promise | e. jaeger

X. Angel

a/n: the start of season 3!

"Are you related to Mikasa?" you said immediately, recognizing the last name.

"They're part of the same clan, but not directly related. However, he is related to someone you're very close with," Lord Reiss said.

"Who?" you said. As far as you knew, there were no other Ackermans that you had come into contact with.

"I've heard my stoic, stone-cold runt of a nephew is rather taken with you! You must be a force of nature or something," Kenny said. Eren? Did that mean he and Mikasa were actually related?

"Well, I don't know if stoic is the right word for him," you said, wondering how Eren could ever be thought of as stoic. He had a fiery and passionate personality, and he pretty much wore his emotions on his sleeve.

"Wow, he's really opened up, then!" he said.

"I guess?" you said in confusion. Had Eren been more like Tullia in his youth? You supposed it was possible, but it seemed wrong.

"Has he grown any taller?" Kenny said with a snort. You furrowed your brow. What an odd question. Eren was fairly tall already, and it felt like he grew every time you saw him, but the way Kenny spoke of it, he had been short for quite a while now. Well, Kenny was pretty tall, maybe he just thought Eren was short in comparison to him?

"Oh, Kenny, I doubt the Captain is going to grow any more," Lord Reiss said with a chuckle. You froze as your brain reset, processing this development. You had forgotten that the nobles believed you and Levi to be involved.

"Wait, so Levi is your nephew, and an Ackerman?" you said. Now his unnatural skill and strength made sense. He, like Mikasa, had the Ackerman gene.

"That's...who we've been talking about?" Kenny checked.

"Uh, haha, yeah, of course," you said nervously. Lord Reiss and Kenny looked at each other before shrugging, obviously deciding that your personal relationships weren't of any concern to them.

"Anyways, Kenny here is the Captain of the Anti-Personnel Squad, a special sub-division of the First Interior Squad. They were specially created to handle matters concerning other people, and right now, their target is the Scout Regiment," he said.

"What?" you said, blood running cold. "The Scouts?"

"That's right," Lord Reiss said. "The Scouts are in possession of two critical individuals at the current moment. Those would be Eren Jaeger and my daughter, Historia Reiss."

"What do you want with them?" you said.

"I think it's time you hear everything, Lady L/N. This information is your birthright as a member of the nobility. Kenny, please leave," he said. Your stomach turned, and you felt incredibly unsettled. You instantly knew that whatever he was going to say, you weren't going to like it.

"Certainly. It isn't anything I haven't heard before," Kenny said with a scoff, leaving you alone with Lord Reiss in the throne room.

"A long time ago, a woman, a goddess, really, named Ymir was known as the Founding Titan. She could control all titans, and she was the one that erected the walls that protect us by commanding hundreds upon thousands of colossal titans to harden in place," he began.

"Control titans...like Eren," you realized.

"That's right," he said with a pleased nod, stroking your hair affectionately, as if he were your father. "You're a smart girl."

"Thank you," you said, though the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to click for you, and you didn't like the image that was being revealed.

"The Founding Titan was passed down through the royal family from generation to generation, for its power only works when a member of the royal family has it. Otherwise, it is dormant. When a Reiss has the Founding Titan, they can use it to wipe people's memories, the only exceptions being the Ackermans, the Oriental Clan, and the noble families," he said. You took this in.