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Edelgard stared at the strawberries. Juicy, red, delicate little things. Wonderfully ripe fruit and so good she'd almost rather eat them as is. The knife she held was of the finest as was par course for palace equipment: perfectly beveled, sharpened steel.
" 'No axes,' he says. Hmph, I insist it would go much smoother if I was allowed to cut them with an axe."
Glancing at Byleth, preoccupied with mixing flour for dough, Edelgard's eyes lingered on his face. His eyes fixed on the lump in front of him that began to resemble dough. The soft curl ghosting his lips made her mirror the sentiment. Soft little smiles like this out of him made her heart flutter. He never smiled for the first weeks that she knew him. The him of today, though not the most conventionally expressive, was a tapestry for her. A twitch here, an upturn of the corner of the eyes there, and the slight parting of his mouth.
Byleth sensed staring and looked over at her and returned her gaze. Edelgard felt herself fluster after a few moments and turned away. Despite this, her mind still lingered on him. Thinking about things like how soft and satisfying his hair was to stroke or the thought of cuddling and enjoying the little touches here, a few whispers of sweet nothings, and-
Edelgard yelped at the sensation of something impacting her behind. She immediately turned around and pinned her eyes on her other half dusting off some flour from his hands standing two steps away. Her narrows narrowed at him.
"You're cute when you make that sound."
Edelgard pinched the bridge of her nose before huffing out. She felt her face burn and puffed her cheeks. The Emperor held out her arms. Byleth took her cue and lifted her so she could look down on him before speaking. She spoke using her Emperor tone.
"Are you trying to anger your Emperor?"
"No, but you do like being teased."
"You overstep your boundaries."
"Then would my lovely wife like a kiss to make up for my transgression? Or perhaps some attention in the bedroom?"
"Jus-Just the kiss will be fine."
The teasing just made her burn up. It was just so utterly unfair that he had to be such a charmer with that smile and incessant with the teasing. After a lingering kiss the implication of what had happened mused her features.
"You left a handprint didn't you?"
The man tilted his head and took a quick glance over her shoulder.
"I did."
Edelgard drew an exaggerated breath. She loved him sure. He was also the devil incarnated into something far too charming and going to be the end of her and the Empire.
After patting herself off they finished cooking the strudels and gathered the necessary items for tea. Outside, the late morning sun felt intense but protected by it from the gazebo roof the warmth felt pleasant. Kisses from the wind wafted through further easing the heat. Edelgard looked at the plate of her and her belovèd's attempt at strudels.
The two's misadventures in the kitchen didn't quite result in recognizable strudels. Some of the dough had ripped when Edelgard tried to roll it out paperthin. Byleth's attempts were better, but his pastries wildly varied in size and shape. The two had overfilled and underfilled the sweets. Some strudels had a bloated top or even broke when they were transferred to a plate. Others were just cooked dough with a small dollop of strawberry hidden beneath the folds of pastry skin.
"Hey El"
Edelgard turned to take in his ocean blue eyes.
"Sorry about yesterday. I know it's asking to let go of some of the same power that's creating a new Fódlan."
"Apology accepted. I know we both got a little heated discussing restricting the powers of my position when that was one of the goals of the traitors."
Edelgard reached for a lumpy strudel and dipped an end into the filling of one of the overfilled ones.
"I've actually been talking to Hubert about a modified version of your suggestion."
She took a bite and savored the play between the crisp, lightly sweet and buttery skin and the refreshing taste of the strawberries.
Byleth's eyes lit up.
"I think there is merit to your suggestion. There's no hard guarantee of a future ruler's benevolence. Divesting the title of some privileges will be necessary for continued peace. Now enough of that on a dat off. Since we're here, how about a little game?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Hide and seek. Back when my family was still intact, we all used to play in these same gardens. I'll have you know I was quite skilled at hiding."
"Okay. I'll count to 100 and come look for you."
Byleth turned around and covered his eyes and counted at a measured pace. He heard the shuffle of her boots as she ran when he began his count.
"...98, 99, 100. Alright come out, come out wherever you are!"
Byleth felt a spell of whimsy at saying the last line. He never played games like this as a child and it felt exciting to do it for the first time with someone else. Mentally he went over the garden grounds.
The perimeter alone would take about 50 minutes to walk around. The hedge maze, in accordance to its namesake would be a good candidate, if Byleth remained on level ground. If he could get a good vantage point, Edelgard's bone white hair would stand out immediately. Edelgard had definitely thought of this.
Byleth stared at the plate of pastries as he brought his hand to his chin in deep thought.
Yes that would be something she'd do, he thought. The great aspen tree in the north eastern part of the gardens. It wasn't necessarily a good place to hide behind but she could climb up into its branches. The elevation would make keeping an eye on him easier as well.
Edelgard ran along the cobble path. As soon as she began walking on grass she slowed. It wouldn't do to leave a trail behind. Edelgard looked at the short shadows cast by trees. Everything was perfect.
The midday Sun would be an ally. Casting little to no shadows, making signs less visible. She could also look for something to obscure her own tracks with the headstart she had. There wasn't much time knowing Byleth, but time enough to try something simple like musing grass with a stick.
Edelgard's lips curled in a wicked grin as she set out making her way towards the aspen tree she had in mind. She didn't take a direct route. Instead, she circled over to the rose bushes and carefully ran three circuits around them. She made sure to keep her strides equal to her walking strides and mused the prints lightly.
Byleth stared at the depressions in the grass just off the stone walkway. They weren't going towards the tree. He decided to follow them forty paces to get a general direction before turning back to get to the tree.
The tree loomed overhead. Smooth, white bark that would normally make this a risky climb barehanded for most people. His wife was not most people. At the base of the tree he looked around and saw some twigs and branches from the tree. Looking up he didn't see her.
Byleth launched himself at the trunk and briskly climbed up to the first branch. She isn't here, but she has been here. Byleth looked out to where the previous trail led. He saw rose bushes. Too easy. She knew I was going to come here. What would her plan be?
Byleth his head against the tree and thought in silence for a few minutes. Back to that trail it is. Misdirection or not she had been walking towards the rose bushes. Perhaps there'd be more clues.
Byleth frowned as he examined the signs around the bushes and then found the faint ones leading to the tree. Then he began a quick skim through other obvious spots. Every place had nothing. No signs, nothing. He wandered back one of the marbled fountains in the central square of the garden. Staring into the water Byleth's eyes widened for a fraction of a second.
Meanwhile a few dozen feet away Edelgard fought a giggle. She had been following him for nearly an hour. Her eyes stayed pinned on him but her breaths came in starts and stops as she allowed herself to chuckle. So far things were in her favor. She had been careful with her surroundings and distance giving him as little as possible to work with. Frankly, she was starting to get a little bored. I will give him another half hour before ending this game.
Byleth's turned around and began brisk jog all the way back to the gazebo. Edelgard's brows furrowed. Questions swam in her mind as she considered his baffling behavior.
What in the world are you doing?
"Hey El, care to share the rest of the pastries with me? I know you've been tailing me."
Edelgard sighed and strode out from behind some hedges.
"Perceptive as ever. How did you know?
"I didn't. I wasn't even sure until just now."
Edelgard's brow shot up to her hairline
"I had a theory about what was going on after searching and finding nothing. I ran back to see if I could hear something or not. Pretty sure I did but I couldn't be sure until you responded to this delicious bait."
"So it was a ruse."
She sighed. How so like him.
" I will not fall for such tricks again."
"You nearly had me. If you stayed hidden we'd likely have been at this for another toll of the bell."
"No, that would not have happened. Even I was getting bored of hiding from you."
Byleth smiled.
"Let's grab the board. We haven't played chess in awhile."
"I'd also like to play on a swing."
"Then we will."
The two hooked hands and walked off towards their next game. Laughter and hearts intertwined side by side as they enjoyed eachother's company for the rest of the day.