The throne room of the Imperial Palace of Enbarr was empty, save for two individuals standing before a fallen Emperor. Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd stood with his lance, Areadbhar, held weakly in his hand, crimson blood staining the golden blade. Next to him was his closest companion and confidant, a woman with mint green hair by the name of Byleth Eisner. The expression she bore was hardened and stoic, contrary to Dimitri's look of pain and regret.

Gritting his teeth, Dimitri wrapped his fingers around the handle of the blade embedded in his shoulder and winced in pain as he withdrew it in one pull. With the blade dripping with his blood, he unclenched his fingers and allowed it to weakly fall to the ground, the sound of the metal against the stone floor ringing out. There was silence for several moments before the blonde man allowed himself to let out a heavy sigh of relief, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

"It's over," he said almost in disbelief. "Five years…and it has finally come to an end. It doesn't feel real."

Byleth did not respond. Instead, she kept her eyes locked on the mess of white hair and the scarlet red cloak lying on the ground before her. The limp hands covered by red gloves, the pool of blood slowly forming under the body, the ancient ax lying on the ground, its wielder no longer breathing. Dimitri was right—it didn't feel real, not at all. Byleth heard an intense ringing in her ears as her partner continued to speak, his words being drowned out by the high pitched noise.

Edelgard von Hresvelgr—the woman with whom Byleth had spent countless hours chatting the days away all those years ago—was dead. Slain by the blade of her step-brother and former friend. He had offered his hand in an attempt to make the best of this horrible situation, but instead of accepting it and resigning herself to a life in shackles, Edelgard had made a last ditch effort to prevail and it had cost her her life. Byleth was not surprised; she was always a stubborn one, that Edelgard. She had once said that she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals and she was certainly a woman of her word, even up until the very end.

The former Officers Academy professor was snapped out of her daze by the hand of Dimitri being placed on her shoulder. Her muscles suddenly tensed in surprise, though she calmed herself upon seeing the concerned expression of her close friend.

"Professor?" he asked with a frown. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Byleth responded in a breath, blinking multiple times to snap herself back to reality. "It is just…an odd feeling. I don't know how to react."

Dimitri let his hand slide from Byleth's shoulder and nodded in agreement. Byleth had never been the best at expressing the things she was feeling, which was something that she had struggled with since she was a baby. She had improved a great amount over the years, but still she struggled. Dimitri could relate to this to a certain extent, though in his experience, he had been purposely suppressing his emotions while Byleth simply could not express them.

"You should react in whatever manner you see fit," Dimitri advised. "Joy, relief, anger, regret, sadness…even I am feeling an amalgamation of all of those. It's a horrible situation, truly. I've known Edelgard since we were both children. The time we spent together was—" The man ceased speaking and slowly closed his mouth upon the clouds moving past the sun, allowing the light to shine through the single stained glass window of the throne room. The sunlight beamed down directly upon Byleth's face and revealed the twinkling tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Professor…you're crying…"

With a small gasp, Byleth quickly raised her hand to her face and touched her fingertips to her cheeks. Sure enough, they came away damp.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I…didn't mean to." She used the back of her hands to wipe her tears away, but it was a fruitless endeavor. Her tears continued to flow like a gentle waterfall, slowly dripping down onto the stone floor. "I can't stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

Dimitri pulled his former teacher into a tender embrace, her head resting on his chest. At this point, she had broken into a sob and her tears were seeping into Dimitri's clothes. This was the second time he had ever seen Byleth cry, the first time being when her father met an unfortunate end. Even then she had only shed a few tears, but now…

"You do not have to apologize; I understand. I know that you two were close, so this must be difficult for you."

"No," Byleth corrected, biting her bottom lip. "It isn't. It shouldn't be. El…was bad. She left a path of corpses in her wake and was too stubborn to listen to reason. It's a good thing that she's dead." The former professor held her tongue between her teeth as her knees began to grow weak and she felt a twinge of pain in her chest. She soon slowly fell to her knees and her voice broke. "So then why do I feel this way?"

As she continued to sob and Dimitri comforted her with his hand on her back, Byleth harkened back to those halcyon days back at the monastery that she shared with her beloved Edelgard, trying not to dwell on the fact that she would never be able to have those experiences again.

Like a pair of mischievous children, Byleth Eisner and Edelgard von Hresvelgr knelt beneath the professor's desk in the main classroom of the Black Eagles house with joyful smiles on their faces. Edelgard closed her eyes and began to giggle, but Byleth placed her hand over her mouth to muffle the noise. Byleth's sea blue eyes locked onto Edelgard's lilac ones and couple tried their best to remain silent as they heard an eager footsteps entering the room.

"Lady Edelgard? Professor? Fie, where in the world have those two gone?" asked the voice of Hubert von Vestra, the man who was more or less Edelgard's personal retainer. Almost every action he took throughout the day was in service of her and the future empress had expressed to Byleth in the past that while he was like a brother to her, his presence could oftentimes be suffocating. As such, when he insisted on accompanying the two on their tea date, they had exchanged telling looks and bolted away. The pair ducked into the first room with an open door and were now taking refuge within the classroom, hiding.

Byleth removed her hand from over Edelgard's mouth and instead simply pressed a finger into her soft lips, making her blush profusely. Hubert walked around the classroom and scanned for any sign of his heiress, luckily failing to check under Byleth's desk with stacks of paper atop of it. When he found nothing, he let out a deep groan and began to angrily tap his foot on the ground.

"I swear, that woman is nothing but a bad influence on her. If she had never arrived…Lady Edelgard!" Hubert stormed out of the classroom and resumed his search through the courtyard of the monastery, unaware of the fact that he had been looming over what he was seeking not moments ago.

"Gods, I feel like a schoolgirl trying to evade an angry professor," Edelgard snickered as Byleth brushed her fingertip against her lip before caressing her face.

"When in reality, you're a schoolgirl evading a retainer with a professor." Byleth closed her eyes and leaned forward, gently pressing her lips into Edelgard's with her cheeks dusting pink. Edelgard returned the kiss happily as Byleth ran her hand down her face and to her shoulder, then pulling away and smiling at each other in adoration. "Soon to be your professor."

"Professor…" Edelgard took Byleth's hand in her own and squeezed it while pursing her lips and staring at her knees through her red tights. "I truly do appreciate you wanting to transfer to the Black Eagles, but…I can't help but feel that it may be inappropriate to be in a relationship with my own instructor. What will the others say?"

Byleth placed a finger on her chin for a moment in thought before ultimately shrugging. "I can't say, though, I don't think it matters. If we love one another then we should be together, should we not?"

"I know, and I feel the same, but I am set to become emperor fairly soon. If my subjects find out that I am in a relationship with my school's professor, then surely they'll think me uncouth or perhaps even immature. How am I to respond to such assumptions?"

"We can deal with that together when the time comes, El. Right now, all that matters is you."

"B-but what about Dimitri and the rest of the Blue Lions?" Edelgard bumbled nervously. "Surely they'll be devastated that their beloved professor would be leaving them just because of a girl. We must take their feelings into consideration as well before we move forward."

The more Edelgard spoke, the deeper Byleth frowned. Becoming the professor of the Black Eagles was something that she had been anticipating for days now and Edelgard seemed excited by the prospect at first, but was now clearly having second thoughts. Byleth did not understand where her lover's trepidation stemmed from, though it stung nevertheless.

"El, if you don't want me to be your professor, then you can tell me. It's alright, I won't take any offense."

Edelgard was surprised at the fact that Byleth was able to tell what she was feeling. She may not have been the best when it came to showing her emotions—at least, with those who were not Edelgard herself—but she was certainly quite perceptive when it came to reading people. Edelgard sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead on Byleth's.

"It isn't as simple as that. Dimitri, Felix, Mercedes, everyone. I don't want them to be hurt. They all respect you and value your companionship so much that they'd be hurt deeply if you were to just up and switch houses. They'd feel as if you don't care for them as much as they think you do."

"I do care about them," Byleth stated in a matter-of-fact fashion. "They're my precious students as well as my close comrades. Leaving them behind wouldn't be easy for me, but I wish to be around you more."

"I feel the same, but we must consider the repercussions. It's possible that you would favor me over the other Black Eagles and that isn't fair to them. We're several months into the semester and having Manuela suddenly transfer to the Blue Lions when she hasn't built connections to them will hinder their growth. Additionally, think of what Rhea and Seteth would think of you. They both hold you in very high regard as of now, but that may change if you go through with this."

Seeing Byleth's eyes darkened truly did hurt Edelgard's heart. Of all the emotions out there, joy and sadness were the ones that Byleth could show the best, and at that moment, Edelgard saw clearly the disappointment on her beloved's face. As much as it hurt her, she knew that keeping things the way they were was for the best.

"You're right. I shouldn't change anything. I apologize for considering it."

"No, you don't have to apologize," Edelgard said before placing a gentle kiss on the other woman's forehead. "I also wish that we can spend more time together, but it's not as if things will be like this forever. Once the school year ends, I was hoping you would accompany me back to Enbarr." The princess pressed her lips together as her cheeks grew rosey, pressing her fingers together nervously. "I ah…would like to introduce you to my father."

Byleth's expression lit up immediately and the smile returned to her face. She took Edelgard's hand and scooted out from under the desk, then pulling her to her feet and into a tender hug. Edelgard wrapped her arms around her beloved in return and rested her head on Byleth's shoulder.

"Thank you, El. When I was a little girl, I never even considered the possibility of falling in love with someone. I don't yet understand it, but having you…having you has made me feel things I thought I wasn't capable of feeling. I love you."

Edelgard's face burned hot. Her personality dictated that she not be the most affectionate woman, but Byleth was her weakness. She'd only ever said those three special words once before and struggled to muster up the strength needed to repeat them, but now she felt it necessary. She bit down on her bottom lip and rested her hand on Byleth's waist before taking a deep breath.

"I…I love you as well. Let us never be separated, my dearest."

And so, with both pairs of eyes closed, the women stood in silence and simply enjoyed each other's touched, one of them putting her faith in the goddess that no one would pass by the wide open. Sothis knows that there would have been many questions that would have to be answered.

"Professor."

Byleth slowly raised her head and took a look behind her to see Dimitri looking down at her. Now, she knelt before Edelgard's lifeless body with her hands on her knees. She did not respond, instead letting out a quiet and soft grunt to signal that she had heard him.

"We should get going. Everyone is waiting outside for us. I'm sure that they'll be nervous if we take too long." Dimitri gave a small smile. "We wouldn't want Sylvain to come breaking the door down, would we?"

Dimitri's attempt to lighten the mode proved futile, as Byleth simply turned her attention back to the corpse before her and shook her head. Even if she wished to leave, she was not sure if her body would allow her to.

"You can go ahead without me. I'll join you shortly. I…" Byleth hesitantly raised her hand and ran it through Edelgard's soft hair, a shudder running down her spine upon contact. "I don't want her to be alone."

With a somber expression on his face, Dimitri nodded in understanding. He carried Ahreadbar over his shoulder and trudged over to the throne room's entrance, looking back at his Professor one last time. Before he left, he gave her some parting words.

"Take all the time you need."

With that, the soon to be king of Faerghus pushed through the doors and stepped through them, being met with the smiles and cheers of his friends before they shut and left Byleth alone. The woman placed her hands gently on Edelgard's body and rolled her over so that she was on her back as softly as she could. She stared at Edelgard's face for what seemed like an eternity. With her eyes closed and her mouth shut, she almost seemed like she was only sleeping.

Byleth reached forward and took hold of the elbow length glove concealing the left hand of the empress', then lightly tugging on it in order to remove it. Doing such revealed the numerous scars that ran down her arm and marred her otherwise blemish free snow-white skin. To this day, Byleth had been the only one that she had willingly showed them to. Byleth took her hand and felt the tears coming once again. It was still warm. It had been over five years since she held this hand, the last time being within the Holy Mausoleum before Edelgard attempted to convince her to walk with her. Byleth briefly wondered where she would be now if she chose to defend the woman she loved, but pushed those thoughts away. Her father always told her that it was useless to dwell on what could have been.

Finally, with a shaky hand, Byleth reached into the pocket of her cloak and produced a small silver ring. The violet color of the center almost matched the shade of Edelgard's eyes. Breathless, Byleth raised Edelgard's hand and slipped the ring over her ring finger before putting her glove back on and crossing her arms over her chest. She wished to cry some more, but knew that she could not dwell for too long. She ran a hand across Edelgard's face one last time before rising to her feet and turning away, clutching at her chest and gritting her teeth. She then began to hastily walk towards the exit and paused before she reached the doors, taking one last look at the woman she once knew.

"Rest well…El."

A/N: You know, it never sat well with me how angrily Byleth kills Edelgard in Silver Snow or how they passively stand by while Dimitri kills her in Azure Moon. I wanted to do my own take on how they would handle Edelgard's death, so here it is. Hope you enjoyed! Remember that reviews sustain my life-force.

This chapter's featured song is Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier.