We're not really Doctors. (Shirou x Harem) Arknights x Fate

Chapter 27 - 1

=== TALULAH ===

Despite her newly returned freedom, Talulah felt everything but happiness.

The weight of her sins weighed heavily on her. Even if it was Kaschey in control of her body, it was her weakness that led to the current situation. Talulah looked around at the devastation around her. The city burning red, fumes of destruction smeared across the glistening early morning sky, and her friend...former friend...facing her like an enemy.

If it wasn't the numb feeling of her powerlessness against Kaschey, then the feeling of the betrayal she put her friends through was enough to bury her deep into the ground.

Patriot approached her slowly, his face wasn't blank like it normally was. Suspicion was etched on it, Shirou's special dagger held firmly in his grip while he took careful measured steps forward.

"Patriot-" Talulah clamped down on herself forcefully. Her tone was shaky, and Patriot caught on.

"Who are you? Kaschey? Or Talulah?" He demanded with a slightly raised voice. The raspy sound of his infected vocal chords were gone and Talulah was surprised at how deep and powerful his voice was. It should've been expected, considering Patriot used to command Ursus armies. His voice alone demanded respect, order, and attention.

"It's me...the real Talulah." She wiped her eyes, rubbing off the watery tears while fighting the urge to break down and cry.

Patriot stopped a couple of steps away from her. His next few words were carefully chosen. "Tell me something only Talulah would know."

"I-I...I can't. Everything I know...Kaschey knows." Kaschey was already in Talulah's head before she met the Patriot and his group. Since the wraith latched on to her body, everything Talulah went through had been seen. It didn't help that Kaschey read every emotion she experienced, using it against her like a weapon.

"Then tell me something Kaschey wouldn't."

Talulah paused. Her mind went over what Patriot said, piecing together the message.

Tell him something Kaschey wouldn't?

What would Kaschey never tell anyone...?

"Kaschey is doing all this for revenge."

"Revenge?" Patriot repeated.

"Kaschey wanted Lungmen...but when my father and his friends took control of Lungmen from him, he kidnapped me and threatened to destroy the city...that was two decades ago." Kaschey told her the story once. He wanted Talulah to understand why her father pissed him off so much.

With Lungmen under Kaschey's control, he could've done more damage to Yan. Sneak agents into the country, weaken the border, infiltrate imperial archives...

The damage would've been massive. Not enough to damage Yan, but enough for Ursus to have sunk their claws into Yan's fringes and clawed out an advantage when war erupted.

"How do you know that?" Patriot wasn't sure how much he could believe, but his sixth sense hadn't gone off yet. It also didn't seem like Kaschey would share anything personal with anyone. Patriot had noticed that Talulah became distant in the past few years, sharing nothing personal aside from her thoughts on matters, and even then they were expertly crafted to push a narrative.

Patriot recognized the telltale signs of politics, since he had also been mired in it during his time as a general in Ursus. Though, he attributed it to Talulah's education under Kaschey.

To think that it was Kaschey in control of Talulah's body...

"Kaschey told me." Talulah was holding herself better now, keeping her emotions in check now that she had something to distract her.