Author's Note: So like, I've been playing a LOT of Fire Emblem: Three Houses recently, and I decided that I wanted to try writing for it as well. This story is gonna be a bit different than I have done in the past. It's going to be third person. This is still rather new to me, so I apologize if it seems weird. Updates for this story are looking to be every other week, so look forward to that! Also, this story is going to follow some of SS and CF, so if you haven't played those routes yet, and you don't wanna be spoiled. Begone. But it's also going to be diverting its path beyond both SS and CF. Finally, I love Edelgard so much. She's my favorite Lord. Edelgard did nothing wrong. Anyway, enjoy!

"You have disappointed me, Edelgard. To think that a descendant of House Hresvelg would dare betray the holy church…" Rhea's eyes narrowed in seeming hatred towards the newly appointed Emperor of the Adrestian Empire clad in her Flame Emperor armor.

Edelgard sighed deeply. "So it is my teacher who stands in my way. I always knew it would come to this…"

Rhea, standing behind Byleth, placed her hand on Byleth's left shoulder. "Professor, kill Edelgard at once. She is a danger to all of Fódlan. Such a rebellious heart cannot be allowed to keep beating." Her voice's tone almost seemed to growl as her order was spoken.

Hearing Rhea's order, Byleth's still face remained unchanged, but her internal monologue, heard by none but herself, raged behind the still exterior. Kill Edelgard? Yes, she had betrayed the Church of Seiros, but was that really enough to warrant a death penalty? Of course Byleth cared about her student, as her teacher. But therein lies the point of contention. As Edelgard's professor, Byleth would throw down her life for the young emperor. But Byleth was not only Edelgard's teacher. She was also, like Catherine and like Alois, one of the Church's many hands of judgement. After everything that Rhea had done for her, could she betray her? Would such betrayal be possible? Unable to come to any real decision, Byleth remained silent. Byleth's eyes, usually non-emotive, showed the indecisiveness that was tormenting Byleth's mind to Edelgard. If Rhea had seen her now, Byleth surely would be considered a traitor as well. After all, the Church must pass judgement on the heretics without remorse.

Taking the moment of hesitation as an opportunity to escape, Edelgard chuckled softly. "I will withdraw... for now." The ground next to Edelgard warped slightly as individual runes quickly carved themselves into the stone floor. Shortly afterwards, the air above these runes shifted slightly, and Hubert then apparated into that space. "Come, Hubert!" Hubert simply nodded and vanished just as quickly as he came. Edelgard hesitated, looking at Byleth. "I will see you again, Professor." Just like Hubert, Edelgard's form vanished from before Rhea and Byleth.

"To flee is futile, wicked girl. The Church of Seiros will raise its entire army against you, until you have been captured and punished! You have defiled the Holy Tomb, dishonored the goddess, and humiliated your brethren. That crime will never be erased, even if you burn in the eternal flames, and spill all of your blood into the goddess's soil!" Rhea shouted into the empty room, none to hear her but Byleth and the rest of her students. Stunned silence followed, not only from Byleth herself, but also her students, even those originally not from the Black Eagle house.

Rhea disregarded the silence and turned towards the exit. "Come, Professor. Let us return and decide upon our next course of action." She exited the Tomb without another word.

Byleth turned to see the shocked expressions of her students. If only Sothis were still here. Even her scolding would be welcome at this point. She'd probably know what to do here. Shaking her head, Byleth followed after Rhea, speaking to her students as she passed them. "Come along. We must follow." Byleth's students began scrambling to catch up to their swiftly moving professor.

"Professor, wait!" Caspar's voice called after Byleth, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. Not now. If she stopped, then that's when her mind would start to roam into dangerous territory, and with everything that just happened, she couldn't afford that.

Byleth soon ran into Seteth on her way out of the tomb. "Ah, professor. Rhea told me what happened. It is truly a shame that one of our own, Edelgard, has disgraced the church like this. Rhea wishes for me to speak with you and your students in the Audience Chamber. Please have them gather there as soon as possible. We will have words there." Seteth turned around and walked towards the audience chamber. Not having much else of a choice, Byleth waited for her students and led them to the audience chamber.

In the audience chamber, Seteth waited for the students and Byleth to arrive. Upon their arrival, his grave face looked over the crowd of students that had gathered in front of him. "Edelgard and Hubert have disappeared. They will surely return to the Empire. The knights have been dispatched to search and investigate. If there is any movement, we will know. We cannot ignore the possibility that there will soon be open hostilities between us and the Imperial army. When that happens, are you prepared to fight your own? If you wish to return to the Empire, I will not stop you. That is your choice to make. I am sure you all have much on your mind. I encourage you to confer with your professor and make a decision. You have until the fighting commences." Seteth closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Upon opening his eyes again, he turned to Byleth. "Professor, I am depending on your strength for the safety of Fodlan. We have received word that Edelgard has declared war on the church. Be sure to rest up well. You are all dismissed." Seteth turned away and headed into the side room, leaving the rest of the Eagles alone in the audience chamber.

"Come. We must leave. We can discuss this elsewhere." Byleth left the room and headed to the Black Eagles Classroom. After all, most people would probably be eating at the dining hall by now. Her students followed her closely, but said nothing, the shock of the experience still weighing heavily on their minds. Once all of the students had made their way into the room, Byleth closed the large wooden doors emblazoned with the emblem of the Black Eagles. The doors slammed shut with a force that many of the students had seen on the battlefield or during training from Byleth, but little had seen outside of those times. A hushed quiet fell over the room as Byleth stayed facing the doors, not moving for a good many seconds. The Black Eagles, Ashe, Lysithea, Marianne, Mercedes, Sylvain, and Felix stared at Byleth, saying nothing.

Dorothea, out of concern for her teacher, slowly approached Byleth, placing a hand on Byleth's shoulder. "Professor? Are you okay?" As the question leaves her mouth, she noticed it: Byleth's hands were shaking. Byleth turned around quickly, hands clenched at her side.

"Did any of you know about this?" Her face, now in the stone, firm expression that the students were used to seeing, seemed to be more unnerving than if she bore her emotions on her face.

"I can assure you that I had no knowledge of this event. If I did, then I, as a noble, would have-" Ferdinand started.

"Ferdie, even if you did know about it, you know better than anyone else that Edie wouldn't have let you do anything about it, especially stop her. I'm not sure if any of us knew about this. You know how Edie likes her secrets. I'm pretty sure that I was her best friend here, and I didn't hear of it at all." Dorothea cut Ferdinand off.

"L-let's not f-fight, you guys!" Bernadetta piped up from the back of the group of students in the room.

"I'm sorry, Bern. There's just a lot of nerves that are high." Dorothea apologized from next to the door and walked back over to the group of students.

"What do we do, Professor?" Caspar's voice was noticeably tense. It was clear that he was nervous.

"I… I don't know. There is a lot that must be thought about. Most of you are from the Empire, right? Will you not return home? I had thought that national loyalty would come into play here." Byleth's mouth curled down just slightly into a frown, an expression she had been making a lot recently..

"I am believing that I am speaking for the most of us when I am saying that we will be with you, Professor." Petra said, earning her a few grins from her fellow classmates.

"Yeah! What Petra said! We'll be with you no matter what you decide." Caspar shouted, seeming to find a sense of renewed vigor.

"While I appreciate the thought, that doesn't make this decision any easier. I need time to come to a decision that I will not regret. You are dismissed. Classes are on hold for the rest of the week as well. Take the time to really think about this. Make sure that this is really the decision that you want to stick with." Byleth sighed and opened the doors again. "And I may be spending a bit of time by myself. Do not let that worry you. I simply do not wish to be distracted. Enjoy your week off." Byleth immediately parted from her students and receded into her own personal quarters, and for the second time in her life, tears started rolling down her face.

While working as a mercenary was hard, Byleth had never had to make as many important decisions as she had at the Monastery, and none of those decisions remotely come close to the decision that had been placed directly onto her lap. The decision itself seemed impossible: Betray the trust of the Church and side with her student or betray the trust of her student and side with the Church.

Edelgard…

For some reason, when Byleth thought about her student, her unbeating heart clenched in her chest.

Why? Why do thoughts of her make me ache in such a way?

While Byleth had liked to have said that she treated all of her students equally, that was never really the case. Edelgard had clearly earned her favor early on in her teaching career, if one could call it that. She quickly began to care deeply for Edelgard and her safety, even more so than she did for her other students. She and the young imperial princess had grown close, or so she had thought. Byleth had thought that Edelgard trusted her enough to tell her these sorts of things, but as it turned out, Edelgard hadn't trusted her enough for arguably one of the most important things to happen at the Monastery. And that hurt her still heart more than the prospect of having to choose. Ever since coming to the Monastery, no, ever since Edelgard, Byleth had felt real emotions for the first time, whatever this was being the most recent of them. Byleth let her newly felt emotions carry her off to slumber as that night, she cried herself to sleep for the first time in her life.

The next week was filled with her students visiting her at her personal quarters, despite her telling them not to worry about her. The prospect of knowing people cared enough for her brought a smile to her stoic, mostly unwavering face. By the end of the week, Byleth had come to a decision.

Whatever it was that made Byleth feel that way about Edelgard and her deserting, it was clear that it was having an impact on Byleth and her mind. Edelgard didn't trust her enough to let her in on one of the biggest events of her life. It must mean something. Could she trust Edelgard anymore after this? Byleth wasn't sure. What Byleth did know was that Edelgard left. Without her. Not only that, but Edelgard was the Flame Emperor, the same person who commanded those that killed her father. Her path was shaky, but it had direction, at least to her view now. She would help the Church in this fight. As much as it hurt her still heart to think about fighting against Edelgard, she felt she had no choice. Edelgard hadn't chosen her. How could Byleth choose Edelgard if Edelgard hadn't chosen her?

Having accepted the inevitable, Byleth grudgingly rose from her desk and opened the door. Seteth was standing there, hand raised as if to knock. "Ah, Professor! I was just about to ask for your council. We have received word that Edelgard and her army are approaching Garreg Mach. They should be here in two weeks time. Will you fight for us?" Seteth's voice contained an undertone that was hard to grasp.

Sighing briefly, Byleth rose her gaze to meet Seteth's.

"I will."