Hange closed the last page of her report, neatly gathered the papers, and stood up.
Zeke blinked in confusion. Leaving already?
He had assumed that the Survey Corps would continue interrogating him—that Levi and his squad had only been the warm-up, abusing their authority for entertainment until more "professional" interrogators arrived. Hange showing up had only confirmed that expectation.
But to his surprise, she finished her report, said nothing more, and turned toward the door.
No questions. No accusations. No pressure.
"Don't you want to interrogate me?" Zeke asked flatly, suspicion curling in his tone.
Hange paused. "No… that's not why I came." Her voice softened. "Actually, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I never got the chance to apologize—for what I did to your mother."
Zeke froze. His hands clenched into trembling fists.
The air seemed to vanish from his lungs.
The sound of a kick. The thud of something heavy striking the ground. His mother's head… rolling at the feet of this very woman.
The memory hit like a blade through his chest.
He forced the words out through gritted teeth. "That's not my mother."
Hange flinched. "…I didn't know she was your mother then."
"I said—" His voice cracked, his throat burning. "That's not my mother."
He swallowed hard, fighting the ache in his chest, fighting the urge to shout.
Hange sighed. "…Then I'll apologize to Dina instead. I really did something unforgivable."
She turned, hand on the door. But before she could push it open, a quiet, broken whisper floated behind her.
"Save me…"
She froze.
"…What?"
The words were so faint, so fragile, she thought she imagined them.
Then she turned—and saw Zeke's shoulders shaking. His head was bowed, his face streaked with tears that glimmered in the dim light.
"Save me," he murmured again, barely audible. "Someone wants to kill me."
Hange's heart skipped. She stepped closer. "Who?"
Zeke looked up, eyes hollow with exhaustion and fear. "Give me… a knife. Just a small one.
Enough to protect myself."
Hange hesitated, stunned. "Are you insane? You think I'd hand a weapon to a war criminal?"
But he looked so small then, so unlike the powerful Beast Titan she'd once faced—just a desperate, cornered man, trembling in the dark. His tears weren't faked. His face was pale, gaunt, and utterly defeated.
Something inside Hange cracked.
"I'm going to regret this," she muttered.
Glancing toward the observation window, she stepped closer to block the guards' line of sight.
Then, with a swift motion, she pulled a thin knife from her boot and slipped it into his hand.
Zeke turned the blade, hiding it carefully up his sleeve.
Hange exhaled shakily and left without another word.
As the door shut, silence filled the cell. Zeke's composure shattered completely. He covered his face, shoulders shaking with sobs he could no longer suppress.
That day—he had lost everything.
Both parents. His purpose. His faith.
Once the tears began, they wouldn't stop.
He didn't know how much time passed before he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small, wrapped candies.
They'd been overlooked when the Survey Corps searched him—the guards had confiscated his knife, but candy had seemed harmless.
Now, staring at the sweets, Zeke's tears fell harder.
He had promised his grandparents he'd bring candy for Grisha and Dina. He'd kept that promise for years. But now… they were gone.
And the candy in his hand felt heavier than lead.
Observation Room — Same Time
"What's happening?" Isabel asked, pressing closer to the glass.
Inside the cell, they could see Zeke trembling, his face buried in his hands.
"Dina…" she whispered. "Who's that? And why did Captain Hange apologize to him like that?"
Erwin's expression darkened. "If my memory's right… the head Hange recovered from Shiganshina that day was Zeke's mother."
Levi's eyes narrowed. "You mean that head? The Titan's head she brought back for research?"
Erwin nodded grimly.
Levi remembered it now—the chaos, the screaming. Zeke lunging at Hange, wild and furious.
Even a dozen soldiers couldn't hold him back; in the end, Erwin and Levi had to subdue him together.
"No wonder he lost control," Levi murmured, a rare flicker of unease crossing his face.
"What?" Isabel gasped. "That… that Titan head Hange studied—it was his mother?!"
Erwin sighed. "That's right. It was the only Titan corpse in history that didn't vanish after death.
We thought it was a scientific miracle—something that could advance our understanding of Titan biology." He hesitated, the words heavy. "But in truth… it was a person."
The silence that followed was thick and cold.
Fran's voice trembled. "Wait… are you saying Dr. Grisha Yeager—experimented on his wife?"
"Looks that way." Levi's tone was low, steady, but there was something sharp beneath it.
"Everyone thought Grisha's experiments involved his sons. Turns out it went deeper than that."
Isabel's hand flew to her mouth. "He experimented on his family…"
Levi's eyes hardened. "And if that's true, maybe those 'Titans outside the Walls' aren't just random monsters."
"You mean—failed experiments?" Farlan whispered.
Erwin's expression grew grave. "It's possible. If the first Titan was created by Dr. Grisha, then perhaps the rest were by-products of failed replication. But if there've been Titans for a hundred years… someone else must have continued his work."
Levi frowned. "You're saying someone's been making Titans all this time?"
Erwin shook his head slowly. "I can't prove it. But if the numbers are that high, it's not impossible."
The room fell silent again. Even Isabel, usually full of chatter, said nothing.
After a long pause, Erwin's gaze returned to the cell. "There's something else that bothers me.
We humiliated Zeke. We desecrated his mother's body right in front of him. So why would he cooperate with us afterward? Why tell us anything at all?"
Levi crossed his arms. "Maybe he's not cooperating. Maybe he's baiting us."
"Baiting us?" Isabel echoed.
"Think about it." Levi's tone sharpened. "The last thing he told us before shutting down was that 'all the secrets' we want to know are in Grisha's basement. And that basement is in Shiganshina District—a place crawling with Titans."
"Luring us to our deaths," Farlan said quietly.
"Exactly."
Erwin's fingers tightened behind his back. "It's a possibility. But we can't ignore that lead, either. If Grisha conducted his experiments anywhere, it would be there."
He exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing. "So, whether it's a trap or the truth… we'll have to go down into that basement ourselves."
Outside, through the narrow window, the sun dipped low, casting long, sharp shadows across the walls of the dungeon.
And in the cell below, Zeke Yeager sat in silence—his tears finally dry, his eyes cold again—while the knife hidden in his sleeve gleamed faintly under the fading light.