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"It is my duty to be cautious, understand. If you were discovered to be… untrustworthy, it would be the faithful who are hurt the most."
His eyes pierced Byleth in a way which no one else's ever had. Green, narrow, and searing , they seemed to see right through the skin and into the bone of every sight they alighted upon.
"In pursuing your trustworthiness, I merely wish to ask you a few questions."
Byleth's lip twitched at the corner in a movement very nearly like a smile. "Is this your way of saying 'tell me about yourself', Seteth?"
Seteth merely huffed.
His expressions were always so subtle. Byleth had wondered if the two of them were hewn from the same cloth, both of them so sparing with their emotions.
But no. Even Seteth's subtle expressions were filled with more emotion than Byleth thought could be experienced by a single man. And what lovely expressions they were. Byleth squashed the recurring thought: Goddess, I wish to see more of them.
Seteth continued, "I suppose you could interpret it as such, loathe as I am to encourage it."
That had almost sounded like flirting. Surely, he hadn't noticed the mixed connotations. Byleth's heart, though, didn't seem to care, fluttering almost painfully in it's ribbed cage.
"You are the child of Jeralt, yes?" Seteth asked, and his eyes were no longer searing into Byleth, flicking down to a notebook.
Was he going to take notes?
Byleth liked the idea of being important enough for such a task. Important enough to him , that is. "That's what I hear."
Even Seteth's frustrated face was subtle compared to that of the students. "That is not a very confident answer. I hope you are treating this with the seriousness it deserves, Byleth."
Byleth . The name sounded much more suiting when spoken from his tongue. "I am," Byleth merely said, voice quiet, "I fear I have… little to contribute in regards to my past."
Seteth raised an eyebrow. "Little to contribute? That does not give me confidence. You must know something of your past. You did not spontaneously come into existence in Remire village."
If Seteth heard Byleth's muttered, "Sometimes it feels like I did," he did not acknowledge it.
"You must know--- When did you become a mercenary?"
The entreating, fierce look Seteth sent Byleth at this question sent Byleth reeling. In truth, they didn't know. With Jeralt, the years had passed in an uncountable haze. (With Jeralt's secretiveness, it was likely this was by design.) Yet, leaving Seteth without an answer seemed unthinkable. Not when he was looking at them like that .
Byleth spat out the first number that came to mind with a confidence worthy of the Ashen Demon. "Ten years ago, I think."
"Unlikely." Byleth's heart fell. "What with how young you appear. Yet…" Byleth straightened under Seteth's considering eyes, dreading the question that they knew was coming next. "Byleth, what is your age?"
A breath passed between them. "I don't know that one," Byleth said with a bitter sort of laughing sound.
Seteth's expression crumbled, and this time there was nothing subtle about it. He murmured, more to himself than to Byleth, "What was Jeralt thinking to raise you like this?"
Byleth was entirely unused to people caring for them. Aside from Jeralt, that is. Even though Seteth's care seemed… utterly professional, in a way which speared Byleth's heart, it was still more than Byleth was accustomed to. It was still so….
Intoxicating.
It was only when Seteth cleared his throat that Byleth even considered that they might have been staring at him. (Although it was likely their own motionlessness that would have unsettled Seteth, they would decide upon later reflection. Always lacking.)
"As it is apparent that further questioning you about your past would be fruitless, I will allow you to get back to your duties, Professor," Seteth said as he stood.
Back to "professor," then. If Byleth were one to emote, a sigh might have escaped their lips. As it was, they merely stood.
And though they wished to offer Seteth some solace, or some offer of friendship, or any reason to stay under the beam of those eyes for even a moment longer---
Byleth said nothing. Nodded politely. And left, not noticing the way those eyes swept over them as they disappeared into the hall.