In Times Flow

Arianrhod:

Emile...

Or the Death Knight... Byleth would have never in a million years guessed her greatest foes was a Brother to one of her most cherished friends.

Had she known sooner... Well... As much as Byleth wanted to believe they could have found a way to spare him... She is not so sure.

Theory always sounded much nicer than the reality, after all it was not like they could knock out the Death Knight and carry him back to Garreg Mach, now could they? 

He would have slain them at the first given chance.

But... As Mercedes sat across from Byleth telling her the story of how her Brother... Who had once been a sweet young boy that was driven to the monster, she had fought a handful of times.

Well... It was safe to say she felt a bit of guilt about the circumstances.

Byleth stared down at the teacup she had in her hand, the tea had long cooled, "House Bartels... How did it change him?" she asked.

Mercedes was silent for a moment, "Emile's Father... Was a mean man" she began "It was horrible living there... My Mother and I... We had to leave" she said in a soft voice "We... We never should have left him there" she choked out.

"Why was he left there?" Byleth asked softly.

The older woman sighed, "Mother... She believed that Emile's Father would go after us if we had taken him with us" she said "And so... We left him behind".

Oh... "I'm sorry, Mercedes" Byleth said, "I know my apologies cannot change what has been done, but I will offer them to you regardless" she concluded.

A sad smile fell over Mercedes's face, "Thank you Byleth".

They didn't speak much more during the rest of their tea session.

Byleth felt horrible over it. But they had no choice.

This is war, and-

"Beloved?".

Dimitri.

She turned and faced the Golden-haired Prince, "Dimitri" she replied.

His eyebrows were furrowed slightly, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Byleth nodded, "Yes, I'm just thinking is all" she murmured.

He wrapped his arms around her, "I heard that you and Mercedes had tea today" Dimitri sighed then fell silent for a moment "How did that go?" he questioned.

Byleth frowned and tilted her head back to look at him, "I didn't realize you were tracking my moves around the monastery" she huffed.

Dimitri chuckled and pressed a light kiss to her forehead "Sylvain told me" he replied.

That snitch.

She sighed and leaned back into him, "It was... A bit sad" Byleth replied "It sounds ridiculous in my head, but... I feel remorse over having killed him" she began "After everything Mercedes told me... Maybe it wasn't his fault that he was driven to that point" she murmured then shook her head "Sorry, I know there's no use dwelling on it. The past is the past" she sighed.

"It was necessary Byleth" Dimitri began "The Death Knight would have never relented in his fight to kill you beloved, if I had to do it again, I would cut him down in an instance" he said "Mercedes is mourning right now, but she must know that it was necessary as well. Otherwise, she would have tried to stop us or told us beforehand" he added.

That was true.

Byleth nodded, "Thank you Dimitri" she murmured "I heard that Gilbert was searching for you earlier, have you spoken to him yet?" she asked, changing the subject.