Erwin POV
Stalking around the palace in the dark wasn't something Erwin tended to do often.
The eerie silence and absence of nosy nobles and busy servants was unsettling and yet he moved forward, telling himself that it was silly for someone who had faced so much loss and horror to be afraid of the calm and quiet.
His steps echoed on the walls and he sighed, his eyes used to the dark already.
Only the soft flames of the torches lined up on the walls lightened his way, accompanying him on his way without knowing where it would end.
A look outside told him that the few drops of rain had stopped.
He didn't trust the weather.
It would probably rain all too soon again, drenching his soldiers out there in water and cold and it would make every solid attack at Marley's forces a problem of a different kind.
He sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes with one hand.
That's when he heard it.
Erwin tilted his head and listened to the strange sounds that disrupted the calm air around him.
Sobs.
Strangled noises filled with enough pain to make even his heart ache in pity for the poor soul.
He stepped further forward, his steps almost unsure as if they didn't know as well why he would want to inquire about the source of those breaking sounds.
He turned around a corner.
The light threw strange shadows on the ground, their patterns like ghosts around the silhouette on the ground.
With knees drawn to his shoulders and the face buried behind them, the crying boy was oblivious to Erwin's presence.
That's when the Commander noticed the blond strands that had escaped the small bun on the back of the servant's head. They framed what he could see of the boy's face.
He swallowed, ready to turn around and leave the figure he had grown so used to seeing every day.
But the sight of someone fragile like his boy in pain...
"Armin?"
The blond's head jerked up.
Big, glassy eyes - red and swollen from all the crying - stared up at him and a shuddering breath left Armin's trembling lips.
Erwin wanted to say something.
He really did.
He wanted to ask what was wrong.
What made him cry.
But he already knew the answer to that one.
Talking to Hanji about his strange feelings hadn't helped him in any way to get rid of the confusion in his heart.
They had simply told him to attempt the impossible and for once do Marie the favor of being honest to her about his interests.
"I'm sorry.", Armin mumbled with a small hiccup breaking the silence between them.
Erwin must have stared at him because now the boy was avoiding his gaze as if it was poisonous for his soul if he dared to meet his eye.
It might as well be.
His head screamed at him to go away.
"You should go back to the servant track.", Erwin said with a hoarse voice, clearing his throat awkwardly. The boy flinched and drew his knees even closer to his body.
YOU ARE READING
Coming for your heart
Fanfiction|| Book 1 || Eren Yaeger had to flee from his home when he was only six years old. With his mother and his adopted sister he tries to forget anything related to the King and the secrets they left behind. Many years later war comes for Eldia and Er...
