The capital.
Led by Erwin, more than twenty soldiers of the Survey Corps moved through the streets with two horse-drawn carriages. On both sides of them marched dozens of Central Military Police. These men did not answer to the Military Police Brigade; they reported directly to the royal family—or rather, to Rod Reiss and several powerful noble houses.
They had been ordered to "escort" the Survey Corps and to take custody of Bertholdt Hoover, the holder of the Colossal Titan's power. As the group entered the city, another unit of Central Military Police simultaneously headed toward Survey Corps headquarters, royal orders in hand.
However, thanks to Erwin's advance warning, Levi and Hange had already moved the most critical people—Eren and the others—out of harm's way, along with several elite squads.
Although the Survey Corps had lost many soldiers in earlier battles against the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan, there had been no Female Titan incident and no Eren retrieval operation in this timeline. As a result, most of the Corps' strength remained intact. The elite squads were largely preserved, and Erwin was still very much whole—no missing arm.
Because of this, the Central authorities could no longer act as recklessly as they had in the original timeline. Instead, they put on a show of legality by producing a royal decree, making everything appear procedurally justified. After all, if they acted too brutally and provoked a full backlash from the Survey Corps, even if they succeeded in wiping them out, plenty of heads would roll in the capital.
To avoid losing those heads, acquiring the Colossal Titan was secondary. The real priority was to lure Erwin into the capital and place him under control. Capture the leader first—a rule as old as time. Erwin himself had anticipated this long ago, which was why he had already coordinated with Pixis.
Pixis had previously been waiting for Lillian to produce concrete proof of Marley's existence and hostility. But now Lillian was believed dead, and Bertholdt himself had openly spoken about Marley. That was enough for Pixis to be fully convinced. The day before Erwin entered the capital, Pixis went to see President Zachary.
Pixis already knew Zachary harbored rebellious intentions, so he spoke bluntly. Zachary agreed verbally—but inwardly, his mind began to turn.
A coup sounded simple enough, and in practice it wasn't all that difficult either. With the Southern Garrison commander, the Survey Corps, Zachary himself as head of the Three Military Branches, and the freak known as Lillian—this coalition was far beyond what the Central Military Police could handle. Even with local noble militias added in, it wouldn't be enough.
But what truly mattered was what came after the coup.
Everyone knew that winning a kingdom was easy; ruling it was hard. People could unite when facing danger, but once it was time to divide benefits? History had proven time and again that humans were creatures who could share hardship—but rarely prosperity.
Pixis understood this perfectly. That was why he proposed to Zachary that, after the coup, the Three Military Branches would jointly govern affairs within the Walls in a state of equal authority.
But there was a problem—one that gave Zachary a headache.
If Lillian didn't exist, Zachary could have accepted Pixis's proposal without hesitation. But Lillian was far too important. On the surface, he seemed to have no foundation or faction of his own, yet intelligence clearly showed that the Female Titan and a sharp-toothed Titan named Ymir both stood on his side.
The power of two intelligent Titans—combined with Lillian's unexplained resurrection—forced Zachary to admit that this young man would inevitably claim a seat at the table when it came time to divide power. Excluding him entirely was impossible.
Yet neither the Survey Corps nor Pixis knew this. They still believed Lillian was dead. Even if he weren't, Pixis likely wouldn't take him seriously—at most, he'd see Lillian as someone who could provide information about Marley. Nothing more.
Zachary foresaw that this mindset would inevitably lead to conflict in the future. His response?
Ignore it completely.
He would agree to Pixis for now. Later, when Lillian stepped out from the shadows, any conflict between him and the Garrison would be none of Zachary's concern. His only goal was to overthrow the current royal government. What happened afterward didn't interest him much. If the Survey Corps, the Garrison, and that freak Lillian ended up fighting each other, he would simply watch from the sidelines—and back whichever side emerged victorious.
Still, there was one problem no one could ignore.
The old king was dead. So who would be the new one?
This coup was, in truth, nothing more than a change of rulers—not a change in political system. And realistically, it couldn't be otherwise. What would they do with all the nobles if the system changed? Strip them of their titles and turn them into commoners? That would spark a full-scale civil war overnight.
Not that it was impossible—but Marley was looming on the horizon. Internal war at such a moment would be disastrous. More importantly, productivity was low, and the populace had little desire for rebellion.
When a society becomes utterly corrupt, revolutions often rise from the bottom up. But Pixis, Erwin, and Zachary were all people in power. This wasn't about the masses—it was an internal struggle among the ruling class.
So no one dared to tamper with the political system itself. All they wanted was a new king.
But who should that king be?
---
"Historia, I need to talk to you."
"Huh? About what?"
"Come with me."
Lillian led the curious Historia underground. At present, Lillian, Historia, Annie, and Ymir were living in the Underground City—a place Klaus had arranged for them.
It was relatively safer there. Not that much truly threatened Lillian, but he wanted to delay revealing that he was alive for as long as possible. Staying above ground made exposure far too easy.
The two descended a staircase and stopped before an underground room. Standing at the door, Lillian said, "Historia, during the Survey Corps meeting, there was a lot of information I didn't share. The most important information."
Krista nodded, looking at him with anticipation.
"I said before that I didn't know how the 'Coordinate' is activated," Lillian continued. "That was a lie. Now I'll tell you the truth. There are two conditions. First: possession of the Founding Titan's power. Second: royal blood."
"Royal blood?"
"Yes." Lillian paused. "The true royal family within the Walls isn't the puppet sitting on the throne right now. It's your family."
"The Reiss family."
Historia's eyes widened the instant she heard his words, staring at him in disbelief.
"This is what happened…"
Over the course of fifteen minutes, Lillian told her everything.
From the tradition of inheriting the Founding Titan, to Grisha Yeager slaughtering the Reiss family and stealing that power; from her father Rod's true actions and motives, to Lillian's own "solo confrontation" the previous night.
By the time he finished, Historia didn't know what to say anymore. Her lips were pressed tightly together, clearly struggling to process everything at once.
"Right now, Rod Reiss is locked in this basement," Lillian said calmly. "I don't think it's necessary—but Historia, I respect your choice. Before I inject him, if you want to see him one last time, open that door. If you don't, then turn around and go back."
"I…" Historia hesitated, staring at the iron door.
"It's okay," Lillian said softly. "Whether you go in or not, I'll stay with you."
"…"
His words seemed to give her some courage. She nodded firmly, walked up to the door, and pushed it open with force.
Bang—
The room inside was dim and windowless. Rod was bound hand and foot, though nothing gagged his mouth. When the door opened, fear immediately appeared on his face—but the moment he saw Historia, his eyes lit up with hope.
"Historia!"
He struggled to crawl forward, but the instant he saw Lillian enter behind her, his body stiffened.
Lillian stood silently to the side, looking at him coldly.
That bastard…
Rod clenched his teeth, then decided to ignore Lillian entirely. He looked at the girl with trembling hope.
"Historia… my daughter… I've finally seen you again…"
"…"
His voice caught, his expression filled with grief and pain. "I'm sorry… I'm truly sorry for everything I've done to you. But I had my reasons…"
Historia's heart stirred slightly—but when she remembered everything Lillian had just told her, her voice hardened.
"Then explain your reasons."
"Historia, you—" Rod froze at her tone, then panicked. "Did he tell you something?! He's lying! Don't—"
"Shut up!" Historia interrupted sharply. "If you don't start talking right now, I'm leaving."
"Don't! Please—!"
Rod hurriedly tried to stop her, then shot a resentful glare at Lillian, who was standing there with a faint, cold smile.
After that, he spoke.
"The truth is… I've always stood on humanity's side. As for why I killed your mother back then… it was all for you, Historia…"
"…"
"If I hadn't done that, your fellow trainee—the boy named Eren—his father would've found you and killed you. You don't know about that part yet, do you? Let me explain—"
"I know already," Historia said. "Lillian told me everything. He also said that if you were really acting for my sake, you wouldn't have had the Wall Church secretly monitor me. Can you explain that?"
Rod's face turned pale as he stared at Lillian in shock.
Why… does he even know about that?
"Historia, listen to me. Think about Frieda! Your sister who played with you, taught you to read and write! Was she a bad person? Someone so kind was mercilessly killed and devoured by Grisha! If she were still alive, we wouldn't need to fear the enemies outside the Walls at all!"
"Frieda…"
Historia froze.
She had already heard the name from Lillian before. But now, hearing Rod say that Frieda used to teach her and play with her, a faint impression surfaced in her mind—yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall any clear images.
Lillian frowned slightly.
He knew exactly what Frieda meant to Historia. Every time Frieda finished spending time with her, she would use the Founding Titan's power to erase Historia's memories. That was why, in the original timeline, Historia regained those memories only when she and Rod touched Eren—leading her to hate Grisha.
Frieda had been her only support in childhood. And after losing Ymir, Historia was left alone once more. It was only natural that she would hate Grisha—and irrationally project some of that hatred onto Eren.
But now, things were different.
Lillian and Ymir were both here. Historia was no longer alone.
So Rod's words could not sway her.
She looked straight into his eyes and said clearly:
"I hate you."
"Historia…"
"The reason I came to see you wasn't to hear your excuses," she said. "It was to tell you this. Even if you're my father in name, you never spent a single day with me or my mother…"
"I hate you."
She clenched her teeth, turned around, and ran out of the basement.
Rod opened his mouth, wanting to call out to her—but in the end, no sound came out.
He was completely crushed.
Even though he never truly cared much about this illegitimate daughter, hearing one's own child say "I hate you" from the bottom of her heart was something no parent could endure easily.
Of course, that pain wouldn't last long.
Because he still had a far more "important" task left to complete.