A/N: I don't know why this chapter was so hard to write.

Verdant Rain Moon 1180:

Tenth of the Verdant Rain Moon:

Despite the impending doom Byleth felt, her morning was the same as the last few with Claude coming to get her along with one of her childhood friends with Dimitri being the permanent representative now. As if learning their lessons from the morning before, Claude and Dimitri respected her space, and she could change her clothes in peace. Thanks to the Golden Deer Leader she was able to maintain some semblance of cheer until she saw Sylvain.

Much to her annoyance Lord Rodrigue did not disclose anything to Sylvain. Dimitri wanted to be the one to tell his friend as it was his duty as the Crown Prince to make up for Duke Fraldarius' shortcomings as well as being a childhood friend, but he struggled with how to communicate everything. In the end, it was left to Byleth to tell Sylvain, and she believed she was the worst option, but she kept that opinion to herself.

The two stood alone in her classroom. She only had a few minutes to tell him everything and that only added to the stress of trying to find the right words. As the seconds ticked by, she found her annoyance growing. The Kingdom's nobles had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't welcomed so why must she work on their behalf and do their damn job? Glancing at Sylvain, she instantly regretted those thoughts. As much as she had separated her friends from the rest of the Kingdom's nobility, they were still a part of it, and though she might not be pleased with this responsibility she could at least take in some pleasure that she was helping her friends.

"Is this about Celine?" Sylvain asked, stilling her wayward thoughts. She tilted her head, and he was reluctant to continue. "It was a simple mistake. How was I supposed to know she would get so offended by me lightly flirting with the waitress." He shrugged his shoulders and wore a sheepish smile, the same smile she had long since recognized was his small "innocent" attempt to get out of trouble.

"No…," she said softly. Her gaze slowly drifted away from him. Though she knew what his smile was trying to do, she always gave in and let him get away with all kinds of things when they were younger. Seeing that smile now…she hoped the news wouldn't destroy it. "But I will make note of that." She only said that as a way to keep the lighter mood going for just a bit longer and nothing more.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but she had no words to voice. With a frown she shook her head, hoping to dislodge the lump that was forming in her throat. Sugarcoating things was not the way she did things, but should she try and do it this time? Could she even do that? She highly doubted she could pull that off, especially when it involved Sylvain, who had a knack for seeing through such words. Was sugarcoating even the right thing? Could anyone even sugarcoat that Miklan was involved after all the things he did to his innocent, younger brother? She didn't mean to, but she let out a heavy sigh.

"By, are you alright?" Sylvain asked in a soft tone, and the hand he placed on her arm was just as gentle. It was harder than she would have liked but she managed to look into his eyes, and his eyes reflected all the concern he had for her. He had suffered so much, but despite it all, he remained such a sweet, dependable, young man. She didn't want to tell him the news, but she knew keeping him in the dark would only make him feel worse later.

"If your heart was not already set on the prince, I would have voted for this boy," Sothis randomly chimed in with a half-hearted chuckle.

Unsure of what the mysterious girl was talking about, Byleth chose to ignore it and gestured to Dimitri's empty seat. "You should take a seat." Her words were unnecessary, but she felt like she had to say them, lest she lose her voice. He glanced at the spot for a moment before looking back at her. It was clear he wanted to say something but remained silent. It took a moment, but he eventually took Byleth up on her offer.

Taking a deep breath, she finally worked up the courage, but she didn't feel any better about it. "I have some bad news to share." Instantly, he was on his feet, hovering around her but careful not to touch her.

"Are you alright? What happened? If His Highness-" The shaking of her head silenced him, but he didn't move away from her until she once again gestured towards the chair. Hesitantly, he took his seat, but he kept his gaze on her the entire time.

"It is not too late to change your heart," Sothis chimed in again, and Byleth struggled to ignore her. "I am sorry, I know now is not the time." The Professor acknowledged the apology with a tiny bob of her head.

"The news isn't about me…but you." He visibly relaxed and she frowned at that. He needed to care more about himself, but that was a thought for another time; despite the judgmental look Sothis was giving her at that moment.

"The Lance of Ruin was stolen." His body tightened and his lips began to twitch, ready to morph into something, though she could not tell if it would be a smile or a frown. Her next words would for sure decide the expression his lips would settle on, but she wished she didn't have to say them. "It was stolen by Miklan."

His body instantly went rigid, but not a single sound escaped him. His gaze drifted to the table. She wanted to reach out to him, but Sothis held her back. Unable to do anything, the professor quietly watched her student and whispered an apology that would go unheard.

Each second that ticked by and he didn't move was agonizing, but Byleth continued to listen to Sothis and did not approach her friend. Her fingers dug into her palms in an attempt to distract herself, though it did very little. Seeking comfort or advice, she did not know, the younger woman looked at Sothis, who had nothing to offer. Swallowing her complaint, her gaze returned to the troubled man and reluctantly accepted that she would have to wait on him.

While she had told herself that she would wait for him, it didn't get any easier with how slowly time progressed. As if answering her silent prayers, the door to her classroom opened and Dimitri walked in and while she overreacted a bit, Sylvain never once acknowledged that anything had changed. One looked around the room and the newcomer fell silent, and her heart sank with it. Without uttering a single sound, he walked over to her and stood beside her; no words were needed, and she could not tell if that was a good thing or not.

Dimitri seemed to be handling the silence a lot better than her, and she couldn't help but feel annoyed at him. Knowing that keeping her gaze settled on either of the boys would possibly only make them uncomfortable she started to look around. It never really dawned on her how plain her classroom was until that moment; it didn't really bother her, but maybe her students felt differently. Asking the question would finally break the silence but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

The seconds passed by at an excruciatingly slow pace, but at least she didn't need to wait that much longer as it was time to start class. Felix was the first to enter and she held her breath. He seemed to be irritated more than usual, but once he noticed the tension, concern had briefly overcome his features, but he was quick to smooth his face into his normal scowl. Not uttering a single word, he sat in Sylvain's usual seat and tried to give off an air of indifference, but his constant glances at his friend betrayed him. At the sight, she was finally able to relax a little.

It wasn't long after for the rest of her students to begin trickling in. Their cheer came to a sudden halt when they faced the fierce tension but not even Annette dared to question it. Ingrid was the only one to make any attempt to defuse it by sitting next to Sylvain (in Dedue's usual spot). She had opened her mouth several times to say something, but no words ever escaped her. It didn't take her long to accept defeat, but she never took her eyes off her friend.

It was time to start class, but Byleth hesitated. She was trying to convince herself that she was waiting to see if Lord Rodrigue would join them (thankfully he didn't), but she couldn't lie to herself for long. It was difficult but she finally managed to shatter the silence with a half-hearted greeting.

Class ended with the tension still incredibly thick. The students that were not that close to Sylvain were relieved to be free, but his childhood friends did not budget from the seat, despite the dismissal. The silence that Byleth was keeping at bay with her lectures was quick to engulf everyone when she finally ran out of words to say. With the silence came an intense pressure that made it difficult to breathe, or maybe that was just her because no one else seemed to be struggling.

Try as hard as she could no ideas came to her to make the situation any better. Just as she was about to resign herself to a terrible situation, a small glimmer of hope appeared by the opening of her classroom doors. Her heart sank just as quickly as it rose when Lord Rodrigue walked in, and her eyes instantly flew to Felix.

Instantly, the young swordsman became on edge. He glared at his father with such intensity that she almost didn't want to believe could come from the boy that once idolized his father. In a small attempt to prevent a fight, Byleth met the duke halfway and practically blocked Felix's view of his father.

"Lord Rodrigue, what brings you here?" she asked, and her voice sounded weird to her like it had to pass through a barrier, but she understood that it was because she wasn't ready to speak yet. She knew rushing the lord was rude, but with Felix being a ticking time bomb she did not care.

Seemingly unbothered by her attempts to speed things up, the older man smiled at her. "The archbishop has requested an audience with you," he said so easily that she was almost jealous, but figured such a powerful man must be used to such heavy tension. Her forced smile already became more strained, but she gave him a firm nod.

Dimitri was quick to rush to her side and the duke frowned at that. The prince barely spared Lord Rodrigue a glance before turning his sights onto her. Her smile fell away with a small shake of her head, and she had to ignore his scowl. She wanted to support him, and she would, but even though this was a Kingdom problem the church was taking over and she had no power to sway Dimitri's participation in the conversation. She also didn't want him to get involved. She wanted to spare him from having to interact with the archbishop; as well as prevent the holy woman from potentially learning about one of Byleth's weaknesses, though she suspected that was already too late.

To her surprise and relief, Dimitri did not argue with her, and she offered him a small smile as a thanks. He gave her a firm nod before walking away to join the rest of their friends. All eyes were on her, eager for answers, answers she didn't want to give but would eventually soon. Not sure what to say in that situation she just gave everyone a small bob of her head and turned to leave only for sudden movement from the corner of her eyes to halt her.

"By!" Sylvain shouted and she froze. Slowly she turned to look at him, and she nearly flinched at his intense stare. "I am going on that mission!" His eyes shined with a fire she wished to normally see, but only left her feeling empty at that moment. Clenching her jaw, she firmly threw away any chance to speak; not that she had any words to share, the only thing she could do for him was give him a weak nod. His stare never ended even when she turned her back to him. She already knew that he would be coming but having him so firmly demand it only left her feeling hollow.

As soon as the doors shut, Lord Rodrigue released a small sigh. "Sylvain is much more responsible than I gave him credit for." She didn't say anything. She was positive that her friend wasn't doing this because he was Gautier's heir, but because of his brother, and that just made everything more unpleasant.

Byleth's thoughts were broken when Lord Rodrigue held out his arm to her. She stared at his arm for a moment before looking up at the duke, who was smiling down at her. While the gesture was not foreign to her, she could not fathom why he was offering to "escort" her.

"There is no need," she finally said. "We are just walking over to the Cathedral."

His smile grew but lost its genuine feel. "I insist." He nudged his elbow towards her as his stare grew more intense. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she hoped she was able to hide her discomfort. Getting the feeling that he wasn't going to drop it she reluctantly wrapped her arms around his; at least his smile became more genuine.

All eyes were on them as they made their way to the cathedral, and she hated every moment of it. Even with the Sword of the Creator at her hip, helping to suppress her hearing she could still make out the whispering of everyone they passed. No matter how hard she tried, she could not make herself small and insignificant, especially next to a duke who was standing tall and proud.

At one point she had tried to pull her hand back only for him to increase his grip. He never acknowledged her attempt to escape. She did not want to think anything bad of the duke, but she felt like he was putting them on display; it felt very similar to a lot of her recent interactions with Claude.

"By!" an all too familiar voice shouted, and she was relieved to have Claude interrupt them. In a playful tackle, he managed to knock her free as well as wrap an arm around her. Carefully he pulled her in and rested his chin on top of her head, preventing her from looking anywhere other than his chest. "I have been looking for you."

"I'm sorry, but I have been busy," she said but made no effort to shake him off as she wasn't ready to return to the stifling mood from earlier.

"Excuses!" He pulled her even further into him and now her face was pressed against his shoulder. "You will need to make up for not seeing me yesterday!"

Before she could tease him that she saw him yesterday morning, Lord Rodrigue loudly cleared his throat and in response, Claude increased his grip on her. Neither of the men was saying anything, so she was sure they were at best just staring at each other, or at worst glaring; either way, the silence wasn't good. Gently, she pushed her friend off her, who started pouting as a result. She was only partially successful at getting Claude to let her go as he still held one of her hands and was refusing to release it.

"It is good to see you Lord Riegan," the older man greeted with an even tone as he stood unusually close to her. His face was devoid of emotion as he looked down at the student.

"I am equally delighted to see you as well Duke Fraldarius," Claude said, returning the greeting with the same flat tone the duke used. "I hope your lands have been fairing well."

"They have." Lord Rodrigue's gaze lingered on the young adults' intertwined hands with a frown. "I pray that Deridriu is doing well. I have heard about some terrible rumors involving pirates."

Claude stiffened but he managed to maintain his neutral expression. She gave his hand a squeeze and that helped to relieve some of his tension. While maintaining eye contact with the older gentleman, the Alliance Heir returned the gesture but gave her hand a firmer squeeze.

"I thank you for your concern. I can assure you that those rumors are groundless."

"That is pleasing to hear."

The flat tone the two used reminded Byleth of all the frustrating interactions she had with nobles who looked down on her. She wanted nothing more than to walk away, but Claude's hold on her cemented her in place. The only thing she could do, but dared not to, was to interrupt the conversation but she would much rather be an uncomfortable outsider.

Lord Rodrigue was the one to break the stalemate the lords found themselves in, by stepping even closer to Byleth and lightly grabbing her upper arm. Getting the message loud and clear, she pulled her hand back from Claude, who shockingly complied. While he might not have physically tried to stop her, he did so emotionally by having a comically large pout. She found it amusing enough to drop her guard, giving Claude the chance to try and get closer to her, only for the duke to block him.

"I apologize, but I must cut our little reunion short," Lord Rodrigue said as he began to navigate Byleth away from her friend.

"Allow me to guide you-" Claude attempted to say as he once again tried to get closer to her. That time Lord Rodrigue wasn't having any of it as he stood tall, blocking Byleth from the younger man's view.

"This is the Kingdom's business. I expect the Alliance's Heir to respect that." The duke's tone left no room for an argument.

She could not see Claude, but she was sure that he wasn't pleased with the situation. Despite the older man's wishes, she stepped around him in order to make herself visible to her friend; and for that, she was given a warning stare that she ignored. "I'm sorry Meadow. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Slowly Claude's scowl morphed into a smirk. "I will see you at dinner then." He spoke loudly like he wanted everyone to hear him, and she frowned at that. Even though he was meant to be speaking to her, he kept his gaze firmly on Lord Rodrigue, who in turn matched the stare with a frown. "Do not keep me waiting, okay?" He waved goodbye to her as he walked away.

There was a moment of silence between the adults. Byleth enviously watched as her friend walked away, free of the hassle she was about to suffer. When the duke loudly cleared his throat, she knew could no longer put off facing the consequences and slowly turned to him, and instantly flinched at the disapproving stare being directed at her.

He did not say anything and only offered her his arm. Seeking to prologue everything she looked around and discovered that she was the center of attention, which wasn't unusual as she generally was, after discovering the Sword of the Creator, but at that moment everyone's gazes and whispers were different, and she could not tell if that was a good thing or not. After he cleared his throat for the second time, she defeatedly gave him her arm, and his strong grip around hers sealed her fate. Following his lead, she had no choice but to accept that no one would be coming to her aid.

The silence came to a sudden and abrupt end when Lord Rodrigue spoke in a heavy tone. "Byleth," she flinched at the sound of her name, "you are not a child anymore." Holding back a sigh, she slowly turned her head to look at him and was met with another disapproving stare. To ensure her silence she bit the inside of her cheek as he continued. "You need to be more mindful of your actions."

Hoping to minimize the lecture she hung her head and remained quiet. While she kept her thoughts mostly empty, in an attempt to prevent any emotional outburst; Sothis, on the other hand, was more than happy to vent all the complaints that the professor was suppressing. The quiet woman's tranquility quickly fell apart when his lecture went too far.

"You must remember your position now."

She came to an instant stop and his frown was all she needed to know that he wasn't pleased with that. "As a professor?" she asked as she met his stare with a firm gaze of her own. He said nothing and she felt her blood boil. With no warning, she pulled her arm free and began to walk away despite his complaints.

When she was a few steps away from him she turned around to look at him. "You are right." Her tone was flat, and she could not tell if his eyes widening was a reaction to her tone or words. "I will be more mindful, so I ask you to do the same." She said no more as she entered the Cathedral, leaving him behind.

She felt like such a fool. She didn't want to think badly of her friend's father, but maybe she should; after all, there had to be a reason for Felix's intense disdain. She always thought she had a good relationship with Lord Rodrigue, so she would always respect whatever boundaries he enforced, but things were now vastly different, and those boundaries he once demanded were unneeded; possibly unwanted.

As much as she wanted to continue pretending that she was nothing more than a simple mercenary turned professor, the world was never going to let her forget. Lord Rodrigue wasn't recommending her for this mission so that it might help her gain the Kingdom's nobles' approval, she suspected that she already had it; no this was going to be nothing more than an attempt to tie her to the Kingdom. If the people that she thought she could trust were starting to do that, she feared what strangers would do. Does no one see her as just Byleth and nothing more? Did anyone even consider her human with her own thoughts and feelings?

The only good thing those thoughts brought was a deep distraction that kept her from acknowledging anything the archbishop said or did.

Byleth still felt lost and uneasy after the meeting ended and hardly retained any details, outside of the fact that her class would be setting off in two days. If it wasn't for Sothis, Byleth was sure she wouldn't even have known that basic information. It wasn't fair to her students to not be aware of such important details that affected them, but she was finding it hard to care at that moment; and that only made her feel worse.

To try and escape everyone, she fled to the massive field on the outskirts of Garreg Mach Monastery, which was mostly used for long-distance magic and weapons training. Fate had taken pity on her as the field was empty. It was the only place in all of Garreg Mach where she could train with the Sword of the Creator, and despite that being the excuse she used to flee to that area she had no motivation to practice. She knew she could no longer be stubborn as this mission would possibly require her to wield the sword, but still…Not even Sothis' gentle coaxing could get the swordswoman to act.

The beautiful sunset was just an insult to her, but it was the push she needed. With precious sunlight soon coming to an end, she had no other choice but to start training. The Sword of the Creator glowed a bright red as soon as she gripped it, rudely reminding her that night wouldn't be a good enough excuse to end her practice early.

The relic felt both light as a feather and as heavy as a bolder. Her feelings on the matter were all over the place when they shouldn't be. She was sure what her personal stance on the sword was, but her feelings didn't match it, or did they? Was another's feeling influencing hers? Like all the other times, she buried that thought deep within, still not ready to face it but knowing in fear that she couldn't run away from it forever.

Putting all her feelings aside, she got into a sword stance. The Sword of the Creator was a big, bulky weapon, nothing like the smaller blades she was comfortable with, and yet she had no trouble maneuvering with it. With each easy step she took her scowl deepened. She ended the motion with a loud shout and Sothis' pity only further fueled the fires of her frustration.

Desperate to find some difficulty with the wretched weapon, she moved to practice with it like a whip. It made no sense for her to carefully maneuver the tip of the blade with such ease as she was, and yet she was wielding the relic as if she had been training with it all her life. The sword felt like an extension of her arm, and she had just as much control over it as she would her own appendage. No matter what difficult mauver she tried she always managed to pull it off with no trouble.

Frantic to prove that all this natural talent was a mistake, she began to perform more dangerous measures, but nothing went her way. Even when she deliberately started to sabotage herself, she still was unable to mess up severely; she was unable to determine if that was because of her own instincts or another's involvement. When it became clear that nothing, she did was going to go her way, her body came to a sudden halt.

With a massive scream, she threw the Sword of the Creator down with all her might. Eyes full of hate she glared at the weapon, but her throat constricted so much that she was unable to voice any of her feelings. Her jaw began to hurt from how hard she was clenching it, but she didn't dare stop, less she lost what little control she had over herself. Her body had to force herself to breathe, but that never stopped her from staring at the relic.

It was only when Sothis called out for the struggling woman that Byleth acted. She raised her foot high, ready to stomp it on the holy weapon. Just shy of making contact, she stopped and was unable to break out of the strange stance she had now found herself in. Did she stop herself or did Sothis?

Another loud scream ripped out of her, and she turned away from the vile sword and collided with someone. Curses were ready to fly out of her mouth, but she managed to control herself just in time when she noticed that it was Dimitri. He was looking at her with pity, a look she had fiercely been avoiding by refusing to acknowledge Sothis. Just looking at that expression caused her throat to burn with all the things she wanted to say, but she remained silent.

He said her name so gently and she was ready to explode. She opened her mouth in preparation to unleash a verbal assault, but no sound escaped her. Her eyes stung from the desperate need to blink, and she finally gave in by shutting them. Instinctively she leaned into him.

At first, he was rigid but that quickly fell away as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. He whispered words of comfort and promises of a better tomorrow, none of which she believed but she listened to them, nonetheless. It didn't take long for her mind to finally still, and she was able to relax a little.

She did not know what strange power Dimitri held over her, but she was so grateful for it. Only he could bring her such a comfort, and she would gladly be at his mercy to receive it.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I needed a transition chapter.

In the meantime, if anyone finds my lost motivation could you please return it to me? Thank you.