A/N: The only real regret I have about this chapter is how long winded the speech is. So no one will fault you if you skip it. Also, this is the real 70th chapter. Just felt like pointing that out.

Super Comrade: I'm glad that someone likes them!

superkoola: We'll get to the racist parts soon, don't worry.


"W…What do you think?" Mina blushed as she twirled around in her new kimono.

"Stunning." Alto breathed.

Alto and the Scouts were preparing to finally officially sign and ratify the treaty with Hizuru, which would take place at the new Eldian embassy that had been built in the Hizurian capital of Okyo.

Once the signing had taken place, an afterparty would occur there in which - much to his surprise - several foreign ambassadors from various nations that were attached to Hizuru had agreed to attend.

Meanwhile, Mikasa was abashedly going through the same process with Historia and several other girls.

"Holy shit, you look stunning." Ymir breathed, Historia was dressed in a silky cream colored gown, her hair tied in a beautiful golden braid.

Beside her, Mikasa had adopted a rather simple but still beautiful kimono provided by Kiyomi. It was an orangish-red with golden edges and a few scattered butterfly patterns.

The other Scouts were dressed in a variety of clothes as well. Erwin and Levi had dressed themselves in black trench coat suits, with a Survey Corps logo emblazoned on their shoulders. Jean had a similar outfit, except he had a fedora and lacked the logo. Floch, Marlowe, Connie, Sasha, and a few others had chosen to go in their standard formal military uniforms. While Hanji had chosen a black suit and had tied her hair back in a bun, Petra and Isabel had gone for matching white dresses, with flowers pinned on their chest.

"That's a surprise, four-eyes knows how to dress." Levi said sarcastically, and Hanji rolled her eyes.

"You know, if you lightened up, you'd probably have a lot more friends."

"Hey! Big bro doesn't need no one else! And it's not like you're the most popular either four-eyes!" Isabel defended Hanji, and stuck her tongue out at her.

Eren came out of a dressing room to the side, and Jean whistled. "The suicidal maniac actually looks decent."

Eren had dressed in a Hizurian-style suit, with white gloves and his collar extending up his neck.

"Are you guys ready?" Alto and Mina came out of a room nearby, Alto leading Mina gently by the hand. Jean covered his face as a blush spread over his cheeks, Connie gagged and Ymir whistled.

"Mina, I'll be honest, I never knew you could look this good. Alto really scored one with you." Ymir patted her on the back.

Mina nodded, before there was further conversation, however, a Hizurian servant entered the room.

"It's time. Please begin making your way to the vehicles." The maid said simply, before departing again.

"Well." Alto turned to his girlfriend. "Let's go."


"Damn it!" Thomas Mezen expressed his frustration, "Nothing ever seems to work out!"

"Everything else is perfect, but the aircraft is always too heavy…" Okida Shafter replied to his lover's frustrations. "And if we try to increase the power of the engine, it not only becomes too bulky and impractical to mount and maintain, it only decreases its already bad maneuverability."

"Not to mention we have one last chance to convince Mr. Tokida not to cut funding to us…" Okida rubbed his head, "God…"

"And yet, strangely, I can never bring myself to give up." Mezen smiled at Okida lovingly,

"Neither can I." The two men wrapped each other in a hug, before sharing a deep, passionate kiss.

"How about you take a break for now. You need to get ready for the party." Okida patted his lover on the head.

"I'd hardly call squeezing into a suit 'a break'." Thomas replied.

"Don't worry, I'll be there all the way." Okida smiled.


Ambassador Ronald Doga shrugged on his suit with the assistance of a Eldian slave, who bowed and stepped back once he was done.

As the official representative of the Western Union in Hizuru, it had come as quite a shock to him when he was finally informed that the nation had not only entered negotiations with the island of Paradis, but had agreed to sign on to an economic and military alliance with them.

Of course, when it was announced there would be an afterparty and members of the Eldian Royal Family present, the Capital had ordered him to attend to essentially gather any possible intelligence on them in the name of establishing good will.

If he was being honest, he had no idea what to think of this development. For one hundred years, Paradis had acted as the bogeyman of the world, an ever present yet simultaneously intangible threat used to promote stability and act as a scapegoat.

Now they were coming out as a nation that sought diplomatic relations with a world that would show it only hostility. There were rumors that Paradis had utilized the Founding Titan recently, but none knew for sure.

That raised eyes to another question, why? For a hundred years Marley had besieged Paradis with Titans, and yet nothing was done, King Fritz showed absolutely no intention of making any offensive moves towards Marley or any other nation. There were some who were saying that King Fritz was merely bluffing and that Paradis was ripe for the taking.

The Paradis Island Operation changed that opinion.

By decisively defeating Marley's Warrior Unit and capturing two of their Titans, Paradis Island had turned from distant threat to global wildcard. The Western Union was even considering it's own expedition to Paradis, however, now the perfect chance to open channels to this mysterious nation had practically fallen onto their lap.

The only problem is that several other nations already had this opportunity.

"Ambassador Doga, it's time." Another Eldian slave informed him.

"I'll be right there." Ronald nodded, and dismissed the slave.

The simple fact of the matter is that the future of Eldian-Union relations depended on this one encounter, on him, and that fact did not sit well with Ronald Doga, not one bit. There was also the issue that Eldians were actively traded in the Union's northern slave trade, along with peoples of Afrique descent. Ronald already had several slaves present at the embassy

Sighing, he turned to the door, and prepared to leave for the Eldian embassy.


Alto watched from a dark corner behind the stage as guests slowly filled in to the hall. Oda had taken the liberty of quietly introducing the different diplomats, reporters, who he should befriend and the people he should avoid.

Sure enough, several representatives from the hostile Intercontinentia were there as well. Ambassador Xi Pei represented the Xinyin Monarchical Republic, Lord Rastali Nikolov representing the Klatsky Tsardom, and lastly, Sir Reinhardt Falcro representing none other than the Marleyan Empire.

"Are you nervous?" Oda asked with a smile.

Alto looked at him, and quietly nodded.

"Good. Prevents you from messing up." Oda nodded, he grabbed Alto's hand, "Let's do this, shall we?" Oda smiled at him and led Alto out.

Once there, the two quickly straightened themselves out, and waved to the crowd, immediately camera shutters began clicking as photographers eagerly competed with each other to get photos of the Eldian prince.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Oda bowed, and Alto did as well.

"I would like to thank all the representatives and other valuable persons that attended." Oda stood, "Today, I would like to make something of a shocking announcement. Although, if you are attending here, then you already know what I will announce today."

"The Eldian Kaiserreich - capitalled on the island of Paradis - has officially agreed to an economic and military alliance with the Hizurian Shogunate." Oda proclaimed boldly, and - as if on cue - cameras clicked, capturing the moment in history.

"Despite this moment, I find myself with very little to say, so I will now turn it over to my friend - Prinz Alto Burke of the Hajime Family of Paradis."

The audience gasped, whispers rippling through the crowd.

"A Hajime?"

"Is he a Titan shifter?"

"Will he transform?"

Alto shot a surprised look at Oda, who merely bowed with a playful smile on his face. Alto gulped and turned to the crowd.

"As you have heard, I am Prinz Alto Burke of the Eldian Kaiserreich. And as many of you suspect, I am the holder of the Tenth Titan, the Flare Titan." Alto paused, waiting for the reactions to subside.

"Many of you do not trust Paradis, and with good reason. For one hundred years we couldn't trust each other either." Several laughed at Alto's small joke as he continued.

"Nonetheless, some may say this mutual fear - and yes, hatred - is part of what has kept the world together for the past one hundred years. Perhaps it is the only thing."

"However, unlike what you may believe, neither I nor the people of Paradis wish to destabilize this peace, quite the opposite, we wish to join in it. For the past one hundred years, until a mere few months ago, we had no idea people existed beyond our Walls, nor did we know they were filled with Titans." This elicited gasps from the crowd.

"You heard me correctly, for the past one hundred years, we have lived our lives as if we were the last bastion of humanity against the enigmatic Titan scourge. All due to the lies and manipulations of a select few, namely the traitorous Tyburs who sit at the head of Marley, my ancestors, and the 145th King and his descendants." The audience was in open shock, they knew the story of the Great Titan War but these details were unheard off.

"For those of you in confusion, do not worry, the truth will be revealed and you will come to understand who the real enemy is."

"One hundred years ago, the 145th King agonized in self-guilt over the crimes of the Eldian people. Needless to say, this guilt all too quickly turned into a messiah complex. He viewed himself as the 'savior' of the world. He believed he could bring peace to the world by sacrificing the Eldian people, and while he sacrificed his people, he did not bring peace at all, however, that is for later."

"Continuing on, Karl Fritz plotted a madman's scheme to bring the downfall of his own Empire, only to prop up an even greater evil. With the aid of two of the Ten houses, the Hajimes and Tyburs, he plotted to bring down the Eldian Empire, turning the other eight houses against each other in a global conflict that would become the Great Titan War. However, he knew that if word of his deeds came out, it would not achieve the results he desired, so he created a false hero, the name of which is known to everyone here. The Marleyan man known as Helos, the man who - through his clever tricks and lies - brought the Ten Titans down low and liberated the Marleyan people, and in doing so, freed the world from Eldia's terror." Alto nearly spat the words out, in clear disdain.

"No way…"

"This means this entire time…was the rumbling a lie?"

"Was Paradis really the enemy?"

"Be patient." Alto explained, "I will answer all your questions and more. So, as the Eldian Empire crumbled, Karl Fritz proved his cowardice, rather than face the karma of his actions, he chose to flee. Taking a small portion of the Eldian Empire, he fled to Paradis, adopted the name Reiss, and using tens of thousands of Eldians, he erected the three Great Walls of Paradis. Maria, Rose, and Sina, and he then proceeded to steal the memories of the remaining ones, making them ignorant of the outside world."

"Of course, he made the threat of the rumbling. If any nation dared attack the island, he would unleash the thousands of titans sleeping within the walls." Alto shook his head, "But he never intended to make good on this threat, and with the Power of the Founder, cursed the Titan, so whenever one of his descendants inherited it, they would be brainwashed into adopting his ideology, and would be forced to do the same. I watched my sister, Frieda Reiss, succumb to this curse. He specifically stated that should Marley grow powerful enough to break down the Walls of Paradis, he would accept his fate."

The audience fell silent, fully engrossed in the tale he was telling, and Alto smiled internally, despite Oda throwing him into the deep end without any warning, he felt he was doing quite well for himself.

"However, thirteen years ago, everything changed, with a man by the name of Grisha Jaeger."

"Grisha Jaeger began his life as an Eldian in the Liberio Internment Zone of Marley, however, when he was just 12 years old, he and his sister, Faye, made the mistake of venturing beyond the walls that entrapped them. That mistake cost Faye her life at the hands of Marleyan dogs. And I mean actual dogs, not the officers responsible." The audience chuckled a bit at that too.

"You'd never know the brat was coming up with all this on the fly." Levi said.

"My brother is a naturally gifted orator." Historia shrugged,

"Speaking of: why do you refer to him as such? I mean, you guys weren't born together." Connie asked,

"Relationwise, we're more like distant cousins. However, we grew up together in Wall Rose with Frieda, and it kind of stuck, even without our memories." Historia said wistfully, and the Scouts fell silent. Even though they never knew her, Frieda must've been an important person to the two of them.

"Ssh, I'm listening." Eren held out a hand, as Alto went on.

"When Faye's death was reported to the family, do you know what her parents did? They accepted it, said it was her fault of all things, for going outside the walls when they shouldn't have. I ask you this, is it wrong for a child to express curiosity? Is it wrong not to want to be caged? And before you answer the first question, answer another question, which side of the cage are you on? How many Faye's have you ignored? How many Grisha's suffer with the same guilt that he carried until his demise?"

"Ponder this as I speak." Alto continued with the story as if the interlude had never happened at all, "Let us fast forward a few years. Grisha - still grieving - has moved on from Faye's death and now works as a doctor. However, his life would change once more when a man entered his clinic one day, and told Grisha the truth about how his sister died. As fate would have it, this man was an Eldian Restorationist, and so the second phase of Grisha's life began. He joined the Restorationists, an Eldian resistance group led by a man only known by the pseudonym, the Owl, and soon rose up their ranks due to his sheer charisma and intelligence, and before long, he had found love in the arms of Dina, a woman also within the Restorationists."

"However, Grisha made a mistake. When they gave birth to their son, Zeke Jaeger, they denied him the same freedom they sought for the Eldian people. They crammed pro-Eldia propaganda down his throat, and attempted to indoctrinate him with their ideology birthed of hatred, and so they continued the cycle. Forcing Zeke Jaeger to become a Marleyan Warrior, and he did become one. He inherited the Beast Titan, which he possesses to this day."

"Nonetheless, Zeke betrayed his parents. As the Marleyan PSA closed in on the Restorationists during the Death Nights of 832, he chose to sell out his parents to defend his grandparents, who were not as harsh and unforgiving on him as his parents were."

"That brings us to the shores of our Island. As Dina was turned into the Titan that would go on to kill Grisha's second wife, Grisha could only watch helplessly. Until one of the officers present turned on the rest with the Attack Titan and revealed himself to be none other than the Owl himself. The Owl, at the end of his thirteen year term, chose to pass the Attack Titan to Grisha, and using it, Grisha made it to our walls. But before he inherited the Attack, the Owl told him this:

'Your wife, your child, your neighbors if need be…love someone inside the walls. If you can't do that, this horrible past we've created for ourselves will only repeat. The same history, the same mistakes.'"

Several members of the audience were visibly dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs.

"And that is exactly what Grisha did. He remarried to Carla Jaeger, a woman working as a barista within the walls, and had a second son, Eren Jaeger. He befriended my father, Astell Burke, a man who had joined Paradis's military to fight against the titans, rather than continue the terrible cycle that his family had perpetuated."

"However, then it came time. Marley had launched their invasion after one hundred years."

Memories flashed before Eren's eyes as Alto narrated the Fall of Shiganshina and how Grisha stole the Founding Titan before giving it to Eren.

"Hey, Connie, are you crying?" Sasha asked,

Connie audibly sniffed, "No! I'm just-" He wiped his eyes, "Sweating! Yeah, I'm sweating from my eyes."

"Come on Connie, we know you're crying."

"You be quiet horseface!"

"Keep it down brats." Levi told them, "The audience might hear us."

"...and that brings us to where I stand before you today. This is our story. The story that has not been told for one hundred years. I don't ask for forgiveness, or pity, I ask for fair judgment. Was Zeke right to betray Grisha? Was Grisha right to kill the King? Who knows? Who has the right to decide?"

"Nonetheless, I would like to ask not only those here today, but the world, to look past their hatred, and see us not as devils. But as people. People who only want to survive, who have families, who love, who cry, who laugh, who hate and are hated because of a power they never asked for, but make the best out of regardless. I ask the world to not repeat the cycle, and create a new future, where anyone can be free!"


Ronald was in quiet shock. Alto Burke's speech had turned his perception of Eldians upside down, from a race of devils to a race betrayed by their own king and doomed to be hated by the rest of the world for crimes they never committed?

What about his role in all this? All the slaves he never cast a second glance to?

Ronald found himself unconsciously thinking these thoughts as Alto concluded his speech, and slowly but surely, clapping broke the timid silence the audience had found itself in.

It took him a few more seconds to realize that the solitary clapping was his.

Several other audience members stared at Ronald in shock, afterall, didn't the Western Union still practice the enslavement of Eldians? However, slowly but surely, more people followed, before the scattered applause became an overwhelming tide of approval. The reporters stood, rapidly clicking their cameras as Alto bowed respectfully.


Alto sighed in relief as the crowd gave their standing ovation, he then proceeded to turn around.

"With that wondrous speech concluded, let's get to the main part!" Oda turned around, and approached the table, where a sheet of paper lay. Oda and Alto signed it in unison, before lifting it up and showing it to the crowd, only to more applause and camera clicks.


The guests eagerly gathered in the main hall, and Alto seemed to have been elevated from an enigmatic presence to the guest of honor as various VIPs all vied for his attention.

"I'd say that it went rather well." Oda noted to him,

"Being polite is one thing, action is another." Alto told him,

"Oh I wouldn't call their standing ovation just being polite. Did you know the first person to clap was the ambassador from the Western Union?"

"The Western Union? Don't they practice the enslavement of Eldians?" Armin interjected.

"Along with Afrique peoples, yes." Oda noted, "Which makes it all the more remarkable. Along with Marley, the northern areas of the Union are probably some of the worst for Eldians. The southern areas are admittedly more tolerant, however."

"You seem to have been reading a lot." Eren mentioned to his friend,

"Of course, I want to know as much about the various nations of the world as I can." Armin professed.

"Why doesn't anyone say anything? Why hasn't Hizuru said anything?" Historia asked,

Oda's face clouded slightly, but he answered honestly: "The Western Union is an economic and industrial hegemon. Hizuru directly relies on oil and mineral exports from their nation to survive. And many others benefit from Union manufactured goods. If anything, I suggest Paradis pursue a relationship with them for your plan to succeed, even if it's just a trading one."

"Hold on." Eren stepped forward, "Are you suggesting we ally ourselves with people who actively practice slavery? With our own people no less?" His voice became raised, drawing the attention of those nearby.

"Eren." Alto placed a hand on his shoulder, Eren turned to him, and gasped when Alto met his gaze with a cold stare.

"Not. Here." Alto shook his head slowly, and Eren nodded, backing down from Oda.

"Despite that, it's not impossible for Eldians to live there. Many Eldians have become very successful, as a matter of fact, in things such as industry and business." Oda explained, "However, should you wish to gain any sort of traction on the world stage, it is better to have the Union on your side than not."

Alto nodded, absorbing the information.

"Prince Alto Burke, right?" A man asked from behind him, and Alto turned around to be faced with a middle-aged man with a graying beard and mustache.

"Yes, that's me." Alto nodded.

"I am Lord John Kafig, I represent the Britannian Empire here in Hizuru." He extended his hand for a handshake, and Alto took it.

"I must say, that was one bloody fine speech. No bullshit, I like that in both conversation and people." Kafig laughed, and Alto looked at him quizzically.

"I must ask, however, how old are you?" John asked, "Surely you're in your twenties or so?"

"...I'm sixteen, Lord Kafig." Alto told him, and the room went dead silent. The boy standing before him was sixteen, and already rocking the world with his powerful words.

"Why - even the princess is older than you!" John gasped in surprise.

"On Paradis, you're allowed to enter military service when you're 12." Alto explained, "You spend three years training, so you graduate when you are 15."

"Twelve year olds carrying rifles? I can honestly hardly imagine it." Lord Kafig laughed, "You already make a fine young gentleman, and an even finer leader of men. Britannia will benefit significantly from a relationship with Paradis, and with you as well, Eldian or not."

Alto winced at the last part, but nonetheless played along: "I'm glad that the Empire seeks such a good relationship with us."

Kafig nodded, satisfied, he proceeded to turn away and approach some of the other guests.


"(Please sir. We're on the verge of making it work, if we only had a little more time-)" Thomas tried to explain to him

"(More time. More money. It's always more, more, more!)" Fushiro Tokida, the head of Mitsuba Aerial's R&D said with exasperation.

"(Please! Our new high power engine was successful, was it not?)" Okida told him

"(Yes…but we can't continue with this monoplane project of yours. You've worked on it for two years now, every result has been either too heavy or underpowered, there's no way it could possibly succeed. Your lack of results reflects badly on Mitsuba, either give up on it or you can find another investor.)"

"(But-)" Thomas interjected

"(No buts! The Monoplane project will be scrapped!)" Tokida said decisively, before hmph'ing and walking off.

Thomas and Okida were left around looking dejected.

"That's it…?" Thomas wondered, "Years of hard-work? For what?"

Okida couldn't even comfort his lover.

Suddenly, a boy crashed into Okida, and spilled wine all over his suit.

"Oh!" He cried out apologetically, "I am so sorry. Should I clean that up?"

"No…" Okida huffed, trying not to snap at him, "It's fine."

"You seem annoyed." The boy inquired.

"You wouldn't understand…" Okida murmured, "We've been working on a new aircraft technology for years, but we've had very little success with it. You see, Thomas and I, we're aircraft developers, we create new aircraft. Thomas deals with the aerodynamics, while I deal with the mechanical components."

"That man just fired you, right? Because of your lack of success."

Okida nodded, "Yes."

"Well, if you design aircraft, then why don't you go work for Paradis?"

Okida stared at him, "Are you serious? How would we even contact them?"

The boy smiled, "My name is Alto Burke, and I'm the Prince of Paradis."


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