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the-fab-fox · 9 months

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[Setleth 5+1] There's Something Here, I Can Feel It

SUMMARY: This is the result of my idea I came up with awhile ago, which was thus: "THE FIVE TIMES CLAUDE, DIMITRI, AND EDELGARD NOTICED SETETH AND BYLETH HAVE A THING FOR EACH OTHER, AND THE ONE TIME THEY (FINALLY) NOTICED IT THEMSELVES."

Hope you all enjoy! Do please reblog to get the story out and if you feel up to it, I'd love to hear what you think! Can be in reblog or reply or even an ask if you'd rather!

I. Claude

"And so that's why I think this is…"

The best course of action, he finished silently in his head. He waved the words aside internally, as if his mind's inner voice was someone else entirely.

None of that mattered. Something big was going down, right before his eyes.

The slight pink dusting Seteth's cheeks said everything the silent man wasn't saying.

How had he not noticed before? As much as the advisor to the Archbishop wanted to believe he was the master of impassivity, Seteth was anything but. He wore his heart on his sleeves and it was clear with just a glance at the man what kind of mood he was in.

His mood right now was less emotional though and more of a state of mind.

It was sweet, really. Honest to goodness. Claude never lied when it came to the sweetness of a situation.

It seemed the academy's headmaster had a bit of a crush on the Professor.

What made the whole thing even better was that Claude was ninety-seven percent sure his Teach was kinda into Seteth too.

Now, wasn't that just cherry on top?

—

II. Edelgard

It was a worthy idea. It hadn't ever crossed her mind to consider combining two houses in a particular class. Now that it had been laid out before her by the Archbishop's advisor, however, it was a little embarrassing that it hadn't.

Seteth was a little pink in the face too, which made it seem as if he too was feeling the disappointment at failing to come to this conclusion earlier. That's what she thought, at first.

Something caught her eye though. The slightest turn upward at the corners of his mouth. The softening of the creases at the corners of his eyes and across his forehead. The spark of light in eyes that were normally quite dull, truth be told.

A certain sneaky degenerate of an alliance leader whispered in her ear even now, reminding her of a conversation with Claude that she had long since dismissed.

In her defense, it had seemed laughable. An impossibility. Their teacher hardly spoke, much less showed any emotion.

But perhaps there was some merit to the idea. Certainly there was something, at least on Seteth's side of things.

But their teacher felt the same? Was it possible?

And would she, Edelgard, be okay with it if it was?

—

III. Dimitri

The crown prince of Faerghus had actually witnessed two such exchanges between the two prior to Claude and Edelgard's experiences. He just hadn't realized that the exchange had been something shocking or surprising. Were they not like that with other people? He'd never really paid enough attention to their general dispositions around everyone else.

He told his stories now to a fully rapt future leader of the Leicester Alliance and future ruler to the Adrestian Empire. In fact, the blond prince was quite certain that he'd never been able to hold their attention like he was right then.

"Wait! He pulled a leaf from her hair?"

Edelgard looked a little too offended on Byleth's behalf. If anything… she seemed almost… no, that couldn't be it. Could it?

Claude, on the other hand, looked as if gift-giving season had just come early.

"Obviously, there is an opportunity here. Now, I may not have your royal dispositions, majesties, and I make up for that with my charm and wits and good nature. But I consider us equals, the three of us. And if ever there was a situation made for the very purpose of us teaming up, this is it, guys!"

Edelgard knew immediately what he was getting at. Dimitri could see the anger, annoyance, and definite jealousy in those light purple eyes. But a second later, followed by a deep breath in and out, the Adrestian princess joined Claude's cause.

"If this is what will ensure our teacher's happiness, then it is our duty to help them along!"

Dimitri, frowned. "I don't know… it doesn't feel right, meddling in the affairs of the heart. Surely, if it is meant to be, it'll happen without our input."

The other two glanced at each other before shaking their heads.

"What?"

"That's a nice thought. A knightly thought but… people will rarely do what's best for them on their own."

"Well said, princess."

Dimitri wasn't sold but he supposed he could see their point at the very least.

Determination set along his brow.

"Tell me what you need me to do."

—

IV. Claude, Edelgard, & Dimitri

Dimitri frowned and Claude was worried the prince was about to call the whole thing off.

"Are you sure this, er, topic will be enough to distract the professor?"

"Oh definitely. Teach seems adamant about helping others out, no matter what. She'll definitely want to assist you and it'll kill her that she can't offer any advice. That's gonna distract her more than anything!"

Dimitri looked scandalized. "I don't want to cause the professor any undue harm."

Claude held up a hand.

"No harm. An annoyance at the very most, I promise."

He ignored the pointed look he got from the princess and instead rest his hand on Dimitri's shoulder.

"You're the only one she will believe. So… maybe think about your own crush while you're pretending to ask for advice…"

Dimitri nodded, his face understanding. A few seconds passed before his gaze widened and he quickly crossed the room to the door.

"N-no time like the present, like you always say, Claude. I'll be off now."

Claude blinked, staring at the spot where the prince had been seconds prior.

Slowly, a grin slipped onto his face.

"So Dimitri does have a crush!"

He spun around to seek out Edelgard.

"Don't ask me. Why would he tell me?"

Claude sighed.

"Yet you still seem to have some idea, don't you, princess?"

Edelgard shrugged but allowed herself to give the smallest near imperceptible nod of her head.

"Let us just say that I haven't a clue what he sees in this particular person."

Claude narrowed his eyes, trying to gauge whether or not she was messing with him. He couldn't sense any ulterior motive and she seemed to be teasing rather than hurtful.

"You said person, an interesting choice of words when it's generally presumed that his princliness is straight."

Edelgard rolled her eyes but said nothing else. She couldn't allow herself to give away clues accidentally.

"So either it was a simple word choice that had no significance or this "person" isn't a girl. Wouldn't that be interesting?"

Glancing her way, Claude raised a brow at the surprise on her face. She masked it a few seconds later but too little, too late. "Oh." A smile slowly slipped onto his lips though he tried to smooth it away. "So it's like that, is it?"

Edelgard scoffed and shook her head before storming off. Claude got the distinct impression she was annoyed because he was totally right about Dimitri. A good thing too, considering the whole crush he was harboring on the guy.

—

V. Golden Deer

"Alright! So that's the plan! Any questions?"

Claude watched his pink haired retainer cross her arms with a frown.

"Let me get this straight. You want to talk loudly outside Seteth's office, playing up that Dimitri is professing his love to our professor, knowing it's pretty much likely that Dimitri is gay?"

Claude nodded, smirking at the ingeniousness of the plan.

"Uh huh. And you don't see how this plan can go completely wrong?"

Claude gave a pause at that. She had a point, after all. But he ultimately couldn't see how the plan could fail.

"Alright. And what if our dear professor actually gives Dimitri some good advice and he decides to go after the guy of his dreams? Are you going to be okay with that?"

Claude blinked and then frowned. "Teach doesn't know about romance. There's no way…wait, are you saying you know the guy that Dimitri likes?"

Hilda giggled and took a deep breath. "My how the tables have turned. Claude, I'm pretty sure everyone knows who Dimitri likes except the person Dimitri likes."

She walked off and Claude was about to call after her when the true meaning behind her words hit him. Marianne and Raphael had just passed him when he reached out to stop them.

"Who does Dimitri have romantic feelings for?"

Marianne blushed and looked away, mumbling something about it not being her place to say but surprised he didn't already know. Raphael, on the other hand, had no qualms informing him.

"Ah! I guess it would be hard to know who a person likes when the person is you, so yeah. I can tell ya. Dimitri is like, seriously in love with you, dude! How cool is that?"

Claude felt his jaw drop as so many uncertainties and impossibilities finally clicked neatly into place.

"Oh. Uh, thanks for that, Raf. You've given me a lot to think about, that's for sure."

"Haha. Any time!"

Claude watched as the two carried on, suddenly working through the two issues now on hand.

—

+1. Setleth

"I don't know, Hilda. Dimitri was really adamant about wanting to talk to Teach alone. He asked to meet her in the courtyard after class. And Teach is really pretty. You'd be a fool not to see it. So it totally checks that she's pretty popular with the guys around here. I heard she gets one confession a week. Minimum."

Seteth took a deep breath and brought his fingers up to rub at his temples.

What scheme are you cooking up now, Claude? Whatever you're doing, I'm not taking the bait. You'll have to try harder than that.

"Even if Dimitri does like men, it would make sense strategically. Our dear professor would make a great queen."

Seteth gave pause at that.

It was true that most people with eyes could see how hopelessly in love the prince of Faerghus was with Duke Riegan's grandson. But it was just as likely that Dimitri would be more concerned with a union that would benefit his people. Byleth—the professor—would be a very smart choice.

Still, even knowing and understanding the reason behind it, just the thought of Byleth marrying someone for any reason but love did not sit well with Seteth.

Which made sense, considering he had come to realize his love for her quite some time ago. He'd never presumed to consider the chance that she might like him in return, but none of that mattered.

As long as she was happy, that was all Seteth desired. Well, it was all he'd allow himself, in any case.

Deciding that it couldn't hurt to at least check out the situation, Seteth left the office, locking it up on the off chance this was a ploy designed to leave his office unattended.

He made his way to the location Claude and Hilda had mentioned. Sure enough, the courtyard scene played out just as Claude had stated. A rush of jealousy surged inside him and he was about to walk away when a pair of emerald green eyes met his and the resultant smile shot an arrow straight through his heart.

His will was no longer his own as his feet carried him across the distance between himself and the professor.

"Seteth," the blond prince said, lips twitching slightly. Seteth's first thought was that it was likely nerves but as the events of the last half hour replayed in his head, he came to the conclusion that Dimitri was likely in cahoots with a certain scheming student.

Ah. So that's what this is.

He couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped him as he watched Dimitri leave. He pointedly ignored the question in Byleth's eyes, only looking at her when he was positive he had his emotions in check.

"What was that about?" He asked, trying to sound offhanded. Byleth smiled lightly, glancing in the direction the blond prince had gone.

"He was asking for advice."

"Ah. Well that's nothing new for you."

"About romance."

Seteth felt his body stiffen but he forced himself to sound as unaffected as possible.

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth." She smiled at him now and he found he was suddenly held captive by her gaze. "That I don't have the experience in that area to give sound advice but it was probably a good idea to get such important feelings off one's chest. And who better to confide such feelings in than with the person the feelings are for."

Seteth smiled warmly down at her.

She truly was a marvel.

"You say you have no experience but that sounds like wonderful advice from where I'm standing."

It was too. Perhaps the very advice he should take for his own situation.

"I love you, Seteth."

Seteth nodded along before the three words plus his name fully sunk in.

Light green eyes wide, Seteth stared at the young woman for a long time before clearing his throat.

"I see… well, if that is truly the heart of the matter then it only stands to reason that I too confess."

He closed the distance between them and reached out, cupping her cheek with one hand.

"I find myself quite in love with you, Professor… Byleth." He smiled warmly. "I love you, Byleth."

He barely had a chance to register what was happening as Byleth wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. Pushing any other thought from his mind, with a quick reminder to thank Claude later, Seteth kissed her back.

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