fics just so I can get the plot moving again. I think this one chapter moved the plot more than the past couple of chapters combined, so uh...yeah!

One review this time around.

Blackplant: Nope! The ones he's met are all different shades of insane!

That's all for this week. The next chapter will (probably) be out on the 1 year anniversary of this fic.

Acardia out!