"Something needs to be done about the refugees" one of the nobles spoke out "the social unrest is looming over our heads! If we don't organize something quick, we are risking a civil war…"

"The food shortage is not going to stop" another councillor added "we won't be able to feed them, even if we use them to fertilize the wastelands."

The high council was discussing their possibilities of dealing with the crisis. With the fall of wall Maria, they had lost over a third of their territory. Many people were left with nothing to fill their stomachs with and the problems that their sheer number was causing were just never-ending.

"I have a proposal" one higher up in the military police exclaimed "we send them out to retrieve wall Maria…"

"Are you crazy?"

"They literally have no chance against titans…"

"That's the whole point" the MP continued "they are not supposed to take back the territory. Nor they are supposed to even survive."

Silence filled the room as all of the councillors looked at the man. Seeing that he had their attention, the military policeman continued.

"We have a small amount of food and lots of mouths to feed. It's obvious that once the population realizes it, they will do everything in their power to get whatever they need. At first, the royal government will be toppled, then they will split into different factions, fighting over whatever is left. My plan is perfect. Soon enough, we will get rid of the hungry in a way that they won't even figure out."

"Yeah, I see now…"

"It does sound feasible…"

"A sacrifice of some, so that the rest can survive…"

"No."

Everyone looked towards the far end of the table, which was occupied by the king of the walls. The MP sighed upon witnessing her objection.

"Your majesty" he started "you do realize that this is the only way, right? Even if we made every person living behind walls work on agriculture, we still wouldn't be able to feed the whole population…"

"What I say goes" Frieda exclaimed with authority "I will not send my people to their certain deaths."

Frustration filled the minds of the councillors as they listened to the exchange. The MP, however, didn't want to give in so easily.

"Your majesty" he started yet again "please, listen to us. We all follow your ideology of peace. But sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the greater good. And peace within the walls is that greater good. We have to do this…"

"No" the dark-haired female spoke as she looked over the council "besides, I will deal with the food shortage myself."

At that, everyone looked at her with awe. They all knew that their monarch possessed unimaginable powers, but so far, they had never seen them be put to use.

"With all due respect" one of the nobles spoke out "what about your non-interference policy, your majesty? Are we expected to see you use your power more often? What guarantee do we have that we won't wake up one day, with our memories gone?"

"That'd be me."

Everyone looked at the only person who stayed silent, during the whole meeting.

"Better treat me with respect, ye old fart" Kenny spoke with a sly smile as he put his legs on the table.

"Why does he have to be here?" The noble exclaimed with anger "a commoner who lacks even the proper manners…"

"That is because he's stating the obvious" Frieda spoke slowly "you don't have any real guarantee that I will stop myself from using my powers on any of you. However, even if I do that, he will not be affected."

The king of the walls turned away from the table, to look through the nearby window.

"I will deal with the food shortage. I also expect you to work with Kenny Ackerman and put down any kind of rebellion or mutiny, before a spark starts the fire."

Frieda turned towards the councillors again.

"These are my orders" she spoke "now, go do your job."

The higher ups seemed to have some reservations about her authoritarian way of ruling but were way too terrified of Frieda's powers to do anything about it. The dark-haired woman had to admit that when she needed things done, she could be vicious.

As all other members were leaving, Kenny decided to stay behind.

"I have a special job for you" Frieda exclaimed when the doors closed behind the last departing councillor.

"And what'd that be, huh?" The old Ackerman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The invaders" she spoke "I need you to locate them and get some info about their plans."

Kenny widened his eyes at that.

"Have you changed your mind?"

Frieda just closed her eyes.

"No" she responded "the fate of our people had been set in stone. After all, we're all going to die… But I need you to supervise them. I want to have some sense of control over how my subjects go down."

"Yea…" the old Ackerman responded with doubt "alright, I'll do it…"

Was this the real reason for all that interference? She knew that she could do little about the vow of pacifism, yet every time she thought about Karl Fritz and his peace, she was growing more and more annoyed with the way things were. She didn't want anyone to control her actions…

As Frieda was remembering the vivid memory, she hadn't noticed when the carriage finally stopped. All the effort that she had been putting up to end the ongoing crisis didn't seem to be paying off just yet. While the interior of wall Sina remained peaceful, the area beyond it was in an overwhelming turmoil.

Her powers seemed to be getting stronger, by each day. At first the young woman wasn't even sure if she was capable of fertilizing the wastelands by herself, but over time she learnt that the true power of the coordinate allowed her to perform almost miraculous feats.

It wasn't like the power of the founding titan let her shape the world around her. She actually had to figure out how to fertilize the ground. It turned out that among creating many more wondrous elements, Frieda could enrich the barren land with minerals, much needed for agriculture. The crops that grew on that earth turned out to be greater in size, which would hopefully help with the food shortage.

There haven't been any attempts at rebellions just yet. However, there has been a significant rise in crime in the wall Rose area. It wasn't major enough to be a threat to the government, but several small towns have already been taken over by organized bandits. Thankfully, under her rule, the military police started actually doing their job.

The young woman couldn't believe the state that this elite brigade had been kept in during the one hundred years of isolation. First squad helped her in draining this swamp of a formation, by getting rid of the worst officers. One day, they simply vanished from the barracks. The idea was actually Kenny's, and he was usually the one to do the honours. This simple action filled the hearts of those who were mildly corrupt or who were simply slacking off with fear that if they didn't do their job correctly, they would be next. So far, it has worked in their favour.

The young ruler stepped off the carriage. It was great to be back on the farm. Due to the number of tasks, she currently had at her hand, Frieda couldn't visit Historia as often as she wished she would.

"Frieda!" Historia happily exclaimed as she greeted her sister.

As the dark-haired female was hugging the blonde, she looked towards Eren. Despite being a little anxious, he was smiling at her. Frieda had to admit that the boy was developing into a fine young man. Just a few more years and she would get apprehensive about leaving the boy alone with her little sister.

"Welcome back" Eren spoke, when Historia let go of her.

"How have you been?" She asked the children, while the three of them were walking around the farm.

"Oh, you know, the usual" the blonde spoke "and also Eren killed a wolf…"

This sentence made the blood freeze within Frieda's veins.

"What?"

The young boy looked towards Historia with an annoyed expression.

"We went to the forest, in search of a lamb…" he started.

"You two went to the forest all alone?!" The young woman berated.

"We're sorry, big sister…" the blonde pleaded "once we found Jeschua, several wolves crossed our path. But Eren stood up to the pack and managed to kill their leader, so everything ended well…"

"You two could've died!" Frieda yelled in anger.

The kids looked down in shame. It seemed that they really regretted their actions, but she still couldn't let it go that easily.

Frieda looked over Eren. Killing a wolf in front of its pack was an amazing feat and normally, she would be extremely impressed, but something about this action worried her. Of course, the dark-haired female knew about his murderous encounter with a group of bandits from the past. Since she erased that memory from his head, and disposed of any records from that event, she was hoping that something like this wouldn't happen again. Yet, here he was, standing like nothing had happened, even if his life was in mortal danger, not that long ago.

Something about that really enticed Frieda. Decisive intent and conviction were things that she generally sought for in people, but somehow, Eren could put to shame anyone she had ever met in that regard.

"Alright" she spoke, brushing off her thoughts "but you'd better not do this ever again."

The young woman already knew that if she wanted to keep the lives of those precious little souls peaceful, someone needed to pay the price for their safety. She needed to find a bodyguard for them. Not a regular one, but someone way stronger. Someone who could blend in well with the kids, so that they wouldn't notice that they were being watched over.

Could she even find a person like that?