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Edelgard sat down at her desk, ensconced well within the machinations of the Imperial Palace in Enbarr, and her hand reached for the hot tea kettle. She poured the bergamot blend out of the chipped kettle, her favorite with carnations dotting the porcelain, and into an equally chipped teacup. One hand reached for the sachet of sugar while another for the trough of cream and mixed both into her cup of tea.
The tea had steeped on her walk here from the kitchens, insisting as always that she do at least this much for herself. The chefs would be cooking her lunch later, Hubert surely having one of his men escort the meal down the long hallway, around the corner, up the stairs, and down yet another hallway before arriving at Edelgard’s office.
She took a sip of her tea, perfectly cooled in equal parts by her walk and by the addition of the cream, and sighed contentedly as her eyes closed for a brief moment. Perhaps it was a little too decadent this early in the morning, her mouth savoring the sweet mix of flavors, but she stared at the mounds of paperwork already piling on her desk and Edelgard dismissed the concern outright.
There was much work to be done. Edelgard had spied reports from Hubert's spy ring in Almyra, a treatise from Prime Minister Ferdinand on the latest economic report, and a letter from the lovely Queens in Brigid. Much of the rest of it was far more mundane, far more typical work. She found herself, as she often did, wishing for a secretary of sorts but then she'd feel like she was making it too easy on herself.
It was only paperwork, Edelgard thought as she sipped on her tea again, and she began to dive in-
“Come on, Sothis.” Byleth was talking outside her office door, footsteps going to and fro. “I know you want your milk!”
Edelgard’s mouth opened as her face wrinkled, a headache threatening to form in her temple as a series of questions and potential ramifications sped through her brain.
She knew Byleth had been imbued with something, knew that they’d both been experimented on. Byleth had told her, once, after Byleth’s five year absence-
Edelgard took a sip of her tea to wash away the feelings of loss that even now threatened to drown her in grief.
-How she could turn back the hands of fate, defy the flow of time for precious seconds to alter the course of events. Edelgard had found it astonishingly easy to believe despite how farfetched it seemed, Hubert far less so. Byleth had a knack for providing conflicting, confusing, and sometimes nearly idiotic commands on the battlefield that always proved to be the best course of action. Her wife was a talented commander, but even the best among them could still make mistakes yet Byleth never did.
But, then, she always believed in Byleth.
The loss of green in Byleth's hair at the height of their triumph, the Immaculate One dead at their feet, and the reversion to the gorgeous, natural navy had been a powerful physical confirmation of a change as well.
The heartbeat, her Byleth's smile, their first kiss-
Edelgard hummed to herself, finding a small smile growing across her face despite the mention of Sothis.
-Well, Edelgard couldn't have wished for a better fairy tale ending if she'd written the tale herself.
So if Sothis had indeed returned, Edelgard reviewed the paperwork in front of her, then she wouldn't worry too much. Byleth did miss her and, on rare occasions, would talk about the Progenitor Goddess like one would talk about an old friend or a feral kitten.
It was a heresy, but Byleth was in good company. If Byleth loved her, and Edelgard believed that with every ounce of conviction she could muster, and Sothis loved Byleth then Sothis must at least be ambivalent towards her.
Between imagining having Sothis’ favor and Byleth once having the power to turn back the arms of the clock, Edelgard knew which she'd believe first every time.
***
Edelgard massaged at her temple, the numbers on the ledger before her threatening to turn into unreadable squiggles and worst of all her tea had grown cold.
The budget for the Imperial Household was a logistics and political nightmare. She tapped her ink quill in the margins of the table of numbers before her. They added up well within the budget that she was planning on putting forth to Ferdinand and their new bicameral legislature, the issue wasn’t one of balancing the books so to speak.
Even if it was, Edelgard sighed, they could slash the budget for the Household in half and her own personal fortunes as the sole Hresvelg would more than compensate for it. It was a tempting idea, one she had thrown out to her own small council time and time again but one that they had advised against. Dorothea was the biggest proponent of having a line item in the annual budget for the Imperial Household, surprisingly, on the grounds that Edelgard would eventually retire from office and allow the people of the land to hold an election. Whoever came after may not have their own sources of wealth, they may very well rely on the budget to keep their family fed and clothed befitting their station. Otherwise, Dorothea had argued, there would be room for corruption as possible leaders may feel the pinch in their purse and seek alternative forms of income.
Dorothea was right in thinking ahead to the future and Edelgard appreciated it, but that did nothing to solve her current conundrum. The first legislature, this experiment in self-determination was fragile and she knew that the actions of today formed the precedent of tomorrow. If she made the budget for the Household too large, she ran the risk of appearing inconsiderate to the needs of the wider citizenry and appealing to the monarchists who were staunchly against this legislature. If it was too little, then future office holders may go into debt maintaining the expected festivals, parades, and dinners on top of their own household expenses and risk looking like paupers in negotiations with powerful lords and foreigners.
She recognized it was a privilege to have this particular issue but it was bedeviling her-
“Sothis!” Byleth shouted from their private living room. “Come down from there this instant!”
-Perhaps, Edelgard smiled to herself even as she sighed, she should be grateful for the challenges in front of her.
Anything seemed easier than trying to herd Sothis.
***
“C’mere! Awwwwww. Who's a pretty baby?” Byleth cooed from their living room, loudly enough for Edelgard to clearly hear.
Edelgard stared at the missive she was writing on her desk and sighed, grabbing a new piece of paper to rewrite after accidentally scrawling an illegible line across the first one.
“It's you, oh yes it's you little Sothis-” Byleth was laughing, the warmth in her voice evident even at this distance. “El will love on you too, don't worry.”
Her ink quill snapped.
Edelgard found herself contemplating that another heresy was perhaps in order as she stared at Aymr mounted on the wall.
***
Edelgard sat her lunch aside, setting the silver lid back on top of the tray for the staff to take back later. They’d kept the door cracked after leaving and she would, eventually, get up to stretch once her meal digested and close the door. It had been a delicious meal, a roasted turkey leg with fresh tomatoes and a dessert of strawberries with cream.
Perhaps she could take a break shortly and talk Byleth into going on a walk through the gardens and speak to her about Sothis’ return. If the Goddess had returned, that was all well and good, but Edelgard was not about to share her Byleth with anyone.
Not even the Goddess.
A quiet meow came from her doorway and Edelgard looked up from her desk to find an all-white kitten, no more than maybe six months old, brushing by the door. The cat, clearly a stray without a collar on it, waltzed through her office and hopped up on her desk.
She was beautiful, Edelgard thought, her green eyes at once inquisitive yet concerning given Edelgard’s experience with green-eyed creatures over the years.
Edelgard cooed at the kitten, brushing her ungloved hand against the soft fur under her chin and earning a delightful little purr as a reward. She petted the kitten further, one thumb rubbing at the base of her ear and the kitten kept purring with her.
Despite the turkey wing underneath the lunch tray adjacent to her, the kitten was focused entirely on Edelgard and she found herself captivated by the young cat’s movements.
The kitten nudged Edelgard’s hand before stepping onto her forearm and walking carefully, clumsily, up Edelgard’s red blouse and down to her lap. She pressed her paws into Edelgard’s thighs, several times each, before turning in a few circles and eventually settling into her lap in a curled-up ball.
Edelgard was enthralled.
Byleth barged in, eyes wide and her chest was heaving as sweat formed along her hairline. “Have you found Sothis?”
“Yes.” Edelgard looked down at the kitten, asleep in her lap, and back to Byleth as she began laughing. “I suppose I have.”