'Once again, Bernadetta, it is mandatory to attend classes at the Officers Academy.'

'S-Sorry!'

'And saying that you are unwell when you are clearly fine is unacceptable.'

'I-I'-

'I understand life here can be a bit daunting at first, but you must push through this fear in order to succeed. Rest for now and I shall see you in class tomorrow.'

Bernadetta nodded and closed her door. A few moments later Seteth heard her sobs. He pinched his forehead and trudged to his office.

'What a fearful young girl. Can she really go through life this way?'

His head was too frazzled to think about her. He'd spent the whole day with the Black Eagles trying to prepare them for the mock battle and felt like he'd achieved nothing. Bernadetta had skipped class, Ferdinand and Hubert had continually argued, Dorothea had paid little attention, Petra had seemed to understand little of what he'd said and Linhardt had kept falling asleep. Even Edelgard herself had seemed to be in a daze. He reckoned he'd need two weeks at least to straighten them out and yet he only had three days before the mock battle. Even worse, they'd have to participate in it without Caspar, who he'd banned from it. Unless something changed dramatically soon, it was going to be a humiliating first test for the Black Eagles, he was sure.

'And that will not bode well for their confidence in the assignments,' he muttered.

He reached his office sometime later. He tossed his books onto his desk, collapsed into his chair and rubbed his face.

'Professor?'

Edelgard's voice made him dig his fingers into his forehead. He sighed and looked up at her. 'Yes?'

'Apologies, I did not get chance to speak to you after class. I have spoken to each of the Black Eagles, Caspar included, and we decided that'-

The church bells rang a final time that day to signal that dinner was ready in the dining hall. Students, monks, knights and others all congregated inside, all trying to be first in the queue to get their food. Soon the hall was crammed. At one table, Petra asked her classmates where Bernadetta was, to which Dorothea replied that she was probably still in her room. At another table, Sylvain was trying to get Felix to talk to a girl who kept gazing at him from the other side of the room. Mercedes and Annette giggled over a memory from their childhood and Dimitri and Dedue spoke about their tactics for the upcoming mock battle. At a third table, Raphael and Leonie chomped on steaks much to the disgust of Lorenz Hellman Gloucester who crinkled his nose whilst Hilda nearly spat her food out laughing at something Claude said (with a grin) to Ignatz. Maneula and Hanneman squabbled nearby whilst Catherine and Shamir went up for second servings.

Outside, wolves howled in the distance. The sun continued to set, and knights lit torches around the monastery.

Evening had arrived and the time for sleep was fast approaching.