Author's Note: This story is NOT set in the Attack On Titan universe, it is its own thing, and I actually got inspired to write it because of the anime Romeo X Juliet, which myself and my boyfriend are currently watching. I have to admit I've been stuck on Hizuru's Hope, but this is a story that blends Queen Mikasa, Hizuru's hope along with general Eremika. I'll be updating this fic and Blue Butterfly. Hope you guys like this!
Prologue
Once Upon A Time, there was a beautiful kingdom. The kingdom thrived and flourished in the land of Eldian. The Eldians cherished King Fritz, looking to him for guidance, shelter and mercy.
King Fritz had noble warriors at his side to depend his kingdom, the Ackerman clan. Not much was known about the Ackerman clan prior to them standing as the king's most reliable warriors, but there was no denying their strength.
After a great war devastated the kingdom, for unknown reasons King Fritz wiped the memories of all of his subjects...however he discovered the Ackermans were immune to his ability.
The Ackermans rejected this idea of peace, but once they did, they forever made themselves outlaws of the land.
Seeing them as a threat, the king ordered the Ackermans be slain. The Ackerman clan was hunted to near extinction, with the few remaining members fleeing to the land of Hizuru.
The Asian clan of Hizuru were also immune to the king's memory wipe, and they took pity on the Ackermans.
Both clans were driven far away until they made themselves a new land of Hizuru. There were more Asians than Ackermans, but it was still a small population.
The families knew they were close to extinction, and so they began to repopulate their clans. Many years later, Hizuru slowly began to build its own empire.
Though they had no real ruler, they were led by a powerful ambassador, Kiyomi. Kiyomi arranged marriages between Asians and Ackermans, along with made profit for their kingdom from the children born by arranging their futures.
One mystery of this tale, is Kiyomi continues to live on in great power of Hizuru...despite her lifespan being well over. The greatest secret kept of this clan, was she drank from the Lake of Hizuru, which waters had powerful healing properties...and could give an Asian or an Ackerman immortal life.
As time went on however, the Asian and Ackerman clan began to go at war. Newborns died of disease due to inbreeding in the small population, and women were being treated like breeding livestock.
Many women were raped, while others died of childbirth. Their perfect plan began to fall apart, and Kiyomi realized her empire was at the risk of falling.
In the end, she was able to save a total of six children from the disease that plagued the land. However, five out of six of these children were Asian.
Only one boy was an Ackerman. Kiyomi raised the children as her own, never telling them about the Asian or Ackerman history, she didn't even tell them of the disease.
As the children matured and blossomed, Kiyomi arranged a marriage between two of them. The Ackerman boy, Herrick, and one of the Asian girls, Akane.
The other four were two women and two men, however...Herrick was, in a way Kiyomi's prize steed. He was the only surviving Ackerman, very possibly the last Ackerman on this planet.
Akane grew into a beautiful young woman, and she was related to Kiyomi. Because they were never told what happened, they fully trusted Kiyomi with their lives and saw her as a loving mother.
During all of this, Kiyomi was able to raise profit for the kingdom by offering the land as a shelter for the helpless and poor.
Something no other kingdom did in the area, and soon word spread. Hizuru's land was the most fertile, and grew all kinds of fruit and vegetables.
Its dense forest was filled with animals to hunt and use as clothing for the winter, and fairly soon this helped Hizuru become a kingdom.
More and more strays flocked to Hizuru, and eventually a castle was built and not only were staff and knights living at the castle, but villages were built, and even a city for people to live in.
The rest of the land was mostly barren on this side of the world, but Hizuru was the garden of life.
Finally, during the construction of the castle, Akane Ackerman became with child. Kiyomi knew this child would be of vital importance to the future of her empire, so she naturally ensured Akane would receive the best care.
During a harsh winter storm, Akane delivered a healthy baby girl after 30 grueling hours of hard labor. When Kiyomi saw how Akane looked at her daughter...she realized how deeply Akane loved her child.
Akane looked down at her baby in such a loving way, a way Kiyomi had never seen before. Herrick also cherished his child, and the parents made a vow to always protect their child.
However, that night Kiyomi realized the great threat their love would bring on her empire. She needed to use this child for profit in the future, once the girl was matured and fertile.
And she knew, such doting parents would never allow it. So, she took things into her own hands and slit Akane's throat in her sleep.
Next, she strangled Herrick before he could even wake from his own slumber, leaving blood all over the baby's bassinet.
Kiyomi covered the murder up from everyone, and told a tall tale Akane had perished from childbirth, and Herrick committed suicide from the grief.
It was an easy tale to sell, consider Akane was always rather delicate and her pregnancy hadn't been entirely smooth. Herrick's love for Akane was no secret either.
And so, the kingdom continued to flourish with no one knowing what truly happened.
Now, Hizuru had an heir. A girl who would help Kiyomi repopulate their clan, and continue to keep the empire in power.
Hizuru's hope, the fruit of the Azumibito family, a perfect messiah with Ackerman and Asian blood pumping through her veins..the very last living person with Ackerman blood...
Princes Mikasa Ackerman
End of Prologue
19 Years Later...
In the beautiful kingdom of Hizuru, a large castle stood. The castle was built in the dead center of the large kingdom, which expanded into five villages, one city, two forests, and one large lake, otherwise known as "The Lake of Hizuru"
Only the royal family were allowed to touch the water of this lake, which was set in the heart of one of the forests.
It was heavily rumored the lake's water had purifying and healing properties, though if it was true, the royal family didn't make it known to the public.
The forests were dense and filled with animals like wolves, bears, coyotes, foxes, birds, hare, deer, and so on.
The villages were filled with families, stores, farms and of course the common animals like horses, cows, goats, chickens, dogs and cats.
In front of the castle, was a beautiful fountain and gorgeous Sakura trees. A circular pavement went around the fountain, as four Sakura trees were evenly standing on all the corners.
In the back garden of the castle, sat an old Sakura tree that had been growing on the land for over 100 years. Surrounding this tree were hundreds of roses and bell flowers.
Inside the entrance hall of the castle was a grand marble staircase, along with many corridors both downstairs and up.
Rooms such as the great hall, the throne room, master bedrooms and sitting rooms along with a magnificent library filled the castle.
There were stables on the side of the castle, not too far from the entrance. There was a grand total of 200 horses, along with a much more rare creature.
40 Pegasus were held in a much fancier and special stable, the mystical creatures were as white as the snow, with even brighter wings that nearly glowed. The stallions' wings had a gold tint to them, while the mares' had a silver tint.
They were a bit larger than normal horses, and they were much faster and stronger. Not many mystical creatures were left in this world due to hunting and war, but it made complete sense the Azumibito family owned some.
It was a beautiful morning, the sun shining over the kingdom and the temperature was comfortable and warm. There was also a soft breeze off and on.
The sun lit up a beautiful bedroom in the castle. The room had a large wooden wardrobe filled with dresses, along with a desk with a mirror.
There was a large set of window doors with a balcony, along with bookshelves and nightstands. The bed was queen sized, with pink curtains and satin sheets and comfortable large pillows.
Laying in the bed was a beautiful maiden, she had short chin length black hair that nearly touched her shoulders, along with pale skin.
She was laying on her side, wearing a long white nightgown, her long black bangs nearly covering her eyes as she breathed softly.
Her hand rested over her obvious swollen stomach, as her palm felt small kicks from inside. She was with child, and due fairly soon.
The exhausted princess very slowly stirred, forcing her eyelids open. She had dark bluish eyes, almost black.
She sat up with a slight struggle, giving a soft groan as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She yawned and then went to pull herself up.
She grunted quietly, as she managed to get to her feet with a bit of a struggle. She rested her hand on her swollen belly, feeling the baby kicking inside.
She had gotten quite big with this pregnancy, she could no longer see her own feet and her back was aching mercilessly.
Placing a hand to her lower back, she made her way out onto the balcony, desperately breathing in the fresh air.
All this extra weight was hard on her lungs. She let the wind breeze through her hair as she exhaled. Her balcony was on a fairly high tower of the castle.
She could also see the front of the castle from it, so she was able to gaze down at the fountain and Sakura trees below.
She saw two horses pulling a carriage around the circular pavement, and stopping in the front. She then heard her bedroom door open.
She blinked, looking behind her to see a familiar redhead step in. "Princess Mikasa? I'm not disturbing you, am I?", she asked.
Mikasa gave a small smile, seeing it was her midwife. "No, not at all Rubi. I just woke up", she replied.
"I figured, how are you feeling?", Rubi asked, as she came out onto the balcony with the princess.
"Just very tired is all...", Mikasa replied, looking down. Though her eyes had a sad look about them, as she caressed her belly lovingly...yet worriedly.
Rubi's eyes softened, as she gently placed her hand over the princess's. "Third time's a charm, your highness. I promise you this baby will be born healthy", she said gently.
Mikasa just nodded simply, worry remaining over her features. This was actually Mikasa's third pregnancy.
The princess was only 19 years old, but she had given birth twice before. The first child she bore had suddenly died only hours after the delivery.
After giving birth a second time a year after, this next child also died in a similar manner. After this happened, Mikasa's first midwife had resigned.
Mikasa never saw the bodies of her first two children, Kiyomi was worried it would be far too traumatizing for the princess.
Rubi was hired as Mikasa's new midwife for this pregnancy, and was considered the best around. As far as the father of these children, it wasn't a man Mikasa really loved.
He was kind to her, and he was a fellow Asian, but they never held any romantic feelings for each other. They only saw each other when it was time for Mikasa to fall pregnant again.
Even though they were arranged husband and wife, they knew nothing of each other. Mikasa sometimes even forgot his name.
"You should really rest today, your highness. Your baby's due very soon now, you're about to drop I think..", Rubi observed, concerned. She gently felt Mikasa's belly in a professinal manner.
"I hope I am...I can..barely breathe this time", Mikasa confessed, her voice even sounding strained and breathless. Rubi raised a worried eyebrow at this.
"Princess, did you get this big with your previous two...ah..forgive me, for mentioning them", Rubi said sheepishly.
Mikasa shook her head softly. "It's alright, Rubi. I didn't, this is the biggest I've ever gotten. My first pregnancy I was...rather small. I got a little bigger with my second but..nothing like this", she explained.
"I see...you better rest a little more then", Rubi said. Mikasa bit her lip. "Actually, if its alright I want to go for a walk today", she said.
"A walk would be good but are you certain, princess?", Rubi asked worriedly. Mikasa nodded. "I don't...like sitting around all day with just my thoughts", she admitted.
Rubi's eyes softened. She knew Mikasa naturally still grieved for her deceased children. "I understand your highness, but please don't go too far from the castle", she said.
After Mikasa got dressed in a simple but pretty light blue maternity dress, she soon entered the entrance hall of the castle, heading for the doors.
As she approached them, she saw them open as Kiyomi entered. "Oh, your majesty! You're out of bed? Are you all right to be..?", Kiyomi asked, showing concerned as she walked up to Mikasa.
"I'm alright, Kiyomi. I just really need to stretch my legs and get some fresh air", Mikasa replied softly. Kiyomi gave a warm smile.
"I understand princess, your mother got quite restless towards the end of her pregnancy with you", she recalled. At this, Mikasa's eyes lit up a bit.
She always wanted to hear of her parents...the parents she never got to know. "Mother took walks at the end of her pregnancy with me?", she asked.
"Oh yes, Akane was so anxious to meet you she couldn't sit still...drove her midwife absolutely mad...", Kiyomi replied.
Mikasa smiled sadly. "Kiyomi...you don't think that had anything to do with...her death?", she asked, having been told her mother died giving birth to her.
Kiyomi's eyes saddened, looking down. "It's difficult to say, my dear Mikasa. She wasn't very healthy, even as a child", she replied.
Mikasa looked down softly. "But, I know she would be so proud of you. You're as beautiful as she was, glowing as much as she did when she carried you", Kiyomi added.
Mikasa's eyes softened a bit. "Thank you Kiyomi..you've been like my own mother during all of this...", she said.
"I'm sorry I have to put your body through this burden, Princess", Kiyomi said gently. Mikasa shook her head.
"It's not your fault what happened to my children..and besides, I want to have a child...I want to be a mother", she said.
She was under the natural understanding it just had to be for the sake of the kingdom, and Kiyomi had no control over this.
The princess knew no other life, so what reason did she really have to question it? Or to distrust Kiyomi?
In the small village practically right next to the castle, two young men were hauling large bags of rice and flour for one of the markets.
The blonde wiped some sweat from his forehead while the brown haired man exhaled, dropping the bag of rice down on the stack.
"This is hardly worth just one piece of silver a day", he growled, not impressed. "We can't do anything about it Eren, this is the best we can get in this village", the blonde replied, sighing.
"Come on Armin, if the baker didn't have pity on us and didn't pay for most of our food, we'd starve to death", Eren said, still frowning.
"HEY! Your freeloaders get back to work!", the market owner barked at them. "Eren, come on, just let it go", Armin insisted, going to lift another bag of rice.
He was shorter and smaller than Eren, with blue eyes while Eren had more muscle and green eyes.
"Freeloaders?! This is practically slave labor!", Eren barked back, as Armin sighed, already knowing where this was going.
"Oh? We got a smart mouth here. What, do you think you're important? Go knock on the castle's doors if you think you're such a hotshot, I'm sure Lady Kiyomi would love to hire you as a knight in shining armor", the market owner sneered.
"You people work us to the bone! We have to pull wagons full of bags just like horses! My friend had a broken wrist last month and you still made him work just as hard!", Eren said back.
"Eren, its fine!", Armin pressed, though Eren ignored him. "We're not your cattle!", he yelled. The market owner glared as some bystanders watched.
He then walked over to Eren, grabbed him, and punched him right in the face. Eren was thrown to the ground with a bruise on his cheek.
"Eren!", Armin hurried over to his side. "Clearly your parents didn't beat enough sense into you. Good luck getting work somewhere else", the market owner spat, as he turned his back to them.
Eren glared, sitting up as Armin helped him. "Eren, we have to try and get our jobs back!", he insisted worriedly.
"Screw that!", Eren got up then, taking off. "Eren!", Armin yelled after him.
Eren ran through the village, glaring hard. His parents had been killed by bandits when he was just a boy, while Armin's were executed by the government just for trying to travel.
No soldiers or knights came to either of their rescues, so they had stuck together as orphans since they were 10 years old.
Now, nine years later as young adults they struggled to keep work since Eren hated the inhumane treatment they received.
All their life the had been forced to work through bad weather, sickness, and injury. And all for what? Just to scrape up and have a meal each day?
It wasn't the life Eren wanted for himself or for his best friend.
He ran for a while, before seeing a garden come into view. He slowed down, catching his breath as his mind slowly cleared.
He looked around at the beautiful garden, seeing some trees and hearing birds singing. There was a small creek in the distance, along with a bed of bell flowers.
The peacefulness of the garden and the smell of the bell flowers soothed him a bit. As he slowly calmed down, he blinked then...noticing someone.
Mikasa was standing in the garden, leaning against the trunk of the tree, letting the wind breeze through her hair.
She seemed to be deep in thought, gazing down at the bed of flowers. Eren froze, and he suddenly panicked, hiding behind a nearby tree.
'No way...that's Princess Mikasa...!', he thought, covering his mouth so she didn't hear him. He had naturally heard of the princess, but he's never seen her in person before.
He glanced back over, looking at her again. Mikasa gave a soft exhale, rubbing her obvious baby bump. 'She's with child...a new heir?', he wondered, biting his lip.
He felt some color reach his cheeks...he didn't even understand why he got so nervous in seeing her for the first time. He had heard of her radiant beauty but...it was entirely different seeing her for himself.
She was like a goddess before him. He slowly stepped out from behind the tree, and noticed she walked up to the bed of flowers.
She went to bend down to pick one of them, but she winced, grimacing a bit. Seeing she was struggling, Eren walked over.
He gently picked one of the bell flowers for her, and offered it. "Here you go...", he said softly. Mikasa blinked, opening her eyes as she starred at him.
She instantly felt color reach her face, as her heart skipped a beat. "You're about to have a child, you shouldn't be bending", Eren said softly.
Mikasa's eyes softened, as she gently took the bell flower. "Thank you...", she said grateful, cradling the flower in her hands.
"Princess Mikasa, right? Forgive me, I'm actually new to Hizuru...", Eren admitted, scratching the back of his head.
Mikasa smiled softly. "It's alright...thank you again. What's your name?", she asked. "It's Eren Jaeger", Eren answered.
They gazed at each other for a moment, Mikasa felt her heart beat pick up, while Eren felt his cheeks turn redder and redder.
What..what was this feeling? Mikasa had never felt it before in her entire life...and it breathed new life into the princess.
In that moment, time seemed to stop for them both as they became lost in each other's eyes in that peaceful garden.