Chapter Text
Hubert von Vestra did not pace. He did not wring his hands, tap his foot, or continuously glance out the window of the Officer’s Academy. To an observer he was perfectly calm and collected, just another day. On the inside, however, Hubert was worrying.
Lady Edelgard had yet to return from the special training. Her being separated from the rest of the students wasn't concerning, no. The concerning part was he did not know how the secret plan he and she had orchestrated to take advantage of the situation was faring. A group of bandits would attack, throwing the knights into disarray and scaring off the professor chaperone. Then the church would throw out the coward and the teaching position would be vacant. A perfect fit for their weapon instructor plant. Jeritza would slip into the role of professor for the Black Eagles and they could continue with their more ambitious plans within Garreg Mach unimpeded. That, of course, assumed everything went according to plan.
It wasn't that he doubted Lady Edelgard's ability, but complications could arise. The teacher could have proven less cowardly than they had assumed, the knights more capable. Even the other two house leaders might prove to impress him and be useful in a fight. This was their first scheme, and while it wasn't strictly necessary for their overarching goal, to have it fail would pose a troubling sign. So he waited and worried.
When he finally saw Lady Edelgard walking through the halls of the monastery he quickened his own pace to reach her.
"Lady Edelgard." he called out. She quickly turned to face him as he walked up next to her, arms folded behind his back.
"Hubert! There you are, I was just on my way to find you." she said, already walking again.
"Welcome back. I see you are unharmed. How did things fair?" he inquired, slowing his pace ever so slightly to keep in step with her shorter legs.
Lady Edelgard opened a door, peered inside, and then motioned for him to follow her. The room was empty and the only sound that could be heard after Lady Edelgard closed the door was her soft exhale.
"There were some... complications." she admitted, turning her gaze toward him.
He immediately stood straighter and asked, "What sort of complications?"
To everyone else the complications were that they had been attacked at all, but since he and she had planned the attack he felt unease at her admission.
Lady Edelgard began to pace, a hand to her chin as her other cupped her elbow and her brows furrowed before she answered.
"We were attacked by bandits." she said. Despite there being no one around to hear them she was still being careful of being spied upon, recounting events that would seem important to an outsider. He couldn't help but feel pride swell in his chest. While in enemy territory one always had to be careful of information being leaked. He waited for her to get to the part that actually mattered.
"Dimitri, Claude, and I fled, as well as our professor. I do not know what became of him, but we students made our way to a small village." Edelgard continued. He nodded, so far everything sounded like it had gone exactly as planned. So where was the “complication”?
Edelgard's pacing stopped and she glanced at him before saying, "We came upon some mercenaries and enlisted their help."
Mercenaries? While not in the plan he did not see how this development would cause Lady Edelgard concern. They had already achieved their goal, by the sounds of it. So what troubled her?
"My life... was saved by one of them."
Cold dread washed over his body as his hands clenched at his sides. Had they really underestimated those bandits? They needed to pose some sort of threat for the plan to work, but… To imagine Lady Edelgard's life in actual danger…
"Are you quite alright?" he asked, unclenching his fists as he composed himself, eyes searching her figure for previously unseen injuries.
"Yes, I am fine, not a scratch on me," Lady Edelgard waved away his concern (and for a moment he thought he saw her smile). "The one who protected me did an excellent job. She is... a remarkable individual."
There was something in her voice. There was awe, but it was guarded.
"I wish I could give them my gratitude for returning you safe and sound, Lady Edelgard." he said, bowing his head slightly.
"You're in luck, Hubert, because she and her father came back to the monastery with us," Edelgard said. "Her father is Jeralt, the Blade Breaker, former captain of the Knights of Seiros."
Ah, and there it was. A new piece had been added to the chess board, one that already had ties to the church. If the church managed to gain their help it might prove to be just the right tool to halt Lady Edelgard's plans.
"I would very much like to meet them. The Blade Breaker himself and the one he raised." he intoned gravely. Variables must be examined.
"I’m sure Jeralt will be stationed with the Knights. As for his daughter, you won't be able to miss her. She has dark teal hair and wears a gray coat. Her name is Byleth," Lady Edelgard explained. "She's talking to Lady Rhea now, but I'm sure you'll see her eventually. The knights were quite insistent that she and Jeralt stay at the monastery for some time."
He would have to keep his eyes peeled. He did genuinely want to thank this Byleth for protecting Lady Edelgard, but more importantly he needed to ascertain if she was a threat.
"I would like nothing more than to recruit her for the Empire." Lady Edelgard added.
"Trusting her just because she helped rescue you, I would hope you practiced more caution than that." he replied with a shake of his head. It was not hard to imagine a mercenary helping the heirs to Fódlan's governments in the hopes of receiving benifits and not out of simple goodwill.
"My trust is not so easily given," Lady Edelgard frowned. "I am not so foolish as to be swayed by a single act. Byleth would simply be a strong asset if we were to gain her trust. She is quite the skilled warrior."
Mercenaries had fickle loyalties. He was sure they could buy her services if Lady Edelgard thought they were worth it, but he did not like using money to garner forces. To fulfill Lady Edelgard’s wishes he would need to surround her with those who sought the same dream she did, not sellswords who would turn traitor at the clink of coin. He would not have her betrayed like her own father was.
Lady Edelgard was already moving back towards the door while he was lost in thought. With her palm on the handle she turned back towards him and said, "Oh, and one more thing."
"Yes?" He returned his hands behind his back as he awaited her next words.
"She's not very talkative and I haven't seen her emote once on our journey back here. I'm tempted to say she's even more guarded than you."
He frowned as she opened the door and stepped back outside.
"I'll be in my room if you want to talk more later." Lady Edelgard said over her shoulder before walking off.
He wanted to follow her and ask more about this Byleth, but he also knew that Lady Edelgard would need time to rest after the journey back to the monastery. Rather than be a burden to her he could instead go out and start his investigation. Perhaps he could find some of the knights who had been a part of the exercise and interrogate them. He might even get lucky and run into the object of his investigation.
He did not, in fact, run into Byleth, but Garreg Mach was already becoming a rumor mill. Knights, monks, and servants alike were all discussing the events of the training mission that resulted in the attack on the three house leaders as well as the new mercenary occupants of the monastery. Through careful eavesdropping he was able to gather that Jeralt was indeed a former member of the church's private army, but more interestingly was the news that those who knew him before his disappearance all mentioned how he hadn't aged a day in the decades he had been absent. Hubert doubted that traveling the countryside as a mercenary led to a wondrous skin care routine. A mystery to file away for now.
Whispers were spreading about how a “demon” was now loose in the monastery. He would have dismissed such rumors had he not already been aware of monsters lurking within the church. Though he doubted those monsters was what these people were referring to. Apparently this Byleth had made quite the name for herself as a mercenary and earned the moniker of Ashen Demon. Such an ominous title it was no wonder some whispered fearfully in the halls. At least he knew the inclusion of these new faces was not something wholly praised. If the need arose he might be able to poke at such unease and fracture the church from within. Doubtful it would come to that, though. It was unlikely either Jeralt or Byleth would prove a strong enough sticking point to break such a power.
Everything else he was able to gather so soon after the fact was just praise for their help and confusion of who they were. He would have to be patient if he wanted to learn more. No doubt the monastery would be abuzz for the foreseeable future.
The next day the Black Eagles gathered in their classroom to prepare for their studies. With Lady Edelgard and the other house leaders returned they would be assigned their house professors soon and the lessons would become more intense. Edelgard had insisted that those of their class should spend this day discussing what they hoped to learn in the coming year and discuss study plans to make the most of their time.
He was behind her, of course. He would not allow any of their classmates to slack off. They needed to gather allies, and strong ones at that, in the time they had available. Many students here thought of their studies as hypotheticals, but Hubert knew that all they learned here at the Officer’s Academy was going to be vital in the immediate future. War was coming and they needed every advantage they could get. That included making sure their classmates were ready, even if they were yet still unaware.
As Lady Edelgard presented her Crest of Seiros and began her lecture on Crests and magic his eyes roved the faces around them. Linhardt was already falling asleep. Pathetic. Caspar seemed to be struggling to understand the basic concepts Lady Edelgard was expounding. A sorry excuse for a noble. Then there was Bernadetta who was hiding under a book, having been dragged here earlier by Lady Edelgard herself. She was going to be a troublesome one, he was sure.
As the day went on Lady Edelgard had to admit defeat and allow her fellow students to go off to do their own things. Partly because it was proving difficult to wrangle them all to focus on their schooling outside of class and partly because the members of their house outside of their specific class were starting to wander in and out of the classroom. They would be meeting their professor that evening and hopefully afterwards the others would be more diligent in their studies.
He also hoped the professor in question would be Jeritza. It would be unfortunate if Lady Edelgard nearly lost her life only for Jeritza to be put in charge of a different house. This was the last step in their scheme, everything else had followed the steps they had hoped. It was his understanding that new teachers had first pick of the houses so Jeritza should still become their professor, but given the complication they had already been dealt he was not going to be so sure of their victory.
As they had all broken off in their own directions Petra approached him and asked for him to explain some things from Lady Edelgard’s lecture to her. He was happy to do so, at least someone had been interested in Edelgard's words. If she had a better grasp on the language of Fódlan he was sure Petra would be a star student. So hard working and eager to learn. As he walked her through some of the terms Lady Edelgard had used he noticed someone enter their classroom.
Dark teal hair and a gray coat. This was surely Byleth, but Lady Edelgard had failed to mention some pertinent details. One was that this mercenary was around their age. She might even be younger than he was. Then again, he personally knew that one's face did not necessarily give away their age. It was possible Byleth sat at the opposite spectrum as him and looked far younger than she actually was, as opposed to his angular features and small eyes aging him. The other thing of note was her attire.
Why her coat color Edelgard thought was the most striking part of her wardrobe he couldn't grasp. The person now wandering around their classroom and speaking to those within displayed her chest and midriff, as well wearing tiny shorts paired with lace tights. Her heeled boots clicked against the stone floor and he couldn't help but wonder if these was the same clothes she wore while fighting bandits. Surely not, but then again he didn't think such attire was seen as appropriate monastery clothing either. Though he had seen Professor Manuela showing off even more cleavage, so perhaps the monastery truly did not care about propriety. He could see she was turning a few male heads.
He kept his focus on Petra and what she was saying, only following the newcomer out of the corner of his eye. His interest in her was nothing as base as some of the others, but it still wouldn't be good to be caught staring.
When she finally made her way over to their corner he turned from Petra and offered a bow.
"I am Hubert. A humble servant of Lady Edelgard," he said. "I heard you came to the aid of Her Highness. You have my most sincere thanks."
He carefully watched the figure in front of him. A stoney face much like what Lady Edelgard had warned him of. No matter, he would get to the bottom of who they were in due time. Until then he would offer them his polite gratitude for the service they gave to Her Highness.
Raising a hand he indicated Petra to his side and introduced her, "This is Petra. She has come all the way from Brigid to study in the Empire. Back on her archipelago, she is actually a princess. In Fódlan terms, she would be called heir to the throne."
"Hello. I am Petra," his companion said with a bow. "I am pleased to be meeting with... no, I am pleased to have met you."
"Byleth." Along with a nod that was the only response they gained. Then she turned around and exited the classroom having apparently already given curt greetings to everyone else. Curious behavior. Had she really only come here to introduce herself to everyone and then be on her way? What game was she playing? Even he could pretend at small talk before making his exit. Perhaps this was just the mercenary way? He glanced around and saw more than one pair of eyes following Byleth's retreating figure. She apparently had left others as equally confused as he.
"She is few of words." Petra mused and he couldn't help but hum in agreement. He would like to talk to Lady Edelgard about all this, but she had disappeared entirely when she realized she could no longer hold the attention of her classmates. He would no doubt find her later and inquire what she found so remarkable about this person.
That evening, after dinner, they all gathered in the classroom once more to discover who their professor was. Edelgard had shot him an assured smile so he was relaxed. They had gotten Jeritza after all, that was a relief. His calm, however, soon faded when someone who wasn't Jeritza walked through their classroom door.
"Wait. So our new professor is... you?!" Caspar shouted as Byleth walked up to their gathering. "I didn't see that one coming."
Neither had he. He shot a side glance towards Edelgard as the others weighed in their own thoughts, but she was focused on their new professor. She didn't seem the least bit surprised by this development. In fact, she seemed quite pleased. Why had she not bothered to inform him that her rescuer had been made a professor? Surely she would not be so calm now had she not already known.
Oh what was Ferdinand blathering on about now? He snapped his attention back to the conversation at hand.
"In our class, we try to treat each other as equals, despite any differences in age or status."
Ah, yes, an easy proclamation for the Prime Minister's son to make when every student here, sans Dorothea, was a noble like him. Then again, he supposed it was a nice gesture to make towards their new professor who was clearly not a noble and didn't have Dorothea's experience with high society. He doubted a travelling mercenary spent much time at noble parties.
"I don't mind at all." Byleth said with as much enthusiasm as Hubert himself usually had for anything Ferdinand said. Hubert had half a mind to chuckle at that, but he remained quiet.
Oh, and now Dorothea was already putting on the charm for their professor. He hoped this wouldn't be a continual thing. He supposed he better get used to hearing such flirting, though. Byleth – Professor Byleth, he had to remind himself – was young and attractive. No doubt many students both in their house and outside of it would be trying to woo her, as pointless as he was sure it would be. Even if their new professor was foolish enough to entertain such notions the church would surely not allow such behavior.
"Professor," Edelgard spoke up, "I want you to know that it's perfectly acceptable for you to treat me as you do the others."
He stiffened at her words. She may think it was acceptable, but he certainly did not. He would make it clear to their professor that in no uncertain terms was she to treat Lady Edelgard in such a manner. Her Highness was better than the rest and he would not stand to have her lowered, even if that were her wish. It mattered little that their end goal was to be rid of the aristocracy altogether, even without her title of Imperial Princess she was still leagues above the others.
The class soon fell into minor bickering and Edelgard began to look a little lost. Linhardt had even snuck away and curled up in the corner of the classroom to sleep. Hubert couldn't help but shake his head and finally release a chuckle.
"Looks like your first job will be to quiet down this racket. I don't envy you." he said, looking back up at Professor Byleth. He anticipated to see how this new professor of theirs would hold discipline among this rabble. Would they be someone to flounder, and thus easier to hide his and Edelgard's activities from, or would she instead wield it as deftly as he heard she wielded a sword and earn some respect from him?
"Ugh, they're not normally this... rowdy." Lady Edelgard said, evidently embarrassed that her classmates were not stepping into line before the professor. How she expected any of them to be orderly when they couldn't even stay still for her own lecture earlier he failed to understand.
Through it all Professor Byleth barely uttered a word and aside from her eyes travelling to whoever was speaking at the time she didn't move a muscle. She seemed more like a statue than a person. He would have to watch her closely for any weaknesses. Eventually she did suggest they all head to their rooms to rest.
As they all shuffled out of the classroom he lingered behind. Professor Byleth caught him looking at her and he quickly turned away. It didn't do to have the person you were watching catch you spying. He was the last to leave the classroom, Lady Edelgard waiting for him outside.
"Something on your mind, Hubert?" she asked.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw Byleth turned away, running a hand over the teacher's desk.
"A great many things, Your Highness," he said as he began walking towards the dorms. "One of which being how pleased you seem with our new professor."
"I told you before, she is a remarkable individual," Lady Edelgard said as she fell into step next to him. "I also believe I told you I would like to recruit her from the Empire. This is a perfect opportunity to do just that."
"I urge you to be cautious, we still don't know much about her." he said.
"I am sure you will soon see what I saw back when she dispatched those bandits. Professor Byleth will indeed be an asset to us."
He hoped for her sake she was right.
He didn't see Byleth again until three days later. Regular classes had not yet resumed, but he was sure their new professor was busy getting accustomed to their new job in the meantime. He hoped she was preparing for the mock battle that was fast approaching as well as her curriculum.
He was talking to Lady Edelgard about the mock battle outside the dorms when Byleth walked up to them. Upon seeing the professor Lady Edelgard turned to her and quickly roped her into their discussion.
"Some believe the dignity of the empire rests on the results of the mock battle," she said. "That's an overstatement, of course. Still, we must do our best to prevail. You should take the time to learn each student's abilities. Perhaps some extra lessons and training sessions are in order?"
Of course Lady Edelgard desired a win for the Black Eagles. Already impressing upon the professor how important it was to prepare for the mock battle. She may not place her self-worth into something as petty as a play-war, but that did not mean she would give up a victory. As such, he would help her by her side at every avenue.
He glanced at the professor to see how she would take this and saw her brows furrow ever so slightly in a quizzical fashion. Well, at least now he knew she could have expressions, even if they were just small ones. Though confusion did not instill in him the confidence Lady Edelgard had promised he'd have in their professor. He would file this away to add to his mental dossier.
Edelgard promised the professor to help guide her around the monastery. Hubert suppressed a sneer at the idea. Lady Edelgard, acting as a guide to the person who was trusted with leading them? It did not set a very good example, he feared. How could they hope to follow her instructions if she didn't even know where she was going or what she was supposed to be doing? What even had she been doing these last few days? Worried about the state of their professor he decided to give some of his own advice as well.
"Dimitri and Claude are the leaders of the other two houses," he said. "Do not underestimate them. When we take the field, it would be best not to engage the both of them at once."
Normally he would not feel the need to voice such obvious things, but given what he was witnessing… his hopes for the professor's abilities were not high. If they were to win this mock battle it would surely be due to Lady Edelgard's leadership and not Byleth's, he decided.
How anyone could expect a new teacher to whip a class into battle winners in only a week he did not know. At least Jeritza had the time to become accustomed to the monastery and his role here. Why the archbishop thought a random mercenary was more deserving of a teaching position than Jeritza was utterly baffling to Hubert. Was Lady Rhea truly this incompetent, or was there a scheme at play he was yet unaware of? Either option was troubling.
The time leading up to the mock battle was important for the professors to learn what it even was that their students could do and then plan for the mock battle. As not the entire class was allowed to participate it was vital that they chose their representatives well. Professor Byleth was at a disadvantage coming into the school late. With only a week left she not only needed to show discerning thought in who was chosen, but also the ability to lead those chosen to bring victory. Hubert planned to judge her harshly in this period.
Professor Byleth stood at the head of the class as everyone shuffled inside. She leaned back against her desk with her arms folded across her chest, her blank face watching the parade of students as they made their way to their desks. Hubert slid into a seat next to Lady Edelgard and politely folded his hands on top of his desk. He watched Byleth carefully, noting every little movement she made. It was a remarkably short list. He was once more reminded of a statue. If she did not happen to blink the one time he would have started to suspect that she hadn’t bothered to come to class at all and had instead replaced herself with a life-like dummy.
It wasn’t until the last student had sat down did she finally move, causing many to jolt in surprise. Perhaps her stillness had made the others forget her presence at all. Was this a skill she developed as a mercenary?
Pushing away from her desk she turned and scooped up a stack of papers. Handing them out to everyone she said, “I have made a list of battle tactics. You are to mark whether you feel strong, adequate, or weak in each aspect. Edelgard has already informed me of many of your inclinations, but I want to hear from yourselves.”
When she handed him his list he scanned down the page. Sword, lance, reason magic, faith magic, riding, flying, the list went on. So, she wanted them to judge themselves before making her own judgment? Could be she was simply outsourcing the task to save herself the work, but if that were the case then surely she would have just taken Lady Edelgard’s assessment at face value. Perhaps this was instead a test? If anyone graded themselves higher than what she herself would later deem them then that could be a sign of an inflated ego she would have to stamp out. He’d have to hold his judgment on her teaching until further notice.
“Um, hey, Professor Byleth?” Caspar called out, raising his hand as he stared down at his list. “You wrote down ‘authority’ here, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Authority is your ability to lead others.” Byleth answered. There was a beat of silence as the class stared back at her.
“Uh, why is that important?” Caspar asked.
“Hubert, can you answer?” Byleth turned towards him.
“On the battlefield one must be able to control the soldiers you are leading. The strongest fighter is useless if you are unable to direct them properly.” he answered.
“Good job, that is exactly correct,” Byleth said with a nod. “Caspar, you should follow Hubert’s example and think of the big picture.”
Hubert chuckled and said, “Flattery will get you nowhere.”
Professor Byleth turned her gaze back on him and he refused to look away as her blue eyes bore into him. As much as he brushed off her compliments he did feel some small amount of satisfaction in proving himself. He refused to look away from her gaze.
“Ah, I get it now. Makes sense!” Caspar said and Byleth finally turned her attention away from Hubert. He wondered, if they engaged in a true staring contest, would he be able to keep up? He could imagine it would be difficult to not squirm under her unfathomable gaze. However, he too knew how to make people squirm with but a look.
When everyone had filled out their assessment and returned it back to Professor Byleth she took the stack and began to pin each page to the wall.
“W-wait! You’re putting them up for EVERYONE to see?!” Bernadetta squeaked. Byleth turned her head and looked back at the class over her shoulder as she held a page up to the wall.
“Yes. If you know what your classmates are capable of you will more effectively be able to work with them. This will also act as an incentive to improve yourself.” the professor explained as she continued tacking up each page.
So it seemed her focus for them was self-improvement. Admirable at face value, but useless if she couldn’t help them actually improve.
The rest of the class was spent going over everyone’s strengths and having them explain why they chose the ones they did. Hubert noticed, however, that Professor Byleth did not touch upon their self-identified weaknesses. Perhaps she was saving that for another day.
That afternoon they met up in the training grounds to attend Weapon Instruction with Jeritza. While it was unfortunate he was not their house professor they could still use him in a less direct fashion to obfuscate their activities. Since he himself relied on magic instead of weapons Hubert spent this time devising various ways to make use of Jeritza. Failing to attain Jeritza as house professor had always been a possibility, but it was still irksome.
The next morning they were once more seated in Professor Byleth’s class. Their assessment sheets from the previous day were no longer pinned to the wall, and she did not make any mention of them. Instead she walked them through various terminology, common orders, and hand signs. Writing them out on the blackboard and demonstrating for the class she taught them how to follow directions on the battlefield.
He supposed he was grateful she was explaining how she planned to lead them in the mock battle. Making sure they were all on the same page on what she expected from them was better than just throwing them to the field and tossing confusing orders around. There still may be some confusion, but at least it should be on how to do her orders rather than what her orders were.
For the rest of the week they alternated between their normal classes with the professor and weapon training with Jeritza. Neither proved to be particularly insightful. He could practice with weapons fine, but it did little help in his preparations since he knew he would be focusing on magical attacks for the mock battle. Professor Byleth’s classes didn’t even broach new information or battle tactics, as all she did was have the students discussing their own abilities with each other. She simply sat back and let plans flow between the students. Only interjecting when discussions veered off topic or questions were posed directly to her.
A more lenient person might have given Byleth credit for facilitating debate and discussion in her class as she had sparse history with teaching and only a small window to prepare, but he would be cold and in the grave before anyone dared to call him lenient. He could at least admit when asked a question she answered it clearly and without hesitation, but he still failed to see what exactly Lady Edelgard thought was so special about her. As much as he didn’t have high opinions of the other two classes, at least they were teaching things – from what he could observe – rather than directing the students to discuss things among themselves.
For now he would continually observe their professor. He wanted nothing more than to help Lady Edelgard achieve her goals, but he still needed to ascertain whether Professor Byleth deserved to be one of those goals.