The missing Box and the Black Eagles

Edelgard awoke at her usual hour of the morning. Even after falling asleep in disorienting circumstances, she would never allow herself to oversleep. That said, when her eyes opened, she bolted upright. She hadn't fully recollected where she was or what was happening, but she had a distinct wrong feeling, like she'd forgotten something important... like a test, or a promise, or...

"The music," she spoke softly, her memories of the past night finally catching up with her. She wasn't in her own bed, but her classmate, Bernadetta's. She wasn't in her nightclothes, but atypically **** in white, floral-decorated lingerie. Furthermore, she wasn't alone. The bed's rightful owner was asleep next to her, curled up in an odd sleeping position. Edelgard had only pulled the cover off of herself, but she could tell from the straps at the purple-haired young woman's that she wasn't dressed, either. "This is... Huh? Bernadetta!" she shouted immediately, rousing the other woman to a much groggier awakening. "Bernadetta, did you... sleep with me last night? What is the meaning of this?!"

"Eeeeh?!" Bernadetta suddenly found herself being shaken rapidly by the shoulders. "N-no, no no, Lady Edelgaaard! That's not it, that's not iiit!!" When her House Leader finally stopped shaking her, the young woman rubbed at her sleepy eyes for only a moment before forcing them to stay open and alert on the shocked Edelgard. "You, um... f-fell asleep, ma'am! As soon as the music stopped, you fell right asleep. I don't mind, though! My bed is y-your bed, I guess. B-but we didn't do anything funny- that is, I didn't do anything funny! Nothing funny aside from what already happened! You just looked so cute- I mean, p-p-peaceful! I couldn't wake you up!" When she saw Edelgard staring for a while, she finally realized that rising out of the covers had revealed her own bra. She crossed her arms across her chest for modesty. When Edelgard remained quiet, she tried to break the silence. "Um... You looked like you were sleeping well. How are you feeling, Lady Edelgard?"

The silver-haired young woman remained quiet, trying to sort out how she felt in her own head. Of course, she felt ridiculous, humiliated, and... incredibly well-rested. She couldn't remember the last time she fell asleep as soon as her head hit a pillow, or woke up without the same checklist that'd been reaming through her brain asserting itself at the front of her thoughts.

It felt... nice. It felt nice to wake up with company. It felt nice to think the stuttering young woman next to her thought she was cute when she slept. And, as it turns out, it felt very, very nice to fall asleep not worrying about one's responsibilities. To have them taken off her her back and out of her hands.

She couldn't change who she was, though, and waking up feeling nice felt wrong. Her brain reset itself into its natural state; her face wiped of its stupor and regained its typical mask of dignity. The mantle of her responsibilities returned along with the clothes she began rapidly re-dressing in, affording Bernadetta an unguarded glimpse of her half-naked butt if it meant she could be decent again quickly.

Even back in her regular clothes, something about the short, hip-hugging black miniskirt she wore along with the, bright red stockings, a combo which revealed a consistent peek at her curvy thighs, seemed to fit her different... In a reflective mood, she could only guess it felt strange to be dressed in her usual clothes again after her recent half-naked adventure.

By now, Edelgard had been quiet long enough to make Bernadetta concerned. She tried asking again. "Are you okay, Lady Edelgard?"

"Hm? I'm fine," Edelgard answered in a dismissive summary of her complicated emotions. "The only thing I'll say about our night and morning together is that you shall not speak a word of it to anyone."

"Okay... B-but it wasn't bad having some company for once," Bernadetta muttered, pushing her fingers together sheepishly. "Well, I'll keep your secret, so don't worry about that! I never talk to anyone else, anyway... You just go on about your day and don't even think of it! As for me..." She snuck back under the covers, wrapped them around herself, then let out a contented sigh, ready to drift back into her morning nap. "I'll see you later, Lady Edelgard..."

... Edelgard watched this for a moment before grabbing Bernadetta's covers and yanking them, easily pulling them off her sleepy friend's body using her considerable strength. "Nice try, Bernadetta."

"C'mon, Lady Edelgard! Really? You're really gonna make me go to classes like normal after all that!? I'm too sleepy! I think you need to take responsibility for keeping me up all night with that dancing and spanking and, and dirty stuff, and-!"

"I beg your pardon?" Edelgard asked, glaring down at Bernadetta with stern eyes.

"... I-I'll see you in class, Lady Edelgard."

"That's what I thought I heard."

Edelgard managed to get cleaned up, get her books, and make it to the classroom in the nick of time, which was the latest she'd ever been. She felt many eyes on her at the start of class, then fewer as the lessons dragged on. There were a couple of pairs, however, which never left her... Those two pairs were on her so constantly that she was surprised she'd managed to shake them off for an entire night in Bernadetta's room. She knew that as soon as the lesson ended, she'd have questions to answer.

Sure enough, when the bell tolled to signal the end and the professor shut the lesson book, two students rose and hurriedly made their way over to Edelgard's desk. Closing her own book, the House Leader rose to face her two closest advisors.

The oldest of the two of them, and the one Edelgard had known for the longest, was Hubert von Vestra, a tall figure with dark hair covering one eye and gaunt, sharp features. The man looked like he was constantly plotting something, and that was because he usually was; still, Edelgard knew it was in her service, and trusted no one more than her right-hand man. Some strange look flashed in his pale green eyes when he saw Edelgard stand, but it was soon buried beneath his standard, frightening smile. "Lady Edelgard. I've heard some most unusual rumors about the school. Would you have a moment to discuss them? In private?"

"Of course," she replied, walking ahead of the two toward a secluded corner of the garden outside the classrooms. "I can't imagine what you have to tell me will be as interesting as what I have to tell you."

Hubert only chuckled dryly in response, indicating he had no intention of broaching the topic until the three of them were alone.

As such, while the three of them walked, there was a slightly tense silence. This unfortunately left the second advisor, Monica von Ochs, trying to think up a topic to fill the silence. The woman, only slightly older than Edelgard and with a head of short, cherry-red hair, had become infatuated with her junior and had done everything she could to ingratiate herself to the Adrestian noble after Edelgard had led a rescue attempt to free her from a group of mysterious mages. She didn't have many natural talents besides magical study, and was merely the daughter of a minor noble in the Empire, but what she did have was nearly single-minded attention for Edelgard and an incredible photographic memory. Right now, that photographic memory was screaming at her something had had changed, that it wasn't just her imagination. As such, Monica found herself cycling through potential conversation topics to address what was on her mind, biting her tongue before any could cross her lips.

Finally, she voiced the least offensive one she could think of. "My, Lady Edelgard, that bold new fashion you're wearing is quite... a statement!" she finished, doing everything in her power to avoid using the word "sexy" in referring to her revered House Leader.

"New fashion? A statement?" Edelgard looked back at her friend with confusion. "I don't follow."

"Ah, I simply mean the... that skirt and those stockings!" Monica tried to speak more clearly. "They really draw attention to your..." She bit her lip, trying to find a way out of the corner she'd just backed herself into, someway to finish the sentence without saying "ass" or "thighs." She cleared her throat. "Your eyes."

"My stockings and skirt draw attention to my eyes?" Edelgard asked her to clarify.

"... Yes, Lady Edelgard," Monica replied with a nod, working to keep her face as straight as possible.

"... I'll take your word for it," Edelgard finished, turning to face her advisors now that they'd reached their destination, away from prying eyes and ears. "I'm guessing that, as usual, the two of you haven't coordinated and each have your own separate reports. Is that correct?"

"... It's as you say," Hubert replied, giving her a bow. He didn't apologize, as Edelgard must already understand his keeping information from Monica, whom he hardly trusted himself, was intentional. "With your understanding, I'll go first. Lady Edelgard, have you heard the spreading rumors of a mysterious golden idol that bends the wills of women and transforms them into unwitting slaves? A number of students reported falling prey to it some days ago."

Before Edelgard could respond, Monica interrupted. "Wait! Would this 'idol' happen to be something like a rectangular box with a handle on top?"

"That matches the rumors precisely," Hubert agreed, putting a hand to his chin and nodding. "Now how did you come to learn of it, I wonder?"

"I don't have to speculate. I've actually seen the thing," Monica declared, crossing her arms. "Last night, I saw the instructor, Byleth, carrying something like that away from the dormitories. I had no idea what it was or what it did, but it was certainly shining gold. It can't be a coincidence. Ah, as for why I was looking around late at night... I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I suppose," she added unnecessarily, hoping she wouldn't be pressed further and end up revealing that she'd lost track of Edelgard while stalking her private night walk and had spent the rest of the night searching for her.

Edelgard thought hard about what she'd been told and what to say next. "This certainly shines new lights on recent events. Actually, as of last night... I believe Bernadetta and I witnessed the power of that box. Something from the room of the Blue Lions' Annette emitted a strange music. Under the power of that music-"

"If I may interrupt, Lady Edelgard!" Monica spoke urgently. "Are you saying you were in Bernadetta's room last night?"

"Yes. What of it? May I continue?"

"... Of course," Monica concluded, biting her thumb. "Please do."

"... Well, under the power of that music, it seems... How should I put it? It is not that we were controlled, but... aspects of our will were altered. We spoke, thought, and did things I could hardly dream of, especially from such a timid woman as Bernadetta."

"If I may interrupt! What kinds of things did you do with Bernadetta that a timid woman could not dream of? Specifically?!"

Edelgard paused, then flushed. "I suppose you two are my advisors. I owe it to you to be fully transparent. The music led us to... shed clothes, and to perform an uncouth type of dance neither of us were familiar with on Bernadetta's bed. A dance which primarily consisted of movement of the hips-"

"If I m-may interrupt, my Lady, the two of you had sex?!" Monica shouted far too loudly, her face as red as her hair and her eyes newly wild. "You had sex with her? With that Bernadetta?!"

"Certainly not!" Edelgard shouted defensively. "I said it was a dance, didn't I? I mean that! We didn't do anything further than that, and once Professor Byleth silenced the box and retrieved it from Annette's room, I fell asleep immediately-"

"You slept with her?!" Monica was now biting all five fingers of one hand instead of only her thumb. "You and Bernadetta slept together? A-after a night of passionate love-making... you two slept in the nude...?!"

"You aren't listening to me! There was no love-making and no... inappropriate acts in lieu of sleep, either," Edelgard defended herself in a hiss that begged Monica to lower her own voice. "I simply slept like a babe until morning."

Monica went silent, but not because she was calm. Her brain had been struggling to construct a mental image of Edelgard shaking her ass in what she could only imagine was fantastically erotic and mature lingerie. Now, even that image was wiped out as she tried to imagine sharing a bed with a peacefully resting Edelgard, lying naked with her, hearing her heartbeat and brushing a strand of that beautiful silver hair away from her lovely forehead... "Lady Edelgard, I'll have Bernadetta answer for her crimes."

"No one is asking you for that!" Edelgard sighed. "I hope you can understand the experience left me somewhat shaken. I need my advisors to be cool-headed in times like these. I hope we are clear on this."

Hubert was the one to reply, eager to move this along. "So, putting together the rumors I've learned with your experience and Monica's findings... there appears to be a sort of magic music box which influences women, altering their will and predilection towards uncharacteristic debauchery. It seems this box has changed hands from the Blue Lions to a Professor. If that is the case, we can now assume it is in the hands of the Academy leadership... more specifically, the hands of the Church. Lady Edelgard, I need not tell you why this poses a unique problem for our House and its ambitions. I don't believe you need an advisor to tell you the thing must be located and destroyed without delay."

Edelgard considered quietly.

Seeing her hesitation in the face of Hubert's confidence, Monica tried to consider the issue from Edelgard's perspective. "Could it be, my Lady... you don't want to destroy it? You mentioned peaceful sleep. I don't think you've ever referred to your sleep as 'peaceful,' no matter how many mornings I asked after that courtesy. Could it be you don't see this as an evil ****?"

"Preposterous," Hubert interrupted. "Lady Edelgard must recognize this magic as not only a weakness, but a weakness specific to herself, one which uniquely weakens our position. She must recognize that if she holds any fondness for this magic, it is fondness which the magic itself implanted in her. If that magic comes back to bite us, we'll surely rue that we did not take it seriously from the beginning-"

"Oh, you think you know everything, don't you?" Monica replied, putting her fists on her hips. "You may have your history with Edelgard and I may share her gender, but neither of us know her whole heart. And are we not here but to serve her heart's desire? Lady Edelgard, whatever you wish, I pledge to follow. And you, Hubert?"

Hubert frowned, but quickly bowed to his lady. "Yes, of course. No matter what you choose, we'll work in your interest, Lady Edelgard."

Edelgard looked between them, then came to a declaration. "We'll collect more information, and we won't come to any hasty decisions. I trust the two of you implicitly, and I'll leave the specifics to you. When I have a new opinion on the matter, I'll deliver my orders swiftly. Until the time comes, I trust you to keep my confidence."

Her two advisors both bowed, and she bid them leave. The two did so, understanding that meant she wished to be alone. Neither intended to idle, of course: each had plans of how to continue to serve their Lady.

The lady herself let out a sigh, crossing her arms and looking over the flowers surrounding her with concern on her brow. "As I thought... Meetings, planning, classes, and caution... It's all a headache. It's like a headache I'd weathered so long, I forgot how it felt to be free of it. Or perhaps I never knew, ever since I was a child... ever since that day. At least to myself, I should admit it in plain terms..."

She spoke in a whisper, holding the rose in front of her and regarding her hands with wide eyes, as though they were someone else's. "Feeling excitement instead of fear at control being out of my hands! Feeling relief at a whirlwind of the present that, for once, eclipsed my past and future! Doing something irresponsible and pointless, and not feeling like I had to work twice as hard to make up for it... I thought I'd never feel this way. Perhaps... I never should have. Perhaps it's dangerous to feel this way before my work is done. Regardless... fate has seen fit to cast yet another wild dice my way. If possible, I must find a way to hold the reins of my fate again..."