Splash—splash.
Waves rolled in one after another, crashing against the hull of the ship with rhythmic sounds. A large parasol stood open on the deck, beneath which several lounge chairs were arranged. Two people were reclining on them.
"Don't be so tense, Reiner," the woman on the left said lazily, glancing toward the man standing not far away, staring out at the sea.
"Since we're not there yet, you might as well relax a little."
"Pieck's right," the man on the chair to the right added. If not for the well-defined muscles on his bare upper body, one might have mistaken him for a teacher or scholar just by looking at his face.
"Being this tightly wound won't do you any good when it comes to carrying out the mission."
"…"
Reiner ignored them completely, standing rigid as a spear planted into the deck, his expression grave and solemn.
"Pieck, Warrior Chief," Reiner finally said, "I don't have the leisure you two do. My comrades are still waiting for me to rescue them—and I need to atone for the mistakes I've made."
"True," Zeke said, looking at Reiner's back.
"Bertholdt and Annie both got captured. Bertholdt aside—I really didn't expect Annie, who excels in both speed and combat, to get caught as well."
"…"
Reiner clenched his teeth.
Yes—when he returned to Marley, he reported that Annie and Bertholdt had been captured, and that Marcel had been eaten by Ymir.
He did not report that Annie had betrayed Marley.
If he had, not only would Annie's family have been doomed, but Annie herself would have permanently lost any chance of returning. That was not something Reiner could accept. Deep down, he still clung to the hope that she could come back.
She must have been deceived by Lillian's sweet words, Reiner thought.
If only he had the chance to talk to her—just one conversation—he was sure he could bring her back to their side.
Just give me that chance.
Zeke watched Reiner's clenched fists thoughtfully, picked up a can of beer from the small table beside him, and drained it in one gulp.
Lillian Kafka…
Whether we cooperate or destroy each other will depend on whether you can prove your worth to me.
---
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking brought Lillian back to his senses.
"Come in."
Annie pushed the door open and walked straight to the desk. Her expression was as cold and indifferent as ever as she looked down at him.
"What is it?"
Lillian set aside the intelligence report Kenny had delivered. It concerned the military.
After the coup, real power had finally fallen into the military's hands. And sudden power had a way of changing people—something inevitable in any era.
In a way, that wasn't entirely bad.
Some officers might be capable on the battlefield, but politically they were amateurs compared to seasoned veterans. Many didn't even bother to hide it—openly extorting minor nobles and merchant guilds. This was happening in both the Military Police and the Garrison.
Only the Scout Regiment remained uninvolved.
Partly because of Erwin's absolute authority—and partly because the Scouts were small to begin with, barely numbering more than three hundred at full strength.
Moreover, the Scout Regiment was largely isolated from the other two branches. It was the only unit without a headquarters inside the capital, functioning almost exclusively as an anti-Titan force with no ties to politics or nobility.
As for those who had changed, Lillian already had the evidence in hand. Whether or not to deal with them depended entirely on his will.
The only reason he hadn't acted yet was because he was waiting—waiting to identify all hostile elements within the military, so he could eliminate them in one decisive move and end it once and for all.
This work was tedious and time-consuming. Lillian had already spent the entire morning going through documents, so when Annie came looking for him, it at least gave him a brief chance to take a break.
"I want to ask you something," Annie said.
"What is it?" Lillian asked, a little curious.
"Earlier, Bertholdt was captured by the Survey Corps, and then the royal capital demanded he be handed over."
Lillian's expression subtly changed when he heard her words.
"If I'm not mistaken, the ones who took custody of him should have been the Central Military Police. Now that the Central Military Police have been disbanded, and you're the commander of the newly established 'Central Guard Corps,' you've inherited all of their records and intelligence systems." Annie finally asked the question she had been holding back. "Where is Bertholdt now? I want to talk to him."
"…"
Lillian's silence caused a sense of dread to rise in Annie's heart.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"I don't want to lie to you," Lillian replied.
"…"
Annie clenched her teeth, the unease in her heart rapidly turning into reality.
Looking straight into her eyes, Lillian spoke honestly. "Bertholdt's Titan power… I had someone else inherit it."
Annie's pupils contracted violently.
"I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice."
Lillian sighed inwardly. To be honest, he hadn't expected Annie to track this down so quickly.
He had thought that as long as he didn't bring it up himself, he could put it off for a while. But it seemed he had underestimated the bond between the Warrior trio. Annie hadn't forgotten at all—she had been thinking about this the entire time.
Since that was the case, Lillian decided to do exactly what he said: he would not deceive her.
This conflict was inevitable between them. Pretending to be ignorant would never fool Annie and would only make their relationship completely irreparable.
Once trust was lost, turning from friends into enemies could happen in an instant.
"You—!!"
Annie finally reacted. She grabbed Lillian by the collar and yanked him up from his chair, her grip so tight that the pale joints of her slender fingers stood out sharply.
"What did you do?!!"
"I already told you—I had no choice." Lillian didn't struggle or resist. At close range, he looked at her pale face and deep blue eyes and said earnestly, "You should know he wasn't like you. He… would never agree with our ideals. What was I supposed to do? Let him go?"
"You…"
Annie didn't know what to say anymore. Lillian could see her eyes reddening, moisture gathering at the corners.
"Think carefully, Annie. Our goal is the same—to liberate the Eldians, both inside the walls and in Marley. To do that, we need power." Lillian's voice was calm but firm. "Give me a reason. Give me one reason why I shouldn't have done this. Can you?"
Annie opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, tears slid silently down her cheeks.
She froze for a split second, then released her grip on Lillian's collar and ran toward the door. Before she could take more than two steps, Lillian caught up and grabbed her arm from behind.
With a strong pull, he dragged her back. His other hand pressed against her shoulder, pinning her firmly against the wall.
"Now is not the time to run away! I want you to face this and think it through!"
"Let go of me!!" Annie struggled fiercely, but this time Lillian was truly using his strength. She couldn't break free.
"Even if you can't accept it, you have to! Annie, I'll tell you this much—this is only the beginning! There will be many more things like this in the future. Are you going to cry every time? Or did you really think there was some perfect solution where no one gets hurt? Do you think something like that exists?! A world where everyone walks away unscathed—does it exist?!"
"Lillian!!"
Annie shouted angrily. At that moment, Lillian realized he had gone too far. His fingernails had torn the fabric at her shoulder slightly, exposing skin that was already tinged red.
He snapped out of it immediately, releasing her and stepping back two paces.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Get lost!!"
Without hesitation, Annie lifted her leg and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him stumbling back two steps. Clutching her shoulder, she ran out of the room.
"Hey—An—"
Lillian was about to chase after her and apologize properly when he suddenly noticed Ymir leaning casually against the doorframe. He had no idea how long she had been there, and she was staring at him with a decidedly unfriendly expression.
"Well done, Lillian," Ymir said, glancing in the direction Annie had run. She walked into the room, clicking her tongue. "Didn't know you were into forcing girls now. Impressive."
"Ymir, don't talk nonsense when you don't know the situation."
"Oh, relax. I won't tell Historia," she said lightly.
"Don't make it sound like I did something shameful," Lillian frowned, straightening his collar. "Why are you here?"
"Uh… I forgot."
"…"
"I really did," Ymir grinned. "I still remembered a second ago, but after seeing something that intense, my mind just went completely blank. Though I'm guessing you forgot what you were supposed to be doing too, after all that."
"Are you done?" Lillian said tiredly, sinking back into his office chair. He was filled with regret—he really had gone too far earlier.
No matter what, Bertholdt had been Annie's companion for several years. The Warrior group had practically grown up together in the training camp. The other Marleyan soldiers had always looked down on them, so they had no real friends—only each other.
And even though Annie had always been reserved and bad at expressing herself, she definitely cared about them deep down. Now one of them was suddenly dead—eaten alive, no less. Of course she would be devastated.
And yet, I had just forced her to accept it…
"Ah…" Lillian raised both hands and rubbed his face in frustration. "What am I even doing…"
It really must have been because the pressure lately had been too much, making his emotions harder to control.
That was true. Ever since the Goddess's "premonition" incident, he had barely had any time to rest, pouring everything into work. On top of that, he had been constantly worried about being "removed" at any moment. Under those conditions, the pressure naturally piled up. It was like getting an injection—the most terrifying part wasn't when the needle actually pierced your skin, but when you were lying face-down on the bed, pants pulled down, the alcohol swab already applied, and you were just waiting for it to happen… that moment of anticipation was the worst.
And the worst part was that Lillian couldn't talk about this pressure with anyone. He could only bear it silently on his own. That was why he had lost control earlier.
Seeing Lillian so distressed, Ymir felt a bit uncomfortable herself—but her mouth, as always, showed no mercy.
"Oh? So you've finally realized how perverted your behavior was?"
"Ymir, say one more word of nonsense and I'll throw you out the window right now!"
Lillian glared at her through clenched teeth. "Talk. About. Business."
"Oh, right, business…" Ymir tilted her head, thinking. "Let me see…"
She took a full five minutes before she finally remembered why she had come.