Chapter Text
Claude liked to watch people. It was fun watching them and see how they react to things, especially their reactions to events he had created or manipulated himself. There were many things about Fodlan he still didn’t know and observing people was one of the easiest ways to get information.
It was due to his people watching that he realized there was a clear distance between the future Adrestian emperor and the rest of her class. Everyone respected her (even Ferdinand von Aegir) but it became pretty clear to Claude that the Black Eagle students weren’t close with their house leader and Edelgard herself didn’t take any real steps in bridging that gap. The closest classmates she had was Hubert which wasn’t surprising and Dorothea who was trying to get close but seemed to be having a hard time.
On the other hand, the future king of Faerghus was trying to bridge the gap between him and the other Blue Lion students. Just like the Black Eagle, everyone respected their prince (except maybe Felix but Claude had a feeling there was something more to that than what meets the eye) and his fellow Blue Lion students were also trying to bridge the gap as well but a lot of them had either too much reservation or were simply a bit too hung up with the whole royalty thing. From what Claude could gather (via eavesdropping), the kingdom’s sense of chivalry and honor was the main thing keeping them from actually becoming close to their prince as he had hoped they would.
Claude had to admit, he found Fodlan’s culture both strange and fascinating. The Church of Seiros was the greatest mystery of all but he liked hearing about the different cultures and practices of the three great factions. Since the alliance was originally from the kingdom, Claude also found it fun to list down the differences of both the alliance and kingdom.
He realized that House Gloucester’s great emphasis on honor and how a noble should act actually had a lot of similarities from the kingdom’s code of chivalry and honor (with a few changes, of course) while House Daphnel’s warrior mentality seemed to be quite similar to the kingdom’s as well. He definitely saw the same look on some of Judith’s men in the Blue Lion students when they had been sparring against Felix (it had been a seven vs one fight). A casual questioning to Annette informed him that the three of the students that had the same movements and techniques (albeit beginners) to House Dapnel’s soldiers were actually from Charon territory. Two of them who lasted longer than the ones from Charon were from Gautier territory and the two who lasted the longest against the Fraldarius heir were from Itha and Fraldarius territory. The ones from Gautier, Fraldarius, and Itha were more ruthless and more focused on ending the fight with one blow than what he was used to seeing from House Daphnel’s warriors but the core of their techniques definitely came from the same foundation. There was even a time he actually saw Ingrid use the same sword stance as he had seen Judith normally use when she had spared with Felix. The blue-haired young man still won but his sparring partner was definitely no pushover. He wondered if Judith would hold a lance the same way the Galatea girl would. He had a feeling she would.
That’s why he had been surprised when the enigmatic mercenary who saved their lives said that her allegiance was to the Leicester Alliance. He had been watching her the entire time and he recognized her techniques and movements. The foundation was certainly from the Kingdom. It held a certain coldness that was absent in the Alliance. He definitely saw it clearer in the way her boss, which he later found out to be her father, fought while he was mounted. It reminded him of the time he saw Dimitri practice his mounted lance works but some of the techniques felt… archaic? A bit older and ceremonial than what Dimitri was practicing would probably be a more accurate description.
All of these only made the teal-haired woman all the more interesting.
He had been surprised that she had decided to teach the Golden Deer. He had expected her to choose the Blue Lion if he was being honest. During their journey back to Garreg Mach, he had observed that she directed most of her questions to the blond prince and her eyes would most definitely linger on the Blue Lion leader most. Her goodbye before she was whisked away to meet Rhea was mostly directed at Dimitri too. Regardless, he was happy that she picked his house as it would now be easier to solve the puzzle surrounding her and he was also looking forward to seeing her in action again during the mock battle.
The mock battle only solidified his suspicions. She had decided to take him, Hilda, Ignatz, and Marianne to battle. Leonie and Lysithea were peeved at being benched but they didn’t really make a fuss when he whispered to them they can use this chance to see if the so-called legendary mercenary was truly worthy of such title.
She had positioned him, Ignatz and Marianne in the west forest while she and Hilda lured the two classes to their southern position. She left Hilda at the edge of the western forest to lure the Black Eagle House while she lured the Blue Lion House by actually dashing towards the nervous archer, cutting his bow with one slash and forcing him to yield.
It was a bold move and a bit too reckless for Claude’s taste but it was the perfect time to just see how good a tactician she was.
Claude… wasn’t sure what happened.
The last concrete thing he knew from the mock battle was during the time Hilda was holding her ground against Ferdinand and Hubert while Edelgard and Dorothea were advancing towards their position. He was trying to snipe the dark mage from his position but it was hard when Hilda was jumping all over the place (“If I don’t, I’ll get hit!”) so his arrows were only able to stop the dark-haired mage from completing any spells while Marianne had to focus all her attention in healing the pink-haired axe user from Ferdinand’s relentless attacks and Ignatz was trying to keep Edelgard and Dorothea from advancing too quickly to their pink-haired classmate’s position.
Just as Edelgard and Ferdinand were about to take down Hilda with a pincer attack, the mercenary turned professor dashed towards Edelgard with her sword raised above her head. Edelgard raised her axe to guard against the attack and everyone could only gasp in surprise when the older woman jumped instead, stepping on the white-haired woman’s axe to jump behind the stunned woman. Before the Black Eagle leader could turn around to attack her, a lance was thrown at her, forcing her to dodge out of the way. The teal-haired woman took a step to the right and the lance barely missed her, striking Dorothea on the arm instead.
Thankfully, it was just a training lance.
However, it was Dimitri who had thrown the lance.
Even with the dull blade of the lance, the songstress still received a painful bruise on the arm as she went down. Both the Black Eagle students and his house barely had any time to react when the Blue Lions students joined the fray. Dedue took the stunned Ferdinand down and the red-haired noble could only yelp as he was whisked off his feet by Dedue’s axe attack, dropping his lance unintentionally.
“Stay together in the forest!” Their professor yelled as she charged Edelgard once more and Hilda jumped into the forest, her adrenaline forcing her to obey their professor without question. Claude heard a rustling to their right and immediately fired.
His arrow turned into dust as it collided with Mercedes’ Fire spell.
Fortunately, Marianne followed his lead and hit her fellow mage with her Blizzard spell.
“Oh my. I yield.” Mercedes said with a smile as her feet got encased in ice.
“Oh, wow.” Ignatz’s awed tone made him turn his attention back to the chaos that was the Black Eagle vs the Blue Lion vs the Golden Deer’s Professor.
Which, from the look of it, was more like the Black Eagle vs the Blue Lion and the Golden Deer’s Professor.
Hubert was able to take down Dedue but he was taken out by Dimitri in retaliation who had grabbed Ferdinand’s lance. The fact that he was taken out by his fellow housemate’s lance had the dark mage glaring at said housemate who was laughing sheepishly at his glaring companion.
That left Edelgard to defend against both the older woman and her fellow house leader. She was purely on defense against the relentless assault between the two. Every time one of them finished their attack, the other one was already onto Edelgard, forcing her to keep her guard up instead of retaliating. This caused the Black Eagle’s professor to finally advance towards them. Seeing Manuela moving from her position, the Blue Lion’s professor also started to advance. As the Golden Deer’s professor stepped back just as Dimitri lunged at Edelgard, she rushed towards her fellow professor. Hanneman dodged the slash of her sword, entering Marianne’s range.
Which was apparently the ex-mercenary’s plan as she shouted, “Marianne!”
Marianne reacted on instinct, blasting a burst of ice towards the father of Crestology. Hanneman chuckled as he said, “Splendid Blizzard spell, Miss Marianne. I yield.”
While the Golden Deer's professor took down Hanneman, Manuela had managed to heal Edelgard and Dimitri had to continuously take a step back as Manuela backed her student up with a continuous barrage of Nosferatu. The future emperor charged her fellow heir, aiming to slam her axe on him as hard as she could to take him down.
Dimitri took a hit from Nosferatu as he met Edelgard’s charge head-on. Too focused on the prince, Edelgard could only gasp as she felt the blunt blade of the professor’s training sword slam against her waist, traveling towards her back as the older woman didn’t bother stopping at them, rushing towards her fellow professor.
Edelgard sighed and lowered her axe as she admitted in a composed tone belying the fire in her eyes, “I yield.”
Dimitri didn’t even bother saying anything, already rushing towards the two women locked into a duel. The Golden Deer’s professor dodged the barrage of Nosferatu Manuela sent her way as she continued to advance towards the older woman. The tip of her blunt training sword tapped Manuela’s stomach at the same time Dimitri’s lance swiped her feet, making her yelp ungracefully.
“Oh, was that nece-” Manuela didn’t finish her sentence as both Dimitri and the new professor clashed blades right in front of her now that she was out of the battle.
Everyone could only watch as the two continued to clash blades. It almost looked like a dance to everyone who was watching.
Claude knew that his professor had more experience but Dimitri made up his lack of experience with his inhuman strength and recklessness. More often than not, he noticed that the older woman would stop before her blunt blade could connect because the blond prince had stepped towards her attack instead of dodging or guarding against it. If she continued her attack, the impact between her strike and his advancement would have dealt a serious injury.
Claude wasn’t sure if Dimitri was doing it on purpose or he was simply being reckless.
Either way, it worked on his favor.
That’s when Claude noticed two things.
The first thing was Dimitri was smiling. It was a bit of an unnerving smile but enthralling all the same.
The second thing was his professor was glancing at him from time to time. He wasn’t sure why she wasn’t solely focusing on the young prince trying to take her down and that caused him to stare at them more intensely.
That’s when he realized that she only glanced at him when he had a clear shot of Dimitri.
Oh, wow.
Claude chuckled and shook his head.
And here he thought she also had the code of chivalry and honor that the Kingdom had.
Wasn’t she just full of surprises?
Claude nocked an arrow and aimed it at the two, ignoring Hilda’s questioning “Ummm, what are you doing, Claude? You might hit our professor, you know that right?”
He pulled the string and waited, staring intently at both his professor and his target. The second their eyes meet once again, he took his shot.
And hit Dimitri right on the back. Since it was a blunt arrow, it only bounced off his back. But that was enough of a distraction for her to slammed her sword against his legs, sweeping him off his feet.
She pointed the tip of her sword at the fallen prince’s neck and ordered coldly, “Yield.”
Dimitri’s lips curled into an open smile as he breathlessly said, “I yield.”
With that declaration, the mock battle ended with the Golden Deer’s victory.
With the Golden Deer’s victory during the mock battle, Claude had decided to find their professor to congratulate her.
Maybe even joke about how he had schemes up his sleeve he would have used if her tactic did not work. Which was true. He did have schemes prepared for the mock battle and he had been prepared to use them had the need arose.
He found her in the reception hall with, no surprise here, Dimitri. She was simply staring at the young prince with that unnerving blank stare of hers as he congratulated her and her class before praising her strategies and skills in the mock battle.
Claude found it strange that his fellow house leader didn’t seem to mind that his house had been used as an attack dog while the house of the woman he was currently praising remained safe.
As he walked towards them, he heard her praise his lance work and offered suggestions on how he could improve.
Oh wow, Claude never knew Dimitri’s face could brighten that much.
She noticed Claude first and nodded at him. Claude smiled at both of them as he greeted, “Hey, after-battle review? Should I call Edelgard too?”
“Nothing of the sort, Claude.” Dimitri replied with a polite smile, “I was simply congratulating your house for winning the mock battle. You are truly blessed to have such a talented professor.”
The dark-haired young man smiled at his fellow house leader as he patted his professor’s shoulder, “Yup, we’re lucky to have Teach with us, that’s for sure.”
He noticed that the prince’s blue eyes were trained at where his hand had been and he couldn’t help the grin that took over his face as he finally got enough evidence to support his hypothesis.
Before anyone could say anything else, the main members of the Golden Deer House surrounded them.
“Hey, Prof- Oh, hey, Dimitri!” Hilda smiled at the prince, unable to hide her surprise.
“Congratulations on such a magnificent battle, Your Highness.” Lorenz said to Dimitri politely, making Claude roll his eyes.
It would be nice if the Gloucester heir would be as polite to him as he was to the prince.
“Yes, it was.” Dimitri replied, smiling politely at all of them, “We all gave it our all and it showed in our performance in the field.”
Claude noticed that Marianne and Ignatz both blushed at the prince’s comment and Hilda giggled as she said, “Oh, it was nothing. Everybody else did the hard work.”
The most surprising thing was Lorenz had also preened at Dimitri’s words even though he wasn’t even part of the units who had been on the battlefield.
He observed as the blond-haired young man bow at their professor before saying, “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I must talk to Professor Hanneman about our performance as well.”
Their professor nodded silently. Taking that as his cue to leave, Dimitri turned around and began to walk away but stopped when the older woman commented, “You leave your right side open when you strike.”
The prince turned to face her once more and smiled brightly as he replied, “Thank you for your honest criticism, Professor. I will make sure to take that to heart.”
The blue-haired woman tilted her head slightly and placed her right elbow against her crossed left arm as she suggested, “Dad has a similar style as yours. He might be able to give you some pointers.”
The younger man nodded and continued to smile at her as he said, “Thank you, Professor. I shall ask Sir Jeralt the next time I see him.”
She nodded silently at that watched as he finally left the reception hall. Claude didn’t even have time to say anything as Leonie was immediately at her, “Hey, Professor. Could you look at my lance work later?”
Everybody else took that as a cue to talk to their Professor about what area they want to improve on.
… Except Claude.
He watched and listened, of course.
But more importantly, he planned his next action.
Hilda was his first recruit. To be perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure if he recruited Hilda or if Hilda recruited him. It was sometimes hard to perfectly assess the situation when it concerned the pink-haired Goneril.
One afternoon, during their break, Hilda approached him while he had been lying on the grass near their classroom and asked, “Do you think the Professor and Dimitri are seeing each other?”
Claude snorted at the thought and raised his head, seeing Hilda sitting next to him with her chin resting on her kneecaps, staring at something ahead of them. He sat and followed Hilda’s gaze, finding Dimitri and their professor standing in front of the entrance to the Blue Lion classroom. They were a bit too far to hear what they were talking about but Claude could clearly see the sweet adorable smile on Dimitri’s face and the older woman still had a stoic expression but her eyes were definitely softer than normal and even her stance was relaxed, void of the usual alertness she usually had.
“Nah.” Claude replied, watching as their professor nod at whatever the prince was telling her.
“Really?” His partner-in-crime frowned as they continued to watch the two.
“They do like each other, that’s for sure.” He added with a nod.
“Everybody can see that.” She snorted, watching as their professor raise her hand to touch the young man’s arm, “If they’re not together yet, can you just imagine how they would be like if they were?”
He couldn't help but grin at the adorable pink cheeks the prince was now sporting at the simple touch. He turned towards his pink-haired companion and said, “My dear Hilda, why imagine when we can make it a reality?”
“Oh, my sweet Claude, are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?” She turned to face him, a similar grin on her face as she asked coyly.
He shrugged as he nonchalantly said, “We only have one year in the academy so this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Why not make the best out of it, right?”
“I’m sure you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart.” She said sweetly yet sarcastically at the same time. A feat in Golden Deer that only the pink-haired Goneril could do. She leaned towards him and said, “But I like the idea so I’ll help out.”
She winked as she added, “A bit.”
And that was the beginning of Garreg Mach’s matchmaking effort of the century.
They didn’t do anything right out. First, they scouted and observed. Hilda managed to get Marianne into their cause who provided unique insights as she and Dimitri were apparently friends or, as Hilda calls them, church-going buddies.
He wasn’t sure how that was possible as Marianne was a devout believer while Dimitri… Well, Dimitri did go to church frequently but Claude never saw him pray even once.
There was this one time that the professor invited the two house leader to chore practice. She had apparently invited Edelgard as well but the white-haired woman had refused. It was… a unique chore practice to say the least. Claude didn’t know the words to the hymn and Teach fumbled through some parts, apparently only learning the song a few hours ago from Rhea herself. The only person who knew the words had been Dimitri and he spent most of the time staring at the professor singing with an open mouth.
Smooth and subtle the crown prince of Faerghus was not.
Regardless, Marianne’s inclusion brought a bit of insight into the Blue Lion leader’s side of this cause. The usually quiet young woman did have information about the prince’s obvious attraction to the professor. She confirmed that Dimitri would find ways to ask her how her professor was doing and not a single conversation between them passed without at least a mention about the enigmatic new professor.
Hilda cooed and found it adorably pathetic.
They also had to take care of the monthly missions they were given in between. It was surprising how a lot of their missions were for the Kingdom. He knew that things in the kingdom were bad since the death of Dimitri’s father, but he didn’t expect it to be this bad.
A silver lining to all this mess was most probably the fact that these missions led to Dimitri and Teach talking.
A lot.
There was not a day where Claude did not see the two of them talk for at least five minutes. Even after they return to the monastery from their monthly missions, she would meet with Dimitri first before reporting to the archbishop. If Claude didn’t know the Golden Deer’s professor better, he would assume that her loyalty did lie with the kingdom and its crown prince.
It didn’t though. Although her relationship with the prince was moving along without their assistance, it wasn’t coming at a pace that Claude deemed acceptable. She also spent a lot of her time making sure the Golden Deer students were on top of everything and still helped out in the monastery on her free days. Her loyalty was unquestionable to herself and what she considered to be her side. Since her side included both her fawns and the prince of the Blue Lion, her loyalty was to both of them.
Which was fine with Claude. He could work with that.
The pace was unacceptable so it was time to intervene.
He started out small. He told Marianne to try and talk about how their professor gave flowers she planted herself but never received any at all. The blue-haired healer agreed to talk to her friend about it as it was the truth and she felt a horrible realizing that her house leader did say the truth. Claude had to stop Marianne from actually giving their professor flowers as that would definitely lessen the impact of the final stage for this specific plan.
The next step went underway when he saw the Blue Lion leader with his loyal retainer in the greenhouse. He only stayed long enough to make sure that they were planting flowers and not some kind of fruit or vegetable.
He didn’t know what kind it was but he was sure it was some kind of flower seeds so he had left soon after.
The results of his first plan came into fruition one morning while he and Hilda were standing outside the Golden Deer classroom and saw their professor walking towards them… holding an impressive bouquet of purple and white anemones.
“Oh, Professor! Those are such pretty anemones!” Hilda cooed at the bouquet of anemones in her professor’s hands. She smiled sweetly as she asked, “Are those for me?”
Claude chuckled behind her as he said, “‘Fraid not, my dear Hilda.”
He clapped Teach’s back as he explained dramatically, “Those pretty flowers you are seeing came from no one else but the one and only crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus!”
He noticed that the Golden Deer students inside the classroom turned to stare at them.
Hilda’s hands went up to touch her cheeks as she uttered with a delighted smile, “Oh my! Dimitri gave them to you?”
“He sure did.” Claude replied for their professor, making her sigh.
“Stop kidding around, Claude.” The older woman chided her house leader before trying to explain, “I don’t know who gave these to me. They were left by my door.”
“I’m not kidding, Teach.” The young man replied with a grin, “I saw Dimitri leave them by your door early this morning.”
Which was true. He had been keeping track of the growth of the anemones Dimitri and Dedue had planted and had started to wake up earlier than usual to watch over his professor’s door every morning since he realized that the anemones were in full bloom. The prince was too shy and proper to give the flowers to the target of his affection in front of an audience so he would most probably give it during the early morning or late evening. Late evening was crossed out because it would be scandalous if anyone see them together. He also crossed out the possibility that Dedue would be the one to deliver the flowers instead. Dimitri’s honor would definitely not allow it. It was also possible that Dimitri would leave it in the Golden Deer classroom during the early morning so he kept his watch on top of a tree that had a clear view of both Teach’s dormitory and the entrance to the nobles’ dormitory building. All of this watching also helped train his eyesight in noticing the smallest change in details which helped him during the practical portion of his Sniper certification. (Teach even praised him about that)
His pink-haired classmate tilted her head as she asked, “Claude, sweetie, what are you doing by the Professor’s door so early?”
He continued to grin as he replied, “Making sure Dimitri gives the flowers to Teach, of course! I have a personal investment to this love story, you know.”
He sighed dramatically and shook his head as he explained, “You should have seen him, Hilda. He was pacing all over Teach’s door, pausing in front of it to knock but never doing so. Watching him was so stressful I almost went towards Teach’s door myself so I can knock for him.”
“That’s so adorable.” Hilda cooed, giggling slightly.
Their professor sighed and reminded the two, “Come on, class is starting.”
Both Claude and his partner-in-crime did not miss the pink hue of her cheeks though.
“Okay, Professor.” Hilda replied with a nod the same time Claude grinned at the older woman, “Sure, Teach.”
The teal-haired woman began to walk towards the Golden Deer classroom, followed by both of her most troublesome students, and added, “Also, Claude. You’re in detention for a week.”
“Eh? For what?” The dark-haired young man asked as he blinked at his professor.
“For stalking a fellow student.” The professor replied without looking back, making Hilda giggle as Claude groaned.
“Give me a break, Teach. I was doing it for your sake! And Dimitri’s!”
Claude’s detention for the entire week was to have Lorenz teach him the proper etiquette of a noble. He didn’t know how she did it but she got Ferdinand to assist Lorenz as well.
It was a creative form of torture that actually impressed him a bit.
Torture for Lorenz, of course, not for him.
The bouquet of anemone adorned the Golden Deer classroom for the whole day. Claude wasn’t sure why she had brought the bouquet with her in the first place until he saw her talk to Marianne about the flowers. The blue-haired young woman had a rare smile on her face (that was so beautiful Claude pinched Lorenz’ cheek to make sure he wasn’t dreaming) as she listened to what their professor was talking about. She held out her hands towards the flowers and the magic circle of a Faith spell appeared in front of her hands as the flowers glowed in white light. He prodded Lysithea about it and learned that the Heal spell, when used on plants, could prolong the life of plants. It was mainly used to preserve the freshness of fruits and vegetables during winter. The downside was that using Heal on plant life must be done by those who are exceptional in Faith magic as the caster must maintain a certain degree of power to the spell itself. Use too little and it would not have any effect but use too much and the plant life would rapidly wither due to overexposure of Faith magic.
Huh. Claude didn’t even know about that. He supposed he had been too focused on the history and culture of Fodlan that he had ignored the finer details of how magic worked in Fodlan. Almyran magic worked differently than Fodlan’s. At the very least, Almyrans do not heavily rely on magic and the Almyran magic users all come from different sects that heavily guard their arts. He heard that Fhirdiad has a prestigious School of Sorcery and admission was possible as long as one had the finances to support their stay in the school. But if that was so, it was a bit strange that the Blue Lion House doesn’t have more magic users than the Black Eagle House.
But he was getting off-topic now.
In other news, the bouquet of anemone certainly piqued the entire Golden Deer class’ curiosity. During their afternoon break, everyone watched from the windows as their professor walked towards the Blue Lion classroom, holding the bouquet of anemone in her hands. The adorable grey-haired archer greeted her and nodded at something she said before returning to class. A moment later, the Blue Lion leader came outside of his classroom and they talked, his face growing redder and redder as he began to talk, most probably trying to make an excuse or trying to lie about the origin of the anemones.
They were too far for the Golden Deer House to hear them but Hilda helped out in summarizing what has happened just that morning so they all had an idea of what was happening.
Claude knew most of his classmates were converted to their cause when they saw Dimitri’s bright smile over something the older woman had said.
He would admit that smile alone could start and end a war, that’s for sure.
And so began the Golden Deer’s secret mission, led by both Claude von Riegan and Hilda Valentine Goneril.
Claude, for all his scheming and secret, was a terrible matchmaker though. He was so obvious of what he was doing, it was adorable (according to Hilda), ridiculous (according to Lorenz) and nice (according to Marianne). After the Anemone Bouquet incident (as their class liked to call it), Claude and most of the Golden Deer students started to make small acts that would force their professor to talk to the blond-haired prince. This included Claude talking to Teach while leading her to where Dimitri was at the moment (he now always knows where the two lovebirds are thanks to the Golden Deer students who frequently updated him and Hilda) and casually including his fellow House leader to the conversation. They already had a signal for when it would be time for one of his allies to walk towards them and ask Claude to do something or talk to Claude about something that would force him to leave them alone without it being too severe that either (or both) of them have to come with him too. Marianne even started to have dinner with both Dimitri and their Professor which will accidentally be interrupted by either Hilda or one of the other Golden Deers students to ask Marianne for help or assistance in the stables or the cathedral which would need her immediate attention and leave her professor alone with her friend for the rest of the dinner.
It was all basic but it worked.
However, Claude knew it could be better.
And, if there was one thing about Claude von Riegan that was indisputable, it was the undeniable fact that he was powerful if he gets the entire Golden Deer on his side and he was unstoppable if he gets other houses on his side.
People assumed it had started with Sylvain. Of course, why would they think otherwise? If there was any Blue Lion student that would work with the Golden Deer House leader for any kind of scheme, it would be Sylvain Jose Gautier, the resident Blue Lion troublemaker.
But it wasn’t him.
Instead, it was the adorable sweet Annette Fantine Dominic that the Riegan heir had gotten to his side who was thrilled at the idea of her future king with the Golden Deer’s professor. With Annette on his side, Mercedes was automatically recruited and Ashe was easily swayed to their cause by preying upon his romantic side.
Using their adorableness and sweetness to their advantage, his three Blue Lion recruits managed to get most of the Blue Lion house to their cause.
With the additional support, it became common for both Blue Lion and Golden Deer to have the same training session in the Training Hall ‘accidentally’. While the Blue Lion’s professor focused on the magically inclined students, the Golden Deer’s professor focused on the students preferring weaponry instead of magic.
Not only did it became a common sight to see the older woman with the Blue Lion leader, discussing about his fellow housemates and making suggestions about their future certification goals, Professor Hanneman’s participation also helped greatly improve the Golden Deer’s proficiency in magic.
Teach did admit that Professor Manuela had suggested a joint training with the Black Eagle as well but the Training Hall wasn’t big enough to house all students so they would have to rotate the student roster and keep the other students in self-study during that time. She had to refuse the idea as it would be detrimental to her fawns’ growth. Since it was up to Claude to pick the time and day for the training hall (something that he did on purpose while he got Ingrid to do the same for Blue Lion), she left it up to him to coordinate with the Black Eagle leader.
It… didn’t really go too well.
Edelgard immediately knew the real reason behind the joint training sessions. She wasn’t exactly hostile but she certainly didn’t approve of it, that was for sure.
When Claude asked jokingly if it was because she had feelings for Dimitri or Teach, she looked at him with disappointment and distrust, which he was used to.
They never managed to schedule a joint training with the Black Eagle in the end.
The growing relationship between the crown prince of Faerghus and the mysterious bearer of the Crest of Flames was the worst kept secret in the monastery. Claude would like to emphasize that it was not his fault. He couldn’t really control how enthusiastic his comrades-in-arms were.
Flayn had been a supportive bystander before but she started to actively help out once she became part of Golden Deer House. Most of the time, she kept her brother from interfering. She also seemed to have gotten some of the nuns and monks to support them, even some of the knights. At the very least, Claude knew Alois supported their cause and he'd seen Catherine talking to some students to ask about an update on how the two were doing.
The sudden increase of purple and white anemones in the monastery and the fact that it was being used as a sign of love wasn’t his doing as well. It was also well known that the flower bed of purple and white anemone were off-limits to everyone but the Blue Lion leader and his faithful retainer. Anyone who dared to pick any anemones from that specific flower bed would face the silent wrath of the Blue Lion’s Dedue. The adorable anemone accessories and charms some of the students had in their possession all of a sudden definitely had Hilda’s work written all over it. It didn’t really help that Dimitri continued to give her bouquets of the same purple and white anemones every month or that everybody knew that the older woman would always ask Marianne to cast heal on every bouquet so they would last longer.
And it was well known by everyone that the usually stoic professor would always have a small smile on her face whenever she received the bouquet from the prince.
Secretly watching the young prince of Faerghus personally hand the bouquet to the teal-haired professor before class the day after the anemones were in full bloom had become a famous morning treat for a lot of people (especially the Golden Deer and Blue Lion students). Claude even heard that the greenhouse had started importing fertilizers that were magically enhanced to quicken plant growth. It may or may not have been personally funded by a certain royal heir himself.
So, as far as Claude could see, it wasn’t his fault.
Well, okay, he will admit that he might have been the one who pushed Ignatz to create small paintings and sketches of them which they sold to interested buyers. Ignatz needed the extra gold and Claude only took a 10% cut as the one to perform the transaction (Ignatz was too shy to do it himself). Honestly, he didn’t really need the gold but Ignatz was adamant on giving him a share and 10% was the lowest the younger man would allow.
Also, the fact that Cyril bought the painting of Teach as the Goddess giving her divine protection to Dimitri (“Just say that Dimitri’s supposed to be Seiros, I don’t get what’s the big deal about it” “It’s blasphemous, Claude!”) for Rhea of all people was the best payment he could ever have. The way he saw it, the archbishop was pretty much giving them permission to continue their cause. Ignatz almost had a heart attack when Claude told him (because, of course, he followed Cyril to find out the real buyer as the young boy wouldn’t have the gold to buy that specific painting).
The small but successful short story collaboration between Ignatz and Bernadetta though was all Sylvain’s doing, not his. The profit they got from that was so absurd Claude had to ask Sylvain where the majority of the profit came from because he was pretty sure it wasn’t from the monastery. He wasn’t sure what surprised him more, the fact that the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus apparently knew and loved the idea of a growing love story between their future king and a woman said to be blessed by the Goddess herself or Sylvain actually had the audacity to get the word out to Faerghus by using the paintings and sketches he had purchased from Ignatz using various other Blue Lion students so Claude wouldn’t have any idea of what he had been planning. When he had confronted Sylvain about it, the Gautier heir just shrugged and casually explained that everyone enjoys a good love story. He didn’t say it out loud but Claude understood what he wasn’t saying.
One of the things that this entire cause had done for Claude was that it gave him a bigger insight on what was happening in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.
Dimitri had been closed off from his people since the tragedy, mainly for his own protection as both the royal court and his uncle feared that he may be targeted next as the last remaining crest bearing Blaiddyd. Not only was this a good love story (he read Bernadetta’s story and he rarely reads romantic stories but it was definitely one of the best he’s read in his own opinion) but it was a way to show the people of Faerghus who Dimitri was and what kind of king he would become.
The funniest thing of all was that Bernadetta’s story was actually pretty spot on Dimitri’s character so Sylvain obviously had a hand in it.
He loved it. Using a short story as propaganda? It was clever and showed that the Gautier heir was more than just a pretty face.
Man, he wished he could get the red-haired noble to transfer to Golden Deer but his loyalty to his liege was unquestionable. To be fair, Sylvain did transfer after the mock battle but he returned to the Blue Lion House the following week. When Claude had asked what happened, Teach just said that Sylvain told her that he wasn’t the type of man to get in between a blooming relationship and said Dimitri needed his help more. She didn’t really understand it that much but Claude did.
Because, while it cannot be denied that both Dimitri and Teach were smart people, they were also so dumb about the other’s feelings that it felt like everyone was watching the slowest most frustrating love story ever created. That was the main reason why Claude and Hilda had to step in. If they just let everything play out naturally, they’d be lucky if the two of them realize they love each other five years from now.
Also, because of everybody’s investment to the love story between the crown prince and the new professor, it became easy for Claude to slip in and out of different places without being noticed and to get information from any of his fellow comrades, both students and members of the church. Hilda was wrong, he was helping the love story move along at a faster pace out of the goodness of his heart. The fact that this was also going to help him achieve his dream at the end was just part of the bigger picture.
They… actually had no plans for the month of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. Everyone was just so busy preparing for the three-way mock battle that there was really no time to plan something extravagant for that month. Ignatz even had to stop painting and sketching for the monastery to focus on his Assassin certification. All three houses wanted to win. Claude suggested they ally with the Blue Lion House to take out the Black Eagle House before engaging each other but Teach had denied his suggestion, reasoning that Dimitri was too honorable to agree to such tactics. They didn’t want to wait for the Black Eagle and Blue Lion to finish fighting then pick off the survivors as they wanted a complete victory. That meant they would have to get the highest takedowns in the battle itself.
Both of them spent hours trying to come up with a plan they would be both satisfied with. It was the most fun Claude had since he could remember. It made him realize that the entire time he had been trying to get her close to Dimitri, he had unintentionally become close to her and Dimitri as well. He even knew how they both liked their tea (lots of milk for her, no sugar or milk for him). That was… surprising…
So when they finally had a plan they were both satisfied with and were about to get a late dinner together, he wasn’t surprised that Dimitri had been waiting for her by the entrance of the Dining Hall. What had surprised him was Dimitri’s offer for him to join them as well which she supported with a smile. He agreed because he actually did want to spend time with them as well. It was one of the most fun meal times he had ever had in Fodlan.
He would later see the two of them fishing by the docks even after the fishing tournament was over. It was adorable watching them act like an old married couple.
And this entire thing was even before they were officially together which Claude still found hilarious.
They still kicked Dimitri’s ass in the Battle of Eagle and Lion though but it was a close call. The Black Eagle House was also a force to be reckoned with and it was obvious that they had been training hard for this battle. The shared training between the two houses helped them overwhelm the Black Eagle House without an official alliance. It was just normal to see Felix and Hilda watch each other’s back in the front line while Lysithea and Annette provided magical backup from a safe distance. Mercedes and Marianne took turns healing units from either Blue Lion House or Golden Deer House while Dedue kept them safe and Raphael got everyone’s focus on him instead so Ashe, Ignatz and Leonie could hail a rain of arrows on them. The shared training between the two houses also made it so much harder to gain an upper hand against the Blue Lion House once the Black Eagle House had all yielded. Since Felix and Hilda knew each other’s moves, they were pretty much in a standstill. Mercedes and Marianne were too busy trying to keep one another from healing anyone that they couldn’t heal their own teammates. Everyone had to stay far away from the center where Lysithea and Annette were having an explosive magical duel. The acrobatic feats Sylvain’s and Lorenz’s horses were doing as their masters engage in combat was both entertaining to watch and a bit silly. In the end, everyone had to yield except him, Teach, Dimitri and Ingrid. Ingrid kept him busy so that left Dimitri and her to duel just like their last mock battle.
He and Ingrid had to stop when they saw the older woman pin the prince to the ground, straddling him dangerously close to his hips as the tip of her steel sword kiss Dimitri’s neck while both of them were breathing heavily.
He was pretty sure everyone still in the field could feel the sexual tension in the air. Man, he was pretty sure the sexual tension could be felt all the way from where the archbishop was watching this entire thing.
It was official. They had thrown subtlety out the window.
Once he heard Dimitri yield, he shot an arrow at the distracted (and blushing) Ingrid, ending the battle with the Golden Deer’s win.
The celebratory meal afterward was a night to remember. With the Black Eagle House joining the festivity, it seemed like all the barriers separating the three factions of Fodlan finally came crashing down, even for just one night. Even Edelgard had joined in the celebration, sitting in Dorothea’s table which included Ingrid and Hilda. It was a taste of what could happen if Claude’s dreams come into fruition.
He had spent most of the night in the same table as Dimitri and Teach, mainly watching and joking around with the people who came over to congratulate them for their victory (and, most of the time, praise Dimitri as well). He couldn’t help but grin when he noticed that the young prince was beaming with pride every time someone congratulated or praised the woman between the two house leaders.
Claude just had to leave the table for a bit to complain to Hilda about the proud husband in his table. Ingrid almost choked on her food while both Dorothea and Hilda cooed as they watched Claude’s table as another student (it was Ferdinand) praise the Golden Deer’s professor while the young man next to her beam with pride. Even Edelgard chuckled which Claude counted as a win.
Later on, he would find himself in a state of pure bliss after eating a huge amount of food and grinning when he saw both Teach and Dimitri smiling at him.
The annual ball wasn’t exactly his scene. He still had nightmares of the day Teach approached him to become the Golden Deer’s representative for the White Heron Cup. He was just happy that he had managed to win against Dorothea (big, big surprise there) and Felix (also a big surprise but for a whole other reason).
According to one of his adorable cub-comrade (it was Annette), the whole class decided on just drawing a piece of paper from a random small box they found and Professor Hanneman accepted it for some reason. Felix was the unfortunate soul who managed to draw the unique “LOSER” paper from the box (“It was supposed to say ‘representative’ but Felix was the one who wrote it! If you ask me, serves him right!”). He was pretty sure that was the day that they heard a huge uproar in the middle of a lecture from the Blue Lion classroom. Teach had to walk over the class to ask what was happening.
And, of course, being the curious fawns that they were, the entire Golden Deer class listened in from the safety of their classroom, even Lorenz who pretended to be there so he could stop Hilda and Claude but no one bought that at all.
Dimitri had been the one to talk to the Golden Deer professor just outside the door leading to the Blue Lion classroom and the blue cubs would most definitely not pass their Assassin certification because they suck (adorably though) at being stealthy in eavesdropping.
His fellow House leader had spent the entire time apologizing for their behavior, his cheeks an adorable shade of pink that made almost all of the girls in the Golden Deer House coo. And when the ex-mercenary place a hand on his forearm, oh man, both classes erupted in squeals. Ignatz even started quickly sketching the entire scene. They later reaped a profit selling the final painting to a very happy customer who shall remain anonymous… it was Sylvain. Of all people they thought would be interested in a painting of the two outside the classroom with only Dimitri’s adorable bright smile being shown, they absolutely did not expect Sylvain to buy it.
Claude will later find out that the red-haired noble had sent the painting to Felix’s father who, apparently, was also heavily invested in this love story.
What Claude was trying to say was that he liked dancing but formal dancing like the one the White Heron Cup required and the dancing being used right now was not his thing. However, tonight was a perfect time to further develop their love story. His fawns and the cubs were in complete agreement over this. That was how Hilda had managed to get their professor to dress up nicely for the occasion. The ex-mercenary could have easily escaped had Hilda been alone but Mercedes, Annette, and Marianne were there as her back-up. While the professor had been distracted by the four women in front of her, she didn’t notice Raphael behind her (he had apparently been taking lessons from Shamir) and the bigger man had been able to bear hug her from behind.
Hilda wanted to go all out but she relented when Sylvain had reasoned that, if she did go all out, Dimitri would go catatonic. The image would have been funny but that would have definitely been detrimental to their end goal. As such, Hilda had procured a simple but beautiful light blue evening dress with a halter top for their professor. Mercedes and Annette provided accessories which included a simple yellow pendant and the three of them worked together on their professor’s makeup while Marianne braided her hair that they decorated with freshly picked white and purple anemones (courtesy of Dedue).
His comrades were not subtle at all.
He loved it.
Because of this, the professor had been late and Dimitri had to dance with someone from his class first. That was fine, Claude was good with improvising. Teach arrived towards the end of the first dance together with the four women and Raphael who immediately went for the buffet. Everyone stared at the Golden Deer professor and Claude even noticed some of them had their jaw slacked at her surprising attire.
The four women flanked her, glaring at anyone who dared try to approach her with a wicked smile (except Marianne who just stared at them while keeping her head down which was actually scarier), and Claude met them at the middle. He grabbed her hand and winked at them all, dragging her to the dance floor just as the music ends. He dragged her until they were right in front of Dimitri, who blinked at Claude before his eyes widened as he saw the beautiful woman next to the Golden Deer leader.
Everybody else had stopped to stare at them.
The dark-haired young man cleared his throat before bowing at the blond-haired young man as he proclaimed, “Prince Dimitri, may I present to you the beautiful Byleth Eisner of the Golden Deer House?”
“Claude, what are you-”
He didn’t let his professor finish her question, taking the frozen prince’s hand and placing her hand on top of his. He grinned at them as he nonchalantly said, “A beautiful night perfect for a first dance, right?”
He winked at Dimitri who blushed before he stepped away from the adorable couple, noticing that Teach was also blushing slightly now. He turned towards the musicians, saw Lorenz already next to one of them and nodded at his fellow fawn. Lorenz sighed and shook his head before whispering something to the one closest to him who nodded. The musician turned towards his fellow musician and whispered something. They readied their instruments before finally starting the next piece.
Which was a very romantic slow song.
Claude wanted to laugh at such obviousness but he refrained, instead he bowed at the young woman Dimitri had been dancing before and asked, “May I have this dance, milady?”
“Huh?” The young woman had been focused at the two blushing couple next to them that it took a moment for her to realize that the Golden Deer leader was speaking to her. She blushed and nodded, “O-of course, it would be my pleasure, Lord Riegan.”
Claude didn’t bother to correct the title and simply used his knowledge from the White Heron Cup to dance with the young woman since he felt bad that she was immediately pushed aside. He apparently shouldn’t have felt bad as the young woman in his arms sighed dreamily at whatever was behind him. He glanced and grinned when he noticed that Teach and Dimitri were dancing behind him, their eyes focused at each other with a soft smile on both their faces. He turned back towards his dancing partner as she said softly, “I’ve never seen His Highness so happy before.”
His dancing partner gave him a grateful smile as she whispered, “Thank you, Lord Riegan.”
When the music ended, the last part of tonight’s plan was already on the way. Anyone who tried to even get close to Dimitri and the Golden Deer’s professor was immediately asked to dance by one of Claude’s accomplices. Even the Blue Lion student he had danced with had joined the fray, asking a Black Eagle student who was about to approach their professor for a dance.
He should probably get her name since she was a fellow comrade.
… Then he saw that almost all of the Blue Lion students were intercepting the hopeful interlopers and realized that he would have to remember all the names of his house and the Blue Lion house at this rate.
A sacrifice he would gladly make as the two houses joined forces to ensure that both the Golden Deer’s professor and the Blue Lion’s leader remained in the dance floor while keeping away anyone who would dare ask for a dance.
Unable to leave the dance floor as the next piece started, the couple was forced to dance together once more.
Well, with the sweet smiles they were sporting, Claude was sure it wasn’t much of a burden to either of them.
Their plan worked without any problems. They had to intercept Edelgard thrice and Claude wondered if she wanted to dance with Teach or Dimitri. Probably both.
Claude would totally understand if it was both.
It was pretty funny watching Sylvain flirt with Edelgard too. The third time, it was surprisingly Dorothea who had asked for Edelgard’s hand and the dark-haired heir wondered if he could recruit a few memorable Black Eagle students to their cause.
Flayn was in charge of intercepting her brother who either wanted to dance with the professor or was going to try and break them apart. Probably the latter considering the throbbing vein on his forehead. Claude was surprised that didn’t burst by the sixth piece.
The most surprising person they had to intercept was the archbishop herself. What was even more surprising was the one who intercepted her and danced with the most powerful person in the church was none other than the Blade Breaker himself. His eyes caught the eyes of his professor’s father who nodded at him.
Well, good to know they had her dad’s blessing.
After the seventh piece, both the prince and his dance partner left the hall, probably thinking they were being sneaky.
They were not.
He and his favorite pink-haired partner-in-crime high-fived right on the dance floor.
A few people passed gold on the ones who won the bet on when they were going to sneak off.
A lot of the Blue Lion students seemed to be giving gold to Dedue and Mercedes which made Claude wonder if there was a conspiracy going on.
All and all, Claude would consider it a huge success.
Then he saw the archbishop leave the hall as well.
And his interest was piqued.
He would just like to make it clear that, no matter what Lorenz and Hilda may say, it really was by accident that he eavesdropped on them while they were in the Goddess Tower. In his defense, he had been tailing Rhea, not them, but he lost the archbishop in the Goddess Tower and accidentally saw the two instead. He hid as soon as he heard Dimitri’s voice and would have happily left but then Dimitri just had to say, “Once I graduate, would it be possible for you to accompany me back to Fhirdiad?”
Oh, man.
Oh, sweet merciful gods of Almyra.
There was no way he wasn’t going to stay now.
He needed to know how this would go!
Also, Claude tipped his imaginary hat to his fellow House leader. For all their jokes of the poor prince being a bit too slow, when he attacks, he really goes in for the kill.
This honestly sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.
And Claude loved watching disasters happen.
He made a mental promise to help Dimitri pick up the pieces and try again after this blows up in his face.
“I…” Claude couldn’t see them and he didn’t want to risk being found during such a critical event so he focused on listening in. Her voice was softer than he ever heard and his eyes widened when he heard her answer, “I would love to, Dimitri.”
No. Freaking. Way.
“Y-you do?” Dimitri’s surprised tone was a direct reflection of Claude’s current feelings. Teach probably nodded because the young man said next, “O-o-oh. I-I-I’m so happy I don’t know what to say.”
“I promise you I will make you happy, Prof- no…” Claude wasn’t the one Dimitri was talking to with a soft voice filled with love but his heart still skipped a beat when he heard the prince whisper, “My beloved.”
This was it.
This was the day Claude von Riegan would die of fluff.
And it would be a happy death.
He did not die of fluff.
Actually, he pretty much had to run as quietly and quickly as possible because he heard them kissing and, as much as he was invested in their love story, he wanted to give them some kind of privacy.
… Which was how he had become infamous the following day for being the nosy annoying pest who stopped couples from going to the Goddess Tower.
Ah, the things he does to protect his two idiots in love.
Surprisingly enough, nothing actually changed the day after the Goddess Tower incident. He kept it a secret from everyone else because it felt wrong to tell someone (even if it was Hilda) and no one would probably believe him anyway. It wasn’t long until they had to do their monthly mission too but Claude did see her and Dimitri say their goodbyes by the reception hall’s short hallway leading to the training hall. There was no kiss (how disappointing) but they did held hands the entire time they were talking. He couldn’t hear them properly from where he was and it would be too risky to get closer so he just left them be. When Ignatz came rushing towards their designated meeting spot ten minutes early (he was getting better since, last month, the poor young man went to their meeting spot thirty minutes early), Claude made sure to greet him cheerfully (and loudly), immediately teasing him for being so early. Their professor walked towards them a minute later and her eyes met his. She didn’t say anything but her nod was full of gratitude which he just winked at.
The death of Jeralt hit everyone hard. He couldn’t help but think that he could have done something. He should have been able to do something. He felt something was off about the other girl they rescued together with Flayn but he had put it behind his mind as another strange Fodlan thing he hasn’t quite deciphered yet. He should have pressed harder once he heard Hilda also had the same feeling as him about that red-haired girl.
Maybe if he had spied on her, observed her for a while longer, maybe Jeralt…
This was no time to wallow in ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’. It didn’t change the fact that her father was dead and no one has seen her for the entire day. He was worried about her. So, after making sure Hilda and the rest of the Golden Deer would stay to support Leonie, he went and looked for her. She wasn’t in her assigned room so he decided to check her father’s office. When he got to the door leading to the Blade Breaker’s office, he heard Dimitri’s soft voice coming from inside, “Stay here until you’ve found some peace. I’ll cover for you with Lady Rhea and everyone else.”
Claude leaned back at the wall next to the door and turned the doorknob slowly so it won’t make a sound as he heard the prince continue to speak softly, “I am sure Claude would understand if I explain it to him as well.”
He barely heard her soft reply of “Thank you.” as he pulled the door open slightly so he could see inside.
The two of them were standing in the middle of the room, just inches away from one another.
“We’ll be waiting for you whenever you’re ready to return to us.” Dimitri gently took her hand as he continued, “I don’t believe it’s a sign of strength to just keep moving forward no matter what.”
He closed his eyes as he said, “Taking the time to grieve for those we’ve lost… there’s strength in that too. That’s what I think, anyway.”
Claude crossed his arms and rested his head against the wall behind him. He guessed he was lucky that Dimitri beat him to it. He probably wouldn’t know what to say to her had he been in the prince’s place. He never lost a parent so he couldn’t exactly relate and might even say something insensitive like telling her to stop wallowing in her grief and keep moving forward. Sure, it was a valid opinion but sometimes people do need time to grieve.
And it seemed like Teach was one of those people.
“That said…” Dimitri’s other hand gently caressed her cheek as he added, “It’s also important to remember that no matter how sad you are, eventually your tears will dry up.”
Claude could hear the pain and sorrow in the blond-haired young man’s voice and knew that he was speaking from experience.
The hand caressing her cheek dropped and took her other hand as Dimitri’s voice became clearer, more determined, “That’s when you have to figure out what it is you’re living for. Then you can cling to that, with all your might, and start moving forward again.”
“What I’m living for?” She repeated softly, almost in a dazed tone.
As Dimitri explained what happened to him four years ago, Claude wondered if he should leave. This entire conversation was informative, yes, but it was also too personal. He might like knowing everything that may help him later on but he still felt bad about eavesdropping over an obviously private conversation between two of the closest friends he had.
Then he heard the rage in Dimitri’s voice as he declared, “That’s my duty, as the sole survivor of the tragedy.”
His next words were still soft but Claude could still hear the hidden rage in his voice as he explained how that duty had been the push he needed to move forward. From the way she was looking at Dimitri, Claude knew that she could hear it too.
“Jeralt is gone…” The softness in his voice did not weaken the finality of his words. He stared at her with clear gentle blue eyes, holding onto her hands as if to make sure she wouldn’t float away as he asked, “So what will you do now, my beloved? What must you do?”
He rested his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes, placing her hands on his chest so she could feel his heartbeat, “Look deep in your heart and I’m certain you’ll find the answer there… indelible and inescapable.”
They stared at each other’s eyes silently for a few moments before Dimitri took a step back, letting go of both her hands as he said, “I’ve probably bothered you enough for today, but I have just one more thought to leave you with.”
His eyes hardened as he informed her, “Even now, Seteth is gathering the knight to begin a full-scale search for the enemy.”
A full-scale search?
Even if it was a high ranking official that was killed, it seemed a bit too risky to send all the knights to look for the killer. It would leave the monastery’s defenses severely compromised.
This didn’t sound like Seteth at all.
If Claude was perfectly honest, this sounded more like Rhea’s orders. This past year, he had seen how easily swayed by her emotions the archbishop was, mostly seen by how she acted when she perceived the Goddess had been slighted. She also lost a bit of her composure when Flayn had been kidnapped, going outside without any guards to help with the search of all things. She had accepted Jeralt’s return even after it was clear that he left his post years ago and took in his daughter as a professor with only Alois’ recommendation to back her skills up. It stood to reason that Rhea and Jeralt would have been close. She may look as calm and composed as she usually was towards the others but this reckless mission shows how shaken up she was by Jeralt’s death.
But… how close was she to the mysterious captain of the knights?
He was so focused on his thoughts about the secretive archbishop he almost didn’t hear Dimitri’s declaration, “No matter what happens or what anyone may say, know that I plan to stand by you, my beloved. Through anything. Until the bitter end.”
It would have been a sweet declaration had Claude not hear the rage that Dimitri was hiding.
It was a bit disconcerting. He had never heard such anger from the usually polite prince.
It worried Claude.
Almost as much as when he realized that Dimitri was leaving the room. He had to quickly close the door so neither of them would have an idea that someone had been listening in.
Then he heard something slammed against the door.
Claude almost opened it to make sure everything was okay when he heard her voice say, “Stay.”
The dark-haired young man pressed his left ear against the door just to hear her next words, “Stay with me, Dimitri. I… I…”
Claude heard her gasp before he heard a moan.
He heard heavy breathing as- Aaanndd those were sounds of clothes and armor-
No way.
Yup.
They were definitely…
Claude stepped away from the door and briskly walked away from the hallway. He stopped by the top of the stairs, rubbed his head and sighed.
He walked back to the hallway and checked all the other rooms, ignoring the office… they were currently occupying.
The library was strangely empty but he’ll count that as a win for now, taking a random book from the table nearest to him. All the other rooms were empty as well so he returned to the entrance leading to the hallway. He sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall next to the hallway and opened the book he took from the library.
It was a book about the final battle against Nemesis. He started to read, pausing whenever someone would try to enter the hallway. He would ask them to leave, for now, playing the whole “Please give the professor some time to grieve for now” card to anyone trying to enter the hallway. They were all affected by Jeralt’s death that they easily accepted Claude’s request, not questioning why the entire hallway was cut off at all. He thought he’d have to work harder when it was Seteth who was trying to enter the hallway but he seemed to understand and sounded so sad as he agreed with Claude’s request. Dedue also came by, obviously looking for his liege, and Claude explained the actual situation with him as delicately as he could (“Dimitri’s with Teach right now… doing… things…”). The older man seemed to have understood and left without a single word. Claude was sure that the quiet Blue Lion student would have liked to stand guard like Claude but that would definitely raise questions that they didn’t want to be asked. He was slightly surprised when Dedue returned a few minutes later, giving him a basket filled with sweet breads, still steaming hot, silently and bowing before leaving again without even saying a single word. There was a letter on top of the bread in the middle which he took. It was from Annette. It said she and Mercedes had baked these and hoped Claude would like it. Claude’s lips curved into a smile and he took one roll of sweet bread, eating it as he continued to read about the ten elites.
He was in the middle of reading about the hero Blaiddyd (who apparently was riding a griffon according to some people? So griffons were an actual thing now?) when he heard a door open from the hallway. He quickly closed the book, stood from his post as he grabbed the almost empty basket and ran towards the stairs.
There was no need to embarrass the two of them. This was just another secret Claude would keep to himself.
The next day, he tried going back to Jeralt’s office (to look around for clues about what the church was hiding, not because he was curious about the state of it after yesterday’s activities, of course) and was mildly surprised to see her back inside the room.
He hoped she and Dimitri wasn’t planning on using this office as their ‘secret meeting place’ now because that would just be-
Hm?
That book she was reading…
“So what’re you reading?” Claude couldn’t help but ask, making her turn towards him. She silently showed him the book and he stared at her.
She looked… better, Claude supposed. There was life back in her eyes that was painfully missing yesterday and an almost rosy complexion on her face.
Claude almost wanted to tease about how good Dimitri was yesterday but that would mean outing that he knew what happened and he didn’t really want to have that conversation with her.
Not yet, anyway. Later on, once enough time has passed, he will be teasing both of them mercilessly about it. Especially Dimitri… most especially Dimitri.
And his curiosity forced him to lower his eyes to stare at the book in her hand. He read a bit of the handwritten sentences in one of the pages and realized, “Is that Jeralt’s…”
“Diary.” She replied with a nod, closing the book but keeping it outstretched towards her student.
“So it is.” Claude nodded, eyes trained at the book in her hands. He raised his head to stare at her. She raised an eyebrow, pushing the book towards him silently. He realized that she was silently giving him permission to take it so he took it gently. He opened the book at a random page as he mused out loud, “Hey, maybe this has some entries from when Jeralt left the monastery.”
He flipped the page as he heard her agree, “It does.”
“Is that so…” Claude hummed lightly, flipping another page as he continued to muse out loud while actually reading some of the entries, “He was the captain of the knights, but something made him leave the monastery in a hurry.”
He furrowed his brows for a moment before raising his head to stare at her, “If it has something to do with your birth, knowing what happened may get us closer to knowing what secrets the church is hiding…”
He closed the book and gave it back to her. She seemed surprised by his action as she took it back but he knew that he had to return it before he could ask what he was planning on asking. He stared at her with determination shining in his eyes. He knew he would sound callous and insensitive to her current situation but he had to ask, “Teach… Would you mind letting me read that diary?”
He tried to mimic the way he saw a few of the nobles would bow as he said seriously, “I know how important it is to you, but I’m not asking lightly. Please, allow me to borrow it.”
She handed the book back at him which actually surprised him. She gave him a small smile as she said, “You may borrow it.”
“I’m forever in your debt, Teach.” He took the book from her and grinned as he added only half-jokingly, “If you’d refused, I would’ve had to sneak in here in the dead of night. I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect.”
Her face turned into that expression everyone in the Golden Deer had declared as her “Claude-I-know-you-say-you’re-not-planning-on-doing-it-but-I-know-you-are-and-I’m-disappointed” face which made him chuckle before he said casually, “Anyhow, let me fill you in on what’s been going on lately, and not just as thanks for pointing me to that diary.”
Her face became stoic once more, a chilling reminder of how she had first looked when they met back in Remire village, as he informed her, “Rhea dispatched the knights to various locations in a frantic search for the enemy.”
This further solidify his theory that it was Rhea’s orders, not Seteth's, that the knights be mobilized and leave the monastery’s defenses compromised.
“There’s a rumor that she’s already secured some information. Something big is gonna happen soon.” He tilted his head to get a better look on her face as he asked, “That has me wondering… If you find out where the enemy is, what will you do about it?”
“If you ask, I…” Claude paused, shaking his head and giving her a soft smile as he corrected, “No, scratch that. All of us students would gladly lend a hand.”
Not just the Golden Deer students but the Blue Lion students too.
He was sure of it.
“Even if that means going against Rhea’s wishes. Don’t forget it.”
She stared at him silently for a moment before closing her eyes and saying softly, “Thank you, Claude.”
Her student rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Sure thing, Teach.”
He waited for her to open her eyes and gave a soft smile as he asked, remembering Dimitri’s words to her yesterday, “Think you can see everyone for at least a bit? Everyone’s worried about you.”
She nodded solemnly and said, “Yes. I… I think I can move forward now, even just for a little bit.”
“That’s great, Teach.” He said, smiling at her, “Then you’d better show them you’re in good spirits.”
He almost made a jab about yesterday’s events but managed to stop himself in time.
He was growing up, he supposed.
Things with Monica (or Kronya, as she wanted to be called) could have gone better. He had sent word to one of the other Golden Deer students to inform the Blue Lion House about what they’ve learned but Teach wanted to go as soon as possible. Then Rhea tried to stop them and they couldn’t wait anymore.
They rushed towards the Sealed Forest and she led them into battle against the strange faction who seemed to be working for the Flame Emperor.
Then she saw Kronya.
Claude barely saw her run ahead, leaving their defensive line, as she charged Kronya. The Sword of Creator sang as its detached blades flew towards the pale woman. She barely dodged the initial swipe but the Sword of Creator was relentless, a dark red glow enveloping its entire form as the angry grieving woman continually whipped it towards her father’s killer.
From the south, Claude heard someone call his name, “Claude!”
Claude turned around and smiled at the reinforcements, “Dimitri! You don’t know how happy I am to see you guys.”
Dimitri rushed towards his side while the other Blue Lion students immediately entered the fray. Even without any instructions, they paired up the same way they do during their shared training sessions and began pushing back the relentless attack of their enemies. Dimitri glared at the enemies in front of them as he asked, “Where is she?”
Claude turned to look back at where the Golden Deer’s professor was fighting Kronya and pointed at them. They had turned their attention back at the duel just in time to see the Sword of Creator pierce her enemy’s arm. The pale woman screamed, throwing one of her weapons at her opponent. The teal-haired woman dodged the throw and Kronya used that time to turn around and run towards the forest.
She immediately ran after her and Claude shouted, “Teach, no!”
Claude didn’t even have time to react as Dimitri ran after them, shouting, “Claude is in charge!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Most of the Blue Lion students replied except Felix who growled as he parried the lance aimed at Hilda.
Hilda slammed her axe on the paladin’s chest immediately while Felix hissed, “That stupid boar!”
Claude could only sigh, rubbing the back of his head. He turned towards the combined units of his Golden Deer and their Blue Lion reinforcement as he said, “Alright, everyone. Let’s make this quick so we can back up our two stupid lovebirds!”
Some of them chuckled while Lorenz shook his head as he sighed. Claude grinned as he continued, “Alright, let’s take them all down! Lysithea, aim your Dark Spike at the mounted units to our left! Felix, Hilda, keep them busy and advance once all of them are down! Annette, guard Lysithea from any units that gets passed Hilda and Felix and heal anyone if necessary! Ashe, they’re guarding something to our far left, take Raph and Marianne with you and find out what it is! After that, provide backup to Felix and Hilda! Ingrid, I need you to scout the area to our right! Take Flayn with you as backup! Lorenz, Sylvain, take down the units to our right! Leonie, Ignatz, cover them! Mercedes, follow behind Leonie and provide support! Dedue, keep Mercedes safe! Keep advancing until we get to that destroyed building after the forest!”
Everyone shouted their agreement to the plan and they all began to move. Claude stayed at the center and watched both sides’ status. Once Ashe and his team joined Hilda’s team, he ran to support Leonie and Ignatz.
They reached the destroyed building in time to hear Dimitri’s scream, “BYLETH!”
They could only watch in horror as a dark mist covered her while Dimitri ran towards her with his hand outstretched. She raised her hand towards the prince and their fingers touched before the dark mist swirled violently before disappearing upwards together with the teal-haired woman. Dimitri fell on his knees at where she had been standing while the pale man that had been impersonating Tomas said, “Begone with you, Fell Star.”
Hilda was the first to react, “Wha-what was that? Where did you go, Professor?”
“They were swallowed by the mystical darkness of the forbidden spell.” The man named Solon explained as he turned towards Hilda, “An eternity wandering in a void of nothingness, never to return to this world…”
He shook his head as he mused, “To think we almost had the Sword of the Creator…”
“That’s a lie!” Annette shouted, “There’s no way the professor is really dead!”
“That’s right! Our professor is no ordinary human!” Flayn added, glaring at Solon from atop her pegasus.
“I refuse to believe that Teach would die in a place like this!” Claude shouted as he glared at Solon.
“It is possible that death has yet to find your friend.” The pale old man conceded before adding ominously, “But there are worse things than death.”
"Drifting through the darkness with no chance of escape… Overwhelmed with hopelessness…” He chuckled as he said maliciously, “It must be torturous.”
“Silence!” Dimitri stood and gripped his silver lance tightly as he glared at Solon, “I will find her and I will get her back.”
His eyes shone with manic anger as he growled, “But before that, I will slice you into a thousand pieces as you watch with horror! You will know true pain before I finally allow you to die! I will make you regret ever daring to raise a hand against her!”
Solon shook his head as he said, “How trite. But if you wish for pain, I shall oblige.”
He raised his hand towards Dimitri as he declared, “If you prefer it so, you shall also be added to the ranks of the dead!”
“It shall be you who will be added to the ranks of the dead, you fiend!” The prince screamed as he charged Solon.
Claude nocked an arrow and aimed it at the old man as he ordered, “Support Dimitri!”
Before he could fire, Dedue pulled him back using his yellow cape. A javelin was thrown to where he had been standing and Claude watched from behind Dedue’s shield as Solon’s reinforcements suddenly appeared from various pillars of purple light, surrounding them.
Including crest beasts.
They’ll get pinned down by the reinforcements’ pincer attack.
“Fall back to the forest!” Claude ordered and everyone started backing towards the forest as they kept their guard up.
“Your Highness!” Dedue shouted.
Except Dimitri who was dueling Solon all by himself.
“Dammit, Dimitri!” Claude shouted as Raphael and Sylvain stopped Dedue from rushing towards them, “Fall back!”
Dimitri didn’t seem to hear him as he dodged a ball of dark magic from Solon before throwing his lance at the old man.
The old man erected a barrier of dark magic that bounced the lance, his eyes widening when he saw Dimitri immediately in front of him, using his own weapon as a distraction so he could get close. Dimitri grabbed the fallen lance and thrust right in the middle of the barrier as his crest of Blaiddyd screamed in his blood.
The lance cracked under his grip but the blade started to pierce through Solon’s barrier. As the barrier cracked all around him, Solon hummed, “You have been blessed by Blaiddyd’s might, wolf-child. Such a shame you’ve become the lapdog of that Fell Star.”
“I will show you the rage of a winter wolf.” Dimitri growled as he pushed his lance through the barrier, making it crack against his inhuman strength, “I will rip you apart, limb from limb, and present your head to her!”
As Solon’s barrier shattered, Dimitri pushed his lance to pierce the pale old man’s chest but Solon was quicker, blasting Dimitri away with a burst of dark magic. Dimitri fell on the ground a few feet away from his opponent as his lance shattered, unable to withstand both his crest and the blast of dark magic.
“Dimitri!” Claude shouted, aiming at Solon but a crest beast rushed towards him, forcing him to dodge instead.
Dimitri slowly got up while Solon walked towards him. The old man raised his hand towards the kneeling prince when they all heard a crack.
Both of them stopped, turning to the origin of the sound.
The sky cracked in front of them and the Sword of Creator pierced through the crack, slicing the sky itself. The sky shattered and the woman Solon called the Fell Star fell from the other side of the crack, landing on the ground on her knees.
“So the Fell Star consumes even darkness itself.” Solon murmured.
Her hair had turned a green color lighter than anyone they have ever seen, lighter than the archbishop herself.
She stood and glared at Solon with light green eyes, the Sword of Creator glowing in her hands. Solon took a step back but cried out as Dimitri used a shard of his broken lance to impale his foot. The Sword of Creator sang as its blade detached, severing Solon’s head with one clean slice. A feral smile appeared on the prince’s face as the head rolled away from him. He raised his head as his beloved offered her hand towards him, his smile turning soft as he whispered, “I am glad you are safe.”
He took her hand and let her pull him to his feet as he whispered, “I was sure you would return, my beloved.”
They turned towards their stunned allies and Claude smiled at them.
“Teach… You are Teach, right?” Claude asked, relief in his voice as he said, “I always believed in you… I knew you could cut your way out of anything.”
He glared at the remaining enemies and said, “Let’s go clean this up then we can reflect on what happened.”
She nodded at her student before turning towards Dimitri to ask, “Can you still fight?”
“For you, my beloved, yes.” Dimitri replied solemnly as he nodded at her, “Even if I have to use my hands to rip them apart.”
“Please don’t, your highness.” Sylvain said with a sigh, throwing his spare steel lance at his liege.
Dimitri caught the lance and nodded at his childhood friend, “Thank you, Sylvain.”
Claude twirled an arrow in his hand as he asked with a grin, “Well then, what are your orders, Teach?”
She turned to face everyone as she said, “We’ll take them all down. We won’t let a single one escape.”
With that declaration, she turned to face the reinforcements and their battle continued.
With the wielder of the Sword of Creator on their side, the reinforcements and the crest beasts fell under the combined might of both the Golden Deer and the Blue Lion.
While most of their units checked the area for any survivors or fleeing enemies, Claude approached the now mint-haired professor who was standing very close to a quite frankly heavily battered Dimitri, both their hands intertwined with one another.
“Teach! Dimitri! We won!” He said cheerfully, grinning at both of them. His lips curved into a small smile as he admitted, “I’ll be honest, when I lost sight of you, I broke into a cold sweat.”
He smiled at Dimitri sardonically as he added, “And I felt like I lost five years of my life when you didn’t fall back and attacked Solon alone, Dimitri.”
She glared at the young prince next to her, displeased by his reckless behavior.
Just as Claude expected.
“I apologize for worrying you, Claude.” Dimitri said with an apologetic smile towards Claude.
The Golden Deer leader waved Dimitri’s apology nonchalantly, knowing his fellow house leader was going to get an earful later, as he casually said, “Well, you’re okay and Jeralt’s killer is dead. All’s well that ends well.”
“That’s true.” She said as she nodded, making Claude and Dimitri stare at her.
“You’re kidding, right?” Claude asked ludicrously. He sighed and shook his head before continuing, “I understood putting it off while we were in battle, but now that it’s over, just go ahead and spit it out.”
She and Dimitri glanced at each other then they both blushed.
Oh, sweet merciful gods of Almyra.
Did they think he was actually asking about their secret relationship?
Right now?
Not to mention, it was a secret relationship that wasn’t really a secret anymore considering how blatantly they were holding hands and being all close to one another right now.
In all honesty, he was surprised they managed to keep it a secret this long.
Claude closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened them and clarified, “What I mean to say, Teach, is… That hair. Those eyes. That unfathomable power. What happened back there?”
“Claude is right.” Dimitri agreed, staring at her, “You look… different.”
She touched her hair and tilted her head towards Dimitri who blushed and immediately added, “O-of course, you are still as beautiful as you were before! If I was to be honest, that hair and those eyes make you appear quite similar to the portrait of the goddess we have back in Castle Blaiddyd! But, of course, you are much more beautifu-”
“Not the time, Dimitri.” Claude rolled his eyes, causing Dimitri to close his mouth.
Normally, he would enjoy listening to Dimitri lose his composure and ramble on about his beloved (in all seriousness, making Dimitri fluster and get him to ramble on about Teach was a favorite pastime of Claude and the other Blue Lions) but now wasn’t the time for that.
“O-o-oh, right. My apologies.” Dimitri stammered, looking at the ground as he blushed.
“So, Teach, care to tell us what happened?” Claude asked once more, staring at his professor.
She stared back at him silently for a few seconds then turned to stare at Dimitri next. Dimitri met her stare head on. She closed her eyes and nodded before stepping away from Dimitri so she could face both young men as she started, “The truth is…”
While Claude thought that Fodlan was a strange place, he didn’t expect it to be as strange as the explanation the mint-haired woman was telling them. By the end of her explanation, Claude and Dimitri were staring at her with wide eyes as Claude tried to summarize, unable to hide his ludicrousness at the words escaping his mouth, “Let me see if I get this straight… An entity who claims to be the goddess was living in your mind? And it’s been that way since you were a baby?”
He furrowed his brows as he continued, “And this goddess entrusted all of her goddess-like power to you and then vanished…”
He and Dimitri glanced at each other before he returned his attention back to the silent mint-haired woman as he admitted, “It’s a difficult story to swallow, Teach. But the way you look now… I guess I’ve got no choice but to believe it.”
Dimitri nodded at Claude’s admission before crossing his left arm and resting his right below against his palm. He placed his right hand on his chin as he confessed, “I must admit I also find all of this hard to grasp.”
“However…” Dimitri nodded as he stared at her intently and said, “I believe you, my beloved. If you say that the goddess has been with you this entire time then it must be true.”
It took all of Claude’s power to stop himself from grinning at his fellow heir. He so desperately wanted to tease him about how he was acting around her but only kept quiet as Dimitri mused out loud, “But if you now have the goddess’ power and she had disappeared, does that mean…”
Claude’s eyes widened and he turned towards his professor as he asked, “Teach, does that mean you’re the goddess now?”
Her eyes widened at her student’s question and she furiously shook her head as she said, “Don't even joke about things like that, Claude.”
Dimitri tilted his head and asked curiously, “Why not? I would be more than happy to worship the goddess of the church if it was you.”
Claude watched her blush at Dimitri’s nonchalant admission as she uttered, “Oh, Dimitri.”
He rolled his eyes at the two as he commented, “Please, you’d worship her even if she wasn’t a goddess.”
“Well, yes, of cour-” Dimitri stopped in mid-word, blushing as he realized what he was saying and they both looked away from Claude, making the dark-haired young man sigh.
He was almost scared to think of what would happen to these two if he wasn’t around.
Most probably they’d just end up flirting at each other and forget about the bigger picture…
“Putting aside your questionable sudden divinity…” Claude started, waiting for both of them to stare at him once more before continuing, “There might be a clue to Jeralt’s diary on why this all happened. If you believe the diary, there’s a high possibility that Rhea did something to you when you were born.”
Claude glanced at Dimitri and blinked when he noticed that the other young man wasn’t surprised by any of his words. He actually looked thoughtful as he mused, “Yes, you would be right about that possibility. At the very least, the archbishop would have an idea on what this would all mean.”
He turned to face the mint-haired woman as he asked, “You told him?”
She tilted her head as she asked back, “I wasn’t supposed to?”
“I wouldn’t say no but…” Claude sighed once more, rubbing his face twice as he thought out loud, “I guess now you two are pretty much a package deal, huh.”
“I guess we now have two main questions we need to find answers to.” Claude continued, raising his index finger as he said, “What in the world happened to you as a baby?”
He raised his middle finger next as he continued, “And what was Rhea after?”
“Maybe she’s the mad witch?” Dimitri suggested, making both of them turn towards him. He seemed surprised by the sudden attention and he said, “Oh, forgive me. It’s a… well, I suppose you can say that it’s a bit of folklore in Faerghus.”
“Folklore?”
“Yes.” Dimitri nodded before he explained, “It’s not part of the teaching of the church and it’s actually a scary story we tell children so they won’t venture outside during cold winter nights. ‘Beware the mad witch for she will stop at nothing to see the goddess once more. She will do anything, not even the coldest winter wind will hinder her and, if you go outside during the night, she might see you and take you away to help her find the goddess.’”
“Okay, that’s quite a scary story, I guess?” Claude tilted his head as he admitted, “But it does sound like a story people tell their kids.”
“Yes, I would agree however…” Dimitri looked thoughtful as he admitted, “They say that, my ancestor, the hero Blaiddyd was the first person who talked about the mad witch. That’s why it’s quite scary for us.”
“The hero…” They turned towards her, their eyes widening as she starts to sway, “Blaiddyd…”
Her eyes closed and she started to fall, making Claude and Dimitri shout, “Teach!” “Byleth!”
Thankfully, Dimitri managed to catch her before she fell to the ground. Claude quickly stepped towards them, sighing in relief when he saw that she was breathing. He rubbed the back of his head as he commented, “Huh. She’s sleeping. Man, I almost had a heart attack.”
He watched Dimitri hold her closer as he continued, “This must be an effect of the goddess’ power. Can her body handle the strain?”
Dimitri’s hold on her tightened at those words and he said, “We don’t know that. We must get her back to the monastery and get help.”
He lifted her, keeping one hand on her back while his other hand was under her knees. He turned towards Claude as said, “Claude, take care of everyone. I will go on ahead with Byleth to get her help as soon as possible.”
“Now, wait just a minute, your princeliness.” Claude had to step in front of Dimitri to stop the blond-haired young man from moving. He placed a hand on Dimitri’s chest as he reminded him, “We’re not sure if it’s safe out there. We should stick together. At the very least, we should accompany you so you will at least have people to defend you if you guys get attacked.”
Dimitri nodded solemnly as he said, “Very well. But we must go now.”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time.” Claude turned towards their allies who were near them, “Lorenz! Sylvain!”
Both mounted units turned to look at him and he said, “We’re leaving you two in charge! We need to get Teach back to the monastery as soon as possible! Make sure everyone gets back safely!”
Lorenz raised his head as he said, “A splendid choice, Claude. For once, we are in total agreement.”
Claude rolled his eyes and watched as Sylvain turned to his liege as he asked, “Your Highness?”
Dimitri only nodded at him and the red-haired noble grinned at Claude, “Got it, we’ll keep everyone safe and see you later.”
Claude nodded at them before calling out, “Hilda! Dedue! Marianne!”
The three of them turned to face Claude and he said, “We’ll escort Dimitri back to the monastery. Our priority is to keep him and Teach safe, got it?”
“Do I have to?” Hilda sighed while Dedue and Marianne nodded, “Okay, fine. For our dear Professor.”
With that said, the five of them began to journey back to the monastery, with Dedue taking point. Dimitri and Claude briskly walked behind him while Hilda and Marianne covered their rear flank.
Claude watched the determined prince next to him, turning his eyes to stare at the sleeping woman in his arms.
Then he remembered…
“Hey, Dimitri.” Claude called out as he placed his hands behind his back.
“Yes, Claude?” Dimitri glanced at him before returning his attention back to the road they were walking on.
“I just realized something…” Claude said, staring at the prince.
Noticing that his fellow house leader wasn’t continuing, he tried to prompt him with a questioning “Yes?”
“This goddess was supposed to be with her the entire time, right?” He reminded the blond-haired young man.
“That is what she said, yes.” Dimitri nodded.
“Then does that mean that the goddess could see everything she did.” Claude leaned towards Dimitri as he said in a serious tone, “Everything she did… perhaps in the presence of his princeliness?”
Dimitri’s breath hitched before his cheeks reddened. Claude watched gleefully as the prince’s entire face reddened.
“Your Highness, are you alright?” Dedue asked worriedly as he turned his head to stare at them, making both Hilda and Marianne stare at him as well.
Claude had to cover his mouth as his fellow house leader stammered in an awfully high voice, “I-I am fine, Dedue! I just- I-”
He turned to face Claude and his eyes widened as he saw Claude’s gleeful grin.
Then his entire face paled as he realized that Claude knew.
Claude’s grin grew bigger as he asked teasingly, “So Dimitri, how does it feel to know that you have consummated your love in the eyes of your goddess? Should we consider your union to have been blessed by the Goddess of Fodlan?”
A high pitched sound that Claude could only describe as an aborted squeak escaped Dimitri’s lips before he quickly walked away from Claude without saying another word. Claude couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he watched the northern prince run away from him while his loyal retainer tried to catch up to his lord, “Your Highness!”
Hilda walked next to him and raised an eyebrow as she asked, “What was that about, Claude?”
Her dark-haired friend snorted and covered his mouth as he tried to regain his composure. Once he felt he could answer his pink-haired partner-in-crime without laughing in the middle of his words, he said, “I guess you could say Dimitri realized that he had a religious experience.”
Hilda raised an eyebrow when Claude snorted and began to laugh at his own joke. Behind them, Marianne sighed in resignation, while Hilda tilted her head and said sweetly, “Claude, sweetie, I think you might have been hanging out with Alois far too much.”
The moment they had arrived in the monastery, Rhea was immediately there to greet them with Seteth and some of the knights. She gasped when she saw the sleeping woman in Dimitri’s eyes and she immediately walked towards them. Claude noticed Dimitri’s hands twitch as the archbishop approached them and placed a hand on his back. He shook his head slightly when the prince glanced at him, silently telling him not to move away from Rhea.
The last thing they needed was for Rhea to know that they suspected her of doing something nefarious to the woman in Dimitri’s arms.
The prince seemed to have gotten the message as he kept still while Rhea stopped right in front of him. The archbishop caressed her cheek, her fingers lingering at the strands of mint-colored hair between them as her eyes brightened and a soft smile appeared on her face.
“She needs medical attention, Lady Rhea.” Dimitri said, keeping his voice calm as he kept his eyes on the sleeping woman in his arms.
“Hm?” Rhea seemed a bit dazed, staring at Dimitri for a moment before saying, “Yes, of course.”
“I will attend to her personally.” Rhea declared, making both Claude and Dimitri widened their eyes. They turned to stare at each other.
There was no way they could deny her without sounding disrespectful and suspicious.
Grimly, Claude nodded at Dimitri while Rhea said, “Follow me.”
“Yes, Lady Rhea.” Dimitri replied, keeping his eyes at Claude as he nodded back.
He followed the archbishop and Claude tried to follow Dimitri but Seteth stepped in front of him. Seteth stared at him as he said, “I will listen to your report on Lady Rhea’s stead.”
Claude could only watch as Dimitri followed Rhea inside the monastery before facing Seteth who was staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
Knowing he has no other choice, he starts to fill Seteth in on what happened.
… for course, he kept all of his conversation about their suspicion of Rhea and Teach’s possible new divinity a secret.
Teach was kept in the archbishop’s personal quarters for the next few days. Visitors were not allowed.
Which made Dimitri apprehensive. With their future king apprehensive, the entire Blue Lion House became apprehensive as well. This made everyone in the Golden Deer also apprehensive.
Which, in turn, made everyone in the monastery apprehensive.
Claude was sure that Dimitri will demand to see her beloved any day now and all hell will break loose if he gets denied.
Speaking of pet names, Hilda heard Dimitri call her ‘my beloved’ in the Sealed Forest so now everyone knew about it. There’s a bet going around on what Teach’s pet name for Dimitri is.
Last time he saw the board (which was posted in the Golden Deer classroom with the title “Pet Name!” because they really did stop trying to be subtle after they found out that Dimitri calls her ‘my beloved’), the leading nicknames were ‘my prince’, ‘my lion’ (which were both unoriginal but probably the safest bet) and ‘my wolf’ (which was strange to Claude but it seemed a lot of the Blue Lion students that picked that came from the northern territories). There was one vote for ‘Boar’ and someone added two comments to it that says ‘that’s Felix’s pet name for His Highness, not the Professor’ ‘I will kill you, Sylvain.’ which they just left there because they found it funny.
Returning to the current dilemma of the entire monastery, he eavesdropped on some of the Blue Lion students whispering to Dimitri, informing him that they were ready to fight the church if he gives the order as the detainment of the crown prince’s betrothed (and Claude had to blink at that. He knew they were together but he didn’t know about any betrothment) would be considered as a slight against the Kingdom itself.
Which was, okay, an absolute overreaction on their part and a bit frightening…
Dimitri had simply thanked them and didn’t even bother to try and dissuade them from attacking the church.
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be all buddy-buddy with the church?” Claude asked once the Blue Lion students left Dimitri.
The prince didn’t seem surprised by his fellow house leader’s eavesdropping and simply sighed as he explained, “The church and Faerghus do have a close relationship, yes, and many of my people are devout believers of the Church of Seiros. However…”
Dimitri stopped, placing his hand on his chin as he thought about his next words. He stared at Claude silently before finally explaining, “There is a difference between being faithful to the teachings of the church and being faithful to the church itself. Not to mention, many were displeased by the church’s interference four years ago and the acts of the Western Church this past year has reflected badly on the entire church.”
Claude blinked at Dimitri before asking, “Dimitri, you’re not preparing your reasoning so you can attack the church, are you?”
The blond-haired young man chuckled at him and shook his head as he replied, “Of course not, Claude. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Pardon the intrusion.” They both turned towards where the voice came from. Edelgard had her hand on her waist as she looked at her fellow heir, “Dimitri, may I have a bit of your time?”
She glanced at Claude before adding, “Alone, if possible.”
Sensing that Dimitri was going to say no because of his friendship with Claude, bless him, the dark-haired heir interrupted him and said, “He’s all yours, Edelgard, I have other things to do anyway.”
“Claude.” Dimitri frowned at him and he just waved it off, grinning at the blond prince.
“No, really.” His grin grew as he teased, “I need to ask about how the people of Faerghus propose.”
Dimitri’s cheeks reddened and he shouted scandalously, “Claude!”
He chuckled as he walked away from the two heirs, waving casually without looking. He turned towards the hallway leading to the reception hall and leaned on the wall, turning to watch the future emperor and future king as Edelgard said, “Before I say anything, I would like to confirm something. Dimitri, are you and the profes-”
Someone cleared their throat right next to Claude and he turned around, coming face-to-face with Edelgard’s retainer. Claude smiled at him while Hubert said, “Please refrain from listening in on Lady Edelgard’s conversation.”
“I wasn’t listening in.” Claude casually defended himself, “I was just resting.”
“Then please rest elsewhere.” Hubert’s lips curved into a small smirk as he suggested, “Perhaps in the infirmary?”
Claude chuckled at Hubert’s suggestion, shaking his head slightly. He saw a flash of red hair and grinned as he said, “Just the person I was looking for. Hey, Sylvain!”
The red-haired noble stopped and blinked as he saw the head of Golden Deer walking towards him with Edelgard’s retainer of all people.
“Sylvain?” The young woman walking with him called out.
Claude stopped in front of Sylvain just in time to hear Sylvain whisper to the young woman, “Sorry, I’ll follow you as soon as I can. Just tell them not to do anything until they hear from me or His Highness. Take Ingrid with you too.”
The young woman nodded at Sylvain before bowing at Claude. Claude remembered her as the Blue Lion student he had danced with during the annual ball but he didn’t have time to say anything as she had already left, walking briskly out of the reception hall. He turned back to the red-haired young man and asked, “Lovers’ quarrel?”
Sylvain chuckled and shook his head, “I wish it was something as trivial as that. No, that was-”
Claude saw the older man glance at the dark shadow behind the Golden Deer leader before continuing, “Class related. Blue Lion House related.”
“I see.” Claude nodded before turning towards Hubert as he asked, “How long will you keep following me?”
“Until Lady Edelgard is done talking to Dimitri.” The pale young man replied, staring at Claude menacingly.
“His Highness is talking to Edelgard?” Sylvain repeated with wide eyes. He rubbed his face thrice and mumbled, “Goddess, I hope this doesn’t complicate things further.”
Claude had an inkling on what the Blue Lion student was saying. He supposed that the young woman he had been with had informed him about some of the more reckless Blue Lion students’ behavior as of late. If they hear that their future king was talking to the future emperor of an empire known for having a strained relationship with the church, it might be the fuse that blows the entire thing wide open.
Sylvain sighed and asked as he rubbed the back of his neck, “So, why did you call me, Claude? Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Just wondering about how marriage proposals work in Faerghus.” Claude asked casually, making the older man blink while the dark-haired retainer turned to stare at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Marriage… proposal?” Sylvain repeated. His lips curved into an amused grin as he asked, “Why? Planning to propose to someone from Blue Lion? Is it Ingrid?”
Sylvain’s grin grew as he cheerfully begged, “Please tell me it’s Ingrid. I would love to see you try and propose to Ingrid. It would totally make my day.”
Claude shook his head as he clarified, “Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not planning to propose to anyone. I’m asking… well… hypothetically, if you ask someone to come back to you after you graduate to Gautier, does that count as a marriage proposal?”
Sylvain stared at Claude for a few seconds with an open mouth then he raised his head to stare at the ceiling as he sighed, “Oh, man. Oh, goddess almighty.”
He placed his hand on his face and shook his head before lowering his head to stare at the Riegan heir as he asked, “Is that how Dimitri proposed? Please, please, for the love of all that is holy and pure, please tell me he did not give her a dagger when he asked her to come to Fhirdiad.”
“I don’t think a dagger was involved.” Claude replied, really curious and weirded out by this apparent Faerghus marriage proposal culture.
“That’s good.” Sylvain nodded and patted the shorter young man’s shoulder as he said seriously, “Thank you for telling me, Claude. I will talk to His Highness about this so he can properly proposed.”
“Wait- that’s not-”
“Anyway, I have to go and get back up before talking to His Highness. Thanks again, Claude!” Sylvain said quickly as he ran out of the reception hall.
“Sylvain!” Claude called out as he watched the taller young man ran out of the reception hall, “So he didn’t propose?!”
He wasn’t sure if Sylvain had ignored him or just didn’t hear him so he simply sighed, turning to stare at Hubert as he asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about how marriage proposals work in Faerghus, do you?”
Hubert snorted but remained silent, causing Claude to sigh once more.
Thankfully, Teach was finally released from her confinement a day later. Everyone was relieved and she said she was well enough to continue teaching the Golden Deer.
She had also informed them this month’s mission: to escort her and Rhea to the Holy Tomb so she may receive some divine message from the goddess.
At those words, her eyes met his.
They both knew something was wrong about the mission. There was no divine message to be received because the goddess had already disappeared.
They told Dimitri about it as well and he came to the same conclusion as both of them.
Whatever divine message Rhea was talking about, it was something else that may be connected to what she did to the mint-haired woman when she was a baby.
Unfortunately, the Blue Lions were not allowed to join the mission but Dimitri had said solemnly to her, “Just say the word and we will come with you, regardless of the archbishop’s orders.”
“That’s asking for trouble, Dimitri.” Claude tried to reason, “Rhea would definitely not take an obvious disregard of her orders lightly. She might even consider it as a deliberate attack on the church by Faerghus.”
“Claude’s right.” She agreed before adding, “Also, with Rhea away from the monastery, you can use this chance to try and find out any clue to what she had been doing or what she’s planning to do.”
Dimitri wasn’t exactly pleased with it but he nodded nonetheless, “I can see your and Claude’s point. Very well, I will remain here in the monastery and look for clues while you are away.”
They would later hear that Edelgard had left for Enbarr on official Imperial business.
Claude had a bad feeling about all these.
On the day of the mission, Claude was waiting in the reception hall for the other Golden Deer members and Teach.
“Claude.” The dark-haired young man turned towards the sound of his name. Seeing Dimitri walk towards him with a serious expression on his face, Claude gave him an easy smile.
“Hey, Dimitri.” He casually greeted when the prince stopped in front of him.
“About your mission…” The blond-haired young man paused, looking at his eyes silently for a few moments, before he finally said, “I entrust you with her safety.”
Claude chuckled before replying, “Don’t worry, Dimitri. I swear to you. I’ll protect Teach with my life.”
It was Dimitri’s turn to chuckle as he shook his head. He smiled at Claude genuinely as he said, “Thank you, my friend, but I would prefer if you and her return here alive. Of course, that goes for all of our friends.”
“Thanks, Dimitri.” Claude nodded at him as he proclaimed seriously, “We’ll all come back safely, I promise.”
And because he couldn’t help it, he had to tease the serious prince, “If I’m being completely honest, I’m more worried about you.”
“Me?” The taller man blinked at him.
“No offense, Dimitri, but you’re not really stealthy. Not to mention, that blue cape of yours and handsome face definitely hurt any stealth you might have.” He teased as he grinned at the prince, “I’m really worried you’d try to get inside one of the restricted rooms and get caught because of your blue cape or that hair of yours.”
The Blue Lion leader chuckled once more, shaking his head as he agreed, “Yes, I agree with you there, Claude. However, I do know of a few talented individuals who would be willing to infiltrate restricted areas for me.”
“Using others to do your dirty work?” Claude couldn’t help but laugh out loud and Dimitri joined him.
Claude said scandalously, “Your princeliness! Who has been corrupting you?!”
Dimitri raised an eyebrow as he deadpanned, “Who do you think?”
The Riegan heir dramatically gasped as he said, “It’s Teach, isn’t it? Teach has been corrupting you, hasn’t she?!”
He rested his arm on the prince’s shoulder as declared, “Don’t worry, Dimitri, I will talk to Teach about this.”
He leaned towards Dimitri as he added with a wink, “Unless, of course, you like being corrupted by your dearly beloved.”
“Claude!” Dimitri shouted scandalously, making the dark-haired house leader laugh loudly once more.
The entire mission went wrong in so many ways it wasn’t even funny. Teach had to sit in the goddess’ throne but nothing happened. Rhea looked devastated by that then the empire attacked the Holy Tomb with crest beasts, trying to steal the crest stones. They found out Edelgard was the Flame Emperor and Rhea had ordered for her immediate execution.
She managed to retreat and she had now declared war against the Church of Seiros as the new emperor of Adrestia.
As if that wasn’t enough, Dimitri seemed to have found out something while they were away that directly linked Edelgard to the Tragedy of Duscur. Whatever he found was enough to push him close to the edge and Teach had to talk to him privately in her room.
For hours.
He wasn’t sure if they just talked or she found an alternate way to get to Dimitri but whatever she did, Claude was grateful for it and he didn’t want to know any details.
… Maybe just a little bit of detail may be nice.
He’ll pester Teach once this was all over.
They needed Dimitri’s head clear as Edelgard’s main force was marching to Garreg Mach.
It won’t be long until they reached the monastery.
The knights have already started to evacuate the common folks staying both in the monastery and the nearby villages who might get caught up by the marching imperial troops. Some of the students had also left, many of them from Black Eagle House. There was no evidence that they knew about Edelgard’s betrayal so they weren’t detained.
He had been surprised when a few Blue Lion students also evacuated. He expected maybe just one or two students to evacuate since they have shown their loyalty (some of them to a frightening degree) to Dimitri. Ingrid had explained that most of them had evacuated by Dimitri’s orders, including the heir of a house that was part of the royal court. They had been given the order to return to Faerghus and warn the noble houses about the Adrestian Empire’s movements. Their future king had ordered that defenses be prepared and the knight orders be ready to mobilize.
It was a move that Claude would have done himself if he knew that the Leicester Alliance would listen to him. Unfortunately, the Leicester Alliance wasn’t exactly unified under one banner like the kingdom was to House Blaiddyd. Even if House Riegan was the leader of the Leicester Alliance, his House didn’t really have any real power over the other members of the Five Ruling Houses. He would have more luck if the heirs to the Five Ruling Houses would return to their territories and try to persuade their house head instead.
Unfortunately, the ones in Golden Deer that were related to the Five Ruling Houses were also some of their best units so it would be more detrimental to their current situation if they left.
Before they knew it, the Adrestian Empire was right by their door and the monastery was about to turn into a battlefield.
He managed to find her in the greenhouse the night before they expect the Adrestian Empire would start their siege. She was staring at the anemone bed that Dedue and Dimitri had nurtured for an entire year. He stopped right next to her and said, “Teach…”
She turned to face him and tilted her head.
Claude wasn’t sure how to start so he just confessed, “There are so many things I wanted to tell you, you know.”
He sighed before he continued, “But there was never a good time. Every time I think about telling you something, I would think there are more pressing things to think about. That this can wait.”
“And now…” Claude stopped, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath before opening them, staring at her as he smiled, “If I can only say one thing to you, it would be this.”
“Teach… Friend…” Claude shook his head slightly as he continued, “None of those words quite capture what you come to mean to me. We may not be connected by blood, but I believe our bond goes deeper than that.”
His smile grew softer as he continued, “Now that we know each other, our hearts are connected. Even if…”
He faltered at his next words and clenched his hands into a fist as he said, “Even if our paths diverge and we’re forced to say goodbye… I know we will meet again.”
He heard footsteps stop right in front of the entrance of the greenhouse and glanced at the entrance. Dimitri was standing by the entrance, taking a step to the side to lean on the frame of the entrance as he gave them some semblance of privacy.
“Well, that’s all I wanted to tell you.” Claude said, grinning at her, “I’ll leave you two alone.”
Claude began to walk away from her but stopped when he felt her grab his wrist as she called out, “Claude.”
He turned around to look at her as she said, “You know we feel the same way about you, right? Me and Dimitri.”
His heart skipped a beat at that and he gulped. There were many things he should say, the truth that he had kept close to his heart that he wished he could tell the both of them.
About the dream that he could see coming true if they were by his side…
However, now was not the time.
Instead, he grinned at her and teased, “Aw, Teach, does that mean I’ll be the best man in your wedding?”
Byleth rolled her eyes and let go of his hand as she snarked back, “Good luck fighting Dedue for that title.”
Her lips curved into a teasing smile similar to his as she suggested, “Or you can fight Hilda for the position of maid of honor instead?”
“Wow, two hard places, huh?” Claude commented and they both chuckled. He smiled at her softly as he whispered, “I’m happy for both of you, Teach. I really am.”
“You should be.” She raised an eyebrow at him as she reminded him, “You planned this.”
He blinked as he asked, “You knew?”
She rolled her eyes as she commented, “You’re not really a subtle matchmaker, you know. You and everyone else.”
He chuckled and defended, “Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”
She smiled at him as she nodded, “Yeah. It did.”
She tilted her head as she said with a gentle smile on her face, “Thank you, Claude.”
He bowed at her as he replied, “It was my pleasure, Teach.”
With that said, he waved at her as he walked away without looking back. He stopped next to Dimitri and patted his shoulder. As he stepped out of the greenhouse, Dimitri called out, “Claude.”
He turned to look at his fellow heir as the prince said solemnly, “Thank you for everything.”
His lips curved into a small smile as he added softly, “Thank you for being my friend.”
“Don’t say things like that, Dimitri.” Claude gently chided, “I have a dream that I want to make come true no matter what. I have no plans on dying tomorrow. So promise me…”
“Don’t die out there tomorrow too.” He said seriously, staring at his friend’s blue eyes.
“I promise.” Dimitri replied with a nod, “I also have a dream I wish to protect.”
“Good.” Claude offered his hand to his fellow future king as he swore, “For the sake of our dreams, let’s swear, right here, right now. We’ll get through this and live. We’ll keep moving forward.”
Dimitri took his offered hand and swore, “And we will make our dreams come true. Together. Side by side.”
“As equals.” Claude added, making Dimitri’s eyes widened slightly before his smile brightened.
“Yes.” Dimitri nodded, his grip on Claude’s hand tightening as he repeated, “As equals.”
Defending Garreg Mach was brutal. They left most of the Golden Deer and Blue Lion students to defend the monastery to protect those who still had to evacuate while he, Dimitri, Dedue and Marianne followed Teach to the fields outside the monastery where the main bulk of the imperial troops were marching towards Garreg Mach. They were pinned down by a battalion of imperial foot soldiers while Teach had separated from them to rush towards Rhea who had joined the battle.
As Claude shot an enemy unit who tried to attack Dimitri from the back, they heard a roar that could not have come from any crest beasts they have encountered.
Unless Adrestia had more crest beasts which was a frightening thought all by itself.
They saw a white… dragon?
Oh merciful gods of Almyra.
Was that an honest to the Fodlan’s vanished goddess dragon?!
How were they supposed to beat that?!
Claude’s internal panic stopped when he realized that the dragon was fighting the empire.
Which only brought a new question…
The church of Seiros has a dragon?!
Where had they been keeping that huge thing all this time?!
The absurdity of this entire thing only grew when they all noticed that the mint-haired professor was rushing in to save the dragon as crest beasts started to overwhelm it.
“Byleth!” Dimitri shouted, running after the reckless woman.
This, of course, caused Dedue to run after him, “Your Highness!”
Marianne turned to look at Claude and he groaned, rubbing his head before saying, “We’re going after those idiots!”
“Okay!” Marianne nodded and they both rushed towards the crest beasts.
Claude’s heart stopped when he saw a large burst of dark magic slammed against her, forcing her towards the cliff.
Claude couldn’t breath when he saw the ground underneath her crack ominously.
Then she started to fall.
And Dimitri jumped to catch her.
Dedue and Claude lunged to catch Dimitri just as he managed to grab her fingers. The three young men fell to the ground as Dimitri said breathlessly, “I got you. I got you.”
His grip on her finger begin to slip and he grabbed her fingers with his other hand as he repeated desperately, “I got you. I got you. I won’t let you go. I’ll never let go!”
“Claude!” Dimitri shouted desperately and Claude rushed to outstretch his hand towards his professor.
“Grab my hand!” Claude shouted as he tried to outstretch his hand as far as he could while his other hand grabbed the fingers Dimitri was holding with all his strength.
Behind them, Marianne focused all of her energy on creating a barrier of ice to keep the crest beasts at bay. She was shaking furiously as she continually repaired all the parts of the ice barrier that was being damaged by the crest beasts, already reaching her limit. Tears fell from her eyes as she kept the barrier up, breathing heavily as her entire body begins to shake as part of the magical exhaustion that she was now experiencing.
“Let go of the sword and grab my hand!” Claude screamed as their grip on her fingers began to slip once more.
She dropped the Sword of the Creator and raised her hand but their grip on her other hand began to slip at her movements, causing her free hand to drop.
She stared at both of them and smiled softly.
That’s when they realized what she was thinking.
“Nonononono! Don’t! Please don’t!” Dimitri begged as tears fall from his eyes.
“There’s still a chance! Teach!” Claude shouted, unable to stop the tears from falling from his eyes as well.
“Family.” She whispered, causing both young men to stop, “That’s what you mean to me, Claude. What you mean to both of us.”
“Teach, just try again! It’ll work this time!” Claude begged, leaning towards the cliff and only Dedue’s grip on him stopped him from falling over, “PLEASE!”
“Dimitri.” Tears fall from her eyes as she whispered, “I love-”
She gasped as their grip on her fingers finally fully slip.
“BYLETH!!!” Dimitri screamed as she fell into the dark abyss below. It took Dedue and Claude’s combined weight to stop him from following her, “Let me go! Dedue! Claude! LET GO! BYLETH!”
Claude heard a loud shattering sound and turned around in time to see Marianne fall to the ground as her ice barrier shattered and fell like snow.
“We need to go, Dimitri!” Claude shouted as he and Dedue dragged Dimitri away from the cliff.
“No! I need to save her! I need to save Byleth!” Dimitri screamed hysterically, outstretching his hand towards the cliff.
The crest beasts were advancing towards Marianne and they no longer had any choice.
“I’m sorry, Dimitri!” Claude said before hitting Dimitri on the head with Dedue’s Hexlock shield, knocking the hysteric prince out.
Dedue held Dimitri in his arms as he said to Claude, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” He placed the shield back on Dedue’s back as he reminded him, “We need to get out of here.”
Dedue nodded and followed Claude as they ran towards Marianne.
Claude fired two arrows at the crest beast as it opens its jaw near Marianne. The crest beast howled in pain and he managed to grab Marianne. He held her in his arms as he slid underneath the crest beast while Dedue ran from its right side. Unfortunately, another crest beast lunged at them, forcing him to dodge away from Dedue. With crest beasts chasing after him, he lost sight of Dedue and Dimitri as he ran towards the monastery, carrying an unconscious cold but breathing Marianne in his arms.
He never saw Dimitri or Dedue after that.
The next piece of news he heard about them was a few months after Garreg Mach had fallen and he was back in Derdriu with his grandfather. Dedue was declared missing, presumed dead, while Cornelia had announced that Dimitri had been executed for killing his uncle, Rufus Faust Blaiddyd.
He had to lock his door and muffled his frustrated cries.
He fell on the floor, leaning against the door as he covered his eyes as tears fell.
He cried for his lost family and for his close friend.
… and the shattered dream they could have shared.