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While Lysithea’s friends in the Golden Deer picked out some nice, personal gifts that suited her interests, her more casual acquaintances from the Black Eagles and Blue Lions had defaulted to giving her several flavours of cake. Eating them all before they went stale was a job for more than one person, even if she consumed large amounts of sugar to support her dual Crests and frequent magical exertions on a regular basis.
“Would you care for some time together, Edelgard?” Lysithea asked. Edelgard seemed to redden at the thought, or perhaps Lysithea was getting better at seeing through her royal mask. She knew a lot of her hesitation was because of Claude’s protectiveness, and decided he could live with them having a date on her birthday.
“Come on, Edie! I’ve got so many cakes to get through, I need your help!” Lysithea urged. That got Edelgard moving, still looking rather flustered. She got Edelgard sitting down at the table, with the door shut and Lysithea perching opposite her, smiling. Something about Edelgard’s state of embarrassment felt off to her, but she cut off some slices of cake for them both and started eating. Edelgard followed suit, her eyes locked on Lysithea.
“You like what you see? Hilda helped me out with my appearance. Told her nothing too fancy, since I already had received two cakes, you know,” Lysithea remarked. Edelgard nodded, not quite responding.
“You OK, Edie? It’s Beth we have to worry about tomorrow, not you!” Lysithea said.
“Yeah… I’m still anxious, though,” Edelgard muttered.
“Why should we be? No fighting! Just drinking in the splendour of a forbidden locale as we watch our professor listen to the goddess! And besides, today’s my birthday! I wouldn’t want to see my girlfriend all mopey like that, so we’re going to get that face lit up,” Lysithea exclaimed. Edelgard gave a genuine laugh amidst her strained smile.
“I guess I should be enjoying this. After all, this is…” Edelgard started, before stopping herself. As close as the pair were, Lysithea did not know this last secret of hers.
“...Are you scared about dying? Should I be too?” Lysithea asked.
“No, nothing like that, it’s…” Edelgard started. Even lying about it being nothing was beyond her.
“Edie?” Lysithea asked, her hand reaching forward.
“I’M THE FLAME EMPEROR!” Edelgard cried out. Lysithea’s hand twitched, but it did not immediately withdraw.
“That’s… that’s not the masked guy, right?” Lysithea asked. Edelgard nodded.
“The mages who tortured us have their claws deep in Adrestia. They had my ill father under their control because of what they did to me and my family. They own a sizable majority of Adrestia’s noble houses, and if I wasn’t so important to them as the bearer of the Crest of Flames, they’d have me under their control more directly. But they wanted me in Garreg Mach. They wanted me to have loose reins so Rhea wouldn’t catch on. And I want them cut,” Edelgard explained.
“Edie…” Lysithea started.
“The mages want Rhea taken down. Something about revenge. And Rhea’s certainly proven to be an unreliable person ill suited to being responsible with a title like Archbishop. I want a society where corrupted nobles can be replaced by the best ones for the job. I want Rhea exposed as the vindictive woman she is. And once that is done, when the mages are distracted by their victory… I want them surrounded by people loyal to my ideals. People ready to remove them ,” Edelgard said. Lysithea considered her tear-streaked face.
“...Who else do you have to count on?” Lysithea asked.
“Hubert. That’s the only other person who knows I’m the Flame Emperor. I want Beth to take my side, but who knows how many of the Black Eagles and Golden Deer will follow me,” Edelgard said. Lysithea stood up, heading around the table, and Edelgard looked down, fearful of her girlfriend’s reaction. Lysithea pulled her face back up and pushed a kiss right onto her lips. When she withdrew, Edelgard was back to blushing.
“I hate those people for what they did to me and my family. I hate that they’re allowed to have allies like you. I wish you weren’t their ally, Edie… but I suppose if you had made enemies of them, you would not be standing here as my girlfriend,” Lysithea said. Edelgard couldn’t believe her ears. Lysithea considering taking her side was better than she had ever hoped.
“Lysithea…” Edelgard mumbled.
“So what do you have on them?” Lysithea asked.
“When I established myself as Empress of Adrestia, with Beth overseeing the matter to make it official, they weren’t informed. Counts Bergliez and Hevring have taken Linhardt’s capture to heart and have committed to me Adrestia’s army,” Edelgard said. Lysithea’s grin spread across her face.
“Then we have what we need. We will see Adrestia restored to its former glory. And I will fight by your side. Even if it means fighting my classmates,” Lysithea assured her.
“You’d do that… for me?” Edelgard asked.
“What part of ‘I love you’ do I need to go over again? Apart from the fact you’re not capable of stabbing those torturous bastards right now, everything you’ve told me about your ideals has only reinforced my admiration of you. I would be honoured to serve you, Empress. And I would be thrilled if you would let me serve you as Empress consort,” Lysithea said. Edelgard’s imagination went into overdrive, and Lysithea cooled her down by feeding her some of Mercedes’s cake.
“I would accept nothing less of you than Empress regnant. We shall rule together, Lysithea. Not me at the helm and you as my support, but both of us advancing the new Fodlan,” Edelgard said. Lysithea’s eye twinkled.
“I’ll be proud of that. But first, let’s take a chunk out of Bernadetta’s cake. I’ve heard great things about it from Ignatz,” Lysithea said, heading over to cut a pair of slices for an unorthodox cheer.
“For Adrestia!” they called.