"Commander! We can't seem to distract it. It's an abnormal. It doesn't care about us," The soldier said and Erwin nodded.

"That's alright. Fall back. We know what direction it's going. That tells us enough to make a plan," Erwin said.

"We found Levi Squad!" Another soldier came riding on his horse with a torch in his hand. "They're nearby. They succeeded, sir! They have Eren and Historia! Lieutenant Nathalie and Commander Hange with her Squad are there too, sir!"

Erwin gasped. They were okay. They had made it out. Nathalie was with them too. He was more than willing to hear what she had to say on that abnormal and on how to take it down. But in the end, he realised, he was just glad to know that Nathalie and the others were okay. His grip tightened around the reins of his horse and he urged it to follow the soldier and go find them. Hange had told him what happened. Apologising to Nathalie was the least that he could do.

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The Scouts had found them. The team was now riding on horses, but Moblit was on a cart with Hange's hand pressing tightly on his wound. She had settled his body in her lap, too worried to do anything but make sure to keep him awake till they'd reach Orvud and rush him into a hospital. Nathalie sat beside Hange and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He's going to be okay," Nathalie said reassuringly and Hange only sighed deeply. It was her fault he was wounded in the first place.

Eren was sitting across them with Historia, and Levi with the kids were riding on their horses with their torches in their hands to light their way. The abnormal was coming into sight the closer they got. It was almost twice the size of a colossal. The body too huge, and the limbs too thin, but still managed to drag itself towards the District. Nathalie couldn't help staring at it. It was burning from the inside out. It was incredibly abnormal physically.

"You need to understand, your Majesty. Only one person per generation can be allowed to turn into a titan and succeed the Founder from the previous generation. If another person of the same generation is turned into a titan, then the transformation is going to result in an utter abomination,"

"And why is that, Dr. Burgess?"

"The Royal Bloodline contains genes that if activated, they are too strong for the human body to handle. That's greatly because the Royal Family has directly inherited those genes by the Founder Ymir herself…" Nathalie had no idea whose words were these, but she was willing to bet it was an ancestor of hers talking to one of King Fritz's grandsons. The Founder Ymir?

If another person of the same generation is turned into a titan, then the transformation is going to result in an utter abomination.

And there it was, that abomination that was dragging itself towards Orvud District. Even if she tried to inject that thing with Eren's Titan Spinal Fluid she doubted it'll be enough. It was too big. It was at least twice the size of a Colossal Titan. Nathalie would need days to gather the right dosage. Days that they didn't have if that thing was to attack the District. But then again if I injected that thing on its nape, with even a smaller dose, maybe it could still…

"Erwin!" Levi said as he saw the Commander approaching on his horse and Nathalie was snapped out of her endless thoughts. They stopped their horses and the cart to speak to the Commander.

"Anyone hurt?" Erwin asked. His eyes scanned the kids, Hange, Moblit and Nathalie. Nathalie seemed fine. Erwin sighed in relief.

"Yeah, Moblit took a hit," Levi answered.

Erwin looked at the area that Moblit had been stabbed. It didn't seem to be a vital spot and Nathalie reassured him. "No vital organs injured. So long as we take him to a hospital before dawn, he's going to be alright," She said and Erwin nodded.

"You've done excellent work all of you," Erwin said looking around at the kids.

"I have a lot of shit to report but," Levi sighed as he looked at that abnormal in front of them. The situation's fucked.

"Anything on that titan?" Erwin asked.

"It's Rod Reiss," Levi said and Erwin gasped in surprise.

Erwin turned at Nathalie "I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this, Lieutenant," Erwin extended a hand over for her to take and mount on his horse beside him.

Nathalie opened her mouth to speak but Levi spoke first. "What are you doing?!" He scoffed. That bastard wasn't actually hoping to ride all the way back to Orvud with Nathalie on the same horse, was he?!

"Time is short. We better talk about this on our way to Orvud," Erwin said. He did not withdraw his hand. Erwin had a point. It was best that Nathalie made the report and it'd make sense that the Commander will have to be on the front to lead the rest of the troops whilst talking to her and trying to come up with a plan.

Levi groaned and tried to speak, but Nathalie's hand found his shoulder and he turned to look at her. "It's alright. Let me do the report. We need to come up with a plan as well. Erwin will need all the help he can get," Nathalie said and Levi sighed. He knew she was right. She was always right, and maybe now it wasn't a great time to be acting paranoid.

Levi nodded at her, finally giving her the permission to take the Commander's hand. Erwin's hands slipped around her and he settled her in front of him on his horse. Levi regretted immediately nodding at her when he noticed Erwin's one hand tightly around her waist whilst they rode away. He wanted to cut that hand off, but, alas, he was out of blades. For a moment, he actually thought of following them closely from behind.

"Is it just me, or the Commander's tryna steal the Captain's girl?" Jean said raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever he tries, we already know it's gonna be in vain," Connie's lips curled into a sly smile.

"Especially after what happened today," Sasha added.

Levi tried his best to ignore them, until Eren turned and looked at his friends confusedly. "Wait, what happened today?" He asked and Levi sighed heavily. Fuck.

"Wait, you mean you haven't noticed?" Armin asked. "The Captain and Nathalie got engaged,"

"THEY WHAT?!" Hange cried out and Moblit cringed at the sudden, ear-drilling shout. Hange cupped his face turning at the man in her lap. "When are WE going to get engaged?!" She cried out. Moblit groaned again. He was in immense pain. He could not deal with this right now.

"Please, shut up, Hange, and I'll marry you,"

"REALLY?!"

"Oh my God,"

Levi finally burst out. "Why are we talking about this whilst there's a big ass abnormal ready to attack a goddamn district?!"

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"I'm all ears,"

"Right," Nathalie drew in a deep breath. "Do you remember what I told you about the Nine Titans with the specific powers that can be inherited?" She had explained them all of these the night when they came up with the ultimate four-year plan.

"Yes,"

"One of the Nine is the Founding Titan. The Founding Titan can only be used at full extent if the one who has inherited it has royal blood running in their veins. The true Royal Family had been passing down the Founding Titan from generation to generation, by eating the previous successor,"

"And let me guess, the person with royal blood, wielding the Founding Titan can alter people's memories," Erwin said.

"Exactly. My guess is that Rod Reiss was trying to turn Historia into a titan by injecting her with Titan Spinal Fluid, and he'd have her eat Eren, which means that Eren has the Founding Titan somehow, but he can't use it because he doesn't have Royal Blood," Nathalie said.

"So, which one of the Nine is the titan that Eren transforms into?" Erwin asked.

Nathalie realised that, that was a great question. And confused to how, she knew the answer. "That's the Attack Titan. The Usurper. Rebellious. Reckless. I don't know how he inherited it, but that's the titan that's obsessed with freedom and hates the enslaved. He seeks to free the oppressed, but he wants anything but peace,"

Erwin gritted his teeth when the realisation hit him. "So, we should consider the possibilities of Eren becoming our enemy,"

Nathalie hated to admit it, but he was right. "If we do not deal with the boy delicately, then yes. He watched as a titan ate his mother. That's a whole lot of anger that the kid's got inside. It may burst out the wrong way. It's all up to us,"

Erwin nodded. "Understood," He then looked at the giant creature that they were now passing riding fast on his horse. "Any idea on that?"

"I've been thinking," Nathalie turned and looked at it. Erwin's hand slightly tightened around her protectively as he urged his horse to move further away from the dangerous creature. "It's too big in mass. There's no doubt it's an abomination of titan nature. Each generation of the Royal Bloodline can only handle having one member transforming into a titan and succeeding the Founder," Nathalie pointed at the titan. "There has already been a person transformed in Rod Reiss's generation, that's why he himself needed Historia to succeed the Founder because he knew he'd turn out like this. But the thing here is, that there has already been another person from Historia's generation. So, if we choose to let Historia transform to eat Eren, then she's going to become an even worse abomination than this one,"

"So, we forget that plan entirely,"

"Exactly. Then again, if we give Rod Reiss to eat Eren, then Rod Reiss is going to see what the first king saw, and he's going to wipe our memories. If that happens, we're back to square one," Nathalie said and Erwin found she was absolutely right.

He nodded. "So, we forget that plan as well,"

"Then, there's this other thing I've been wondering about," Nathalie started. "I don't know what will happen if I try to turn him back into a human by injecting him with Eren's Titan Spinal Fluid. He's got Royal Blood. If we inject him with Eren's TSF then he will most likely inherit both the Attack and Founding Titan. He'll erase our memories, and then we're fucked," Nathalie finished and Erwin chuckled.

"Alright. It's clear that it's heading towards Orvud District. We can't evacuate the people into Wall Sheena, because the titan will only change its direction," Erwin said and Nathalie nodded.

"Correct,"

"We have no choice but to kill Rod Reiss outside the very Walls of Orvud District," Erwin said and Nathalie sighed.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right, Commander. We really do have no choice," Nathalie said. She knew it was Historia's dad, and she knew the girl probably wouldn't like that plan. But it was the only one they had.

"Do you think all that heat that it's emitting it'll be enough to ignite whatever explosives reach close?" Erwin asked. He was slowly coming up with a plan.

Nathalie's hand found her chin. "It is possible. By the looks of it, I'd say that it's burning from the inside out. Which means, that the mass is so big, that in order to produce enough energy to move, it's essentially burning its own cells to create energy. Of course, that cannot kill it, because the cells will simply regenerate,"

"I see," Erwin couldn't hide a smile that curled across his lips. She was so brilliant. She never ceased to impress him.

But only when they stopped talking did Nathalie realise, that a hand was thrown around her and her back was very well pressed against Erwin's chest. How in the world had she not felt awkward about this?! But then it came back to her. It was only a few hours ago that that very same man held her all night in his arms in that cell. And she had buried her face in his neck and she had passed out from the blood loss and the exhaustion on top of him. He hadn't pushed her away. He was the one who had pulled her close last night. And it wasn't just that.

He had caught her chin and he had pressed a kiss on her forehead when the guards dragged him away. Nathalie stared shocked ahead of them when the realisation hit her. How could she forget all of this? Still, it made sense forgetting all of these. After what happened. Her hand found her belly. She hadn't taken the time to think about this. There was no time for now. But she was starting to understand why Levi was being paranoid when she was being around Erwin for long. Levi had probably seen something that she hadn't.

"I want to apologise, Lieutenant," Erwin said and she tensed up right away. She was so lost in thought, she had almost forgotten he was still there. She panicked even more when he cupped her face and urged her to turn and look at him. Sympathetic bright blue eyes met her own and she found herself helplessly staring. "Hange told me what happened. You lost a child. The fault is all mine, Nathalie,"

She could hardly hear what he had just said. All she could hear was her subconscious screaming at her about how wrong this all was. What the hell was she doing there? Why the hell was she riding on the same horse with him?! Why the hell was she letting him hold her so close just as Levi used to hold her? LEVI! Nathalie panicked. But she stared at him and pieced together the words that she guessed he had most probably just said. She didn't seem to be able to come up fast enough with an answer.

"Uhhhh… I'M SORRY, I'M ENGAGED!" Nathalie burst out and Erwin's eyes widened but she did not want to stick around and find out his thoughts about it.

Nathalie escaped the hold of his arms around her, and she jumped off the horse in a blink of an eye. She vaguely heard Erwin crying out her name, but she ran as fast as she could all the way back, passing soldiers who were riding on their horses in the different direction. She didn't care. She had to get away from Erwin as fast as she could. When she spotted Levi and their squad, she jumped onto Levi's horse. His arms reached around her and he settled her in front of him with her body facing his own. She looked shocked and flustered.

Levi cupped her face. He gritted his teeth angrily. "That bastard didn't touch you, did he?!" He'd make sure he'd cut his fingers if he did.

"Of course, he didn't, he wouldn't dare! I'd never let him!" Nathalie reassured him before she grasped his shirt and buried her face in his neck. "Now, shut up, and hold me,"

Levi found himself smiling triumphantly. Finally, his oblivious Nathalie had found out that there was always something wrong with the way Erwin stared at her. It was clear she was choosing him. Levi's one hand slipped around her, whilst the other held the reins that guided his horse. He revelled at the needy way she was clutching onto him right now. "Yes, ma'am,"

"So… do we get to see a kiss or what?" Connie said from behind only for Levi and Nathalie to pull back and look at him, Jean and Sasha who were all having sly smiles on their faces, eyebrows twitching mischievously waiting for them to kiss. Nathalie groaned. Brats. It came out in unison.

"No!"

"No!"