Carla turned to Keith with pleading eyes.
Keith's heart twisted painfully.
He had loved this woman once — still did, perhaps — and that made it all the more unbearable to face her now. Back in their youth, he had imagined a future with her: quiet evenings, laughter shared in her small tavern, the smell of wine and roasted bread. But everything changed the day he brought Grisha Yeager back from outside the wall.
He thought he was rescuing a lost man. Instead, he brought back the person who would steal the woman he loved.
By the time Keith returned from another expedition, battered and dirt-stained but alive, Carla had already married Grisha. He had stood in the doorway of her tavern that day, rain dripping from his cloak, watching her laugh beside her new husband. There was nothing left to say but congratulations.
Since then, he had quietly faded from her life. Yet every time he survived another battle with the Titans, he would still visit her tavern, just to see her face again — a reminder that he was still human, still alive.
That fragile reason to live was now shattering before his eyes.
Today, the woman he loved stood before him in despair — her husband revealed to have another son, and worse, accused of turning both boys into subjects of monstrous experiments.
As a man, Keith wanted to protect her.
But as Commander, he had to protect everyone.
He took a breath and said gravely, "Hange is right. We can't release the boy until we're sure of what he is."
"What are you talking about?" Carla demanded, her voice trembling. "Didn't you hold Eren in your arms when he was born? Don't you know whether he's human or not?"
Keith's throat tightened. Words refused to come.
He wasn't the kind of man who struggled to speak. As commander, his orders carried the weight of life and death. But now, under the gaze of this woman, his voice — his authority — abandoned him.
Because he knew: anything he said might be the final blow to her fragile hope.
Erwin stepped forward, trying to keep his tone calm and clinical. "Ma'am, from what we know, once a Titan injection is administered, transformation is inevitable. But it has nothing to do with being born human. What we don't yet know—"
Carla cut him off sharply. "No!"
Her defiance was absolute.
Erwin sighed softly. "Madam, I understand how you feel, but—"
"Then who does know what happened?" Carla shouted. "Who can tell me what's true?"
All eyes turned to Zeke.
He sat apart from them, already loaded onto a separate carriage. His golden hair gleamed dully in the weak light.
"Why are you all looking at me?" he sneered. "Even if I told you the truth, none of you would believe me."
"Zeke!" Carla's voice cracked — not in anger this time, but desperation. "Please… tell me! Please!"
For a brief moment, that pleading gaze pierced straight through him. It was strange — why should he feel pity for her? This was the woman who replaced his mother, who stole the family that should have been his.
He clenched his jaw and said flatly, "No. He didn't get the injection."
Carla let out a sob of relief. "Did you hear that?" she cried to the soldiers. "He said no! My son didn't get injected — he's human!"
But no one shared her relief. The others only looked at her with quiet pity.
Their silence said everything.
After a beat, Carla asked, her voice trembling, "Then… where's Grisha?"
Zeke's chest tightened, but he kept his expression cold. "I don't know," he said. "He saw me chasing him into the forest. He panicked and abandoned Eren there before fleeing. I don't know where he's hiding now."
Grisha, he thought bitterly, this is what happens when you die first.
The dead couldn't defend themselves — and that meant the living could twist the truth however they pleased.
You left, Father. You die, and I take the blame, the hatred, the burden. So this time, I'll give it back to you.
Carla didn't notice his inner turmoil. She turned to Keith again, clutching at his green Survey Corps cloak. "Please, Keith. Please let Eren go. He's just a child! You can't keep him like this — he'll be terrified when he wakes up! Please… he's my son…"
Keith hesitated. His hands curled into fists.
At last, he exhaled and turned toward Zeke. "Zeke Yeager," he said quietly. "If Eren had been injected, could he still maintain his human form like you? Could he communicate normally?"
"Captain!" Erwin barked in alarm. He could already see where this was going.
Keith raised a hand to silence him. "Answer me, Zeke."
Zeke studied him for a moment, seeing the flicker of emotion behind the commander's eyes — something protective, almost paternal. You're not doing this for the Corps, Zeke thought darkly. You're doing this for her.
Zeke said evenly, "Eren didn't get the injection."
"I'm asking if he did," Keith pressed. "Hypothetically. None of us can be certain you're not lying to protect him, so we must assume the worst."
A long silence followed. Then Zeke said, "If he did… then yes. He'd still appear human."
Keith nodded once. "Hange. Release him."
"Captain!" Hange's voice trembled.
Erwin stepped forward, eyes wide. "You can't! What if he wakes up and transforms? Even Zeke can lose control — you've seen what happens when a Titan turns wild!"
Before Keith could respond, a mother's voice cut through the chaos.
"Then let him eat me first!"
Carla's cry silenced everyone.
Every soldier turned to stare.
She stood there, trembling, eyes wet but fierce. "Tie me and Eren together," she said. "If he really turns into a Titan… if he really loses control… then let him eat me first!"
The camp fell into stunned silence.
For a moment, even Zeke could not breathe.
In her voice, he heard something he'd never received — unconditional love. The kind that would rather die than let her child be alone.
Something deep within him cracked.
Carla's tears fell onto the ground. "My son… Eren… is just an ordinary child," she whispered. "And no matter what any of you say, I will believe that until the day I die."