Due to the crisis that dealt fatal blows to the knights of Eldia and their squires, they were forced to fall back into a nobleman's manor who reluctantly allowed them in his estate after seeing the injuries that the rebels bestowed to their Empire's protectors.

The manor, which belonged to a man named Strattman was surrounded with tall sunflowers that stood and proud like the sun worshippers in the Roman Colosseum. Their amber petals were warm to the eyes like melting caramel that a baker drizzles over the handmade pastries.

Sure, they were beautiful but they were only a nymph compared to the lavenders in Erwin's estate for they were straight from the looking glass of Venus.

The yellow hues of the towering sunflowers were to violent to Levi's eyes because he adored the serene calm of the periwinkle for it reminded him of the gentle side of the royalty.

But maybe, he despises the glorious, golden florae because Levi missed being in Erwin's manor but above all, he missed Erwin's company.

As they entered the gates of Strattman's manor, many of the squires talked in hushed voices, saying that Strattman was only noble for he was toady enough to reach nobility.

The dark haired young man was skeptical about the shared canard and he raised a brow, scrutinizing it.

Then again, it was not his business and he just ached from the wound he attained from the previous skirmish. Levi's wound did not send him to the edge of the doors of Helheim but no one ever thought that an injury to the toe was such a bitch.

He was wincing his way down as he slid off his trusty stallion. The Stygian horse neighed happily as Levi gave its forelock a pat but he cursed himself for he put pressure on his toes as he stretched to pat the horse.

Metals of different colors adorned the huge oak door of Strattman. His door knocker was in the form of a harpy who spread out its wings, all in the name of Freedom.

Erwin ambled in between the bustling crowd of knights and squires, passing between a sea of live men. The tall, blonde man took the knocker that looked like delicate as the first snowfall in his hands. Firm thuds reverberated thrice and filled the suddenly placid chat of the men.

Levi's eyes of argentum followed the physique of the man he loved. The thought made him grit his teeth. Levi is such a sinner, it was awful.

Even if Levi has not committed the sin, it is grave enough to earn him a place in every circle of Dante's Hell. 

The door was scraped open by a butler who looked like the sculptures of sweet, sleeping cherubims in the sanctuary.

Erwin greeted the valet who nodded curtly, acknowledging the renowned Knight and ushering him in, along with the multitude of exhausted human beings.

They were safe.

As safe as being in Hestia's hearth where firewood pops and crackles, where the fire cackles gently as a visitor makes its way to the fireside.

But little did they know that the manor was a Trojan Horse.

•••

Life slid down the roseate lips of a fallen virgin goddess.

Who would have thought that the tissue of a toddler would taste toothsome?

Her lips quivered as she stared at the half-eaten, mutilated arm. Anguish and satisfaction eddied Historia as she stared at her bloodied extremities.

"I'm a murderer..." She whispered, containing a scream but alas, Historia held it in because if any of her attendants noticed, they will barge into her room and query her to death.

"H-Hitch!" Stammers she as her eyes flickered around the room, looking for the winged wretch but the devil with argent locks was nowhere to be found in her chamber.

Alone as Odysseus in Aeaea, Historia grabbed her scalp. She bent her body toward the silken sheets of her bed, her tears cascading her beautifully carved porcelain face.

"I dare call myself a mother..." She sobbed, her fingers ripping through the golden fibers on her head. "And I eat other mothers' children!"

If only she could get hold of a few drops of Lethe, Historia would forget this nightmare that played itself to be the reality.

Stuck in her monologue, the bolt of her room clicked. The defiled ingenue raised her head in horror of being found out of the heavy hell she committed.

She saw her uncle walk in, eyes wide after beholding the odious moment that his beloved niece is in. Uri raised his hand at her, slapping her across the face, smearing the blood that dangled from her chin.

"What have you done, Historia? Have you gone mad? Why are you an anthropophagus?" He howled at the helpless Historia.

Flabbergasted, Historia was not able to notice that a few knights got ahold of her lithe arms. Men in armor restrained her and trepidation took over her body as she felt their strong hands.

Historia will be torn to pieces the same way she did with the child's arm.

Reverie, that was what she saw.

Her uncle, Uri never walked in the room and said any of that. No knights grappled her.

Convulsing on the sheets, Historia struggled to rise from her bed. Her hand was still clutching the half-devoured limp flesh of an appendage. Her cobalt irises were fixed to it. Appetence to it grew and Historia reluctantly took another bite of the tasty human morsel.

It was...

delicious.

She moaned in pleasure as she felt the fasicles of the child's muscle. The sound of it just ripping apart excited her that drool slid from the corners of her gentle and red stained lips.. She loved every taste of it, every shred, down to the cartilage.

Panting, she gagged with tears in her eyes. Confusion overtook her as she felt through her blonde tresses that seemed unreal. They felt like threads spiraling down, just like how she is spiraling down to her doom.

Ymir, the demon that fucked her and knocked her up, visits her often, leaving her tiny pieces of meat, meaning appendages of children and if Ymir was merciful enough, Historia would get a breathing, screaming child.

The first time she had to eat one, she cried and cried, begging Ymir to not kill the child.

Ymir, who appeared as a seductress to Historia that night, simply stated: "I'm not; you are."

Her life was never the same.

She still lives in her fancy castle for Ymir sent her back immediately after consummating their supposed marriage but what bothered Historia the most was the demon's mention of her uncle.

Could it be related to the rebellion? What if the rebellion was right?

Historia could not shake the thoughts away as she sucked on the finger joints of the disarticulated child. Children have become her favored dinnertime appetizer.

Feeling full and satisfied, her bloodied yet graceful fingers traveled down to her belly, that looked swollen, she wished it was but it wasn't. She had a tiny life inside there that's a parasite inside her. She didn't want this child, sure, she might have thought before that this certain child in her womb might be molded with her tender love and passionate care but considering the paternity of the child, she wouldn't think so.

She plans to kill the child when it's born. If the mothers of the children she ate couldn't be mothers because of what she did, then she shouldn't be as well.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

A child for a child.

Simple as that.

Curiously enough, Ymir didn't visit her today. She chuckled at the fact for being smart enough to leave some body parts from yesterday for this day's dinner.

The door creaked open.

Her eyes widened in fear. Historia gas not left her chambers and was unable to. She was filthy, if you ask her but that was due to the blood smeared across her once peaceful visage.

Torchlights were illuminated across the floor of her bedroom as her eyes fearfully peeled to the door, her hand on her belly as the other pulled her duvet over her body.

"It's alright, Historia." She heard her uncle say, "We're doing this for Frieda. You're doing this for Frieda."

Her eyes shook in disbelief. So she wasn't demented. He is the reason for the rebellion.

But why me?

•••

The knights and squires were mostly on their backs on the great ballroom of the Strattman household. Some were snoring, talking, whispering, or even singing ballads!

Levi on the other hand, looked jaded. Everyone did but he looked beyond that. It was like he was a new shade of tired that the Fates decided to make in lieu of proper repose. The hard wood of the ballroom did not help him ease into slumber as well for it made his body ache more than it should and he thinks everyone else thinks the same.

He sighed deeply as he put his hands on his head, then groaned as he felt the throbbing and unending pain of his toe. However, his remembrance of his own pain made him think of fellow squire, Severino who was injured on the right iliac region. To Levi, it seemed fatal and it seemed like a God-given miracle that Severino was still holding on to dear life.

According to another squire named Jean, Death finds Severino too annoying to die that's why he was spared and honestly, nothing has made Levi chuckle out loud in a long time.

As he lay on the sienna floors, his eyes fixed on the ceiling where lavish chandeliers of crystal hung above him. He wondered if they would ever fall on him and kill him that instant. The thought made him wince.

His mind freely wandered to Erwin which made him blush deeply but his thoughts were cut off when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hello, Levi. Are you feeling better?" Erwin's deeply familiar tone rung on his ears.

"Yes, I am, Sir Erwin." He propped himself up using his elbows as he replied to his beloved. "How about you? How do you feel?"

Erwin's lips gently turned into a warm smile, "I feel fine, just a tad bit tired."

Oh, those lips. How badly Levi wanted to kiss those lips. If only no will will criticize him for loving Erwin. He wants Erwin to his and he wants to stay wrapped forever in the knight's embrace for as long as eternity.

He wanted to say, "I love you very much, Sir Erwin that I would catch the stars for you and place them in your eyes so they will shine forever."

That would have been a great declaration of love but to society, it is simply a declaration of war.

How Levi wished and longed to be in Erwin's castle. That way, he can just paint all the grief striken furniture the tall man's manor has with endless fields of lavenders that are formed with tiny dots of different shades of violet, blue, white, and green.

Maybe somehow, maybe somehow, if they are back at Erwin's manor, Levi can finally tell him his true feelings for the knight.

Rejection is what Levi feared the most. Rejection of his feelings, rejection of his truth. He also knew that Erwin has a late wife and that alone is enough to guilt Levi to tears.

Silence hung between Erwin and Levi like a blanket for Levi was entrapped in his own musings that are not doing him any good.

"Levi?" Erwin asked, his brows knitted together. "You seem distraught. You must rest."

Erwin's voice seemed robotic again. It saddened Levi.

He shrugged it off. "I'm alright, I've been to worse, trust me."

That seemed to catch Erwin's interest, much to Levi's surprise. Erwin's eyes lit up, like the Sun that brightens the whole world, but in this case, it brightened Levi's world.

"Oh? How so?" Erwin laced his fingers together and leaned forward, just a little close to Levi's face. "Tell me about it, my squire."

I can kiss from this distance. Thought Levi as he stared at Erwin. His face may be blank but his face was turning red. Shit, if I don't maintain my composure, I'm done for.

Levi cleared his throat and then pretended to cough, "You see, Sir, I told you how I grew up with my uncle right?" He glanced at Erwin to see a nod of confirmation. "He is a very dangerous man, known for killing soldiers and the like but he had a soft spot for me so he took me in."

"Ah, he's the one that taught you to paint, right?"

"Precisely. Anyhow, my uncle is crazy and would let me play with knives when I was about nine summers old which is pretty dangerous, wait how are you not concerned about my uncle killing soldiers and knights?" Levi asked his superior with a slight chuckle.

Erwin shook his head and smiled, "I do not care for what he has done, I'm only here to know how you were brought up," Levi shot Erwin a suspicious look, "Not because I think you're terrible—I mean, not because I think your uncle is terrible..." Erwin trailed off in defeat, sighing then laughing lightly. "Pardon me, Levi but I just sounded rude. I just wanted to hear about you!"

How sweet. No one ever told me that. Levi nearly cried but he held back his tears. If only he could kiss the man and declare his affections endlessly forever, he would. Kissing Erwin would be a chore, however, for Levi was of short stature.

"Don't worry about it," Levi insisted, "If you listen, it's fine."

"Okay."

Levi smiled. "Anyway, he was showing me how to throw knives one day but I was the dummy for some reason and I was confused why he would do that to me! I was to practice, not to be target practice!" Said Levi with a chortle. "And then he—"

"SIR ERWIN!" Sir Dok's voice rang through the ballroom. "YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!"

Erwin stood, "What is it, Sir Nile?"

Levi sat on the floor, bewildered. His moment with Erwin didn't last more than a moment. He was upset. The hard day he had today was also not helping him so the disruption was secretly driving him to tears.

"Severino's a woman!" Nile replied to Erwin from across the room.

"What?"

//: hello, everyone, I am finally here after years. Don't worry. I'll try my best to update from now on tho I say that a lot. Ughhhh, I'm so unmotivated. Thanks for reading!