Gale hadn't relaxed like this in a long time. All of that was because, as the years went by, his worries only continued to grow.
He had been coping with this situation through overwork.
But as time passed, his exhaustion kept increasing, and this afternoon he finally reached his limit.
It was a good thing that only Historia had seen him; that would save him a lot of trouble.
"Shhh!"
In the middle of the night, without knowing how long he had been asleep, Gale opened his eyes when Historia entered his room with a mischievous smile, pressing her finger against her lips in a gesture for silence.
'My God.' Gale froze, surprised by Historia's unexpected appearance.
Before he could speak, Historia leaned closer and whispered softly, "I thought you wouldn't wake up until tomorrow, so I figured I could sleep beside you. If anyone finds out, we could be in trouble, so promise me you'll stay quiet, okay?"
Gale nodded silently, and only then did she remove the hand she had placed over his mouth.
As the warmth of her touch faded, Gale couldn't help but feel a slight sense of disappointment.
After a while, Gale opened his mouth to ask, "What brings you here at this hour?"
"Well, to talk with you for a while, of course."
"Talk?"
"Yes! I would've preferred to do it during the day, but since you were asleep, this is the only chance I have."
"If that's the case, couldn't you just wait until tomorrow?" Gale looked at her with an amused expression.
"Well, that's true, but…" Historia pouted slightly before continuing, "The moon is so bright tonight, and I couldn't sleep, so I thought of you. You're not going to say you don't like me visiting you like this, are you?"
Before waking up in this world, his only contact with a female in this way had been with his beloved cat named Lily. After that, he experienced this only with Historia when she would sneak into his tent while they were hiding in the forest, using all kinds of excuses.
She would say things like: 'The moon is too beautiful to waste tonight, come look at me.' Or, 'Let's celebrate surviving another day with some hot chocolate.' Or even, 'Since I made you breakfast, you owe me your company.'
In retrospect, her reasons were often absurd, but at the time Gale didn't mind.
And even now, Gale realized that he still didn't mind.
"How long are you going to stand there staring?" Gale asked softly as he shifted to the right side of his bed.
"Huh?" Historia was slightly surprised.
"You said you wanted to talk, right? Go ahead, make yourself comfortable." Gale lifted the blanket on his bed.
"Oh… Is that okay?" Historia smiled and then sat on the edge of the bed. Now that she was Gale's fiancée, she felt a bit uncomfortable lying beside him, so she sat down slowly, and seeing her a little reserved, Gale sat next to her.
"Well then? What did you want to talk about?"
"There's something I wanted to ask, but before that, let me check something. How is your body holding up? If you're still in pain, I can give you some more soup." Historia stuck out her tongue teasingly, and Gale couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, shaking his head.
"It still hurts a little, but it's nothing I can't handle."
"So you're saying it does hurt." Historia moved closer, and her shoulder brushed against Gale's.
Gale, nervous, instinctively swallowed at her sudden closeness.
After saying that, Historia leaned in and whispered near his ear in her cunning tone, "Were you perhaps expecting something?"
"What do you mean?"
"That I would feed you again, like I did this afternoon."
"Of course not."
"Oh God, so defensive. Gale, you really shouldn't try to lie—you're far too easy to read." Historia laughed softly, then grabbed Gale's arm and placed her palm against his, pressing them together. "I don't want you to get sick."
"I won't…" Gale understood the concerns of this little queen.
If she lost him, he was her only family—the only familiar presence in the enormous castle where Historia lived.
That was why Gale kept Ymir by Historia's side as much as possible, so she could have trustworthy friends. Since he had changed the future, he had to take care of the details so that the lives of the people he cared about wouldn't suffer.