"Looking a little more rough than I remember."
Though the words may be cheeky as he tends to usually be, it is only in the content, and not in the tone of voice. Indeed, should she turn to face him, she will fail to find the casual smile that many have come to know him for, the one he uses to conceal many things. Indeed, his expression is more serious than he tends to be.
"So you guys ran into trouble on the way back, too?" Interesting.
Not that Claude suspected her of anything beyond her ambition to be a powerful Emperor someday. He has no doubt that she has much to hide, but so does he, so he's not one to talk.
Rather, it's interesting because...
"I thought at first that only Garreg Mach was attacked, but if you too were targeted, and yet it doesn't look like any cities or villages were... Whoever it was was going for those related to the monastery specifically, by the looks of things. Those who were there, and those who were headed there. That's what it looks like right now."
He eyes her carefully. His gaze is calm, betraying no emotion.
"Can you think of anything? And - by the way, have you seen Dimitri?"
These attack-ravaged lands take a toll on anyone— Sunken eyes to her left and words of despair to her right. The scars hidden under her gloves and the thoughts encompassing the budding emperor's mind. For Claude, it was the way he spoke his sentences as the two came into one another's view. She could certainly notice it, even if she did not utter as much. There was no need to; not when there were bigger matters to attend to.
"I could say the same for you," she says in greeting. Plain, even if a bad attempt at keeping a mood. "But yes. We did. I don't know how much you've heard, but our peril began within the mountain pass. And now, we find ourselves here with everyone else. That separation in itself feels purposeful, as you say." With the positioning of the monastery, it was no surprise that there were faces who would have their eyes on it. She knew this already. It was a key element in this game of scuffed chess. What she didn't hold was the current why's.
Words and thoughts of agreement poured through her mind and left her with more to say. "I have a number of conjectures, but I lack the proper concrete proof to fully point a finger at the moment. One thing is certain— That book over there. Have you had the time to glance at it?" While she has not, she had no doubts that it was left there on purpose. Edelgard uses her right hand to point towards it, swiveling in its direction. "Odd, is it not? It was placed there in the hopes of us looking at it. Or, rather.. I should say, it was so we would not miss its presence."
As she lowers her hand, she lets out a sigh and shakes her head. "I haven't seen Dimitri. I'd assume he's fine, even if I don't know where exactly that may be. As the next king of Faerghus, he wouldn't act carelessly."


















