Grandma gasped.
She said nothing.
But Zeke understood her silence.
Hesitation was already the clearest answer.
What weighed more—the grandson who had brought ruin upon the family, or the son she had raised with her own hands?
"Zeke…" Grandma finally spoke, voice breaking. "You will always be our precious grandson. As for your father…" She paused, choking back grief. "He's already gone. There's no point in bringing him back. Let him stay on Paradis. You must return safely—no matter what!"
Zeke said nothing.
Yet in that silence, an idea began to take shape.
If his mother, now a Pure Titan, devoured him, she could return to human form. She could reunite with Father, return with him, and be welcomed again by his grandparents.
A perfect ending.
He himself did not belong in this family anyway.
But reason quickly crushed the thought.
Even if his parents came back, Marley would brand them traitors. They would be executed. Their Titans—both Beast and Attack—would be stripped away and handed to others.
Still, Zeke's heart whispered:
"I want to bring Father back. He doesn't have much time left. It's almost been thirteen years since he inherited the Attack Titan… his days are numbered. I want to bring him, and my brother, back. Even if we die—at least we would die as a family."
"Zeke!" Grandma clamped her hand over his mouth, darting frantic glances around. Thankfully, no one nearby heard. She finally released him, lowering her voice to a sharp whisper:
"Stop talking nonsense! You don't have a brother! Your father and mother never had another child! Please—I beg you, act normal! One madman in this family is enough. Don't bring me more shame!"
"…Yeah." Zeke smiled faintly, nodding.
But only he knew the truth.
His brother did exist.
He tucked away the jar of candy and bid his grandparents farewell with a calm smile.
When he left, Grandpa still didn't recognize him. The old man smiled kindly and said
"This young man is really good. Please, take the candy to Grisha and Fayee."
…
That evening, Zeke returned to the palace with armfuls of gifts for Anna. Large boxes and small ones, enough to fill the entire room.
He told her he would be gone for a long time. If she missed him, she could open one gift each day. By the time she opened the last one, he promised he would be back.
Anna stood beside the towering pile of boxes, smiling in a way that wasn't quite right—as though she saw through the truth beneath his words.
That night, the recorder quietly left them alone, a gesture of trust from King Marley. Rumors had already spread through the palace that Zeke was enamored with Princess Anna and sought to marry her.
With no one watching, the two of them no longer needed to maintain appearances. After a brief hesitation, they lay together on the bed, holding each other in silence.
Anna traced the lines of his palm with her fingertips and asked softly:
"You're leaving for Paradis tomorrow, aren't you?"
"…Mm."
"What does the Eldians' so-called 'paradise' look like?"
Zeke hesitated, unsure why she asked, then answered honestly:
"It's another kind of hell. Within that hell, the king built three enormous walls and trapped his people with lies. Outside the walls roam Titans, stripped of humanity. If any Eldian dares step outside, they are devoured by their own kind."
Anna froze. His words were not what she had expected. After a long pause, she sighed.
"I thought this world was hell. I didn't expect that island to be the real hell."
"Hell on earth…?"
Anna gave a quiet, bitter laugh.
"Before I met you, I thought the most terrifying thing in this world was Eldians turning into Titans and destroying everything. But after meeting you, I realized… this whole world is full of demons."
She was thinking of the palace of Marley itself.
If she had truly been a cherished princess, she wouldn't be lying here beside him now.
Zeke no longer cared to debate who the devils really were—Eldians, or Marleyans.
Once, he had believed in Marley's vision of the future, where only Eldians were cursed, undeserving of life. But after the Rumbling, he had seen how absurd it was for Eldians to keep trying to be treated as "normal humans," trying to fit into a society that would never accept them.
Why chain themselves with human concepts at all?
Viewed from beyond those narrow ideas, how laughable they all seemed.
Humans feared demons.
Yet they desired the demon's power. They sought to control demons. To create them.
If Eldians were truly "unworthy of being born"… why did Marley work so tirelessly to manufacture Titans?
Without injections of spinal fluid, without exile to "Paradis," what difference was there between an Eldian and any ordinary human?
So then—
Were Eldians the real devils? Or were the ones who created the "devils" the true monsters of the world?