God & Demon - XIX (Patreon)

Chapter XIX: Royal Blood

Amos's eyes widened in anger as he realized he was depressing instead of thinking, furious with himself, he slapped his cheeks and picked up his telescope.

"Focus, Hannibal!" he scolded himself as he looked back at the titan in the wall. "This is no time to be depressed!"

The noble quickly calculated the diameter of the enormous scarlet head, before roughly deducing the size of its bearer.

"It must be at least 47 meters tall." He noted before scanning the Stohess district’s walls. "If all the walls are filled with this kind of titan, given their thickness and length, there must be at least..."

He widened his eyes in terror, before taking one last drag on his cigarette and nonchalantly tossing it over the roof of the barracks.

"Damn... it's been a while since I have been this afraid. They were all under my nose all this time... asleep for over a century..."

A spark of realization crossed his emerald pupils, he let out an annoyed bestial groan.

"I think I'm starting to understand... if I'm right, that would explain why they attacked and infiltrated us…"

Amos crossed his arms and returned to the room he shared with Eren. The latter as well as Mikasa had fallen asleep while he was out. The nobleman stealthily collected his things, changed despite the presence of the sleeping oriental, and left while thoughtfully scratching his chin.

"Well... I have a general idea of ​​what's happening, but I still need far more elements to understand everything... I'd better share what I know with Erwin, it can only improve our next moves."

(-)(-)(-)

Annie Leonhart had rarely felt so miserable in her entire life.

After her capture, the scouts had locked her in an underground cell while enclosing her stumps in iron bells in order to prevent regeneration. The blonde was quite impressed by this ingenious process, she supposed that she owed its creation to Amos.

She gritted her teeth as she thought back to the noble. No matter how much she racked her brains, no one, not even Reiner, aroused such excess hatred from her. Hannibal had beaten her up during their classes, he had amplified the terrible emotions she had felt when she murdered Marco with his advice that she had made the mistake of following, and worst of all, he had ripped out her heart to crush it before her eyes. And if only that was all… What he was… the absolute power he held… made all his actions sickening.

He had at least been kind enough to admit to her that he had lied. The relief she had felt at that moment was salutary for her despite her capture and her severed limbs. The simple fact that the feelings she shared with Armin were real was enough to fill her in her darkest moments. Like this one.

The door to the corridor opened, and she heard a person approach her cell. Only one person… Leonhart sighed in resignation and raised his head. Who was going to be her first visitor? Armin? Not a chance. Jean? He'll probably want to know what happened to Marco. Amos? Maybe, it was even quite likely. Commander Erwin? He wouldn't go down alone. So...

"Hello, bitch." Annie had a little trouble swallowing the fear that Captain Levi inspired in her. Humanity's strongest soldier had stepped forward with an almost bored step, before planting himself in front of the bars of her cell to glare at her. The Female still had in mind the beating the scout had given her in the Forest of Giant Trees. The speed at which he had cut her up had made her panic to the point of calling the titans once again despite very low chances of survival.

She maintained a neutral expression and replied:

"You're very rude."

"And you've lost a lot of weight." He replied, noting her severed limbs. "It’s kind of annoying, I admit, I have fewer bones to break now."

Levi noticed the slight shudder of the Female Titan, she controlled herself.

"What do you want from me?"

"Answers." He said sharply. "Why did you and your buddies destroy Wall Maria? What did you come here to do? And above all, why did you change your target during the Battle of Stohess?"

Annie raised an eyebrow.

"Go fuck yourself." she simply said.

Levi didn't let any emotion show, he kept his gloomy face.

"I'd spill the beans right away if I were you. If you don't talk, the nobles will end up getting their hands on you. And I doubt they'll be as patient as I am."

Leonhart snorted mockingly, which only annoyed the captain.

“The nobles already got their hands on me.” She replied nonchalantly. “And contrary to what you assume, Amos is very patient.”

One of the small man’s eyebrows arched reflexively, Annie knew she had found a loophole.

“What do you mean?” He snapped irritably. “Why did you give up on capturing Eren to go after him?”

“Because he’s a liar.” The spy replied. “A liar and a manipulator. That bastard has been leading us all up the garden path from the start, he knows. He knows absolutely everything. I don’t know what he’s planning to do, but I know one thing for sure, absolutely no one is going to come out a winner except him. We’re just pawns on his chessboard.”

Leonhart almost winced when she saw Levi roll his eyes.

“Nice try." he said in his dull voice, “give me a good reason to believe you.”

In truth, the scout was very intrigued by what the Female was saying, of course, he was still wary of the noble, but he had bled on the battlefield alongside his comrades. He had almost died there to save one of them, and the frustration he had shown after his failure was real. What could the prisoner say that would tip the scales in the opposite direction?

“Captain Levi?”

The latter blew his nose, before turning to the person who had interrupted him, this one was taller than him, had blond hair in a ponytail and a steel blue gaze. He noted the four men accompanying him before turning his attention back to her,

and grimaced slightly as he noticed the bat on their uniforms.

“What is it?” he rasped.

Without further ado, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and stuck it in front of the scout’s face.

“By order of His Excellency, the Prime Minister. Criminal Annie Leonhart is placed under our jurisdiction.”

The woman gritted her teeth as she heard this.

Levi barely restrained his urge to tear up the paper that was handed to him, instead, he pushed the young woman’s arm away with his index finger.

“Unless Commander Erwin comes to give me his approval, you will not take our prisoner.”

“We do not need the Commander’s approval." she replied, motioning for one of her men to go and open the cell. “Our orders come from the Prime Minister himself.”

Levi grabbed the wrist of the MP who was about to insert the key into the lock, immediately, the soldiers drew their pistols and pointed them at the little man's head. The latter did not even bother to react to this threat.

"Guns are poor choices of weapons in narrowed spaces." He warned, tightening his grip on the MP he was holding.

Surprisingly, the latter managed to keep a stoic face despite the pain he must have felt.

"Captain Levi." the blonde continued, "if you persist in standing up to the will of the government, we will have no choice but to declare you a rebel. And we will then be forced to investigate the ranks of the Battalion in search of accomplices."

The scout snorted in anger upon hearing this, she did not even bother to hide her threat.

"Many of our comrades have died to capture that bitch." He growled, thinking of his squad.

“And we are very grateful to them.” she said indifferently. “Now, please…”

“Lieutenant Traute!”

The blonde and her companions instantly stiffened upon hearing that voice, they turned as one to bow to the newcomer.

“Lord Amos.” she greeted as Annie and Levi rolled their eyes at their sudden docility. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, my lord.”

“I would have said the same thing if you weren’t trying to steal my prisoner.” The young man growled as he went down the steps. “I admit, however, that I am a little disappointed, I was expecting to see your superior.”

“The captain didn’t see fit to come.” She replied, raising her head. “According to him it was a waste of time.”

Without warning, Hannibal quickly covered the distance that separated him from the MP, grabbed his paper and set it on fire with one of the candles that lit the room.

"You should have done the same." The tall blond said, exasperated.

Traute frowned in incomprehension.

"Milord…?"

"Lieutenant." he interrupted, "you will return to Mitras to inform my esteemed grandfather that Annie Leonhart is my prisoner. And that if he wants her, he will have to come and get her from me in person. Also tell him that he and I will have a little chat sooner or later, and specify that I do not appreciate that he allowed himself to omit certain crucial details. Oh, and while you're at it."

He took out a folded sheet of paper that he handed to the MP, who grabbed it curiously.

“Give these instructions to your captain, now please leave us.”

Traute and the MPs bowed without asking questions and left the basement under Levi’s dull gaze.

“No more privileges, huh?” the latter remarked sarcastically.

“Officially.” Amos qualified with a smile while playing with the keys to the cell. “Unofficially, none of them are stupid enough to question my orders. They all know very well what could happen, and they also know that I don’t need my grandfather to make them respect me.”

A loud snort echoed her words, the two scouts turned to their prisoner.

“What a joke.” she growled, glaring at Hannibal. “You really have no shame.”

The noble raised an eyebrow, before giving her a mocking smile.

“Not really, no.” he said, turning to the Female Titan while giving Levi a discreet wave so that he wouldn’t think of interrupting him. “Does my little game really piss you off that much?”

Annie glared at him with the most furious and murderous glare she was ever able to conjure, her teeth clenched so hard that they almost threatened to crack.

“You are disgusting and pathetic!” she spat with all her contempt. “You strut around as if your authority and your accomplishments came from your own doing! But we both know what it really is, Amos! You are nothing more than a fucking puppeteer who plays with people as if they were dolls! You are nothing more than a psychopath with a perverted mind!” 

"She's not entirely wrong... now let's see if my theory is correct..."

"You are so damn loud." Hannibal complained with a nonchalant annoyance worthy of a child, "Are they all like you in your country?"

Annie wisely chose to keep her lips sealed.

"I see... tell me... if I were to send them a few colossals... or let's say a few thousands of colossals... will they learn to be quiet?"

Leonhart's eyes widened in terror and opened her mouth in bliss, Levi frowned, his survival instinct radiating through his body like a shrill alarm.

A huge smile of satisfaction appeared on the young man's face, a smile that tore a genuine tremor of fear from the little blonde.

"So… to sum up." Amos continued in a much more serious voice. "You and your little friends attacked us because you are looking for a royal-blooded shapeshifter capable of controlling the titans in the walls. A shapeshifter that you must capture to prevent him from sending his colossals to crush you, and thus add this power to your collection. Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

Annie and Levi simultaneously raised their eyebrows, the little blonde displayed an expression that betrayed her incomprehension.

Hannibal let out a small chuckle, before turning around and lifting his shirt to expose the hideous scars left by the Female. The latter widened her eyes when she saw them, before spitting out an indignant and furious groan.

"Oh…! You fucking asshole!" She growled furiously at herself.

"The fact that you are an idiot is not fault of mine." The Nobleman chuckled as he got dressed under Levi's wary gaze. "I didn't heal from these injuries because I'm a shapeshifter, Annie, I simply used a particularly painful shock treatment. But I didn't think it would have such results."

With these words, he went to retrieve a chair and sat down opposite the prisoner who was cursing her own stupidity.

"Well." He continued, clapping his hands. "Now that we've put aside this little exchange that was as instructive as it was amusing, how about we talk business?"

"How did you know we were looking for a shapeshifter of royal blood?" She ruminated.

"'m the one asking the questions here." The nobleman cut in, letting predation invade his gaze. "And now you have a choice to make. Either spill your beans this instant, or keep quiet until my grandfather finally manages to get his hands on you. And then believe me, you will very bitterly regret not talking to me. Where do the titans come from? How did you become a shapeshifter? Where do you come from?"

The fear that had possessed Annie a short while ago had completely disappeared, the Female Titan was now more furious than anything else.

"Fuck you." she replied with all her bite. "You can torture me all you want, I will always end up regenerating. You’d better kill me right now, because I will make you pay for all your fucking manipulations as soon as I get out of this rat hole."

Amos let out a sinister chuckle, and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Who said I was going to torture you?" he asked wistfully. "It would be a waste of time, I know I'll never do better than my grandfather. He'll just give you to a bunch of horny perverts who will use you as a cum dump until you decide to talk."

At these words Annie's eyes widened in horror again. Levi had to restrain himself with all his might from glaring at the nobleman, silently hoping he was bluffing.

"Today I was able to stop him from getting his hands on you, but if he comes back with a hundred MPs to make a public request, I'll be forced to let you go. So in your own interest, Annie, it would be better if you told us everything." Leonhart was shaking all over, her unconscious sent her disgusting images of the fate that awaited her if she ever fell into the clutches of Peter Hannibal, she felt sick just imagining a gang of brutes manipulating her limbless body.

She gasped in horror, before raising her head to meet the emerald eyes possessed by the predation of her interlocutor, he seemed completely insensitive to her potential misfortune.

Her breathing became heavier, her anger mixed with her disgust and fear quickly disrupted her heart rate. She was on the verge of a panic attack.

"You're... you really are an asshole..." she finally let go. "Dad..."

"I know." Amos replied without blinking, "I'm not sorry. Spill it."

Annie took a deep breath to calm her nerves, which didn't work. Levi reveled in the state his squad’s murderer was in. But he categorically refused to let anyone suffer such punishment. Not even her.

That’s when a scout rushed into the basement and saluted without bothering to control his raspy breath.

“Captain! I have terrible news! The Titans have gone through Wall Rose !”

Amos and Levi’s eyes widened, the former immediately stood up and scribbled instructions in his blue leather notebook before tearing out the page to hand it to his squad leader.

“Take her to this address, my grandfather shouldn’t find her there.” The little man raised an eyebrow, but nodded and took the piece of paper, Hannibal gave Leonhart an annoyed look to note the glimmer of hope that had just appeared in his blue eyes.

"Sounds like you’re luck did not run out" He growled with a smirk. "But don’t worry I’ll be back soon enough."

Reinvigorated by his newfound hope, Leonhart spat on the ground in response.

"Disgusting." Levi commented before leaving with the noble in tow.

Leaving the Female Titan in the shadows with a slight smile on her lips.

(-)(-)(-)

“Hannibal?” The captain said as they climbed the stairs to reach Erwin’s office. “That rape story,  was it bullshit?”

Amos gritted his teeth and stopped momentarily, forcing his superior to do the same.

“Know this.” The nobleman growled, recognizing the slight change in the scout’s tone. “There’s nothing I hate more in this world than rapists.”

Levi didn’t react, and examined his subordinate’s face closely.

“So that’s the face you have when you’re honest.”

Hannibal raised his eyebrows in surprise, before clicking his tongue in frustration.

“You still haven’t answered my question." the little man pointed out as he continued his climb.

"I don’t know." The tall blond admitted as he followed him. "I don’t know what my grandfather will do to him, but I know he’s perfectly capable of going that far."

Levi snorted in disgust, Amos thought it best not to add anything.

“And as for your discoveries about the enemy’s objective and how you discovered it, when were you planning to share that?”

“I did it with the Commander, ten minutes before going down.”

The captain nodded slightly, satisfied with this answer.

They finally arrived in front of Erwin’s office, Levi entered without knocking.

“Those damn titans can’t leave us alone for five minutes.” he growled as he entered the room.

Smith tore his thoughtful gaze from his window to greet his two soldiers.

“Do you think you’re fit to go?”

“Not like we have a choice." the captain replied.

"We’ll make it." The nobleman added calmly.

Erwin nodded, and turned his attention back to the outside.

"Amos? You’ll share your information with Levi and Hanji on the way. Since Levi won’t be able to go directly to the front, you’ll be the one commanding his squad during this operation."

The nobleman frowned. Aside from Eren, all the other members of Levi’s squad had perished during the 57th expedition.

The Commander turned to the captain.

"I’ve consulted and validated the two names you presented to me."

"Good." The little man replied, looking at Hannibal. "That makes you my second in command, and the one responsible for these three lives."

The tall blond raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"Whose lives are we talking about?"

(-)(-)(-)

It was with his arms loaded with two boxes following Hanji, Levi and Pastor Nick that Amos found Eren, Mikasa and Armin.

"Yo." He greeted as he put his equipment in the cart that was going to transport them to sit down in front of the little blond.

"Sorry for the wait." the scientist added. "The preparations took longer than expected."

Arlet gave them a wary look when he discovered their surprise visitor.

"Um…" he began, not very sure, excuse me? But why is the reverend accompanying us?

"Oh?" Hanji said, putting an arm around the shoulders of the clergyman. "The minister and I have become great friends, haven't we?"

Said minister seemed extremely uncomfortable, he did everything to avoid Amos' gaze, which the officers noticed.

"Don't worry about that." The scientist continued. "This team’s composition is already wacky anyway. Right Levi?"

"Of course not, it obviously responds to a logic since Erwin selected the members. Isn't that right, Hannibal?"

"Right you are, Captain." The nobleman replied as he tossed a bag of apples in the middle of the cart. "We have a lot to talk about during our little walk. "So I advise you to eat something, we're all going to need strength."

The young recruits nodded before helping themselves.

"Eren." Mikasa said while putting a cape around his shoulders. "Cover yourself, it's cold at night."

If the shapeshifter refrained from making a comment, the little smirk of the tall blond annoyed him slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He grumbled while telling himself that it was fair game after what had happened in their room.

"I don’t find it funny." The nobleman corrected, raising a finger. "I just find Mikasa adorable."

"That’s true." Hanji agreed, giving the girl a broad smile. "It’s so cute."

The oriental preferred to pull her scarf up over her cheeks rather than answer.

"Open the gate!"

Immediately, the scouts took on a very serious expression as the immense gate of the Stohess district was slowly raised.

Perched at the head of his troops, Erwin turned his horse around to face them.

"Until the state of Wall Rose has been assessed, Ehrmich is our last bastion! We will try to gain as much time as necessary! Forward!"

As one man, the Survey Corps crossed the gate of Wall Sina towards the front, ready to fight their invaders and die in combat if victory proved impossible.

Hanji waited a few moments for them to get going, then revealed the reason why the clergyman was accompanying them.

Hearing this, Eren's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Wait... What?! The reverend knew that there were titans in the walls?!"

"Yes." The scientist replied bitterly.  "But he apparently never saw fit to share this information. So he's going to accompany us and see the situation for himself. We'll see if he continues to stick to his principles and silence after seeing the reality with his own eyes."

"That won't work." Amos warned, drawing all the attention to himself.

"Oh really?" The curious bespectacled woman said. "Why?"

A sad smile appeared on the nobleman's face, he grabbed an apple and bit into it without taking his eyes off the pastor. The latter lowered his head.

" I suppose you remember me."

The scouts frowned simultaneously.

"Yes… the clergyman replied in a very small voice.

" And I suppose you realize that it is time for you to confess your sins." The young man continued, his smile widening."

" Stop prolonging the suspense." Levi cut in with annoyance.

Annoyance that was shared by Mikasa, Eren and Hanji. For his part, Armin was totally captivated by the mental torture Amos was putting the priest under.

"Spoiljoy." The latter thought before continuing out loud: "Minister Nick here is a former alcoholic who lost his wife, his daughters and his job because of his penchant for drinking. Desperate and alone in the World, this moron joined the cult of the Dark Witch of Orvund."

Eren was the only one who did not widen his eyes, because he was the only one who had never heard of any witch.

The pastor felt his shame fall on his shoulders to the point of lowering his head further. Amos continued:

" Like the overwhelming majority of morons who followed this whore, he naively believed her lies. Understand that the morons who devote themselves body and soul to a cult do so because they are not smart or courageous enough to find real meaning in their lives. The witch knew perfectly how to exploit this weakness, she gave them the goals and reasons for being that they were all desperately looking for. Thus making them slaves to their own despair, because disobeying the witch meant losing the very meaning of their lives. Isn't that right Nick?"

The scouts watched the priest for a moment, he had tears in his eyes, shame and misery crumpled his already wrinkled face and his hands were clenching his tunic to the point of whitening his knuckles.

"When the witch burned, grandfather used the same process; he recovered all the sheep that had lost all reason to exist and created the cult of the Walls. At first I thought he had done this for the sole purpose of stupefying the population, but I understand today that he mainly wanted to keep as many curious people as possible away from the Walls, in order to prevent the titans hiding there from being discovered. Did I make a mistake somewhere?

Nick didn't answer, not that anyone in the cart expected an answer.

"That's why he won't talk." Amos concluded, "the Walls cult and the secrets it holds are the very reason for his existence, it's not much, but it's all he has. He'll take his secrets to his grave if he has to, and it's impossible for us to convince him, because knowing Grandfather, he'll have our good pastor's daughters and ex-wife shot dead if he ever revealed anything to us."

A heavy atmosphere accentuated by a surge of anger fell upon the scouts, Eren in particular seemed on the verge of imploding, he stared at the clergyman while trembling with rage. Nick represented everything he hated, he was a slave, a sheep who was perfectly content to live like cattle.

" In that case, he's useless." Levi growled, grabbing him by the back of the neck while ignoring his yelp of pain. "Why should we burden ourselves with him?"

“I only have two questions to ask him.” Amos replied, getting up to face the fifty-year-old, placing himself in front of Jaeger. “And I don't really need him to answer.”

The captain raised an eyebrow, and released the pastor, who massaged the back of his neck while staring at the young man's emerald gaze with horror. Hanji and Armin watched the latter with curiosity, while Eren awkwardly tried to move to get a better look.

“First question.” Hannibal gritted. “Does all nobility know about the titans in the walls and the power that allows them to be controlled?”

Levi was the only one who didn't react, all the others stared at the tall blond with round eyes of incomprehension.

Nick was horrified as never before.

" H-how…?"

"I don’t need an answer." Amos cut in. "The simple fact that you and another source who have nothing in common confirmed the existence of this power is enough to convince me of its existence."

Hanji was burning to ask the noble for more details, but the slight expression of satisfaction on Levi’s face was enough to make her wait a few moments.

Eren and Armin couldn't sit still, but they trusted their friend to tell them everything once his interrogation was over. Mikasa remained surprisingly impassive.

"So." the tall blond man continued. "if you knew, it's obvious that all the nobility knows about it too. Do you know why I wasn't informed?"

This time, Nick refrained from saying a single word, but he nevertheless took a brief look at the wings of freedom that adorned his interrogator's chest. The latter imitated him and sighed deeply.

"What a strange decision." He commented before returning to his seat. "I wonder what he has in mind... Why keep me in the shadows...?"

"Hannibal." Levi growled exasperated. "Since you're so well informed, don't you think it's time you tell us what you know and how you found out instead of doing your mysterious guy act?"

At that, Amos chuckled stupidly, which only served to further annoy all the other scouts.

“I’m sorry.” he blurted out, a little embarrassed.“You’re right.”

“Why did Annie try to capture you instead of Eren?” Armin nearly shouted, relieved to finally get answers to his questions.

The noble pointed to his back with his thumb.

“Because she was misled by the goop.” He explained, ignoring Eren and Hanji’s frowns. “I healed from a serious injury too quickly, she thought I was a shapeshifter like her and Eren.”

Arlet opened her mouth, before retracting it to think for a second.

“But why did she do that?” He asked again, warily. “Even if you were one, what makes you…?”

The little blond's eyes lit up when he remembered Reiner's slightly too insistent questions.

"Royal blood!" he realized, snapping his fingers.

Amos congratulated him by raising his thumb, Eren was a little annoyed at not being able to follow, but he preferred to pretend to understand everything rather than demand clearer explanations.

"Good." Hannibal complimented. "go on"

Armin grabbed his chin to think at full speed, fortunately for him, the brief interrogation between the pastor and the noble had given him enough clues. Once again, he widened his eyes and placed them on the Wall Sina still lit by the torches of the Garrison.

"That's how the walls were built." He guessed under the astonished gaze of Hanji, Eren and Mikasa. "It's thanks to this royal shapeshifting power... But then... that's why the Colossal attacked us! We have the means to send hundreds of thousands of giant titans at the enemy! With that we would be an unstoppable force!"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Jaeger cut in, flapping his arms to be given a break. "I don't understand anything at all! If we have the means to control colossal titans, then why don't we just get rid of the titans?! Why did we continue to live in a pen and send soldiers to their deaths for A FUCKING CENTURY, when we had a solution to this problem all this time?! It makes no sense!"

Amos raised his hand to encourage his friend to calm down. The latter fell back into his seat in the hope that the nobleman would enlighten him, unfortunately for him, the tall blond shook his head.

"I have no idea. The latter admitted with annoyance. You are absolutely right. This decision is incomprehensible at the moment, and that is why I need to have a conversation with my grandfather. I am convinced that this old bastard knows very well what he is doing."

Levi snorted loudly, making Eren, Armin and Nick jump in passing.

"He must be laughing, up from his fucking castle." He spat with contempt." we must really look like a bunch of ignorant idiots in his eyes.

Amos grimaced in anger in turn.

"What really pisses me off is that he holds all the cards at this moment, if I want to get information out of him I will have to obey him… He got me."

It only took Mikasa half a second to understand what he meant by that.

" Don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're going to do."

"Is that the only part that pissed her off?"

"Yes." He replied sharply.  "I have to get engaged. I can't approach him for answers without playing his game, if he really has the power to control the titans in the walls at hand, he literally put me in checkmate before the game even started. I'm too ignorant to do otherwise, he has the ability to lead me up the garden path for a long time if I persist in disobeying him." 

The nobleman clenched his fists in frustration, this situation was driving him crazy. He would never have imagined that Peter Hannibal was in such a position, it explained their last conversation. He had only let him join the scouts for the sole purpose of showing him who Lord Hannibal was, a lesson in humility that Amos was not ready to forget. Mikasa tried to remain impassive, but the Hell that was raging in his jet-black gaze made the task insurmountable.

“Well…” The nobleman growled, pinching his sinuses. “one problem at a time. First the outside, then the inside.”

Alas, these words did nothing to calm the violent emotions felt by all the scouts present in the cart. Armin and Hanji were completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of these revelations and were trying to sort things out in their respective heads. Eren was literally boiling with anger since he had realized that the death of his mother and the loss of Maria were events that could have been perfectly avoidable. Levi was rigid as a block of granite, but inside of him, he felt a rage similar to that of the Shiganshina native. Mikasa had hidden her face behind her scarf, and had walled herself in a furious silence. The pastor wisely chose to be as discreet as possible.

“Amos?” Armin asked timidly, trying to calm the myriad of thoughts that assailed him to focus on the question he wanted to ask. "In your opinion, who is the shapeshifter among the royal family?"

This question brought all eyes back to the noble, the latter let go of his sinuses and turned to Levi.

"Say captain? Would you mind knocking the reverend out please?"

Nick didn't have time to widen his eyes before the little man's fist sent him to the land of dreams, Hanji shifted a little to prevent him from sleeping on her shoulder.

The tall blond stretched and yawned before continuing:

"What I'm about to tell you is one of the best kept secrets of the nobility, so I strongly encourage you not to tell anyone about it. Except Erwin." He waited for them to nod and continued:

"Shortly after the walls were created, the Fritz royal family decided to rule in the shadows rather than expose themselves to the sight of all. They changed their name and became the Reiss family, a modest noble family from the countryside.

Hanji's eyes widened.

"Wait, but the Reiss...

"Let me finish." Amos cut in, annoyed at having been interrupted so quickly.

With a glance, Levi immediately calmed the scientist who scratched her head in embarrassment.

"For almost ninety-seven years, the Reiss reigned in the shadow of the fake Fritz family that they had erected in full view of all. However... they had some dubious practices, to say the least, practices that annoyed the other noble families for decades. Indeed, within the Reiss, only the male heir was allowed to marry and have children. The other children were condemned to celibacy and forbidden to procreate for their entire lives. Which probably has something to do with our royal shapeshifter if I'm not mistaken.

Amos paused to bite into an apple, before continuing:

" Unfortunately for them, the noble families were all relatively angry with their rulers. Because they categorically refused to marry their daughters to the heirs of the different houses, in order to avoid the spread of royal blood and the appearance of a large number of pretenders to the throne. Which, on the other hand, pushed some Reiss to rebel against their Shadow King, sometimes in the name of love, other times in the name of power. In all, there were five rebellions during the last century, and one of them succeeded.

Levi let out an exasperated groan.

" Let me guess: fucking Peter Hannibal?"

"Fucking Peter Hannibal." Amos confirmed impassively. "Ironically, it was the only rebellion that wasn’t led by a Reiss that ended up succeeding."

The captain frowned at himself, the Prime Minister officially held the title of person he wanted to see suffer the most.

“Grandfather was much smarter than all the others, instead of going after the royal family directly, he spent thirty long years building a political and financial empire. He had two sisters that he married off to the heirs of two other noble families in order to provide himself with powerful and solid allies. And while the Reiss went about their business, naively believing that their royal blood protected them from everything, Grandfather quietly worked his way up to become the most influential politician in the capital. A position that allowed him to set the noble families one after the other against the royal family, until the Shadow King ended up being completely overwhelmed by events. Indeed, in thirty years, the Reiss had lost a large part of their fortune and their properties following political maneuvers that were too bad or too late. No longer having as much influence at court as before, they were forced to ask my grandfather for help in order to restore their weakened power. Help that came at a price: the hand of a Reiss girl for the heir of the Hannibals."

Armin's eyes widened as he realized what Amos was saying, Mikasa frowned.

"Despite his brother's very strong protests, Uri Reiss accepted my grandfather's proposal and married his sister to my father. I came out of the bride's womb eleven months after their union." This time everyone imitated Arlet, and stared at the nobleman with fascination.

Amos ignored them, however, in order to finish his story.

“A little over a year after I was born, grandfather had almost all the Reiss assassinated and burned down their manor, making it look like an accident. That’s how he rose to power.”

A slight moment of silence passed, before Hanji asked him apprehensively:

“So… technically… you’re the King.”

Hannibal sighed in exasperation.

“In my opinion, the real King is rather our famous shapeshifter of royal blood. But I have no idea who that could be. To my knowledge, there are only three people including me who are still descendants from the Reiss family. And I have no idea which one could be a shapeshifter, it’s entirely possible that grandfather has another descendant hidden from me. That would explain some of his decisions…"

"Wait a minute." Armin said, his eyes widening in realization. "The Fritz family is just a cover?"

"Yes."

"But then… why…? Why did your grandfather marry his daughter to a fake King?"

At that, Hannibal burst out laughing.

" Because that idiotic woman made a huge mistake, and grandfather is not the type to let a slight of this magnitude go. After her mistake, no noble would have agreed to marry her anyway, she and her fake royal offspring are the laughing stock at court."

Hanji and Levi exchanged a look, while Eren admitted, blushing:

"I didn't understand everything."

Amos gave him a dismayed look that made him lower his head.

"Armin? Explain it to him again, I'm going to take a nap. You have plenty to think about all of this, but don’t forget to regain your strength."

With that, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Letting his colleagues digest everything they had just learned. Hanji already had hundreds of theories in mind, some incredibly far-fetched, others surprisingly relevant. Levi ruminated in his corner, containing the rage that the mere name of Peter Hannibal inspired in him. Armin turned to Eren to explain in more detail what Amos' information implied. As for Mikasa... the oriental seemed as sad as she was furious. She sometimes threw little glances at the sleeping blond, but each one only increased her frustration. The nobles... the nobles were filthy beings. Their manipulations, their wars, their despicable ways of producing children with particular blood like foals in a stable.

Their greed and pride that prevented their own offspring from knowing happiness in favor of power, money and luxury.

All of this, this incredibly perverse and inhuman system in her eyes, held Amos prisoner despite all his intelligence. And she could do absolutely nothing about it.

Mikasa clenched her fists in frustration, the only time she had stood in the way of a noble, Hannibal had been forced to sleep with a girl to save them, Eren and her. She felt a slight nausea just thinking about it.

Like Levi, she frowned at herself and hid her face behind her scarf.

Inwardly, she swore to herself that she would find a way to never again be as helpless and useless as she was in this kind of situation.

(Western Scouting Team; Seven hours after the Titans appeared)

“The closer we get to the wall, the less populated the area will be.” Henning pointed out.

“That’s a good thing." Nanaba replied. “It didn’t take us very long.”

She glanced at her subordinates, Historia and Ymir Hannibal.

“Very well, we’re heading south.”

“What for?” the taller of the two recruits asked. “Last I heard, there’s no village south of here.”

“The alert has been sent to everyone in the area, and the evacuation should be nearly complete. Now we need to locate the breach by following Wall Rose from the west.”

Ymir gritted her teeth at the stupidity and danger of this plan.

“Are you serious?” She complained. “You know Christa and I don’t have our ODM gear. What the hell will we do if titans rush us? They're probably infesting the South and if we can't defend ourselves we'll get eaten. Let us fall back to the rear so we can at least go find something to fight with."

Historia agreed with her girlfriend, this situation was insane. Why the hell weren't they allowed to take their combat equipment from the base where they had been placed with the rest of the 104th?

"Negative." Nanaba said coldly. "When we find the breach, I'll need a messenger to relay it to HQ. I know you're scared, but whether you like it or not, it's part of the job."

The two girls tightened their grip on the reins of their respective horses, but didn't add anything else nonetheless.

"We'll get eaten before we find the breach." Historia growled inwardly. "We won't be able to get near a crack in the wall if the area is crawling with titans."

She let out a small grunt, but she didn't argue further.

"Fuck..." Ymir grumbled as she moved closer to her girlfriend to avoid their superior hearing them. "As soon as we see a titan, we run away, okay?"

"Ymir!" the little blonde almost exclaimed, scandalized. "We can't do this. We have a mission to complete!"

The tall girl grimaced and sighed in exasperation.

"None of this bullshit with me, Hiss, I know very well why you want to continue."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The bastard defended herself.

"You want to continue because you think that's what Amos would have done, right?" the tall girl replied, ignoring her.

Historia stiffened in her saddle before looking away.

"I... it has nothing to do with him..."

"Bullshit." The tall girl replied sharply. "You keep fixating on your beloved brother. That's why you joined the Corps, admit it. You knew he was going to go and you didn't want to be separated from him. Whereas if you really wanted to make him happy, you could have just joined one of the other armed forces, found a quiet little corner and lived happily. I think he would have been much happier." Historia's face contorted with anger and frustration.

"Because you joined the Corps for another reason, perhaps?" she snapped, outraged.

Ymir took the blow, but sketched a very slight smile.

" Yeah… okay, I have nothing to say to that…"

The melancholy tone she had used did not escape the little blonde, she softened the features of her face.

" Ymir…?

" How stupid are we anyway?" The tall girl grumbled with exasperation. "Amos should have stayed in Mitras, he would have found us a nice little house in which we could have grown old peacefully. Why did we all decide to go to the front like morons?"

Historia let out a sad smile, the serious and pragmatic face of her big brother imposed itself in her mind.

"If we had done that, it wouldn't have lasted very long, the titans would have come to devour us sooner or later. That's why Amos chose to go fight... to... to protect me..."

Ymir raised her eyebrows.

"Why did you follow him then, if he's doing this for you?"

"I don't want to lose him." she replied almost automatically with force, "I... I don't want him to die for me. And I don't want you to die for me either."

These words touched the big girl right in the heart, she looked away to hide her blush.

"Don't say stuff like that, damn it..." she grumbled in a sulky tone.

Historia chuckled at her reaction.

"Amos loves you too, you know?" she added sincerely. "I'm sure he does what he does as much for you as for me."

This time, Ymir frowned and opened her mouth to refute this statement, before remembering a sentence the tall blond had said to her during their classes.

"Fuck... you're like the annoying sister I never wanted, but can't help but like, it's unbearable."

The tall girl blushed furiously when she realized what he had meant by that, and buried her head in her hand to hide.

"Oh shit…" She grumbled even more.

A dazzling smile appeared on Historia's face, to which was added a small blush.

"We are a beautiful family, don't you think?"

Ymir snorted with amusement, her cheeks were still pink.

" If by "beautiful" you mean that we are a beautiful trio of idiots, then yes, we really are a beautiful family." She said with forced sarcasm.

But her girlfriend was not fooled, and her smile widened.

"Are you done?" Nanaba growled, quite exasperated by the lightness with which her two subordinates were taking their mission.

The two teenagers had the decency to lower their heads, but neither of them stopped smiling.

"They are lucky." The soldier thought, looking forward and ignoring her perverted father who was prowling in her head.

(Southern Team; Eleven hours after the appearance of the titans.)

Dusk had fallen on Wall Rose, but the clouds had completely obscured the surroundings. It was only with the help of their torches that the Southern team managed to see. Unfortunately, the radius of their light was limited to barely fifteen or twenty meters, beyond that there was only darkness, darkness that was probably teeming with titans.

Needless to say, they were all consumed by utter anxiety. None of them had seen any breach so far, nevertheless, they were all convinced that they were approaching one. And that meant that the chances of encountering Titans were extremely high at the moment. Although the giants were inactive during the night, the presence of the flames could be enough to incite them to attack. And hearing the heavy breathing of their comrades only stressed them out more.

Suddenly, they spotted flames in the darkness and soon enough, their group was joined by the Western team composed of Nanaba, Lynne, Ymir and Historia, each of whom had the same frightened expressions identical to theirs.

" Hey…?" Gelgar asked weakly, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “You followed the Wall all the way here, I suppose?”

“Yes." Nanaba confirmed. “You found the breach, then?”

His eyes widened.

“What?”

“There were no anomalies along the western route, so the breach must be to the east.”

Gelgar was speechless for a moment, before he admitted, stammering, “No… The Wall is perfectly intact.”

The two groups stared at each other wide-eyed as they tried to absorb this new information. The fact that the Titans were inside Wall Rose but hadn’t crossed the Wall was astounding.

“Well, maybe we just missed it." Lynne suggested nervously.

“Unlikely." Henning countered. “A hole big enough for the Titans to pass through? No way we’d miss it."

"In that case… there are no solutions, we have to do a new round." Gelgar declared, even though he was at the end of his rope.

"That goes without saying." Nanaba replied. "The problem is that our horses are about to collapse and so are we. If only we had more light."

As if her prayer had been heard, the clouds parted to reveal a bright full moon that came to illuminate their surroundings.

"Hey." Gelgar called out as he spotted a building in the distance. "What is this?"

The structure turned out to be an authentic ruined castle with its two towers connected by a small bridge. The place looked like it had seen better days, but at least it was somewhere they could shelter for the night.

Slowly, the scouts made their way towards the ruins, eager to put an end to this trying day.

(-)(-)(-)

Amos emerged from his nap with a grimace, rubbed his eyes and checked his pocket watch.

"Ninety-four minutes of sleep... that will have to do."

He stretched discreetly and yawned modestly, after which he realized that they still had about ten minutes to go before reaching their destination. He bit back a groan of annoyance, and clasped his hands under his chin.

"Since I have some time, I might as well use it well.”

He turned his gaze to the north so as to avoid anyone noticing his dilated pupils, and immersed himself in his memories.

(-)(-)(-)

"Well…” he continued as he immersed himself in his mental library dressed in his aristocrat’s attire. “How is it that Mikasa is able to cancel out my predation?”

While browsing through the shelves filled with imaginary books that contained his memories, the nobleman calmly pondered this strange situation.

The predation was his creation, a feeling born from the instinct of a hungry natural hunter who only thought of satisfying his devouring hunger. A characteristic specific to certain carnivores that humans do not possess, but that they had fabricated from scratch to implant in their brain, in order to ensure that they never make a mistake resulting from a lack of conviction. The fact that a person had the ability to cancel out his pragmatism to total purity terrified him, because it meant that like all human beings on this earth, he was quite capable of making mistakes as gross as they were fatal. Like his sacrifice in the forest of giant trees.

"How could this have happened?” he thought as he looked through his books. “No logical explanation comes to mind.”

He let out a short, annoyed sigh, and grabbed a book at random.

"First I have to locate the moment when my behavior changed… back when predation was the last thing keeping me alive. Armin having burned me shortly before the survival exercise… I’m going to have to go back almost two good years.”

He opened the book in his hands, and immersed himself in his memory.

(-)(-)(-)

Standing in the middle of the training ground reserved for the practice of martial arts, Amos Hannibal meticulously observed the duels between his fellow trainees.

"Connie Springer." he thought coldly. “Dumb as a brick, but decent at omni-dimensionality. He can be used in combat… as a decoy at best. He must be integrated into the Survey Corps.”

"Jean Kirstein, a lot of potential but an exasperating naivety, he would need a good kick from reality to be of any use. A traumatic experience could allow him to open his eyes… his accreditation is to be thought about, but I doubt he has the guts for the Hannibal Police. "

" Marco Bott, an idealistic buffoon with no balls, but I might be able to use him to exploit Jean's potential. Yes, it's entirely feasible. "

" Annie Leonhart, completely unreliable for the Corps, a lot of potential for the MPs on the other hand. She has everything it takes to be part of Kenny's squad. "

" Armin Arlet, high intelligence, remarkable imagination. A valuable asset for my career in the Corps. "

" Reiner Braun, idealistic and realistic, the perfect soldier for the Corps, he has everything it takes to end up as an officer. A valuable asset, I have to keep his trust. "

" Bertholdt Hoover, a coward who follows Reiner like a good puppy, he nevertheless has the qualities necessary to make a decent scout. But nothing more to get from him. "

" Sasha Braus, outstanding hunter, ideal for the Corps. But her stupidity coupled with her voracious appetite and her execrable manners will probably force me to part with her once she has exhausted my patience." 

"Ymir, nothing to get from her, lazy as hell and falsely selfish. Makes you wonder what the hell she is doing here."

"Eren Jaeger, a walking public danger, will drag several of his comrades into death out of pure vanity. Make sure to make sure that Armin and Mikasa are not among the victims of his stupidity."

"Historia Hannibal... no... not her."

"Mikasa Ackerman, immense potential, but her feelings for Eren make her impulsive and reckless. She can only improve after the death of the suicidal bastard, but we must make sure that he does not die too early, in which case her reaction will be unpredictable."

(-)(-)(-)

"That's enough!" he growled at himself as he pulled himself out of this unbearable memory.

Hannibal, furious with himself, put the book back in his library and continued his way through the shelves, moving as far away from it as possible.

"Fuck... I was... What the hell..."

A shiver ran down his spine in the real world, a reaction that did not escape Mikasa.

"Holy shit... I have to accept... I have to assume... I have to be this monster..."

He clenched his fist under the gaze of the oriental woman who raised an eyebrow in worry.

"But... never again... never again will I allow myself to forget who I am! Never again will I let myself be consumed! I am a demon because I chose to be, nothing else!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself, and dove back into his mental library.

"Fuck..." he continued, trying to forget this painful memory. "I know I'm a genuine, callous psychopath when I let predation push me to the limit... but this was nonsense! I had really fallen lower than the earth because of this... how... how did I get out of it?"

It was then that he realized something, something incredibly disturbing.

Predation had been his whole life for almost three years, it was the only feeling that had kept him going, and that was why he had let it consume him. If he hadn't, he would have been far too broken to be able to protect Historia. And yet, during the last two years of his classes, he had managed to do without it. And he had naively believed that it was linked to the fact that he had grown up surrounded by good people in the 104th. But now he realized… he realized that there was only one person who could make him swallow the predation. Only one.

"No." he dismissed almost immediately, “What the actual fuck?! This doesn’t make any sense! What happened?! What did she do to pull off such a stunt without even wanting to?!”

As if to answer his question, he remembered what the oriental woman had told him in the stable, and everything suddenly became clearer:

"No one sees it, you hide it really well… But me… I see it all the time. I’ve seen it since… since… since we talked on the porch of the dormitory two years ago.”

"The porch!” he realized as he grabbed the appropriate book. "What the hell happened on that fucking porch?! What did I miss?!"

(-)(-)(-)

(Two years ago)

Tired from Shadis's intensive training and eager to find some peace and quiet. Amos had stretched out on the railing of the porch of the boys' dormitory with "Modern Explosives", the last book in his bag that he had not yet read.

In the distance, the spring sunset illuminated the barracks with its pink glow, and a pleasant west wind came to cool the face of the tall blond, whose concentration seemed unperturbed.

"Amos?" 

He frowned in annoyance, before letting out a resigned sigh and looking up from his book.

Mikasa had approached him with feline steps, judging by the towel around her neck and her still wet hair, she had just come out of the showers.

"Yes?"

"I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead." he replied indifferently.

The oriental woman suppressed a vexed grimace, but chose to ignore it.

"After our fight, you told me something I didn’t understand, you told me you envied me… then you said that ‘protection was the second stage’… and I admit that I didn’t really understand, can you explain it to me? Why do you envy me?"

Nox raised an eyebrow, then he sighed again and put down his book before joining his hands.

"Because you already have everything you need and you are content with it." He said in a calm voice.  "Most… well, the overwhelming majority of human beings are never satisfied with what they have. They are more concerned with what they can get more and take what they already have for granted. I admit that I am no exception to the rule, I already have a lot, but it is not enough for me. And sometimes I think that I am probably doing too much and that I should be content with what I already have. But I am not satisfied, and that is where I envy you.

You have Eren and Armin, you don't need more and you don't want more. You've reached what I called the "second stage", you do what you can to protect them and thus keep what you already have, rather than risking them to get more. That's why I envy you, I don't know if I'll ever be fully satisfied, to tell the truth, I fear that it will never happen."

Mikasa was quite touched by these confessions, however, she frowned very slightly.

"You have Christa, isn't she enough?"

Amos let out a small sad smile that surprised the oriental woman with its sincerity.

"Christa has her own life to live, she will grow up, find someone and start a family. I will always be there for her, but it will be HER life. I have to live mine one way or another."

He turned to the oriental woman.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why Eren sometimes gets frustrated with your behavior.”

It didn’t take much more to get the girl’s full attention.

“What?”

“The fact is that sometimes, it seems like you live more for those you care about than for yourself, Eren must feel like he’s holding you back or something. And for someone like him who’s crazy about freedom, it must be annoying, especially if he thinks that he’s the one holding you back and not you who decided for yourself.”

Mikasa’s eyes widened and she went back to her memories, she replayed over and over all the times her adoptive brother had abruptly pointed out to her that he wasn’t a kid anymore, that he didn’t need her to stick to him and that she should focus on herself. And then she understood, she understood that Amos was probably right, Eren had to act like this because he was frustrated, because he believed that she was not free… because of him.

“I think he just needs to understand that you are overprotective of him because you chose to act like this." The tall blond added with a shrug. “He will continue to be frustrated because he wants more independence. But he will probably calm down a little, if he realizes that you do what you do because it is what you decided to do, and not because you are forced to do it.”

The oriental woman pulled her scarf up over her cheeks and looked at the horizon in turn. Then she lowered her eyes sadly.

“It’s…” She began, not very sure. “I made a promise to his mother to always protect him… I’m not saying that I protect him only because of that, but that promise means a lot to me. His mother had been incredibly kind to me… I loved her like I loved my own mother… So I guess…"

“That’s something I’ve always admired about you." Amos cut in, knowing what kind of nonsense she was about to say. “Everything you do, you do it out of love.”

Mikasa felt her cheeks burn, she lowered her head to hide herself better.

“What do you mean?”

“You know very well what I mean." The tall blond smiled under the shocked gaze of the oriental woman.

“Stop.”

Amos Hannibal stood facing the porch, arms crossed, he carefully observed the young girl’s eyes.

“Why is she looking at me like that? She was hiding in her scarf two seconds ago.”

He frowned, and turned to his past self.

“What’s so special about me?”

With a snap of his fingers, he let time resume its course.

“You protect Eren and Armin because you love them, you train to protect them better because you love them, you keep your promise because you loved Eren’s mother, you became a soldier for love, you fight for love. In short, everything you do, you do it out of love.”

This time, Mikasa had to turn completely to hide her scarlet face, Amos chuckled softly at the sight of her.

“You know." He continued, turning his gaze back to the horizon. “If one day you have children, they will be incredibly lucky to have you as a mother.

For a very brief moment, the oriental woman's face turned redder, then she realized the melancholy with which these words were spoken, and returned to her interlocutor.

He seemed so sad that she froze on the spot, the tall blond man let out a thin sigh.

That's when she understood, Amos had spoken of Christa's future but not of his own.

"Don't you want to start a family, too?"

He turned to her, his gaze filled with sorrow.

"Wait a minute." Hannibal realized, stopping time. "Since when have I been so expressive...? Before the conversation began I was..."

He frowned, before slightly widening his eyes.

"That's it." He understood.  "Mikasa pressed all my weak spots. From the love she carries to her maternal instinct, through her altruism and determination. She is the complete opposite of what I was, and I am starting to… It’s like she is opening my eyes… The simple fact that it is a person like her who asks me questions about what I want…”

“That’s what I want most in the world." confessed the Amos of the past, “but I will be a pitiful father.”

Mikasa didn’t seem to believe it, her gaze softened considerably in the space of a second, she approached the tall blond and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t agree." She said with a smile as shy as it was dazzling. “On the contrary, I think you will be exceptional.”

These words spoken with tenderness struck the young man right in the heart, the one from the past as well as the one from the present. The one from the past widened his eyes and stared at the oriental woman, blushing. The present one shook his head slightly.

"Those words... coming from someone like Mikasa... It's like she gave me back my hope... No wonder she can cancel out predation. She's the only thing that allows me to see beyond it."

" Thank you…" the Amos of the past murmured, looking away.

A playful smile then appeared on his face, the present one shook his head, knowing what was going to happen.

"That was a strange marriage proposal."

The oriental woman reacted immediately, and gave him a violent slap to the back of the head. The tall blond fell off the railing he was lying on and sprawled on the ground.

"I can't believe I said that." Hannibal grumbled, suppressing a chuckle. "But I couldn't resist, she was too cute."

It was then that the Amos of the past burst out laughing, a powerful and amused laugh that resonated through the noble's brain.

The latter frowned.

"Why am I laughing so much? It wasn't THAT funny."

It took Nox a good minute to calm down, he had laughed so much that he had tears in his eyes. But when he straightened up he met Mikasa's gaze.

The oriental woman seemed flabbergasted, her eyelids were wide enough to burst her retinas.

"Stop!" The noble immediately cried out, displaying a similar expression.

A long moment of heavy silence passed, during which the tall blond tried in vain to put all his ideas back in place.

He observed his past self with an incredulous look.

"When was the last time I laughed so much?" he wondered, haggard. "It must have been at least four years ago... That's..."

He then returned to the oriental woman, observing her with confused wonder.

"It's thanks to this moment that she can decipher my behavior. I don't think I've displayed such sincere emotions in the four years leading up to this conversation. The way I laughed... it was as if I was making up for lost time. As if I was finally seeing the light. And she saw everything... She understood that I was hiding behind a mask of logic and pragmatism. She knows... That's how she can read me... How?"

The young man put his head in his hands and tried to find the answer to his questions.

"In a conversation that didn't last three minutes, she managed to break my shell without even trying to do so, to pull me out of a three-year-old depression, to make me swallow the instinct that was destroying me as much as it was keeping me alive, to give me hope again... how is that…?"

And that's when he understood, and he froze on the spot.

He understood the messages that his subconscious had sent him during the Battle of Trost, he understood the pain he felt every time he made her suffer, he understood why he adored her adorable side, he understood why she could make him cancel his predation, and occupied his thoughts far too often.

Then he slapped his forehead with both hands, in the real world.

(-)(-)(-)

" Wow!" Hanji said, surprised to see him react so violently without warning. You gave me such a scare!

Indeed, the scientist had been so absorbed by the crystal she was holding that she had jumped at the noble's sudden movement.

Amos muttered unintelligible words into his hands, while everyone in the cart looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.

" Hannibal!" Levi called out annoyed. "You better not go nuts now!"

“I’m not going nuts." the young man retorted annoyed, “I’m just frustrated with myself.”

This sentence immediately caught the officers’ attention, but the tall blond waved their curiosity away.

“It has nothing to do with the titans, it’s personal. Sorry if I freaked you out, I’ll be better in a second.”

Levi was tempted to add something, but he was starting to get to know his new subordinate and knew how pragmatic he could be. So he chose to let him do it. Hanji looked at him for a moment, before refocusing on her crystal. Eren and Armin exchanged a questioning look, while Mikasa stared at the tall blond with concern.

The latter had turned his head to prevent anyone from being able to decipher his facial features.

"Fuck…” he thought as he stared into the darkness, “fuck… how did I not see it sooner… that explains absolutely everything… absolutely everything… She didn’t give me hope, she IS my hope…”

He let out a long, discreet sigh, his emerald eyes had a melancholy glow.

"I’m in love with her… Fuck…”