Marianne and the Forbidden Codex: A Fire Emblem Three Houses story

In the lion's den

As she had done the night before, Dorothea continued to spy for more information. She didn't understand what was still doing in the Imperial capital after all that horrible crisis that she hated so much. Due to the "requests" of some nobles, however, she had no choice but to appear at parties and dances to sing to those who caused her so much disgust.

She tried to sneak into various corners of the Imperial Castle, using her charms and her relative fame. She obtained information on approaching Lord Arundel's room, which Edelgard had commented on in her conversation with Hubert the night before.

She managed, abusing her influences, to pass himself off as a Palace guard. There she was, trying her best to listen as Arundel and a strange guest conversed. According to the information she had obtained, said person was none other than the Bishop of the Eastern Church: Cornelius II.

Dorothea did not understand why a Lord of the Empire spoke to a church representative. They were supposed to be "enemies." She thought the whole situation was confusing: Arundel was playing both sides. That was obvious.

"Thank you for your visit, High Priest," Arundel introduced with a false tone of friendship. "To what is the honor due?"

"Thank you for your courtesy, dear," replied that man, who could be inferred from his voice that he was an old man. "As you may have heard, one of the Monastery's disciples has stolen our most important treasure."

"The Heroes' Codex," the Lord replied in a laughing voice that Dorothea did not quite understand. "As far as I know, a group called "The Wards" protects said grimoire."

"That's how it is. The thief was part of that guild. Specifically, he is the son of one of my greatest collaborators, Constantine Weber. The boy's name is Leonard Weber," the old man added, an annoyance growing in his voice.

"Uhm... I see. Please continue."

"He was one of the disciples of the order. According to his father, he qualified to be a user of the codex. The problem is that one person can only use said relic every 100 years. In other words, only one monk has been able to use it every hundred years. And the only capable user during this century is Constantine Weber."

"Well, it goes without saying that I showed interest in this article. My intelligence network identified this individual after several cases of brutally murdered bandits and rogues. It was thought that it was an Almyran group, but it finally turned out that it was a single person," Arundel's voice was heard closer.

"The information you add suggests that Constantine managed to break the tradition of the hundred years, and, coincidentally, he did it through his son."

"That's right," Cornelius said. "I think you somewhat understand my concern now and my interest in speaking with you."

"Sure, sure... You think they want to take over the Church of the East, taking advantage of the instability," replied the Lord.

"Yes, just you said it."

"Now, it's not like you know more about their motivations, from what I see..." he continued, hearing himself even closer. "You want me to lend you, troops, intelligence perhaps?"

"I have enough troops, but I need them to move without being recognized or sighted by anyone."

"Yeah, you want a counterintelligence job," Arundel replied evenly. "By your request, it is obvious that you will not only have people from your institution. May I know who you intend to add?"

"To the deposed heir of Faerghus," the old man replied. "I have my nets too. According to them, the Empress went out last night with a party. You don't have to be a fortune teller to intuit that you want to get hold of the codex," —the Bishop's voice was also heard closer now. "To repel both the Alliance forces and the Empress forces, I will use this token. Please give me enough time to prevent the Imperial forces from reaching my objective. We can also take the head of the heir to the Archduke, which would sufficiently destabilize the Alliance and allow us to negotiate certain privileged conditions for the Church I lead."