31 Darius Zachary

(Erwin POV)

Erwin stood in front of a silver door with gold painted around its edges. He took a deep breath, gave two knocks, and turned the doorknob, feeling the smoothness of it against his hand. Zachary's mansion was luxurious and well-maintained, on par with those of the nobles he had visited before.

The commander in chief, facing sideways, was seated in front of his desk; a few wine bottles and cups littered on its dark-brown surface. Behind him was a huge window, draped in blue plaid curtains accented with a soft beige. It added to the spacious atmosphere the room had, making it a perfect environment to hold a meeting.

He saluted."Sir."

Zachary gestured at him. "No need to be so tense. Have a seat."

Erwin sunk into the cushioned chair, studying the man before him for any clues regarding the purpose of this meeting. Earlier, to his dismay, when he was about to start on his reports in the hotel room, a soldier interrupted his work; informing him that Zachary wanted to meet with him.

Zachary gave his cigar a puff, the foul smoke from it drifting across his face."This is just a regular meeting, where you, the Commander of the Survey Corps, reported the results of the 57th Expedition to me."

Erwin frowned. It seemed he wanted to tell him something else, under the guise of a normal military meeting.

"I understand."

"I believe you have already noticed the unnatural interest the nobles have towards Eren Yeager."

"Indeed. Do you perhaps know the reason, sir?"

Zachary swung his chair around, facing him. "Drop the sir, Erwin. You're meeting in my house, not my office. "

He nodded, keeping his silence; the commander in chief was acting strange today. Zachary had never once taken the initiative to speak to him in such a casual manner and was always very solemn - all his previous interactions with him were carried out in a professional tone; not deviating beyond matters of the military. Was he trying to ask him for a favor?

The man poured a glass of wine and slid it across the table towards him. "I'll be direct here. The Assembly is after Eren."

He took a sip of the drink."That's no surprise, they are the highest authority just below the King. The government wouldn't do anything without their consent."

"The 50-year old wine you just tasted was one of their many gifts to me recently."

His eyes widened. The Assembly was even trying to bribe Zachary to get Eren? While the relationship between Zachary and the Assembly wasn't too bad, it certainly wasn't good either. In a number of meetings in the past, there were several times they had made their displeasure regarding his decisions fully known in a rather abrasive manner; and it was often regarding the Survey Corps. He was thankful for how Zachary didn't give in to them, allowing their expeditions to carry on.

Erwin leaned slightly forward."This would mean they are really desperate."

"Does the name Rod Reiss ring a bell?"

He paused. Since assuming the position of commander five years ago, he had painstakingly obtained information regarding all the influential nobles in the court. The politics of the palace, deep and treacherous, were generally hostile towards the Survey Corps, and he needed to navigate it carefully. Rod Reiss didn't come up in the intelligence he had gathered then.

"I don't recall such a person, but I've recently read a book written by Joseph Reiss, one of his family members," Erwin said.

"Oh, that man was the 7th head of the Reiss Family, apparently family heads of the Reiss don't live long for some unknown reason. He died of an illness in his early sixties. The next head, Uri Reiss, succumbed to sickness as well 13 years later when he took over as the leader of the clan. Because of that, they are known amongst the nobles as a cursed family."Zachary pushed his spectacles up."But well, you'll need to remember that name, Rod Reiss. With all the unusual effort the Assembly is putting in to get Eren. They've left a trail I managed to latch on to."

"Rod Reiss is behind this?"

Zackary sighed as he punched his cigar into a bowl."At least from my informants , that seems like it. All the gifts I've received so far came from the Assembly, and the source of the funds used to buy them came from Rod Reiss. But the reason why they want Eren remains a mystery. It would be too dangerous to investigate any further without giving myself away."

He kept his silence for a moment and pressed the glass to his lips, drinking another mouthful of wine . Strange. It didn't make sense a noble like Rod Reiss would wield such influence over an authority, an authority that should only answer to the king. However, it was equally puzzling as well that the commander in chief was letting him know about this.

"Telling me all this. What are you after… Zachary?"

"You know it as well as I do, Erwin. There's something suspicious about the king. For someone who hasn't made a public appearance since his coronation twenty-one years ago, to actually award medals to you and your soldiers. "

Erwin raised a brow. Zachary was right. He already had his own suspicions about it when the invitation came. The actions of the king were too out of character from what he knew. It was even more strange that the one who was pressuring Zachary to hand Eren over was not the king, but a noble?

Did the king instruct Rod Reiss to do it? Perhaps he was busy and wanted to leave it to someone. But why him? Rod Reiss wasn't part of the Assembly as far as he knew. Maybe he was a secret member of it, but why would he want to hide his identity if that was so?

More importantly, Zachary had spies able to track even the movements of the Assembly. This wasn't something done easily and overnight, if he was discovered, the guillotine would await him. There was only one reason why he would place them there - for a coup. If this was indeed his intention from the start; the man had a frightening amount of time to prepare for it, and patience as well. Zachary had been the commander in chief for fifteen years.

"You're a smart man, Erwin."Zackary leaned forward, speaking in a low voice."I know from your history too, how your dad died to robbers when it was in fact the government and military police who were behind it. That was the main reason I approved Shadis recommendation - for you to be the 13th Commander of the Survey Corps back then, despite all the objections from the Assembly and Military Police."

He kept his gaze on Zachary. So that was his true intention; Zachary wanted someone likely to support him in his coup should it take place. The man was already in his late fifties; he probably didn't have the luxury of time anymore.

Indeed, he was well acquainted with the greediness and incompetence of the current Assembly. However, as much as he wished for change, they needed justification. The King would also most likely have to be replaced, and there was no alternative for it so far. Erwin clasped his hands."We have nothing incriminating about the king or the Assembly currently. While they have been trying to get Eren, their methods haven't been forceful ."

The man smirked."Which is why I need your help."

He wants me to do the dirty work, Erwin thought. He drained the last of his wine from the glass and stood up ."Very well, I shall update you again if there are any future developments."

"Good, I look forward to it."

Erwin gave a salute and left the room. He had met with the Assembly many times before and was long aware of their objectives. It was not humanity they wanted to protect, but their positions and gardened homes. His dad was killed by their greed for it, as well as his own foolishness.

He adjusted his pendant and walked down the hallway; there was a lot of investigating he had to do.

A/N: 1.4k words

I've started to include the POV character tag at the start of each chapter for better clarity, as well as updated it for some of the previous chapters(the last 5 or 6 IIRC). However, this caused all the paragraph comments for the chapters to be deleted :/