Grandpa's condition had improved.
How coincidental.
After bidding farewell to King Marley, Zeke immediately hurried to the hospital.
The day was bright and sunny.
Grandma was pushing Grandpa's wheelchair through the little hospital garden.
Everything looked almost peaceful, almost normal.
"Zeke, come here."
Grandpa pulled out a piece of candy and beckoned him over with a smile.
When Zeke accepted the sweet, Grandpa touched his head, marveling:
"Wow! Zeke has grown so big!"
"Yeah," Zeke replied softly, squatting beside the wheelchair. In Grandpa's memories, he was probably still only seven years old. His mind never moved past that age.
Zeke turned the candy over in his hand, an idea forming.
"Grandpa, can I have another piece?"
"Of course, of course! Zeke can have as much candy as he wants!" Grandpa eagerly pulled a handful from his pocket and pressed it into his palm.
Zeke smiled down at the pile.
"Why so much all of a sudden?" Grandma's eyes narrowed, suspicion in her tone.
"It's for my little brother," Zeke said.
"Brother?" Grandma looked at him as though he had gone mad, another afflicted member in their family.
Zeke nodded. "I had a dream. In it, Father remarried… and he and his wife had another son. His name was Eren."
Of course, his grandparents knew nothing about Paradis Island, nothing of the truth—that Grisha hadn't been turned into a Pure Titan, but had started a new life beyond the walls and fathered a new child.
To keep it simple, Zeke only spoke as if his mother had been lost, turned into a Titan, and his father had moved on.
He thought bitterly: He would never see his mother again. Even if he did, she wouldn't recognize him.
"What a kind dream," Grandma sighed.
Grandpa, however, began sorting the candies in Zeke's hand one by one.
"This one is for Grisha."
"This one is for Fayee."
"This one is for Dina."
"…Yeah." Zeke nodded. In Grandpa's heart, his father, his aunt, his mother—they were all still children.
"I'll bring candy for Grisha and Dina…" he murmured, before faltering. Fayee was long gone—torn apart by Marleyan dogs. "And one for Fayee too."
Grandpa smiled. "Thank you, young man."
He didn't recognize him again. For Grandpa, Zeke would always be seven.
Grandma, watching closely, sensed something was wrong. Her voice trembled.
"Zeke… where are you going?"
"Paradis."
Her face drained of color.
Zeke carefully placed every piece of candy into a jar, not leaving a single one behind. A gift—for his father, and for his brother.
"Don't worry. I'm not being executed. It's just a mission."
"A mission?"
"Yes. His Majesty ordered me to go to Paradis and bring back the Founding Titan. If I'm lucky, I might even meet Father and Mother again."
"No!" Grandma's hands shot out, gripping his wrist. Her voice shook.
"Zeke, please—if you see Grisha, don't kill him! No matter what he's become, he's still your father! Thirteen years ago, you already condemned him to becoming a Titan. Don't hurt him again!"
The words cut deep into him.
The pain he had brought his grandparents was immeasurable.
He wanted so badly to tell them the truth—that Grisha still lived as a man, that he had built a new family, that he had a bright-eyed younger son.
But in Marley, such truths could never be spoken aloud.
"I won't hurt Father," Zeke said evenly. "I'm going to capture the Founding Titan. Do you know what that is? It's the king of the Nine Titans—the ancestor that controls all others. Once I have it, if I see Father and Mother again, I can simply… make them sit down. And share candy."
He clutched the jar to his chest.
"I'll bring Grandpa's candy to Father."
"That's good," Grandma exhaled shakily, releasing his hand at last.
His pale skin showed the mark of her grip—an angry red welt. Despite being seen as a hardened warrior, the Beast Titan's body was in truth endlessly fragile. His flesh was destroyed and remade with every battle. No matter how tough he seemed, his skin was tender as a child's.
The deeper the mark, the deeper Grandma's fear.
She knew—the Beast Titan was stronger than any Pure Titan. If father and son met, Zeke would surely kill him. She couldn't bear the thought.
"Then… can the Founding Titan turn Titans back into humans?" she asked, clinging to desperate hope.
Zeke shook his head with feigned regret.
"No. The only way is for a mindless Titan to devour a Titan shifter."
Grandma froze, staring hard at him.
"Zeke… you're not thinking— you don't mean to let your father eat you, do you?"
…That actually wasn't a bad idea.
Zeke's eyes lifted slowly to hers.
"Grandma… is that what you want me to do?"