#dimigard | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kumeko · 5 months

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Prompt: secret relationship, forehead kisses, accidental marriage

A/N: For dsw78, I know you didn’t have anything particular in mind, but I tried to use as many of your tags as possible. Kinda with the accidental marriage/enemies-to-lovers, but…referenced. I was tempted to go angst but…they’re angsty enough in canon.

…

Edelgard was not one for flights of fancy. She was a practical woman, through and through—the plots of the Adestrian Empire left her little other choice. Whether it was to stand tall amongst her siblings, claim the title of the next emperor, or to merely just survive, she had long learned how to cut the excess from her life.

Which is why Edelgard didn’t care for the look in Dorothea’s eyes when she informed her aide, “I shall take a brief reprieve in the gardens.”

“Oh?” Despite how noisy the ballroom was, the lilt in her voice was impossible to miss. Dorothea’s eyes gleamed, a sly smile on her red lips. Coyly, she asked, “I thought you had your fill of the gardens earlier? Claude even gave us a private tour.”

“And it unsettled me the entire time,” Edelgard muttered, her eyes narrowing as she gazed across the ballroom at the newly appointed Leicester Alliance leader as he danced with his fiancée Byleth. Even back in their school days, when they’d meet once a month to discuss the matters of their houses, she had always felt wary around him. Perhaps it was the way his smile had never reached his eyes or how silver-tongued he was. Yet, unlike the treachery she was used to, there was no malice behind his actions.

Perhaps that was what disturbed her the most: the fact that she couldn’t read what he wanted.

“You always feel unsettled,” Dorothea jabbed, rolling her eyes. She rested a hand on her hip, her wine-red skirt swaying slightly as she turned.

“With good reason,” Edelgard replied tartly. Though she had been wrong about one thing: swirling across the dancefloor, Claude smiled at Byleth, and in the three years Edelgard had known him, she had never seen such a genuine smile grace his face.

It seemed the every-elusive Claude had at least one honest bone.

“Some would call that paranoia,” Dorothea sighed, shaking her head. She slipped her arm through Edelgard’s, pulling her closer and leading her to a nearby balcony. As the glass doors closed behind them, the music and laughter faded into the background. “Even when you’re happy, you refuse to let yourself be happy.”

Edelgard arched a brow. “Where is this coming from?”

“Edie…sometimes I worry about you.” Dorothea leaned closer, resting her head on Edelgard’s shoulder. Her long hair tickled Edelgard’s neck. “You’re allowed to think of yourself first.”

“What are you driving at?” Edelgard asked, disgruntled.

“Good question,” Dorothea smiled mysteriously. “Just…don’t run away when the time comes.” She pulled away and leaned against the balcony. Scanning the darkened garden, something caught her eye and her expression lit up.

Edelgard glanced over but she could only catch a glimpse of gold and blue before it disappeared.

“Anyways, I’ve been delaying you.” Dorothea pushed Edelgard away playfully. “You wanted a walk right? To have your fill of the garden?”

Her mischievous tone made Edelgard stiffen. She had seen Dorothea tease Ferdinand long enough to know just what she was driving at. Suddenly, she knew all too well just who had vanished into the garden.

And the worst part was that Dorothea knew it too. Edelgard warned, “Dorothea.”

“What? I’m just saying, perhaps a little protection wouldn’t go amiss. It is dark outside, after all,” Dorothea continued, batting her eyes innocently.

It had been amusing to watch Ferdinand turn a thousand shades of red when Dorothea gave that look to him, less so when she experienced it herself. Edelgard felt a headache forming. “That’s straightforward for you.”

“Because today you need a blunter touch,” Dorothea replied with a shrug. She made a shooing gesture. “Now, scram before another one of your suitors pop in.”

An even more perilous situation. Edelgard had not enjoyed the first hour of the ball with all the pests chasing after her. Giving Dorothea one last look, she added, “We will discuss this later.”

“Whatever you say,” Dorothea said, already turning back to the hall. “Now, I spotted a really cute knight, and she won’t dance by herself.”

-x-

The few outdoor lights near the balcony did little to brighten up the garden. Edelgard’s eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, the dark shapes of roses and bushes all she had to guide her along the footpath. The hem of her red dress grew damp with dew. With each step, the party grew quieter and quieter, leaving behind only the last of the crickets and birds to fill in the silence.

A fountain gurgled nearby, and she turned toward it. As expected, a figure sat in front of it, a small lantern at his feet. Even without seeing the blue of his uniform, she knew it was Dimitri. Few men sat as straight, fewer men were as tall and muscular.

Quietly, she stood there, watching as he ran his hand through the fountain, as he patiently waited for her. The flickering light highlighted his blonde hair and glinted off his gold buttons. She’d seen him enter the ballroom scant hours ago, unwillingly dragged by Claude from bachelorette to bachelorette. How he had discretely escaped that fox’s eyes, she didn’t know.

Then again…Claude had once thrown her a glance earlier, his expression akin to Dorothea’s, and perhaps he had known just what he had been doing.

Edelgard clenched her fist. She was not supposed to be that easy to read.

As the moon emerged from the clouds, Dimitri lifted his head, noticing her. “El?”

She could see his face, see the way his eyes brightened, the way he smiled. It was nothing like the polite smile he had given earlier, nothing like the smile he used amongst his friends.

No, this was Claude’s smile to Byleth, Hubert’s soft upturn of his lip when Ferdinand argued with him.

Her own expression reflected in the glass when she’d spotted a familiar figure heading toward the garden.

No wonder Claude and Dorothea knew. A shiver ran up her spine and Edelgard resisted the urge to flee.

“Dimitri,” Edelgard replied politely, forcing a distance between them. Quickly, she scanned their surroundings, confirming they were truly in fact alone.

Dimitri had no such reservations. He strode over, joy speeding up his gait. Then again, he had never wanted to keep their relationship a secret.

No, that had been her request.

“I was worried you couldn’t make it,” Dimitri said, his hand already reaching up to cup her cheek. His thumb brushed her skin, sending sparks of electricity. It was the thing that had surprised her the most when they had started meeting like this—how affectionate the usually reserved prince was, how he seemed to gravitate her like the moon to the earth. His other hand interlaced with hers, leaving her no avenue to escape.

If this hadn’t been House Reigan’s gardens and instead one of their own, Dorothea’s insinuations wouldn’t have been far off base.

“I almost didn’t," Edelgard replied, allowing herself to briefly relax. “Now that my father has abdicated, the suitors swarm like flies.”

She didn’t miss how Dimitri’s eyes darkened, his grip tightening. He was the perfect prince, the golden child, and yet at times like these, she could sense the beast lurking within. Part of her wanted to prod, to see what it would take to unchain that creature.

But Dimitri wasn’t hers to keep.

And if Edelgard went any further, she feared she might forget that.

“I’m glad we aren’t holding this meeting in Faerghus.” She changed the topic swiftly, pulling away. “Even with furs, it’s far too cold there in Red Wolf Moon.”

Dimitri laughed, deep and rough. “I cannot deny it.”

“I would prefer it if the next one isn’t there either,” Edelgard continued. While the quarterly meetings between the three nations helped improve the stability of Fódlan, bringing down the threat of war, Edelgard had experienced far more of Faerghus’s winters than she would have liked.

And as warm as Dimitri’s bed was, she could only remain there for so long.

“While I hope you don’t host in Enbarr in the summer,” Dimitri replied with a laugh. “Your country gets far too hot.”

“You should go to Brigid,” she replied. It was oddly easy to imagine Dimitri on the sandy beaches, his hand in hers as they strolled that boundary between the sea and the land. An ordinary situation for any pair of lovers. A situation that could never occur for them.

Edelgard was not one for pretending. She was getting soft. “You haven’t experienced a real heat yet.”

“And I would rather not.” Dimitri reached down, his hands clasping hers once more. “Perhaps it is good that we came to Leicester lands then—the temperature here is far more moderate.”

A silence fell over them, one she didn’t want to break. This fragile moment would not last much longer.

But she also wasn’t one to run from her problems and at least in this, she would remain true to herself. “When is your coronation?” she asked.

“A month after my birthday.” Dimitri raised her hand, pressing his lips firmly against her knuckles. In the dim light, he looked rakish. “I’ll see you there?”

Yes.

“I am not certain,” she replied indifferently, schooling her face into a coldness she didn’t (couldn’t) feel. “I will be busy with my coronation.”

If he was off put by her response, he didn’t show it, merely tightening his grip on her hand in response. “Is it settled then?”

“I have all but convinced my father to abdicate,” Edelgard said softly. With Hubert’s help, she had finally brought sense to her weak father. It wouldn’t be long before she could cleanse her ranks of the greedy and corrupt.

“Then, next time we meet, you’ll be Emperor Edelgard?”

“And you King of Faerghus.” Edelgard watched as his eyes darkened once more, his expression growing distant as he looked away. Dimitri had to realize it too, just how futile their relationship was. How there wasn’t any future for it. Perhaps, if he had remained prince or she princess. A political marriage to calm the tension brewing between their respective countries.

But as rulers…impossible.

It was something she had known from the start.

It was something that should have deterred her from taking his hand that first night, so many moons ago, when they had been students and he had approached her at the goddess tower.

“I will be there,” Dimitri said softly, turning back to her now. Her breath caught as his eyes met hers, filled with an unnameable emotion. His hand cupped her cheek once more, his thumb gently stroking her cheek as he leaned down to tenderly kiss her forehead. “I swear.”

And yet, as he embraced her now just as he had back then, as his kisses slowly drifted lower and lower, Edelgard couldn’t deny that even knowing how it would end, she would have still taken that hand.

-x-

Dimitri had never been one to let logic dictate his emotions—that had been Edelgard’s speciality, something he had more than once complained to her about. Feelings weren’t meant to be curbed and brought to heel, to be put out at the slightest inconvenience.

So, the day after Edelgard’s coronation was announced, she wasn’t surprised to find a marriage proposal on her desk from the King of Faerghus. It was a very Dimitri-thing to do, particularly after Claude’s influence. And perhaps, perhaps, the constant schemer knew of a way around their political problem.

No, what surprised her instead was how she was opening the letter instead of tossing it, how she was considering it instead of rejecting it.

Edelgard had never been one for flights of fancy but somehow, Dimitri made it seem possible.

Don’t run away, Dorothea had said, and she must have known of Dimitri’s intentions that night, must have seen it long ago. Maybe Edelgard had only been tricking herself into thinking she could cut this off at any time.

She really was getting soft.

“Hubert,” Edelgard called out as she ran her fingers over the blue seal of the Faerghus. “I have a task for you.”

But not entirely soft. If this is what he wanted, if this was what she wanted, then she’d just have to make it a reality. She’d just taken over an empire; this couldn’t be much harder.

#dimigard #fe3h #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #edelgard von hresvelg #dimitri x edelgard #fanfic #dorothea arnault #back when the first trailer came out and we saw that dance scene #my sister and i were just: that's a ship #and then hilariously got side tracked by claudeleth before we ended up playing their routes #anyways #glad to finally write for them

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