Chapter Fifteen

1.

Leonie drops two trays on the table, replying to Claude's cheeky greeting with a muffled, "Good morning," around the apple in her mouth.

"How'd you manage to get breakfast for Bernadetta and Lysithea?" Claude wonders, eyeing the obvious breaking of One Tray Per Person rule. The warming and cooling wards get weird if the trays are stacked wrong.

Leonie swallows, trying to lessen the déjà vu without it outright disappearing, "Melissa likes me."

He cuts a look to the kitchen staff slowly preparing for the morning rush. It's not a long look, his eyes going back to his tablemate. "Is that all you're eating?"

Leonie looks down. Thinks about it, "I'll eat more with the girls. This way I don't get a talking to for keeping the trays in plain sight."

"Stay here," Claude says lackadaisically, but Leonie jolts because the déjà vu cuts out completely. "If anyone gives you trouble, just let them know you won't be supplying the good stuff anymore. That is why the staff here likes you… Am I close?"

"On the money," Leonie stares a him a bit more before shaking her head and smiling. Odd, but at least she can relax now. "I give most to the orphanage in the lower village, but the lands here are so bountiful I can get a lot with little effort. Good practice for when we have to sign up for jobs."

"With what you bring in, I don't think anyone else will get the hunting job." He leans his elbows on the table, playing with his fork. "How is Bernadetta? Lysithea told us about your unfortunate run-in with Hubert."

"Better now," Leonie plays with her own half-eaten apple, eyes drifting to the sky as she purses her lips. It looks like it's raining, but the water falls down the boundary and not on Monastery lands. "Dorothea's going to be chatting with the new arrivals, so I'm hoping to play up how they'll be distracted to encourage Bern to eat dinner with us. I don't blame her for hiding, but I was hoping she'd have it easier with more housemates to rely on."

"Hubert was definitely not a good one to start with," Claude begins stirring his warm oatmeal, watching her closely. "Maybe we can meet a few today. Bernie- ugh, Bernadetta- she is okay with me, right?"

"She likes you," Leonie says after a bite. "It's still harder for her with males, but it's all good since you've been holding back for her."

Claude chokes a bit on his own bite. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Leonie smiles, tone bland. "So you haven't been making people cry with a bit of cold logic and biting remarks at lunch this past week? My mistake. Must have been another Claude."

"Well, there are two other Claude's signed up for our year," he says, smiling something sharp. "It's an honest mistake."

She levels him a look, smile growing wider, "Of course. Still, thank you for being kind and patient with Bernadetta. I am honestly worried about how school starting may undo her progress."

"I wouldn't worry about that," he stretches out, arms going behind his head as he kicks her under the table. Leonie rolls her eyes. "She's a lot stronger than you give her credit for."

"I know she is," Leonie chews another bite. Swallows and meets his eyes. "Do you think we can hold off on officially meeting the princess and her retainer? Like, maybe have them last? Or better to get it over with?"

Claude's laugh is filled with a bitterness she can't place. He goes back to toying with his food, "Most people would be jumping to meet them."

"I know you'll need to be introduced even-"

"Why do you say that?"

Leonie blinks at the interruption, watching as Claude's friendly yet cold stare cracks under her attention, "Claude… at this point you're inheriting the roundtable's only position that must directly deal with the Empire and Kingdom leaders. Wait, have you met Dimitri yet?"

He huffs, "Are you on first-name basis with His Royal Highness?"

"Yes?" Leonie freezes as Claude jerks upright, arms falling to either side of his bowl as his Crest flares. "He said to use it, but I'm not good at this whole royal thing so maybe I shouldn't? …Did Lysithea not tell you? We met and trained a bit with him and Dedue before the whole Hubert mess."

"No," Claude says with an eerie calm around him, body posture turning deceptively relaxed, "She didn't. What was he like?"

"Nice, I guess?" Leonie shrugs tucks the core away to feed the wildlife later. Pulls out an orange to throw Claude off whatever mood he's in. "We all shared training tips. Bernadetta trusts Dedue more than him, so Dimitri and I ended up showing disarming tactics since she wouldn't take any of his advice."

Claude's eyes leave the orange peels, real amusement coming and going in the green. The feeling of his Crest disappears, leaving an almost chill behind. "I guess we should say hi if we see them around. And the perfect chance to introduce Bernadetta to everyone would be at the course today."

"Ugh," Leonie tosses up her hands. "You know I'm helping Flayn today."

"Bring her along. The more the merrier."

Leonie goes to protest that she will be the one taking heat from Seteth for it, but there's a tap on her shoulder accompanied by, "Excuse me, but are you Leonie Pinelli?"

Claude's face reasserts to its friendly look as she turns. Deep bags under blue eyes stare her down. Leonie nods, uncertain, "Yes, that's me."

"Good," the green haired teen sighs. "I wish to request your services as a support item for the obstacle course health check substitution."

Leonie does a slow blink as she processes the very well-timed request. As much as she'd like to glare at Claude, an answer needs to be given, "Sure. Meet me on the field at nine."

"Excellent," he yawns. "My name is Linhardt. If I am not there, the other Red Eagles can find me."

The only reason Leonie doesn't snap is because the future academically high-ranked Linhardt calls them Red Eagles. Not even a pause in his words. It must be getting popular.

Speaking of, Leonie gives in and glares at her future house leader. Claude holds up his hands in surrender, light back in his eyes as he laughs, "I didn't know that was coming."

"Sure," Leonie drawls, stuffing her peels away. She goes to stand, but he waves her back down.

"I'm almost done. I'll help you take the trays."

Her eyes narrow, "Really?"

"Hey, I'm being honest here. No other motives but doing a nice deed."

Leonie sighs and settles back. "I'll see about getting Flayn down to watch."

Claude coughs, trying not to choke as his shoulders shake with laughter. "I was joking, but now I'm curious. How mad do you think Seteth will be?"

Leonie rolls her eyes. "Probably pretty upset, but whatever. She could do with some more human interaction."

2.

"Hello Leonie- oh! And Claude! How wonderful it is to see you again!"

"Hey, Flayn," he waves, strolling into the music room behind Leonie. Heir Riegan whistles as he looks around, "Nice place you've got here. How old are some of these?"

The greenette giggles, "Older than the students. Now, are you here to tune them with us?"

"Actually," Leonie twists her smile into a sorry one, folding in slightly, "we're here to ask if you want to come watch the obstacle course. I was asked this morning to be a support item again, and I don't have to because we already had plans to do this, but I thought-"

"Yes!" Flayn exclaims, placing her saxophone back in it's preservation stand. "I would love to come! We have already covered everything here." She laughs a bit, "Well, we barely even tune nowadays. And I have heard so many things about this course. Oh, I am so very much looking forward to seeing you participate!"

Leonie's smile grows, though Claude interrupts by wondering, "Why didn't you go last week?"

"Seteth requested I do not encourage this behaviour," Flayn smiles secretly, smoothing one bundle of curls, "and I told him I would not do so last week. However, seeing as this is a new week, his request is over and I can enjoy cheering on my student."

Claude shifts away his shock, Leonie snorting and explaining as she helps Flayn pack away, "I'm the student. Maybe I can get Linhardt to agree to join. He's who I'm helping out. I'll probably have to leave you and Claude with the others as soon as we make it to the field, Linhardt made it sound like he loses track of time often."

"Claude and I will be fine," Flayn assures. "I am looking forward to meeting others. Will the person you helped last week be there?"

"Bernadetta, yah, she will." Leonie brushes off her hands and makes an alright motion with an arm, "Thanks for coming, Flayn. And I'm really sorry for springing this on you."

"It is no problem," the Nabatean dazzles them both with her smile and her Crest's feeling of sunlight. "Truthfully, I have been wanting to do this for a while."

3.

"Excuse me."

Leonie turns from her search to the person right behind her. It's odd, she thinks, absolutely nothing about her appearance changing in the face of the person she's most conflicted about, that even in heels, I'm still taller than her. "How can I help you?"

The princess does nothing to hide her presence. In fact, her Crest – Crests, even though it only feels like one – strands are probably the strongest of the students. Her arm crosses her stomach and she does a small Empire bow as befitting her station, "I wish to apologize for Hubert's actions yesterday."

Leonie hums, rocking back on her heels to do a quick sweep. Hubert is at the start line with other future students, coiled to spring and watching them like a snake. Leonie folds her hands behind her back, smiling a bit more at the princess, "While I appreciate the thought, shouldn't Hubert be apologizing for Hubert?"

"It is noble etiquette," Linhardt says, practically sliding out of nowhere from between future students to stand off to the side of their discussion. "You apologize for those under you, implying you will be dealing with the punishment for their misbehaviour. Hello Edelgard."

"Linhardt," she greets warily.

"And I'm Leonie," she shrugs and jazz hands at their attention. "Commoner, so thanks for explaining that. I really hope the Officer's Academy has etiquette classes outside the club, or all this is going to fly over my head."

Edelgard forces a smile, "I am sure it will get easier over time."

"But before that," Linhardt plucks at Leonie's pristine white shirt, "we need to go sign in with Seteth."

The princess narrows her eyes, "Is this why you've been hiding from him?"

"Yes. That, and I wished to have a nap while I waited."

She huffs an aggravated breath, "Honestly, Linhardt, you can sleep after you have obtained your spot at the Academy. What would you have done if you had missed this?"

"Go next week." He tugs Leonie towards Seteth. "We can talk later. See you after this, Your Highness."

The few people pretending not to eavesdrop immediately turn and vie for Edelgard's attention. Leonie manages to slip a parting wave through the crowd before walking in step with the future Eagle, "So, how do you want to do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I carried a person through the course last time," Leonie eyes the long cloaks and robes he has layered on himself. She still aches, physically and in her magic stores, but it there is definitely enough on her to get him through around Bernadetta's time. However, "She was much smaller than you, but I can carry you too if need be." It would give her a reason to not overdo herself.

"I was expecting you to carry me throughout the whole course," he explains with a yawn.

"As long as you hold on," she gives a hard look, "which means staying awake. Are you narcoleptic?"

He frowns, eyebrows pinching, "What does that mean?"

"To really oversimplify, narcolepsy is having uncontrollable periods of falling asleep when you are supposed to be awake. Should I be worried you'll fall asleep halfway up the climbing wall, or will you awake enough to hold on the whole time?"

Linhardt stops to look at her for a long moment, an open and vulnerable expression on his young face, "Is that truly a thing?"

And Leonie, who knows how important explanations can be to the scientific minded, reaches up to give his shoulder a firm pat, "I know mental health isn't an open topic in Fódlan but yes, it is real. We can discuss it later, if you'd like. See if the symptoms sound familiar?"

He clears his throat, "Yes, I would like that. Thank you, Ms. Pinelli."

Leonie makes a face, this time tugging him to get moving towards Seteth, "Please just call me Leonie."

"Ah, then I see no reason why you should not call me Linhardt."

4.

Leonie stumbles as a sharp puff flicks against her skin, followed by a softer alert press. The latter puff isn't common, but she's used to the feeling of her roommates letting others in. She feels it every time Dorothea eats with them.

It's the sharp one that worries her, that she can't check up on in the middle of the obstacle course. It means that someone has just broken in and entered her room.

"Are you alright?" Linhardt asks next to her ear.

Leonie adjusts her grip on his legs, shooting a grin, "Fine, just a misstep."

And it's the only one as she puts it out of her mind. Leonie has a life to live, she'll go to the room when the day's ending. If it's that much of a problem, the day will begin again and she'll feel it. Besides, it's not like the intruders can take anything. Anything in the room can only leave via the owner's hands.

They pass the finish line far past the others, even beating out the princess who tried her best to keep up. Seteth glares daggers at Leonie and – if Linhardt was awake enough to pick up on it – dares them with his eyes to feel his passive aggressive wrath by going over to Flayn.

Leonie does, helping Linhardt along just until the greenette runs up to gush. Leonie startles a little, but squeezes the Nabatean's hands back from where they're clasped together.

"Linhardt," is the whine that interrupts the praises. "Come on, man, you said you were going to do the course."

"And I did," Linhardt says with all the smugness he can muster. "Leonie and, er, Flayn, was it?"

"Yes," Flayn does a little curtsy. "And you are Linhardt."

"This is Caspar von Bergliez."

"Nice to meet you," Leonie frees a hand to wave.

"Um, yah. You two too." Caspar blinks between them, seemingly unaware of Claude, Bernadetta, and Lysithea looming behind him. "Wait, you're the one with the record for the course."

"That's our Leonie," Claude says, lackadaisical grin turning smug when the light blue haired teen jumps. "Though, officially, Lysithea is the one who's finished fastest. This is her, by the way. I'm Claude von Riegan, and I'm guessing you already know Bernadetta."

Caspar gapes at the mop of purple hair for a moment, meanwhile Flayn swings her and Leonie's joined hand. Finally, he asks, "Bernadetta, is that really you?"

"H-hi Caspar…"

"A pleasure to see you as well," Linhardt nods, practically slumped on Leonie. Bernadetta squeaks. It's about then the air goes a few notches colder and Leonie turns, deftly tucking Flayn behind her and letting Linhardt blink away his dozing at the shoulder switch.

"Hi there," Leonie grins as though nothing is wrong. As though Bernadetta isn't making herself as small as possible behind Claude and Lysithea. As though she doesn't feel surrounded. Waves a free hand with a chuckle, "I feel like we need a rollcall. I'm Leonie. Nice to meet you all."

"Hello," bows the orange haired teen with a friendly face. Everyone – even the gloom cloud on the other side of the princess – has a face that makes hearts melt. Leonie thinks this is very unfair and is only partially glad she gets time to get used to them without Dorothea blinding her. "My name is Ferdinand von Aegir, heir of House Aegir."

"Hubert von Vestra," is practically spat at them.

"And I am Edelgard von Hresvelg, the next Emperor of the Adrestian Empire," there's a look of barely held back frowning aimed at them all, "a pleasure."

"Claude von Riegan," said teen puts his hands behind his head, looking positively relaxed. With her Danger Sense pinging, Leonie doesn't feel safe enough to full look and fully see what he holds in and around his eyes, "heir to House Riegan. Glad to make your acquaintance."

Edelgard smiles with polite surprise, "And to you."

"Lysithea von Ordelia," comes the disgusted voice of one tired of all the politicking. "Everyone here knows Bernadetta, so yes you can keep hiding."

There's a soft, "Thank you."

"Linhardt von Hevring," he says between a yawn.

"Again, hi, I'm Caspar von Bergliez-"

Flayn pops out from behind Leonie to smile and greet the newcomers, "And I'm-"

"Flayn!"

The Nabatean sighs and shouts back, "Coming, brother!" Unlaces their hand to do a quick Empire bow. "It was wonderful meeting you all!"

Before the silence can settle, Leonie raises her hands in a defenceless gesture, "Anyone want to go for another breakfast? I'm starving."

5.

"The food is very not like that of Brigid," Petra says from across the table.

Leonie hums, swallowing her chuck of meat, "If you would like, I can search for some plants or animals and we can make a meal together."

Dark magenta eyes widen, excited, "I would like that very much."

Claude leans over, grinning at them, "Can I join for that?"

"Yes, yes," Petra clasps her hands together, enthusiasm really making her young age stand out, "We shall make a feast! Food in Brigid is no good enjoyed alone."

"Sounds good to me!" Leonie beams, inwardly groaning at the thought of cooking. "Bernadetta? Lysithea? You want in?"

"S-sure..."

"Yah, I'll be there."

"I'll make sure to hunt lots then," Leonie flips open her bag to quickly grab some scrap paper and a pen. "Petra? What should I look for?"

While she's taking notes, Leonie overhears Edelgard comment, "You all seem very close."

Leonie has done a good job deflecting most of the probing sentences the three new Eagle nobles have thrown at Claude, especially with how he very discreetly always seems to end up closer to Petra, Bernadetta, or Lysithea. The future Golden Deer made sure to flank him when sitting, guided by Leonie to sit with the lone future Eagle in the dining hall. Bernadetta, of course, opted for the open spot next to Leonie, even though it meant facing a stranger.

Leonie's proud of her.

"I wouldn't know about very close," Claude laughs it off, leaning back with arms crossing behind his head, "but you ride in a carriage with someone enough times, you get to know each other."

"Fascinating," Edelgard's sharp look turns to the giggles at how much Petra and Ferdinand insist they stock up on. "Leonie, you said you are a commoner, correct?"

"That's right," she twirls the pen between her fingers, smile easy as she imagines it going through an eye socket. "Small town girl, living in a lonely world. I wanted to see what else was out there, so I scraped up enough to pay tuition and here I am."

"Who is your sponsor?"

At that, Leonie laughs. "You know commoners just need a sponsor to cut the costs, right? They aren't needed to get admission into the classes. When I say I scraped everything, I mean it. Saved every coin I could get my hands on."

Hubert's lips curl into a mocking smile, "Surely you don't expect to get into the dedicated class. There has never been a commoner in there without a recommendation before."

While Leonie has a split-second thought about jabbing a fork into his hand, Claude gives a show of support by tapping her foot under the table. She does not look over, just keeps smiling serenely, "Who doesn't want to be apart of that class? Shoot for the moon, land amongst the stars and all that."

Hubert frowns, Edelagard tilts her head, and Ferdinand asks, "What do you mean?"

Leonie gives the full saying, Petra exclaiming that she likes it.

"I do too," Claude supports it, arms folding on the table. "That one of the ones you taught the kids at your village?"

"Well, I did have to learn the night sky in case I ever got lost."

That dissolves into a conversation with Petra, comparing names and stories for constellations, promising to do star gazing together one night. Leonie is feeling vaguely impressed, resolving to spend time with the more impressionable, younger princess when she can. If she can get another language out of it, even better.

6.

After dropping Lysithea and Bernadetta back in their room – after doing the quickest and most thorough sweep she can unnoticed, finding nothing out of the ordinary – Leonie's a bit surprised when Claude follows her towards the stables.

"I know we see each other everyday," she admits, although not the completely correct reason, "but I do miss sharing a room with Hilda and Marianne. Though I'm sure Penelope and Lauza are better roommates for Hilda; more people to trade gossip with."

"I'm sure you were a fine roommate," his tone says he's laughing at her, even if he's doing that innocent façade. "Poor Marianne is probably overwhelmed without Lysithea, though."

Leonie's next words are swallowed by an explosion. She jerks her head towards the sound, yelping and readjusting her feet as the ground shakes. Only when it's over, does she see Claude's hand above her wrist, distantly realizing that even with muscles giving her some buff, she's gotten thinner than she'd care to acknowledge.

"What was that?" Leonie hisses, carefully straightening.

"No idea," Claude frowns in thought, watching with her as smoke rises in the distance. "You start rounding up-"

"Hey, whoa, no," Leonie puts a stop to that. "I'm faster than you. I can make it over there-"

"No," and there's a pause. Even Claude seems surprised at how pleading that sounded, though he recovers fast, a nervous determination setting over him, "We stay here, then. Make sure the students are accounted for and not getting in the way."

"Alright," Leonie nods slowly, curiosity fading as his Crest tries to smother her. She gently shakes the clasped arm, drawing his attention to it. "I'm right here. Won't be going anywhere without you."

He lets out a breath and releases, stepping back, "Thank you." Eyes the students slowly pouring from the dorms, "Let's go make sure no one else runs off."

"You got it, boss."

7.

Leonie takes in a shaky breath, dread treading through her veins, "The sauna blew up?"

"Well, the pipes did," Ignatz fidgets under her stare. She's getting a few looks from their dinner table. "And since it's such specialized craftmanship, no one knows when it will get fixed. It could be months to years."

Leonie jerks back as if hit. Then groans and pushes her plate away, crossing her arms and laying her head down. It's her own fault for never trying it. "I was looking forward to it so badly."

Lorenz very hesitantly pats her shoulder. Raphael's not as caring for the rules of society, reaching across the table to ruffle her hair, "No need to worry! I'm sure we'll have a mission to somewhere with a hot spring! There's always a few every year."

"You mean if politics aren't messy during the year," Lysithea snipes from Leonie's other side. The young woman groans. "Oh, quit complaining. I didn't get to go in either."

There's a whisper following that on the other side of Lorenz, "…it was nice."

"Marianne," Leonie feigns an attack, clutching her chest. "Is it better to have done it and lost it, or to have never gone in the sauna at all?"

That gets giggles. Lorenz rolls his eyes, "If you are quite finished, Leonie, we have other matters to attend to. Who is going to watch the lance tournament?"

"Me," Leonie replies immediately, waving as Claude and Hilda take the free seats on the other side of the bench.

When no one else commits, Lorenz sighs, "I am as well, along with Tristen and Gregory. This will be a good time to get to know our other classmates."

Leonie chuckles at the nervous glances being shared by the others, "I do know our other classmates. Not like it's hard, with fourteen of us."

"I am not here to make friends," Lysithea spits, offhandedly trying to soften the blow with, "that is only a bonus if it happens."

Before Lorenz can snap back, Hilda breaks in, "Speaking of our friends, have any of you seen Monica this afternoon."

Leonie freezes. Puts her food back down and answers 'no' with the rest of them. Dots are connecting.

Morning déjà vu.

Someone broke into our room.

Afternoon explosion.

If Edelgard's uncle has any kind of adult life, he'll be leaving tomorrow now that his niece has her spot confirmed.

Leonie doesn't regret it, but she does feel her mood dampen a little further. Now that she doesn't have to worry about that, there are two options. Wait until the Librarian gets too busy to keep an eye out or start hunting down spots to halt Jeralt's murder now. It would be less suspicious with access to the second floor, even better if she can wait until after the Death Knight is gone too. Unfortunately, she can't remember when it happens, and the thought of cutting it close makes her insides curl.

"Maybe she's in the infirmary with a few other shocked students," Claude offers.

Lorenz adds, "I heard a few have decided to return home now. The stress of what they've done throughout the year, in addition to the exams, have left them unfit to continue."

"Yah," Hilda dejectedly spoons her meal. "Maybe you're right."

8.

Lysithea stops on the grass, feet away from the building. Leonie turns from her half-step, tilting her head with the bit of curiosity, more hesitance, and readjusting her grip on the tray for Bernadetta's dinner, "What's up?"

Lysithea clenches her fists. Takes a few breaths, "We need to talk. Tomorrow. A picnic in the greenhouse."

When no more is said, Leonie nods a bit slow, "That sounds nice. Do they allow them?"

"Yes," Lysithea bites out. "I asked. I'll bring the blanket; you bring the food."

At that, Leonie laughs, "Isn't the person inviting supposed to bring the food."

"It's not like you can't feed us."

"True." She waits for Lysithea to open the door. "Do you want to tell me what you want to talk about?"

"No. I still need to find the words."

Leonie nods again. "Okay."

"That's it?"

"Take all the time you need?"

Lysithea throws her hands up. "Ugh!"

Leonie shrugs behind her back. Danger Sense isn't pinging, which means no threat on her life. One of the few good things about not emoting strongly but remembering how it goes means the young woman's confident she can handle whatever Lysithea throws her way.

In her time chatting with the girls before bed, Leonie forgets something important.

9.

Leonie wakes up from Danger Sense going haywire a moment before an awful crack echoes through the room.

The stone bed above hers drops an inch before freezing, hitting an invisible shield meant to stop exactly this. Under the ward holding all noise inside its constraints, Leonie curses, "I knew it!"

She rolls out of bed and does a quick check. Everyone is still asleep. The sound wards are doing their job. Leonie's indignation quickly fades when she gets a good look at the fallen bunkbed. A perfect incision between bed and wall, as if it had been sheared in one motion. A magical occurrence.

Leonie curses inside her head this time. She had meant to check for magical interference once everyone was asleep. Whoever had cast on the bed had meant to kill her.

Or…

Leonie rushes over to the other end of the room, sighing when she cannot detect anything cast to kill Aurora. She's the only unlucky one, but she can't think of why. If they had gone after her instead of Monica, maybe she could understand the underhanded assassination attempt. If she wasn't so paranoid about her sleeping state, they would have killed her by using a point where the wards do not reach.

This is going to involve some creativity to pick out the loopholes without her roommates knowing. She'll work on it the next night, but for now no one comes and goes in the room. Leonie feels exhausted activating the emergency wards, practically throwing herself back into bed as her fingers heal. There, she comes face-to-face with the original problem.

While she might not be earth-magic – solid magics – inclined, this will be easier than rearranging the doorways to the pockets of dirt she's looted from around the Monastery. Leonie presses a hand into the stone wall, stiffening as solely her magic activates and spreads up through the stone. Her fingertips dent into the wall as stone shifts, pressing outward and reattaching the bunkbed until Danger Sense quits pinging.

The leftover magic snaps off and returns, buzzing in her chest as Leonie slumps back, fingers jolting away from the wall. She tries to breathe through the extra energy, calm it down and go back to sleep. Easier said than done, her mind whirling with theories.

The déjà vu ended when she was chatting with Claude, though it seems extremely unlikely they attacked her in the cafeteria. It would have made more sense to go after her when she was alone.

Which, Leonie realizes, I wasn't. Not once after my morning walk, not even going to the washroom.

She spent the better part of the morning around Edelgard. If anything would have happened to her, it should have been around then.

So, why redo the earlier part of the morning?

Like save scumming, whatever happened didn't go their way… so the sauna blew up?

But why not do the same for the Chalice?

Her head hurts with too many variables, too many guesses. Leonie's missing something again, and she doesn't appreciate the feeling. A part of her is relieved they likely went after Monica. It means at least part of her knowledge is still valid, and Leonie isn't positive she could have held them off if they had gone for her. She's still recovering from the battle for Yuri's team.

The cruel, survivor part of her hopes Monica really was taken. A terrible better her than me and not a single thing I've done has changed main events.

A part of Leonie hates herself for it. Still, she can sleep at night.

10.

L,

What do you mean my daughter's there? How would you even know what she looks like? I don't even know what she looks like. I'm following up on this information elsewhere, but I am really curious on why you think that.

How has life been recently? I made sure C gets the pleasure of writing reports for his superior about all his classmates. It is great practice for the future. I am curious what he will write for all of you, and if anything you say will match what he tells me.

In case my next letter does not reach you in time for the placement exams, good luck. I know you won't need it. A reminder: there is always a place for you in my ranks if you find classes are below your level.

I hope are taking care. To answer your question from before: yes, it does all go to him. I know he keeps it for about a month, but no idea where it goes after that. If you try to get some, don't get caught. Maybe share it, help everyone build tolerance in against the good stuff.

If anyone asks, I know nothing.

G

A/N: A lot of things fall into place, some more literally than others.

Thanks for reading! A really big thank you to Xekinor, xenocanaan, guisniperman, Guest number 720, HersheyBby, JoshuaFangurl, and Eclipse130 for reviewing! The support truly means a lot!

Last chapter's big fight took place in the Holy Mausoleum. Can't reveal much, but Leonie's unreliable narrator is showing.

I really enjoy reading people's thoughts and theories, and I'm really glad the story seems to be well-received. Thank you all so much.

Only a few more students left to introduce.

Thanks again for reading. I hope everyone is well and has a great day! Please take care