❛ i can’t, addie. ❜ the place that they’d called home for the past year burned to the ground around them, the destruction ushered in by one that they’d all once called friend. maybe even klaudia, a little, had been charmed by that goddess among women. but no longer --- not once she’d seen the way in which edelgard’s betrayal had rankled dimitri. clearly, adelaide was not of the same mind. one moment, they’d been fighting for the same cause; the next, klaudia had been filled with that familiar ticklish sensation within her mind like an itch that she couldn’t quite scratch. then --- the revelation was upon her, the horrifying realization; as if she was finally seeing a collection of puzzle pieces fall into place. it drew her away to this sight of her friend, running to the other side. like a traitor. that wretched magic that had torn threw her that night so many years ago ( but who / what had she’d struck down ? the face was blurred, the only sound was stacking --- but there’d been blood. so much blood. ) rushed to the surface at the sight. it prickled at the tips of her fingers; it sent her hands trembling under the weight of just what her body could unleash. her entire body shook.
❛ i can’t leave him --- them. i do not support the church, but that does not mean i can surrender myself to her cause. this isn’t just about our crests and what they have done to us ! ❜ klaudia noticed her hesitance to strike, the way she put distance between the two of them. there was no reason to fight, but that didn’t mean klaudia wasn’t dangerous --- no, if her crest wasn’t dangerous in the way that it made her a ticking bomb that was bound to go off if one did not take care. with a pang, klaudia realized that, perhaps, that was why adelaide was so eager to get away. ❛ please. i can’t do this alone, ❜ she dared, hands gripping tightly at the sides of her uniform’s skirt.
❛ there’s no one else that would believe me if i expressed these concerns, too, addie. we have to convince dimitri of the church’s treachery together ! ❜
please, please, please, the voice within her cried. you’re one of my only friends.
