18
Levi
"What are you talking about?" I gaped at the healer. "I'm cursed?"
Right after I almost fainted, Eren bust in the sunroom and took me away with Jean and the healer in tow. Leaving Hange to take care of Kenny and ushered him to his room while we sort things out.
We are back in our room with Eren, Jean and Marco. Eren instructed to closed the gates of the castle because Marco can sense that the suspect is still in the castle.
"Yes. I found dark magic running in your system." Marco approached me and pointed at my forehead. "And I can feel their energy here."
My hand quickly slap at my forehead. "The witch altered my memory?"
"Not only yours," Eren growled. "Apparently, the witched played as all."
"I knew it was a witch," Jean mumbled in the corner.
"Levi, I knew in memory that we exchanged letters together but then... I can't seem to recall how it started." Eren informed me.
"Regarding with that, I found out that I was the one sending you those letters but it was my friend, Petra was her name wrote them for me."
"So that means..."
"Yes." Marco cuts in. "My lords, your marriage is not an arranged marriaged."
"What?!"
"When I found out that the queen is cursed, I tried to make an antidote to retried my memories." Marco explained.
"Marco! You drank another experiment potion again?!" Jean exclaimed at the healer.
"I will if it will benefit and save My lords." Marco said confidently before clearing his throat. "I regain some of my memories and recalled that the marriage is not arranged. In fact it was a normal wedding."
"Marco, that is not enough to solve the puzzle. I order you to dig deeper into this matter and solve this trick fast. Jean, I want you to hire more healers and track the witch, if they are still in the castle make sure they can't leave." Eren started booming orders and I just sat on our bed, with my mind running wild than ever. This is so confusing.
"Understood Your Majesty!" Jean huffed. "It is done."
"What?!" Eren and I gaped in unision. What does that mean they caught the witch?
"Mikasa, bring her in." Jean called and the door opened. Mikasa came in dragging a very familiar servant and forced her to kneel infornt of us, my eyes grew wide when I properly lay my eyes on her...
"Hange!"
"You were wise enough to not run away," Marco glared at me.
"Marco, you know I won't do that right?" Hange forced smile at Marco.
"Hange... you're the witch?" I asked, feeling my heart grew heavy. Hange... she's been playing me all along but... it rushed to like a landslide all the times when Hange helped me to fit in the castle in our first day, how she never left my side, how she was nice to me. She was my best friend.
"Yes... I can explained!" She cried at me.
"Silence!" Eren boomed. With a flick of his finger a sword was summoned in his hand and he aimed at blade at Hange's neck. I flitched when I saw the blade appeared, dear gods, I didn't know Eren knew magic! As if in que, Mikasa draws her own sword and Jean pulled out his dagger.
"Wait!" I quickly grabbed his arm forced the blade away from Hange. "Let her explained! Isn't that the proper way of doing it?"
Eren was silent as he stared down at Hange. Then he sigh, the sword turned into smoke in his hands. "Very well, we'll see you in court."
"Wait, what? Why can't we let her explained here now?" I pulled on his sleeve.
"But that's the proper way."
"That took fucking forever! We'll let her explain and Marco can probably cast a spell of truth to her." I look over at the said healer and he blinked at me.
"I can brew up it up, it might take a while, I apologized My lords." He bowed deeply at us.
"That sounds fine, Marco brew it up and Mikasa help him with the materials," Eren ordered.
"But-" Mikasa protest.
"That is an order Mikasa," Eren added sternly. "And Jean you stay here."
The two left and I can feel the tension in the room. "Hange." I started. "Why?"
Hange started at me before looking away. "I did it for money... The Leonharts offered me a huge sum..."
"The Leonharts?" Eren repeated. "Care to elaborate before I declare war to them?"
"Eren!" I slap his arm. He can't do that... can he?
"Please don't!" Hange begged. "I can explain!"
"Then start explaining, it will be perfect timing when Marco finished the potion. Take it and retell your tale, and let us be the judge of the 'truth'," Eren stressed on the word.
"I understand... I was hired to make break the married so that you'll have to marry Annie Leonhart instead of Levi... I took place of the servant that is supposed to be in charged of Levi and cast the spell there before the ceremony starts... I erased his memories about you, Your Highness and replaced them with bitterness and hatred."
"That's why..." Eren breathe.
"The plan is that Levi will refuse to marry you and run away from the spot... but he didn't..." Hange smiled at me. "The wedding continued."
I blink at that. I didn't ran away as Hange planned?
"I don't know why Levi didn't ran away back then, I was helping him on his wedding dress while encouraging him to ran away. He seems to like the idea but he walk the aisle anyway... My plan didn't work and Levi got pregnant, I became his royal servant so I can keep an eye on him so I can pin point what had gone wrong... But I didn't know what's wrong... and the Leonharts were in raged of the news. So... I tried again and erased and alter His Highness Eren's memories and everyone... I put that your marriage was an arranged marriage but it didn't work... King Eren still care for you Levi..."
I turned to look at Eren, his expression didn't change a bit as he waited for Hange to continue.
"The Leonharts gave up on me and threatened to kill me if I came back, I got nowhere to go so I stayed as Levi's servant. I deserved it..." Hange sobbed.
I gasped. Oh my gods, what could I have done to Hange? Did I hurt her?
"But I want to make things right," Hange straighten with determination.
That line... I recalled she kept saying exact line in several occasions.
"Even when Levi is under the curse as well as His Highness... you guys secretly cared for each other. Levi kept asking me if His Highness didn't skipped any meals, while His Highness even bought the hotsprings in the mountains for Levi but what really stab me right in the heart... Is when Rivaille was born... I didn't mean that the child will get affected by any of this! I didn't mean that this will go this far!" Hange cried. "But as I said... I want to make things right... With the accident after we visit the hotsprings..."
"The attacks..." I whispered.
"They are nothing but illusions, I made you and Erwin think it was real so I can get away from this clean. I tried to reversed the cursed but your memories didn't hit the right timeline, it was set back before your uncle took you in. I thought I can fix this-"
"Undo the cursed." Eren cuts off.
"I'll will and... I understand if this is the end of me."
"So be it."
"Wait!" I snapped at Eren. "But Hange admitted her mistake, she can undo it. Do you think killing her is a bit too much?" I pleaded at Eren.
"Levi, starting from now, I started to doubt who should I trust and realized that I had failed you even before we became a family. How can I even protect my entire kingdom if I can't protect my own family."
"Don't say that!" I almost cried at him. "Jean, please leave us for now."
"Yes, my queen." Jean helped Hange and escorted her to the dungeon. My ears almost pick up her quite voice as she said sorry before the door closed.
Hange
I deserved this. I have failed more than once. Such a mess I made. Pulling my legs up my chest, I sobbed as I regret everything I did. My heart hurts when I vividly remembered how the cursed affect the good people of this kingdom.
"Has... the king been eating well?" That's what Levi kept asking me after the wedding. The cursed of bitterness and hatred lingers in his system yet he never fails to ask regarding the king health.
I recalled the times when I escort him to rest in the garden but the king was there. I can see how much how Levi wanted to join him there but the cursed kept pulling in, forcing him come back to his bland room and stared at the wall. During thoses times he tend to cry and he would ask himself why he does so. Because of the cursed and his missing memory, that is the only way his heart tried to protect what he really feels and that stucked me.
It only became worst when Rivaille was born. I didn't expect that the curse included the child. During those times, Levi refuse to hold own baby but his eyes reflected more. He wanted to hold his son, he wanted to spend time to his mate but the cursed stopped him so.
I was thinking of a fast way to fix things but the damaged I've done it too great and I can't easily brew up a remedy since the king forbid using magic easily. That's when Rivaille in his early age came to me.
"Why does my mother don't like me?"
I broke down, right there in front of him. It was all my fault. I promised him that I'll make things right even if it means I'll get hanged.
The first month of 1246...
A new year, a new life. My friends had a proper burial and I now lived with my uncle. I never thought my mother had a brother or the fact that uncle Kenny recognized me as my mother. It was snowing at the last month of 1245, and I was freezing in the street when this old Alpha came to view, he shouted my mother's name and started crying while he hugged me. But then he realized that I'm not Kuchel, he cursed and mumbled something about 'eloping with a stupid guy'. He took me in, of course, I was skeptical about him but when he showed me a painting of him and mother, I broke down.
Now I have a roof on my head and a little tea plantation at the back of the house. I'm slowly moving on from the deaths of my friends and uncle Kenny is not bad, he's quite nice.
"Umm excuse me!"
I look up from my garden and saw the mailman, waving a letter. "Yes?"
"I have a letter for Jean Kirstein, but it seems that there is a new resident on their address?"
"Yes, they moved last week." I informed.
"Oh dear... perhaps you know their new address?"
"I'm sorry but I don't know."
"Oh... well umm... I can't return this letter since its policy for certain... senders... but just incase if they come back can you hold on to this?" The mailman handed the letter.
"Well... I think Petra might visit him," I whispered, recalling that Jean will have some sort of house warming party. Petra and I were invited but I don't think I have the patience for those. "Alright."
After a week, Jean sent a letter to Petra that there will be no party for now. His family is looking for a decent house and currently they are jumping from one hotel to another.
I glared at the letter. Then I decided to fuck it. I'm not a messenger boy.
I didn't open the letter but I wrote back to it saying:
"Your Jean friend of a horse moved out of our neighborhood and still doesn't have a permanent address. If your letter had urget stuff, you better wait until they settle.
-Annoyed neighbor that turned to messenger, Levi"
The next day, I received another letter from the same person but this time it was for me. I curiously opened it and I almost vomited at the smell of roses and long messages, this person must be really bored. I continued to read and at the end was a small poem... It was sappy but... good.
"Levi!" Petra pop out of the hedged fencing on our front lawn. "You have a pen pal?"
"N-no."
"Come one! Don't hide it from me! I saw you smiling like an idiot~" She poked my cheek.
"Damn it! Alright, I might... have a pen pal..." I dragged the words. I look down at the letter on my hands. This person... isn't so bad. Maybe this will be good for me. "Petra, I need your help on this one.