Notes:

Thank you so much for following this story! Even if I couldn't see all of you :')
Special shoutout for cherrylate (Thank you for your encouragement! It means a lot to me!)

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE'S ANOTHER ((GIGANTUOUS)) NEW CHAPTER.
Enjoy!

P.S Some historical term
Chamberstick: candleholder; designed to be carried; shorter in height, with a flat, circular base that was sometimes ornamentally shaped (Snowdon, L).
Dressing gown: (housecoat/morning gown) a robe, a loose-fitting outer garment, worn by either men or women (WIKIPEDIA).
Wing: part of a building that is subordinate to the main, central structure (WIKIPEDIA)

DISCLAIMER:
Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan belongs to Hajime Isayama

CHAPTER 6: LEFT WING

Hange opened up her eyes and saw the dark ceilings of her room. She grunted and rolled to her side.

She had been trying to sleep for maybe an hour or maybe more, at this point she just didn't know anymore.

She tried to count imaginary sheeps, she tried to steady her breathing, she even tried to walk around her room to tire herself out.

But her attempts were futile, there are no signs of dreamland in the horizon.

She knew why she couldn't sleep.

Growl.

Hungry. She's hungry.

She tried to force herself to sleep, but it seemed like her body wouldn't let her relax until they got what they needed, and that is food.

She sat up and touched her stomach before letting out another grunt. She grabbed her glasses that were on her bedside table and wore it, clearing the blurry view that she had before. Then, she stood up to put on her bed slippers before draping a long cream dressing gown over her knee length chemise. Her straight hair was loose and fell to her mid back, not bothering to tie it or even brush it.

It's not like he would meet someone at whatever hour is this, right?

She went to her work table to light up the candle of her silver chamberstick. Slowly, the dark room was filled with a warm flickering glow. She took the chamberstick with her as she left her bedroom.

The hallway was dark with her candle being the only source of light, and it oddly made the hallway longer than usual. It didn't bother her though, she walked slowly through the darkness with one destination in mind, kitchen.

After all, this wasn't her first time venturing to the kitchen at night.

She descended each stairs with ease and stopped to look at the clock that was mounted on the wall of the grand staircase.

12.30 AM.

Seems about right.

With fast steps, she dashed through the great hall and arrived at the dining room. After that, she went inside a door that led toward a hall that connected the dining room to the kitchen.

The kitchen was dark and quiet when Hange arrived.

Hange glanced at her surroundings before carefully approaching a white door, and slowly opened it to reveal mountains of jars, baskets, and sacks. She went inside and moved her candles around to scan the shelves before settling on one apple and a few strawberries.

After that, she closed the door and sat down on the floor, leaning back to the kitchen island. She put her chamberstick to the side and blew the candle off. The kitchen instantly lost its only source of light, so she was left in the cold darkness of the room, but she liked it, being alone in the middle of the darkness to savor her hunts.

She stared into nothing as she munched and swallowed the apples.

This sure brings back a lot of memories.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Creak.

Hange freezed, her muscles went tense with pressure at the sound of the door being opened.

Then, she heard slow footsteps coming toward her alongside the sound of creaking from the wood floors. She gulped as the room began to be illuminated with warm orange glows.

Who?

Who would come to the kitchen in the middle of the night.

Who?

Then it stopped.

Hange also stopped breathing.

What if it's a burglar?

What if—?

She didn't know what went inside her mind, but without a second thought, she stood up from her position to face whoever this person was. Hand in position to throw her apple at any time—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

Hange was startled by a high scream.

Wait a minute.

"MOBLIT?!" Hange exclaimed.

The said person stopped screaming and looked at her with a dumbstruck expression.

"Miss… Miss Hange?! Oh- Oh Lord, you— Don't scare me like that," Moblit said with a hand clutching his chest while breathing frantically.

Hange looked at him with furrowed brows before erupting into a loud laugh.

Moblit's face burned red, "Miss Hange!"

"Sorry— It's just… You should've seen the look on your face." Hange said in between her laugh.

Well, she couldn't blame Moblit though. Probably the last thing he would want to see in the kitchen is a woman with long hair and light white dress emerging from the darkness.

"Not funny, Miss." The poor man said as he was still trying to recover from his shock and his embarrassment.

Hange noticed that Moblit was still wearing his black coat outfits, "You still haven't changed from that?"

"Huh? Oh, Mr. Levi and Mr. Smith returned from the party around half an hour ago, so I helped them to prepare for the night." Moblit explained. "After that, I came here to check on the kitchen. Mrs. Koch would often forget to close the pantry or turn off some oil lamps, so I just want to make sure that all is safe."

"Just you?"

"Oh, there were also Abel, but he already went back to the quarters." He said before looking at Hange from up to bottom and gaping before glancing away, " And… W-what about you, Miss Hange?"

"Ah, me? Nothing much, just doing some taste tests— You know, to make sure that they are good." She said while showing Moblit her half eaten apple.

"I see…" Moblit muttered, still not looking at her.

She didn't understand why Moblit suddenly became jittery.

Oh, wait, she knew. He was probably embarrassed to see her in this semi-minimal attire.

Well, isn't he courteous?

"Do you want some strawberries?" She asked with a smile before pausing, "Oh— but you would rather go to sleep, right?"

"Ah, actually I sleep later than this."

"Really?" Hange cheerfully exclaimed, "If that is so, I think I could use a companion. Do you mind?"

Moblit looked uneasy by her offer but he slowly sighed in defeat.

No one could say no to her.

He approached her and sat beside her, grabbing one strawberry from her. Hange had to stifle a laugh at Moblit's attempt to only look at her face.

Before Hange could open the conversation, Moblit already spoke his mind.

"Listen, you shouldn't be doing this, Miss Hange. What if Mrs. Koch found out about this? You will not be saved from her wrath. If your portion wasn't enough, you should tell her, I'm sure she wouldn't mind adding extra food into yours. Or maybe you should learn to take a rest and conserve your energy. Sometimes, you just run around way too much, no wonder you'd be starving in the middle of the night. Moreover—"

Hange erupted into another laugh, and it earned her a concerned look from Moblit. He probably thought that she finally lost her mind.

"Nifa is right, you sure are a mom." Hange said before taking another bite from her apple.

Moblit gasped and protested, "I'm not!"

"You are!" Hange hummed a tune, "And that's why I like you, Moblit. You are just all around an honest and nice person."

"Huh?" He stammered as he stared at her with mouth wide agaped, obviously didn't see that one coming. "Uhm… Thank you…"

"You're welcome! Oh, and don't you worry Moblit. I've done this before and I've never been found. — Well, you broke that record, though."

"What?! So that was you? We thought there were rats around here."

Hange smiled, "Not entirely wrong, I identified myself as a rat."

Moblit were gawking at her before finally cracked a laugh, "You reminded me of my brother."

"Really?"

"Yes, he used to steal food from the kitchen in the middle of the night."

Hange snickered, "I think I might get along well with him."

"Probably." He smiled. "When we caught him red-handed, he said that he was just guarding the food from the rats. Of course my Mother and Father didn't believe him. So, instead of punishing him, they fabricated a story about some ghost living inside our kitchen. He stopped after that."

Hange laughed, "Ghost story, huh?"

"Yeah, but the bad news is, it didn't only scare him, we all nine got scared in the end." Moblit shuddered at the memory.

She marveled, "Oh, that's cute."

Moblit frowned and shook his head, "Not cute at all."

Hange wanted to tease him but then a thought came to her mind.

"Speaking of ghost," Hange spoke in a low tone, "How about this manor?"

"Huh?" Moblit shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You know, with this manor being old and all, I'm sure there's a story, or maybe two."

"I— Uhm… I don't know about such things." He answered, voice cracked, he looked anywhere but her.

"Really?"

"Uh, yeah!" He tried to answer with a high voice.

"You are not looking at me," Hange smiled triumphantly, "I know you are lying."

Moblit immediately stared back at her with a serious face, "What if you got scared, Miss?"

Hange snorted as she waved a hand, "No, I will not."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Hange nodded as she chewed on her apple.

Like, how scary it could be?

Most ghost stories are just some cheap nonsense, anyway.

It was probably something that could be easily explained by logic.

Moblit let out a long sigh before glancing around, then he whispered, "There's a story you know… about a woman with long hair walking through the manor… in the middle of the night."

Ah, classic.

"Really? Have people seen it?"

Moblit nodded his head, "Yes, a lot of people have seen it. Even Mr. Levi himself." He answered with a serious expression.

Oh.

Suddenly, she felt a chill running through her spine, the room felt colder than before.

She thought that it may be because she wore thin clothes.

Moblit continued, "Around three or two years ago, a new maid forgot if she had put out a fire in the drawing room. So, she went to the drawing room in the middle of the night to check on the fireplace. When she walked across the great hall, she heard someone upstairs, so she looked up and saw someone walking near the railing of the left wing. She tried to call the figure but it didn't seem like the person heard her."

Hange could feel the rising beat of her heart.

"The only person who lived in the left wing is Miss Mikasa, so the maid thought that it was her. But, when she was asked about it, she said it wasn't her. She said that she didn't wake up at all during the night."

Wait, that's not possible right?

"Not only that, there's also a report of screaming and crying sounds coming from the left wing." Moblit added.

Hange stared at Moblit with wide eyes, "Is that why Nifa slept in the same bedroom as Mikasa?"

Moblit nodded.

"How did I not hear about any of this?"

Moblit looked hesitant, "Well, it's not something we like to talk about…"

"And why is that?"

Moblit paused and glanced away before finally looking at her, "Because some believed that it was the late Mrs. Ackerman."

Hange peeked at the mention of the name, "Who?"

"Mrs. Ackerman." Moblit repeated, "You've seen her plenty of time, Miss Hange. Her picture was hung in the drawing room."

Hange mouth went agape as she remembered the familiar painting that seated right on top of the fireplace.

The picture of a woman with white flower crown.

Hange gasped as she felt goosebump all over her body.

"Who was she?" She quickly asked.

"She was Mr. Levi's mother."

Then, something clicked within Hange.

So, that's why he looked so familiar the first time she met him.

He looked exactly like the woman in the painting.

"They believed it was Mrs. Ackerman because she died inside her own chamber, which was in the left wing." Moblit continued.

"Oh, I see..."

Then, there was silence.

The only thing that Hange could hear was her own mind speaking to itself.

Have you ever felt like you were so sure that you knew how things will go, only to find out that you actually didn't know.

Yeah.

She had.

And this is one of them.

Suddenly, Hange stood up and quickly finished her apple. She threw the scrape into the wastebasket.

Moblit got startled by the sudden movement, "Miss Hange—"

"Whoa! I think I'm full, you can have the rest of the strawberries, Moblit. Now, if you'll excuse me— Oh, can I ask for some of your light," Without waiting for his response, she used Moblit's own candle to lighten up her own.

"Uhm… Do you want me to walk yo— "

"What? Oh! No, no! Thank you, Moblit," She replied with a laugh that probably sounded so fake. "Well then, good night!" She said before storming out from the kitchen, ignoring whatever thing Moblit tried to say to her.

She ran through the dining room before arriving at the great hall. She felt like every part of her body became so heavy

Her heart felt like it wanted to jump from her.

She took a fast paced walk up toward the grand staircase before stopping at the junction that connected the right and left staircase. Slowly, she glanced to her left, toward the dark stairs that led to the hallway of the left wing.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Moblit must be joking, he just wanted to take revenge on her.

. . .

There's no way there's a ghost in here.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Right?

. . .

Hange bolted as she ascended the right stairs, running through the hallway and hurriedly opened her door before slamming it behind her. Her chest rising up and down from the adrenaline.

She shook her head.

No, she must be imagining things. It's common right to be afraid after hearing some scary story?

Yeah! She would probably forget it by tomorrow.

Yeah!

She scanned her dimly-lit bedroom before quickly turning all the oil lamps in the room.

In less than a minute, her room became bright with the yellowish tint from the oil lamps. After scanning her room again, she started to walk toward her bedside table to drink a full glass of water.

She sat on the corner of her bed, trying to even out her breathing and to calm her heart.

Well, let's go to sleep.

"Hange, are you okay?"

Hange jolted when she heard a familiar deep voice of a man. She looked at the owner of said voice, there was concern painted on his face.

"Yeah… I'm okay, Erwin. I mean, why wouldn't I?" She said, forcing a bright smile on her face.

Erwin raised an eyebrow, "You sure?"

She nodded even though she was —actually— not sure.

Truthfully, she felt like she wanted to throw up.

She couldn't sleep at all.

She probably looked like she was on the verge of death.

"Okay," He doesn't look convinced at all. "But so you know, if you need anything, just telegram me." Erwin said with a soft smile, in which Hange replied with a tight hug.

"Come back again soon, Erwin." She told him as she loosened the hug.

"I will," Erwin patted her shoulder before walking toward a carriage. Her lovely employer could be seen sitting inside the carriage, grunting something under his breath as Erwin approached them. Probably alongside the line of 'I don't have much time, Erwin.'

Meanwhile Erwin just smiled apologetically as he went inside the carriage. Erwin waved at her as the carriage started to walk away.

"SEE YOU LATER, ERWIN!" Screamed Hange with every last energy that she had as she waved her hand up above her head with much vigor.

She watched over them until they disappeared from her sight and from the manor.

When Hange turned back to face the manor, she immediately sighed. The manor looked so big today, and it suddenly made her feel so small.

Not to mention that she was completely alone today.

Not alone per se, but her usual companions, that are Mikasa and Nifa, were currently away to do some shopping in the city.

They actually asked her to join them, but there's no way she could survive walking through the city in this condition.

Meanwhile, the other servants were busy with their job and some were out on their off day.

While for Moblit, Hange just couldn't face him after the event of hours ago.

So, she's pretty much alone.

Should she take a nap?

No! Imagining herself tucked away alone inside her room wasn't something she wanted right now.

She walked inside the manor and stopped in front of a door in the great hall.

Library.

Ah, she could prepare the material for Mikasa's study next week.

Yes, that could do.

She went inside and saw a big library that was filled with so many wood shelves, tables, chairs, and even couches. She immediately recognized the characteristic smell of decaying books, her favorite smell. She felt relaxed as she took a deep breath and drank the sight of earthy tones that plastered the whole room.

For the past three months, she had been trying so hard to keep herself from spending too much time in the library, because she knew once she was in, it would be hard to get out.

And it would definitely make her neglect her job.

So, she had promised herself that if it wasn't for Mikasa, she would not go to the library.

But, right now. She just wanted to drown herself with books.

Just for this time, Hange. There'll be no more after this.

With great determination, she went to walk to one shelf that she had been wanting to see. She ran her hand through the books, scanning for any interesting books. Unfortunately, all of the books were interesting.

One, Hange! One.

One.

In the end, she grabbed ten books.

Let's just do some skimming, fast one, no worries.

She sat at the chair near the window, with the view of the front yard. She opened up a book titled Flora: Nature's Wonders and she was pleasantly surprised that it was filled with so many illustrations and descriptions of plants and flowers that she hadn't seen before.

As she read the book, she imagined herself sitting in a big room filled with many people. At the front of the room, stood a man, probably middle age, stroking his white beard as he spoke about the content of the book to the whole room.

She would sit at the front, taking notes at everything the old man told and wrote on the blackboard.

That would be so nice.

She read pages after pages before slowly feeling her eyes became heavier. She pushes the book away before settling her head to the table, pillowed by her hands.

So nice.

A carriage arrived at the manor, and a familiar figure emerged from inside.

It was in the middle of the day, almost time for lunch. He let out a long sigh as he walked toward the door. The door was opened by Abel.

After he let himself out from all of his outerwear and thanked Abel for helping him, he went inside the great hall. He walked straight toward his study, but halted when he saw that the library doors were partially opened.

He went closer as he wanted to close said door, but then he caught a figure of someone inside. The person was surrounded by many books that were on the tables.

Seriously, it's that woman again?

He wanted to leave her be, but his legs seemed to have the mind of their own.

Slowly, he approached her slouching figure.

That position will definitely give her pain.

He stopped and stood near her. His grey eyes glanced at the only book that opened.

She's into this kind of thing, huh?

He glanced again at the figure and saw that she was smiling.

He was reminded again by the event of that morning.

The event where she caught him staring at her while she was playing piano.

The event where he saw her smiling so brightly at him, no, at his direction.

Even in her sleep, she still likes to smile.

He traced his gaze from her brown hair, to her closed eyes, to her thick curly eyelashes, to her circular glasses, to her sharp hooked nose, and to her pink lips.

He returned his gaze to her glasses.

She really needs to be more careful with her glasses.

Slowly, he took away her glasses from her face and folded it before safely putting it on the table.

During that time, he didn't take his gaze from her.

And he probably never did that.

He never took his gaze from her.

Ever since that day.

With the same hand, he moved to the direction of her hair.

Her hair.

He hovered over her hair.

Her warm chocolate hair.

But then, he stopped.

He retracted his hand away.

He stared at her again before turning away.

Away from the library.

Away from her.

She definitely will be the death of him.

Hange abruptly opened her eyes and stood up straight in her seat. She felt a sudden tap on her shoulder, and she looked to see a blurry figure standing near her.

She narrowed her eyes before gasping.

"Abel!"

He told her that it's time for lunch.

Oh! She must have fallen asleep.

Hange nodded and thanked him. She searched for her glasses and found it tucked near the stack of books.

Hm?

She didn't remember that she took off her glasses.

Ah, nevermind, she's hungry.

She stood up and felt a pang of pain alongside her back.

Ouch! Bad sleeping position.

She stretched before hurriedly stacked the books on the edge of the table, thinking that she will return to her activity later. After that, she followed after Abel as they walked toward the servants' hall.

Ever since she came here, Hange would eat with the servants every time she couldn't eat with Mikasa.

The servants were surprised when she told them that she wanted to dine with them. Well, of course they were, because clearly governess have higher status than the servants.

Hange nonchalantly said that she just hates eating alone.

Which was true.

During her previous employment, she would always eat alone in her room. Away from the servants that despised her and away from her employer that saw her as merely a worker.

Then again, it was something you'd get when you work as a governess.

Governess was deemed too high to dine with the servants but too low to dine with the family.

For Hange, being a governess was like walking on a tightrope.

You have to stay balanced.

You have to stay where you are.

Alone on top of your rope.

That's why Hange was grateful to be able to work here.

She didn't have to walk on the tightrope.

Because, it was never here to begin with.

When Hange was greeted by cheers and warm smiles as she arrived at the familiar long table of the servants' hall, the only thing she could think of was:

"I'm so lucky."

- Chapter 6 End -

Notes:

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAV CHAPTERS ;) I hope you like it as much as I do, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.
Fun fact: this fanfiction was planned to be 5 chapter long, but hey look at us, 6 chapter in HAHA

Do tell me what you think about this chapter :D

P.S I'm on tumblr (spilledsinnamontea), so if you want to say hi ;) hmu
P.S.S First day of class :(((