Inside the Tybur family villa, silence hung heavy in the night.
A cold blade pressed against Willy Tybur's throat, dragging him out of his dream in terror.
The first thing he saw was the devil's face—Zeke Yeager.
"Zeke Yeager!" Willy gasped, his voice trembling.
The instant he saw the intruder, he realized it was no nightmare. His dream had come true. Ever since the military conference, when he learned the full extent of Zeke's history, he had known this day would arrive. The bloodline of King Fritz's betrayer would one day face judgment.
But he hadn't expected it so soon.
Nor that Zeke would do it so brazenly. With the Beast Titan's power, sneaking into a noble's home was child's play. To slit a throat in the dark required no effort at all.
"How dare you break into my house?" Willy spat, trying to sound strong though fear strangled his voice. "I am Marley's most important foreign minister! You would assassinate me, here, in my own chamber? Do you not fear Marley's wrath? Do you not fear death?"
His words tumbled out, desperate and loud.
"I've already prepared my last testament. If I die, it will be made public. The whole world will know it was you, Zeke Yeager, who killed me! King Marley will not spare you—or your family. You have two elderly grandparents, don't you? Do you want their blood on your hands too?"
But Zeke only sneered, unbothered.
"Who would believe it?" he said coldly. "Even if your so-called evidence points to me, everyone knows where I am tonight. Everyone knows Zeke Yeager sleeps in Princess Anna's bed."
Willy's throat bobbed as he swallowed. Sweat beaded on his brow.
"So… Zeke," he forced out, his voice trembling, "you mean to betray Marley? You want to follow your parents, to revive the Eldian Empire?"
"No," Zeke answered flatly. "That isn't it."
Since his rebirth, he hadn't thought about grand causes like restoration. He had no energy for them. He had only one goal—to stop his younger brother from walking the same path of despair.
Dreams of empires and revolutions were meaningless compared to that.
"Then… why?" Willy's eyes darted wildly. "If not revenge, if not restoration, then why must I die? Zeke, listen—you don't want to kill me, not really. Tell me what you need. I can help you."
Zeke's lips curled. "No. You must die."
"Why!?" Willy roared, desperation overtaking his composure. "You're not one to act on impulse! There must be a reason!"
Zeke's voice was quiet, steady. "Because you made my brother lose hope in the future."
"Brother…?" Willy's eyes widened in confusion.
He never heard more. With one swift motion, the blade cut deep across his throat.
Blood gushed hot and red. Willy clutched at his neck, choking on his final breath. His eyes bulged in shock and fear, but his voice failed him.
Zeke did not look away. He stood still, watching until Willy's body went limp, until his eyes glazed and all life left him. Only then did he pull the dagger free, wipe the blood clean on the man's silk pajamas, and slide it back into its sheath.
He remembered, in 854. Willy Tybur, on the stage in Liberio, had stood before the world.
His speech had twisted history—suppressing Marley's century of Titan oppression and shifting all hatred onto Paradis. He declared war, forcing Eren into a corner, severing any chance of peace. It was that speech, that performance, that drove Eren into despair and set the Rumbling in motion.
Zeke could not allow that chain of events to happen again.
If he had been reborn to save his brother, then the first step was to erase the Tybur patriarch. Willy Tybur could not be permitted to live.
The door creaked open.
Yelena entered, her boots clicking softly against the polished floor. She took in the sight with a quick glance.
"Reporting, Captain," she said crisply, "thirteen members of the Tybur household confirmed dead. Only one remains…" Her eyes flickered to the corpse on the bed. She corrected herself.
"Lara Tybur."
"She can't be touched," Zeke said at once. "She's the War Hammer."
Ordinary assassins could not kill a Titan Shifter.
Fortunately, Lara had already been transferred out of the household and placed under military command. With her absence, their team had been able to slaughter the Tybur line cleanly.
"But what about her?" Yelena pressed. "If the roots aren't cut, trouble will sprout again."
Zeke's eyes hardened. "I'll deal with Lara on the battlefield. Sooner or later, our paths will cross."
Yelena exhaled in relief, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "For a while, I thought you'd been completely swallowed by the princess's embrace. It seems I underestimated you."
Zeke only sneered faintly.
The Tybur family's destruction meant there was no going back to Marley. To Yelena, that was a cause for satisfaction.
"I depart for Paradis tomorrow," Zeke told her. "I leave my grandparents in your care."
Yelena straightened. "Even if it costs my life, I will not let harm touch them."
"Good," Zeke murmured. That assurance gave him peace of mind.
But then another thought surfaced. Someone was missing from the list.
Princess Anna.
Would she be safe?
Zeke reasoned she would. Anna was chosen by the Marleyan king as a leash upon him, a pawn too valuable to discard. She was bound by the life of her wet nurse—the woman who had raised her like a mother, whom Marley now held as hostage. As long as Marley wished to keep Zeke under control, neither Anna nor her wet nurse would be harmed.
They would have protection no other in the world could match.
Satisfied with that thought, Zeke left the villa. He vanished into the night, heading back toward the palace.