Byleth opens the door, intent on escaping.

“Alright, focus…”

Byleth had grasped the handle, ready to dart past Kostas. She needed to get out into public, find some students, find anyone who could catch what was happening and keep him from exerting whatever power he had over her. If she could just do that, she might be able to stop this cycle early. Get out of her room and just rush past him.

A quick breath and she opened the door ready to- H-Hubert!?

Not one but two men stood outside her door. They both turned to her in unison.

This hadn’t happened before - was it really a matter of those extra ten seconds? With Hubert here this could work. He could-

“Good evening, Professor! I’m here just as you requested!” Kostas declared, letting his arm flop over her shoulders.

Byleth was at a loss for words. She looked up at him as he pulled her close: his lips were parted in the most conniving smile she had ever seen and his eyes flashed with a certain self-satisfaction that she was quite familiar with by now. He knew what was happening.

“You invited me over to discuss the mock battle. Go on. Tell him.” He palmed her breast as he looked back to Hubert confidently, although perhaps still containing the faintest hint of fear. Hubert’s expression remained cold.

“Please, Professor, allow me to remove this parasite...”

The venom in his voice was plain to hear and his hand seemed to blacken at his side, a deep fog coalescing around it…

“…No one will miss this outlaw.”