[Byleth doesn't notice Claude's blush - his gaze is fixed on his hand splayed over Claude's chest, seemingly fascinated with the heartbeat he could feel against his palm.]

I've always been curious, but I could never ask Jeralt about these things.

[Jeralt loved him, Byleth knew that. He was Jeralt's entire world. But his lack of heartbeat, his difficulty in emoting... it troubled his father as well. So, Byleth never brought it up, he never asked Jeralt questions like "what does it feel like to have a heartbeat?" or "can I feel it?", but he could never ask anyone else either... until now, that is.]

And people place a lot of importance on hearts. There're idioms and metaphors and... poems and stories that surround them. It's fundamental to being a person, and I'll admit, for the longest time, it made me wonder if I could even be considered human, or even alive, because I lacked it. Of course, I know now that my heart is simply... different, not absent.

[A part of him was a little angry that Jeralt had kept it secret from him for so long but... Byleth didn't know how to process that so he just buried it, like he did with all the difficult emotions.]