A/N: Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter!

I'm currently finishing up a one-shot that flowed out of my fingers yesterday (GOD was that easier to write than this!) so please keep your eyes out for that (especially if you like mushy stuff! hehe.)

Anyways, without further ado-!

II

The trip was, indeed, a very long one. Eren, though initially captivated by the sceneries that he had never seen before, soon got bored when the towns turned into endless snow-covered pastures, wishing very much he could take out his sewing materials, if not for the bumpy ride that made sewing near impossible.

The duke, on the other hand, contented himself with brushing dust off the armrests.

Hours into the trip, something came up on the horizon that caught Eren's interest in the full. "That's the castle!" He exclaimed, completely forgetting the trip's Rule Number 1.

Levi, surprisingly, did not snap at the kid. He instead looked out the window in the direction they were heading. "Yes. That's the castle."

"Wow..." Eren breathed, green eyes twinkling at the sight. He seemed to realize at that time that he had broken Levi's no-talking rule, and stayed silent thereafter.

Levi, however, spoke again. "Do you dream of living in the castle, Eren?"

"Eh?" Eren looked to the older man. "I... haven't really given that much thought, Sir."

Levi raised his eyebrows slightly. "What of the Princess? It must be a common dream amongst you brats to marry the beautiful Princess, or to at least catch sight of her."

Once again, Eren answered in the negative. "I am not sure about that, Sir... I, uh, have not ever thought of the Princess. To be honest, I do not even know her name, much less what she looks like."

The dark-haired man nodded slowly, and asked no more. How would Mikasa feel if she knew this? That the boy she had searched for for so many years had not so much even heard of her name?

Brown hair, green eyes, brown hair, green eyes. Well, this kid sure as fuck had brown hair and green eyes, but Mikasa didn't tell him that he'd be such a brainless idiot, too. Not that she could've known anyways. After all, that was why Levi decided to be the one to retrieve the boy: he wanted to see for himself who this Eren Yager really was.

Mikasa, with all her reputation of being a very bright and level-headed young lady, was brainless when it came to just one thing, and that thing was Eren. She began speaking of him some seven years ago, and officially began the search for him two years ago, once she gained enough authority in the castle to dispatch the personnel needed. To this day, Levi did not know where Mikasa heard of this boy, or why she was so intent on finding him, but she refused to tell, and Levi had since come to accept her preoccupation with him without further question.

Still, Levi worried over this. All Mikasa knew of the boy was his hair and eye color, general location, and apparently name, as Levi found out the night before. Normally, such information was more than enough to track a target down, though, as it turns out, it was significantly more difficult when said target was a minor, and orphaned. When at first the searches were unsuccessful, Levi had hoped, despite - or maybe because of - his care for Mikasa, that they would never find him. Who knew what the kid would turn out to be like? What if he was a shameless pickpocket, an illiterate fool, or, in this case, a dirty jobless brat?

If it were up to Levi, he'd banish this piece of scum from the kingdom in an instant. Just the thought of the boy covered in soot as he first saw him was enough to make his digestive track make turns. Unfortunately, it was not he who wished to find the kid; it was Mikasa, and that damned monster of a lady would surely have his head if he did anything to her precious dream-boy. In fact, she'd probably give him hell enough for snatching the boy away first, but there was no way Levi would hand him over just yet.

He'd need to train the boy, yes. Familiarize him with the life of nobility, teach him proper etiquette, and most importantly, knock some intelligence into that irritatingly stupid brain of his. The brat would need to prove himself if he wanted to ever make the acquaintance of the Princess, not that he had enough of a mind to even want such a thing, as it turned out. That was very troublesome in itself, but Levi planned to change it. By the time he was done with the kid, he'll be begging on his knees to spend even a moment with the precious Princess.

Yes, Levi thought as he looked again at the teenager across from him, who was once again lost in his naive amazement at the outside world. That type of want and dedication is what Mikasa deserves.

The man continued to observe Eren's ever changing - but always so stupidly innocent - expressions. For a moment, Levi wondered if he would actually be able to get through such a thick, ignorant skull, but he decided, he would definitely find a way.

Duke Levi, as the people knew, gets shit done, and he'd be damned if this idiot ruined his lovely reputation.

~ o ~

It was afternoon by the time the carriage arrived at Levi's estate.

They passed through a set of grandiose gates and a seemingly endless garden before they reached the actual manor house. Servants from inside the establishment came out to receive the master and guest, opening the carriage door for the two to exit.

Once on solid ground, the carriage was taken away, and Eren followed Levi into the massive house. His expression was taken over again by awe, for never in his life had he seen such wealth, and such extravagance. The marble floor, large-scale paintings, hand-carved furniture, and chandeliers all sparkled with richness. At that moment, Eren thought back to his life at the orphanage, the simplicity of the house, the plainness of the food, and his meager attempts to earn money - and for the first time, he saw in perspective just how low, how insignificant he truly was.

Levi caught Eren staring at the decorations, and had to suppress a proud smirk. "Come on, brat, you'll have all the time in the world to ogle at this place later."

"Y-yes Sir!" Eren pried his eyes away from the walls and followed Levi through an archway. They passed by the salon, the dining room, then up a flight of stairs, and down a hallway until they reached their destination. All the while, Eren fought back the urge to become too engrossed in his surroundings, but when Levi opened the door to the room they stood in front of, Eren couldn't help but let his jaw drop open.

"This is your room."

At first, the brunette did not even register the statement. After all, it made no logical sense and so his brain ignored it. It was not until perhaps ten seconds later that he replayed the words to himself and finally understood the meaning. "...What?!"

The duke let out an annoyed sigh. "I said, this is your fucking room. Put your things away..." Levi eyed Eren's bag of belongings, "...and put on some clean clothes. There are different sizes in the closet so find one that fits, just don't get the rest of them dirty. When you're done, meet me in the dining hall. We'll have a late lunch."

Eren was still too shocked to answer. His stomach even grumbled in response to the prospect of food, but he did not notice.

The other male, however, would not accept being ignored. "Yager! Do you hear me! Or would you prefer a room in a the basement? Perhaps it would be more suitable for the likes of you..."

Eren shook his head furiously. "No, Sir! I thank you very much for this arrangement. I'm just surprised, is all..."

Levi made another face before turning around. "Whatever. Just hurry up and do your shit. I don't have all day." He walked away, leaving the brunette alone in the hall.

Eren swallowed, and turned his attention back to the room. He rested his hand on the wooden door frame tentatively, as if testing out whether this was, in fact, reality. The frame felt solid enough against his palm, and so, with a deep breath, he stepped inside.

The room had seemed huge from the outside, but now that Eren was inside, he realized it was even bigger than he imagined. He had already seen the full sized bed in the middle of the room, complete with deep mahogany bedposts and drapes, along with a matching drawer and desk to the right, and a closet on the left. What he didn't see before, was a floor length mirror and another doorway on the left, leading to a private bathroom, with a generously sized tub and all.

"I can't believe this..." he whispered to himself, as he stepped further inside the room. He came to the bed and sat down, amazed at how fluffy it all was. All Eren wanted to do at that point, really, was to continuing gawking at everything around him; he'd never so much had three pieces of furniture to his name, and what's more so, the room was just about the size of Hannes's entire house.

However, Eren knew better than to disregard the duke's orders to hurry, so once again, he forced himself to contain his awe and do what needed to be done. Setting his bag under the bed, he walked over to the closet where, sure enough, multiple sets of clothes in various sizes were hung. He reached for the middle of the array - Eren was 5'7", a rather average height - and upon holding the clothes up against himself, decided that it was a good enough fit and changed into them. After checking his appearance one last time in the mirror, Eren headed out of his room.

Eren arrived in the dining room to see the duke already cutting into his food. "Sit down," Levi commanded monotonously, without looking up. Eren obeyed immediately, slipping into the other seat in front of which food had been set.

Eren gulped upon seeing the food in his plate. At home, lunch would usually consist of a roll of bread, with the occasional slice of cheese, and a glass of water. What sat in front of him, however, in shimmering dishware, was chicken, mashed potatoes, sauce, and salad, complete with sparkling cider on the side.

"You're spacing out again..." an impatient voice growled from across the table.

"S-sorry!" Eren picked up the silverware - he hoped it didn't make too much of a difference which fork he used - and quickly began to dig into the food. He realized, with a somewhat unsettling thump in his chest, that what he was eating right then was probably fancier than even the New Years' meals he'd had at the orphanage, and this thought made him feel exhilarated yet guilty at the same time.

The meal was eaten in silence. When he finished with his food, Levi wiped his mouth with his napkin, prompting Eren to do the same. Afterwards, the brunette sat nervously, praying that he had not made a fool of himself during the meal. He waited for the other man to say something - a comment, a command - and one agonizing second passed after another, until finally:

"Yager, come over here."

Eren lifted his gaze to meet unmoving grey eyes. "Yes, Sir." He stood up carefully and rounded the table, stopping once he was next to the other.

Levi turned in his seat to face the boy. He raised a hand towards Eren's chin, causing the younger to flinch at the unexpected action.

"Don't move," he growled, and Eren froze up, nervously wondering what the duke could possibly be doing. Was he about to be hit? His hand, however, stopped short of his face, and instead, two fingers slipped into Eren's buttoned collar.

"S-sir?" Eren gasped, flustered by the sudden coldness against the hollow of his throat, but still rooted to the spot as per the previous command. The fingers then left his skin and tugged at the fabric, before Levi withdrew his hand.

"Your shirt is too big for you, Yager." He held his hand in the air, pointer and middle fingers extended. "Two fingers. That should be the space between the collar and you. Also, the shoulder seams should not be hanging off. And the sleeves... nevermind. Get a size smaller next time, won't you?"

"...Yes, sir." Eren never knew that there were so many specifications to how a shirt should fit, but then again, he never had many shirts to begin with. The shirts he did own, though - mostly hand-me-downs from Jean - fit him just like the shirt he wore now, and he felt ashamed to realize that none of them would be up to Levi's standards, even if they overlooked the crude quality of the fabrics.

"Well," Levi sighed, breaking the silence that had developed, "you're not doing too bad, Yager. You even ate... somewhat cleanly."

Eren peered over at the table. Servants had since come and cleared off the plates and whatnot, leaving a plain view of the crumbs left where Eren sat, and the lack thereof where the duke sat. Eren again felt a wave of embarrassment; he could no longer tell if what Levi said was a compliment or an insult, and so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

After another moment, the duke stood up from his seat. "I would like some rest now. You are to return to your room for the afternoon, and will be called for dinner when it is ready. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir." Eren bowed deeply, and the two left the room.

~o~

A/N: SAVOUUUUUUUUUR the fluff... because that's all you're gonna get for a while. Really. It wasn't even real fluff though. Cries.

Story's gonna be a bit slow, but I have an irk against stories that progress too fast :P Hopefully it's not too slow though.

Please remember to leave a review if you enjoyed! xoxo