"I was wrong…"

The blonde boy raised his head up to look at Frieda's sullen face.

"Of course," Zeke responded joyfully, while managing to form a tower for his sandcastle "I'm really getting better at this…"

Being ignored by him was the worst. Of all people, the fallen queen could be stuck within this realm with, he was definitely the worst kind. He was the only person which she could talk with, and despite his child-like appearance, this form was just as intelligent as the adult Zeke Yeager. Day by day, he would torment her with those weird sessions, of making her watch him try building sandcastles.

The only thing that was really achieving, was making Frieda even more frustrated.

"I did a terrible thing to Eren" the fallen queen explained with annoyance "there, you have it. I admitted it."

The kid only gave her a single pitiful glance.

"Again, wrong answer" he said, once his construction crumbled "you're not going to get rid of me so easily…"

Frieda sighed, before slumping down to the sand. Each passing moment, it was getting harder for her. Bearing with the pain of her sister practically renouncing her, of her kingdom turning away, of all her dreams and ambitions shattered because she wanted something out of life…

"I thought I earned it…" she whispered sadly.

Zeke looked at her with a confused expression.

"How can the right to force yourself on anyone be earned?" He asked doubtfully.

This again…

"Everything I ever did…" Frieda started "I did it for my people… For my sister… and for him…"

"How exactly does that translate into the right to use anyone like you used Eren?"

Anger overwhelmed the fallen queen, once again. Standing up, she glared daggers at the blonde boy.

"What are those?" She asked into the void "therapy sessions?"

Zeke just blinked at that, unsure of what to say. Seeing that he wasn't going to speak, Frieda continued.

"I don't need them. I don't need to listen to your nonsense. For all I care, this is just my internal defence mechanism to losing my power…"

"If it's only about losing your power" the blonde boy interjected "you shouldn't have a problem with taking it back."

Frieda had spent many nights, thinking about just mind controlling certain people into freeing her and restoring her rule. It was indeed possible, given that from whatever information she possessed, many nobles were missing her on the throne.

Yet, she had never done anything about it. For her, the reason was obvious. Right now, the opposition had access to three, possibly four titan powers. No matter how decisive and swift her victory over them would be, the people of Paradis would lose in the end. And unity was something they all needed, right now, considering the possibility of an impending war.

And also, there was the matter of her sister…

Frieda didn't want to admit it, but Historia's words had broken her spirit. Someone she cared deeply about, saying such things, was truly a devastating blow to her.

"It isn't…"

"What isn't?"

Just like many times before, the fallen queen realized that she was still within the dungeon under the capital, lying on her bed, inside her cell.

Frieda turned her head to look outside.

There was that girl, again. Mikasa Ackerman… The one and only, who brought her down. Contrary to what anyone might think, the fallen queen didn't really blame her for that. After all, she had only recently come to understand the girl's motives.

"Are you losing your mind, or what?" The oriental female asked mockingly.

Frieda could tell that the girl didn't wish to be here. She wasn't exactly sure why, but after spending enough time with her as her guardian, the fallen queen started to pick up little things.

"I'm feeling sick today" the imprisoned monarch expressed genuinely "could you please arrange for someone to examine me…?"

Sneer was all she got in response. Despite that ridicule, Frieda was completely sure that her nagging would eventually reach Historia's ears.

"You already know why that is" the fallen queen insisted "please, tell someone…"

This time, Mikasa tensed up.

"I remember you, you know?" Frieda spoke yet again "when I went to take Eren, you were there…"

"What a mistake you've made, back then" the oriental female responded, looking at her, pitifully.

The fallen queen sighed at that. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and by now, it must've been over a month, ever since she had been imprisoned. Historia would visit her once a week, just to leave some confidential documents, regarding her plan. Judging by the new royal seal, her sister had already been crowned.

"Do you have someone in your life?" Frieda asked, standing up from her bed.

Silence filled the air, as Mikasa uncomfortably turned to face the opposite wall.

"I assume that you do" the fallen queen said slowly "you miss him, don't you? You want to see him right now, but this duty is way more important than anything else."

Again, the only thing Frieda could hear was the steady breathing of the Ackerman girl.

"I know exactly how you're feeling, right now" she continued "when I was…"

"You hurt him."

Those words had been resonating within her mind for quite a while now. Ever since she heard them from Zeke, Frieda couldn't get away from their dreadful meaning.

"Nothing is ever easy" the fallen queen could only retort "especially when you're the queen. The responsibility for everything falls upon your shoulders all the time."

Mikasa turned to walk closer to the bars.

"Why do you even bother talking?" She asked in annoyance "I was the one who brought you down, only because you took Eren from me. Why do you think I should care about you?"

"I'm feeling sick" Frieda responded softly "please, I need it…"

The oriental girl turned away from her at that. Maybe she was wishing that what the fallen queen was saying was unrelated to her deepest worry, yet Frieda could tell for herself, that this was exactly the case. It's been over a month already, so it wasn't especially difficult to figure out what was going on.

It still baffled her. How in the world did she manage to pull this off? After her first and only time with Eren, she had taken part in multiple battles, transformed at least three times and had her very body ripped out of her titan form twice. Not to even mention all the physical exertion…

Mikasa was visibly confused. Somehow, Frieda could tell that she had understood what was going on, given that Eren regained the lost memories and most certainly explained to everyone what happened. However, the poor girl probably never faced such a difficult situation before.

"I'll call someone later, to examine you" was the only thing the oriental female said, before walking off.

"Thank you…"

Things were definitely changing. Frieda strode over to her bed and sat down. She looked towards her abdomen.

'Maybe with its help, I'll be able to reach out to Eren" she thought, placing a hand over the place where she believed her womb was.

'Maybe even to Historia…'

This was, however, pretty far-fetched. A prison was no place to raise a child and what was probably the most-likely scenario, was that her sister would simply take it away.

Momentarily, Frieda felt the coldness, spread all over her. This was the only way to her redemption, that much was obvious. Yet, the possibility of never spending a single second with her baby was extremely disheartening. Hopefully, Historia would be more lenient about that…

Starting a civil war over her desire to rule again, for the cost of the possible destruction of her nation, sounded pretty absurd. Yet, whenever she added a child of hers into this equation, simple numbers were starting to hold less meaning, other ideals and values were losing their worth, even those closest ones were becoming seemingly not quite as important as her little one…

Frieda would have to remind herself more than once, that she had done something wrong, to keep herself from intervening.

Becoming a mother was something she had always wanted. Yet, those circumstances, were far from best. Indeed, a lot was soon going to change.

'Even if I stay here, Eren will take care of it…'