Chapter 121: It went well.
Lysithea pressed her hand against her forehead.
It was still rather tender to the touch, she thought the bruise would be ugly and obvious enough that anyone would notice. Though she was not so far from the lands of lucidity that she would allow herself to be treated like some child who had bumped their knee.
She would, however, accept healing.
Either for herself or for anyone else around her at the moment, not because of some greater care but because listening to how Hilda cracked her nail and all the complaints that would come of that action for another dozen more times would make her wish that her Teacher had instead knocked her into a coma rather than unconscious.
Hand still pressed to her forehead, she turned her eyes onto the still complaining girl who was now waving her 'damaged' hand into the face of Von Riegan who had this strange sort of vacant look.
If Lysithea were to guess, he had stopped paying attention to Hilda some minutes ago and was just content to let her air all of her worries out.
…Was it wrong that she was envious of such a thing? Because it was a talent that she felt she could certainly do with at this moment.
Trying to distract herself from the continued complaints of Hilda and her nails, Lysithea instead glanced about the camp - makeshift that it was - and furrowed her brows in search of any sign of movement. She did not imagine they would linger in this place for much longer, with the battle concluded, then they would be finished and head back to the Monastery for what she hoped would be some rest.
Not for too long though.
She still needed more practice and she wasn't sure if Goetia would put the lessons on hold to grant them some recovery, but she did not believe he would.
…The battle had shown that she still needed some more training at least.
"Oooof."
She jolted at the sound, turning her head and widening her eyes.
When did he…?
Dimitri adjusted himself on the log he had just lowered himself down onto, dropping his hands onto his knees with a clap, face set in some small strain before it evened out. He turned and looked down to what he sat upon before grunting to himself in a rather amused tone of voice.
"I recall the logs being harder to sit upon, mayhaps it is just the ones where I grew up that were rougher? Tell me, are the longs in the Kingdom uncomfortable?"
Lysithea blinked, then she blinked once more.
She would have gone for a third blink, save for the fact that Dimitri rather suddenly frowned at her and reached across towards her face, she could not move for the shock of the action, nor when he took hold of the wrist of the hand still raised to her temples and pulled it aside.
His eyes squinted and he hummed.
"Far from the worst strike I have ever seen, I shall admit. Though a nasty blow all the same…"
His lips quirked up into a trace of a smile. "A rather tough skull you have there, or impressive nerves. I suspect many others would still be complaining of the pain that followed them around from taking such a blow to the head."
The moment caught up with her, she swiftly pulled her hand free, made all the easier when he released her, and drew her hand close to herself, staring with wide eyes at the Prince. Words could not describe exactly what she was supposed to be feeling at this moment, a rush of confusion, indignation and…something else that she could not quite name, loathe as she was to admit it.
"...Come to gloat?"
Dimitri looked slightly hurt by the accusation. "You truly do not think so little of me, do you?"
Lysithea cringed for a moment then shook her head. "Do not look so wounded, it as if I just insulted a child…"
"Ah, a jest then? My mistake."
It wasn't quite a jest either, it was the first thing that had popped into her mind.
"...Congratulations are in order."
"Thank you." A nod back to her with an earnest smile. "Though…I cannot claim to be wholly responsible for the victory. In fact, had it not been for the inadvertent actions of Goetia, we might not have been able to claim such a victory. It was a rather close thing even towards the end…numbers were our only ally."
Lysithea furrowed her brows and turned on him, "Inadvertent? How?"
"A minor trick he taught Mercedes in passing proved itself to be key to our victory. I suspect he himself did not even realise until it was already in use…Though I will avoid thanking him to his face, I suspect he would think me trying to mock him or make light of the efforts of Mercedes."
Lysithea would argue against the former of those two points, but she could agree to the latter. Though it was a curious thing to consider, she did not know of what trick that Mercedes had been taught, but the knowledge was…she was content with the knowledge of what happened, perhaps.
"What of you? I assume you fought Goetia."
She winced and looked down.
Horror surged through her for a brief moment as her mind conjured the rather foul image of what she had done in the seconds before she had been swiftly defeated. To the outside world, she merely nodded her head slowly.
But she could not hide her expression and she was sure Dimitri had now noticed it.
"Fret not. I am certain you managed to achieve the best result possible and he cannot fault you for that."
"I know that." She snapped back, then cringed in guilt at the flash of confusion in the face of the Prince. A sharp exhale and then a turn of the head. "...He said to me that I had done well enough."
Her hands bunched up.
"...I did not want to do well enough, I wanted to…"
"Well enough." A low murmur, she glanced at Dimitri as he crossed his hands over and leaned forwards, an odd expression on his face. Ponderous and understanding. "I find that those words can be as much a curse as they can be a praise. It very much depends on the time and the place…but well enough carries the implication that one could have done more, does it not?"
That was…
Yes.
That was it.
"I did…want to win." She admitted, the way her voice shifted as she spoke annoyed her. As if the confession was unclean in some way, or infantile. She had not thought it was, but it sounded like whining to her. That because she did not win she was now going to mope and sulk about it. "I wasn't sure that I would but all the same…I did want to win."
"If you're not going into a situation like this with the hope that you're going to claim victory, then there is little point in you being there in the first place."
Her eyes darted to the prince as he hummed.
"There are other reasons, I can admit. To build bonds of trust on the battlefield or to test yourself against a certain individual, but if you do not hold some level of desire for a victory…either for yourself or on behalf of another, then you are doing everyone a disservice."
Turning, the Prince smiled lightly.
"You should not feel ashamed for this admission, it is a thing that everyone feels when they are met with a setback or a defeat. I do not doubt that there are those in the Black Eagles who feel much the same way…I can certainly say that I am sure Edelgard feels as such."
It felt a little easier now, but it was still how it would sound if it came from her, even if others felt the same. Though perhaps she should just not say it outside of those who would understand? Yes, a solution.
Lysithea exhaled and slumped her shoulders, "This has been…a rather tiring experience."
Dimitri just chuckled. "I believe that is a sentiment shared by many at the moment. Including myself…though…I did hear a rather curious rumour afloat from some of the Golden Deer as I entered this little section."
She angled her head and scoffed. "I would have thought you to hold more sense than to pay attention to rumours and gossip. It only serves to diminish yourself."
"Yes, I am aware of the allure of gossip…but there is something else about it that caught me so thoroughly by surprise that I could not help but ask."
Raising a brow, she levelled him with a bemused expression and awaited the question. Yet there was something about his face, something that looked to almost be on the verge of laughter that sent warnings shooting off through her mind, red flags raised high and…
Suddenly she was struck with a cold clarity.
Gossip and rumours, then with the expression on the prince's face?
There was only one thing that he could be getting ready to ask her.
"...Did you truly kick Goetia in the loins?"
Lysithea kept herself very silent and slowly turned her head away from the blonde, choosing not to answer the question could well be considered an answer unto itself. Yet she wasn't prepared to lie to his face about it because he would doubtless find out some other method, which he clearly already had.
He just wanted her to say it.
"...I was not thinking clearly at the time."
"... Snrk."
Her eyes narrowed to slits and heat burst across her face, rising from her neck all the way up to her cheeks. Whipping her head towards the blonde and glaring at him for daring to laugh. He was hunched over forwards, right hand pressed against his mouth to stifle the laughter which was already spilling from between his fingers.
Dimitri's eyes met hers and the muffled cackling intensified, his head sharply turned away and from her line of sight.
Lysithea felt a combination of being mortified and being furious.
"Stop laughing!" She hissed, leaning forwards and around to try and muster a glare towards his face. "T-this is not funny! I acted like a fool and struck him in a place that should not have been struck-you're still laughing about it!? It isn't funny!"
Dimitri had raised both hands to hide his face completely, still the laughter echoed out leaving little to the imagination as to how loud it might have been if he were to let it spill out freely.
But it was loud enough.
She looked away from him and cast a disparaging glare towards the camp, only to freeze when she saw that most of her classmates now had their attention fixed firmly on the pair of them.
"Stop!" Lysithea whipped around to Dimitri and hissed at him again. "I demand you stop laughing this instant! You are making a scene with everyone and embarrassing yourself! This is beneath you for goodness sake!"
He was still laughing, if her face felt any hotter than she feared she might burst into flames on the spot.
Once more, she turned to the side.
Von Riegan and Hilda were staring at her now, the latter with wide eyes and clear shock.
But only for a moment.
Then Hilda's face split into a wide grin and she clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes gleaming with some sort of promise for a later conversation. Or perhaps a demand, but Lysithea could not imagine a more terrible fate to occur to her. For Hilda to drag her aside for such talks about boys and the like, because that is what the girl would do.
She had no doubt about it.
But Hilda being Hilda was expected.
It was nothing compared with the smirk on the lips of Von Riegan and the glint in his eyes which was so very much like a cat eager to pounce on some hapless mouse.
A worst case scenario indeed.
Unless she left.
Yes.
That was what she would do.
Lysithea shot to her feet and hung her head low, shadowing her face with her hair in the hopes it would hide away her shame and immediately charged forwards, marching past the still laughing fool and past the gawking crowd of spectators. She had not gone through all of this effort to be turned into some jester for-
"Gugh!?"
She ran headfirst into something and staggered back, her eyes whipped up with the words already spilling out.
"Watch where you're-"
Her jaw snapped shut.
The head which once dominated her face abruptly fled away and she felt nothing but the cold grip of dread and shame.
Oh, the embarrassment lingered, but it was now a creeping chill.
Red eyes stared down at her without even an ounce of emotion, then a single brow cocked upwards.
Goetia stepped around her, she followed his movements like a hawk as he stopped just over her shoulder and slowly looked around. There was something horrifying about the casual movements, she imagined it was akin to someone surveying the damage of some terrible accident before giving a report.
He turned and his eyes lingered on Dimitri who had now fallen into a wheeze.
Lysithea felt her face heat up once again.
"...I see defeat has not stolen your merriment…Yet perhaps that is to be expected from the Golden Deer. Rather, I would have been marginally disappointed if I was to come to this place and find that you were beside yourselves with upset and shame."
Von Riegan was on his feet quickly, the smile remained on his face.
"Why, Sparkles, that just sounds like you wanted to make sure we were still in high spirits!"
"That is what I said, is it not?" Goetia replied back with the expected exhaustion. "Or rather, that is what I expected from you. Whether it is what I wanted is not what we are here to discuss, is it?"
"Don't worry, I know what you mean."
Dead silence.
Then, "I am of the impression that you truly do not…but you can hold that delusion if you wish, Von Riegan."
Von Riegan chuckled at that and shook his head, stepping forwards and placing his hands on his hips. "Still, I'll have to pass along my congratulations to the Black Eagles for beating us…you as well. Not sure what you did to them but I'm almost tempted to ask for the same treatment in the future-"
Lysithea internally clicked her tongue, he was already asking for favours-
"Of course."
And naturally her Teacher would…wait…what?
Von Riegan was clearly surprised as well, his face locked up and then shifted into a hint of shock. "And-...wait, you agreed?"
"Were you expecting me to decline?"
Lysithea was.
"Do you concern yourself, Von Riegan." Goetia turned towards him and levelled the boy with a perfectly blank face. "If you wish to receive the same treatment as the Black Eagles, then I shall offer it to you. It would, after all, be against my role as a lecturer to offer preferential treatment for one class above another…at least at this point. Though it would be something to be discussed with Manuela."
"...I'm scared now."
Goetia tilted his head. "For what reason should you be afraid? I have yet to do anything to warrant this fear. Does my finally agreeing to one of your invasive demands truly need such an emotional response?"
Stepping back, Von Riegan raised his fingers and pointed at Goetia. "See, that's right there. You agreed way too quickly…So I'm going to assume that it's actually super tough and a bit violent for us."
"...It is challenging."
"...Lets talk about it another time, alright?"
Goetia hummed but did not seem to be at all put off by the clear retreat of Von Riegan's stance. "If you wish. Though the option will remain open so long as Manuela is content to give her assent…Rather, it is fortunate that you have the physician as your Professor. It makes for efficient time management…And less work on my part."
Lysithea had to roll her lips to avoid the little bit of glee she felt as she watched Von Riegan look close to paling before he chuckled, albeit rather nervously, and turned his head. Scratching at the back of his neck.
"...You really know how to scare people, huh Sparkles?"
"It is not my intention to spread fear." Goetia rebuked. "It is merely your response to the words that I have. You make yourselves afraid."
"...That is certainly an opinion to hold."
"Was there some pressing issue upon your mind or does this stand as the extent of your words to me?"
Shaking his head, Von Riegan stepped back and held up his hands in surrender. "Nope, that was about it. I'll leave you to whatever it is you came to do…Unless you came here to boast in which case I'll beg you to not kick us while we're down, but somehow I think you'd consider something like that to be beneath you."
Goetia grunted and turned away, moving off from the teen without even a word.
It wasn't until he was facing her that she realised that he had turned himself to focus on her once more, she found herself caught between locking up on the spot and turning to flee, she very much doubted he had forgotten quite what she had done to him during the battle and it was something she did not wish to speak of.
A glance to the left revealed that Dimitri had finally gotten a grip on his emotions and was looking on with a mixture of interest and still infuriating mirth. She met his eyes and sent him a baleful glare with as much anger as she could muster.
Unfortunately, he was undaunted by it and kept the expression fixed on his face.
"Hmmm?"
She stopped at the noise of interest, swiftly bringing her eyes back to Goetia to avoid giving the impression she was ignoring him, because that would have been grossly disrespectful, only to find that he was glancing between her and Dimitri with some veiled interest, or curiosity.
It was a look that very much made her feel exposed, an urge to break into a conversation and turn his interest away from whatever he might have been mistakenly assuming was happening between herself and the Prince.
They were friends and she needed not his mind being poisoned by stray gossip from Von Riegan.
"I was unaware of this interaction between the two of you. A recent development or…? No, it is hardly my place. Ignore this line of inquiry if you feel the need to do so."
Or perhaps she didn't need to do anything because Goetia decided it was none of his business, or perhaps he did not care.
She wasn't sure which was better or worse.
Lysithea cleared her throat and stood straight, or as best as she could manage, and fixed her teacher with a stoic expression. It was as best she could manage, but it fell short when his eyes fixed themselves upon her with intensity once more, the crimson orbs flickered over her face and landed just above her eyes.
His expression was…odd.
A twinge of distaste, but it lasted only a moment.
"I shall assume you have already had your injuries examined by the healers of the camp?"
She nodded her head. "I told them to attend to the more wounded first before they deal with me. I can handle some mild discomfort."
"I would consider a head wound to be more concerning than a bruise on the leg or a cut on the arm."
It was at those words where she found her eyes drawn unconsciously towards his own arm and the bandage which was wrapped around it, visible just under the sleeve of the dull brown robe. It was almost nostalgic to see him adorned in such plain attire once again, though she hardly expected him to wear his proper robes during a battle such as this.
She was similarly wearing simple garbs which could be disposed of or repaired with ease and without great cost.
Goetia brought up his left arm, revealing more of the bandages. "Case in point. Though in my particular instance…I should have attended to the collapsed lung-"
"The what?"
"-before I began coughing blood, but it was a trivial matter I could deal with."
Was he going to just ignore what he just said then?
"Are you alright?" It was a rush of words she blurted out, uncaring as to whether he was still speaking and loud enough to stop him. Goetia went silent for a moment, then lowered the arm and gave a single nod of the head.
"The lung has been healed on account of the Archbishop seeing fit to personally wander the camp and do the work of the healers. Much to the mild irritation of Flayn, but that is neither here nor there."
Lysithea blinked slowly.
Her head tilted to one side.
"The Archbishop herself came over to heal you?"
"She did."
"...I see."
Lysithea slowly nodded her head up and down, with few other thoughts circulating through her mind at that moment. She glanced to the left in order to see whether anyone else had heard these words, or whether she was merely imagining things.
The bewildered blinking on the face of Dimitri and the sight of Von Riegan biting his lip to avoid laughing was tragic proof that she was not mistaken.
"That is good." She continued on, lips rolled inwards. "If the Archbishop herself is healing you, then you are in for a speedy recovery."
"It would have been faster still had I deigned to do it myself, but it was a personal choice to heal as the rest of you would be forced to do so."
At those words, she frowned. "Does that not place yourself in unneeded pain?"
Goetia raised a brow at her, she winced and cleared her throat.
"Respectfully speaking, I mean. If you have the means to heal yourself instantly, then why would you sit through the misery of recovery and, from your own words, a rather grievous wound."
"...It was a whim and nothing more, give no further thought towards it."
…Because he felt like it?
Lysithea was privately considering whether Catherine had struck him in the head one too many times, but she was not going to say that aloud.
Despite how much she wanted to.
And she really wanted to.
"But this is not why I have come and shall set those matters aside."
Goetia announced, silencing her thoughts and bidding her attention, he marched right past her and to the log where Dimitri sat, giving the Prince barely a glance as he turned and sat himself down beside the blonde.
Lysithea found herself unsure whether it was akin to tunnel vision or something else which caused him to ignore the prince, but she was too focused on the conversation they were about to have and the one the prince was now privy to. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped at the pointed look from Goetia.
"Your performance during the mock battle was commendable. The usage of runes to construct explosive traps was unorthodox and the praise extends to you as well, Pinelli."
His voice carried across the camp and his head turned towards the ginger girl, she perked up a little and looked over towards him with a flash of surprise.
"I will not hesitate to admit that I underestimated your proficiency in magical matters, you guarded your progress well from my knowledge. Though now that I have the awareness of it, I expect you to make regular appearances during my lectures. It is clear you have a talent for…inspired magical theory."
Leonie made a curious face at that, furrowing her brows a little before she made a small noise of surprise. "What does that mean?"
Goetia looked at her fully.
"It means that the work I set for you in the future will compliment your skills. Either in hunting or tracking. I shall assume that these specific paths are where you would find yourself interested? Bear in mind that they include the establishment of traps and improvements to physical capabilities."
Leonie continued her blank expression.
"He means-"
Lysithea did not scream, no matter what anyone would admit.
What she did was alert people to the mysterious appearance of the unnamed man who decided to speak right behind her, pushing herself into a short jump and whirling around to face the…that was just a regular knight.
Where did he come from?
The knight winced and looked rather apologetic. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Lady Ordelia-"
"I wasn't scared!"
…It sounded incredulous to her own ears and brought terrible thoughts of how it must have looked and sounded to everyone else.
The knight maintained his grimace before he looked past her and towards Leonie once again. "Goetia just means that you'll be good at hunting and better at fighting or tackling animals and people."
"Oh. Yeah, that sounds pretty interesting actually. A magic I could probably understand a lot better than the little scratches."
Lysithea felt her eye twitch at the manner the runes were described as.
They were a tiny bit more than chicken scratches.
"Scratches." Goetia flatly retorted, echoing her own thoughts aloud before he glanced back at her. "Yes. The scratches. Though it should go without saying I expect the same level of proficieny from you in this matter than I would from any other."
His left hand rose up, now pointed squarely at her.
"As for you…As I said before, it was an intriguing usage of the rescue spell to position me upon a collection of runes. Though there were several other areas you might have improved in. The combination of runes was problematic, it could have been improved if you had positioned several gravity runes to increase the weight of the target, in this case myself."
Lysithea blinked only once before she cupped her chin and pondered on the words, aware that he might have wished to continue speaking - and she did not intend to ignore him - but the implications of what he suggested were too key to ignore.
A mental curse fired through her head as she realised that he was quite right, if she had applied runes to increase gravity, then she could have subdued him further with surprise allowing for the detonation of spells to not only actually injure him, but to also keep the damage more contained.
"I can see that hindsight has lent you its wisdom."
She winced and slowly nodded her head.
"Good." Goetia rose up from his seated position. "That you have so quickly devised methods of improving this trap is proof of your intelligence. Though it would have been better to consider such things before, it is no matter. The trap served its purpose and would have been successful against any other you used it upon. I was uniquely suited for enduring it more than they were."
Lysithea hummed and then sighed. "Yes, in truth even as I constructed it, I was unsure as to whether it would have been enough to defeat you."
"Hmph. You place me in a conundrum."
The admission had her momentarily stumped, her eyes met his own and she found herself puzzled by whatever he was saying next.
With features tight, he raised his lone hand to pinch his chin, brows furrowed further than before and his focus briefly broke away from her.
"I might either criticise you for a lack of confidence in your own designs, or praise you for not being arrogant enough to believe that a first attempt at this mechanism, regardless of how ingenious it was, would have been enough to defeat me…"
He grunted, removing the hand from himself.
"Maybe you should-"
She did not scream at the interruption of the knight this time.
But she did flinch.
She had forgotten he was even there in the first place, her eyes whipped around onto him and levelled a rather irritated look his way, at least for a few moments, then quickly pulled her gaze away before she revealed she had been caught by surprise once again.
"Sorry."
A twitch of the eye once more as the knight somehow managed to see what she had done.
"But maybe you should just tell her to have a bit more confidence but to temper it with realism? That's what we do."
The knight gestured to himself.
"When I fought the Professor-"
"You did what."
His voice came out flat, his eyes whipped around and his expression was void of any emotion.
Somehow, that was perhaps the most intimidating part of all. She took a step away from the knight.
And unheeding of the sudden danger that he might have found himself in, for whatever reason, the knight then nodded his head rather eagerly and raised a hand, pointing down to his breastplate which Lysithea now noticed had a minor dent in in which seemed to be just wide enough for a fist or a knee.
"Yeah, she kicked me right around here during the fight and it was actually really terrifying when that happened…then she hit me in the side of the head with my own spear, which she had also broken with this big kick."
Lysithea felt her brows pinch together at the rather disturbing jovial tone with which the man described some rather terrifying instances that she would have otherwise found daunting. It was precisely for these reasons that she avoided getting into physical fights with people.
…When possible.
Her traitorous mind returned to the moment in which she kicked Goetia.
"Were you struck in the head before you decided you would go out and meet her in combat? Did you perhaps walk too close to the back of an aggravated horse?"
Someone snorted, Lysithea wasn't sure.
She was just staring wide eyed at the comments from Goetia directed at the man.
Who, rather than take offence, just laughed a little loud but still full of life, his hand came up and behind the back of his neck. "I'll admit that I did see myself doing a little bit better, I figured that if I could land a blow on Sir Catherine during training then I should have been able to at least distract the Professor for a minute."
"Oh? You've spared with Catherine?" Dimitri leaned in with a warm smile. "I can understand the trouble, she is certainly a difficult opponent. Even with my strength she finds a great many ways to best me…so how did you land a strike?"
"Oh, she wasn't trying."
Dimitri's face froze, making a strange expression somewhere between understanding and shame. He looked down and nodded his head slowly, apparently deciding that saying nothing was the smartest choice of all, then he stopped and looked back up, snapping his fingers and pointing to the knight with some light of recognition.
"Were you the one who struck her in the back?"
"The Professor?" The knight questioned, then nodded his head. "Yeah. Not my finest moment but I figured that it should have been allowed against someone as good as her because…well…I figured it would be like challenging Goetia to a magic battle."
Goetia grunted. "With good reason but…So long as you suffered no grievous wounds during that battle then I shall consider myself fortunate to avoid being hounded by certain residents from Abyss complaining that I allowed you to suffer."
Abyss?
Lysithea pinched her brows.
What did Abyss have to do with anything and…wait…was that knight blushing?
Her brain felt scrambled.
What was going on here? Did she get hit in the head too hard?
"I-I'm sure Lady Nuvelle would just be polite about it. We're workplace colleagues."
Goetia's eyes flashed with victory.
"I did not name Lady Nuvelle as one who would be concerned."
Dead silence.
Muffled snickering came next from somewhere, it sounded like Hilda.
The knight gaped like some fish stuck upon land, several moments of awkward silence passed before then man turned on his heel and fled. His feet carrying him far and fast, as though trying to outrun hunting dogs. Even as he ran, Goetia raised his voice and then called out to the man.
"Your rejection only serves to fuel my inquiries! The sooner you admit the truth is the sooner I consider the whole affair beneath my notice!"
No reply came, but Goetia looked oddly content.
Lysithea raised her hand and touched at her head a couple more times, prodding at it to see if there was any swelling.
There had to be to explain what had just happened.
"Returning to my original point-"
Her body jerked as though struck by lightning, her mouth opened in shock and she stared bewildered at Goetia. The fact he was going to continue on as if nothing at all had happened or that he had done nothing out of the ordinary was as bewildering as it was…
…No, she had no words for it.
Instead, she turned her head rapidly in the direction of the unnamed knight and her own teacher plenty enough times that he stopped trying to speak and instead just looked at her with furrowed brows, the gaze of someone who was trying to comprehend some incomplete puzzle.
She stopped and then scrunched her features, quickly straightening herself and looking attentive.
His gaze lingered for a few moments, then he spoke. "I am trying to coax the truth from him. The sooner he admits it, the sooner the entire affair can be put behind them. Either in acceptance or rejection, he would do well to have an answer."
"I didn't know you were a master at the heart." Hilda voiced in a tone that was either exceedingly joking or earnestly curious, Lysithea could not tell which was the more disturbing of the two of them.
Goetia spared her barely a glance before he responded. "I am aware of many things regarding behaviour and watching the pair of them fumble around is vexing to me. More so when they fail to see the truth before their very eyes…so I have taken it upon myself to accelerate matters towards a conclusion."
"You can't do that!" Hilda was on her feet, hands on her hips. "For someone who spends so much time with Dorothea, I thought that you would have a better understanding on what romance is all about! You're describing an arranged marriage rather than star-crossed lovers."
She clasped her hands together and gave a wistful look.
Goetia stared.
Lysithea stared.
The pair of them held similar expressions of disinterest before Goetia looked back to her as if the pink haired girl had never spoken at all.
"Your usage of the runes-"
"Hey!"
"-has improved considerably and I was impressed that you did not favour either branch of magic, either Fodlan or Nordic. That being said, there is clear room for improvement and I am certain you have already compiled a list of your shortcomings."
He stopped for only a moment, then raised a single finger and pointed to her.
"That being said, I will expect a written report from you on how your usage of magical talent was lacking as well as how you could go about improving it if you were to repeat the exercise…"
Trailing off, Goetia closed his eyes and exhaled.
"And we shall open the possibility of strength enhancements for your lack of physical prowess. The kick you delivered to me was unexpected and considerably painful, but it was only because you struck me in a specific spot, the power behind it was…lacking. Had you more strength, you could well have ended the fight with me then and there."
She shuddered. "I…would rather not win in such an embarrassing manner."
Goetia watched her, then nodded slowly. "If that is how you see things, then so be it."
He turned towards Dimitri. "Take me to Mercedes, I mean to offer her some insight to her usage of gems as well…your doing, I assume?"
Dimitri nodded. "I felt it was a suitable use for counterfeit gems and other scammers trinkets."
Goetia grunted. "I see."
Rising from his seated position, the Prince started to lead Goetia away and Lysithea stood there, mulling over what she had heard.
It was…rather comforting, in a manner.
He praised her and offered criticism.
It was just what she expected from him.
She smiled ever so slightly.
Yes, that was how things were supposed to be, she looked across and then met the eyes of Dimitri again.
He was grinning ear to ear and then it dawned on her that Goetia just admitted, to everyone, that she had indeed kicked him between the legs.
The heat spread over her face once more and she made a promise that she would get the Prince back for this, one day. When he least expected it, she would find a way to see this humiliation paid back.
She hoped that her glare transmitted that desire to the Prince and he should remain rightfully afraid of her vengeance.
Evidently it did not, as the smile remained fixed on his face.
"Is there something amusing occurring behind us?"
The question was initially met with silence, but that was more on account of Dimitri visibly searching for a response to give rather than any surprise.
"Perhaps, but I am sure it is merely Lysithea worrying herself over very little. She was a touch…concerned about the manner in which she conducted herself during the battle."
It took Goetia very little time to deduce what was meant by that statement, the phantom ache dredged itself up to the forefront of his mind before it vanished back again to wherever it had originated. A moment later, he sent a pulse through him and erased any recollection of the pain that he experienced, save for that it was something to be otherwise avoided.
Sufficient response, he supposed.
"My actions triggered a fight or flight response and it seems she opted for the former, rather than the latter."
The prince looked unsurprised by his words, which further elevated the curiosity behind this relation with them. He had not known of Lysithea spending long periods of time with the Blue Lions, or even any real time of note at all beyond his lessons and yet, apparently, she was on good terms with the future King of an entire realm.
…As far as allies went, there were certainly poorer ones for her to make.
"I believe it is more something she considers to be embarrassing to admit. Given her aversion to up close and personal battles."
"She is wiser to conduct her affairs at a distance, the risk of injury is minimised in that capacity."
Her frail form was the most pressing concern.
"Besides, her personality is ill-suited for that manner of combat. Or do you suppose she would be comfortable with her face splattered with blood?"
"...I dread to think of many who would find comfort with such an appearance, for it would certainly paint a rather dour image of themselves."
Goetia almost stopped walking at the curious tone of the prince, more so when he felt the rush of emotions from the boy for a brief second. The swell of anger directed inwards and the shame which dominated for a single instant, but then vanished. Had it not been for the recent preference of restoring his empathetic connections, he would have missed such a response entirely.
"As you say."
Was what he offered as an agreement, putting that thought to one side for further documentation at another time.
"...I should offer some form of congratulation for your victory."
Dimitri chuckled and shook his head. "You need not force yourself-"
"I was not."
"Ah." A singular blink, then a strained grimace. "Then I shall instead apologise for any misunderstanding or offence on my part."
He did not care much for the apology, but he accepted it nonetheless, if only so the prince could find some small ease that his careless words had not caused offence with him. The pair's advance came upon the camp of the Blue Lions in short order, he swept across the sea of faces until landing upon some individuals in particular.
Mercedes was providing some aid for Sylvain, for reasons that became clear from the red marks across his neck.
"Would it be terribly rude of me to ask how you managed to turn Bernadetta, of all people, into someone capable of such extraordinary strength?"
Goetia could offer little response to the question, instead he frowned at the sight and then glanced at the Prince. "I trained her as I trained all the others in the Black Eagles. Presumably it unlocked some…violent potential within her? Though I would need a greater context of what transpired."
Dimitri explained what he described as rabid screaming and a flailing of limbs before Sylvain was tackled into a headlock and then strangled into unconsciousness.
The account of events was rather…odd.
Of all the responses he would have expected from Bernadetta, that was not quite one of them, but sometimes humans would act contrary to what he believed they would do during such hopeless situations. Perhaps Bernadetta had the same spark within her for such incredible turns of personality and ability?
…Something for Hanneman to nurture, he supposed.
"...I would advise against cornering her until we might determine if this was a singular instance or evidence of a self-defence mechanism."
Or they could corner her and he could determine it swiftly. From the usage of language and the violence displayed, it was possible she was holding some trauma regarding the training of Heracles and feared that failure in any regard could have put her back in the line of sight of the Berserker.
An unfounded fear, given that he was no longer training the Black Eagles for anything.
"Mercedes."
She glanced towards him at the use of her name.
"The…trick with the false jewels was a novel idea, but one that could be easily countered by those who are aware of them. Which the majority of the monastery will be in short order. If you intend to use them further, then make efforts to conceal them in a similar manner to Lysithea. She might explain further what it is that I mean."
That was truly all he came for.
Soon turning and stepping away.
"Unless there are any pressing concerns-"
"How fare your injuries from the Professor?"
Goetia stopped for a moment and glanced at the Prince, it was difficult to determine whether that was some barb aimed at him or not. So he decided, for the sake of the Prince, that it was nothing more than a simple question and answered accordingly.
"They will heal."
And then moved on.
Seteth would probably be requesting for a rapid transport back to the Monastery, unless he had changed his mind on making use of his abilities.
But he doubted that.
Seteth raised a brow at him and looked his way, nodding only once before he finished the conversation with whomever it was that he had been speaking to. Goetia paid little attention to the man as he stepped past them.
"Goetia." Seteth greeted with an even tone. "I see that you are walking about, that is good to see. Though I sincerely hope this is not instance of your aversion to seeing your own body recover as it was last time…else Flayn might be-"
"The concerns of your daughter regarding my health are founded only in misplaced concern. The damage would have been healed before it became serious."
He got no answer with words, Seteth closed his eyes and gave a rumbling hum before they opened again.
"As you say…Then I am not to expect a visit from her?"
"Se-" He caught himself. "Rhea saw fit to grace me with her healing talents."
"Did she now?" Seteth cupped his chin and pinched his brows, the expression lasted for a moment or two before leaving his face. "She has a great deal more experience than Flayn, but she has been out of practice as far as I can recall for…some time. Not since Jeralt, or so I've heard."
Goetia grunted. "I sent her the way of Catherine and Byleth. I assumed that would be where she would prefer to be. I was likely little more than some whim taken at her leisure."
A slow blink, then another hum. "If you say so…Shall I make an assumption that you are here to discuss the departure back to the Monastery and that you shall offer us your transportation yet again?"
"Yes."
"...I shall have to decline this particular instance. Swift as it would otherwise be, I will not burden you with rapid uses of what must be quite powerful magic while you still recover. Despite whatever claims you might have to know your limits, it is merely the principle of the matter I preside over. Not a question of feasibility."
Goetia frowned but said nothing, it was ultimately the choice of Seteth and he truly had no personal stake in it.
But…he avoided feeling as though he was being pitied.
As Seteth said, it was the principle he was upholding.
Goetia was injured and he supposed it might have looked suspect to force an injured man to perform another great spell back and forth between the Monastery for so many.
He doubted Seteth wanted complaints of inhuman labour practices.
A certain irony to that statement notwithstanding.
"On another matter, I should hope you found your time with the Black Eagles fruitful."
Fruitful…
"...It was an experience."
"Given Hanneman has offered little complaint regarding your time, I shall assume that is a positive word on your performance. Should you feel the urge to lend your support to any of the classes in the future, then you are free to request such a thing from their Professors. So long as there is no blatant favouritism at play."
Goetia slowly blinked at the words. "That seems…generous."
"It is the same privilege afforded to all other lecturers in the Academy. This is no special treatment, if that is what concerns you. Though they have rarely seen the need to exercise this right, perhaps things might change."
Seteth pondered aloud, then looked away from him.
"Now then, if you shall excuse me, I need to make arrangements for our trek back to the Monastery. As you were, Goetia."
"...As you were."
It was a short exchange as Seteth wandered away from him.
Goetia stood there for a moment or two, then turned back and walked the way he had come.
Fruitful.
…He did not consider the experience a waste, all things considered.
Despite the defeat…
He frowned at his own words.
He had wished for a total victory, yet was not disappointed with the results.
…Curious.
Was he…accepting of it?
…He had suffered worse losses in the past and this was truly a trivial thing, perhaps that was why. Victory or defeat offered very little to him, it was more to do with the knowledge he gained during it.
Yes, an equal trade off for a defeat was the experience he garnered during all of it.
…Perhaps another effort with a different class could be attempted in the future.
Or with a different group.
Hmph.
Something to consider.