Not This Time

Father Daughter Talk

"Kid, we need to talk."

Byleth pressed her lips together at the sound of her fathers voice before turning to face him. He sounded stern and scolding. They had technically won the battle of Gronder, with stopping the Alliance and Kingdom from reuniting and all that, but...Jeralt wasn't happy because of how Byleth had risked her life, Edelgard had been injured, and Byleth had been unsuccessful in her attempts. Not only had Claude refused to listen, her father had no choice but to kill Ignatz. Byleth heard that all of the leaders had retreated with major injuries, and that was enough to worry Byleth more than anything...

"About what?" Byleth feigned ignorance. As her father shot her a knowing look, she sighed in annoyance. "Dad, I'm fine. I was right, wasn't I? He didn't hurt me!"

"Sure. Claude didn't hurt you. Not sure why, but...well, anyway," Jeralt moved back on subject before he could get sidetracked. "But on your journey there, you could have been hurt by anyone! You saw what your heart did. If I wasn't there, you would have been killed. Out there, it's kill or be killed. You know that. So why are you acting soft all of a sudden? Because of one boy?"

"Because he's not just a boy!" Byleth exclaimed exasperatedly. She went to run a hand through her hair, but stopped mid-action. That was exactly what Claude did when he was nervous... "He's my friend. I don't know. He makes me feel emotion like no one has ever done before. I don't want to kill people that I know, and he also made me realize that that's a terrible horror of war... Even still, I just have a feeling. I just have a feeling that I can't let him go!"

"I'm sure that one student was once your friend, too," Jeralt said solemnly, looking down as he thought about the murder of poor Ignatz. Sure, it had been in self defense, but...Ignatz didn't deserve it. What about all those people awaiting him? Byleth was sure Ignatz wasn't the only student she had known that had passed during that fight, either...what if Hilda was gone? Did that mean Claude was truly alone? "I'm sorry, but friends just might end up becoming enemies entirely...wait. You just have a feeling...?"

"Yes?"

"...Kid, your...your heart," Jeralt said tensely, and he frowned. He looked as if he was thinking intensely about something, and while Byleth knew it had to do with her condition, she wasn't sure what he was getting at. "Was it hurting when you were talking to him?"

"Um...I don't know?" Byleth shrugged awkwardly, trying to think back to the moment. Everything had flown by so quickly; besides, Byleth hadn't been concentrated on her own condition at that moment. She had just been enamored with trying to convince Claude! "Maybe?"

"...Kid, I think...Well, never mind," Jeralt shook his head, changing his mind, much to Byleth's annoyance. He seemed to know something about her condition, and he wasn't sharing! How was that fair? "I shouldn't say it when it can't happen anyway."

"No, no!" Byleth disagreed, crossing her arms. Manuela had been unable to find anything lately, but she was working with Hanneman (with Byleth's permission, of course) to try and diagnose the professor. But as day by day passed of aching, Byleth grew more desperate for a solution. "You have to tell me now!"

"It's for your own good that you don't know. Trust me," Jeralt glanced towards his shoes, kicking at the ground. "It will literally break your heart if you knew, I think. We don't know what Rhea did to you, and I'm not taking any chances."

"Dad..."

"...I need you to be more careful," Jeralt scolded again, but this time, his tone softened and he reached over to place a hand on her shoulder. "...I can't lose you. But...if you do get the opportunity to speak with Claude again...I won't stop you."

"Really?" Byleth practically squealed, almost jumping up and down in victory.

"You're gonna go with or without my permission," Jeralt reminded her, and Byleth could only weakly nod in agreement. "But I'm coming with you, and there's no arguing that. Got it?"

"Okay."

"I'm doing this...because I understand how you feel about that boy...even if I don't wanna admit it," Jeralt sighed, muttering that last sentence to himself. "I know how desperate you are to see him again, and I know how reckless you'll be to see him. But can I just ask you...what do you plan to do?"

"What do I plan to do?" Byleth repeated, unsure of what exactly he was referring to. That question was rather vague, after all. "What do you mean?"

"If-and when- you have to choose between Edelgard's bloody war, or defending the Alliance with Claude," Jeralt said bluntly, making Byleth's eyes widen. "What will you do?"

"I...I don't know."

I have to stay with Edelgard...

But I can't kill Claude.

What am I supposed to do...?

I don't want to kill people I know...

But I need to put an end to Rhea and her destruction...

Sothis, help me. What would you have done...?

"You're going to have to figure it out soon, kid. Or this war is going to collapse...and we won't be on the winning side."