Gasps of shock rippled through the crowd.

"I agree with her highness," Levi spoke up. "The first prince and princess have done immeasurable damage to the Duchy, I wouldn't be able to sit still if they were to get off without anything."

"No-" the first princess called out. "From the very beginning she was never the one for you-" her hysteria was reaching a fever pitch. "I know how she acted when she got to the Duchy- how can you love someone like that?"

hold on-

"How do you know that?" I turned to her, frowning. "You weren't there were you?"

"I-" she stammered, glancing around for help. "I heard from some other noble ladies."

that's funny

"You said something like that in a letter you sent me," I laughed dryly. "Unfortunately for you everyone here knows that I haven't invited anyone into the house."

"How do you know that?" Levi pressed.

from the very beginning we knew that she had people in the house

levi got rid of them pretty quickly

which explains all the gaps in her knowledge

"Both of you stop, I will punish the first prince and princess for their behavior," Erwin shook his head wearily. "There is no need to add to their list of crimes."

sweeping it under the rug is better for public image

"I want the first prince disposed," Levi shook his head.

ok now we're getting somewhere

"I can't possibly-"

"He planted slanderous material into our estate-" I reminded before turning to the crowd. "Do you really think that he wouldn't continue to abuse that power as King? As Duke and Duchess we hold quite a bit of status and were able to prove our innocence, but what about you?"

no matter their allegiance they're bound to see the reasoning in this

nobles are very greedy people

including myself

"Then would the first princess succeed the throne?" Someone in the crowd wondered out loud.

of course not

"If you insist on removing Eren from the line of succession she's next," Erwin looked over at us confused. "Have you decided to forgive her."

NO WAY

"She attempted to ruin our relationship and public image, what do you think?" Levi frowned.

"I only-" tears streamed down the aforementioned princess's face. "I only wanted to love you."

it was never love was it though?

"Maybe you did love him at one point," I agreed with her, stooping down to her level, "but at some point that love became obsession, that's where you went wrong."

"I refuse to take advice from someone like you," she spat out, glaring over at me.

it was worth a try

"There's nothing wrong with love," Erwin looked coolly over us. "If the two of you continue to insist upon removing her as well I will have no choice but to question your own reasoning."

he refuses to remove her

he knows that she has a powerful supporter base

her maternal family sure is powerful

"I have reason to believe that the first princess attempted to poison my wife at the beginning of our marriage."

"Oh?"

"It wasn't worth bringing up earlier, in fact I refused to do so as to not spread unnecessary rumors," Levi began to explain, "but having heard from the princess herself that she had people watching us it is not an unreasonable claim."

"So that's all it is? A claim?" Eren spoke up, hurt heavy in his gaze.

he's been betrayed by the person he looked up to the most

"I'm sure every tabloid reported on the time I mass fired a large portion of my employees, they were all individuals I believe were planted by the first princess to monitor my relationship." Levi shook his head at Eren, "it isn't just a claim, my wife's personal maid heard some of the kitchen girls talking about poisoning the tea, I later discovered that those maids were immediately hired at the first princess's palace following their removal."

he looked into it that much

"I didn't tell you because I thought you would worry," Levi murmured to me, squeezing my hand. "It was just a theory any way I didn't want to burden you."

"Is this true?" Erwin rounded on Hitch, glaring.

"No I- I didn't mean to-"

she admitted it

is she that beaten down?

i expected her to at least struggle against the accusation

"I see," Erwin's eyes narrowed. "This isn't something I can ignore."

so now you're supposed to look at historia and ask her to rule

"Eren will have to undergo rigorous training until we're sure that this habit of his has been removed," he sighed loudly.

WRONG

"If we may!" Armin's voice rang out over the crowd.

"We're his closest attendants, please let us tell you what we saw," Mikasa bowed her head, pleading.

i hope i can trust them

"No point in arguing a dead man's case," Annie muttered, frowning at them.

"We aren't here to argue for him, we're here to support the Duke and Duchess," Armin blurted out. "We were with Eren during his stay with the Duke, he isn't fit to rule."

"Armin? Mikasa?" Eren whirled around in shock, staring at them with wide eyes. "How could you?"

"This is for the better," Mikasa muttered bitterly, avoiding his gaze.

"We warned you that this would happen," Armin stared back at Eren, his eyes full of pity.

that's worse isn't it

"Eren broke into the Duke's office and looked through his documents," Mikasa reported, kneeling in front of the King. "He was caught by the Duchess and pushed out, at the time she let him of leniently, she's a good person."

well im not sure how leniently

i was saving that piece of information for a later date

it was always going to come back to haunt him

"What are you trying to say?"

"Eren has already refused to learn from his mistakes, he deserved to lose the throne in the past when he went through the Ducal house, and he deserves to now after planting a false contract on the Ducal couple." Armin knelt down.

i didn't expect them to go this far

maybe i have a chance with mikasa

maybe

"How could we possibly trust a ruler who believes he can mess with the kingdom's strongest nobility?"

"The Ackerman Duchy has historically supported the King, I wonder what will happen if the royal family loses that support?"

"But what better option do we have?"

Erwin nodded at that last point.

"You insist on change but how can you be sure that your decision is the right one?" He questioned, staring at us.

this reminds me of our first official meeting

i was scared then too

i have levi this time

"I believe that you have someone suited to rule right in fron of you," I grinned.

"Who's that?"

"The third princess Historia!"

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HELLO HELLO!!! updating from the school cafeteria bc someone pulled the fire alarm in my dorm so i apologize for any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes !

ly guys

- ami