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To observe the Prince of Faerghus tear down the competition for the Lance Tournament was definitely an exceptional sight. Edelgard has been attending the Academy for a few months now, and it still took her by surprise just how skilled Dimitri could be.
It shouldn't. Those who inherit the Crest of Blaiddyd were known to be blessed with terrifying physical strength; Dimitri shouldn’t be the exception.
However…well, his personality often made her forget that fact. It took her around five minutes being in his presence to notice how apologetic and deeply insecure he was. He couldn’t help but talk in an overly polite manner that often came out as clumsy rather than appropriate; he’d often shyly dart his eyes away from hers whenever they made eye contact, among other things.
One could argue it was part of his charm, but it still confused her to no end.
In the Battlefield, Dimitri was a completely different person. He was nothing close to hesitant or awkward. He moved around with certainty, fast paced and gracefully. Rarely ever misstepped, or failed to dodge an attack from an opponent. She has seen him fight off groups by himself, not breaking a sweat.
She had started to take more notice of him during training. The more she waits to start the war, the better Dimitri gets at fighting. It’d be wise to study his movements, figure out what are his strengths and weaknesses, find out what his blind spots were.
That was the reason why she had been watching. One of the reasons, that is. She couldn’t deny she would often look at him and get lost in thought…why is he so familiar to her? It felt like she had known him before, but he gave no indication of it. Could it be her imagination? Perhaps-
“If I were you, I’d rather keep my mouth closed. Don’t want to drool all over the training grounds.” She took her eyes off Dimitri and stared at Claude, utterly confused. What was he talking about? He had a smug smile on his face and a raised eyebrow. “Though, it seems like you’re not the only one.”
Her frown deepened. Claude winked and walked away before she could ask. She looked around and realized the training grounds were rather crowded that day by mostly female students. They all had their dreamy stares fixed on Dimitri. Oh.
It finally dawned on her. She took her hand out of her face (turns out she had been absently biting the tip of her finger) and felt her face burn with embarrassment.
She decided to walk out of the training grounds before anyone else got the wrong idea.