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Shining sun. Cloudless sky. A garden full of roses, a table set for two, and the entirety of a teaset made from the finest porcelain.
Byleth sips from a cup, enjoying the vague taste of Earl Gray on his tongue. A faint breeze plays with his hair, tossing it about his face as he enjoys his choice of beverage.
Across from him, nursing a cup of her own, is Edelgard. The Black Eagles house leader wears a pleasant look on her face, not at all disturbed by her teacher’s sudden invitation to tea.
“I was wondering what you called me out here for,” Edelgard says, murmuring slightly into her cup. “Are you here to discuss my grades with me?”
He settles his cup on a nearby plate. It makes a cute clinking sound, much to his amusement. “Yes,” he says, “I was thinking about asking whether or not you were considering studying for a class upgrade.”
Edelgard’s eyebrows pinch. “Come again?”
There’s something like a feminine sigh from inside Byleth’s head. He ignores it, however, in favor of keeping his gaze focused on Edelgard. “I’ve noticed that your high proficiency with an axe will allow you a class upgrade. According to the teacher’s guide, an axe level as strong as yours would allow for axe-tier classes.”
“I see,” Edelgard takes a sip. Displeasure flickers on her face and Byleth frowns.
“Is Earl Gray not to your liking?”
The woman looks at him with wide eyes. A pink hue flushes onto her cheeks, tainting her face with color. Edelgard settles down her cup and holds a hand bashfully up to her lips.
The sigh within Byleth’s mind repeats itself.
“I didn’t intend to embarrass you, teacher,” Edelgard says, looking positively flustered. “But it’s true. Earl Gray is among my least favorite of the teas we have at the monastery.”
The sigh grows louder and Byleth tries not to let his eye twitch.
Be quiet, he warns with a thought.
“I see. I apologize myself then for my lack of foresight.” Byleth dips his head. “What kind of tea do you like if I may ask?” When he notes his student’s surprised face, he hurries for an explanation. “Just so I don’t make a mistake on our next outing, of course.”
He hears a voice huff: “What next outing?”
“I’m rather fond of white tea,” Edelgard says. A smile presses her lips upwards as she tilts her head to the side. “I would enjoy a cup of that. However, you don’t have to waste the school’s budget on me and my silly tastes. Modesty is a virtue, after all, and it would do you a disservice for me to refuse your pleasantries.”
A girl manifests beside Edelgard, stepping into view and standing beside the lady. Long, messy green hair frames her face: a perfect match to her slitted jade eyes that stare at Byleth like a cat throwing a hissy fit at its master. Her lips are curled, gaze wrenched from Byleth to his student as she leans on Edelgard’s shoulder.
“This one’s cunning,” says Sothis, the draconic girl who lives in Byleth’s mind. “She appears pleasant on the outside, but she’s no more than a stubborn little brat on the inside.”
He tries to keep his face composed. “You are my student, Edelgard,” he says. “I’m more than willing to spend the extra money if it maintains your happiness.”
“Sappy,” Sothis gags, “real sappy.”
An eyelid twitches. Edelgard seems to take notice of it. “Ah, it seems I have upset you somewhat,” she takes a forced sip from her cup. Byleth notes the trembling of her hands and falters.
Eager to fix Edelgard’s uncertain expression, he continues in a hurry. “No, I was merely thinking of something entirely unrelated. Forgive me if you mistook my grimace for a sign of reluctance.”
“Aww, look how sappy he gets just for you!” Sothis coos at Edelgard’s crestfallen face, humming in that stupidly happy way of hers. Byleth resists the urge to hold his head in his hand or snap at her. Sothis, as if sensing his resolve, straightens up to cross her arms and glower at him.
“I…see. Alright, thank you,” Edelgard bows her head, settling the cup down with a release of tensed shoulders. “I appreciate it.”
Sothis gags yet again and Byleth is beginning to think she’s getting a little too dramatic. He holds a hand up to his mouth, masking his frown and pointedly ignoring his unwanted companion. “Moving back to the original subject, have you considered moving up into an axe tier class?”
“Well…” Edelgard stares into her cup. A lazy finger traces the rim of it, her touch sending a small ripple across the liquid inside. “Promise you won’t laugh at me, teacher?”
He raises his eyebrows. “Why would I laugh at you?”
“It’s…” The girl chews her lip and stops her movement. “Well, it’s not something I like to tell other people so easily. Most would think me crazy if I told them. Most might even laugh. But, still, it’s always been something I’m not too keen on addressing.”
“She’s starting to talk like you’re her therapist,” Sothis notes. She traces her finger on the rim of Byleth’s tea cup, her breath patting his cheek. He picks up his cup and maneuvers it deftly out of her reach.
“Feel free to talk to me about it,” he says, ignoring the way Sothis suddenly pulls herself up to sit on a table meant for two. “I can’t promise I’m the best person to discuss this stuff with but I’m willing to keep an open mind.”
“That's all I can ask for. Thank you, teacher.” Edelgard dips her head, takes in a deep breath, and continues. “Well…you see…I’ve always wanted to become a War Cleric.”
“A War Cleric?” He thinks of the soldiers in battle capable of using axes alongside healing magic and tilts his head. “I would’ve never pictured you as being the type to heal others in battle.”
“Right? That’s what everyone tells me.” Edelgard gives a sad smile and Byleth almost regrets commenting on her words. “But, while I am a woman of the axe I am also a woman of my people. In order to lead my country well, I cannot always depend on my axe. There will be people who need my help who are dying. I have witnessed such things first hand and I was unable to save them before. That’s why I want to learn healing magic: to help my people both on the battlefields and in the medical tents.”
What a thrilling speech…if it weren’t for Sothis making extremely weird faces in the midst of it. Byleth holds back an aggravated sigh and goes for a polite smile instead.
“I see. Well, I don’t think that’s weird at all.” Edelgard’s eyes turn bright and Byleth’s smile turns genuine. “The Adrestian Empire will be lucky to have a War Cleric like you.”
Sothis flops down and across the table. She kicks her legs up and then down, placing her hands behind her head and pouting in the corner of his eyes. The boy is so distracted by her sudden fit of movement that he nearly wrenches his gaze away from Edelgard’s pleased expression.
“Thank you, teacher,” Edelgard says, pleasure radiating from her, “for not rejecting my dream.”
“Of course. I’m here to encourage you, Edelgard, and your dreams. Don’t forget that. I have no need to reject you or your ambitions. I’m your teacher, after all, and it’s my job to guide you in the direction you want to go. I believe in you and, if you want to become a War Cleric, then I’ll believe in your potential to achieve that dream.”
There’s a bit of a pause and, much to Byleth’s surprise, the world pauses on its axis. Then, Edelgard flushes spectacularly, standing to her feet in a hurry and bowing. “I’m happy to have had this meeting with you, teacher,” she says, her words almost unusually high-pitched in nature. “But now that you’ve heard my decision, I feel like it’s time for me to take my leave.”
He gets up to reach a hand out to her. However, Edelgard turns away before he can make an ounce of sound, hurrying away without a chance to say goodbyes. Byleth rubs the back of his head, watching her go before directing narrowed eyes in Sothis’s direction.
“What was all that about?”
The girl who lives inside his mind blinks at him. “What was what about?” She sits up, still kicking her legs back and forth over the ledge of the table.
“That-“ he waves his hands, “-jealous fit of yours. It was…quite a display.”
“Jealous? Me?” Sothis huffs, peeling herself away from the table. “Why would I be jealous of a well-mannered lady with beautiful silver hair and pretty purple eyes?”
“I believe you just answered your own question,” he picks up his cup of tea and drinks from it. “Now, you normally don’t appear in front of me like this. Is your envy of my favorite student so great that you had to go and appear to make fun of our conversation?”
Sothis looks away, her face the near imitation of a pout. He feels a little bad for teasing her – especially since she’s not known to look so disappointed. Yet, recalling her acts of earlier fun, perhaps he doesn’t feel as sympathetic as Sothis would like him to.
“You said she’s your favorite student,” the girl says. “And you were treating her like a princess. For all your talk of being her teacher, you treated her like she was special.”
“She is special,” Byleth sighs, leaning back in his seat. “She’s the future empress of the Adrestian Empire, remember?”
“But do you like her?” Sothis looks at him, dropping her air of wallowing countenance for something more calm and calculating. “Time is not kind, Byleth. Nor is one’s own emotions.” Sothis’s gaze wanders off in the direction of Edelgard’s cold trail. “That girl, though she may not realize it herself, holds feelings for you.”
A sip on his tea nearly results in him choking. “She does?” A thin dribble of brown seeps from his lips and he hastily raises a hand to wipe at it.
“Of course.” A napkin is pressed to his chin, held by Sothis’s gentle hands. “She ran off in a hurry because her face was too red to bear. She was embarrassed but she was also greatly pleased by your sincerity.”
“I see…I feel that’s a bit troubling.”
Sothis blinks at him, taking the napkin away from his face. “Do you understand then?”
“Understand what?”
“You can’t continue to treat her like she’s special.” Sothis shakes her head. “If you have feelings for her, you should say them. If you don’t, you should take action and turn her down. You can’t keep beating around the bush like this. If you do, you may very well find yourself on the end of her blade someday.”
He looks at her. “Was that what your dramatics was for? To make sure I keep my distance from her?”
“Yes and no.” The girl with dragon’s eyes picks up Edelgard’s abandoned teacup. She inspects it, lifting it up to the sun and then peers at its contents. He marvels at how she can pick up a dish and yet keep the table cloth beneath her free of wrinkles. “I have my reasons. For one, it’s fun to mess with you-“
An eye twitches. Sothis spares him only an amused glance before she continues on.
“-but for another, I don’t like seeing you treat her like that.” Sothis rolls her shoulders, that air of calm composure circling her yet again. “Call it jealousy or call it intuition, I don’t care. But remember: a teacher who gets close to their students will find themselves blinded to their feelings. It’s a fact of life.”
Byleth eyes her. The girl, however, refuses to look at him, staring inside the beautiful porcelain teacup.
“You sound like you know this from experience.”
Sothis jumps, whirling around to glare at him. “T-That’s impossible!” She seems to frown at the tremble in her voice, correcting herself with a glower. “Downright impossible! How I could possibly know what that’s like? Are you kidding me? I lost my memories, remember? It’s not possible for me to know what it’s like to be a t-teacher. O-or a student, for that matter!”
He raises up his hands. “Calm down, Sothis. I meant no ill will from my words.”
“No I suppose you didn't.” Sothis sets down Edelgard’s abandoned cup. Her fingers linger on the handle, reluctantly letting go. Sothis twists her body to face Byleth, her expression unreadable. “You, the goody two-shoes professor who lets his favoritism get the best of him. You, who looks at your students and wants to see them grow into their best potential. You, one of the closest people to the future Adrestian Empire Empress and you, the only one in this gods-forsaken world who can see me. You…it’s you who can’t understand things the most.”
Byleth frowns. “You talk as if I can’t read a room.”
Her head tilts to the side. “What am I to do with you?” She clicks her tongue and Byleth feels as if he’s being scolded. Sothis reaches out her hands, cupping them around his fingers on his teacup. Her gaze meets his, holding it with that cold air of hers. “Listen Byleth. Call me jealous, call me stubborn, call me stupid and ignorant…I don’t care. All that matters to me is your safety and yours alone. I want to protect you like you want to protect your students. So, when I say be careful of treating that woman specially, I mean it.”
The green in her eyes sparkles under the light of the sun. There’s something saddeningly sincere about the way her fingers brush against his and the way her green hair blows in the wind. Byleth finds himself caught up in her face, finds himself unable to resist the way she’s trying to speak something she cannot.
Knowing taints Sothis’s gaze and the girl pulls back. Byleth watches her with furrowed eyebrows as she turns her back to him, arms clasped behind her.
“I know what I say doesn’t make sense to you. And I’m sorry that it won’t. But trust me. That lady…that beautiful empress-to-be with pretty eyes and a smile that can light up the world…don’t let her hurt you, alright? I don’t want her to hurt you.”
He gives her a peculiar look, sipping from his teacup and running it dry. “Sothis,” he says after a moment of contemplation, “thank you.”
The girl stiffens but she does not look back.
A bit puzzled, he continues his train of thought. “You care about me enough to worry. Even if you don’t know who you are, even if you have other things to think about, you still try and give me advice like this. It makes me feel important somehow. Special, even. And, while it’s embarrassing to admit this out loud, I like that feeling. So, thank you, Sothis. Thank you for looking out for me.”
Silence fills the air. Byleth stares at Sothis’s backside, his nerves pricking at him. Had he said something wrong? Had he been out of line? With Sothis, it was sometimes hard to tell what moved her, what aggravated her and what made her feel the way she did. He was close to her, yes, but at times like this it felt as if he was too distant from understanding her.
Still, even a heartfelt response such as his was bound to draw out some form of expression.
Yet, the way Sothis turns around to stare at him sends his heart sinking. “Hmmm? What are you thanking me for?”
He blinks. Ah…she wasn’t listening…
“It’s time for lunch,” the girl says, skipping forward to his side. “You had an appointment with Bernadetta, remember?”
Byleth nods, rising from his seat and collecting the various tableware into his arms. Sothis follows in his stead, holding up Edelgard’s abandoned teacup. It stays in her hands until Ashe happens to pass by. The boy turns pale and screams in fear, shrieking “Ghosts! There’s ghosts!” as he flees the scene without a hint of rationalism to follow him. Amused, Sothis tosses her teacup into Byleth's care.
“I forgot other people can’t see you sometimes,” Byleth says with a sigh.
“A pity,” Sothis agrees. “Though I rather enjoy the pleasure of making people think you’re haunted.”
He scowls. “Sothis.”
“Kidding, kidding!”
The girl moves forward. He sticks alongside her, his pace matching hers. His hand bumps hers in doing so, feeling no sensation other than a phantom tingling of warmth against his skin.
“Thanks, Byleth. It means a lot to me.”
A fine whisper settles in his ears. Perplexed, he turns his attention to his illusory companion. Her face is turned away from him, facial features obscured. He smiles despite himself, something warm fluttering in his heart as they depart.