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Two seasons had passed since Ferdinand arrived at Garreg Mach, and he had only one person left in the Black Eagles house whose opinion of him had not yet shifted to be fond. Dorothea was swayed by the sentiment of his tasty treats, and Edelgard had helped him see past the competition instilled in him his upbringing to find a steadily growing friendship. Ferdinand was proud of his social accomplishments with their support!
One shadowy classmate, however, eluded his many efforts to close the gap between them. A gift was misinterpreted as a bribe. Advice was perceived as criticism. Praise was empty flattery, saying nothing was giving him the cold shoulder, and on and on it went. There was simply nothing that Ferdinand could do that Hubert could not construe as malicious.
Meanwhile, Linhardt got patient lectures from Hubert that ended in an amenable parting. Caspar earned soft laughter. Petra had his respect, barbed though it was. Bernadetta and Dorothea saw a gentler side of him than others were granted the courtesy of—least of all Ferdinand von Aegir. If he could only get past that outer shell of inherent distrust, Ferdinand was certain he could be at least on civil terms with Edelgard’s closest ally.
But if all the patterns of his other relationships were any indication, Ferdinand would have to be the driving force behind their friendship. Hubert gave his potential allies little other choice than that.
So, on a restless autumn evening stroll, Ferdinand made the impulse decision to follow Hubert to the empty gardens of Garreg Mach. Not even groundskeepers and gardeners would be out at that hour. Security focused on the monastery’s entry points rather than inside its walls. Whatever secretive business he was up to, Hubert would go undetected.
How unlike him to rely so much on that certainty as to not notice Ferdinand in pursuit. The competitive spirit in him flared to life, feeling vindicated at having bested the shadow of Enbarr in his own trade. Guilt was never far behind, of course, because it was unfitting for him to behave in such a way. It nearly cost him a camaraderie with Edelgard. Surely, it would do far worse with Hubert in significantly less time. Ferdinand would do well to dismiss the urge to excel in favor of becoming closer (even if he had to push the issue to get there).
Peeking out from his hiding spot behind a stone wall, Ferdinand jumped when he was eye to eye with Hubert.
“A-ah! Hubert. What…” He gulped, feeling a shy smile take over. Thinking he could outdo the practiced spymaster was clearly an error. “What are you doing out at this hour? I was appreciating the gardens and thought no one else would be awake.”
“Oh yes. You have such a vantage point of the gardens here, pressed against a wall as you continue following me. Loudly.”
Bowing his head, Ferdinand did his utmost not to mumble from embarrassment.
“Well, you do not need to be rude.”
“Forgive me, I have forgotten my manners.” Hubert clasped his hands behind him, the very image of a proper vassal. Ferdinand looked up at him and knew precisely what was to come. “Please do not stalk me in the night. You’re terrible at it, my lord, and liable to be hurt were you to follow someone who bore you ill will.”
Brightening, Ferdinand straightened his posture. He had learned to sort through what Hubert said to uncover what he meant, and that meant hearing the compliment in his mockery.
“So, you do not wish me harm?”
“I cannot help but think you missed the most significant aspects of what I told you.” That time, it was Hubert angling to look away from Ferdinand. “Go to your room, Ferdinand. Leave the shadows to me.”
With no intention of listening, Ferdinand stepped over the shrubbery to get onto the cobblestone with Hubert. He saw an offered hand from the corner of his eye and held on for stability before it fully dawned on him what had happened. Hubert kept him steady unprompted, and that could be a sign of his opportunity to get closer to his future colleague.
“We are meant to serve Lady Edelgard side by side, you know.” Ferdinand took his hand back to dust stray leaves and twigs off his pants, wishing he’d brought his gloves to keep his hands clean.
“Are you suggesting I take over your duties unwelcomed?” Hubert crossed his arms and his cloak fell forward. It seemed darker, somehow, than his usual traveling attire. “Because that is what you are doing to me presently.”
“No, of course not, I would simply like to—”
“Excellent. Return to your quarters at once.”
Turning to enter the garden, Hubert appeared every centimeter like someone determined to leave behind a cumbersome burden.
“Now wait here just one moment.” Ferdinand marched to pursue him again. “You cannot dismiss me so brusquely!”
“Plainly, I can. Go.”
Hubert planted his feet in greenery archway as he doled out his orders. Before he could so much as utter a syllable in protest, Ferdinand heard another voice from a dark corner of the walled-in garden.
“Well, well,” the unknown man uttered as he stepped into the moonlight, “who is this delicious morsel?”
The stranger was unremarkable for the most part. His brown hair was styled in a common manner, and he had brown eyes to match (or it seemed so in the relative dark). But Ferdinand sensed something off-putting in him. While his instincts weren’t perfect, per se, they were never off the mark entirely.
“No one of note,” Hubert was ready to answer. Too ready. The offense took over his skepticism of the new man, and Ferdinand pushed past his classmate to stand between the two men.
“I will have you know I am the one legitimate heir to—”
“Will you never be quiet—?”
Ferdinand talked over him, moving away to avoid Hubert’s attempt to drag him from the floral enclosure. This was very unbecoming of him as a proud noble but—how could he stand by and let himself be belittled with such disregard? Talking perhaps too loud for the hour, Ferdinand came to his own defense.
“—House Aegir, future Prime Minister of Adrestia, Ferdinand von Aegir. I have every right to be privy to any dealings that surround House Hresvelg as a valued and capable member of the Imperial leadership.”
Having been the target of many of Hubert’s ominous scowls, Ferdinand remained unaffected by his latest. He was much more disquieted by the sneer from the man that awaited them in the isolated gardens. What business could this dreadful person have with Hubert that could not be delegated to someone of a finer caliber?
“So the Prime Minister’s little heir wormed his way into your fat, juicy secret after all.” Focusing on Hubert, the unsavory character tried to look down on him instead. The man evidently didn’t know who he was dealing with. “Did your lady finally get you in check?”
“I am an instrument of her best interest, whatever form that may take. Do not forget that.”
Stepping closer to Hubert so as to present a united front, Ferdinand unfortunately realized after the man’s gaze got sharper that the motion was interpreted as fear.
“Ferdinand,” Hubert spoke without turning away from their disquieting guest. “You were just leaving.”
It took incredible discipline not to gawk at the back of Hubert’s head as if he had sprouted devilish horns. He could not be serious! To be left alone with this dangerous, unstable man was the most foolish thing any person could do! Hubert was brilliant and insightful. He ought to know better than that.
“I have thought better of it, in fact. Pay me no mind.”
“Easier said than done,” the agent spoke in a husky tone and gave Ferdinand a once-over that spoke to his unseemly appetites. Ever the optimist, he gave this man a chance to redeem himself.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You aren’t tangled in any sordid affairs, are you?”
He slithered closer to the two of them, fluid and threatening like poison embodied.
“Absolutely not!”
“Would you like to be?”
Hubert cut into the space between Ferdinand and the repulsive stranger, radiating an animosity he could sense even without seeing his face. No wonder he had such good marks in authority tasks. In tandem with his talent for escaping notice, Hubert could also convey his will without a word. A battalion or a single classmate standing behind him was in good hands.
“We have urgent matters to discuss.”
Foolhardy enough not to recognize his predicament, the man laughed. “Strike a nerve?”
Faster than he could follow, Hubert grabbed him by the throat.
“He is spoken for. You are not to touch him.”
It was blunter than Hubert usually was. But when would he ever have need to threaten another student? As much as it surprised Ferdinand to think that Edelgard’s loyal servant may resort to this often, he was more shocked to discover he wasn’t afraid. Mostly he was curious where this staunch protective streak had been hidden all along.
“Hubert, what…?”
“Is he your little plaything? A bit of sun in your dark deeds?” Dark magic conjured in his palm, the inky purple energy licking at his gloves and searing the hapless victim’s neck. That pain granted him the sense to be wide-eyed. “Wait, hold on, I—”
“Please, darling,” Ferdinand ventured to support the ruse, all while he was moved to sympathy for the agent who overstepped. “It was our secret. He did not know.”
He couldn’t see Hubert’s face still, but the magic dissipated in waves. The evening closed in with a comfortable darkness. Cool and relaxing, the moon’s glow was natural and familiar compared to dark magic from Hubert. Yet a part of Ferdinand missed the sight of him coming to his aid so ruthlessly. If that was how Edelgard felt around her childhood friend, it was a miracle she didn’t get overwhelmed by the stunning depth of his devotion. Ferdinand himself was dazzled and dizzied alike by that glimpse of it.
“You are not to touch him,” Hubert repeated. No room for negotiation. If they were together, Ferdinand was breathless at the idea of what his fealty would look like. This display was obligation to the future emperor or maybe a secret civility that Hubert didn’t want him to see. But love? Oh, to be the one Hubert loved and wished to keep safe… He was grateful that the careless soldier stood at the center of attention. The crumbling ache in Ferdinand’s chest was one he couldn’t conceal.
“Anything you say.”
Hubert closed his grip slightly tighter before letting go with a shove, staggering him back a couple steps. An insubordinate pawn put in his place for daring to threaten someone dear. In another life. With how sincerely Hubert stood up for him, he had to wonder if there was someone that held his heart. Or if the notoriously private vassal would tell them the truth.
The stranger rubbed at his neck and tried to find his bravado when he spoke up again.
“Now we know these overblown Knights couldn’t find one of their own right under their feet. How many moons before we get to the good part?”
The Knights’ own? Did he mean Flayn? Ferdinand did his best to keep his expression from looking too worried. Hubert would not be responsible for such a nightmarish tragedy. He was elusive and sinister and had a petty streak of his own, but he could never be so heartless as to facilitate Flayn’s kidnapping all while Seteth was frantic with worry over his sister. Ferdinand refused to believe it.
“This is not a matter of time, but knowledge. You are to do nothing until you receive express instructions from myself or Her Highness to act.”
When the foul soldier had finally left, Hubert glowered at Ferdinand. Ah. So the pretense of affection could vanish that swiftly. He knew it was fake and meant to be brief, but he still couldn’t fight the feeling that he’d lost something precious. Perhaps more than ever because being held dear by Hubert was so fleeting and false from the start.
“You abject fool.”
“I beg your pardon?” Just as quickly, his wounded heart turned to anger. Ferdinand set his jaw and frowned when he gestured to the empty space where the agent once stood. “Did you wish to be left alone with Flayn’s captor?”
“Do you aim to protect me?” Hubert chuckled. “The shadows are deep and dark, Ferdinand, and someone of your disposition will only be lost in them.”
Ferdinand knew this amused detachment from every class and practice battle and shared task, with very few exceptions. But now that he’d seen Hubert’s compassion, he swore not to forget it existed. That was all he needed to earn it one day!
“You do not know that because you haven’t let me be involved.”
“If you wish to be involved, continue your support of Lady Edelgard. My work is meant for me and me alone.”
Somewhere between almost patient and annoyed, Hubert exhaled. A soft nighttime wind wove through the shrubs around them as if agreeing with—whatever his sentiment was. Ferdinand had a lot left to learn about him yet. Where to begin but asking questions? The difficult ones especially.
“You cannot mean that you kidnapped Flayn and kept Edelgard unaware?”
Hubert stared at Ferdinand long and scrutinizing, like he was a tome in a foreign language. He was equally unreadable to Ferdinand’s novice eyes. Practice would close that gap one day; it had to.
“No, I did not kidnap her. Edelgard knows exactly as much as I do about the matter.”
“I believe you, but…” He paced on the manicured grass, careful to avoid the flowers by the garden’s border. A mild chill settled into his fingers that was easier to ignore when his mind was working through the sparse conversation he witnessed. “Why did that man speak so harshly about the Knights of Seiros? What could a person so contemptible mean by ‘the good part’?”
“You are astute enough to know I cannot answer that without drawing you into the dealings of House Vestra,” Hubert reminded him. “Stay in the light. Shine beside Lady Edelgard. That is where you are meant to be.”
Ferdinand stopped in his absent marching, touched enough to smile in the dark. It struck him as more meaningful that way, almost, for this being a meeting ground of their two natures. The night was Hubert’s strength, and gardens always called to Ferdinand even as a boy. What a fitting place for something new to begin! Possibly!
“It does me good to hear you think so.” Ferdinand made a point to walk closer and reach out to place his hand on Hubert’s arm. Lightly, to respect his distant mannerisms and still remind him he had allies to count on. “I don’t like you being alone in all this. We may not truly be dating, but that does not mean I don’t care for you.”
Hubert laughed, softer than before. Did Linhardt get to hear him gentle this way? Dorothea as well? They were asleep that late at night, and Ferdinand could hardly wait to talk to them personally about how to see more of this side of the Black Eagle’s shadow.
“Quite the illusion, was it not? As though anyone could find comfort in me.”
“I think you would be a delightful partner,” Ferdinand answered, not quite thinking beforehand. Hubert’s surprised stare made him blush with the discovery that he said that out loud. “Please do not look at me that way! You are devoted and talented, and I think whoever does see you for that will be fortunate to have you. That is all.”
“Ah. I see.” Hubert shifted to pull his cloak over his shoulders more. There was no doubt in Ferdinand’s mind that he’d suffered colder climates without issue, and that was how he stalled to gather his thoughts. “If I need a fictitious partner in the future, I suppose I know who to call.”
“Now you’re teasing me,” Ferdinand tried to lighten the moment with banter, and he found success in another light smirk from Hubert.
“Possibly so.”