Chapter Text
“Put the candle out. The sun isn’t even up yet.”
Edelgard continued to stare at her stack of reports. She treasured these moments, when still sleepy and content Byleth’s affections almost seemed real. The other woman was curled snuggly at her side, bare bodies pressed up against one another. Byleth’s face was buried in a pillow as she attempted to block out the light.
“You know I have work to do. The world does not stop just because we sleep, my love.” The Emperor leaned down, careful not to dislodge her reports, placing a kiss amongst Byleth’s tangled hair.
Byleth grumbled, shifting against the sheets, and lifted her head.
Just like that the illusion was broken. Eyes a few shades of green too dark stared up at Edelgard with a type of revolted amusement that drove between the lines of disgust and hate. There was too much expression in it to allow Edelgard to fool herself.
“You’re sentimental this morning,” the not Byleth commented. She stretched her whole body, reminiscent of a lazy cat, Edelgard’s eyes drawn down to her body. It was easier to continue with the charade if she did not look at Byleth’s face with all its notes of wrongness. Unfortunately, it did nothing to temper her desire for this Byleth, the one that was so close, who would spread her legs for Edelgard because Thales had ordered her kept happy. “I am up now,” the Argarthan sighed sadly. “Might as well get started on this work you’re talking about. Do I get to kill any of you today?”
“You know I hate when you talk like that.” Edelgard returned to her papers, disgusted that she continued to allow the farce to play out in her bed. If she were stronger, she would deny herself this, would stop giving into the twisted illusion that kept pulling at her mind, a dream that refused to be realized.
“Why is that?” Not Byleth pouted. She crawled onto Edelgard’s lap, knocking the reports aside. “Because I don’t sound like Byleth. Well, Emperor,” Byleth purred, leaning in close to let her breath ghost over the shell of Edelgard’s ear, “I am Byleth now. That memory you love so dearly lives on only through me.”
She kissed a line from Edelgard’s ear to the corner of the Emperor’s lips, scooting forward to press their bodies together. Edelgard hoped that memory spoken of could forgive her, for she already felt herself turning to capture those lips, her body reacting to the Agarthan’s recreation of their dreaded Fell Star.
Edelgard’s hand tangled in mint green hair, holding the false Byleth close as she deepened the kiss. She could feel the Agarthan laugh as much as she heard it, but the noise only made Edelgard determined to pull a series of more pleasurable sounds from her.
A pattern of sharp knocks on her bedroom door interrupted them. Edelgard broke the kiss with a sharp intake of air, staring at the wooden barrier. “Ignore it, El,” Byleth encouraged. “Let them think we’re still asleep.”
If Hubert had not opened the door before she announced her permission to enter, Edelgard might very well have done so. But Hubert would not break protocol even when she asked him to, unless something important had occurred.
“Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty,” Hubert greeted, his head bowed low. “There is a matter I must discuss with you.” A beat of silence in which he shot a pointed look at the woman in Edelgard’s lap.
Not Byleth sighed dramatically and shoved off of the Emperor. “Fine. No need to be so hostile,” she shot at Hubert, her tone reminding Edelgard very much of Kronya’s in that moment. “Thales wanted to see me this morning anyways.”
The Emperor and her advisor watched not Byleth quickly dress, sending a look Edelgard could not quite place at Hubert on her way out. Hubert’s attention only turned back to her once the door had closed behind the Agarthan.
“Don’t,” Edeglard said, holding up a hand. She and Hubert had gone over this fight so many times now, and she was not in the mood for a repeat performance. Hubert had made it clear he disapproved of this doppelganger being allowed near Edelgard, especially someplace as intimate as her bed. He was even on the fence about using her in the first place. Having Byleth appear to be on their side was doing wonders to dismantle and demoralize the remaining Church supporters, but Hubert worried they would pay a cost too high later on.
Hubert inclined his head, accepting her order. “Your Majesty, I have just heard reports from one of my connections near Garreg Mach.”
Edelgard sat up straighter. Garreg Mach had been abandoned for five years now, left to the wildlife and bandits. There should be no noteworthy news from there, unless… Her heart caught in her throat, refusing to even finish the thought until Hubert had finished.
“My man in the village there said that on the eve of the Millennium Festival he fished a green haired woman from the river. She seemed fine, save for that she was confused about the year.”
Edelgard forgot how to breathe, unable to tell if what she was feeling was dread or exhilaration. “The Professor is alive?” she whispered into the stillness her room had become.
Hubert nodded. “It would appear so.”
Edelgard felt herself harden. She threw off her covers and grabbed a robe to cover her nakedness. “I want her brought to me immediately. No, I shall go myself to retrieve her.”
“There is a slight issue,” Hubert said, stopping the plans forming in Edelgard’s head. “It appears Claude and the rest of the former Golden Deer arrived at the same time. I expect soon to receive more reports to confirm, but they have placed the Professor into a cell and are currently debating what to do with her.”
What if those fools killed her? She could charge in with force and overwhelm them, but there was no guarantee they would not take revenge on the real Byleth before they reached her. Edelgard could not stand the thought. They had only just found her, Edelgard would not lose her again so suddenly.
Hubert swept into a bow, already reading her thoughts. “Allow me to handle this, Your Majesty. It is too dangerous for you to go yourself, but I have a small strike force already preparing. They will sneak into Garreg Mach and bring her back to you.”
She hated leaving this task to someone else, but she knew Hubert was right. And Hubert had never failed her. He would do everything he could to bring the real Byleth back to her. “Will you be going with them?” She knew Hubert as well as he knew her after all.
Hubert hesitated for the briefest of seconds. She was not certain if anyone besides herself would have noticed. “Yes, Your Majesty. I would not leave your side-”
Edelgard held up her hand, again cutting him off. “But you know I would end up going myself rather than leave this matter in the hands of people I did not fully trust.” A pair of twin smiles crossed their faces. “You have my permission, Hubert. Just make sure you come back to me.”
“Of course, Lady Edelgard.” He inclined his head in a bow, hand placed over his heart. “Ferdinand and Fleche have already been briefed on the duties they will oversee while I am gone. I shall not be long.”
“Good luck, Hubert,” Edelgard bid him, her heart fluttering strangely in her chest.
It would not be long before the real Professor was before her. And then she would have to face what the real Byleth thought of all she had done.
Well, there was no turning back now. She would have Byleth at her side, one way or another.
/
Thales hated wearing his human skin. It always seemed to itch and make his joints ache. They smelled strange as well, and the scent always seemed to burn itself into one’s nose. He smelled it for days afterwards.
Still, there were too many eyes in the castle for him to risk taking it off. Even more so for the woman who sat across from him, her legs crossed, lips set in an angry line. They had done the best they could with her, Corneila having to piece together multiple humans to get the disguise close enough to render it passable. And then she had still needed to take from that disgusting woman Edelgard kept locked up in the basement, refusing to kill even at Thales’s insistence for some strange reason. Wearing the skin of one human was bad enough, but having to wear multiple as well as carrying the essence from those hated Nabateans would drive him insane.
Which, he supposed was appropriate, because the woman wearing that disguise certainly did not seem as stable as when she had first put it on.
At the very least, they could converse in their own tongue and not fear being overheard. Anyone who did hear them would not understand the words, let alone the ancient dialect. She certainly seemed calmer with their own words on her tongue.
“If we do not get rid of Hubert soon, he will continue being a hindrance in our attempts to control Edelgard.” She sipped her tea, pink lips puckering at the bitter taste. Still, there were appearances to keep up.
“I’m glad you think so,” Thales answered, doing nothing more than swirling his own tea around his cup. “There is an issue that has come up, one in which Hubert will try to oppose you.”
A mint green brow rose, but she remained silent, waiting for Thales to continue.
“Your counterpart has returned.”
She shot up straighter, eagerly leaning over the table. She knew what this meant.
“No doubt Hubert is telling the Emperor of this right now. He will make his own attempts to bring the Fell Star back to Enbarr.” Thales set his tea down, almost laughing at the excitement he could see running through his companion. “You know we cannot allow that to happen.”
“Please say I get to kill her!” Both of her hands were firmly planted on the breakfast table, as if she might fly away in her anticipation if she did not ground herself.
“Yes,” Thales answered, laughter running through his voice. “Kill the Alliance leader while you are there as well, if you can manage it. And, should you be able to make it look as if you were not involved, get rid of Hubert while you’re at it.”
She looked like Thales had just gifted her the world on a silver tray. The false Fell Star ran around the table, wrapping her arms around Thales in the very human custom of a hug, and squealed in delight. “I’ll get it done, Thales!” she promised. “We’ll remove the worst of the obstacles to our goals with this strike! I won’t let you down!” She squealed again, practically bouncing at the promise of bloodshed, and ran from the room to go prepare for her mission.
Thales coughed and adjusted the lapels of his coat. Yes, the sooner she succeeded and came back, the sooner they could remove these disguises. He certainly needed to before he too began adopting disgusting human traditions.