𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑩𝑬 𝑰𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪 - Levi Ackerman [1]

twenty eight

28|THE REISS FAMILY

"Premier Zachary has control of the capital and administrative district." Hanje explained to the small group who were still gathered around the seat Captain. "For the time being, the nobility hasn't rebelled."

"What about the Boss Reeves incident?" Armin questioned the older woman.

"We got a confession that proved the changes unfound." She answered for him with a joyful smile. "His son Flegel really pulled through big time. Just like it's written there, it shows the charges were bogus, they abused their power, and that King Fritz was a total fake. All our actions were justified self-defence. In other words, we're free people."

"Finally." Lillian smiled to her husband, reaching forwards to grab his hand. The children around them cheered loudly while the pair enjoyed the sudden comfort of not having to hide.

"Looks like the gamble paid off." Levi states to Hanje, looking up from his gleaming wife.

"Yeah. It wasn't just Erwin though." Hanje agreed, looking at the pair. "The lone choices of many managed to change the world."

"And I managed to kill the three people you loaned me." He stepped beside the Section Commander, his wife beside him. "I'm sorry. The thing is, part of the Interior Police, their leader, Eren, and Historia are somewhere else. If we don't find them soon..."

"We will find them." Lilly reassured him, stroking her arm soothingly up and down his arm.

"I may have a clue about that." Hanje lifted up a book to show the group. "Let's get there and put an end to this battle."

"Can I finally see my brother again?" The short blonde stilled when she remembered her brother, worried about his well being as she knows he had been severely beaten.

~•~

The group traveled through the night, Hanje, Levi, Lillian and Mikasa all rode in the trailer drove by Armin. Lilly stayed curled up to her husband's side, exhausted from all the travelling.

"Hanje, you might know where they are?" Mikasa asked the woman with concern, worried about her adoptive brother.

"Yeah, I'll explain." Hanje began, still holding on to the book. "Erwin gave me this Scout investigation report regarding Lord Reiss' land. Most of it has to do with an incident five years ago that shook up the Reiss family."

"Five years ago?"

"Right. On the day Wall Maria was breached." She continued. "I'll summarise the important bits from the beginning. As the lord of his territory, popular opinion of Rod Reiss wasn't all that bad. He had five children, and his eldest daughter Frieda was a down to earth girl that even the peasants adored."

"I remember her, she was a lovely girl, full of spirit." Lillian inputted, leaning her head against her husband chisled chest, noticing her friend nod in agreement.

"But that night, five years ago, disaster struck. With the world having plunged into pure chaos, some bandits raided and set fire to the only chapel around. Unfortunately, that night, the entire Reiss family was there praying together. And so, the whole family, save for the head of the house, Rod Reiss, was massacred that night by the bandits." Hanje grimly finished informing the group about the Reiss family. "To top it off, this incident occured just a few days before Historia's mother was killed by the Interior Police. In other words, immediately after losing his family, Rod Reiss sought out Historia. There must be a reason he and his lackeys are after Historia."

"The same bloodline?" Levi spoke up after Hanje had trailed off, deep in her own thoughts. "Is there some secret to their blood?"

"I don't know for sure yet." Section Commander answered his query. "But what really makes me curious is that parts of the chapel are completely wrecked. The chapel itself is stone. It would take tons of time and effort to destroy it. Bandits would take what they can and make a quick escape. Plus, the only one who saw those bandits was Rod Reiss himself. Soon after, he used his own fortune to rebuild the chapel. But why?"

"If you think about it, it's actually stranger that there were no traces of Titans." Lilly joked darkly, stilling when she felt an aggressive kick against her stomach. "You felt that too, right?"

"Felt what?" Hanje suddenly got curious, sitting up straight as the two parents suddenly put their hands all over Lilly's stomach.

"The baby is kicking." Levi almost failed to hide his smile, as he felt their child kick his hand. "He is a fighter like me."

"He?" Lillian questioned with a grin, staring at her husband lovingly.

"I fucked you too hard for it to be a girl." He whispered huskily in her ear, smirking when her face bright red.

"Anyway..." Hanje rolled her eyes at the pair. "Even if I'm jumping to conclusions, something this suspicious deserves us checking it out. Before the night is over, we'll have soldiers all over Reiss' land. Unfortunately, I doubt he'll be waiting that long. If we don't hurry and get there, Eren may end up being eaten."

"Don't remind me." The blonde paled at mention of her godson being eaten.