The Queen's Guard

Chapter 31

Eren read silently in his office, his eyes firmly on the papers in his hands. It had been one of his new Princely duties to become an Eldian ambassador to Marley and was now busy designing the new embassy near Mitras. 

Weeks had now passed since the mission to retrieve Porco Galliard. The young man was now living in the dungeons now, under constant surveillance by the squad, He was fed three times and was given a sufficient floor to sit on. It was not much, but it were better conditions than what he had endured to in Marley. 

News had now spread around the walls of his new relationship with Historia and it was getting quite annoying for him. Some middle aged men were aiming to be suitors to her and had shot him threatening glances but were shut down immediately when he shot off a glare of his own. He, of course, was still mad at Historia for her little stunt and barely spoke to her, speaking only to her for formalities sake. 

There were rumors spread around during the return. How could they not? Seeing their queen riding on a horse with a former survey corps member and now prince had began to twist some heads and the rumor wheel began to spread that he and the queen had an illicit affair before and were harboring a child but like many rumors, were just plain rubbish. 

Armin proved helpful with informing him of these rumors, always hearing one or two from the police here and there. Eren smiled as he thought of his best friend. He always looked forwards to their weekly meetings, a nice talk over lunch on how things were and how life went on. Armin found himself quite surprised on how formal Eren had become and how his behavior began to change, from a quick-tempered boy mad at the world, to a calm and collected man who saw things with a newfound cunning. 

Eren couldn't believe these changes himself. He really couldn't  comprehend how much his life had changed from a year back. So much really had changed. He was no longer a soldier, but a Prince, with new responsibilities. As overwhelming as his new royal responsibilities were, he took them head-on, much to his brother's surprise. 

As he looked at the rundown costs of the embassy, he heard a soft knock on the door. He looked up from his papers. "Come in," he said. 

The door opened with a loud creak and Sarah stumbled in, stacks of paper in her arms as she entered in a sweat, panting. Eren quickly put down the paper and helped Sarah with the large stack in her hands. Sarah muttered her thanks as Eren placed it softly on his desk. 

Eren sighed mirthfully. He looked at the panting girl. She had changed as well.  No longer was she just a Lady-in-waiting, she was his new secretary, a position she hesitantly accepted. "What's all this?" he asked. 

"Design iterations for the new embassy plus your activity plan next week," replied Sarah, still catching her breath. Becoming his secretary wasn't easy work, luckily, Eren saved some time to give her a lesson or two to move her along.  

Eren studied the files, looking through the design and schedule before looking away and back up at Sarah, who had recovered her breath substantially. "Thank you Sarah, you've been very helpful." 

She bowed and smiled. "It is a pleasure, your highness." 

"Away with this 'your highness' thing," said Eren smiling. "I'm still same old Eren. Now go and take a rest, you deserve it." 

Sarah nodded and turned to leave the room. She smiled brightly as she closed the door behind her. 

Eren let out a breath as he sat back down on his desk and looked out the bright window behind his desk. The gardens looked beautiful this time of day, with the viridian leaves shining like emeralds under the sun's glimmering gaze. The roses seemed to be abloom now, so too were the dandelions and the carnations. He gazed down at the flowers. Perhaps he had been a little too rough on his lover. He could understand where she was coming from, she missed the excitement and so did he. He would talk to her soon, and patch things up with her, it was the best thing to do.