Dimitri was preparing for the upcoming battle he was going to wage against the monastery. To his advantage, Marianne's magic never reached around the ruins completely. With easy magic, Dimitri opened up a secret staircase and followed the steps, leading him out into an underground laboratory. There were many large tubes, each one carrying a puppet solider being powered by crests that were taken by the people from the nearby village. With a smile, Dimitri released all of them and they all pledge their loyalty.
"Good. Mindless puppets being more loyal than the pathetic subjects I once had," Dimitri said as he held up his lance. "Listen, all of you. I plan to wage war against the monastery, and get rid of the archbishop and false king of this land. As the one who released all of you, follow my command or taste my wrath."
There was no objections from any of the puppets and Dimitri nodded. He knew he had to kill Claude and Byleth as revenge for his death. However, once they were killed, Dimitri had plans to take over Fódlan and stretch out his power to the other neighboring countries.
"Father. Mother. Dedue. I'll avenge all of you...I'll make them pay and finally claim my birthright," Dimitri said as his hand clenched tightly around his relic. The puppet soldiers got to work on creating weapons for their invasion as Dimitri simply talked to himself and the ghosts from his past.
———————————————-
About a few days went by, and there was still no news from any of their allies.
Claude and Byleth could only assume that each of them got the letters, but that was all they could do. Even then, they were anxious and even hesitant whenever the topic of Dimitri popped up in their conversations. Unfortunately, both of them were too busy to even have just a small normal conversation together. Claude was too busy preparing the knights and Almyran troops for the battle, making sure for him to train as well. Byleth was still overseeing the new students and keeping up with the church's sermons for the villagers that would come and visit.
When either one of them was done, they would return to their chambers and try to wait for the other by staying up, but would always fall asleep before they would arrive. Claude desperately wanted to talk with her, but as king, he knew his responsibility was to keep his troops reassured that everything was going to be alright. Byleth, however, decided to surprise him. After all, he had done the same for her a few days ago. So, using the power of Claude's "decree", she snuck off to the kitchen a prepared a hefty dinner just for the two of them. Once that was done, she had it ordered to her room and she waited there for Claude's arrival.
It was really late when Claude was done for the day. He sighed tiredly as he stretched out his limbs, lazily putting Anais back into her stable. She grunted softly as Claude stroked her scales.
"Good girl. Rest up, okay?" He said as Anais huffed. He chuckled softly as he turned off the lantern and left the area. He made his way to the entrance of the building where Byleth's room was, and was surprised to see the room still lit.
'She's awake?' He thought. 'Maybe she fell asleep with the light on. Way too late for her liking to be up right now.'
He finished his thoughts as he entered the building and made his way up the stairs. As softly and quietly as he could, Claude opened the door and was greeted with quite a sight. Byleth was standing in front of a table and waiting for him, still in her church robes from earlier. The food was still nice and warm thanks to her knowledge in fire magic. He was speechless as he didn't quite know how to respond despite him being known as a talkative schemer.
"It's really late, Claude. You must be exhausted," Byleth said softly as Claude stepped inside and closed the door.
"I know. Training with the knights took a bit longer than expected. They're really rusty on their bow skills," Claude chuckled as Byleth smiled. "But, I'm here now. What's all this?"
"I made us dinner. It's your favorite," She replied as she turned to the food. "Pheasant Roast with Berry Sauce."
"Woah, really?" Claude said in amazement as he scurried over and saw the whole table. "This is a difficult dish to cook. How did you manage to make it?"
"Are you saying I'm not a good cook?" Byleth asked as Claude stayed silent. She laughed softly, shaking her head. "I am a bad cook, I know. I had some help from the kitchen staff."
"I thought the goddess provided a miracle," Claude replied as Byleth softly punched his arm. "Oh, ow, teach. That hurt my arm. Kiss it better?" They both snickered as they both sat down and began to eat the food. Once everything was eaten, the two sat in their chairs, smiles of content on their faces.
"Oh, my. That was wonderful," Byleth said with a happy sigh as Claude nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, my lady. This helped big time," Claude said as Byleth perked up. "I've been tired and stressed lately. I can imagine the same for you. I'm sorry I didn't have the time to do this for you. It really was nice of you."
"Funny enough, I remember you telling me that I had it harder. You just confirmed you've been busier than me," Byleth said with a smirk as Claude raised up an eyebrow. "Of course, that doesn't mean we can't help each other."
"What do you...What do you mean?" Claude asked as he saw Byleth getting out of her chair with elegance.
"We both have stress to release off of ourselves. So, let's aid each other, shall we?" She asked with a very interesting smile. So interesting that Claude's eyes went wide in surprise as his cheeks flushed.
"O-Okay!" Claude quickly said, a bit excited (and nervous), as he stood up and went to his fiancé. "You planned this, didn't you?"
"Of course I did. A carefully planned out dinner that involved a little something special for just the two of us," Byleth said as Claude pulled her close to him. His hands rested against his hips as her hands rested against his chest.
"Just so you know before we do this...I love you," Claude said with a smile.
"I love you too, Claude. Always," Byleth said, returning his smile with her own. Both of them closed their eyes, and as their faces inched closer to each other, their lips began to part before-
"Lady Byleth? Are you in there with his highness, Claude?" Seteth said from behind the door after the knocking stop. Claude sighed heavily as he rested his forehead against Byleth's shoulder.
"Why...Just, why," Claude whined as Byleth patted his cheek after he stood back straight. "Give us a moment, Seteth."
Once settled, Claude answered the door with Byleth by his side.
"I was hoping I find you both here. I know it is late, but I thought you may want to know this as it is very important," Seteth said as both Claude and Byleth gave him confused looks. "Do you recall those letters you had me send out a few days ago?"
"Yes. Did you get responses?" Byleth asked.
"Yes, however...Not in letter form," Seteth replied.
"What do you mean 'not in letter form?'" Claude asked.
—————————————————
It turned out that all their allies they sent letters to had arrived to the monastery instead of sending back notices. Claude and Byleth were surprised once they made it downstairs and into the main hall, seeing their allies springing up with excitement to see the pair. Even Lorenz and Marianne were there to greet them as well.
Raphael and Flaynn had arrived from Raphael's family hotel. Ignatz and his wife, Hilda, were there as well, along with their captain, Leonie.
Ashe had brought along his wife, Mercedes. Sylvain was showing off how beautiful his wife Dorothea was to everyone, even making her smile and blush from the attention. Even their captain, Ingrid, shook her head in annoyance of the flattery. Felix ignore it as Lysithea stayed close to him. Annette was there as well, but unfortunately, her husband Caspar had matters to attend to back at home. Even Ferdinand and Petra were unavailable to attend due to matters back in Brigid that needed to be handled, as told by Annette. Linhardt and Bernadetta were also missing as well, sending a message to Annette that they were handling a bandit situation in their territory.
"Seems like everyone is here," Claude said as he looked around. "It's nice to see you all again."
"It's a pleasure, your highness," Ashe said with a smile. "Lovely to see you as well, Lady Byleth."
"It's great to see you all once again, everyone," Byleth said with a small smile.
"So...I don't mean to crash the party, but...What exactly are we doing here by request?" Lysithea asked as both Claude and Byleth tensed up a bit. Even Lorenz and Marianne stayed silent in response to it.
"I...I will explain everything soon. First, let's get you all settled in, huh? Seteth, please escort them to their rooms," Byleth said as he nodded.
"This way everyone," Seteth motioned as everyone proceeded to follow him.
"Felix, may I speak with you?" Claude asked as he stopped in front of him and Lysithea. Felix nodded as he looked to his female companion.
"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up with you later," Felix said as Lysithea nodded, going ahead with the others. Byleth looked back at the two, and Claude gave her a small nod before he and Felix walked away.
————————————
"So, this is your office?" Felix asked as they entered a room on the second floor next to the main church.
"I mean, it belonged to Captain Jeralt before he passed away. I still say its his," Claude said with a chuckle as Felix nodded. "You're wondering why Byleth and I asked you all to respond to those requests, huh?"
"Yes. I'm surprised Sylvain was able to find me, especially since Lady Byleth requested for him to do so. That buffoon nearly got whacked by a broom stick had it not been his wife who intervened," Felix noted.
"Oh, so that's how you both got the notices. Got it. Thank you, my lady. Anyways, I have something I need to ask you, and I wanted to ask you privately about it."
"Ask away," Felix replied as Claude sighed.
"...How close were you with Dimitri?"
"...What?" Felix asked, not processing the question entirely.
"Your past relationship with Dimitri. How was it?" Claude asked.
"I...Why do you need to know this?"
"It's hard to explain right now, Felix. Trust me on that. We're preparing for something...Big," Claude answered as Felix cocked his eyebrow in confusion. "A full-out invasion."
"A full-out invasion? You can't really be serious, Claude," Felix said quietly, his eyes wide with shock.
"I'm dead serious. If we don't act soon, we're expecting heavy casualties in the surrounding villages and here at the monastery. We have to move out and meet the threat," Claude replied. "That's why I may need a diversion from you and Sylvain."
"Diversion?" Felix asked. "Don't mind me asking, your highness, but who even is the target?"
Claude stayed silent and avoided his eyes. He instead pulled out a map of Fódlan and placed little markers of where the troops were going to be.
"You and Sylvain will be on opposite sides of this area. Sylvain and Leonie will take the calvary lines from here and you'll take the mages from here using Lysithea and Dorothea's aid," Claude started as he moved the markers. "Ashe and Ignatz will ignite the signal once both of you converge and that will allow for the rest of us to counter attack from behind. We'll corner the enemy with nowhere to escape."
"Claude. Why haven't you answered my questions? Who are we fighting?" Felix responded, a little more harshly.
"I can't tell you yet. I know, you'll hate me for it, but I don't care. It's not my place to really tell you," Claude answered as Felix crossed his arms. "Besides, I know you don't want to raise your sword again, but I need you to."
"She told you, didn't she?" Felix asked with a sigh as Claude shook his head.
"No. Just a hunch. I remember whenever we had to head out to the battlefield, you were always eager to draw out your sword and ask questions later. Now, you're keeping the sword tucked away."
"Look, you highness. Lysithea and I left for a reason, and that was for the both of us to live in peace without more conflict or drama."
"I know. As king of two big countries, I agree with you. I want to finally marry my fiancé and put this all behind us...But our work isn't done yet," Claude said as he went around his desk and stood in front of Felix. "I can't tell you who we're fighting since, again, it's not my place to tell. However, you, Sylvain, and Ingrid will face something, and I'm not even sure if any of you are prepared for it."
Felix stayed silent as he thought about his allies, his friends. All three of them, Felix, Sylvain, and Ingrid, have been the best of childhood friends. All of them were close to each other when they were younger and even in the war, they never lost sight of each other...But now? Their friendship was going to be tested by something he didn't even know about.
"Do they know about this yet?" Felix asked as Claude shook his head.
"Only Marianne and Lorenz know of this. Not any of the others. I plan to talk with each one individually tomorrow," Claude replied as Felix looked away. "I know it's hard not knowing what the truth is. I feel you. However, you just need to have faith in both me and Byleth on this until the time is right."
"I had faith in someone once...Until he turned mad with rage and revenge," Felix said softly as he turned away and exited the office. Claude stood there as those words rang in his head.
I had faith in someone once...Until he turned mad with rage and revenge.
'Dimitri,' Claude thought as he looked down and stared at the map again. His eyes trailed at all the markers, eventually stopping on the one where he had a feeling Dimitri was going to be for his plan to be set.
'I would have never killed you, my friend...Even if my life depended on it.'