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Edelgard wasn’t sure how she had gotten separated from the rest of her army.
She had approached this battle like any other, relying on her friends to help lead their battalions of soldiers on a march through the forests surrounding Garreg Mach Monastery. However, during their march, they had run into a band of mercenaries.
At first, the interaction was peaceful. Both the imperial army and the mercenary band were clearly wary of each other, but not openly hostile. Edelgard had approached the front of her army, with her trusty friend and general Shez by her side, in order to state her intentions to whoever was leading the mercenaries.
The leader of the mercenaries was a rugged-looking man riding a horse and standing beside him was a uniquely dressed woman with blue hair and a sword sheathed on her hip.
Edelgard had talked to the leader, Jeralt, and made it clear that she wished to continue her army’s march through the woods without incident and didn’t want to cause trouble for the mercenary band.
Her peace talks were cut short when Shez immediately unsheathed her sword and charged toward the blue-haired woman that stood next to Jeralt while yelling something about “revenge for their last battle.”
Just like that, their march had turned into a fierce battle. The surrounding forest lent itself to more guerilla tactics, and as such Edelgard found it difficult to avoid getting separated from her friends.
And so, here she was, wandering through the forest towards the sounds of chaotic fighting. Despite her efforts, she still couldn’t find and reunite with her friends.
Eventually she found someone, but not who she had expected. It was the blue-haired woman from earlier, her sword now out of its sheath and covered in blood. Her fight with Shez had clearly roughed her up, judging by her unnatural walk and damaged clothing. Briefly, Edelgard hoped that Shez made it out of the fight okay.
The blue-haired woman stared Edelgard down, and she found herself gripping her sacred axe tighter in preparation of an attack. But the mercenary did not move, she just stood there and stared at Edelgard with a vacant gaze.
Now that Edelgard could get a closer look at her, she was struck with an odd sense of familiarity. It hit her like a bolt of lightning and caused her to feel a warmth inside her chest. Almost as if she was gazing upon a long-lost lover or a friend.
Edelgard tried to shake herself out of it. After all, she didn’t even know this woman’s name. How could she possibly have loved her?
Edelgard spoke up, since the longer she stared at this stranger, the more unease she felt. “Are we going to fight?”
“That depends on you,” the woman said succinctly. Her voice, too, felt familiar. As if once upon a time, it had reassured Edelgard, even at her lowest points.
Edelgard was rooted to her spot. Logically, she knew she should either attack this woman or flee and try to meet up with her friends. But these strange feelings she had brought about made her feel too guilty to ever even think about striking her down and yet too drawn to the mercenary to run away from her.
Without thinking, Edelgard dropped her axe on the ground. She approached the strange mercenary and brought her into a hug. She hadn’t hugged anybody since those masked mages kidnapped and experimented on her, not until right now.
The mercenary tensed in her grasp. She made no move to reciprocate the gesture, and for a few moments, Edelgard felt a twinge of sadness.
But then, something even stranger happened. The mercenary dropped her sword and wrapped her arms around Edelgard. Her touch was gentle, almost as if she was afraid of hurting the emperor in her grip. For a few moments, everything felt right with the world.
Edelgard pulled back slightly, enough to get another look at the mystery woman’s face. “I don’t understand. Why do I feel like I can trust you? Who are you?”
“Byleth,” the woman said. “My name is Byleth. And I don’t know why, but you make me feel the same way.”
Byleth. The name felt familiar, too. Had she met this woman before and simply forgot? But the feelings that Byleth stirred within her were more than those shared by mere acquaintances. She felt something akin to love when she gazed upon Byleth’s face, a feeling she had long forgotten how to feel.
“Who are you? Please, I have to know,” Byleth pleaded, and Edelgard realized that in her musings she never introduced herself.
“I am Edelgard von Hresvelg, emperor of Adrestia,” she said.
“That sounds fancy, and pretty long-winded. How about I just call you ‘El’?”
Edelgard immediately stepped back. “How do you know that nickname?”
“I… don’t know. It just felt natural to call you that, in that moment, like instinct,” Byleth said, her brow furrowed. “It’s like I know you, but I don’t. I can’t describe it.”
Edelgard’s brow furrowed as she once again looked upon the mercenary’s face. She brought her hand up to caress the skin of her cheek, and let out a sigh as her expression softened. “The people who used to call me ‘El’ are all dead.”
Byleth frowned. “Your siblings, right?”
Edelgard nodded. Yet another thing this stranger knew about her for no reason. “I can’t even begin to understand what’s happening, but perhaps this is a sign.”
One of Byleth’s hands came to rest on the one Edelgard had used to caress her cheek. “A sign of what?”
“Maybe we could…” Edelgard couldn’t meet her gaze. This woman was Shez’s enemy, she should hate her, should be attacking her. But in this moment, the only thing she could think about was kissing her.
So she did.
Byleth tensed when their lips made contact, her hand gripped Edelgard’s slightly. Edelgard pressed on, pouring every bit of the strange emotions she has been feeling the past few minutes into this kiss.
Byleth relaxed and reciprocated, her hand left Edelgard’s and came to rest on the back of her neck to keep her close.
Edelgard’s head swam as the kiss continued. She felt like a schoolgirl who had finally acted on her crush.
When they finally pulled back for breath, Edelgard looked upon the woman she had kissed. Byleth had a tinge of red on her cheeks and she couldn’t take her eyes off of Edelgard. “Wow.”
“‘Wow,’ hmm? Is that all you have to say about that?” Edelgard said. She tried to sound more confident than she felt.
Byleth’s gaze fell. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just, I’ve never done anything like that before. I don’t know what else to say.”
Edelgard decided to be bold. She took Byleth’s chin in one of her hands and guided it upward so she was looking at Edelgard. “How did our kiss make you feel, Byleth?”
Byleth’s cheeks got even redder, but she didn’t look away. “It felt good. It felt right, like I was coming home after a long time away.”
Edelgard searched deep within herself and realized she felt the same. “If this feels right, then perhaps we shouldn’t deny ourselves this. What do you think?”
“I don’t know if this is right, but I don’t really care,” Byleth said. “I’d like to kiss you again. Your friend seems mad at me, though, so I get it if you don’t want to risk your friendship with her.”
Shez was important to her, Edelgard had to admit that. However, the feelings she felt for Byleth couldn’t be ignored. Especially now that she has already indulged in them.
“I’ll apologize to her later,” Edelgard said. She brought her arms around Byleth’s neck. “Kiss me, please.”
“Gladly.” And then she did. Byleth’s kiss felt more intense, needier, than their last one. She gripped the fabric of Edelgard’s cape and pushed their bodies as close as possible. As their kisses grew more intense, Byleth brought Edelgard’s bottom lip between her teeth and gave it a light nip, which drew a gasp from Edelgard.
They both pulled back slightly, and Edelgard saw Byleth sporting a proud smirk. She resolved to kiss that smirk off her face.
As their kissing continued, Edelgard took the initiative. Like Byleth, she wasn’t experienced in matters such as this, but she has read her share of steamy romance novels. Her lips traveled along Byleth’s jawline and peppered it with kisses before they traveled down to her neck.
Edelgard pressed heavier kisses along the side of her neck, but one particular spot caused her to gasp. She pressed her lips to that spot and sucked on the skin there, and her reward for doing so was a soft moan from her newfound lover.
“Ah, El,” Byleth gasped.
The desperation in her voice sparked a new feeling within Edelgard. Her clothes began to feel too constrictive, but before she could resolve that, she had to ask something important.
“Byleth, how far do you want to take this?” Edelgard said. “I know this is new to you. It’s new to me as well, if I’m being honest.”
“I like what’s happening so far,” Byleth said. “If I don’t like it, I’ll tell you. I want to see where this goes before deciding how I feel.”
Edelgard nodded. That answer was good enough for her, she would just have to trust Byleth to stop her if she was going too far.
With that settled, Edelgard stepped back to begin stripping off her clothing. Her cape came off her, then her armor, but once she reached the light clothes underneath her armor, she hesitated.
Despite how strangely comfortable she felt around Byleth, it still clashed with her self-conscious feelings about her scars. Byleth seemed to notice her hesitation and stepped close. Their eyes met as Byleth rested her hands on her sides.
“You’re beautiful, El,” Byleth said. “Don’t feel pressured to take off your clothes if you don’t want to, but I want you to know that no matter what, nothing about the way you look will change how I feel. You’ll always be beautiful to me.”
“By…” was all Edelgard could say. She rested her head against Byleth's chest and felt a twinge of guilt. Things were going great until she had to ruin the mood.
Byleth stroked her hair and spoke in a soft voice. “You can undress me first, if you want, then decide what you want to do. I want this to be a good time for you too, El.”
Edelgard raised her head off of Byleth’s chest and nodded. She carefully slid Byleth’s cloak off of her body and set it to the side.
She looked around at their surroundings. They were in a pretty secluded part of the forest, so hopefully, no one would stumble upon their rendezvous. She took off Byleth’s top and left nothing but a simple black bra to cover her generous breasts. Edelgard couldn’t help but stare.
“Like what you see?” Byleth joked.
“Y-Yes, I do,” Edelgard said and tried to regain her composure. She reached around and unclasped the bra and took it off completely. With Byleth fully topless, she became more confident and cupped one of her breasts.
As she caressed the pliable skin, her thumb grazed the hard nipple, eliciting a gasp out of Byleth. Edelgard took note of that and teased her other nipple with her other hand, then resumed her kissing from before. She felt more sure of herself as her lips met Byleth’s neck.
Byleth bit her lip to stifle her more frequent gasps and her hands rested on Edelgard’s hips, just to have something to do. Though, as Edelgard kept teasing her, her hands moved back and grabbed her ass. Edelgard gasped in surprise at the action but didn’t disapprove.
Her lips continued their journey downward as she sucked on one of Byleth’s nipples.
“Mm, that’s good,” Byleth moaned.
Edelgard kept sucking and her hands moved down to the top of her shorts. She removed the dagger strapped to her belt and began to push down her shorts.
“This seems like a rather impractical outfit for a mercenary,” Edelgard said as she took a break from teasing her nipple.
Byleth shrugged. “Didn’t want to wear the same outfit everyone else wears, and I don’t exactly have a lot of fashion-focused people in my life to give me advice.”
Edelgard's lips grazed her ear and she spoke in a low whisper. “I think it’s hot. Especially these stockings.”
Byleth helped her take off the rest of her clothing until she was left in nothing but her panties.
Edelgard kissed her way from her chest down her stomach. Her fingers grazed the soaking wet fabric that covered her pussy. “You really want this, don’t you?”
Byleth jolted at the sensation of her caressing the fabric over her most sensitive spot. “I do. Please, El.”
“Then I shouldn’t keep you waiting any longer.” She gripped the top of her panties and slid them off, then tossed them in the pile of discarded clothing.
Edelgard stood and admired her in all her naked glory. Byleth blushed once again. “So, how do you feel? Like I said, don’t feel pressured or anything, but I won’t judge you. I’ll love you no matter what,” Byleth said.
The word “love” sent a jolt through Edelgard, one that ended right at her heart. “You will?”
Byleth nodded. “I promise.”
Edelgard bit her lip and looked away, but slowly began to strip. She started with her pants, which were easier since there weren’t any scars on the lower part of her body. No surgical ones, at least. She couldn’t meet Byleth’s eyes as she slowly pulled off her top, which left her in nothing but her small clothes.
She continued to look away from Byleth. The small part that feared her reaction still controlled her. Her breath hitched as she stepped closer. Byleth’s hands traced one of the larger scars from those horrible experiments.
“El, look at me, please,” Byleth said.
Her desperate voice broke Edelgard’s heart, and she had no choice but to comply. She met her lover’s eyes and saw nothing but pure adoration, not a hint of disgust or fear like she was afraid of seeing.
“You’re just as beautiful as I imagined,” Byleth said. She kissed Edelgard tenderly for a moment, then pulled back slightly. Their faces were still close, their breaths mingled together. “El, how do you want this to go? I’m not very experienced, but I can take the lead if you wish. Or we can keep going like we were before, the choice is yours.”
“Let’s keep going,” Edelgard said. She trusted Byleth, but part of her still wanted to lead. Perhaps it was her emperor side.
They laid both Edelgard’s cape and Byleth’s cloak on the ground as some sort of blanket, then Edelgard guided her lover to the ground and instructed her to lay back. She kissed her lips, then once again made her journey down and took her time to appreciate Byleth’s body. Her voluptuous breasts, the scars she has collected from previous battles, her toned stomach from all the training she had to do to make it as a mercenary. Every inch of it was kissed by her until she reached the place that Byleth wanted her mouth the most.
Edelgard coaxed her thighs further apart, and she spread her legs willingly. Her glistening pussy was put on display, and Edelgard’s breath hitched at the sight of it. Once again, this was the first time she had come in contact with such an intimate part that wasn’t her own.
With no experience to call back on, she let instinct guide her next movements. She lowered her mouth onto the pussy and licked at it with her tongue. The noises that came from Byleth proved she had the right idea, so she kept going.
Her tongue lapped at the source of the wetness that coated her pussy and Byleth’s thighs clenched around her head. Her entire world narrowed to what was in front of her, and she couldn’t be happier about it. She dragged her tongue up to her clit as she recalled how much she enjoyed touching herself there on the rare occasions she masturbated.
“Ah, right there! Keep doing that, El!” Byleth moaned. Edelgard could feel her hands on the back of her head, and it made her all the more motivated.
She once again nudged Byleth’s thighs open in order to bring her hand over to assist in pleasuring her lover. As she swirled her tongue around the clit, she began dragging her finger through the significant amount of wetness around her pussy. Once she felt confident that she could put her finger inside without hurting her, she did so.
“Another, another one, please!” Byleth pleaded.
Edelgard wasn’t about to deny her request. She slipped in another finger to join the first and began to work them in and out of her. She curled them up, searching for the spot that would make the woman of her dreams unravel below her.
“Fuck, El! Right there, keep fucking me right there!”
She couldn’t help but smirk at her own success. She kept working that exact same spot while her mouth worked in tandem with her fingers. It only took a few moments before she felt Byleth clench around her fingers as she moaned her name. She kept working her fingers in and out, more gently this time to guide her lover through her orgasm.
“Ah, stop, I’m too sensitive,” Byleth said. Edelgard took her fingers out and nudged Byleth to the side so she could lay beside her on the cloaked-turned-blanket. “El, that was incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that in my life.”
“You flatter me, love. I was figuring things out as I went along,” Edelgard said. Byleth turned toward her and gazed into her eyes. The light poked through the forest’s trees and bathed her in an ethereal glow that made her seem like a goddess.
“It was still amazing, whether or not you knew what you were doing. I’d love to pay you back, just let me catch my breath first.”
Edelgard laid her head on Byleth’s chest and discovered something strange. “By, are you aware that your heart doesn’t beat?”
“It doesn’t?” Byleth asked. She felt around her chest with her hand and saw that Edelgard was correct. “I didn’t know that. I guess I’ll have to ask Jeralt about that later…”
Byleth took her head off of her and laid her down on the cloak. “For now, I think I promised I’d pay you back.”
Edelgard was stripped of her small clothes and was brought into a kiss more intense than the ones that they shared before. Her breath quickened as the felt a hand that slid down to her clit and began to circle it with two fingers.
She gasped into the kiss, barely able to catch her breath. Byleth understood and kissed her way down to one of her breasts instead. Her mouth took the hardened nipple and sucked on it, which only added to all the pleasurable sensations she was experiencing.
The two fingers dipped down into her pussy and slowly went inside. As she felt herself get filled, Edelgard bucked her hips. It was completely different than touching herself, especially once the fingers began thrusting.
Once they began, Edelgard couldn’t keep herself quiet. Moans fell from her lips at such frequency that she briefly wondered if they’d be found in this clearing after all. Such a thought was fleeting in the face of the pleasure Byleth gave her.
Byleth’s fingers curled up inside her and a jolt of pleasure spread from the source. Edelgard let out a moan louder than all of her previous ones as she felt her lips leave her nipple and come up to whisper in her ear.
“Found it,” she simply said.
Each thrust brought her closer to the edge, but not over it. The closer she got, the more desperate she became for release.
“Please, By, please,” she begged. “I need to come, please let me come…”
“You need it that bad, huh?” Byleth said.
“Yes, yes, I need it. Please, I need it so bad!”
Byleth’s voice came out husky. “Come for me, El. Come for me like the good girl you are.”
A few more thrusts and Edelgard came undone. She let out a loud moan that, had she not been currently busy with coming on her lover’s fingers, she may have worried it was a bit too loud.
She came down from her orgasm and pulled Byleth’s fingers out of her with a hand on her wrist. Byleth brought them up to her lips and cleaned them off. Had she not come just moments before, she would’ve jumped Byleth’s bones at the sight.
“Mmm, delicious,” Byleth said. “I’ll have to try it from the source sometime.”
“Yes, you will,” Edelgard said dreamily. “Cuddle me, please.”
“Sure thing,” Byleth said. They embraced, Edelgard’s head once again on her chest. It turned out they were perfect cuddling partners. Byleth's skin was hot to the touch, while Edelgard’s was cold. In that way, they balanced each other out.
“I don’t know why I feel the way I do about you, but I’m glad this happened,” Edelgard said. “I’d love to get to know you better. Do you think I could hire your company?”
“You’ll have to talk to Jeralt since he runs the band, but I’m sure he’ll be fine with it,” Byleth said. “As long as you have the coin to pay us and can keep your friend from attacking us on sight again, he’ll agree. But just in case, I’ll be sure to vouch for you.”
“I was wondering, how do you know Jeralt? You seem close.”
“Oh, he’s my dad. I guess I didn’t have a chance to mention that before, did I?”
Edelgard shook her head. “We should probably go settle things as soon as possible, but I find it hard to leave such a comfortable pillow.”
Byleth laughed. “I’m glad my boobs have some use, at least.”
Edelgard found herself laughing as well. “They’re also nice to look at.”
“Yeah, I noticed when you couldn’t stop staring at them as you undressed me.”
Edelgard went as red as her armor and gave Byleth a light smack on the arm. “You’re incorrigible.”
“You love it, though.”
Edelgard leaned over her and gave her a smooch on the lips. “I do.”
Byleth sat up and stretched. “Duty calls, I guess. We should get back to it.”
They searched for their clothes–-fortunately not a difficult task since Edelgard had the forethought to put them in two separate piles–-and got dressed.
After they collected their long-discarded weapons, they left the clearing and Edelgard led the way.
~~~~~~
“You what?”
“You heard me, Shez,” Edelgard said. She stood in front of Byleth, Jeralt, and the rest of the band of mercenaries. Miraculously, no one had died in the battle between the two groups, however there were some injuries that would require a skilled healer. “Jeralt’s mercenaries are now in our employ.”
“Can I ask why? We were just fighting them a few minutes ago,” Shez said.
“A fight you instigated against my wishes,” Edelgard said sternly.
“Right, sorry. Still, it doesn’t explain why you want to hire them. We were just going to go our separate ways before I started the fight,” Shez said.
“They are clearly skilled, since they were able to fight on par with Empire soldiers without facing any loss of life, and from what I’ve heard about Jeralt and the Ashen Demon, they are quite a dangerous enemy to be up against,” Edelgard said. She did everything in her power to avoid looking at Byleth. She knew that more perceptive members of her army–-namely, Dorothea-–might be able to discover her true reasons for hiring the mercenary band.
“I guess that makes sense. Can I at least make one request?” Shez asked.
“If it doesn’t involve you taking any of their lives, then by all means,” Edelgard said.
Shez turned to Byleth. “When this war is over, I want us to settle things, once and for all.” Edelgard looked worried at the prospect, and upon seeing this Shez quickly added on to her statement. “It doesn’t have to be a battle to the death, but I want to know if I can truly beat you. If nothing else, to prove to myself that I can.”
Byleth nodded. “Deal. You had better survive until then. It would be difficult to have a duel with a corpse.”
“You, too. Until then, welcome to the team,” Shez said. She held a hand out and Byleth clasped it in what Edelgard could only imagine was another one of those mercenary gestures like the high-five she had taught her earlier.
Regardless, Edelgard was happy to see Shez was able to put aside her differences with Byleth. Perhaps things would work out after all.