The Empire's Sun (Attack on Titan Royal AU) |HIATUS|

Chapter 12: The Questioning

"Blessings upon the Pillar of the Great Aelius Empire!" Ethan and Mikasa said as they both greeted the Emperor.

"This is truly a rare sight, isn't it?" The Emperor said "You should have told me that you already have someone in mind, no wonder my attempts are all futile."

"I apologize for keeping this from you, Your Majesty. I hope you would understand that I wished for my engagement to be a lot more private." Ethan politely replied.

"To the point of keeping it from me?" the Emperor said, with a saddened look on his face. "But now that I have taken a good look at your fianceé, I might have understood why you decided to keep it all under wraps. Someone else might have tried to take her away. She is stunning after all, isn't she?" He claimed.

Prior to their arrival at the Imperial Palace, they made a quick visit to Madam Rocell, it houses the most elegant dresses in the whole empire. Known for their wide array of clothing that has the simplest up to the most extravagant designs. But each dress costs great fortune. The only ones who are able to afford are those from high ranking families.

Mikasa wore one of Madam Rocell's signature dress, she was against the idea, she never wore something like this before anyway. But Ethan said she has to dress to impress, obviously the Duke can afford more than a dozen of their dress, it would look bad for the House Sterling's reputation if the Duke's fianceé would be wearing clothes not made by Madam Rocell.

She wore a dark blue dress, as it represents the House Sterling. Mikasa picked the one with the simplest design. The hemline has an intricate flower pattern, it looks elegant and she cannot deny that the dress is really pretty.

"You Majesty if I may, what is the purpose of our summon in the Imperial Palace?" Ethan inquired.

"I simply want to see you, is that such a bad thing? And besides isn't this the perfect time for you to formally introduce her to the Imperial family? I would also like to hear your reason for choosing, such girl."

Mikasa flinched at the Emperor's remark. It was a good thing that they came prepared.

Flashback

Mikasa and Ethan sat on either side of the carriage as they travel to the Imperial Palace.

"I believe you already know what we should do." Ethan said.

Mikasa knew she had to go along with all this if she wants to keep the other two safe. She doesn't know what kind of person Ethan is. His face always seemed to have a relaxed expression even after being caught up with all this, is this simply a facade? She's not gonna trust this person of course, he can turn against them in a blink of an eye that's for sure, he probably agreed with all this becaues of Clyde, but for now the best course of action is to go along with it, then later on if he stands on their way all she had to do is cut him down.

"Once we arrived at the palace His Majesty will surely bombard us with questions. It might look like he believed our act yesterday, but the sudden summon proved that wrong." Ethan continued.

"So for now, let's try to get along. Shall we?"

Mikasa raised an eyebrow, then she started telling him bits of information about her. Such as her full name, age, and some background information of her hometown. He sat there listening and nodding from time to time. Ethan told her the possible questions the emperor might ask and they both discussed answers they can come up with.

"I want to say that I will handle every question thrown at us but His Majesty will probably ask something directed to you, but I will do my best to answer everything at once so that it would not happen." Ethan said smiling a little.

End of flashback

"It is an honor to be in your presence, Your Majesty. And I am more than willing to answer the things you wanted to know about." says Ethan.

"How did the two of you meet?"

"The two of us met last year Your Majesty. It was during one of the knight's expedition."

The questioning lasted for about an hour. The Emperor kept on asking questions and Ethan was quick to provide an answer that would satisfy him. He inquired about how Ethan proposed, how long were the two engaged, when did the House Sterling found out about his engagement, their reaction, he even asked why he didn't even tell the knights he was with during the expedition. He kept on prying on how they remained in contact and a lot more questions were thrown. He didn't even bother asking her name despite saying that she should be introduced in the family.

The emperor finally stopped asking questions.

Until he spoke once again as he said

"Why her? Of all people."

There it is.

Ethan knew that this question will be asked, but despite knowing it, he doesn't know what to say. How idiotic of him.

He never set his eyes on any girl before, and this girl beside him, well he just saw her yesterday, how will he convince him that he is in love with this girl when clearly he is not. He is confident to come up with an answer to any other question, but not this. He is incapable of creating romantic scenes in his mind. Ethan was coveted by many nobles, he wasn't oblivious to any of their attemps to woo him but he never paid much attention anyway. He was way too occupied with his duties as a knight and as the Duke of House Sterling. So now he is questioning himself why did he stupidly agreed to Clyde's idiotic plan.

He had to come up with something. Anything.

No, not just anything. They'll certainly get caught.

Think.

Hurry up and think.

Then it dawned to him. The words of his father, as he recalled how he fell in love with his mother. It was an old memory, why did he remembered it? Nevermind, thank goodness he was able to remember it.

He let out a breathe before answering this damned cliché question.