Rain pattered lightly against the rooftop as gray clouds dimmed the usual morning light. The streets outside were slick and quiet, and within the Smith household, a rare calm had settled. Clara hummed softly as she prepared tea, her hands moving with practiced ease. Erwin sat nearby, flipping through a worn journal Albert had left behind.
Elias, meanwhile, sat on the wooden floor wrapped in a soft wool blanket. He was nearly a year and a half old now—his crawling swift, his standing clumsy but persistent. But more than his physical growth, it was his awareness that deepened. He no longer just listened—he observed. He studied the way Clara sighed when Albert's name was mentioned, the way Erwin stared at maps as if willing them to open a hidden door.
Kaela arrived just after midday, a splash of energy breaking through the gloom.
"Still raining?" she asked, slipping off her damp cloak. "It's like the sky's mourning something."
Clara gave her a knowing glance. "Perhaps it knows something we don't."
Elias watched the exchange carefully. Something felt different today. Kaela's usual cheer was dimmed by something she didn't say aloud.
She walked over and scooped Elias into her arms, holding him close. "Hey, little one. You've gotten heavier."
Elias reached for her hair, tugging it gently. Kaela laughed, but it was faint—distracted.
"Kaela," Clara said softly, "you've been visiting the barracks more often, haven't you?"
Kaela paused. "They're short on supplies. I've been helping organize trade. Nothing serious."
But Elias could tell she wasn't being completely honest. There was tension beneath her voice—an undercurrent of worry she couldn't quite hide.
Later that evening, as Erwin and Kaela sparred with wooden swords outside, Elias sat in the open doorway, watching. Kaela moved with grace, her steps swift, her strikes controlled. Erwin, though younger, mirrored her movements with surprising accuracy.
"You're improving," Kaela noted between blows.
Erwin didn't smile. "I have to. Father says knowing how to fight might one day save lives."
"That's true," she said quietly, lowering her blade. "But you don't just need strength. You need to know who you are… and what you're willing to protect."
Erwin looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Kaela knelt, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There may come a day when everything you believe in is tested. When the walls around us stop feeling like protection… and start feeling like a lie."
Elias blinked. Her words struck a strange chord. A memory—distant, blurred—flashed in his mind: rows of titans marching, cities lost, truths buried under government lies.
Erwin tilted his head. "Have you… seen something?"
Kaela hesitated. "I've heard whispers. From soldiers who've seen things beyond the maps. But not everything is meant for children's ears. Not yet."
Clara called them in for supper, and the conversation faded like mist.
That night, Elias couldn't sleep. He sat up in his crib, eyes wide in the dark. His mind was filled with fragments—Kaela's words, Erwin's determination, the rain tapping gently against the glass. The walls around them weren't just physical—they were boundaries for thoughts, for truth, for destiny.
Sometime past midnight, he heard soft footsteps. Erwin was moving through the hall with a lantern in hand. Curious, Elias quietly climbed from his crib—a skill he'd only recently mastered—and followed as best he could.
Erwin entered Albert's study, the door left slightly ajar. Inside, he knelt before the locked chest near the bookcase. The key was hidden beneath a floorboard, something Elias had seen Clara do once. Erwin had remembered.
With slow fingers, Erwin opened the chest. Inside were letters, old maps, and one sealed envelope labeled: For Erwin—When the Time Is Right.
He didn't open it. He only stared.
Elias, watching from the crack in the door, felt his breath catch. Even at this age, he could tell that something slept inside those papers—something that would eventually wake and reshape everything.
Erwin closed the chest, locked it again, and returned the key. As he turned to leave, he spotted Elias crouched in the hallway.
They stared at each other in silence.
"You're always watching, huh?" Erwin whispered.
Elias only blinked.
Erwin knelt, picking him up gently. "Someday, I'll show you what's out there. The real world. Beyond the lies."
And as he carried Elias back to bed, neither of them noticed Kaela standing in the shadows of the hallway, eyes watching, lips pressed in silent resolve.