Gale set the envelope aside, took a sip of hot tea, and glanced sideways at Ymir, who was resting carelessly on the sofa.
At first glance, she looked like a girl of sixteen or seventeen, but in reality, she had lived for more than eighty years.
"We leave for Wall Maria the day after tomorrow. You'll come with me and be responsible for my safety, so get ready," Gale said calmly, placing the cup on the table.
"Whatever…" Ymir replied, shrugging as she brought a cookie to her mouth. "In the end, I'm only here to follow orders, right?"
'We're going to kill Titans…' The thought felt strange to her. Ironic, even. No one understood those creatures better than she did.
Even though decades had passed, the memories were still vivid, as if time had failed to erase them.
'I wasn't born inside the walls… I come from Marley.' Ymir was an Eldian, just another among the oppressed, but back then she didn't even have a name.
She was just a child who survived by stealing and begging, sleeping on cold stones and enduring beatings as if they were a natural part of life.
Rotten food, freezing nights… that was all she had.
Until someone found her.
They offered her a place, a purpose… and a name.
"Ymir."
A name stolen from Ymir Fritz, the supposed ancestor of all Eldians. 'What a joke… I was nobody.'
Even so, she accepted.
Not because she believed in it, but because for the first time she had warm food and a place to sleep. She remembered that torch-lit basement, the devoted gazes, the bodies kneeling before her.
"Lady Ymir… as long as you exist, we will live as well."
Back then she didn't understand her role, but she didn't care either.
'I didn't have to go hungry. That was enough.' Over time, however, she understood the truth: those people were desperate Eldians, clinging to a lie to endure their misery, and she was nothing more than a tool.
'They were just using my name… and I was using them.'
She repeated it to herself many times: 'What does it matter? No one complains. We all gain something.'
But that lie didn't last forever.
The day Marley's soldiers broke in, everything collapsed. They were looking for someone to blame, and everyone pointed at her without hesitation.
'It was her! She deceived us!'
'Of course… now I'm the one to blame.' Ymir felt the words get stuck in her throat.
She wanted to scream that she was also a victim, that she had never asked for that role, that she was just a girl picked up from the streets.
But when she saw the fear in the eyes of those who once worshiped her, she understood something.
'No one is going to save me.'
And then, once again, she chose to lie.
'That's right… I am of royal blood.'
She was condemned without further question. Exiled to Paradis Island and turned into a Titan.
After that, time lost all meaning.
'How much time passed? Years? Decades?' Sixty years wandering without will, trapped in a body that wasn't hers.
She ran during the day, collapsed at night, repeating the same endless cycle. The seasons changed, but for her everything remained the same.
'Titans… are pathetic.' They couldn't decide, they couldn't stop. They only moved forward, driven by an empty instinct.
To eat humans. 'Why?'
She came to think that, deep down, they were searching for something they had lost.
"Life… maybe that's what they're trying to recover."
Until it happened.
On an ordinary day, for no apparent reason, she devoured a human. A boy. A Marleyan warrior. And then… she woke up.
That night, the sky was covered in stars.
The Milky Way stretched above her like an endless ocean. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the sand, breathing, feeling… alive.
'I came back…'
If fate existed, then it must have had a cruel sense of humor. After all, it had returned her humanity just when she no longer expected it.
Without a clear plan, Ymir took advantage of the chaos after the fall of Wall Maria and slipped in among the refugees. No one suspected her. She returned to human society as if she had never disappeared.
But this time, it was different.
'I won't become a tool again.'
'I won't live for anyone else.'
Ymir closed her eyes for a moment, still lying on the sofa.
'This time… I'll live however I want.'
Those were her thoughts until about twenty days ago, when one afternoon, Gale approached her and extended his hand while she was working in the fields.
"For an Eldian who has lived in Marley, farming must be pretty boring, right? Why don't you try working for me?"
She probably wouldn't be allowed to refuse in that situation.
Gale hadn't found her alone; he was accompanied by a dozen soldiers carrying large-caliber weapons.
Only later did she learn that the boy standing beside Gale possessed the power of a Titan, just like her.
What were you thinking when you took Gale's hand?
Was it because you were afraid of dying?
Or… did you want to find a bit of fun in this boring world?
Who knows? Ymir picked up another cookie and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing it.
The only thing she could feel was the present moment: that freshly baked berry cookie was crispy and delicious.
Maybe she was born for this cookie.
"By the way, Ymir?" Gale said suddenly. "Have you tried the new fried chicken from the Commerce Chamber?"
"What's that? I don't know." Ymir crossed her legs.
"I'll ask Aunt Mary to bring you the number one combo later, as a late-night snack. When you finish eating, tell them what you think."
"Whatever."
"I'm leaving now. We depart the day after tomorrow in the morning, but we still have more than 400 kilometers to go. You should get some rest."
"Take care, and don't bother seeing me off." Gale left, and Ymir remained lying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, her mind blank.
Shortly after, someone brought something for her to snack on.
A wooden tray with dishes of food Ymir had never seen before.
The oddly shaped dish called French fries consisted of crispy potatoes cut into strips, probably fried in oil.
It also included half a piece of golden fried chicken that gave off a strong aroma and a glass of natural lemonade.
She slowly sat up and suddenly realized something.
Her life didn't revolve around cookies—no, it revolved around this plate of fried chicken! In essence, freedom meant eating until you were completely full.
This is freedom!