Meanwhile, with Edelgard...

Edelgard stood in a misty clearing, wearing her Flame Emperor garb, and sighed. She wasn't looking forward to this, and knew she'd have to do a lot of lying her ass off. She couldn't afford for Those Who Slither to make a premature move yet. True, she considered simply utilizing the Church to oust them from the Capital, and had Byleth not entered the picture, she would have.

But something about Byleth wanted her to get him on her side before she truly moved. So, she called for this meeting, in hopes of smoothing things over, and hopefully getting away with saving Monica cleanly. Soon, a burst of magic appeared in the clearing, and "Arundel" appeared before him, his expression cold and murderous. Yeah, he was pissed. She had expected that. So she had to mollify him.

"Flame Emperor. You have a lot of nerve, calling this meeting, after your open defiance," Arundel hissed angrily.

"Open defiance? You seem to be under the impression that my actions were fully intentional," Edelgard stated. Not that the impression wasn't correct, but it was imperative that she convinced him otherwise if she wanted more time.

"You stole back the prisoner you agreed to allow us to impersonate," Arundel replied. "And you almost killed Kronya. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't strike you down where you stand."

Edelgard took a deep breath, and proceeded to start spinning her lies.