Chapter 0 - stable duty

“Thank you so much, really! I know you’re going to do a great job!” Hilda says before leaving Marianne alone in the stables. The two were assigned to clean the stables together this week- because, even during the war, Byleth has kept up the school assignments they had before he disappeared- but before they could even get started, Hilda had already started on about how ill-suited she was for the job, and how she would surely mess it up beyond repair.

That was when she just happened to recall Marianne’s affinity for horses and how much of her free time was spent in the stables, and when she came up with the brilliant idea to leave Marianne to it, rather than even attempting herself. Marianne knows Hilda and her tricks well enough by now to know that she was just making her excuses to get out of work but, truth be told, she doesn’t really mind.

In fact, getting to spend time alone in the stables is what she prefers, and getting rid of Hilda this early on is more of a blessing than anything else. Now, she can take her time with the horses, rather than working at someone else’s pace and keeping to herself. This is actually going to be a pleasant day, she thinks.

Without any other responsibilities to attend to until she’s done in the stables, she decides to indulge a little bit and take her time. She can spend time with the horses, without worrying about any of the work or cleaning, for a fair amount of time. Only when she knows that she has to get started to get it done in time will she actually start. Really, allowing Hilda to slack off benefited her just as much.

Time passes quickly when she allows herself to enjoy herself a little bit, and this is so relaxing to her that she doesn’t notice the time passing, or anything going on in the outside world at all. In fact, she doesn’t even notice anything going on with her , she is so easily able to lose herself in it. She certainly doesn’t notice her bladder steadily filling, nor does she think about the fact that the last time she relieved herself was nearly an hour before she and Hilda were told to go to the stables for their assigned task.
But not noticing it does not mean it isn’t there, and even if she can ignore the growing pressure for a little while, it eventually gets to a point where it finally catches her attention.

Wincing, she presses her legs together. All at once, she remembers how long it’s been, and the water she had to drink before coming out to the stables, and though she’s surprised at how bad it’s going without her noticing, she isn’t surprised that she has to go so badly, when she’s been in here for so long. In fact, she’s wasted so much time that, when she thinks about it, she realizes that taking any sort of break right now is impossible, if she wants to get her work done on time.

She doesn’t want to take too long to finish, because she wouldn’t be able to explain herself when asked why she couldn’t complete the task in time. It’s not like she could admit to slacking off with the horses, and if she said the work was too hard for her, she might never get assigned to the stables again. Her only option is to ignore her bladder for the time being, and get her work done as quickly as possible. Surely she can hold it until she’s done without any issue.

At first, that seems like the case, but as she works, her needs grows worth and her bladder throbs with any sudden movement.. She finds herself pressing her thighs together more and more frequently to try to alleviate the pressure, but nothing works for long. It’s hard for her to concentrate on the task at hand, and she would like more than anything to give up for the time being so that she can relieve herself. But the idea of not being assigned to work in the stables anymore is enough to dissuade her, no matter how bad the need may be.

At least she’s alone, she thinks, without anyone else to see how often she squirms and whimpers. It isn’t as if the horses notice her discomfort, so she’s free to do whatever she needs to do to make holding it easier on her. Even if that sometimes involves pressing a hand between her legs for a moment, until the feeling that she might leak at any second passes and she can get back to work. It would be humiliating if there were anyone else there, but since there isn’t, she can carry on however she needs to.

She’s lucky that she’s behaving fairly normally when Byleth basically sneaks up on her. She’s also lucky that when she jumps, startled to hear his voice behind her, she only leaks a little bit.

“Marianne?” he asks, and she squeaks.

“Um, yes?”

“I just ran into Hilda,” he says with a sigh. “I thought I might find you here. Did she leave you to work by yourself?”

“I...it’s alright, really,” she says, looking down and hoping that he can’t tell she’s even more nervous than usual. She doesn’t want to get Hilda in trouble, but she doesn’t think there’s any way to lie about this. “I really don’t mind, I like working here, and she said she isn’t very good at it, so…”

“She convinced you you would be better off on your own. Yup, that sounds like Hilda.” Byleth shakes his head. “Still, that’s no excuse for her to blow off her work or leave you alone out here. If the two of you had been working together, you would probably be done by now.”

At least he thinks that Hilda’s slacking is the reason it’s taking her so long, rather than her own slacking. Maybe she won’t get in trouble and lose her stable tasks after all. Still, she can’t feel entirely relieved, when she’s still got something more pressing to worry about. The most important thing right now is getting rid of Byleth so she can focus on getting her work done as quickly as possible, without him figuring out how desperate she is.

“It’s alright,” she assures him. “I’m almost done, so…”

“Let me help you,” he offers. “I’ll deal with Hilda later, but for now, I want to make sure you can get this done. It’s the least I can do.”

“I’m really alright, professor,” she insists, but Byleth will have none of it. He insists on helping her, and she suppresses a groan, hoping that she can keep her bladder in check all without doing anything to give away that there’s any sort of problem.

She stops her trembling as she and Byleth clean side by side, and he attempts to make conversation while they work. Marianne has never been the best conversationalist, so she hopes that Byleth doesn’t think anything of how quiet she’s being. She can barely keep her movements stable, and after a few minutes of working in silence, she tenses, horrified to feel herself leak again.
“Marianne, are you alright?”

“H-huh? Of course I am, why wouldn’t I be…” she mumbles, trying to hide how very Not Fine she is.

“You just seem really tense and distracted,” he says. “If you’re not feeling well on top of everything else, it definitely makes sense that you were struggling to get your work done alone.”

“Oh, I…” She winces, her train of thought interrupted by another sharp pang from her bladder. It takes all she has not to let another leak escape, and she forgets to reply to Byleth as a result.

“If you aren’t feeling well, I can finish up on my own here,” he offers. “Get some rest, make sure you’re feeling one hundred percent before class, alright?”

A part of her wants to turn him down just to continue to hide her desperation, but she can’t turn down such a perfect excuse to get away before she humiliates herself. Besides, it isn’t as if it would be the first time she made her excuses and ran off from something, so it really isn’t out of character for her at all. It would be more out of character for her to stay, and with how frequently she leaks, she isn’t sure if she’ll make it, should she decide to stay.

“R-right, thank you, professor,” she says, taking a step away, before freezing. She’s horrified to realize that even taking a single step causes her to leak, and she realizes her situation is much more dire than she thought.

“Anytime,” says Byleth, before looking over to her. “Are you alright?”

“I-I-I’m fine,” she says, trying another step. Another spurt of liquid escapes, and she winces, trying to stop it from turning into anything more. But she can just barely cut the leak short, and even then, she isn’t sure she’s going to be able to move at all. Her worst fears have been confirmed.

“Are you sure?”

“Just...just look over there, please!” she begs, wanting to at least be spared the humiliation of Byleth seeing her lose control.

Instead, he is at her side in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

“I...I…” She tries to tell him to go away, but she’s lost control before she has the chance, wailing as she realizes that she can’t stop the flood. Marianne reflexively shoves a hand between her legs, bunching up her dress and causing it to show the spreading stain of her accident.

“M-Marianne?” His eyes widen as he realizes what’s happening, and finally, he steps away, looking off to the side to give her some privacy a little too late. All she can do is stand there, humiliated as she wets herself. Tears begin rolling down her cheeks, and when her bladder is fully empty, she pushes past Byleth to flee.

He stops her, grabbing her by the arm. “Marianne, wait!”

“I’m sorry!” she cries. “I’m so sorry you had to see that!”

Byleth is looking at her not with disgust, but with a gentle smile. “It’s alright. I won’t tell anyone what happened. If I had known that’s what was bothering you, I would have let you go sooner.”

“B-but I…”

“It’s not your fault, Marianne. You were busy, and you pushed yourself a little too hard,” he says. “It could have happened to anyone.”

Despite how ashamed she is, his words of comfort make her feel a little bit better, as does knowing that he won’t tell anyone about that. He has always been especially kind to her, and she admires him a lot, which is part of what made wetting herself in front of him especially shameful. But Byleth finds a way to make her feel better even so.

“I’ll help you get back to your room without anyone noticing,” he promises her. “Just promise me not to push yourself too hard in the future, alright?”

“Alright,” she says with a nod, glad that she has someone like him supporting her. 

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