Day 14 of the Guardian Moon, Imperial Year 1186

She stepped into her room at an easy pace, closing the door behind her without even bothering to look. Night had fallen by this point and she was just glad to have returned to see the moonlight pouring in off to the side, illuminating her room with its ethereal glow. As expected her room was neat and tidy, the servants having long since done their part to keep the place clean while she was away. The queen-sized bed's sheets were straightened to the point of no wrinkles, the giant rug with the symbol of the Empire was and clean and matted, the floor swept free of any hint of dust, and all of the knick-knacks from long past neatly arranged on the various shelves that lined the room

Edelgard let a quiet, yet contented sigh escape as a faint smile grazed her lips. It was these small pleasures that eased her mood just a little from the hectic life she lived now. With little time to indulge in more leisurely matters she took whatever respite offered toward her, even something as trite as a pristine room to come home to.

Just as quickly as the smile appeared did it fade away as she made her way over to her desk. A stack of papers were piled neatly in its center, no doubt brought in by Hubert during her absence. Her day had been filled with inspections of the troops at Fort Merceus and Enbarr itself to oversee progress on their replenishing of personnel and supplies. Five years of war had taken its toll on her military might, and the people of Faerghus had been more defiant than she suspected. Though there was still fierce resistance from the likes of the Fraldarius, Gautier, and Galatea families, without a Kingdom to support them they would eventually be forced to submit. Still, the worst of the fighting in Faerghus was now behind her and what forces that remained there were to ensure that there would be no uprisings in the Dukedom, nor to allow an opening for the Kingdom to exploit and reclaim what they lost.

Now with the Faerghus war theater drawing to a close, it was time to focus on the Alliance which had been neutral during these five years, something to which she was grateful for, allowing her to focus most of her efforts on the former. With the Alliance divided the way it was, they would have been of little consequence regardless, especially with Count Gloucester having submitted to vassalage as quickly as he did, followed by Count Ordelia and Duke Goneril later on. According to reports the infighting between those that supported the Empire and those who didn't kept them from properly mobilizing their forces and turning them into a unified nation. A little pressure here and there from Hubert kept Gloucester in line, while Ordelia would never be able to raise a sufficient force to resist their entrance into Alliance territory, and Goneril had to contend with the Almyrans.

There was little doubt in her mind that that was all subject to change the moment they began their assault, but it would be far too late to muster an army large enough to combat her. With Claude having kept the Alliance out of the war for now, not even he or his own allies would be strong enough to stop an attack on Deirdru. With Gloucester's continued cooperation it would lead to as little bloodshed as necessary in order to quickly put in end to that theater and finally wrap up the Faerghus campaign.

Which was where she was at now as she sat down at her desk. She lost many troops taking most of Faerghus even with the coup that took place soon after the war began. With winter having since settled in she decided now was a good time to let her soldiers rest and prepare while she bolstered her forces in anticipation for the campaign in the Alliance. She hoped it to be far quicker given its division, but she was ready for the worst. Though they were not unified, depending on Gloucester's disposition that was subject to change. The Count was more loyal to the Alliance than her and could be quietly building up his own forces in anticipation of her assault. When the time came he could suddenly changes sides and resist her entrance into the Alliance and with it more needless bloodshed would take place.

Yet that wasn't what concerned her the most about the Alliance. She was far more suspicious as to what Claude was planning behind the scenes. The man was irritating during her year at the Officers Academy, but she couldn't deny the man was shrewd, worryingly so. Though he had kept the Alliance out of the war for now, she couldn't help but suspect that such a maneuver was always a part of his plan. Such was the reputation of the "Master Tactician" as he had come to be known in the Alliance. Just as likely that the situation there had his hands tied, so to could it be that pieces were falling into place for him, and it was only a matter of time before he enacted whatever scheme he had in mind. She understood that about the Alliance going into this war once Claude had declared themselves neutral. In the back of her mind during the Faerghus campaign she always held that suspicion about him, and the closer she came to fully mobilizing against the Alliance, that suspicion only grew.

She wondered briefly if she was walking into a trap, but waved it off. Whether it was or not, she would have more than adequate forces to overwhelm whatever it was he had planned for her. It would be preferable if he were to just surrender before any more bloodshed took place, but she doubted it and had long since steeled herself for it. She knew this path would be a difficult and bloody one, but it was the best way forward. If only everyone else in Fódlan could see that, then perhaps there would not have been so much violence and death as she painted the cobblestones of her path red with their blood. It was a terrible burden she had to bear, but she felt that fate had forced her into this position and she was going to press on no matter what obstacle was in her way. Fódlan needed to be freed from the goddess and her servants in order for it to grow and allow everyone to decide their own futures, free from the tyranny of Crests and the nobles who abuse them for their own ends. It was a future worth fighting for and she would see it through to the bitter end.

She just wish she didn't have to walk it alone.

She paused momentarily from the report she was reading, closing her eyes and letting out a quiet sigh. She had accepted a long time ago that the path she faced would potentially be a lonely one. Sure she had Hubert by her side, but he would have followed her to the flames of eternity without question, let alone Fódlan's reformation. All conversations with him were the same: the latest report from the front, updates on the army's size, political happenings in the other territories. It was almost always the task at hand with him, and not someone she could just... talk to.

She had that once before, back during her days as a student at the Officers Academy. That had been at least one positive of going to Garreg Mach Monastery, being able to interact with other students in a relatively equal environment. Her classmates were mostly other nobles, but it had been pleasing to interact with them not as heirs to their houses, but as just people to simply socialize with. It had given her the opportunity to see what life could be like if she didn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders, and just as much as she was casually holding conversations with them, so to was she gauging them to see if they would be dependable allies in her goals. Would they understand her and join her on her path, or would they end up being obstacles that would have to be pushed aside?

As it happened, the latter was ultimately what occurred. Despite the camaraderie they had as fellow students of hers, in the end the Black Eagles still stood against her. It didn't pain her as much as it might have, having accepted her solitary role in heralding Fódlan's new dawn, but it was regrettable all the same. It would have at least made the path she walked easier on her, knowing that there were several familiar faces ready to aid her in her goals, but similar to her they had made their choice that day at the Battle of Garreg Mach. The only thing that stayed her hand in not punishing them more severely after the battle was their past relation with her. And if she were honest with herself, she couldn't bring herself to do it before because of it, but whatever friendship she had with them disappeared after that point. All they had become now were elite soldiers, and she wasn't about to waste their talents by having them killed.

She let out another quiet sigh and placed the paper down. By now she had gone only through a quarter of the stack, and even then she wasn't really paying attention anymore. The thought of her time at the Officers Academy had been the highest point of her life, a glimpse into what a life what might be like if things were different for her, and reflecting on it made a tiny part of her yearn for that once more.

Thinking about how her former classmates might have been at her side was making her nostalgic. She had hoped that they would understand and side with her, but even before then they could not match up to her expectations. They were never people she was able to confide in, to be what she wished to be, and that was because of one underlying fact that laid within every interaction she had with them, one thing that truly prevented them from ever being the companions she had hoped to have on her journey.

They could not meet her gaze.

That had been the most vexing part of it all. No matter what environment they were in, no matter how much she tried to insist, they knew she was the heir to the throne in the Empire and that shadow followed her everywhere. Petra with her people's political vulnerability to the Empire, Ferdinand always trying to prove superior to her in anything he tried, Bernadetta who was frightened by her mere presence, Dorothea by virtue of being a commoner, Linhardt who sometimes found her to be overbearing, Caspar and his hotheadedness, and Hubert who was and is always her loyal servant. All of them instinctively knew their place when compared to her as much they tried to hide it. There was only one person of all those she had met at the Academy that stood above them and spoke with her as though her position was irrelevant to how he interacted with her.

She walked over to the window and gazed out at the city below her as her brows knitted in remorse. Professor Byleth was a unique individual, fully capable as a mercenary, an excellent teacher, and unconcerned with social class. What made him stand out however was his personality. Being an emotionless person, it made him non-judgmental and allowed those to come to him and expunge their problems while he listened and offered pointed advice. For someone who had spent so much of his life isolated from all of Fódlan, from the Church to people in general, he showed a remarkable amount of wisdom.

Perhaps that was why she had grown fond of the man. In many ways she, too, felt detached from the rest of Fódlan and sought some sort of companion, a kindred spirit, to relay her more inner thoughts to. She was still testing him of course, needing to know if he would be a dependable ally for her goals or be just one more individual she would have to kill in order to see those goals realize, but she did find herself genuinely enjoying her time with him. They would sometimes have tea together where they would discuss politics and how they both viewed them, or it would be lighter topics such as their favorite foods, to which she found surprising that he had none. It made her wonder as to why she felt so drawn to him, as though some invisible force was compelling her to approach him and speak with him and encourage him to see the truth of Fódlan so that he would join her on her walk down the path she set for herself.

That answer seemed to come the moment it was discovered that he bore the Crest of Flames. Suddenly she had begun wondering as to how he obtained it and, given her own experiences with her own Crest, presumed that he too had the goddess's Crest artificially implanted within him. Regardless, now he was someone that not only was she interested in as a person, but she had discovered that he was in fact a kindred spirit by virtue of bearing the most powerful of Crests along with her.

She began to probe him afterward to see if she could somehow sway him to join her on her path, not only for the power he wielded but to also be able to share in the new Fódlan she intended on creating. The topic of what her plans never came up directly. War would have been a sensitive subject for anyone to discuss, especially when it involved going against an institution that had ingrained itself in so many facets of Fódlan's system. She wanted him beside her so that there might be someone close to her that could see that future she desired to forge.

But being able to somehow convince him to join her was an uphill battle. Friends as they were, he had chosen to teach the Golden Deer House and with that had more of an affinity toward them than he did with her or the Black Eagles. Getting him to understand Fódlan's deep-rooted troubles with its current system was one thing; getting him to sympathize with her and change his allegiance from both the Golden Deer and the Church was an entirely different battle. It was one that she was not naive about her chances, but nevertheless she attempted it as she felt it would be worth it in the end.

Then her associates became involved, and she clenched her fists at the mere thought of them and what they did. They must have seen her growing attachment to the professor, and so installed one of their own to keep an eye on her. "Monica" always kept her occupied with her constant pestering which, while on the surface would appear innocent enough as a once-thought-dead student trying to ensure she graduated that year, the emperor knew for certain that it was just a means to make sure she stayed in line and remained dependent on them. And she was forced to play along in order to keep the up the ruse despite knowing exactly who Monica really was in order to ward off any doubts from her associates. There were times that she was able to get away, but regardless it diminished the time she could spend with the professor and it did have an impact when they began to escalate their brazenness.

First it was the incident at Remire Village, where Solon and his lackeys had driven much of the population insane with an experiment. The reality of it all was their attempt to drive a wedge between Byleth and her by virtue of her association with them as the Flame Emperor. They had specifically targeted Remire Village due to his and his father's fondness for the quaint locale, and their anger over what occurred there was apparent on their faces when she came to speak with them under her disguise. She tried to defend herself from being involved in it, and in truth she had no idea what they were planning, even trying to persuade them to aid her, but as expected from those events they did not budge. Her prospects of convincing the professor were grim by that point.

What happened afterward had been the final nail in the coffin of her ever bringing him on to her side. Once again her associates drew out Byleth and his father, this time to deal with an actual experiment of theirs in turning students into demonic beasts via Crest Stone shards. The nature of the experiment had already been bad enough, but what shocked and angered her most was Monica's sudden action of murdering Jeralt right in front of his son.

She hung her head and closed her eyes in remorse. She knew in her heart by that point that there was little chance of him ever siding with her. It was over for her in trying to find a companion to share in her dream for a better Fódlan, even before her identity was revealed in the Holy Tomb. She had reached out her hand to him, but her associates forced her to soar away back down the path of loneliness.

Edelgard gritted her teeth as she hummed a low growl. Once again her associates took something away from her in order to remove all distractions and focus on achieving their goals. She knew going in originally meant that she would have to walk it alone regardless of who her allies were, but such an arduous task would have been easier if someone was there, someone that could help her break free from her shackles that her associates bound her with. Instead she was now utterly alone in her endeavor, and while it ultimately changed nothing about her intentions, there was now no one she could personally share in her dream. A regrettable outcome, but once the war was finished and Fódlan united, there would be nowhere left for her associates to hide and they would get theirs soon enough.

She gently placed her gauntleted hand on the window, her forehead following suit. It was times like these when she often wondered how different things could have been in her life. Would she have been a follower of the Church's teachings had the Insurrection of the Seven never occurred? She shook her head. Not possible. The Empire had ousted the Church's influence for over a century, but perhaps her reign might have eased tensions, especially with her admittance to the Officers Academy? Possible, but given the corruption of the nobles, their obsession with Crests ruining the lives of so many around them, and the Church doing nothing to cease it despite its own teachings, she found this war to be inevitable anyway.

It did bring up another question though. From what she learned and observed, the entirety of Fódlan was a powder keg after so many centuries of Crest-bearers letting their "divine providence" inflate their egos and use them as a means to control the less fortunate. So if not her, would someone else have uprooted the Church and brought change to Fódlan? Would they have done things differently? She didn't see how war would not have been involved. The Church was far too dug in to lessen its own influence, and with no inclination from Rhea of stepping down, or even reforming her own institution, the only way to bring about change was war. The alternative was to continue to let others suffer from an obsolete and abusive system, and she was not about to let that happen, nor did she think anyone else would. War was unsavory, she'll admit, but it was necessary.

Then there was the more personal question. What if the professor had chosen her house? It would have certainly allowed for more time for them to work together as teacher and house leader. She had considered him a close friend, but how much closer would they have become if such a scenario was a reality? Would he have sympathized more with her cause? Would he have stepped over to her side at the Holy Tomb when Rhea ordered him to execute her? As much as she had known her lonely path, there was a reason why she went to the Academy, and that was to find someone to reach her hand out to and to have someone to pull her out of the darkness she found herself in by being aligned with her associates. As useful as they were, she was disgusted with what they did, both to her and to innocent people, and wanted a way out while also keeping them placated. Byleth had been the best choice in that regard with the strength he commanded.

But no, he had made his choice, and now he was an enemy just like anyone else who stood in her way, as it much as it saddened her to view him as such. Still, she could not ignore the power he wielded, so when it was reported to her after the Battle of Garreg Mach that the professor was blown off a cliff, she sent a search party to recover his body and confirm it. He was the biggest threat to her goals, and she needed to know for sure of his demise... and to give him a proper burial. Yet there was no trace of where he was predicted to have fallen, and it was not possible to survive a fall from that height. She did wonder if the goddess's power might have done something to spare him, but when he never showed up for months afterward she was able to relax a little more. The greatest obstacle had been removed, yet she felt a mixture of both relief and remorse at it.

It was tragic that he was gone. Such a unique and fascinating individual, only to choose to be on the wrong side of history, and it cost him his life. If only he-

There was a knock on the door, followed by another and it brought her out of her reverie. She straightened herself out before turning to face it.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice firm with authority, not to show any signs of the slight annoyance she felt about being interrupted.

"Just I, Your Majesty," came the answer from an all too familiar, sinister-sounding voice. It did nothing to relax her for she knew the general reason why he came, but at least she knew it would be important.

"You may enter, Hubert." The Marquis Vestra opened the door slowly at first, before doing so more casually once he had made sure he was not totally intruding. He placed his hand across his chest and bowed.

"Pardon the intrusion, Lady Edelgard, but a messenger has arrived and has been urgently requesting to see you."

Edelgard placed a hand on her hip. She had intended to go back to reading through the reports before turning in for the night, but as she frowned she knew well enough that her work was never truly done. "At this late an hour?"

Hubert nodded. "Indeed. Ordinarily I would have held off on informing you until morning, but this messenger comes from General Randolph's forces."

Edelgard's eyes widened briefly. For Randolph to have sent a messenger now could only mean one thing.

"I see. I will meet with this messenger immediately then. Take me to them."

"Of course." The emperor took a few steps to approach him before they left together, the raven-haired man closing the door behind them and followed her down the hall.

While on the way Edelgard began formulating an idea as to why the messenger was here. Randolph and his troops had the rather unique assignment of keeping watch over the monastery for any signs of activity from the Church. It had meant that they were far from the fighting, but the Church had never been dissolved since the battle that took place five years ago, and many of the Knights of Seiros were still out there, fruitlessly searching for Rhea. To that end the general and his troops had the important task of ensuring that if the Knights decided to return, that they would be ready to wipe out the last remnants of the Church.

Of all times she expected them to return, it was a few weeks ago upon the one-thousand year anniversary of the establishment of Garreg Mach Monastery. If the messenger was here, it only meant that her suspicions had been correct, but something still puzzled her deeply. Why had Randolph only sent a messenger now? It wasn't a long travel time between their encampment and Enbarr, but it was the middle of the Guardian Moon and he chose only now to send word of activity? It troubled her as to how that could be, and hopefully she would get answers soon enough.

After a few more minutes, they made it to the throne room and all its splendor. While not as lucrative as one might expect, it was immense in its size, with a large dais covered by a large, red rug that traveled down the length of it and up to a smaller dais where a solitary throne sat and was perhaps the most glamorous thing in the room. The roof was held up by several marble columns, and the tall windows in the front above the main entrance let the light of the moon pour through and give the same glow as her own quarters did, allowing her to see the messenger in question awaiting the two of them at the base of the main dais.

When the messenger, a pegasus knight from the look of her, noticed them approaching her, she quickly bowed to the ones greatly above her station.

"Your Majesty!" she exclaimed, appearing to be quite nervous about addressing the emperor herself. "F-forgive my arrival at this time of night!"

Edelgard held up her hand. "Never mind that. I am told you have come from General Randolph's forces. If that is true I presume you have news about activity at Garreg Mach."

The messenger nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. The scouts have reported seeing knights traveling to nearby villages with gold, and coming away with food and other supplies. When they trailed them to the monastery, they noticed that there were more knights in the abandoned towns clearing away bodies. They were even able to catch glimpses of villagers on scaffolding and repairing the monastery's exterior."

That captured Edelgard's attention as her eyes flashed. She expected that they would be there for the anniversary, but what she wasn't expecting was for them to be lingering there for longer than that, though it makes sense given that the messenger is only now arriving. If they were leaving the monastery for supplies, and even repairing the damage she let her troops do to it, then it only meant that they were making themselves right at home under her nose... and perhaps there was more to it.

"No doubt they arrived for what would have been the millennium festival," Hubert mused as he crossed his arms over his chest before chuckling lightly. "Their dedication to that place is almost admirable. I wonder if they thought that Rhea would make a miraculous appearance on such an important day. Fools."

"That they're settling in as though they aren't wanted across the Empire is insulting to say the least," remarked Edelgard as her brows furrowed.

"From what we were able to assess, my lady," the messenger continued, "Their movements seem to be with purpose. It's as if they are aware of our position, and are doing their best to avoid detection."

"Hard to believe," commented an unimpressed Hubert. "They were to be arrested or killed on sight the moment they entered Empire territory. They wouldn't have any prior knowledge of it... unless..." Hubert looked at Edelgard and the emperor matched her vassal's icy gaze, both of them nodding and coming to the same conclusion.

"Dorothea." They had both known about Dorothea's desertion some time ago, but given what they had to contend with at the time and afterward, searching for her was low on the priority list. While the other Black Eagles were still in her army, Dorothea had shown to be the most against the methods Edelgard employed to achieve her ends. A part of her was impressed that Dorothea was even able to escape as the general of the regiment she was once a part of was told to keep an eye on her. Now there was this, and if Dorothea were captured she would have to regrettably make an example of her for betraying the Empire twice.

"She had always shown the most discomfort for the conflict," she stated as she frowned. "That she would now give away the location of our troops to the enemy..."

"Why would she even bother aiding the Church?" Hubert pondered, tilting his head down in thought. "She was never one for the faith to begin with, and if she is siding with them it will only lead to her death."

"Which leads me to believe that the Church is mobilizing for another attempt at stopping me." Her brows remained furrowed, but now out of confusion rather than annoyance as she pinched her chin. "But why now though? The day of the millennium festival is not enough of a reason to think anything has changed for them between when the war began and today."

Hubert nodded. "It would be foolhardy of them to try an assault against us. With so many of their numbers either in hiding or dead they would be wiped out in the first battle."

"If I may, my lady?" cautiously interrupted the messenger, causing both of them to jolt their heads toward her.

"If you have any more to tell us then let's hear it," sternly said Hubert as he began to furrow his own brows.

"Well... we haven't been able to confirm it, but there have been sightings of someone riding a wyvern on occasion and flying over the forested areas around the monastery, presumably for hunting. We haven't been able to get close to the monastery grounds recently, but the scouts have said that there was an orange glow coming from the rider. We believe it to be a Heroes Relic."

Now even Hubert's eyes widened at the revelation, but only for a brief moment before a sly smile etched itself on his countenance. "That can only mean one thing: the source of that glow must be Failnaught."

A small, confident smile graced the emperor's lips. "So, Claude has finally decided to act? I always knew his neutrality ploy was a ruse, but I do have to thank him for not making this a two-front war. And he begins with allying with what's left of the Knights of Seiros..."

"Entirely possible that he has no troops of his own there," her adviser commented. "We would have received word from Count Gloucester far sooner if that were the case. If this is his idea of engaging us, then perhaps his title of 'Master Tactician' was made in jest rather than with any credence to it."

Her face returned to a more neutral visage to not get ahead of herself. "Even so, he is crafty in battle, and his Relic affords him great power. He is not to be underestimated." She turned her attention to the messenger "Hubert will begin drafting a message for you to take to General Randolph to mobilize his troops and prepare to attack the monastery."

The soldier bowed to her. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"I will also be sending another detachment of troops to bolster his forces for the battle ahead," Edelgard continued. "Assuming Thunder Catherine is among the knights, there will be two Relics that they will have to contend with. It is also highly likely that he brought friends with him as well."

"Friends?"

"A fair point," Hubert remarked. "While I'm not sure what spurred him to it aside from desperation, the man is too clever for his own good. He will have brought allies with him, quite possibly his former classmates."

"You have done well to bring this news to us," addressed Edelgard to the messenger "Rest in the castle barracks tonight and be prepared to return to your garrison in the morning. My message will be ready by then."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." With one final bow, the knight made her way over to the towering double doors that led into the grand hall, opening them just enough to let herself out before the guards on the other side closed them behind her, leaving the emperor and her vassal to contemplate in silence.

"Now that the theater is over," Hubert uttered, "What are your suspicions Lady Edelgard?"

Edelgard turned to look through one of the windows and took a few steps to approach it, glaring intently as her brow furrowed again. As much as she wanted to enjoy the opportunity to end this war in one fell swoop, she still felt as though something was off about all of this. Claude had always frustrated her in more ways than one, but perhaps most of all was that the man could be unpredictable, his mind working in ways that not even Hubert could match.

"Why now..." she wondered aloud as she placed a fist on her hip. "He had the perfect chance to attack us while we were focused on the Kingdom, yet he did nothing but profess the Alliance's neutrality. What changed? What are you up to, Claude?"

She heard Hubert approach her and join her at her side, tilting his head to face her. "I wish I could believe that this is his attempt at a last-ditch effort, but the man is ambitious himself, and it is unlikely he would act unless he knew he had some way of catching us by surprise."

Edelgard frowned as she tried to search for an answer, but all that fluttered around her mind were questions. "To wait five years until what would have been the millennium festival and only now does he make his move..."

"Then we have to consider why the Knights of Seiros joined him as well." Hubert crossed his arms over his chest. "They have nowhere near the strength that we have despite their reputation. Our numbers are far too great for them to challenge without risk of being wiped out. How was he able to convince them to throw their lives away?"

Edelgard wrenched her eyes shut. As ever Claude continued to be an enigma to her, and the last thing she needed was having unknowns crop up along her path. She huffed before opening them again. "I suppose we will find out soon enough."

Hubert slightly raised a curious brow. "Will you not be joining the assault on the monastery? Your power would be useful in bringing down the Alliance leader given he wields a Relic of his own."

"Perhaps, but he is not the professor. Even with his Relic, with the additional troops I'm sending they should be more than enough to handle the remnants of the knights and whoever else Claude may have brought with him." She began walking toward the way they came in, with Hubert following close behind. "I must be here for when we receive word of Randolph's success or failure. However the result, we can use this as evidence that he violated the Alliance's neutrality and prepare to invade the moment the Great Tree Moon arrives."

"Of course, Your Majesty," he said, bowing to her while not losing a beat. "Before we depart soon, there is one more matter I wished to bring to your attention."

Edelgard glanced at him. "And that is?"

"While you were away, we received correspondence from Lord Arundel." Hubert's brow furrowed slightly and muttered the noble's name with a hint of venom laced in it.

Edelgard continued her walk back to her room without even flinching at the name, despite the level of contempt she held for it. "No doubt my uncle will be arriving to refresh his supply of blood from her. I despise giving him what he wants, but until this war is over I will continue to cooperate with him."

A small, but wicked smile appeared on the Marquis's face. "Once we are finished uniting Fódlan, he and his kind will get theirs in due time."

Edelgard gave a curt nod. "Indeed."

Having the name of her "uncle" brought up again made her blood boil. He wasn't always the cold-hearted and uncaring man he was today. Before she went down this path, he had been her kind, pious caretaker, helping her and her mother to shepherd themselves away to Faerghus during the Insurrection of the Seven so that they would at least be safe. During their time there, though she never learned how, he began acting far differently than the man she once knew, and it wasn't until later on that she discovered that he had been replaced by Thales, the leader of her associates.

Her hands clenched into fists as she thought of the name again. It was him that manipulated the events of the Insurrection. It was he that lead the efforts of his underlings to turn her into what she was today. It was he who continued to hold a knife to her throat to secure her cooperation with him and his kind. It was he who delivered the killing blow to Professor Byleth. Rhea may have perpetuated and maintained the system that was ruining so many lives, but Thales was the one who ruined her own life. He was the only person in Fódlan she loathed more than the former archbishop, and she would enjoy driving her axe through him once she had accomplished her dream.

They arrived back at her room with Hubert stopping a few steps behind her.

"I will begin working on the letter to General Randolph," he informed. "I will have it ready for you to sign first thing in the morning."

She spun around to face her most trusted, and now only, friend. "Thank you, Hubert. Is that all for tonight?"

"Anything else is trivial enough to wait until tomorrow."

"Very well. Good night then, Hubert."

"Sleep well, Lady Edelgard." The Marquis bowed deeply before turning and proceeding to his own quarters, leaving Edelgard to watch him go and once more wonder what life could have been like had things gone differently. Her siblings, her family, the Black Eagles, the professor. So much taken away, so much she might have had.

She sighed mournfully, knowing that it was pointless to continue with these thoughts. This was her path now, to be the catalyst for the change Fódlan so desperately needed, no matter what it took.

She just wish she didn't have to walk it alone.

So ends my first chapter featuring Edelgard and her point of view. I do intend on including a few more down the line, even with her speaking with an imprisoned Rhea and seeing what sort of conversations they may end up having.

I may be slower in putting out the next chapter as I am currently collaborating with my fellow Bysithea writer kenji1104 on a oneshot that will be featuring smut too, so count on that coming out in the near future!