A/N: we'll finally get some Mikasa in here! and plot development (i hope? LOL) Thanks again for reading, guys!

V

The scenario had played out better than he imagined, Levi thought as he left the room with Eren and Hanji and made his way to the main room. He didn't expect Eren to suddenly have an impulse to meet Mikasa. His original plan involved introducing Eren to the princess from afar, then denying him the opportunity to meet her in person. However, it seemed that Hanji took care of the first part already, allowing Levi to proceed to the second. Teenagers loved to be rebellious, the duke knew: tell them they can't have something and they'll fight you to the end. It put a smile on his face seeing just how well it seemed to work on Eren.

In the main room now, Levi bowed deeply as the door opened, revealing his guest, the Princess, and a few of her servants following behind.

"Mikasa," he addressed, taking a gloved hand and pressing a customary kiss to it.

"Good day to you, Levi." Mikasa's expression was as unreadable as ever as she took Levi's arm and entered the salon, where the two took their seats in front of a gently burning fireplace.

"Would you like some tea?" The question was rhetorical, seeing as servants were already setting down the the said beverage. Levi took his cup in hand, lightly blowing it before taking a sip. "How was your journey over? I hope it wasn't a burden to travel over here in the snow."

"It was fine; thank you for your concern" Mikasa replied, almost with a sarcastic undertone, "but do cut the small-talk, Levi. You know as well as I do why I am visiting today."

"Oh?" The duke looked up from his drink, eyeing the girl. He decided to play innocent. "Would you care to explain?"

"The boy, Levi."

"Ah."

Mikasa waited for more, but it seemed that Levi would not continue unless prompted. "You have him here, don't you? You took him."

"That I did, Princess. How observant of you. Have you had your men follow me around?"

"I saw you passing by the castle a week ago. You never journey to that side."

"True." Once again, Levi finished with curt response that would not propel the conversation forward. A brief silence followed as both took a drink from their tea, until Mikasa spoke again.

"I want to see him, Levi."

"No."

The answer had been given almost immediately, causing Mikasa to whip her gaze toward the other. "Levi!"

"You heard me, Mikasa. I don't want you to meet him."

The princess became visibly agitated now, and she bit on her lip to keep her frustration from spilling over. "I, as the heir of this country, order you to let me see him."

"And I, as your older relative who has your best interest in mind, deny the request."

Levi put his cup down and propped his head up on one hand. He looked over calmly at the dark-haired princess. She was angry, but she would not talk back. She never did. Powerful as she was, she respected him, and would always succumb to his words in the end.

"Why?" Mikasa asked after a few moments, after regaining control of her irritation.

Levi let out a sigh, slightly irked that the younger girl had not dropped the topic. "You wouldn't like him."

At this statement, the princess's eyes flared up again. "How do you know what I like and don't like?"

"Trust me on this Mikasa. He's not right for you."

"And what is keeping him here supposed to do?"

"Change him. It'll change him."

"Levi, I know his background. I don't care. I don't want him to change."

"Well, I do." Levi turned away at that, effectively ending the conversation. Mikasa didn't know what type of change Levi was referring to; of course he could not change Eren's background, but he could change his attitude. Especially his thoughts on the princess. But Mikasa didn't need to know. Besides, Eren already seemed to be coming along nicely - the girl could wait.

The guest stayed awhile longer, and they chatted about rather pointless topics until it was time to go. The trip to the castle was an hour long ride, and to go in the dark and cold would only be foolish. Levi bid her goodbye on the snow covered steps, and went back inside.

Dinner was served not long after, and Levi prepared himself for the talk that he had offered to Eren before the visit. However, despite the teenager's discontented expression, Eren did not mention the topic at all, and Levi just let it be.

~ o ~

Mikasa paid three more visits in the following month. Each time, Eren would ask the duke, as earnestly as possible, if he could meet the princess. Levi, however, would always reply with the same curt response: "No."

And so, Eren would trudge up to his room, and busy himself with sewing his shoes. He would also take this chance to write to Jean, recounting his life at the manor and sending his regards for Hannes and the children. Eren never received a reply, but he knew it was because sending post, for them, would be too costly.

When the princess came around for the fifth time, Eren again took out the parchment and ink, addressing the letter to his old friend:

"Dear Jean,

"I hope things are still well at the orphanage. I imagine that the snow has been long gone over there; the estate is further north so the snow just cleared up this week.

"As for me, things are still largely the same. I am fed well and housed well. I spend my free time talking with the friends I have made at the estate, and I am happy.

"Duke Levi, as of late, has been treating me kinder. He no longer yells at me, though I cannot say that he is friendly either. The brunt of our interaction still lies with the lessons he has been giving me. Today, we worked on penmanship. Can you tell the difference in my handwriting?

"Despite the better relationship, Duke Levi has yet to reveal to me the reasons for my being here. As I told you before, I have suspicions that it is related to the Princess Mikasa. She is here again today, and again I have been ushered to my room (where I write you this letter.)

"What is different today though, is that the duke and the princess have chosen to take their meeting to the outside, in the garden. As it is, I can see them perfectly from my window. They are hard to see (for I am on the second floor,) but it is more than nothing. From here, I can see that the Princess has dark hair and fair skin, much like the duke. She is wearing light violet dress, adorned with gold jewelry.

"I want to meet her, Jean. She and I are so far away in rank, but right now, she is so close - we are separated by nothing but glass and air. I wonder how many others in the kingdom would wish to be in my position! At first, when I came to the estate, I thought nothing of meeting the princess, and yet now, the more Duke Levi denies our meeting, the more I wish for it to take place.

"Ah, the princess has stood up now. I wonder if they had some sort of disagreement, though one can never tell with the amount of composure that the two are able to maintain. And now, she's looking"

Up. She was looking up. Eren paused his writing at this point to look downwards. She was scanning the building, as if looking for something - and suddenly, their eyes met.

Eren inhaled sharply. Had she seen him? It was hard to tell, far away as they were, but like Eren, the girl seemed to be frozen in place, head turned towards him. He saw Levi stand up now as well, reaching out towards her arm, but she swatted it away. She turned sharply towards the duke, and after a few words that Eren could not hear, bolted into the estate.

Eren set down his parchment hastily on the desk, though carefully as to not smear the ink. He moved away from the window and to his bed, where he sat with a nervous stiffness. What had just happened?

He could hear footsteps downstairs now - they were probably in the salon. There was Princess Mikasa's voice, as well as Duke Levi's, and they seemed to be arguing: the voices were more defined to Eren's ears than usual, but still too muffled to make out any distinct syllables. After a few back-and-forths though, the sounds finally quieted down, followed by footsteps, and the closing of a door: Princess Mikasa had left.

Immediately, Eren got up from where he sat. Every time before this, he had quietly accepted Levi's orders to not see Mikasa, but not again. There had been an undeniable significance in that look he shared with the princess, no matter how brief and how far apart they had been. He had looked into her eyes for the first time and they spoke to him, called out to him. As if they were searching for him.

Eren made his way downstairs and barged into the salon, where Levi stood, almost as if he had been waiting for the brunette.

"Why?" Eren breathed out, unable to form any coherent thoughts save for the one word. He knew that Levi understood what he meant, as he stared at the other with an unyielding gaze.

Levi broke off the stare, as he turned instead towards the window that looked out towards the garden. "I have my reasons."

"And I should know."

"Not as far as I'm concerned."

Eren growled under his breath. The uncaring attitude of the older man really pissed him off, as he tried to control his emotions. "These 'reasons' of yours concern me, and thus, I should know of them."

Levi turned back around, with a sinister glint in his eyes. "Are you defying me, Yager? Has a few weeks living inside a noble's house made you forget where you came from? Who you are? Since when have peasants been allowed to meet the princess?"

"And since when have peasants been taken away from their homes and dumped into a place like this, and been treated like a guest of honor, no less?" Eren was close to yelling. "There's a reason why I'm here, sir, and I want to know it. Maybe I am stepping out of line here, talking to a noble like this, but you know what? I don't care. This is about basic human respect, sir. I want an explanation."

Levi clicked his tongue at the brunette's comeback. Surely, those lessons on rhetoric have come in handy, and Levi could not help but feel a little bit of pride at the situation. Still, the boy's stubbornness was proving troublesome. It was the very trait that drove Eren to his current determination to meet the Princess - all according to plan - but this same characteristic would bring everything down, if Levi was forced to reveal his reasoning. This twisted plot of reverse psychology would cave in upon itself if Eren learned that, in fact, Levi wanted him to want to meet the princess. The drive of adolescent rebellion would be gone, and the reward would no longer be enticing.

"I also want to know why, Duke Levi, you are so adamant on keeping me from meeting the princess."

"Eren," Levi said slowly, "you are a peasant, and orphan. Is that not reason enough?"

"No, because I was brought here for a reason. Does this have to do with Princess Mikasa?"

"I do not wish to speak of the princess."

"But I wish to know the reason!"

"Eren-"

"I want to know!" The brunette suddenly interjected, clenching his fists by his side. "Why am I here?! Why, if all I am to do is to be confined to this prison, have I been brought here?! I know this has to do with the princess; I don't know what it is, but I know it does. Am I not up to your standards? Am I not up to her standards? Well then, why didn't you just kick me out if you were so disappointed in me? Get rid of me, if you can't do anything with me! And instead, you just choose to keep me here, like a pet. Like a prisoner. Why?!"

Levi was almost caught off guard by the barrage of words that spewed from the boy's mouth, but his next words would be equally, if not more, unexpected: "...Because I like having you around."

Eren's eyes widened, momentarily shocked into silence by such a soft response.

"...What did you say?"

"That I like having you around."

The boy blinked, and somehow - for some reason - he felt all the anger and drive within him slip away. The answer explained nothing - it didn't explain why he was there, it didn't explain why he could not see Mikasa - but somehow, to his confused, swirling brain, it was enough.

"Oh."

Levi clicked his tongue again, turning back to the window. He had said the first time that came to mind, though he did not know what effect the phrase would have on the brunette boy. It was better than telling him the reason, Levi decided, and left it at that.

Little did he know, however, that the words he just told would end up undermining his whole plan.

~ o ~

A/N: ...aaaand we have made it to the end of pre-written chapters. Oh no! But I do have an outline done. It shouldn't be too bad :P

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