All This Time

Undetected

I've been talking with the Flame Emperor.

Casually.

Giving her advice.

Right under my nose.

And I didn't even know.

"Edelgard is the Flame Emperor...Edelgard declared war on us...?"

Their trip to the Holy Tomb had resulted in failure. No 'divine revelation' had occurred, and Edelgard had ended up revealing herself as the one against them all. Now, the Adrestian Empire was against the Church of Seiros, the Kingdom, and the Alliance.

Everyone was at a loss for words.

Dorothea could only stammer, shocked that her former house leader had the intent of overthrowing life as they knew it. Everyone else was silent, so Byleth prepared to send them off to bed.

"We have a serious battle awaiting soon," Byleth told them all. "It's best if we rest up. We can talk about this all tomorrow."

How could Edelgard do this? We were friends, and now she declared a war against us?

Everyone nodded despondently, and Byleth found herself heading not to her room, but to Claude's room. It was late at night, and Byleth knew she should have been sleeping, but she just couldn't. She hesitated upon reaching his doorway.

Am I really about to ask a student-

Just do it, Byleth!

She knocked on the door. There was a brief moment, and then Claude opened the door.

He looked tired. His hair was even more disheveled and unruly than usual, and as Byleth looked behind him, she saw the multiple papers scattered across his desk messily.

"Hey, Teach. You alright?"

"Can I come in?" Byleth asked instead, not wanting to reply to the question they both knew the answer to. He nodded, shutting the door behind her.

They took a seat on his bed, an awkward silence coating the air. Life had suddenly just gotten tense, and neither of them knew what to do.

"What could Edelgard be trying to accomplish?" Claude sighed next to her. "I want Fòdlan to change, but a war?"

"I don't know...But...If I had noticed she was the Flame Emperor, maybe I could have avoided all this-"

"It's not your fault," Claude shook his head. "None of us knew. She went undetected. I hate to admit it, but that girl is smart."

"...But what if I could have stopped this?"

"...Some things are just destined to happen."

Byleth hated that answer.

Her father's death was destined to happen, as Sothis had told her. Sothis' fusion was destined to happen, according to Rhea. If destiny couldn't be changed, what could Byleth do?

Byleth wished that Sothis' Divine Pulse went back further in time. If it did, Byleth would have rewinded all the way back to when she had first met the three students, and she would have let Edelgard die.

It would have saved her and the entirety of Fódlan a lot of trouble.

"...Claude...Edelgard was rather hostile to me after seeing my transformation," Byleth told him, a frustrated look on her face. She really wanted to know just why Edelgard had even bothered to seek her out so much. "She said it was because I looked like the Archbishop. I should have caught on right then. I should have known that she was going to do something, she even said something about our paths crossing..."

"How could you have expected her to turn on us?" Claude reminded her. "None of us even considered the possibility that she was the Flame Emperor, not even after Monica...no, Kronya, stuck around her like a leech. We all should have known. It's not your fault, Teach."

"...We were all duped so easily...How dumb we were to be so carefree...!"

"The best thing we can do now is prepare for her war," Claude said grimly. "I've got plans to defend the monastery, but...I'm sure she has plenty of forces that are going to march against us. The worst thing is, is that we don't really even know why she's going against us. What does she know that we don't?"

"The truth about Rhea," Byleth muttered. "I need to ask her what is going on. This is no time for secrets, not anymore."

"Agreed."

"...Claude, you look exhausted," Byleth said softly. "I know your schemes are important, but so is your health."

"I don't think I can sleep," Claude admitted, a grimace placed on his face. "I already tried, but all that happens is that I begin to wonder in my own thoughts. That's a messy place to be in right now."

"Me too," Byleth agreed quietly. "...Well, since neither of us can sleep, I suppose I'll help you with these plans."

"If you say so, Teach."

They planned throughout the rest of the night, until they both could barely keep their eyes open. Byleth was mid-sentence when she suddenly noticed that Claude was passed out over the desk.

She giggled slightly. It wasn't the time to be laughing, but there was just something endearing about how he had fallen asleep so out of the blue. She thought about waking him up so he could sleep in his bed, but she didn't want to risk him being unable to fall back asleep.

Instead, Byleth decided to simply take matters into her own hands...literally. She slowly picked him up from his chair, carefully carrying him over to his bed. He shifted in her arms slightly, and Byleth smiled as she slowly set him down. She pulled the sheets and blankets over him, making sure not to disturb him. Byleth ran a hand through his messy hair, ruffling it slightly before standing.

She quietly shut the door before leaving.