Chapter Text
Byleth was still not used to the underground place beneath the monastery. Visiting Abyss was a little weird for her, but if she wanted to exchange a word with the Ashen Wolves, she needed to get rid of her discomfort.
While she was passing next to the Abyss's library, a noise reached her ears. Someone was inside. Expecting Constance or some other mage, she entered the room. For a moment she couldn't locate the source of the sound until her gaze stopped at a book lying at the bottom of the stairs. She raised her head and her eyes met with the little panicking ones of Claude von Riegan. The leader of the house she was teaching was standing on the higher floor, carrying a bunch of thick books.
"Haha… caught." He laughed awkwardly.
"Are regular students allowed to be here?" Byleth crossed arms over her chest.
Claude started moving towards her, carefully keeping the books in his arms.
"I dunno. Probably not. But you won’t report me, right, Teach?" He winked at her.
Byleth only hummed in response. It wasn’t something worthy of reporting.
"What are you looking for?" she asked after he’d approached.
"Nothing specific, but I can't deny that most of my picks are about poisons." Claude was satisfied with that. "However, they have all kinds of books here. From spells of black magic and unknown history, through romances to silly ones - like this one!" He moved the books to one hand, balancing them on his leg to carry the weight. Then he presented the cover of the volume on the top of the stack.
"'The pranksty book of pranks'?" Byleth read aloud, frowning.
"Unbelievable that someone has made a book like this, right? I can't wait to check it out." Claude seemed to be proud of his find.
Byleth sent him an unamused gaze.
"And bully Lorenz with what you'll find here?"
The student gasped theatrically.
"'Bully' is a strong word for what I'm doing. I'm just... teasing him. Hoping he will loosen up his noble ass." Claude sent the professor a charming smile.
Byleth sighed and focused on the volume again. She was a little curious as well about which pranks were worthy of wasting expensive paper and making a book.
Claude must have noticed her gaze because he corrected the book in his hand and slowly opened it with his thumb.
"Let's see what we have here…"
What happened next was so quick, Byleth had a problem recalling it later. First, there was a maniacal laugh that could bring nightmares to even the toughest.
Then there was a scream:
"GROW UP ALREADY!"
Claude disappeared behind the cloud of gray smoke. She heard his short yelp and the noise of books dropping onto the floor.
"Claude?!" Byleth tried to find him, but the smoke was impenetrable.
Coughing answered her. The cough didn't seem to be Claude's. It was someone with a deeper, older voice.
Byleth carefully drew her dagger and waited.
The smoke finally started falling down. The professor after a minute could see the silhouette of someone laying on the ground. It was certain it wasn't Claude.
After another few seconds, she saw the details of that person. It was a man, about thirty years old. He had dark brown, a little waved hair, which was almost reaching his shoulders. He also had a matching medium-length beard. Long eyelashes, green eyes, a straight nose, and slightly exposed lips made a perfect composition on his face. The only thing that didn't fit his handsome appearance was his obvious confusion.
Byleth used his distraction to her advantage and she pointed a dagger at him.
"Who are you? Where is Claude?" she asked in a menacing tone.
The man looked at her, shocked.
"What?" His voice was deep, fitting his age, but there was something weirdly familiar in it. After using it, the man seemed to startle himself. "What happened to me?!" He raised himself up to a sitting position and there was a noise of tearing fabric. That made Byleth notice that the man was wearing Claude's clothes. The coat was stretched by a wide, muscular body. The shirt underneath it couldn't handle the pressure of the muscular body. It had ripped itself exactly in the middle of the front side, exposing hairy skin of the chest. Byleth felt a sudden warmness on her face seeing this.
"My shirt!" The stranger started investigating his body. "What is going on?!"
Byleth looked at his face. These green eyes… she knew them.
"Claude?" she asked hesitantly.
The man gulped, staring at her with a scared gaze.
"It's me. But you hadn't recognized me, right?" He seemed to be afraid of asking. "How do I look, Teach?"
Byleth hesitated. She analyzed the appearance of the man knowing that he was her student. She found more similarities. The same eyes. The same skin tone. The same hair color. It was obviously Claude and she couldn't believe she hadn't realized it earlier.
"Like yourself," she finally said. "But older."
"Oh man… How much older?"
"About… ten years at least." Byleth wasn't sure.
Claude groaned and scratched his chin, now covered with short hair. He immediately retracted his hand like he touched something nasty.
"Uh, a beard?" he said with a tone of disgust.
"I think it suits you," commented Byleth with little thinking.
With a surprise, she saw Claude's cheeks becoming red. It seemed her words took him off guard. However, after a moment he winked at her.
"Is that so? In that case, I’ll keep it." After saying this, his face became more serious. "Anyway…. what happened here?" His hand waved, pointing at his body.
"A curse?" suggested Byleth.
"Or a blessing" she added in her mind, trying to keep her eyes away from his exposed chest.
Claude placed his hand on his forehead and sighed.
"That's what I thought. The words we heard after I opened the book sounded like a curse."
"So, black magic." Byleth crossed arms over her chest. "We need to consult with someone who has better knowledge about it. And someone who knows about this library," she ended suggestively.
Claude smirked at her.
"I think I know who you mean." He looked at the ground and pointed at something with his head. "Aaand... we should take it with us to investigate, right?"
"The pranksty book of pranks" was lying on the ground between the books about poisons. It looked innocent and harmless, but Byleth shivered after remembering the crazy laughter from earlier.
"Yes, but don't touch it directly." She reached for her coat to wrap the book, but Claude stopped her.
"Wait, Teach. This shirt is now a rag anyway. I can sacrifice it without regret."
Before she could answer, Claude took off his coat and the ruined shirt. It revealed that his body was… in good shape. His chest was wide and covered with dark hair. His arms looked strong but agile. His core was muscular, but not enough to look totally hard. Right above his trousers, there was a path of hair, called by some people "a happy trail".
Byleth again felt a weird warmness on her face. She turned around from Claude to calm herself down.
"Oh… Sorry, Teach. You didn't seem like someone who would be bothered by a naked chest." He seemed to be amused.
"Because I'm not." Byleth realized her actions denied words. She cleared her throat. "At least not by everyone's."
Claude hummed, interested. Something in this vibrating, deep noise was attractive to her.
"In that case, I'm honored," he said in a teasing tone.
Byleth cut out the topic.
"Are you dressed now?" she asked instead.
"As much as it's possible with what I have - yes."
Byleth faced him slowly, not sure what to expect.
Claude was again wearing his characteristic coat, but this time he lacked the yellow shirt underneath. The hairy, wide chest was fully exposed nearly to his navel and the stretched fabric at his waist highlighted the manly silhouette.
"Easy there, Teach! You will eat me with your gaze." Claude laughed a little nervously. Byleth noticed a pink blush on his face. He was as embarrassed as her at that moment. "Like what you're seeing?" he asked teasingly while winking at her.
Byleth's face once again became hot. She didn't know how to react to that.
"Yes," she said finally. Seeing Claude's eyes becoming wider, she added: "A little." She turned her gaze from his face and noticed the book covered by the ripped shirt in his hands. "Shall we go?"
Claude seemed to be too stunned to answer.
***
A characteristic high-pitched laugh filled the Women's Quarters.
"Constance, please. We asked you for discretion." Claude sighed and glanced at the closed door.
He and the blond-haired Ashen Wolf were sitting face-to-face on chairs by one of the desks inside the quarters. Byleth was observing them from one of the beds. Apart from them, the room was empty.
Constance silenced herself, but she was still grinning with amusement.
"Thinking that something so trivial could harm an heir of one of the greatest noble families… it makes me believe the return of my house is in my reach." she giggled while covering her mouth with her favorite fan. Her other hand was hovering above Claude's head, glowing from the magic she was using to investigate him. "That's what happens when outsiders mess with the Abyss. Books in that library possess unknown origins and stories." Constance moved her hand away. "You are lucky that this curse only gave you a few hairs on your face, nothing worse."
Hearing that, Byleth relaxed. She noticed Claude was relieved too.
"So I won’t join the choir invisible?" he asked in a hopeful voice.
Constance giggled.
"Well, at least not because of the curse. It wasn't prepared to harm you. In fact, it could be considered a joke." Her gaze moved to the cover of the book that caused the situation.
Claude sighed with relief.
"May I kindly ask you for your help to break it, Constance? I'll be grateful forever." He smiled at her gallantly.
The blond-haired girl laughed loudly while covering her mouth with the fan.
"An heir of Riegan having a debt of gratitude to me? It sounds like an excellent way to recover my nobility." But after these words, she became more serious. "However, I’m concerned it’s not that easy. Considering the name of the book, we might have to deal with a chain of curses."
Byleth frowned. That didn’t sound good. She looked at Claude’s face, which had become pale.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"That’s obvious. Breaking one curse could activate another one - which might not be as gentle as this one. For example, the next one could wound you or even exterminate you." Constance didn’t seem to be sorry. "The most preferred option at this moment is to wait for this curse to fade away."
Claude gulped.
"And how long would it take?"
"Not too long. Curses based on items last as long as the item has enough magic to keep them. A lot would depend on whether there were other victims beside you, but if not… you should be fine in a few days." Constance scratched her chin.
"A few days?!" Claude repeated in disbelief. "I can’t look like this for a few days!"
"That’s right. What about classes?" spoke Byleth.
The man frowned, looking at her.
"Teach, that’s really the last thing to be worried about…" he murmured.
"But the professor mentioned something important. We can’t let other people know about what happened to you. The cursing of someone with your status would expose Abyss to the world, which we must avoid at any cost." Constance sent him a serious gaze above her fan.
Claude sighed and scratched his beard. He seemed to still be uncomfortable touching it.
"Oh man… so I need to hide..." He murmured under his breath.
Byleth got lost in thought.
"He could pretend to be someone… with his age, he could be, for example, a mercenary..."
"Well, the Abyss is the place for people who want to hide from the world," said Constance. "I can arrange a room for you."
The professor sighed. Of course. There was an easier way.
"Something on your mind, Teach?" Claude looked at her.
Byleth shook her head.
"I just started making an overly complicated plan in my head. It included you pretending to be one of my old company from my mercenary times. Constance’s idea is much better." She explained.
Claude’s eyes brightened immediately. He stood up while staring at Byleth with a wide grin.
"This is… a brilliant idea, Teach!" he yelled in an excited voice that didn’t fit his appearance.
"Excuse me?" Constance seemed to be confused.
Byleth wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t sure what was going on herself.
"You know me, Teach. I wouldn’t be able to stay in place for so long, right?" Claude kept smiling. "So, let’s arrange it somehow so I can go outside. I might even go to classes." He accented the last words in a suggestive tone.
The professor thought about it. She wanted him to pass the certification for a Wyvern Rider this month, which might be impossible if he missed lessons.
"Okay," she decided. "But you’ll need a convincing fake identity."
"I can’t believe it." Constance shook her head. "Is this even a time to mess around? We're dealing with a curse!"
"But you said it’s harmless." Claude smirked at her. "Aren't you sure of your words, Constance?" he asked in a sweet tone.
The blond-haired girl snorted and waved her fan at her face.
"Obviously, I’m certain. I, Constance von Nuvelle, am never wrong." She made a brief pause. "If you don’t require my help, that’s your decision. Just keep the existence of Abyss a secret." She seemed to be a little resentful.
"Actually, we might need your help." Claude folded his hands pleadingly. "Can you find some clothes for me? I can’t leave Abyss wearing my own."
Constance looked at him, shocked.
"You ask me to provide manly clothes? Like some kind of servant?" she asked in disbelief.
"I’ll be grateful." Claude smiled widely.
The girl thought about it for a moment and finally sighed and stood up.
"I will look for something in Balthus's wardrobe. But I don't promise it will be washed." As she said it, she moved towards the door.
"One more thing. Do you have a mirror? I technically haven’t seen myself." Claude scratched the back of his head.
"Naturally. How otherwise I would do my world-class makeup?" Constance opened a drawer of the closet next to the door and took out a small mirror. After passing it, she left the room.
Byleth noticed Claude’s hands a little shaking before he placed the mirror in front of his face.
"Oh wow…" He murmured while turning his head to examine it from all sides. "This is so weird."
The professor only nodded. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to suddenly see an unknown face in the mirror.
The man continued:
"Like… seeing your uncle for the first time or something like that. Damn, why am I so similar to my old man? But also… not bad, I guess?" He looked at Byleth curiously with a slightly embarrassed expression.
The woman cleared her throat.
"Not bad, indeed." She sent him an encouraging smile.
Claude seeing this, turned his face from her like he wanted to hide his reaction. He suddenly stood up.
"A… anyway! Have you noticed that my shirt ripped itself, but my trousers still fit?" He made a few steps and crossed his hands over his chest. It was a sudden change of subject, but Byleth didn’t complain. "I… I mean, I know they’re loose, but shouldn’t they be at least too short? Man, does it mean I won’t grow anymore?" He sounded a little disappointed.
"I think it’s fine. You’re taller than me anyway," she answered with little thought.
Claude’s body tensed up. He slowly turned himself towards her. After seeing his red face, she realized how her words could be interpreted. Her cheeks became warm.
"Oh my, Teach. Does that mean you think I am a good pair for you?" Claude grinned at her teasingly.
The professor looked away, embarrassed. She heard him approaching her and crouching down in front of her. When she moved her eyes towards him, they were on the same height as his.
"That’s great," Claude said softly while smiling at her. "Because I’m thinking the same."
Byleth was stunned for a moment. She moved her gaze from his green irises to his bearded face to his exposed, hairy chest. Then she paid attention to his smile again. It seemed sincere.
Claude’s hand laid on her right shoulder.
"So... don’t grow up anymore, okay, Teach?" He winked at her.
The tension of the moment disappeared, and Byleth for some reason was upset by it. Maybe his looks were attractive to her, but it was still the Claude she knew. Young and eager to joke around.
Before she answered somehow, Constance had returned to the room, holding a bunch of clothes.
"I’ve chosen the ones that didn’t stink too much. You really owe me a great debt of gratitude," she said with disgust in her voice.
***
Byleth frowned, seeing how weirdly Claude was walking by her side in his new clothes.
"I’ll borrow some trousers from my father for you," she said. "At least he is ten centimeters taller than you, not twenty."
Claude laughed in response.
"I don't know if it will make a big difference but thanks, I guess," he winked at her.
The professor peeked in his direction and looked away with warmth on her face. The man noticed her behavior.
"Hey, it’s not my fault that Balthus loves to show his muscles so much!" Claude moved his hand over a linen shirt which had a giant cleavage, reaching nearly his navel.
They were moving out of Abyss after Constance said that the other Wolves would notice her prolonged disappearance. Fortunately, they met no one familiar while leaving. Only some people peeked at Claude who didn’t move comfortably in his too long trousers.
After some time of walking, they finally saw daylight in the breach in the wall.
"We need to quickly sneak to my room," said Byleth. She saw a smirk on Claude’s face, so she added: "To establish the details of your fake identity."
"‘Establish details’, right..." He sounded teasing, but she didn’t want to keep the topic.
Instead, she looked through the hole.
"The coast is clear. Let’s go."
They moved slower than she wanted, but no one noticed them. Unless not until they turned towards Byleth’s room.
"There you are, professor!" A cheerful voice called, and Byleth felt her blood freeze.
Of all people, only Seteth would be worse than Hilda. The professor looked at the pink-haired girl, who had already started carefully investigating Claude’s appearance. "And who is this?" The young noble asked the inevitable question.
"Good afternoon, Hilda. A colleague from my mercenary times is visiting me." Byleth tried to keep it simple.
Hilda hummed interestedly while staring at Claude.
Byleth knew he was good at improvisation. She hoped this talent would help them at that moment.
Claude smirked and bowed carelessly.
"Nice to meet you, miss. My name is…" He made a short pause. "...Khalid."