The Bright Star [Fire Emblem: Three Houses AU]

The Blade of the Swordmaster (Byleth)

Sitri's death had just celebrated its tenth anniversary some time ago. When Byleth was eleven, Sitri's frail body could not handle an infection, killing her. She was buried in the graveyard of Garreg Mach, and Jeralt stopped by frequently to put some valerians on her grave and tell her stories.

It was a new school year for the students at the Officers Academy. Byleth always wanted to be a part of one of the Houses when he was younger, but he received around the same teachings he would get from his father and Lady Rhea. He technically had no allegiance or nationality— he belonged to the church and was forever faithful to the church and Lady Rhea.

Byleth's faithful service to the church began at a young age when his mother, as a nun, would take him to ceremonies and to pray to the Goddess to show the devotion the two showed. After her death, Byleth still continued to pray to the Goddess everyday just like his mother used to do with him.

Byleth was soon to join the Knights of Seiros, though because the Officers Academy was short on a teacher for extra seminars, Byleth chose to take the spot and become the sword professor full-time until someone else was able to fill the position. While being a sword teacher, he was an in-training knight for the Knights part-time. He did not teach a specific House, but taught all of them on swording, offering extra seminars.

Byleth had met the leaders of the three houses, Princess Edelgard von Hresvelg of the Adrestian Empire from the Black Eagles, Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus from the Blue Lions, and future Duke Claude von Riegan of the Leicester Alliance from the Golden Deer. The future leaders of their nations were the House leaders at the moment, a notable event in Fódlan history.

From what he could observe from her, Edelgard was a kind and compassionate individual, but was competitive around the other house leaders, especially with Dimitri. She must have some sort of rivalry with him that he wasn't much aware of. She didn't exactly have the same sort of competitiveness with Claude, though was often irritated by his jokes.

Dimitri was benevolent and always followed Byleth's instructions. His competitiveness, like Edelgard, arose occasionally when around her presence. With Claude, unlike Edelgard, he was more tolerant of him.

Claude was funny and likeable for Byleth, occasionally cracking a joke during lessons. The jokes made Byleth laugh, but not really for Edelgard and Dimitri.

Byleth was polishing his steel sword to where he could see his reflection within. The sword was never used to be stained with blood, but only to be used to teach students how to use a sword. The only damage the sword had were slight scratches on its edges from being used like a shield in combat to block the sword being attacked from other students. It reminded him of his father in his childhood, showing him how to properly polish a sword.

It was currently lunch period for the students, so that's why Byleth was working on polishing his swords. He didn't expect Edelgard to come see him in the training grounds.

"Edelgard?" Byleth asked, looking at the white-haired girl. "You should go have lunch. I don't want you to be starving for your next class."

"Don't fret, Professor," Edelgard said to him. "I already ate."

"Did you want to talk to me about the lecture you'll be coming to this weekend?"

"Not exactly, Professor. I don't have anything else to do for the rest of the period, so I was wondering if I could stay with you for the rest of lunch period."

"Sure. Do you need something?"

"I was going to ask you a question."

"That question being?"

"People say your father is Captain Jeralt. What was life like growing up?"

"I was trained by my father for as long as I can remember. He was very kind and compassionate, willing to help me get to the levels of training that I wanted. When I was a child, I always wanted to become a Knight of Seiros like my father did."

"You're under training for the Knights, right?"

"Indeed I am. I'm taking this teaching position full-time though and the training part-time because nobody else is able to take the full-time position."

"Do you want to become the Captain?"

"That would be nice."

The bell rang for the end of lunch period and in to the passing period shortly before the students' next class. "Oh, I need to go, Professor. It was nice talking to you."

Byleth waved. "See you later, Edelgard." He saw Edelgard run out of the training area to get to her next class. Byleth looked at her hair as she ran. Her long, albino hair went down to just about the tip of her waist. He only looked at Edelgard's hair occasionally because of how off his mother was about describing what Edelgard looked like.

When his mother was alive, she described Edelgard to have long hair that reminded her of cinnamon sugar with pretty lilac eyes. His mother had never met Edelgard herself and had to rely on what she knew from others to know what she looked like or anything else about her.

Was his mother wrong? It was a thought that stuck with him for quite awhile, but now he didn't have time to think about it. Jeralt came into the training grounds and saw his son.

"Hey, kid," Jeralt said to Byleth. "I came back from my mission earlier than expected. You have anyone this class?"

"No," Byleth said. "It's the students' last period and I don't have any students the last period. I'll have students after this period though for an extra seminar for those requesting extra assistance. I know Dimitri and Claude wanted to come today, though Edelgard can't because she's busy with other things, so she's coming this weekend in a few days."

"Ah, go ahead and prepare for your seminar. When it ends, would you wish to begin your training for the Knights? I have the rest of the day."

"I would love to," Byleth said to his father, nodding.