"Hmm." Zachary nodded gravely. "If he swears in his father's name, then it must be true."
Eren blinked. Inwardly, he started calculating his father's "credit score" in Zeke's heart. Is that even a thing now? he thought dryly.
Zeke clasped his hands together as if preparing for a lecture. "So, where should I begin? A hundred years ago… or two thousand years ago?"
"Two thousand," Zachary decided quickly, eager. "Always better to hear a story from the very beginning."
"Excellent." Zeke smiled faintly. "Then let us begin… from two thousand years ago."
Eren sighed inwardly. Here we go again…
He told himself to just listen quietly.
"Two thousand years ago," Zeke began, "there was a human king who fell in love with a girl who raised pigs. But she was no ordinary girl — she was a Titan."
The room collectively tilted its head.
Eren's face twitched. A pig-raising Titan? He didn't even know what expression to put on, so he just froze his face in neutral horror.
"But the king, defying all worldly laws and decorum, loved her anyway," Zeke continued earnestly.
"And from their union, they bore three beautiful daughters."
He raised a finger, counting each name solemnly.
"Sina. Rose. Maria."
There was a pause.
Then—
"BULLSHIT!"
A priest in the civilian stands exploded with righteous fury. If his neighbors hadn't grabbed him, he would have vaulted the railing and pummeled Zeke himself.
"How dare you profane Sacred names! Sina, Rose, and Maria are the holy princesses of humanity — the very names of the three walls bestowed upon us by the great King Fritz! They are God's gifts, symbols of divine protection! And you—you dare claim they were the children of some… pig-herding woman? Oh merciful Lord, smite this heretic!"
Zeke barely spared him a glance. "Ah. Clergymen."
He turned away, disinterested.
Zachary sighed and waved his hand impatiently. "Remove them from the courtroom. Let him finish."
As the guards escorted the furious priests out, Zachary turned back.
"So, the king you're speaking of — that was King Fritz? Our ancestor from two thousand years ago?"
"Yes," Zeke replied smoothly.
President Zachary gave a single approving nod. "Continue."
But before Zeke could open his mouth again, the Left Minister shot to his feet, red-faced and trembling.
"Nonsense! Utter nonsense! A human and a Titan can't possibly have children! Titans are enormous, humans are tiny — and everyone knows Titans don't even have reproductive organs!"
The room tittered. Some soldiers looked at their boots to avoid laughing.
Zeke looked genuinely contemplative for a second. Then, with disarming sincerity, he said, "Just look at me. I have an Adam's apple, abs, and a perfectly functional reproductive system. So… it's possible."
The Minister stared at him, speechless. "…You—you pervert."
Across the room, Hange took a sharp breath, eyes wide and gleaming. "Wait—so Titans were genderless originally, but after transforming into humans, they gained gender? Fascinating! So it's determined by emotional bonds? Love-based morphogenesis?! Oh, this is incredible! Why didn't Zeke-kun tell me this earlier? Why wasn't I the first to document this breakthrough?!"
"Hange," Erwin said calmly, voice low but dangerous. "Now is not the time."
Hange deflated instantly, muttering, "Yes, Commander…" He looked like a scolded puppy, reluctantly standing at attention.
Once the chaos died down, Zeke resumed, his tone turning somber.
"But the good times did not last. The cost of becoming human was too heavy for the Titan girl. After bearing the three daughters, she died."
A hush fell over the court.
"The First King, devastated by her death, gathered scholars and alchemists. He ordered them to uncover the secret of the Titans' immortality — to resurrect his beloved. Above all, he sought to gain the Titan power for himself."
Gasps rippled across the room.
"But even until the end of his life, the First King could not unravel the mystery. Still, his experiments and his ideals survived — carried on by his descendants and his daughters. His obsession never died."
Zeke's voice deepened, almost hypnotic.
"Generation after generation, they continued their research. And then, a thousand years ago, success. The power of the Titan was successfully fused into a human body."
He turned his eyes to Levi.
"That man was the first Ackerman."
A murmur swept the court.
Levi's brow furrowed. His pulse quickened, though his expression stayed unreadable.
"The Ackerman line," Zeke continued, "served the royal family faithfully for centuries. For generations, they were guardians, enforcers — the very blade of the crown."
The Left Minister's face went pale. "That can't be true!"
Levi said nothing, though his jaw tightened. Guardians of the royal family? The irony burned like acid. Tell that to Kenny.
"But then," Zeke said, pacing slightly, "a hundred years ago, a scholar discovered the First King's forbidden notes. He learned of the 'Kingdom of Titans' and the secret of immortality. Driven mad with ambition, he swore to revive that kingdom — to turn all humanity into Titans and create an eternal empire of Titans."
"He believed," Zeke said, voice low and bitter, "that frail, mortal humans were unworthy of ruling the world. That Titans were the rightful masters."
Eren's fists clenched in his lap.
"And yet," Zeke continued, "the Ackermans stood in his way. You see, from his perspective, the Ackermans were failures. The original Titan transformation experiment was meant to create Titans from humans — not humans who merely carried Titan strength in mortal form. To him, the Ackermans were proof of imperfection, the most failed experiments of all."
He paused, gaze sweeping the hall. "And failures… must be destroyed."
Whispers broke out again, hushed and uneasy.
"The Ackermans were the biggest obstacle to the dream of the 'Titan Kingdom.' Because when that kingdom arrived, they — humans with Titan blood — would inevitably rebel against it. So the plan was simple: eliminate them first."
Zeke's words fell like stones into still water.
"Once the Ackermans were nearly wiped out, the man named Karl Fritz launched his great project — the creation of the Kingdom of Titans."
A shiver ran through the audience.
"But the experiment failed spectacularly. The so-called 'Titan Shifters' he envisioned never appeared. Instead, those injected with the Titan serum became mindless monsters — huge, starving, and endlessly devouring."
"The Kingdom of Titans collapsed before it began."
The silence was heavy. Zeke's tone turned grim.
"The transformed humans ate those who hadn't. The survivors fled. The last king, desperate, gathered the remnants of humanity and led them behind the high walls — the same walls the first King Fritz had built in memory of his wife and daughters."
He took a breath. "But Karl and his descendants hid among them."
A collective murmur rippled through the courtroom.
"Yes," Zeke said, eyes gleaming. "The descendants of Karl Fritz still walk among us. They changed their names, assumed positions of power, and continued their forbidden experiments — using orphans, prisoners, anyone they could silence."
He looked directly at Levi. "Your family, Captain Ackerman, was among their victims."
Levi's eyes darkened.
"And Commander Erwin…" Zeke's gaze shifted. "Your father died because he stumbled upon this very truth."
Erwin's expression hardened, but he said nothing.
"Those who built airships to escape, those who spoke of life beyond the walls — all taken, all used for experiments. Those who failed became monsters outside the walls. Those who succeeded… remained hidden inside."
Zeke spread his hands. "That is why there are more Titans outside the walls every year. The experiments never stopped. And they won't, as long as a single descendant of Karl remains alive."
He straightened, voice echoing now like a sentence.
"They want one thing — the complete extinction of humanity."
There was a heartbeat of silence.
Then, from the nobles' gallery, a man leapt to his feet, red-faced and shaking with rage.
"You—YOU FART!!"
The entire court froze.
Zeke blinked. "Excuse me?"
The noble pointed at him, trembling. "Utter nonsense! Titans, pig herders, immortal kings — what kind of fairy tale is this?! YOU FART!!"