Chapter Text
"And you're telling me she just... vanished?"
Annette nodded. She was lucky it was Dimitri questioning her, and that he seemed to be the only one who knew what happened to her. "One second she was there, I went to verify her identity, and then everything went black... then she was gone as soon as I regained my senses, and so was my Knightmare."
He nodded thoughtfully. "And did you see what she looked like?"
"I did, but... I can't remember anything but vague descriptors now. and that she said she was a student at Ashford, but that could've been a lie. It's like she was never there to begin with."
Dimitri sighed, leaning back into his seat as their car approached the next checkpoint. "Whatever she did to you, it's clear to me you couldn't stop her. Listen, Annette-"
"Maybe I had it coming, maybe... maybe it's my punishment for what was happening in Shinjuku! I didn't kill any civilians, but I was still there, I was supporting our unit, I-!"
She was cut off abruptly as Dimitri grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Annette," he said quietly, "You did nothing wrong! Nothing!" The panicked look in her eyes worried Dimitri to no end. "Do you understand? Whatever happened wasn't your fault! Whoever that woman was, she's to blame. She's the reason the conflict was needlessly dragged out. All those deaths, all that blood, it's on her hands, not yours."
Annette nodded shakily, taking several deep breaths before allowing herself to relax somewhat. "Okay... okay... And, Dimitri? There's something else..."
"What is it?" he asked softly.
"I..." Annette swallowed nervously. She knew what she was about to say may not be true, she had no proof. But at the same time, it's the only thing that made sense to her. Her Knightmare was stolen, then the terrorists began steadily pushing them back until the Lancelot arrived...
"I think she killed Prince Clovis, too. The woman who stole my Knightmare."
Dimitri looked as though he believed her, but shook his head in disagreement. "Even if that's true, we have no evidence. Not to mention that we have no idea what she looks like, and investigating every student at the academy would take too long. At that point, it'd be too late. Besides, we already have our man."
"That honorary Britannian? But... that doesn't..." whispered Annette. It wasn't something she could believe. "No," she spoke up, "It had to have been her!"
"Annette, the rear guard would've noticed if someone rolled up in your stolen Knightmare, the IFF tags would be enough to tell everyone there that it wasn't you, especially if they were stripped. That homorary Britannian is the only culprit that makes sense."
Annette looked away, refusing to believe him. It just didn't make any sense to her. He would have still been out in the field when Clovis was assassinated, the timing lined up. "Then I'll look into it myself before the tribunal," she said defiantly. "And if I can't find her by then... I'll keep looking after. Spilling more innocent blood based on a potentially false accusation doesn't sit right with me."
Going several days with shot nerves and knowing you were being watched was not an ideal way for Edelgard to spend hers.
Despite having thought that she'd given her a good explanation for knowing about Shinjuku, the terrorist woman, Ingrid, still followed her around regularly. It would be one thing if she was a normal student that had a crush on her or something that could be easily ignored, but that wasn't the case.
No, she was still suspicious of her. Maybe that would change whenever Clovis's death would be announced, Edelgard having no idea why it was being covered up as it was, but for now, she had to handle this personally. She'd give this woman the impression that she was just a normal student, just as she'd been doing normally with her few friends doing her small welcoming party.
She couldn't let her suspicions linger any longer than this.
Edelgard ignored Ingrid blatantly watching her during their history lecture, instead giving all her attention to what was happening outside the window next to her seat, much to Dorothea's annoyance.
"Edie," she whispered irritably, "At least try to pay attention!"
"Don't need to," she whispered back. "I already know the material."
Dorothea frowned. "Even so, the new student council member is here with us! Would you at least think about the impression you're giving her?"
'Believe me, I know what impression that is.' Edelgard thought to herself. On the outside, she shrugged and faced forward, still watching out the window from the corner of her eye.
"She can form whatever opinion she wants about me, here, during the party later, or whenever." she lied. "I don't really care."
"Edie!"
Towards the front of the classroom, Seteth had stopped midsentence to turn his gaze to the two women. Edelgard continued her act and gave him a lazy glance as if she hadn't been paying attention.
Which, to be fair, she wasn't.
"Since you seem to hold so much disinterest in today's lesson, Miss Hresvelg..." he started, his tone indicating his aggravation towards her. "Would you mind informing the rest of the class of Henry the IX's lineage?"
"Yessir," Edelgard said loudly, standing from her seat as if she hadn't done anything wrong. She noticed that Ingrid was still watching.
"Henry the IX is believed to have been an illegitimate heir of Queen Elizabeth the First. The potential fathers of Henry are still up in the air, and is believed to be the child of either Robert Dudley or the then Duke of Britannia, Carl Britannia, among others."
She didn't wait for Seteth to say whether or not she was right and took her seat once more, resuming her bored look. It left Seteth speechless, leaving him to mutter how she was correct before resuming his lesson. She shot a quick glance at Ingrid, who had closed the make-up case that she'd been using the mirror of to watch her. It was something.
"See?" she told Dorothea as she redirected her attention back out the window. "I told you... I..."
'What the hell?!'
Edelgard's eyes widened as she felt her heart begin to race with anxiety at the site of something that shouldn't even be happening. Byleth was outside, wearing an academy uniform, and strolling around as if she was a regular student.
"Edie?" Dorothea asked with a worried tone. "Is everything alright? You look pale..."
She swallowed nervously and tried to collect her thoughts. "Fine, I'm... I'm fine, just feeling a bit nauseous all of a sudden is all. I just need a bit of rest and I'll be fine."
Ignoring the worried look she was giving her, Edelgard stood from her desk and left without saying anything else. Seteth would have tried to stop if she had not done this regularly. As soon as she left the classroom and was sure she was out of sight, she went in the opposite direction of the infirmary and made her way to the courtyard.
Byleth was still out there, wandering around without a care in the world. She could only hope no one had seen her yet as she rushed out into the open and pulled her away as fast as she could by the hand, all the way back to her home on campus. Byleth said nothing the whole way there.
The amount of stress this was causing her to feel was ridiculous.
Edelgard pulled her into her room and out of sight, pushing her up against the wall by her bed with an irritated look. "We won't be heard here, now... What the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed. "Have you forgotten who's searching for you?!"
"Are you showing concern for my safety?" asked Byleth, a smirk tugging at her lips. "I'm touched, Miss Hresvelg."
She grit her teeth and stepped closer. "Of course I am! If the Britannians find out I'm harboring you, we're both dead! Or have you forgotten that?"
Byleth ducked away from her and stood with her hands behind her neck, falling back on the bed. "Have I, I wonder? Do you really think I'd risk being out here if I wasn't sure I wouldn't be caught?"
"You...!" Edelgard groaned in irritation. This woman was an enigma. She could cheat death, find her way out of a warzone to her school, and worst of all, seemed to not care about the consequences of being seen.
"You worry too much, Edelgard," she said plainly as she looked up lazily. "Besides, I don't think they'll be too worried about finding me anymore soon."
Edelgard narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. The amount of caution she seemed to hold in regard to her own life was laughable. "Do you truly believe they'll just give up on searching for you so easily?"
Byleth shrugged. "If it were me, I'd be more concerned with finding the person who murdered the viceroy of Area 11." She continued with a bored tone. "Or did you forget that, despite not knowing your face, you're the most wanted woman in the country right now? And that's if they haven't pinned it on some poor civilian just to have a scapegoat by now."
"You're wrong, you know." said Edelgard, now leaning against the wall herself.
"Oh? Are you not the one who pulled the trigger?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. Edelgard von Hresvelg is just a normal student, don't you know? The top of her class, a bit lazy, and spends her free time gambling. How could someone like her kill the oh-so-beloved Prince Clovis?" she asked with a confident smile. "It's simple, she didn't. The Flame Emperor, on the other hand, did."
"The Flame...?" Byleth started to ask before she cut herself off, remembering what was currently hidden away in her closet. "That costume I finished for you. The Flame Emperor."
Edelgard gave her a nod. "Correct."
"You intend to take the credit for his death while in that persona?"
"I do. I only need the opportunity to present itself."
Byleth hummed. "You're brave, I'll give you that."
"I can't tell if that was a compliment or a criticism," Edelgard muttered. "Regardless, I would've taken it by now. But like I said, the opportunity needs to present itself first." She pulled out her chess board from her desk, grabbing the queen piece and twirling it in her fingers, looking over her shoulder at Byleth.
"Is that not what a good leader does? Waiting for the perfect opportunity, instead of making one herself? I'm on the back foot here after all. My enemy is an entire nation, as you so aptly put it once."
Byleth rolled over and stretched, long and lanky like a cat. "By the time said opportunity presents itself, it may be too late. You could die, and I need you to stay alive, Edelgard."
Edelgard quirked her lips. "Is it your turn to show concern now?"
"If you want to see it as concern, then yes." Byleth sat up, hands in her lap. "I have my own reasons for wanting Britannia to fall. Whether or not it collapses entirely doesn't matter to me, as long as the current regime falls. I need you alive for that, and you need me to accomplish your goal. A small group of terrorists won't be enough. You'll need all the allies you can get."
Setting the chess piece on her board, Edelgard sat at her desk cross-legged. "You have a point, I acknowledge that. Now, if you're really committed to siding with me, then-"
A knock came from the door. Edelgard snapped her attention to it, then back to Byleth. "Quick," she whispered. "Hide!"
Byleth shrugged. "No need."
"You idiot, Hubert will see you! Get off my bed and-!"
The door opened, and Edelgard froze in place. Hubert stood in the doorway looking between the two women. "Am I interrupting something important, Lady Edelgard?"
She blinked. "What?"
"Well, I assume if you were talking to Miss Eisner in private, then I assume it was important."
Edelgard shot a glance at Byleth, a question in her eyes. "What did you do?"
She ignored her and smiled at Hubert. "Just idle gossip between two women, Sir Vestra. Lady Hresvelg wasn't feeling well and came home early, and as for my outfit..." Byleth chuckled. "I offered to entertain her by trying on some old uniforms and such. She had quite a laugh, let me assure you!"
Hubert seemed satisfied with her answer, though he was a little uneasy at first. There was no mark of the Geass in his eyes, something she assumed Byleth could use, having received the ability from her. She was baffled.
"I see... and are you feeling any better, Lady Edelgard?" asked Hubert, a concerned look in his eyes. She cleared her throat and recomposed herself.
"A bit better, yes. I was just a bit nauseous earlier, is all."
He smiled and bowed towards Edelgard. "I'm pleased to hear so. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I..." Edelgard stuttered. "I'd appreciate it if you could let Dorothea and the others know, maybe help them out a bit with the preparations for the party this evening. I'll be along later this evening after some more rest."
"As you wish." he said before bowing again and taking his leave. As soon as the door closed, she glared at Byleth.
"What was that?" she asked impatiently. "What just happened? Hubert acted like you two-"
"Knew each other?" she supplied as she laid back against her pillows. "We do. He's my superior, after all."
"I- Superior?! Byleth, what did you do?!" she nearly shouted, shooting up from her chair and storming over to the bed. Byleth raised her hands in mock self-defense.
"I didn't do anything to him, if that's what you're asking."
"Byleth!"
"Relax! I'm only a humble maid, after all."
Edelgard felt like she was about to pass out from mental exhaustion.
Yet, Edelgard could also see an opportunity arising from this. She sat next to her on the bed, trying to force back the headache she felt coming on from her antics to focus on the bigger picture. Byleth watched her with curious eyes as she reached for her bag, hanging off the edge of her bed from one of the posts, pulling out a small, store-bought recorder.
She handed it to Byleth, who was unsure of what it was for.
Then began to explain a hastily thought-up plan in detail.
A plan that included a lot of ifs, maybe's, and a bottle of champagne.