Imperial Affairs (Levi X Reader) AU

23. The Prince's Secret

Levi's POV

"Many of us don't believe the story and many of us do. Most of us do actually but some don't really care. Connie believes it. Sasha also does because she got the expensive meat. Jean says that he doesn't really care but sometimes I find him sneaking around the palace at night trying to find Y/N to be able to go on another date with Mikasa," Marco continued.

"And you don't believe it?"

"Of course I don't."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and confusion before Marco caught on and explained.

"I'm sure you've already noticed the pattern-."

"Yes," I cut Marco off, "All of those things that were seen as good luck were things that the prince could easily control."

"Yes," Marco agreed, "Mikasa would only ever go on a date with Jean if His Highness asked her to and since His Highness controls Stohess, he can also decide the Stohess lottery winners for himself if he wants and so on."

But why?

"The question is why?" Marco talked as if he had just read my mind, "Why did His Highness make up such a silly story and make us all believe it. Y/N does exist, that much I know because she can't be a hallucination to so many people and His Highness wouldn't confirm it otherwise."

"So you think that the prince is hiding something," I questioned, eager to find out more and make use of the information.

"More like hiding someone. It is highly likely that His Highness is hiding Y/N. Maybe she has a different name in reality but I'm confident that it's her."

"Who do you think she may be then?"

"I think that she's His Highness's sister," Marco and I left the dining hall and climbed the stairs to go to the dorms, "It wouldn't make sense for them to look so similar otherwise."

Maybe that's what I saw that was so familiar in her. Maybe it was because my subconscious mind was trying to connect her to the prince. But something told me that that was not it. That the certain something familiar wasn't the prince but something else because after all, the prince doesn't show the same familiarity when I picture him in head. But I brushed it off then because I just reached my personal room and Marco waved me goodnight as he disappeared into the male guards' shared dormitory.

I shut my room's door behind me and looked at the condition of my room. It looked like it had been cleaned or at least, attempted to be cleaned since it didn't look clean enough to me. I changed out of my uniform and into the normal clothes that I had bought from the Stohess market from the money the prince gave me as a salary on a day that the prince gave me off because he was shut off in his room or what these royals and nobles call chambers anyway.

After changing, I picked up cleaning supplies from the neat pile made in the corner as I had asked one of the maids of the palace to do. I cleaned the room properly with the supplies I had and thought about why the prince hired people who didn't even know how to clean.

Reader's POV

"You're at it again, aren't you?" Reiner asked, ushering to the glass of wine in my hand.

"Give me a break, I'm already stressed," I sighed.

"About what?"

"Is there something relaxing going on in my life right now?"

"So, you're stressed about everything?"

"Pretty much."

"Huh."

"Do you remember the last time we had a situation similar to this?" I leaned against my balcony's railing, feeling the cool breeze pushing my short hair back. I had completed my work for today and just wanted to relax for a while. Despite already being seen by Levi today, I had yet to learn my lesson and was still being reckless.