Chapter Text
The Sword of the Creator changed everything, or so Edelgard wanted Hubert to believe.
Hubert had attempted to understand her motivations, but she had found it difficult to articulate them logically. Lady, Princess, Heir Apparent, her Highness; a whirlwind of titles and false kindness had marked her days. All her life she had never been Edelgard, unless she desired to court betrayal and heartbreak.
Only one had extended a hand in disinterested friendship despite his noble birth. The creatures who had stolen her family had wiped her memories of him, among their other wicked crimes. A dagger and an oath were his last gifts to her, and she would always treasure them.
Edelgard had accepted that she would walk her path alone when she met Byleth in the shadows of Remire. The man, her future teacher, had laid his eyes on her and had seen through her defences. He had seen Edelgard.
It could have been a fancy of the moment born from her longing for true companionship. She had hardened herself, told herself that her teacher would soon appeal to the future Emperor and not Edelgard anymore.
He didn't. Not as he lectured her class, not as he led them in battle, not as he volunteered his leisure time for their betterment. She was Edelgard to him. Just Edelgard.
Her burgeoning fascination grew and became something else, a dreadful hope she didn't have the courage to name. Edelgard was fond of Hubert and trusted him greatly, but he would never allow himself to be her equal. Her teacher, however- her teacher was different. He was special; serious, with a will of steel, open to ideas outside of the hegemony of the fake goddess, and untouched by the petty aspects of this corrupted world. Decadence thrived among nobles, and commoners weren't exempt from it either. To meet somebody with a disposition similar to hers-
His ability to wield the Sword of the Creator gave her the perfect reason to bring him to her side without compromising herself for dangerously fickle emotions.
And… If something more flourished between them, nobody would dare to critique their relationship.
That was why it was imperative to sway his allegiance to her as soon as possible. Hubert had procured a list of the patrols conducted in the dormitory, and her teacher was the one tasked to ensure the safety of the students that night. Thus, she waited by the door, ears straining to catch the sound of footsteps on the carpet. She could feel the hands of the clock turning within her.
Eventually, Edelgard heard the faint pattering of boots nearing her room. Emotion seized her heart and broke her voice as she feigned nightmares plaguing her sleep. Hopefully, her family would forgive her for using their memory in this way.
Knocks sounded at her door, and then her teacher stood before her, a trace of concern colouring his normally unperturbed expression.
"Professor..." Edelgard greeted him, throat suddenly dry. Perhaps it was the intimacy darkness brought upon them, but now she understood why many romantic poems embroidered their stanzas with pounding hearts. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm night crawling," her teacher stated without losing a beat.
Akin to a door rudely shut in her face, Edelgard's thoughts halted abruptly. She observed his expression for anything that suggested her teacher had used the wrong words in ignorance.
He couldn't have meant-
"My teacher, what... Does that mean?" Edelgard heard herself say as the silence between them stretched uncomfortably. She knew perfectly what that meant. "Please, don't scare me like that."
He shrugged, and only then the suggestion of a smirk emerged on his face. Edelgard immediately suppressed the righteous anger blooming in her chest.
This man...!
He was- he was making fun of her like she was a silly little girl who couldn't possibly know how the world spun. He was making fun of her the same way the creature wearing her uncle's face did.
Despite her turbulent mood, Edelgard flawlessly followed the speech she had practised. She observed her teacher's eyes glinting as she rent open wounds that had never healed, and her heart sank. She had seen the same light in the eyes of nobles who believed they had acquired information they could use against her.
To think that, a few minutes prior, she was dreaming of a future she would have shared with him at her side...
"I shared more than I intended to. I suppose there's something in the air tonight," Edelgard concluded her tale under his attentive stare. "I've never told anyone about my past before. Please… Forget I said anything. Sleep well, my teacher."
Edelgard waited for him to reach out and reciprocate the vulnerability she had shared. All she got was a wish to get a good night's rest. Her teacher left, and Edelgard closed the door behind her by leaning on it.
She allowed herself to shudder after the sound of his footsteps vanished. Disappointment laced her every thought. A professor who used his authority to night crawl in the dormitory where his students slept was the exact opposite type of person Edelgard believed her teacher to be. It was a behaviour more akin to-
Edelgard banished the horrendous thought. Her judgment couldn't have erred this much. Obviously, her teacher's encompassing talents didn't include the art of joking. Her japes would quieten her classmates into uncomfortable silence too; this was a similar situation.
It had to be.