Eren's stomach grumbled, and he would have complained if it was just him, but he knew everybody was hungry and miserable. Sasha had been whimpering for hours, and Connie had recently joined in. Mikasa was being stoic, but every few minutes she would flinch and grab her stomach. Marco was trying to be upbeat, but he was in no better shape. Jean looked pretty fed up as well.

"Who wants to go?" Eren finally asked, in too much pain to dance around the topic any longer. Nobody was surprised, they had all been waiting for someone to say it. "I can." Marco said finally, but his boyfriend, Jean, stopped him.

"You said you wanted to work for the king someday, but your chances are ruined if you get caught. I'll go." "I thought you wanted to work for the king too." Mikasa said offhandedly.

"There are too many guards up there, I'm faster than Marco, sneakier too." "I'm faster than both of you." She retorted, standing. "I'll go."

Eren stood with a heavy sigh,"No, you're wanted right now, give the Titans a few days to calm down." Connie and Sasha giggled, having come up with the nickname for the royal government.

Eren continued,"The merchants are in town today. Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt will give me a good deal since I used to be one of them."

"Where are you going to steal from Eren?" Mikasa asked, a worried look on her face. "The castle." Everyone grew silent. Eventually Jean spoke up,"We'll be set for months on money like that, we may even be able to..."

Jean didn't finish, but everyone knew what he meant. They may even be able to leave that horrible kingdom's walls and see the outside. "It's too risky." Mikasa said simply, standing again. "If you're doing it I'm going with you."

"No you're not. If I get caught I won't be in as much trouble as you. I'm going alone. I'll grab what I can, sell it, and be back in the next few hours."

Getting into the castle wasn't too hard with Eren's skill. He went in through a lightly guarded side entrance. If he had gone into the main doors or back doors, there were too many chances he'd wind up having to sneak past Levi, the top guard and the king's lover.

That may sound strange, but it's actually quite the love story. King Erwin was married young to an awful princess whom no man could love, especially not one that was into men himself. She was greedy and treated the poor like dirt. It was no wonder people hated her, and even now no one is sure her death was accidental.

As expected of him he had a child with this woman, and despite all her flaws, the child was beautiful. Soon after the birth of Armin, the Queen died, so the prince was given her last name in honor of her. Arlert.

The King, now a widower, was now free to love who he wished. So it was only natural for him to love the man protecting him. With the Queens death came a miracle of love, or so the townspeople called it.

Of course, this isn't a fairytale, the happiness didn't last. The Queen had made some devious enemies, this included the powerful witch, Ymir. Now, Ymir was right in wanting revenge. Her wife Historia was thrown in a jail cell full of men with special instructions, and almost died, but what was she to do when the Queen was dead?

Ymir knew the King and Queen were not in love, he was the one who had saved Historia, so she could not punish him. Directly. It was no secret that both the king and queen loved their beautiful son, so she set out to destroy Armin.

As a favor to the king she gave the prince until his seventeenth birthday, and gave the curse a loophole. She didn't tell them what it was, but she did give a hint, straight to the King. "If he's anything like you, and not like that wretched woman, he'll make it." She couldn't be killed either, if her or Historia are harmed by the King or King's men, Armin drops where he stands.

So, needless to say, the kid's well guarded and Eren wouldn't be going there. He would take from the dining rooms and the hallways, and maybe even from the famed healer Hange's room, she was employed at the castle to try and save the prince. That would make quite a bit on the markets.

Eren began to pocket all the expensive items he could find, expensive paintings, royal vases, golden tableware, anything.

Unfortunately that made a lot of noise, and it didn't take long for Levi to find him. "Rat!" Eren shot off, staying true to being the fastest street rat there was, running through twists and turns, throwing Levi off just enough to dive into the closest room.

Eren turned to see a fair skinned, blue eyed, blonde haired boy. He looked up from his book and gasped, eyes wide. "Y-you! You're a thief, aren't you!?" He spoke with fear, yet his voice was quiet. Eren couldn't move, his voice was lost. All he could do was panic.

The small boy covered a cough, getting down from his large bed. He wore a light blue woolen jacket with a white button up and tan pants. "Why? Why are you stealing from us?" His voice was gentile, pitying. "I have people to feed, they're counting on me." The boy tilted his head, most likely not knowing a single hardship in his life.

He was about to say more when he began coughing again. This time the cough kept getting worse and Armin fell to the floor gasping helplessly. He gripped the top of his sweater, whimpering.

Eren, whom had hated the prince along side his best friends, felt horrible. The prince was not only kind, but in deep pain. They had always assumed him to be spoiled.

Eren took Armin's chin gently, bringing their lips together so Eren could push air into Armin's lungs.

He did this a few times before pulling away. "You okay kid?" Armin's face was burning hot, and he looked away from Eren. "Y-yes... Thank you, you may have actually saved my life..." Armin smiled, it was sweet and innocent, making Eren's heart clench. "O-oh! You have to hide, you need to get out of-"

"Rat! What are you doing here!?" Levi grabbed Eren up by the collar of his shirt. "A dirty mongrel like you won't be aloud to live after what you've done." "Wait! Levi!" Armin spoke so quickly it threw him into another round of coughing.

"Armin? Are you okay? Should I call that loon, Hange?" Armin stuggled past his coughing,"N-no! No! That boy, he saved my life! You can't kill him!" The prince began coughing again.

"Listen here you rat, stay where you are or you'll be killed. I'm going to get Hange, harm the prince and you'll pay for it."

Eren kneeled next to Armin, rubbing his back. "What is your name?" Armin croaked.

"Why?" Eren asked, completely baffled. "You saved my life. Why shouldn't I want to know?" "Eren Jaeger, of the Shingashina district."