Byleth was busy doing his rounds, as had become custom since taking the position as a professor. It had only been a few weeks, but he was already growing to like many of the students here.

One of whom he stopped in front of the door of.

He let out a sigh. He knew it was probably a useless attempt, as it was every other time. Regardless, he could see the meek girl had potential, and he knew had to at least try with her. So he walked up and knocked on the door.

"AH! Oh Goddess, d-don't do that!" Bernadetta shrieked from within. "Wh-Whoever it is, go away!"

"Bernadetta, it's me, Byleth," the man said, and he heard the girl let out a sigh of relief.

"O-Oh, Professor," she said. "Ah, sorry but…did you need something?"

"No more than the usual request," he asked as he leaned against the doorframe.

"W-Well then you know what my answer is going to be…"

"Come on, Bernadetta, can't you just try coming out? Just once? You don't even have to stay around the monastery, you can go outside and check out the forest, away from people," he offered.

"Th-There's still stuff in the forest that could attack me, though!" Bernadetta shouted. Byleth could hear things shuffling around inside. He hesitantly tried the doorknob, but wasn't surprised to find the door was completely locked tight. "Unless…you want me to get hurt-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Byleth said quickly, knowing how she could get once she became accusatory like that. "Nobody wants you to get hurt, Bernadetta, we've been over this. Nobody here is out to get you."

"Y-You don't know that! There's so many people here! A-Any one of them could be after me! It's why I always have to keep my eye out!" the girl exclaimed.

"You know if you try to run away every single time somebody talks to you, you aren't going to have any friends."

"M-Maybe I don't need any! I'm fine here all by myself, in my room, where I'm perfectly safe!" she challenged.

"Bernadetta, friends are important."

"I've done just fine without them, thank you very much!" Even through her words, however, Byleth could sense sadness in her tone.

"Being someone so afraid of people that you lock yourself in your room is 'doing fine'?" Byleth questioned, and for a few moments, Bernadetta didn't seem to know how to respond.

"O-Okay, maybe it's not…perfect, but-"

"Why are you so afraid of people?" Byleth asked. "What has possibly happened to you to make you question everyone's intentions when you've only been shown kindness?" Once again, Bernadetta didn't seem to have an answer and didn't speak for a long time.

"I don't…want to talk about it," she finally said, and he sighed. The professor had finally felt like was making progress, and now it felt like it had gone down the drain.

"Well…alright. I suppose you've only known me for a few weeks, huh?" he asked, with no response. "Look, Bernadetta, there's a lot of people here who I'm sure would love to help you, me included. I'm certain Seteth or Rhea would be willing to listen to your problems and help out. Edelgard, too. There are so many people you can trust here."

"H-How do you know? You've only known them for a few weeks…"

"I believe I'm a pretty good judge of character," he said. "Just…if you ever want to talk about anything, people are willing to listen. Especially me, okay?" He waited, and the only indication of life on the other side of the door was the squeak of a bed, and light footsteps. When Bernadetta spoke again, her tone was quiet, but louder, giving him the impression she was directly on the other side of the door.

"I'll…I'll think about it."

Byleth smiled. "That's a good start," he said, and finally leaned back. "I'll quit bothering you for now, then."

"S-Sorry, Professor…" Bernadetta said, and Byleth let out a small chuckle.

"It's alright. I'll see you in class," he said, before he finally walked off, and left her alone once more.

Inside her room, the girl put her back to the door and slowly slid down until she sat on the floor. She let out a shaky breath, feeling jittery, as she usually felt after a conversation with just about anyone.

This time, however, she considered her new professor's words. Maybe…he had a point. As far as she could think, nobody had shown any ill will towards her so far. Unless they were putting up a facade to get her to lower her guard-

Bernadetta shook her head. "Bad Bernie, no!" she told herself. Byleth was right. She was always looking for people's bad sides, but it felt so hard not to when she had grown accustomed to that with her father. Could she even get better? Was it even possible? She didn't know but…weirdly enough, she did trust the professor, faster than she'd ever trusted anyone else. Maybe…maybe she really could get better, if he believed she could.

But the idea of doing so felt like a monumental effort, one that she wasn't sure she was even capable of.

But maybe…she could try.

He was right, after all. Rhea and Seteth surely would listen to any concerns she had, even if she loathed the idea of potentially bothering them and distracting them from more important work. Even so, at the very least, she could try speaking to her professor more, even if not directly about her time before the academy, at least not yet.

She sighed as she stood up and flopped down on her bed, a book open in front of her. She couldn't stop thinking about the professor's words though. Even if the idea of leaving her room, of interacting with people, of trusting them with her problems sounded horrifying…maybe…it could work out.

She could at least give it a try, right?