Chapter Text
It seemed like the mission Hubert left on would be like any other, promising to only be gone a week or two at most. It was only three days until he heard the frantic banging at their front door in the dead of night. He rushed to the door in a panic by its urgency, flinging it open. He was met with a strong burst of wind from the heavy rain outside, standing before him Jeritza carrying an injured Hubert in his arms with a fretful Mercedes next to him, her hands emitting the golden glow of healing magic. Their townhouse was much closer to the edge of the city compared to trying to get him to the capital, so it would only make sense to stop there to get him inside as quickly as possible. It was clear Hubert did not want that to be the option though, in his incoherent protests he didn't even recognize he was inside his own home yet as Jeritza wordless walked inside, his sister trying her best to explain everything to the distraught Ferdinand.
It wasn't a normal injury, she told him. They were ambushed while on their travels to the classified location. While they were victorious, Hubert wasn't able to completely dodge the thrust of a knife, slashing through his clothing and right under his rib cage. He was able to nearly eviscerate his foe from the close quarters, but within minutes it became clear the blade was coated in some sort of poison. Mercedes was one of the most proficient white magic users possibly in all of Fodlan, yet even she could not fully extract the venom that was now coursing through him. Thankfully Hubert had the state of mind to bring the weapon in question with them, Mercedes pulling it out of the satchel, the weapon wrapped up in a blanket.
“He told me to put this in his study to make sure it could be safely examined by a 'Ms. Schwarz', Professor and some of Hubert's agents are heading to the palace now to try and get into the contact with this woman, apparently she's an expert in the field of poisons and their cures. She lives in Hevring territory, though, so at the fastest it may take two days,” she explained, “I know several people here in the capital who may help, even if we can't cure it, we can at least make sure he is stable until she arrives,”
“Two days?” Ferdinand asked, fretfully looking over as he watched Jeritza lay him on the chaise in the sitting room by the fire. Hubert's face was flushed, his chest heaving, and no longer conscious. He felt tears begin to brim his eyes. If Mercedes wasn't there when that happened, he undoubtedly would be dead already. He's seen Hubert call an assassination attempt's bluff and intentionally drink poisoned tea knowing his resistance to it, yet whatever was done to him was different, and clearly more deadly.
“I'm very sorry, Ferdinand, I really wish I could do all this myself...” Mercedes said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
“No, no – please don't apologize, you're the only reason he's probably still here now. I should be thanking you...” he said, losing the battle of keeping his composure as tears rolled down his face.
“He is strong, he will live,” Jeritza said as if it were absolute, heading for the door already, “there may be others who followed, I will go to ensure their demise. For you, I will make them suffer greatly,” he said as he went out the door.
“Oh, Emile – ” Mercedes anxiously whispered as she watched him leave, knowing very well she couldn't follow. She turned to Ferdinand, still seeing tears roll down his face, stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him, “I won't leave until the doctors come to make sure he is cared for, I promise,”
Ferdinand hugged her back tightly, “th-thank you,” he sputtered out.
“Let us pray to the Goddess to give him the strength he needs to overcome,”
Ferdinand was going to reply in favor, until he heard a series of nonsensical mumbled from the sitting room, none of it making any sense until he finally managed to string together, “ab...solutely...not,”
Mercedes blinked a few times in surprise, before giggling, “see? If he can fight off the Goddess's blessings, he will absolutely get better,”
-
Mercedes kept her word and stayed there all night trying her best to give care to Hubert until the doctors were finally able to make it. Upon hearing the news herself, Edelgard came with them, gathering the best all of Enbarr had to offer. The two officials stood outside the sitting room as all of the doctors examined the unconscious Hubert, the exhausted Mercedes trying her best to answer all the questions in his stead. As they feared, however, none of them had any clue what kind of toxin was used on the blade, even examining the knife in question. The best they could do was give him medicine to help with any of the inflammation and pain, as well as some form of antivenom medicine in hopes it'd slow the progression just enough to help tide him over until the expert could make it.
“Messengers have been sent out for Ms. Schwarz, knowing her, she'll most likely cut through the gulf between Hevring and Enbarr to get here as fast as possible,” Edelgard explained.
“Is she a loyal servant to the Vestra family?” Ferdinand asked.
Edelgard paused, as if trying to choose her words carefully, “more to Hubert than the Vestra family. It may be a surprise meeting her,”
“A surprise? You know her?”
“I haven't seen her in several years, but yes. You'll see, if I say any more, Hubert may not be too pleased,” she said, staring at her ailing friend.
Later Byleth came over to fetch Mercedes for her brother, as well escort Edelgard back, helping Ferdinand carry Hubert upstairs so he could at least rest in peace in their bedroom.
“I apologize, Ferdinand, for not stopping the attack. If I could turn back time, it could have been prevented,”
Ferdinand gave her a weary smile, “please, Byleth, there's no need to apologize for not performing the impossible,” he said as he carefully pulled the blankets over Hubert's resting body. He has been coming in and out of consciousness, but now seemed to be completely out cold, possibly due to the pain medicine the doctors gave him.
It looked like she wanted to say something, but merely shrugged instead.
Edelgard stepped forward, “is there anything at all you need, Ferdinand? You look like you're about to fall over asleep yourself,” she asked.
“Oh, no, no,” he waved her off, though the mere mention of his haggard state did cause a wave of exhaustion to start crashing down upon him. He didn't sleep a wink at all last night and now it was well past noon.
“Don't worry about any of either of your official duties, I will see to having everything rescheduled and to delegate any immediate tasks accordingly. If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to send for us, no matter how small the request may seem,” Edelgard urged. She was clearly just as anxious over Hubert as he was, her eyes looking at Ferdinand only when she spoke, immediately locking back on the injured mage. She was quite masterful hiding her more extreme emotions, but the gloves she took off when she arrived hours ago were in tatters from her nervous twisting for the fabric throughout the morning.
“Get some sleep, your presence next to him will give him comfort,” Byleth instructed.
That was hardly a tall order to follow, Ferdinand trying his damnedest to not be rude and yawn before both of them, “I may just do that,”
The pair saw themselves out, leaving with Mercedes who was sleeping in their guest room while she waited. He waited until he heard the click of the door latch shutting before moving from his spot, sitting down on his side of the bed with a heavy sigh, holding his head in his hands, whatever strength he had in him seemingly evaporated. Now that he was alone with the knocked out man in bed next to him, the mask he made himself wear around the officials and friends slipped off, his lower lips quivering as he gritted his teeth to muffle whatever pained sob wretched his throat, his eyes squeezed shut as tears streamed down his face. What if whatever medicine they gave him wasn't enough? What if a storm hits, preventing this other doctor from cutting through the gulf and she's too late? There were so many ways this could all go so wrong and having absolutely no ability to help him was eating away at him from the inside. He wept for what he feared to be an inevitability, whatever breath he tried to take in coming out as a pained shudder.
Every fiber of his being felt so raw, so when he felt the faintest touch to a lock of hair that rested against his back, he let out a startled gasp. He spun around, seeing Hubert awake, but just barely. The hand that reached out fell to the bed, as if that was all the strength he could muster, croaking out a very quiet, “I'm sorry,”
Ferdinand desperately grasped his hand with both of his, leaning in, “no, don't – just – ” so many thoughts all trying to come out of his mouth at once, pausing for a moment, “please... please don't leave me, not yet, not like this,” he pleaded, “I don't know what I'd do without you,” tears began to streak down his face once more, his body trembling. What if this is the last time they speak? “I love you,” he needed to say.
He felt the tiniest squeeze from the hand he clung onto as if for his own dear life, “I... love you too,” he replied, his eyelids fluttering as he struggled to stay awake.
Hearing that brought great comfort, yet great pain as well, feeling as if he had to commit something to memory, “more than ever right now you need your rest, don't force yourself to stay awake for my sake,”
“Sleep too then,” he mumbled out.
Ferdinand gave a shaky smile, sniffling, “if that's what you want,” he said, slipping under the covers with him, trying his best to not make the bed move too much for fear of agitating his injury. It felt so strange lying next to him, yet being forced to keep his distance. The two always fell asleep close to each other, most mornings waking up holding one another in some way. He grasped the magic blackened hand once more now that he was under the covers, something that seemed to satisfy the barely awake Hubert before drifting back to sleep. Ferdinand couldn't drift off so easily, staring at him for what seemed like hours as anxiety burned a hole through his stomach. He eventually fell asleep, but only in the vaguest of senses, waking up with a start at even the tiniest noise made in the room from the house settling to Hubert making the smallest sound in his slumber.
He gave up on sleep after what felt like the fifth or sixth time he was jolted awake at nothing at all, feeling more exhausted than he did before he fell asleep. It seemed in the few hours of his attempt at rest, the news spread amongst their friends. First to arrive was the duo Caspar and Linhardt, who seemed to have been walking asleep with the far too energetic short friend dragging him up the stairs to see if he could be of any help with his vast knowledge of white magic. While Mercedes was amazing at healing magic, Linhardt's travels since the war and reading of such esoteric books put him at an advantage in terms of the unusual.
Ferdinand didn't exactly give the go ahead for Caspar to practically carry the mage up the stairs to try and cure Hubert, screaming out a sentence far too fast and frantic to be discerned, he just burst through the door once it was open, but he wasn't exactly going to say no either. He followed them upstairs, to which he found a still unconscious Hubert grimacing in his sleep as Caspar loudly pestered his friend to save him. Not much was accomplished except for nearly making Linhardt faint seeing the wound, but he still tried his best to extract the venom, to no avail. As he bluntly said, “if Mercedes couldn't even do it the moment he was injured, it seems we're dealing with a substance made intentionally to be incurable by white magic,” when asked how that was possible, he sadly never heard of it, but looks forward to hearing how it's done. Which… wasn’t exactly helpful.
After them, he heard a timid knock at the door he nearly missed, opening to see a Bernadetta that was holding a bag full of things she thought could at least lift the spirits of Ferdinand and Hubert. Her nerves at the news made her trembling mess, resembling how she acted when she first made it to the academy, “I-It isn't much, but, um, I know you won't be able to leave the house for a while, a-and I'm like an expert for holing up inside and not going outside for a while! Kinda! Uh!” she fumbled as she clumsily rifled through the handmade knapsack, putting the small collection of amenities on the table. Herbal tea from Brigid that she got from her last visit with Petra, a few books Ferdinand may be interested in to borrow, scented oils to help calm the nerves as well as incense she collected from an Almayran merchant, and coffee beans she got from Hubert's favorite vendor. She knew this since technically she was employed by him, being on payroll as a 'secretary', but she hardly ever is in the capital building and just runs the occasional errand for him in town, though everyone in the financial branch knew to not question it. He did it since he knew it is hard for her to keep a scheduled occupation, an unspoken act of kindness that simultaneously made him feel both love and a horrible ache in his chest.
“Thank you, Bernadetta, this is very sweet of you to do,” he said, smiling at the small pile on the table.
“I wasn't sure if you guys like plants inside, I was going to bring him a venus flytrap I've been growing,” she said, looking down as she anxiously fiddled with the bottom of her shirt.
Ferdinand kept a straight face, but couldn't help but shirk a bit imagining waking up to that in the bedroom in the morning. “I'm sure he'd appreciate the... practicability of one, but his office at home doesn't get much light. Maybe for his office at the capitol building?” he suggested as diplomatically as he could.
She smiled and nodded, pleased with the answer. She attempted to go visit him upstairs, but being in the doorway and seeing the state he was in was too much for her, quickly running away with her fingers clawing at her hair. Her wide eyes were filled with tears, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry – I-I knew he got hurt, but I wanted to – but seeing him like that –” her breath hitched. It was hard for Ferdinand to not become emotional himself seeing her reaction, trying his best to soothe her before she left.
It was now getting late in the evening, the sun having set early in the late autumn, and he was feeling weary after that, almost wanting to give sleeping another try, when a third knock of the door came. He turned to open it, surprised to see Constance and her partner Hapi.
“I have come to aid you in your time of dire need! The meek purple friend of yours told my companion Hapi of the trials and tribulations you are facing with your betrothed, and so we are here to elevate some of the momentary burden!” Constance proudly, and loudly, announced at the doorstep.
Hapi gestured with the bag in her arms, “we got grub to make for you since Bernie-Bee said she didn't think you guys ate yet,” she translated.
“Oh! That's most kind of you two,” Ferdinand said, not even realizing he hasn't eaten yet.
Given that Hubert was bedridden, Hapi started working on a stew, Constance helping but continuously being pushed away from adding random ingredients she found around the kitchen to experiment with the flavor. As it simmered, Ferdinand asked if Hapi could confirm something for him about the weapon used against Hubert. She agreed, but the moment he unwrapped it from the blanket it had been kept in, the look on her face said it all on who had attacked him. For a majority of the war, almost everyone was kept in the dark on that certain battalion led by Edelgard's uncle, but towards the end as Ferdinand gained more of Hubert's trust, he let him in on more details. It explained how he was poisoned by something magic couldn't heal given their advanced sorcery.
The three ate together, Constance filling in most of the conversation as Ferdinand was far too worn out to try and contribute boisterously as he usually would.
“I have no idea what food The Bert likes, but hot potatoes in a stew makes anyone feel better. I made it for B once when he was stuck in bed after getting the crap kicked out of him and he seemed to like it,” Hapi explained with her mouth full of food. Constance frowned as she picked up the napkin next to her and dabbed off the gravy from the side of the other woman's mouth.
“It certainly is a very hearty, comforting meal. I hope I can get him to eat just a little...” Ferdinand said wistfully.
Constance looked at her old friend with concerned, but was quickly caught off guard when Hapi said, “one of us can wrap him in a blanket to hold him and the other force his mouth open kinda like when you have to give medicine to a cat,”
Constance quickly smacked her arm with the fan she carried with her, “ HAPI!” she snapped.
“What? It was a joke,” she said, seeing Ferdinand look down as he chuckled quietly, “see? Nandy-Dandy liked it,”
The pair cleaned up everything afterwards, making a bowl for Hubert for Ferdinand to feed him while they worked on storing the rest of the food for later meals. He still felt odd having guests do all the work, but Constance shooed him away any time he tried to help. “The beleaguered are not permitted to exhaust themselves further! We'll finish here and see ourselves out, now you focus on getting him to eat and yourself some sleep. You look more gaunt than Emile! Now, up, up!” she marched him towards the stairs.
He thanked them both graciously before his ascent up the stairs, carefully entering the shared bedroom and closed the door behind himself with the warm bowl in hand. Has he even moved much since he last saw him? He set the food on the nightstand and grabbed a small stool in the corner, setting it next to the bed. He sat down, staring at him for a long moment before speaking, “are you able to wake up?” he asked in a quiet voice.
Hubert grunted, seeming to struggle to open his eyes, “debatable,” he mumbled.
Ferdinand smiled at the response, “friends were kind enough to make us food, you should eat,” Hubert is known for being such a light sleeper, so the fact he was able to stay asleep despite Constance's loud speaking voice would be impressive if it didn't also scare him.
Hubert stared at him for a moment, as if forgetting what food was. Once his mind made its way through the fog, he attempted to sit up, closing his eyes tightly as he flopped back down, gritting his teeth as to silence any pained noise that threatened to escape. The wound being right under his ribs made moving his torso incredibly difficult without searing pain. Ferdinand reached over to his side of the bed and grabbed his pillows, lifting up Hubert's head as he piled them beneath him. If he can't sit up, he will at least try to make it easier to swallow for him.
In the end, Ferdinand was only able to get him to eat a few bites before grimacing from the wave of nausea that hit him. It was better than nothing, he reasoned with himself. After much gentle nagging, he was able to get him to drink water before he was already unconscious again, not even stirring when he removed the extra pillows from under him so as to not give him a neck cramp.
It was nearing a full day since he arrived back home injured as the night soon swallowed the light, Ferdinand lighting candles in the room. It'd take a near day of nonstop riding to even reach Hevring territory where this supposed expert lived. If she does cut through the gulf as Edelgard said, that would make it so her arrival would be much faster. All of this uncertainty was eating away at him from the inside. He couldn't leave the room all night, trying his best to read a book Bernadetta had given him, but he could barely read a page at a time before his mind began to wander, the knife of paranoia and fear sinking deeper and deeper into his heart. All the dreams he had of the two of them spending their lives together, maybe even one day growing a family, retiring to a humble little home in the countryside... Was it really just going to stay just a fantasy? He can no longer envision his life without Hubert by his side throughout all of it and the thought that he was soon going to be standing alone terrified him more than he could ever imagined.
He had no idea when he finally fell asleep, waking up with the book on the floor, still laying on top of the covers. It was early morning, judging by the dim light and quiet chorus of birds greeting the sun. His waking, fretful mind that seemed to be full of endless thoughts, yet none coherent, his haze in trying to untangle that mess in his head was interrupted as he heard the rapping of the door knocker echoed downstairs, which he could only guess is what woke him up the first time. It must be that expert Edelgard sent for! He still was so confused when she told him to not be surprised, sure Hubert employed some colorful characters, but he couldn't fuss over such things given the matter at hand. Excitement buzzed throughout him, the expert must have flown out the door the moment the news reached her, such dedication!
He didn’t care for once in his life what an absolute mess he must look like, still in yesterday’s clothes and his hair unbrushed, he fumbled as he put on shoes as quickly as possible, and briskly walked down the hall and to the stairs, only pausing at the end as he heard the door lock jingling.
“Lottie dear, I don't think our Hubert would have a door lock so easily opened...” A woman's voice on the other side of the door said with a sigh.
“I'm freezing and he's taking too long!” A younger sounding woman griped.
“Maybe he's the only one home, so it's taking him time to get out of bed...” A quiet boy's voice reasoned.
Ferdinand began his trek to the door in a slow, quiet pace, more confused than concerned.
“All the more reason it's best for me to – ” The young woman let out a gasp as his hand grasped the doorknob, hearing something rip out of the door lock quickly as he opened the door.
Before him stood three people, an older woman, a woman who looked slightly younger than Ferdinand, and a teenage boy. Were these the people Edelgard spoke of?
The older woman's eyes widened seeing him, the younger one's face blanched with her hands firmly shoved down into her pockets, “Oh,” the older one gasped, “oh – I'm sorry, we must have been given the wrong house number,” she said, quickly turning to the other woman and gave a quick stern look to before turning back to him, “so sorry,” she said, grabbing her skirt to lift it up as to not catch while walking down the small set of stairs that led up to their townhouse.
“Wait, I think you said Hubert, did you not? You're at the right house,” Ferdinand said quickly.
“Oh,” she turned back around, “my apologies, I'm not used to Hubert having friends over. So kind of you to be with him during this time of day,” she said in a warm tone.
Ferdinand blinked a few times, completely thrown for a loop at how she spoke about him. Was she just a very eccentric, long time specialist his family employed and that's why she spoke of him that way? It must be that, maybe that's why he's getting the odd feeling that she looks familiar somehow, that he's seen her a few times in the past as one of his many employees. “oh, where are my manners, please, come in!” he said as stepped aside.
The older woman walked in first, the two younger people with her trading glances to one another before following suit, the boy lugging along a trunk strapped to a small dolly, the contents inside jiggling of what sounded like dozens of small glass vials. It was clear the two younger people were siblings, which would lead him to believe she was their mother. A little odd, but excellent how they all worked together, he surmised.
The older woman walked slowly, looking all around the townhouse, clearly surprised, “my, I never knew Hubert had such taste in these furnishings, that doesn't seem like him at all,” she thought out loud. The two younger people slowly turned their heads to each other once more, the girl trying her best to hide whatever grin was trying its hardest to spread across her face with the boy's eyes widening.
Ferdinand didn't really catch their exchange, his attention on the mother, letting out a small chuckle, “ah, you're correct, this is all my doing, Hubert doesn't necessarily care for interior decorating at all, he calls it all a waste,”
The woman paused, “you... decorated it?” she asked, staring at him as if something just clicked in her head.
“Oh, well, yes, we live together,” he answered, absolutely puzzled by her own bewilderment, “Oh, I never introduced myself, how rude; I am Ferdinand von Aegir. What is your name, ma'am?”
“Crescentia Schwarz...”
“Ah, it is lovely to – ”
“Formerly Crescentia von Vestra,”
Ferdinand's mind came screeching to a halt, “...pardon?” he asked.
Crescentia and him just stared at one another for a long minute, the both of them not realizing today they'd be meeting a potential in-law, let alone just now learning about them. They didn't even notice the younger girl having to turn around, suppressing whatever laughter that bubbled from her chest.
“Lottie, sssh!” the boy whispered in a panicked voice.
“I... um, I'm sorry, he... never told me about having a mother,” he turned to the two younger people, “so they are...”
“His siblings, yes; Liselotte and Hildebrand Schwarz, they took my name after I separated from their father,” she introduced, “if it helps, I had no idea about... this either,”
Liselotte turned around, grabbing her much larger little brother's free hand and dragged him along towards the stairs with a wicked grin that must be familial in its similarity, “let's go greet the patient, we can go read him his final rights before Mom kills him!” she said.
“Liselotte!” the mother said in an exasperated tone, sighing heavily with her eyes closed from the laughter she got as a response from the girl, her finger pinching the bridge of her nose. “Would it be in poor taste to say they'll be the death of me?” she said, her joke taking a moment to land for Ferdinand, the exaggerated look of surprise from the bleak humor making her laugh instead.
Now that he knew who he was really looking at, he could easily see the similarities, especially how she laughed, raising her hand to hide the red painted smile behind curled fingers. Her hair was mostly tied into a bun in the back with some stray strands framing her face, the color dark brown with gray streaking throughout it. She was tall compared to most women and incredibly thin, which explains Hubert's figure as Ferdinand was always confused how he got like that when the former Marquis Vestra was a very broad, barrel chested man, “Apologies, but I probably should do the job Her Majesty sent for me for,” she said, looking to her side, “oh, those two forgot the trunk, they know I have trouble carrying this thing,” she quietly complained.
“Oh! Please, allow me, Ms. Schwarz,” he said, his autopilot seeming to be the strict etiquette he was raised with, undoing the leather straps that held it to the dolly and hoisted it over his shoulder with relative ease.
Her eyebrows raised in surprise knowing the weight of the trunk, her eyes giving him a quick once over, “Let me know if things don't work out with my son, I may just have to steal you for myself,” she commented, smiling again as his face went red at the comment before her ascent up the stairs.
Once up there, they found Liselotte leaned against the wall with her arms crossed with a disappointed look on her face, “Hildebrand's a chicken and wouldn't let us go in first,” she complained.
“He's sick, Mother should go first in case it's really bad!” he whined at her.
Now getting a better look at the younger two, he could see the girl definitely took after the mother the most in appearance, the main difference he could tell was her eyes were a dark gray. Meanwhile Hildebrand was a mix of the two, looking more like a baby faced version of Hubert if anything.
“Your brother is right, Lottie,” The mother said, pausing for a moment before pushing through the half opened door, seemingly steeling herself in fear for the worst. To her relief, Hubert was exactly as Ferdinand left him, still asleep, which truly spoke to how out of it he was given what a light sleeper he normally is, to not even stir when someone different entered the room. She walked slowly over to her son, leaning over the bed, staring at him, moving the hair out of his face, “ Huuuubert, ” she quietly coaxed, gently grasping his wrist to feel his heart rate.
He let out a groggy groan, frowning in his delirious state, “...Mother?” he muttered, seeming to have to fight to stay awake.
“Oh, good you can wake up. Now, Hubert,” she said with all the warmth of a kind mother, before leaning forward, “ what have we spoken about keeping such important things a secret from your mother? ” she spoke in the same voice, yet the glint in her eye sent a chill up Ferdinand's spine.
Hubert stared at her, clearly not understanding her at first before he noticed Ferdinand in the doorway, and seeing the two in the same room together made him close his eyes, pressing his head against the pillow, groaning, “I want to go back to my coma, please,”
“Not yet,” she said, pulling back the covers, “now, where is the injury?”
“His right side,” Ferdinand answered for him, setting the heavy trunk next to the bed.
“Thank you, Ferdinand,” she said, carefully lifting up her son's shirt, seeing the bloody gauze, “Proper first aid, that's good at least, no doubt they held off on the white magic in case the wound will give me context clues on the poison,” she surmised, frowning, “sorry, son, but I will have to undo these to get a better look,” she received a weak nod from him, wincing herself whenever he hissed in pain as the gauze was peeled back.
Even if Ferdinand was a hardened general from the war, he still felt nauseous seeing the injury. It wasn't a simple knife wound, the areas around the injury looked blackened almost from whatever coated the blade used against him. It looked worse than what it did yesterday morning, having a hard time to not just start crying how distressing this all was.
“Hildebrand, trunk. Liselotte, stand by,” Their mother ordered with a sharp snap of her fingers, both children springing into action as they rushed over, the young boy flicking open the latches on the trunk and opening it, Ferdinand seeing it filled with dozens of small vials containing different ingredients. The young girl stood on the other side of the bed, awaiting further instruction, though judging by the recognizable stance, she was going to perform white magic.
“Hildebrand, I want you to work on a salve to disinfect and numb the wound,” she instructed, the boy nodding as he took out a mortar and pestle, quickly grabbing a few different bottles as if memorizing what each were before getting to work in crushing and mixing the many different powders and liquids.
“Liselotte, I want you to do healing magic over all vital organs to ensure no internal damage or hemorrhaging,” she said next, her daughter closing her eyes, two sigils appearing before coating her hands the glowing white gold of light magic, opening them once more as her hands slowly moved her certain parts of his chest.
Crescentia grabbed an odd looking instrument that had a circular glass part held in place by metal with a wooden handle, Ferdinand being confused why everything looked so close through the lens as she used it to further examine the wound. “Are you still awake?” she asked her oldest son.
“Yes,” Hubert rasped out.
“Can you list symptoms?”
“Fever, confusion, pain, sweat, difficulty breathing, blurry vision, extreme lethargy,” he methodically replied. To watch the Vestra family all work together was fascinating, how they were all related and worked in coordination with one another, yet operated with the efficiency of a well trained battalion, as if they somehow had done this exercise hundreds of times before.
“With white magic showing no effectiveness,” she spoke to herself, looking at the gash yet was in deep thought as she did so, “the weapon in question was kept according to Her Majesty's letter the messenger handed me. If it is still on the blade, I may be able to observe and compare with the slides,” she said, setting the magnifying glass down as she reached inside the meticulously organized trunk and pulled out a small box, gathering everything in her arms as she stood up straight, “Liselotte, continue with what you’re doing, focus on the lungs right now to ensure minimal damage,”
“Got it,” she replied, her hands lightly tracing along the skin as they moved over the organs inside.
“Hildebrand, apply salve once ready, use a generous amount, we'll see if we can get by with a more conservative dose later if it proves effective,” He only nodded for his reply, focusing intently on whatever he was making. She turned to look at Ferdinand, “as they work, could you show me the weapon in question and have another room for me to examine it?” she asked.
“Certainly, currently it's in Hubert's office,” he said, leading the way back downstairs.
“ Aaawww, Mom is soooo mad at you for keeping this a secret,” Ferdinand heard Liselotte teasing her older brother as they started to walk away.
“ Hush ,” he heard Hubert grunt as a response, followed by quiet snickering from her.
Ferdinand felt awkward coming and going from Hubert's office, the door normally closed if he was not home and often out of courtesy knocks if he was in. “It's wrapped in the blanket on the desk there,” he said.
“Excellent, thank you,” she said. She took off her heavy, long blackened wool coat, draping it on the back of the chair before taking a seat, keeping on the leather gloves.
“Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to take that for you all at the door,” Ferdinand apologized.
“You're quite alright, it appears you have no hired help here and I was certainly not raised with that expectation,” she said as she unwrapped the blade.
“I noticed – I mean, your last name, I assume you took your maiden name back after the separation,” he said awkwardly, a clumsy topic to stumble into, but he has to admit he was curious. It's incredibly rare for a married couple within the nobility to divorce, then again, it's quite rare for a high ranking official such as a Vestra to marry below their station.
“That is correct,” she said, “I was originally employed by Ermenrich as a spy. I worked for him for years before he approached me. It seemed like quite the unorthodox fairy tale to me at first, but as time went on, it was clear we had many disagreements on... ethics . I took my name back when Her Majesty was crowned and Hubert wanted us to go into hiding at the start of the war,” she said, not having to explain what exactly happened. It seems it wasn't a touchy subject, so it seemed that 'disagreement' she had with his father was quite severe to not really bat an eye when alluding to her ex-husband's demise by the hand of her own son.
“That explains why you're an expert in the field of this, no doubt how Hubert has such a vast knowledge of the subject,” Ferdinand commented.
She let out a pleased hum, “you're very kind,” she said, looking at him with the same green eyes her son has. There was something oddly comforting knowing he inherited the eyes he got lost in so often from her. She stared for a moment longer, shaking her head a bit, “I didn't know what Mr. Prime Minister looked like now, but I knew it was you seeing that red hair of yours again, that's why I was certain I got wrong Minister's home at first,”
Ferdinand flinched at that. So they did meet and he completely forgot she existed, dear Goddess all those years of etiquette are screaming at him for that embarrassment, “er... I'm sorry I didn't recognize you at first,”
“I'd be amazed if you did, you were barely able to walk and talk when I last saw you. All those meetings with nobility and the wives of officials bringing their children along, especially to large events... much too stressful for me. That was one mercy he gave me, never making me go to those,” she said.
That was a relief. Ferdinand quietly watched her, confused what exactly she was doing with that odd glass object, “if you don't mind me asking, what is that in your hand?” he asked, jumping slightly as she looked up with it still in front of her face, her eye enormous in the glass.
“Oh this? A magnifying glass – they're technically illegal here in Fodlan, but I discovered these during a stay in Morfis. Glass made specially to observe objects closely to see the most finite detail. They're also made into what's called telescopes, to help you look far away, which is why the church banned them. Hubert told me his comrade discovered the paperwork in the Abyss during the occupation of Garreg Mach, explaining the reasoning for the ban was so one could not 'ruin the mystique of the Goddess'. Just makes you wonder what all they had to hide, hm?” she carefully explained, flashing a small grin at the end. No doubt that was Linhardt who discovered it, he remembers hearing him excitedly barraging anyone he could get near all the details of banned discoveries within Fodlan from all the documentation he found in the Abyss's massive library.
“It also makes my specialty much easier,” she said, setting down the magnifying glass and unlatching the small wooden box. Inside were several slides of glass and an odd metal tube strapped on the inside of it, watching her carefully slide it out, “Another way to utilize this type of glass is this curious invention called a microscope, the glass inside is much stronger than the one I just used. It allows me to observe the compound on a level no human eye could ever discern. They are learning so much in Morfis with this, now that the borders are no longer so heavily guarded, I hope this knowledge we've been kept in the dark for so long about will spread and Fodlan can catch up with the world around us,” she said, using the microscope to stare the ridges of the blade. “I wonder...” she muttered to herself, biting the tip of the leather glove she wore, her hand sliding out and showing another feature she shared in common with her son. From the knuckle up of her fingers were pitch black as if dipped into ink, with dissipating shades of gray and purple down her palm, nowhere near as severe as Hubert's darken skin, difference most likely due to his heavy use of dark magic in the war. She used the dark, long nails to flick through the row of glass slides before stopping and pinching one out, seeing a small drop of a murky violet liquid pressed between the two small cuts of glass, placing it on the desk as she observed it, comparing the two it seemed, her mouth irking to the side when it seemed her guess was wrong, continuing the process with another slide.
Ferdinand merely sat quietly as she worked, not wanting to disrupt her diligent work. His sleep deprived mind couldn't help but wander, a tinge of melancholy setting in. Why hadn't Hubert ever mentioned her or his siblings when they all seemed to be fairly close? While he didn't exactly speak of his own family all the time, he has at least spoken of his mother and sisters to Hubert before, the man knowing all of their names. She mentioned he told them to go into hiding during the war, was that why? Paranoia that the wrong person may be listening into their conversations? Or... was he the person he didn't fully trust? No, he thought, it can't be that, he wouldn't live and be with someone if that were the case... right? He didn't tell his mother about him either, though, and from the sounds of things he didn't want them to meet as he wanted to go to the castle instead of Jeritza and Mercedes dropping him off here. He knows he shouldn't be thinking of something like this during this time, but what if it really was Ferdinand taking things too far too fast?
No matter whatever dressing he wore for a situation, his heart was always on his sleeve, Crescentia glancing up at one point and caught the wistful expression as he seemed to stare off into space, her eyes looking back down before speaking, “you'll have to forgive my son's terrible habit of hiding things,” she said. Ferdinand was surprised she seemed to have read his mind, watching her brow furrow, “he doesn't do it maliciously – most of the time. A side effect of that little ethical disagreement my late husband and I had, after all, someone cannot take away if they don't know about it... or them ,”
Her words hit him harder than most physical clashes he felt at the war, knowing exactly what she was implying. That did explain several things to him, like why he is so hesitant to mention their relationship outside of people Hubert has personally intensely vetted to be trustworthy, “a-ah, right, of course. ...Is that 'ethical disagreement' why you left him?” he asked, feeling a sense of unease dancing around the obvious subject of the death of the Hresvleg children, something his own father helped facilitate.
“Correct. While I am not a loyalist to the crown, even I could see what a horrible betrayal that was, he also knew it. The pathetic man...” she hissed the last part to herself, sitting up straight as she pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes shut as she sighed through her nose, “pardon me, I shouldn't be talking about such things,”
“No, no, that was all my doing, forgive me. I can't help but ask questions around that topic, it's just... so very strange to have had all of this happening around me, yet being totally blind to it. Just believing whatever explanation my father gave until I was old enough to realize what kind of man he was, but I didn't even know the extent of the skeletons he hid in the closet...” or hid in the palace dungeons would be more horribly apt.
“You were a child, one that grew up not in Enbarr, it'd be impossible for you to pick up on whatever hints to what transpired here. Do not blame yourself, we'll blame all the adults, all of whom are wonderfully dead – well...” she stared back down at the knife with a look of pure disdain, “we're working on that last one,”