Early the next morning, before dawn, Bai Yu groggily rubbed his eyes. Feeling something weighing on him, he slowly opened his eyes and saw Xiate curled up on top of him.
Ming was also leaning against his shoulder, which reminded Bai Yu of what had happened.
Oh, right. When I brought Ming back to his room yesterday, he instinctively tugged at me, and I ended up lying down. For some reason, he held pretty tightly to my clothes. I was going to rest my eyes until he let go, then take Xiate back to her room and return to mine for a bath.
Instead, he had dozed for several hours. It was already growing light outside, and all three of them were still wearing yesterday's Survey Corps cloaks, which were filthy.
Come to think of it, Bai Yu almost never truly slept. Whenever he fell asleep, he would subconsciously enter the system's Training Ground to improve his knowledge and strength. This time, for some reason, he had simply fallen asleep.
Bai Yu sat up, his eyes still hazy. This was the grogginess of just waking up, rather than the old feeling of having stayed up all night, even though his body felt fine.
Their cloaks had left Ming's sheets filthy.
If Titan blood did not evaporate on its own, a thick layer of bloodstains would probably have completely obscured their original color. Even so, there was still plenty of dust on them.
But Bai Yu could faintly smell a pleasantly soothing hint of wine. He actually liked that scent quite a lot, which was why he rarely objected when Ming leaned against him to rest.
Still... it was time for them to change their clothes and take a bath!
Bai Yu carefully got up, afraid of disturbing them. Normally, the two of them were extremely alert, but he had discovered some time ago that their instinctive vigilance dropped considerably whenever he was nearby. Even if he slipped quietly into their vicinity, the same thing happened. He had no idea where they had gotten this rather unfortunate superpower.
Usually, even the slightest disturbance would wake them.
After getting out of bed, Bai Yu went to heat some water. He sat in front of the fire beneath the pot for a long time, only waking the other two once the entire pot had come to a full boil.
Both looked a little dazed when they woke. No, more accurately, whenever Bai Yu woke them, they always looked as though they were still half asleep.
Ming's wine-red eyes seemed veiled in mist over a tranquil lake, their color faintly visible. His lips were slightly parted, and Bai Yu thought he looked rather cute.
Come to think of it, Bai Yu had originally been a little taller than Xiate. For some reason, though, he barely seemed to have grown over the past year or two. Now she was almost as tall as he was.
Beside him, Xiate yawned and looked around.
"That was a good night's sleep."
"If you slept well, hurry up and change, then take a bath! We still have to train Eren and the others this afternoon."
"Yes, dear big brother. You could show a little consideration for your adorable little sister, you know."
Despite saying that, Xiate could no longer stand how filthy she was either, and hurried off to the bathroom.
Seeing Xiate head into the bathroom first, Ming, who was still barely awake, simply tilted his head and leaned against Bai Yu's shoulder, murmuring,
"I'll sleep a little longer, until Xiate's finished."
Bai Yu could not help stroking his head. His hair was smooth and felt very nice to the touch.
In a room, Bai Yu, Erwin, and Levi sat at a table.
Bai Yu had originally planned to check on Eren and the others that afternoon, but Erwin had pulled him away.
With his hands tucked beneath his head, Bai Yu lay listlessly across the table, looking at Erwin.
"So, Commander Erwin, what are you planning to do? There are still humans outside-a whole world of them. And our king refuses to fight, leaving us to wait for death."
Levi also looked at Erwin. Though he said nothing, his eyes waited for an answer.
Erwin sank into thought.
"Are you planning to rebel?"
Bai Yu spoke again.
Silence fell over the room. Only after a long while did Erwin speak calmly.
"If I said our current king was no longer fit to rule, what would you do?"
"Erwin, I trust your judgment."
Levi spoke coldly, showing no intention of defending the king whatsoever. Both men turned to Bai Yu.
"What else can we do? Take the Founding Titan. But we don't even know where the Founding Titan is right now. And that king-if someone with a Titan's power only lives for thirteen years, he definitely can't be the one. How many years has it been? He was already king before I was born."
Although both men understood Bai Yu's decision, Erwin also nodded in agreement with what he had said.
"Bai Yu is right. The current king cannot be the true king. But those nobles must know who is. You can tell from their usual behavior that they're using the current king. In other words, he's their puppet."
As he spoke, he took out a sheet of paper.
"But we have another problem. The Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan should also be transformed humans. They may well be among us right now, so we need to be on guard. They're probably from that country called Marley, and they've come for the Founding Titan's power as well. If they get it, Eldia will truly be beyond saving."
Erwin stood and took out the books stored in the table-the three books recovered from Eren's home.
"I'll give the plan some careful thought. Levi, your squad, and Bai Yu, yours as well, will both be involved. I'll call you all in when the time comes. The Founding Titan can alter people's memories, so we must act in secret. And we'll only have one chance."
At that, Erwin pushed the three books toward Bai Yu, regarding him with a look that seemed to carry a deeper meaning.
"Bai Yu, I'm entrusting these three books to you. If we fail, they'll be our last chance-a chance to escape the Founding Titan's erasure of our memories."
Bai Yu nodded and accepted the three books. But he knew that the Founding Titan was currently in Eren's possession. How could anyone erase their memories?
The moment the basement key appeared around Eren's neck, Bai Yu had realized that the future Eren still existed. Why? Bai Yu could not quite understand. Had the future not changed? Or had it changed, but the future Eren still existed?
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