"Professor Byleth?" Now it was his term to mimic the other. There was no professor Byleth now or previously ever at Garreg Mach. Was this version of himself so incredibly different that he had a new professor? From the wild tale it seemed so. Everything was different including the order of events and who was involved.
He didn't want to recall any of this information, not in private and definitely not to some strange version of himself. He turned away, fist clenched as he heard the tale. Besides the atrocious thought of the war with the empire lasting five years, the only other absurdity that stuck in his mind was the description of Byleth. 'Tall, lean, light green eyes and hair.' He knew that description, he'd seen only one man look like that but he'd never had a chance to say more than a few words of praise and strike a deal with his father in the middle of war. The Ashen Demon, he was indeed tall, although shorter than himself but was lean with a handsome face. When he had first laid eyes on him he had thought him beautiful yes, but he had also been an enemy and such thoughts couldn't exist on the battlefield. Dimitri had made sure nothing and no one would get in his way of taking down the Empire and he had succeeded.
"The ashen demon was just a mercenary I hired near the end of the war with the Empire. I never finished my time at Garreg Mach and the war didn't last five years, barely three. I've been King the entire time and it was thanks to my strategies and leadership that we won, not the Ashen Demon. He left as soon as his contract was complete." Everything was stated as if it was the universal truth that this was the true timeline of events. There was a brief pause before he mumbled more to himself than for the other to hear. "...I never had a chance to learn his name."
Re: cw: three hopes spoiler time
He didn't want to recall any of this information, not in private and definitely not to some strange version of himself. He turned away, fist clenched as he heard the tale. Besides the atrocious thought of the war with the empire lasting five years, the only other absurdity that stuck in his mind was the description of Byleth. 'Tall, lean, light green eyes and hair.' He knew that description, he'd seen only one man look like that but he'd never had a chance to say more than a few words of praise and strike a deal with his father in the middle of war. The Ashen Demon, he was indeed tall, although shorter than himself but was lean with a handsome face. When he had first laid eyes on him he had thought him beautiful yes, but he had also been an enemy and such thoughts couldn't exist on the battlefield. Dimitri had made sure nothing and no one would get in his way of taking down the Empire and he had succeeded.
"The ashen demon was just a mercenary I hired near the end of the war with the Empire. I never finished my time at Garreg Mach and the war didn't last five years, barely three. I've been King the entire time and it was thanks to my strategies and leadership that we won, not the Ashen Demon. He left as soon as his contract was complete." Everything was stated as if it was the universal truth that this was the true timeline of events. There was a brief pause before he mumbled more to himself than for the other to hear. "...I never had a chance to learn his name."