Princess Historia yawned, feeling the boredom creeping to her.

It has been a boring day for the bastard princess. Sure, she was considered a princess but she wasn't treated fairly compared to the true royals. She had to do chores, clean up, and such things but she managed to do all of her assigned tasks the day before which made her tired but she felt satisfied.

She was playing a full game of chess with her uncle named Uri who was the King of Eldia.

It pains her to wait as she stares at her uncle who has his brows knitted together to devise a plan to vanquish Historia's side of the board.

She sighed in relief in her mind as she heard an urgent knock on the door.

"Come in." Her uncle said, his eyes still fixated on the board.

The door creaked open which showed a young squire named Severino. "Your Majesty." He said in a thick British accent. "You have visitors but I think the most important you have is Sir Erwin Smith."

Uri rose from his seat. "Erwin, huh?" He walked towards the door. "You have my gratitude, Severino."

Severino stood rigidly and placed his fist on his chest, the salute of the Eldian Empire. "You are quite welcome, Sire."

"Dearest Uncle," Historia said. "May I go with you?"

Uri turned and smiled. "Forgive me but you cannot." And with that, the door closed leaving Historia with that squire, Severino.

Why not?

Historia eyed the young man and groaned. "Why do I always get stuck with a squire like you?" She was slowly losing her composure as a royalty.

Severino rolled his eyes. "Do not dare to speak such vulgarity to me. Begone."

Historia huffed and crossed her arms as the young man with the brown hair watched in amusement.

"Severino!" Historia yelled as she stood up. "Would you please leave me alone?"

"That I can do. With pleasure." The brown-haired lad mocked the princess as he left her alone with the half-done chess match on the coffee table before her.

•••

Uri was relieved to see Erwin and he beamed in glee as he saw Erwin, one of his favored knights.

"Erwin!" He greeted the taller man. He saw the other two companions of the man and smiled at them too. He looked over to the small, dark-haired man and concluded that he must be Erwin's squire. "This man must be your squire," He regarded Levi and turned to Erwin's female companion. "And this is?"

"She's Mikasa." Erwin answered with a smile. "She was the only survivor of the village that was wiped out. The village that you asked me to clean..." He explained, the sudden explanation destroyed the lighthearted mood of the King.

The King gasped and held a hand over his thin lips. "Oh my...what happened?" He inquired, his voice filled with worry.

"Everyone was annihilated, except her."

The King held his chin thoughtfully and said, "Erwin, thank you for saving this girl," He smiled at Mikasa who smiled back shyly. "But may I please do beg you a favor?"

Erwin was surprised and was pondering what the favor would be. "Yes, Your Highness. What is it?"

"Please take care of that lady." The King smiled gently and Mikasa could feel her heart flutter in gratitude. She didn't really have a home after her parents were murdered.

"Surely." Erwin nodded. "She's a very brave woman too." He marveled to Uri which made Mikasa blush.

Levi saw the flush of red on Mikasa's cheeks and stood on tiptoes to ruffle the hair of the younger girl. Mikasa smiled gently at Levi. Erwin dismissed Levi and Mikasa, telling them that he and the King had to discuss something in private. The two obliged and walked, accompanied by another squire who was eyeing Mikasa at the corner of his eye.

This made the female uncomfortable and she inched closer to Levi who was oblivious to her inner thoughts.

They were took out to a garden and it was a magnificent sight and Mikasa gasped in awe as she saw the lilies, lilacs, daffodils, and many other flowers that she could not name anymore. Her eyes glittered as she watched the flowers dance with the wind slowly.

The squire left them alone and Levi didn't bother. He actually did not want some company except for Mikasa.

Later, they saw a group of young boys running and sweaty. Mikasa looked up to see that the strangers were near so she stood up and walked back to Levi who was just gazing at the sweaty boys, thinking how much they stink.

To their surprise, the boys stopped running and turned to them, huffing. Levi was taken aback and had to blink a couple times before getting convinced that the boys were in front of him and Mikasa.

The boys were tall (although someone else wasn't) and they saluted to Mikasa and Levi.

"Good day to you, citizens!" They greeted, trying their best to tone down their huffs and gasps of exhaustion.

Mikasa nodded and greeted them kindly in a shy manner which caught the heart of a squire named Jean while Levi was doing the total opposite. He chose to be cocky.

Levi lifted his chin and said. "Stop being so polite when you are actually just a bunch of idiots."

Mikasa flinched at what Levi said and started glaring at him.

A small, blonde haired boy rolled his eyes. "Stop getting cocky. You can't tell us what to do."

Levi raised a brow. "Someone's got attitude."

"Hell, I do." The blonde haired squire shot back.

"Anthony," A taller blonde squire interfered. "Enough. You do not need to beat him up."

Anthony rolled his eyes and walked backwards, raising his hands in the air. "Whatever you say, Reiner."

The tall blonde, Reiner, sighed in relief. Surely, he did not want Anthony to have a quarrel with Levi.

"Pardon us." Reiner stated, it seems like he was the leader of the small squire group. Well, it wasn't relatively small but Levi has seen larger.

"It's nothing." Levi replied.

So the boys went and a light brown haired boy waved farewell to Mikasa. Mikasa was confused but waved back at the boy awkwardly, thinking that maybe the boy waved at the wrong person.

After a little while, Erwin appeared and waved at the two of them. He gladly said that the King had provided the two horses so their travel home will be better than the one they experienced on the way to the capital.

The two were relieved and thankful. They went out of the royal gates, mounted on their horses.

Erwin was still on his white stallion. As for Levi, he had a black stallion and he was happy with it because it was his first. Mikasa had a stallion with a golden coat which made her love the creature instantly.

They rode their horses, side by side, armed and ready for any sudden attacks.

It was very deep in the night when they arrived back to Erwin's manor. Mikasa was amazed at the looks of the place and concluded that the place would look twice as grand during the day. Rika opened the door, filled with worry and asked them questions as they went in. Erwin assured her, telling her that everything was alright.

Rika nodded reluctantly and eyed Mikasa. "Master," She said to Erwin. "Who is this young girl?" She asked with concern.

"She's Mikasa." Erwin said as he sat on his usual chair, the Bergère. He sighed. "Please take her to one of the guest rooms. Thank you, Rika."

Rika nodded, her blue eyes liquid in the candlelight. She took Mikasa with her, who was reluctant but still followed her closely.

A candelabra was lighted before Erwin and it rested on a table in front of his Bergère. As Levi scrutinized the man's favored seat, he began to notice that the chair was made with the finest red velvet and that the legs of the fancy chair were built from solid gold. The lining of the cloth that covered the fluffy seat seemed to be trimmed with gold as well.

"Studying something, Levi?" Erwin asked him which shook his thoughts.

Levi shrugged. "Just studying your fancy chair. Is that a problem?"

Erwin smiled softly, the smaller man never failed to amuse him. "It's new to you then?"

Levi sat at a wooden stool which didn't go very well with all the decors in the house. "Well, I am used to the extravagance of some knights but they were filthy. Their houses were unlike yours. Yours is neat and clean."

Erwin nodded and crossed his legs. "Thank you for such compliments. You see, my manor wouldn't be as clean of it weren't for Martha."

Levi let out a dry laugh. "You always mention Martha. I don't have a clue who she is though, so pardon me."

"Oh, no. Pardon me!" Erwin insisted. "It was my fault for not introducing you to Martha. She's my other maid that takes care of..." Erwin paused. "Entirely everything."

"Are you saying that Rika doesn't do anything?" Levi tilted his head to the side, eyeing the moon outside through a huge glass window that showcased the darkness of the night.

"Nay, that is not the case." Erwin stated. "Rika washes the clothes, heats the food that Martha cooked during the night, trims the flowers and all other things related to gardening, and greets visitors at the door.

"As for Martha, well, she's a nocturnal one. She works during the night and cooks the meals at night to get it heated by Rika during the day. She also dusts the decors, fix some faulty things in the manor, and she serves as my personal guard as well.

"It would be a good time to meet her." Erwin offered to Levi. "She's awake now, I think."

Levi nodded. "Sure." He stood as Erwin did but looked back at the wooden stool. The plain wooden stool that he sat on a few moments ago.

"Erwin?" He asked.

"Aye?" Erwin said as he looked back to Levi before going up the staircase.

"Could I design that stool sometime?"

Erwin smiled though it was incompletely visible in the incomplete darkness. "You may and if you would want, I could help you."

Levi nodded and walked behind Erwin who was on his way up. "Sure, I would like some help."

Hello, guys so this is the fourth chapter. I hope you enjoyed it uwu

Love,
Tobi