One of the first things that Byleth had learned, even before becoming a mercenary, was that nobility did not like them. Especially nobles from Faerghus. There were many reasons that mercenaries were disliked so vehemently by their kind, but the biggest of them was because of their lack of code. They were obsessed with knighthood and loyalty and honorable battle and mercenaries were…not. She supposed that was fair enough, and so her father rarely sought out work in the Kingdom, even though she knew that was where he was from. Instead, they lingered on the borders of the Alliance and the Kingdom and it was where Byleth was for most of her life. She had little exposure to Faerghus or its politics and customs.
Maybe that was why she wanted to lead the Blue Lion house—the house with mostly Kingdom royalty. It wouldn't be the same as going to the Kingdom herself, but it was close enough. Especially since she was also expected to mentor and lead the Kingdom's heir, who would theoretically represent the Kingdom better than quite literally anyone else in the world. She would be allowed to teach the Lions in any way she liked, practically.
Yes, experiencing the Kingdom was one of two reasons she requested to lead the Blue Lion house. Her other reason was much more petty, and her father remarked on it the first chance he got.
"You didn't pick the Blue Lions just because your old man's from there," he said. His words held a wry undertone and it was that moment when Byleth had known that she wasn't fooling anyone. "You're just looking forward to forcing Faerghus' prissy nobles into fighting in the mud with us, aren't you?"
"Of course not," Byleth said evenly, but Dad just chortled and slapped her on the back.
"You do take after me some, don't you, kid?" He guffawed. "It'll be good for them."
Byleth stumbled and caught herself on her desk. "It will be," she agreed. "All of the Faerghus nobles I've fought care more about appearances than survival and if they ever find themselves in a war, they wouldn't last very long. It will be good for them."
Dad's expression sobered. "You're not wrong, kid." He was silent for a few moments, then looked her in the eye in that way where she knew he was about to say something important. "You have a good heart," he said. He didn't smile at her, and he didn't make it feel like praise because it wasn't. She knew what his praise sounded like and it was always how well she maneuvered in a skirmish.
It was Dad reminding Byleth that she had a heart at all. Or reminding himself that. She wished that he didn't need to keep doing that every so often, but she didn't know what to do in order to make him stop.
To Byleth's surprise, most of the Lions took kindly to her style of fighting. Felix Fraldarius especially liked to learn under her; she quickly learned that he didn't care for Faerghus and its customs any more than she did. He was a quick study and had the most potential with a sword out of anyone at Garreg Mach. He was fast and agile and strong and when they sparred, Byleth sometimes struggled to keep up with him, especially since he was one of the only students that possessed a major Crest.
Sylvain generally seemed more interested in her chest than anything else about her (aside from his apparent disdain that she couldn't figure out) but he didn't seem to care too much about her more vicious tactics. Annette and Mercedes didn't care as much to learn tactics from her, and Ashe and Dedue were not nobility at all. The only two people who seemed to care were Ingrid and Prince Dimitri. Even so, neither of them vocally disapproved of what she taught them with her tactics, but the prince did not hide how he distrusted her. Or he tried to, but he wasn't good at it at all.
It wasn't until after he invited her to teach swordplay to children with him did he finally seem to be open for conversation with her. "Professor Eisner," he started slowly, his tone polite. It was after classes ended for the day, and Byleth had been looking forward to fishing with her father. "May I ask why you wanted to lead the Blue Lions? Forgive me if I offend, but you seem to get along much better with Claude and Edelgard."
"I never traveled to the Kingdom," she answered. "I wanted to get a better idea of what it was like there."
She knew that Dimitri was expecting her to continue the conversation, but she didn't care. Byleth didn't need to justify herself to a sheltered princeling and so the conversation lulled as she continued to pack her things away.
"Why did you never travel to the Kingdom?" He asked. His tone was still polite, but it sounded like there was real curiosity there, and not just judgment. (Although there certainly was some. Byleth was no fool.)
"The people with money in the Kingdom were nobles and most nobles don't like mercenaries," she answered simply, still not looking at him.
"I see," Dimitri intoned flatly. Before their conversation could die again, he continued, "Do you feel that you have a better understanding of my home?" He asked.
"Yes."
From the corner of her eye, she could see Dimitri clench his hands into fists. Whether from anger or annoyance, she couldn't tell. She didn't know him particularly well. And even if she did, she was still never that good at understanding what other people were thinking. "May I ask what you have discovered?" His tone was still polite but it was clear that his patience was waning. He did not seem to have developed the stoicism that so many nobles seemed to pride themselves on. It reminded her of his youth. It was too bad he would lose it soon.
"You care a lot about your traditions. Too much sometimes," she said, sparing a glance at his face to see how he reacted to her words.
To her surprise, Dimitri pursed his lips, saying, "Yes… Yes, you are right to a degree, Professor," he admitted. "Faerghus is too traditional in many ways. It is putting us in a corner, especially against the Kingdom and Alliance who are more open-minded about such things."
Interested, Byleth finally looked up from her bag to stare him in the eye. "Are you going to try to do something about that when you become king?" She asked.
"Yes," Dimitri said immediately. "I must. You would not know this, but…the Kingdom is…struggling in many ways. It is on my shoulders to guide it towards healing."
Byleth crossed her arms. "The biggest reason I wanted to lead the Blue Lions, Dimitri," she started, "is because I've fought a few Kingdom knights and nobles. You are well-taught, but you're too restrictive and predictable. I've seen a lot of them killed because they don't know how to react to an opponent who fights dirtier than they do and I wanted to teach Kingdom nobles how to survive. Maybe I don't know war like you do, but I know skirmishes. That is what I'm trying to teach your Lions. My intention is to make you all uncomfortable with my exercises so you know what to do if you really find yourself fighting with a back to the wall. If you can fight like them, you will know what to expect too."
She continued to stare at him long and hard as he thought over her words. "I understand," he said finally. "I… I admit, I have not been following your training regimen because I have not agreed with your ethics. However, I recognize the validity in what you are saying." He bowed in either promise or apology; probably both. "I shall strive to give a more honest effort in learning what you are teaching. I should have recognized that learning from you would be a unique experience and took advantage of it. I still have the option and training of Kingdom knights before coming to the Officer's Academy, after all. I am not losing anything. Only gaining new knowledge and experience."
"Right," Byleth responded softly, eyeing him carefully. After a moment, she sighed and resigned herself to not having an afternoon of fishing, already composing her apology to Dad in her head. "Why don't I try to catch you up with what everyone else has been learning?" She offered.
Dimitri's expression brightened, unexpectedly. "Are you certain?" He asked. "I do not wish to keep you if you have more important things to do."
"I don't," she said matter of factly. "And this is important. I was brought here to teach my students and you are a student who wants to learn."
She caught the faintest of smiles on his face when he bowed once again. "Thank you, Professor. Truly, I am in your debt."
It was no coincidence that Dimitri later invited her to dinner, and more openly began to ask her questions, eager to hear what she had to say. After the rescue of Flayn, and the uncomfortable almost-confession at the Goddess Tower, it became remarkably apparent that he had developed a crush too. Being crushed on by teenage boys was nothing new to her, but the irony of a mercenary having caught the eye of a Faerghan prince was amusing. As Byleth opened up to Dimitri too, she found his youth and innocence endearing, although she would be the first to admit not everything about him was as pleasant as he liked to make her think. He didn't mask it as well as everyone liked to pretend, and only Felix had the bravery to remark on it.
All the same, Byleth hoped that the darkness that lingered behind every one of his smiles would not consume him after he became king.
After Dedue was killed and Dimitri was in exile, the first thing that he learned was that his dead professor's cynical opinions of Faerghus battle tactics were right. Every single dirty trick that she taught him kept him alive for years. He flung dirt in Adrestian soldiers' eyes and he scavenged corpses like a vulture. He used bandits as human shields and when he was done with them, it was all too easy to crush their windpipes with his bare hands. He chucked his lances at enemies (victims) if they were close enough, regardless of whether or not they were made for throwing, and he killed temporary allies when the battle was over. He felt ashamed of himself and every bit the wild animal Felix liked to compare him to, but he might not survive if he stopped. And there was no point; Faerghus died when it was captured by Edelgard and there was none of its honor left to protect.
That's what he told the screaming voices, and sometimes it was enough for them to believe it. Most of the time it wasn't, but it was the only defense he had.
Maybe that was one of the reasons he was so cruel to Professor Eisner when it turned out that she'd survived. (But of course she'd survived—she was the one who taught him so dangerously well, and it wasn't right that one encounter would have killed her.) He wanted so badly to blame what he'd become on her. He wouldn't be half the animal he was now if she had never taught him the vicious way her kind liked to fight: without honor, loyalty, and for nothing but greed. It was how Dimitri dealt with enemies now, and he reveled in it too much to even want to stop. He hated what she had turned him into.
Except Felix and Ingrid and Sylvain learned under her too, and none of them acted like he did, and he eventually realized that his professor wasn't responsible for what he became. Like everyone else, he'd wronged her too, and it was yet another reason he was a horrible creature so beyond saving. Rodrigue, now, only looked at him with disgust and shame and it made Dimitri sneer and demand how he thought he should act. No one could answer him and he hoped that someone would, eventually. He didn't want to hear it, but he wished that someone cared enough to say.
Dimitri's cruelty caught up to him. Of course it did. It always would. It was how the Goddess shaped the world. A little girl he had wronged fought like an animal too, and killed Rodrigue; another Fraldarius was killed, all for him. His professor killed the girl before she could do anything else but Dimitri wished that she hadn't. He wished that she hadn't caught him before running off to Enbarr, but every bit of anger he thought he'd built up melted away oh, so quickly the moment she held out her hand to him and repeated Rodrigue's dying words to him. Rodrigue was finally able to answer his carelessly-thrown questions, but Dimitri didn't want to listen to him until he was dead. What a fool he'd been. He didn't know how he could ever look Felix in the eye again.
Professor Eisner led him to his room and helped him undress and he clung to her the whole night. She was so warm, and the way she combed her fingers through his hair made him feel as though he was back in a different time, while his stepmother still lived and comforted him after a nightmare. Maybe it was a sign that his nightmares were coming to an end soon. Perhaps the Goddess had decided she punished him enough and was ready to give him some respite. The following morning, his professor was gone but she left breakfast for him on the table. It was still warm, so he must have just missed her.
As Dimitri slowly emerged to be with the living again, he also came into the title of prince once more. He participated in Seteth, Gilbert, and the Professor's strategy meetings, and many soldiers started turning to him when there were problems again. Because of the constant work and need of new strategies, Dimitri felt like he was meeting Byleth Eisner all over again. He no longer learned under her, and she no longer allowed him to call her "Professor." They were equals now, and she had never even suggested the idea of calling him "Your Highness." It was nice.
All the same, Dimitri could no longer bring himself to fight like she had taught him all those years ago. He was not just trying to survive, but he was not simply trying to keep appearances either. Both of those were behind him now. Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd was representing the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, in every aspect he possibly could. He began fighting alongside Sylvain and Ingrid once more, and found that Byleth's criticisms she'd leveled against Faerghus tactics were less valid than even he knew; of course their formal way of battling was flawed, but so was hers. She wasn't the first person in its entire history to notice its predictability, and it was why Faerghus knights were taught so carefully how to cover for those weaknesses as best they could; there was a reason knights fought as a unit, and not as lone soldiers. Dimitri wasn't alone anymore, and he didn't need to fight as if he was. Byleth's tricks were still helpful, but he did not need to use her underhanded tactics with bandits ravaging homes in order to beat them.
His realization came with the following: Byleth did fight as though she was alone, and that had never changed, it seemed.
"You do not need to fight like you do anymore," he said to her one evening as she was pouring him a cup of water. They were looking over a map after Seteth had declared they were all done for the day when Dimitri's hands on the table had come down a little harder than he meant to when he spoke to Gilbert, and Byleth's tone had taken on an edge that was just so , and left everyone else feeling uneasy. It was late, and so the break was a relief to everyone.
She set down the pitcher and gave him a quizzical look.
He clarified, "You fight on the battlefield as though you are alone. You taught me to do that, and it kept me alive, but since we are among allies once more, there is no need to act as though we are alone."
"That can change in an instant. It's dangerous to only know how to fight with allies." She took a drink from her cup.
Dimitri licked his lips. "That isn't what I meant," he said stiffly, then cleared his throat. "I of all people would know how quickly that can change. All I wished to say is that you don't need to fight as though no one is watching out for you. We all are."
She mulled over his remark. "I don't know what you mean," she said slowly. "I've always fought the way I do. I don't know what exactly I should do differently."
"You have?" He asked, surprised. "Your father's mercenaries never looked out for you?"
Byleth's brows furrowed as she looked down in her cup. As she swirled it around, Dimitri caught a whiff of something decidedly not water. Well. At the very least she knew what they both needed this late at night. He wasn't about to turn it down. "They did," she said. "But it's just that we always fought like there wasn't going to be a tomorrow because there was a good chance there wasn't going to be. Fighting a war like this is very different from any of the things that we needed to do as mercs."
That was certainly how he'd been living in the past five years. It was no wonder Byleth's utilitarian style had suited him so well. "Mm," Dimitri acknowledged, taking a gulp of whatever she'd put in his drink. Its bitter scent caught him by surprise as the alcohol burned his throat as he swallowed. He cleared his throat. "Why don't I try to teach you how a Faerghus knight fights then?" He offered. "And you can begin to learn what it means to rely on allies out there."
A look of surprise crossed Byleth's face, but she smiled at him in a way that made Dimitri's heart flutter. "I'd love that, Dimitri," she said warmly. "Why don't we finish our drinks first though?"
"I didn't mean now. And it is not wise to train while intoxicated…"
Byleth took another drink from her cup and was already pouring more from the pitcher in. "This isn't enough to really get me drunk, but even if it were, you should try it at least once. Among allies, it can be very fun in its own way, even if not the most productive."
Dimitri quickly realized that she was asking him to relax with her, and he was in no position to say no. A little bit of fun after a long day of work would not hurt anyone.
And as it turned out, trying to teach Byleth new techniques was quite fun while intoxicated. At least until Dimitri hit her a little too hard after feeling the rush that only his Crest could make him feel and they needed to turn to Mercedes to heal her bruised ribs. He apologized to her a lot after that, but she'd laughed and laughed and told him not to worry about it. It was that night that he decided that her laugh was the best noise in the entire world. He walked her back to her room feeling warm and at peace.
She began learning lance and sword techniques from him in earnest later that week in the evening, and Dimitri found that her crash course in Faerghan battle tactics were the highlights of his week. It was because she challenged him too; Byleth took to his teachings like a dry sponge, and Dimitri would often re-learn techniques he had since forgotten in his youth. Sylvain and Ingrid made numerous remarks on the increasing time he spent in the library, and Dimitri only cared to return to his next lesson with Byleth, eager to share with her the tactics of his home. He hoped that it made her feel more passionate about warring for Faerghus. She did not seem to be a very religious person, and Dimitri knew that she was not from the Kingdom, so he did not know how much she cared for the war, other than simply stopping Edelgard. Maybe she could feel patriotic towards Dimitri's home too, eventually.
Even if she did not love Faerghus as much as Dimitri did, no one would have been able to tell. Byleth fought harder than he had ever seen her when she battled to reclaim Fhirdiad. Her technique was still undoubtedly her own, but Dimitri took no small amount of pride when he saw how she adjusted her techniques to take advantage of the Kingdom's too. Seeing her fight like a soldier from the Kingdom, then later proudly wear Faerghus' blue for the following celebration made Dimitri's stomach flutter in a way that was oh, so familiar.
There was not a single moment that Dimitri realized that he had fallen for Byleth Eisner twice over, because it hadn't happened like that. It started when she had pulled him from the brink after Rodrigue's death, and continued to grow in march to the Silver Maiden, and then the Aquatic Capital. The entire time, he knew that his affection for her was no longer platonic, and it did not go missed among his comrades either. But he wasn't ready, and he didn't think Byleth was either. They had a war, and Dimitri was content to continue their relationship as it was. He knew that it was not the same, childish crush he'd felt as a teenage boy.
Dimitri was in love with Byleth Eisner the mercenary. It scared him more than he could describe, but her company always made it go away. He sometimes thought that Byleth knew the extent of his feelings, but if she did, she never said anything. He was grateful for it, and it made him fall just a little bit harder.
The night before leading the Church and the Kingdom and the rest of the soldiers they had brought along the way into the Empire's capital, Byleth invited Dimitri to the fishing pond. For as much as his beloved teacher loved fishing, Dimitri was never fond of it and was debating asking her if she would simply be willing to spar with him. But as he approached, he was surprised to see her sitting on the edge of the pond looking up at the stars.
"Byleth?" Dimitri called carefully.
She turned around, and smiled at him in that way that never failed to make his heart race and his stomach tumble over himself, but feel at home all the same. She didn't say anything, but patted the space next to her when she turned back up to the stars.
Dimitri obliged her, and looked up at the stars himself. Glenn had loved stargazing. It was something that he liked doing with him and Felix when they were young, and Dimitri distinctly remembered staring up at the smoke-filled sky after the Tragedy. He tried to find the constellations that Glenn had taught him while he waited to die, but that time never came. Dedue had liked looking at the stars too, and he tried to teach Dimitri the Duscurian constellations on nights he couldn't sleep.
…
Dimitri didn't like looking at the stars anymore, and so he looked at Byleth instead. He remembered that someone had once called her the Fell Star, and he could see why. She was as beautiful as one. She looked as though she could have been a legend talked about in the night sky, but she was instead walking the earth with him.
"Dad tried to teach me the Kingdom's constellations," she said softly, still craning her neck upwards. It was a bright night, and it gave her already other-worldly green eyes an ethereal glow. "It was stargazing and fishing he liked to do with me. I think my mother liked it so he tried to pass down the love to me."
"You've never talked about your mother before."
"Her name was Sitri. That's about all I know about her though." Byleth was quiet for a long, long time before continuing. "I wanted to see the sky one last time just in case. Make sure that I remember all the things that Dad showed me."
Dimitri's stomach churned at the thought. "You can't die at the very end like this. It would not be a victory if we lost you," he said. His tone was teasing but his words were completely serious.
"It's just in case. Even I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."
"Don't entertain the idea," Dimitri scolded. "We will all fight to keep each other alive because that's what Faerghus knights do."
The corners of Byleth's mouth pulled up into the smallest hint of a smile. Dimitri knew what that was now; it wasn't a sneer like some people perceived it as. "That isn't how I trained you, Dimitri." Her tone was scolding, but he knew that she was teasing.
"And this isn't how I taught you," Dimitri parried.
It seemed to be the right thing to say because Byleth laughed. It was such a wonderful sound that he so rarely heard. He was so glad that he could draw it from her, occasionally. She leaned her head against his shoulder, her eyes going back up to the sky. Her hair was soft and it made Dimitri wish that he was brave enough to comb it through with his fingers.
"Whatever happens, I hope that you know that I love you." Her words were so faint that Dimitri could barely hear her, but her words made it feel like his heart stopped. She continued, "I chose the Blue Lion house so that I could train the Lions to fight more like me, but I'm thankful that I've become more like you too. I love you all."
Dimitri licked his lips, allowing his heart to slow back down to where it should be. "I… We love you too," he said softly. "I know that you have done so much for us and I'm glad to hear that we have been able to return the favor." He frowned. "You should tell the others this yourself. When we're done."
"You're right," she agreed. "I will when we're done." Byleth shook her head and stood to her feet, dusting off her backside. When she stood, he realized that there had been two wooden swords laying on the ground next to her. She picked up one and nudged one in Dimitri's direction. "Spar with me."
That night, Byleth sparred with him for what felt like the first time. Before, they had always sparred with the intention of learning a new trick, or through the purpose of a lesson, but there was none of that tonight. He understood better, now, why so many feared his teacher on the battlefield. She read his movements like a book, and seemed to know the future. He knew that the Goddess had granted her some kind of ability to see into the future, but he had never known how deeply it impacted her abilities.
Dimitri won, in the end. He was stronger than her, a full foot taller, and probably twice her weight so there was little question when they were restricted to only using wooden swords, but it made him feel better about the morning to come. Byleth was far from a master at Faerghus battle techniques, but she had synthesized his teachings so well with her style, and the tricks that she'd taught him so long ago; it was a perfect marriage of what she knew and what he'd taught her.
Dimitri knew that he was going to ask her to stay with him when all was said and done. And so it was a good thing that Byleth Eisner was a survivor, and she taught Dimitri how to be one too. They would see the end of all of this together. And then when that time came, it would be time to live.