"Where did you go?"
"The Stratmann family."
"All day?"
"Yeah."
Annie looked at Lillian with some suspicion, but his expression was perfectly calm.
"I'm going to sleep first," he said. "I'm a bit tired today."
"…"
She watched his back as he walked away, feeling that something was off—yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
They had already been staying here for several days. Compared to Historia and Ymir, her connection with them—whether in terms of closeness or conversation—was undeniably thin.
Historia had been actively trying to talk to her, but Annie's mind was elsewhere. She was still focused on pushing the future she wanted to see closer to reality. After all, she had betrayed her comrades for this—and might even have put her family back in Marley in danger.
But she didn't regret it.
Because this was a choice she had made by following her own heart.
Still… if she had decided to act, shouldn't she at least accomplish something?
Of course, what Annie didn't know was that after leaving Elliot's house, Lillian went straight to pick up Marlo, and together they headed toward the plains near Wall Rose.
---
When Lillian had asked Marlo before whether he desired power, he hadn't been joking.
At the time, Marlo had answered without hesitation: "I do."
Even after Lillian explained exactly what that power was—and the price that would come with it—Marlo's answer had remained the same.
"I do."
Three hours earlier.
Lillian and Marlo sat inside a carriage. Lillian glanced at him.
"You can still back out now, if you want."
"No," Marlo shook his head, his expression firm. "Lillian, I want that power. In that last battle, I saw the strength of the Colossal Titan with my own eyes. I kept thinking—if I had that kind of power, I could get closer to my ideals. I never imagined I'd actually be given the chance."
"…You know that once you inherit it, you'll only have thirteen years left to live."
Marlo fell silent for a moment.
"Lillian… unlike you, I'm just an ordinary person. I've known that for a long time. Every time Hitch says it, I argue back—but I know she's right. Someone like me could never change anything."
"…"
"But now the opportunity is here!" Marlo clenched his fists. "Lillian, I'm truly grateful to you. You could have hidden the truth about the thirteen years—but you didn't. So I want this power. With it, we can become stronger. We can do more for this country. That's what I want."
"And thirteen years is already a long time. Compared to a lifetime of mediocrity, even if that time were cut in half—or down to a tenth—even if I only had one year, I'd still choose it."
"This is my decision."
"I will inherit the Colossal Titan."
"I see."
Lillian nodded and said no more. He turned his gaze out the window, watching the people passing by.
There were people like this in the world—people willing to sacrifice everything for a single brilliant moment. There was no higher or lower between them and those who lived peaceful, ordinary lives. They were simply different leaves on the same tree.
And Marlo was one of those leaves.
Truth be told, Lillian hadn't originally planned on having Marlo inherit anything. Marlo was his roommate, his friend, his comrade. They were too close—so close that Lillian hadn't wanted to burden him with the thirteen-year curse.
But thinking of all the pain Marlo had never spoken aloud, Lillian decided to let him choose for himself.
Power—or a quiet life.
And Marlo had made his choice.
---
The carriage stopped on a vast, empty plain far from the Walls—well out of sight of any sentries. The driver pulled back the curtain.
"We're here."
The driver was none other than Kenny.
Naturally, he wasn't about to miss something this big, so he came along. Several of his trusted Military Police officers were with him as well. Lillian didn't stop them—this was something that would eventually come to light anyway.
There were two carriages in total.
The first held Lillian and Marlo.
From the second, the Military Police dragged out a man—
Bertholdt Hoover.
He was conscious now, his eyes filled with terror as he looked around. His body was tightly bound, leaving him completely unable to move. Even if he weren't tied up, it wouldn't have mattered—he barely had the strength to stand.
"Li—Lillian! Y-you…!"
The moment Bertholdt saw him, his dull eyes widened in shock. His mind plunged into chaos.
Impossible. I remember it clearly… He was down there! How could he be alive?!
Lillian glanced at him, utterly uninterested in speaking.
He had already said it before—whether Bertholdt begged for mercy or offered to join the fight against Marley, Lillian would never let him go.
Because Bertholdt's very existence was a threat.
"Y-you people… who… who are you?"
Bertholdt looked at them. All of them were dressed in black suits. Since this wasn't a combat mission, none of them carried gear.
They didn't need it.
Only Kenny bothered to respond—and what he said only deepened Bertholdt's fear.
"We're here to watch a show."
"A… a show?"
At that moment, Lillian took a small black box from his coat and looked at Marlo.
"I'll ask you one last time. Are you really… absolutely sure?"
"Yes!!"
Without another word, Lillian flicked his finger.
The box opened, revealing a syringe inside.
That is—!
The instant Bertholdt saw it, he understood what they were about to do.
"No! Don't! Lillian, you—cough!"
Lillian didn't even look at him. He gave Kenny a glance.
Kenny immediately understood. He grabbed Bertholdt by the collar and dragged him forward as he followed Lillian.
"Lillian… please! I don't want to be—"
"Shut the hell up, you're annoying!" Kenny kicked him to the ground, stepping on his face and grinning brightly.
"Heh. Weren't you pretty happy when you smashed the Wall a few years back, kid? Life's got happy moments and miserable ones. Just accept it already—what're you screaming for?"
"Mmph—!"
With Bertholdt pinned and unable to speak, Lillian drew spinal fluid into the syringe.
Marlo had already sat down on the ground. Even though he had chosen this path, his tightly clenched, trembling fists betrayed the turmoil in his heart.
That was only natural.
In fact, even Lillian—the one administering the injection—felt tense. Along with that tension came a strange, indescribable emotion.
Turning a human into a Titan was not something that could ever feel right.
It was different from killing.
Killing was often a last resort, a means of survival when contradictions could no longer be resolved.
But turning someone into a mindless Titan—stripping away their intelligence—was something else entirely. It was truly anti-human. Those Marleyan soldiers who performed such acts routinely could no longer be called human at all. They were beasts without a bottom line.
Lillian inserted the syringe into Marlo's neck and pressed down on the plunger.
The fluid flowed into Marlo's body.
Once the injection was complete, Lillian retreated immediately. Kenny, who had been pinning Bertholdt down, burst into laughter and sprang backward as well. In just a few seconds, both of them had withdrawn more than ten meters away.
BOOM—!!
Before the naked eye, Marlo let out a furious roar as his body rapidly swelled and expanded. In less than five seconds, he had completely transformed into a ten-meter-class Titan. The violent gusts of wind made it hard for the people in the distance to even keep their eyes open.
Even so, the shock etched on the faces of the Military Police did not fade in the slightest.
"So it really happens that fast after the injection, huh? Hahaha—pretty interesting," Kenny said, pressing one hand down on his black top hat to keep it from being blown away. Beneath the brim, his face was lit up with excitement.
Unlike their captain, the officers under his command were completely stunned. This was their first time seeing a human transform into a Titan with their own eyes. The sight was awe-inspiring—and deeply nauseating.
As for Marlo, having just transformed, the first thing he did was act on instinct and reach for the nearby human.
This has to be a joke…
As Bertholdt was lifted into the air by a massive hand, tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.
Reiner… Annie… Marcel… where are you? Please… save me…
CRUNCH!!
With a single bite, blood exploded into the air. In the next instant, lightning crackled as the Titan roared and swallowed Bertholdt whole. Only a few seconds later, the Titan's body began to collapse, rapidly shrinking until it reverted back into human form, collapsing onto the ground.
"It's over."
Lillian let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. If Marlo had swallowed Bertholdt whole instead of biting him apart first, it would've been a problem—he had to ingest the spinal fluid directly for the inheritance to succeed.
Now, they had three intelligent Titans on their side.
Of course, this was something Annie absolutely could not know about for now. If she found out that Lillian had orchestrated Marlo devouring Bertholdt, even if it didn't come to blows immediately, it would definitely cause a rupture between them.
Not that Lillian feared her anymore—but he still didn't want to fight Annie. She had already sacrificed far too much. That reason alone was enough to keep this hidden.
She would find out eventually.
But by then, perhaps the situation inside the Walls would already be improving. Maybe she'd be able to accept it.
"So… he can already transform into the Colossal Titan now?" one of the officers asked.
"Yes," Lillian replied. "But he lacks experience. He'll need time to train. That's fine—we have time."
In the short term, the Colossal Titan wouldn't even be needed within the Walls. With the Female Titan and the Jaw Titan, they already had more than enough firepower.
In fact, in Lillian's view, even those two wouldn't be necessary. This coup didn't require the use of Titan power at all.
"Not bad, not bad. That really was a great show," Kenny said, carrying the unconscious Marlo back and placing him inside the carriage. Then he turned to Lillian. "Oh, right. The garrison troops outside are starting to be redeployed inward. Pixis's men."
"Got it."
"If that old bastard gets in our way, I can send him off to the afterlife."
"Let's see how it goes," Lillian said, not completely rejecting the idea. "If it really comes to that… anyone who stands in the way will be eliminated."