"Zeke injured his adopted brother only because he was exhausted after continuous battles with the Colossal and Armored Titans," Erwin explained steadily. "The act of transforming into a Titan consumes both immense mental focus and physical stamina. At that point, Zeke was depleted and lost control of his transformation.
His brother survived the incident but suffered serious injuries and remains unconscious to this day.
I request His Majesty and the Commander-in-Chief to consider these circumstances carefully when rendering judgment."
Commander Zachary leaned forward. "And what about the matter of… devouring his own father?"
The hall fell silent again.
"That," said Erwin solemnly, "occurred after negotiations between father and son broke down. Dr. Grisha Yeager wished to continue his experiments on Titan inheritance using his younger son, Eren, as the next subject. Zeke opposed this. Their argument escalated until Grisha confined Zeke and fled with the younger boy to carry out his plan in secret.
Zeke managed to track him down—by then Grisha had already injected himself with Titan serum. Seeing that his father had completely lost his reason and was moments away from transforming, Zeke did the only thing he could: he transformed first and devoured him to prevent a greater catastrophe. It was an act of tragic necessity."
Erwin lowered his head respectfully. "That is the complete account, Your Majesty. I ask for your understanding."
A murmur spread through the chamber. The narrative, though shocking, was delivered with such calm authority that it was difficult to refute.
Then Zachary, the Left Minister, turned toward the witness stand. "I heard the Yeager family is present," he said smoothly, scanning the rows of spectators. His gaze fixed upon a trembling woman—Carla Yeager.
"You are Grisha Yeager's wife, are you not? Tell us, is what this man says true?"
All eyes turned toward her.
Carla's hands gripped her skirt tightly; her eyes were red, her shoulders shaking. Hange, standing nearby, could feel the woman's turmoil from where she stood.
Everyone knew how much this question cut.
How does a wife speak calmly of the monster who devoured her husband?
But Carla took a trembling breath and raised her head. "Yes," she whispered, voice cracking.
"What he said is true. His Majesty, Commander… please understand—the child was forced to do it… he only wanted to save his brother. If you must place blame, then…" She bit her lip hard. "…blame my husband. It's all Grisha's fault."
A collective exhale spread through the Survey Corps' ranks.
Hange slumped slightly in relief. That was close…
But Zachary wasn't done.
"Tell me, woman—do you not hate him for what he did? For eating your husband?"
Carla's shoulders trembled again. For a long moment, she said nothing. Then, softly: "No hatred." Her head bowed, tears spilling over. "On the contrary… I'm grateful to him—for saving my son."
The room went still.
Zachary studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Bring forth Eren Yeager."
"Here!" came a loud voice from the side.
The boy stepped forward, lowering the small fist he'd instinctively placed over his heart.
At that sound, the half-sedated Zeke stirred.
His heavy head lifted slightly, golden eyes locking on the boy across the courtroom.
For a brief instant, everything else faded—the crowd, the judges, the soldiers.
Two brothers, meeting each other's eyes.
Eren said nothing. But in his mind, questions stormed. Why am I standing here cleaning up your mess?
You've seen everything on the Path, haven't you? You know what you've done.
Yet… Zeke's gaze held no malice, no pleading. Just a faint, tired softness.
As if to say: It's all right. I'll take whatever you say.
Eren's throat tightened. Fine, he thought bitterly. If you want me to play along, I'll play along.
A brother is a brother, after all.
Zachary opened a folder. "Eren Yeager. The Survey Corps' report states that you personally witnessed your father being devoured by a Titan. Is that correct?"
"…Yes," Eren said quietly, eyes still on Zeke.
"And it is also stated that your father intended to inject you with Titan serum before that happened. Is that true?"
"It's true."
"Did he succeed?"
"…I don't remember."
"Huh?" Zachary blinked.
For a heartbeat, everyone froze—judges, soldiers, even the audience stopped whispering.
Then Erwin stepped forward swiftly. "Commander, please understand—this child was traumatized by the events of that day. His memories are fragmented due to extreme psychological stress.
However, I can assure you that he was not injected. Immediately after the incident, we conducted a full medical inspection. There were no puncture marks anywhere on his body. Captain Hange Zoë, as well as every Survey Corps soldier present, can attest to this."
"Ah—yes!" said Hange, nodding furiously. "I was there and personally confirmed there were no injection marks on him!"
"I can testify to that as well," added Keith Shadis.
"We saw it too!" shouted several soldiers from the ranks.
Eren stared at them all, wide-eyed.
When was that decided?!
He wanted to bury his face in his hands.
Damn it, my brother didn't give me this script!