[Dimitri is taken aback by the interjection. He merely used the name "Rhea" because that is what he's used to. That, and he hopes to find out for himself, independently, of what Byleth has spoken here today.
As for the rest...there are a lot of things Dimitri could say. A lot of them he wanted to say. But he knows he has to pick his battles. Gone are the days when he would blindly run into a fight, great or small. He settles on one thing to say before moving on:]
The people are why I still live and breathe. Not just of Faerghus, but of Fódlan in its entirety. My life is devoted to them.
[When the change of subject comes, he's glad to take it. The news that Byleth and Edelgard are an item surprises him, for sure, as he had no idea she felt that way about women. His face shows he wasn't expecting that news.]
You are? I have to admit, I never would have seen that one coming. But as long as you can make each other happy, well...then I hope you live a blessed life together.
[Though he's quite surprised, he does seem to be sincere in his desire for them to be happy together. There's no signs of ill will or prejudice in his voice or his body language. He does, however, follow it up with more tea.]
During the Insurrection of the Seven, Lord Arundel took Edelgard and fled to Faerghus with her. They spent a year living in Fhirdiad, and the two of us spent much time together.
[This time, as Dimitri speaks, there's a wistfulness in his voice. It was an idyllic time, and one he has occasionally wished he could go back to.]
It was El who taught me how to dance, in fact. It was only ballroom dancing, but it was a skill I...well, that I did my best to keep. And at the end of that year, before she left Fhirdiad, I gave her a parting gift. It was a dagger. I told her to use it to cut a path to the future she wished for. It was an odd gift, I know that now, and Sylvain has never let me live it down. But my sentiment was genuine.
...I admit that I don't know what happened to her between her return to Enbarr and when we met again at the Officer's Academy. She has yet to tell me. I only know that she had forgotten who gave her the dagger, but that she had kept it with her all the same. And that she had remembered my parting words to her.
no subject
As for the rest...there are a lot of things Dimitri could say. A lot of them he wanted to say. But he knows he has to pick his battles. Gone are the days when he would blindly run into a fight, great or small. He settles on one thing to say before moving on:]
The people are why I still live and breathe. Not just of Faerghus, but of Fódlan in its entirety. My life is devoted to them.
[When the change of subject comes, he's glad to take it. The news that Byleth and Edelgard are an item surprises him, for sure, as he had no idea she felt that way about women. His face shows he wasn't expecting that news.]
You are? I have to admit, I never would have seen that one coming. But as long as you can make each other happy, well...then I hope you live a blessed life together.
[Though he's quite surprised, he does seem to be sincere in his desire for them to be happy together. There's no signs of ill will or prejudice in his voice or his body language. He does, however, follow it up with more tea.]
During the Insurrection of the Seven, Lord Arundel took Edelgard and fled to Faerghus with her. They spent a year living in Fhirdiad, and the two of us spent much time together.
[This time, as Dimitri speaks, there's a wistfulness in his voice. It was an idyllic time, and one he has occasionally wished he could go back to.]
It was El who taught me how to dance, in fact. It was only ballroom dancing, but it was a skill I...well, that I did my best to keep. And at the end of that year, before she left Fhirdiad, I gave her a parting gift. It was a dagger. I told her to use it to cut a path to the future she wished for. It was an odd gift, I know that now, and Sylvain has never let me live it down. But my sentiment was genuine.
...I admit that I don't know what happened to her between her return to Enbarr and when we met again at the Officer's Academy. She has yet to tell me. I only know that she had forgotten who gave her the dagger, but that she had kept it with her all the same. And that she had remembered my parting words to her.