After Link talked Monica down from getting into a fight, ate his meal, and avoided any more uncomfortable topics while speaking with Kass, he decided to look through the images on his Sheikah Slate again. Some spurred fragments of memories, but most did not. Exhausted, he decided to turn in for the night.

In his dreams, however, a memory surfaced.

He had to get her away from here.

Link had fought his hardest, but it was no use. The castle had already fallen. The army had been butchered by Calamity Ganon. Likely every person in the Capital had perished. For days, he had been protecting Zelda, even as Ganon and its forces pursued them. Both of them were exhausted, and Link didn't know how much longer they could keep going.

As he pulled her behind him, Zelda tripped and fell into the mud. Link stopped in his tracks and went to help her back up.

"How?" Zelda asked. "How did it come to this? The Divine Beasts, the Guardians, they've all turned against us. Calamity Ganon turned them against us. And everyone...Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, and Daruk...They're all trapped inside those things. It's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault, Zelda, it's Astor's," Link tried to reassure her. "He was the one who made this possible."

Zelda shook her head. "Astor made things worse, but it's my fault. Our only hope for defeating Ganon is lost because I couldn't harness this cursed power! Everything, everything I've done up until now...it was all for nothing! So I really am just a failure! All my friends, the entire kingdom, my father most of all. I tried, and I failed them all. I left them all to die."

Link held Zelda as she wept. "Go on without me," Zelda told him. "My life no longer matters."

"I'm not leaving you behind, Your Highness," Link protested.

Suddenly, they heard an explosion in the distance. Link pulled Zelda to her feet and they ran once more.

Link jolted awake.

He decided he needed a hot drink. When he went to get one, he saw Dimitri with a cup of hot water.

"Couldn't sleep?" Dimitri asked.

"I had a dream. I think it was a memory," Link answered. "Just another reminder of how I failed to save Hyrule."

Dimitri nodded. "I know the feeling."

Link looked at him. "How?"

"When I was young, my father was murdered," Dimitri told him. "I believe his death was arranged by a noble who was displeased with his reign. But because he was killed near the neighboring nation of Duscur, the people of Duscur were blamed. I tried to convince the nobles that the Duscuri were not responsible for my father's death, but they did not listen. Thousands of Duscuri were murdered in retaliation."

"That's terrible," Link said.

"I suppose we're both failures," Dimitri said. "But even if you couldn't save all those people who died a century ago, it's not too late to avenge them."

"No, I guess it's not," Link agreed.

The next morning, the Rising Sun and Bolson Construction Companies set out to continue towards Zora's Domain. Kass decided to go with them, simply because it seemed safer to be part of a group.

Dorothea walked with him, and the two of them discussed music. "I was actually a renowned songstress at an opera company," she told him.

"Impressive, especially for one so young," Kass said. "Perhaps you could teach me some of the songs of your opera company."

"Perhaps," Dorothea said noncommittally. "But I'm interested in your songs. You said you were taught by a royal poet?"

"Indeed!" Kass bellowed. "Rao taught me many songs of Hyrule's legends!"

He taught her songs about many of Hyrule's historical figures. Figures such as Sir Luka the Cunning, who defeated an invading army not by force of arms, but by spreading rumors about their general that caused his men to lose faith in him, Lord Garrett the Mirthful, the uncle of a queen some 500 years back who never lost a battle, and the Lone Wanderer, a lone mercenary who ended a civil war by being in the right place at the right time.

But most of all, he taught her songs about the Hero of Hyrule. The Hero of the Skies, who defeated a dark god once and for all. The Hero of Men, who unified Hyrule under the first Queen Zelda. The Hero of Time, who first fought Ganon and stopped him from taking over Hyrule. The Heroes who wielded the Four Sword, who fought the monstrous Vaati, and the second of which split Ganon's soul into four. The Hero of Ages, who fought a war across time itself against the reunified Ganon.

Dorothea listened intently to each one.

Edelgard noticed that Ferdinand seemed a bit down. Ordinarily, she would decide that it wasn't her problem, especially if it kept his mouth shut, but if Ferdinand's mood affected his performance in battle, it would be her problem.

So, she asked him what he was thinking about.

Ferdinand sighed. "I am worried about my people. I worry that they might get dragged into a pointless war because of my disappearance. But even if they do not, I worry that my people will have no one to look after them. My father has no interest in acting in their best interest, I know that much."

"So he isn't all talk," Edelgard thought. Maybe she could have swayed him to her side after all. But it didn't matter now. "I'm sure your people will be fine," she said, though she wasn't sure she believed it herself.

"Claude thinks we might be able to return home at some point," Ferdinand said. "But if we don't return soon, I am afraid of what we might find there."

Edelgard empathized with his worries. Those Who Slither In The Dark would likely run roughshod over Fodlan.

And yet, a selfish part of her didn't want to return to Fodlan. In Fodlan, she had deemed it necessary to become a monster for the sake of creating a better world. She did believe it was necessary, but she struggled with the knowledge of how many horrible things she would have to do to people who didn't deserve it.

But in Hyrule, that wasn't the case. There were no innocents among her enemies here. Ganon? Astor? The Yiga Clan? They deserved every bit of what they would receive. There was no ambiguity regarding the righteousness of her actions. She wasn't a conqueror or a monster in Hyrule. She was a hero.

And she felt horrible for wanting to maintain that status.

She shook her head. Whether or not there was a way back to Fodlan, she knew one thing. "The people of Hyrule need our help, Ferdinand. Maybe we can return home at some point, maybe not. But either way, while we are here, we are helping these people. Did you see the people back at the trading post? If we succeed in our quest, they will not have to live in fear of Calamity Ganon. And Koko and Cottla will not have to grow up orphaned because of us."

Ferdinand sat a little straighter on his horse. "You are right, Lady Edelgard. We are doing good here."

Of course. Doing good.

Here in Hyrule, it really was that simple. Good was Good, Evil was Evil, and A was A.

In Fódlan, that kind of thinking would be nothing but a fantasy. But it was a fantasy Edelgard wanted to maintain as long as possible.

Did that make her a bad person?