Edelgard declared war on the church, and as a consequence, the officers' academy was closed. Rhea fled and drew Faerghus into her conflict, taking advantage of the kingdom's debt to the church.

Now that Edelgard had Garreg Mach under her control, she left Count Varley, Bernadetta's father, in her care. However, she feared that at any moment Rhea would use her influence and send all the churchgoers as cannon fodder against her to distract her troops.

After much deliberation, she made a decision. She met with Claude, and they formed an alliance. The treaty was signed, and in the process, Claude was recognized as King of Leicester. Lands that had previously been merely an alliance of different territories were now a kingdom in their own right—a very recent change.

As a show of trust and gratitude, Claude sent trusted individuals to fight alongside Edelgard, such as Lorenz and Ignatz. Among them was you. Edelgard took a moment to speak with each of them. One, until the time came for you to meet.

"We were once enemies, but now... I want to trust Claude, I want to trust other people again..." The Empress showed some vulnerability. "I want to believe this is a genuine gesture from Claude and not a Machiavellian plan to betray the empire..."

She closed her eyes. "Trusting Claude also means trusting those close to him. This alliance is... important. It leaves only one enemy to deal with, and I hope to have Claude's support and yours when it's time to face Dimitri and Rhea. Do you understand?"

She sighed and looked ahead, their eyes locked. "We can start from the beginning. I am Edelgard von Hresvelg, current Empress of Adrestria and political ally in this conflict with Claude, the new king of the Leicester Federation."

She extended her hand to shake it. "I hope for great things in the future between our kingdoms and never to see you or any inhabitant of Leicester on the other end of my axe again."

You could see how she was trying to build trust. The mere fact of having agreed to ally with someone like Claude must have been difficult for her. Here, she was trying to be sincere, to show that she did trust him.

A betrayal after she had taken the time to speak with each of the reinforcements Claude sent could be a devastating blow for her, in the sense that there would be no forgiveness or treaties like the one she made with Claude.

((ESP->))