"I... I grant my royal approval," Historia murmured, her face bright red.
"As you command, Your Majesty." Chen Si suddenly snapped to attention.
"Historia, once the fighting breaks out, make sure you protect yourself. No more putting yourself in danger. Your life is more precious than anyone else's, understand?" Chen Si's playful expression abruptly turned serious.
"I know already," Historia replied.
"As the top cadet of the 104th Training Corps, I'm asking you: can you do that?" Chen Si asked sternly.
"Yes!" Historia's expression turned serious too.
"If you're in danger, remember to stay close to me. We're running out of time, so let's go." Chen Si checked his cables and blades.
After hesitating for a long time, Historia suddenly stepped in front of Chen Si, rose onto her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Chen Si, make sure you stay safe." Blushing, Historia flew away using her Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
The corners of Chen Si's lips lifted slightly. He pulled the trigger, sending his cables shooting out, and followed her.
Chen Si touched his cheek. Those pouty lips were so soft.
He couldn't help remembering that night last year...
Winter of 849, in the forested, snowy mountains.
The soldiers of the Training Corps were carrying out their final exercise of the year-snowy mountain training.
All the cadets had to cross the snowy mountains safely and return to camp within a day and a night, using limited supplies. It was a fairly dangerous exercise.
"I'm freezing to death! Damn it, why is it so cold?" Connie rubbed his hands constantly despite his padded coat.
"There's still a long way to the finish. Are we going to make it back alive?" Sasha asked, looking exhausted, her eyes reduced to little dots.
"Damn it, my legs are almost frozen solid," Jean complained.
Sasha, Connie, and Jean were huddled together for warmth beneath a tree with relatively little snow around it.
Just then, five more figures appeared: Chen Si, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, and Marco.
"Oh, you guys already found each other." Eren waved in greeting.
"You're all looking pretty rough. Here, wake yourselves up." Chen Si scooped up a snowball and threw it at Jean's forehead.
"Hey! You bastard! I'm already freezing here! Damn it." Determined to save face, Jean shakily climbed out of the snow despite his stiff legs, grabbed a snowball, and hurled it at Chen Si.
"Huh? Why do I feel a lot warmer?" Jean rubbed his hands, puzzled.
It actually worked! Chen Si was delighted. Jean had no idea that Chen Si had attached a tiny electric arc to the snowball. The instant it hit Jean, it dissipated into heat.
No wonder even Mikasa felt a little cold, while I wasn't cold at all.
Once Chen Si realized this, he immediately took Mikasa's hand. Tiny electric arcs danced in his palm.
Mikasa froze for a moment as she felt her body temperature gradually rise. Seeing an electric arc flash across her hand, she parted her lips slightly, blinked, and gave Chen Si a puzzled look.
Chen Si blinked back and made a shushing gesture.
Mikasa blinked and nodded. She had long known that Chen Si sometimes secretly released electricity, but she didn't care. As long as Chen Si was still Chen Si, that was enough. She just hadn't expected his electricity to have this effect too.
Eren came over carrying two logs and set them on the ground.
"Here are a couple of logs. Think we can get a fire going?" Eren asked.
"We don't have matches or flint. Who knows how long rubbing sticks together would take? We'd be better off using that time to hurry back to camp," Jean said, shooting down the idea.
"Good point." Eren sighed.
Seeing this, Chen Si draped an arm over Eren's shoulders and turned him around, then reached toward the two logs.
Eren was a little puzzled, but what happened next left his mouth hanging open.
An electric arc shot from Chen Si's outstretched hand into the wood. A spark appeared, and the logs slowly caught fire.
Eren stared at Chen Si in shock. Chen Si merely blinked without saying anything.
Understanding dawned on Eren, and he said nothing more. He glanced at Armin, whose face had turned blue from the cold, as though he had figured something out.
"Chen Si, I'll keep this secret for you," Eren said earnestly. He was afraid his close friend would be taken away and dissected for research.
Chen Si smiled faintly.
When the others saw Chen Si and Eren each set down a burning log, they gathered around.
"Wow, you got a fire going so fast! Chen Si, did you use that trick that cooked the chestnuts in an instant?" Sasha asked excitedly.
What a blabbermouth. Chen Si was speechless.
"Uh, well, we got it going by rubbing the wood together! Chen Si's strong, so it took half the effort," Eren said hastily, trying to cover for him.
Mikasa also let out a small sigh of relief.
Chen Si actually trusted these people. They would find out that Eren could turn into a Titan sooner or later, and they would eventually learn about his ability too. He might as well lay some groundwork now so it would be easier for everyone to accept later.
Time slowly passed, and Armin's complexion improved considerably.
"Thank you, Chen Si," Armin said gratefully. From Eren's expression, he seemed to have realized that Chen Si had exposed some incredible secret just to keep him warm.
"No big deal," Chen Si replied with a smile.
"Awoooo~"
"Did you guys hear some kind of animal?" Connie suddenly asked.
"Did we? Sounds like a wolf, maybe," Jean said after listening for a moment.
Sasha concentrated and listened quietly for a while.
"It's a snow leopard!"
"A snow leopard?" Chen Si was slightly taken aback.
"Aw, snow leopards barely have any meat, and it's really tough. They don't taste good," Sasha said disappointedly.
After warming themselves, the group walked for a while longer and reached camp. By then, it was dark.
They all plopped down beside the campfire.
"I thought we were done for. I never imagined snowy mountain training would be this hard," Eren said with a sigh.
"Damn it, I can't feel my legs at all anymore," Jean complained.
"When are they finally going to let us inside?" Connie asked miserably.
"The feast must not be ready yet," Sasha said dreamily.
Chen Si was just about to sit down when he suddenly jolted. Oh no! Christa! He had forgotten that Ymir wasn't here. What would happen to Christa?
"Christa's missing!" Reiner said, rushing over.
"She mentioned earlier that Daz wasn't feeling well. They should be together," Mikasa said, glancing at Chen Si again. Seeing that something seemed to be weighing on his mind, she frowned slightly.
"Daz is missing too," Reiner said.
"Let's wait for the last group," Marco suggested.
"Thomas, the leader of the last group, just arrived. He said he didn't see either of them."
"What?" Everyone was startled.
"Could they... have gotten lost?" Armin asked.
"If they're lost in this blizzard, they're dead," Connie said.
Without another word, Chen Si turned and ran into the forest.
"Brother!" Mikasa called urgently, chasing after him.
"Mikasa, don't worry! I'll be right back. Listen to me-it's too dangerous, so don't follow. I'll bring them both back safely!" Chen Si's voice drifted back from the distance as he ran.
"It's too dangerous for him to go alone," Eren said.
"Eren, don't come. I'll go alone," Mikasa said.
"I'm going too!" Marco said.
"Everyone, get inside!" the instructor's voice rang out.