Imperial Affairs (Levi X Reader) AU

35. Trip To The North

Reader's POV

It was starting to get chilly as I started thinking that that was probably not the best time to be going to the North where the winters were deadly and took lives but I wanted to be sure that the refugees rescued were not regretting coming above the ground after feeling the hellish weather of the North where the temperatures had a record maximum of 12℃ in the summers.

I remembered Reiner's constand begging to not go to the North in the winter because he knew that he would have to follow along and suffer in the cold as Mikasa just sighed unhappily but didn't try to change my decision, knowing that it was taken for a reason.

Neither beat Levi's reaction however that I had laughed about everytime I recalled it. When Reiner told him that he would be going to the North with me, he responded with a simple 'oh', unaware of what it was and it was only until Reiner explained him what that place was and how it was cold there, that he made a shocked face and looked at me with a 'Why the fuck are you going to a cold place in the middle of December?' look as I stopped myself from snickering and allowed myself to do that after.

I comfortably sat in my carriage, completely bundled up as Reiner, the only other person in the carriage muttered occasional curses at me and shivered, hating the weather because apparently, the place where he used to live had ridiculously high temperatures and it took him five winters to get used to the winters in even Stohess.

I looked outside the window of the carriage, thinking about what happened only two days ago. Levi and I sparred and I quite obviously won but I managed to learn a few of his techniques that helped boost quick movement. After that, I had dinner with Aunt Frieda and Great Uncle Uri and was shocked to learn that they were leaving the next day but they had their reasons. After all, the two most important people in the Empire can't just leave for a few days, especially if they have to leave for something else again in a couple of weeks, which is the New Year's Banquet which the English Empire was hosting this year.

After dinner, I had a meeting with the seven of the nine people I trusted most. Mikasa, Reiner, Erwin, Niccolo, Marlowe, Ymir and Armin. Ymir, as usual, greeted me by hanging her arm over the back of my neck and in front of the other shoulder before pulling my head closer by capturing my neck and I could swear I heard a crack again this time as Armin begged her not to do that because she could be rather harsh.

We sat down for the meeting and I disclosed the information about Levi as Niccolo immediately stood up and grabbed my collar and shook me to scold me for not doing this sooner as Armin, being the reasonable won, not liking fighting, tried to hold him back. Then, once everyone was calmed down, we sat down again to discuss what I was going to do with him now as I told them my plan as even Armin and Erwin approved which told me that it was indeed a good plan.

The next day, Aunt Frieda and Great Uncle Uri left as they said they would and I began my preparations to the North.

"I'm tired. Making the preparations was tiring," I commented.

"Tired? You literally just sat in your office completing your single pile of paperwork while Erwin and I made all the preparations," Reiner was not happy with my comment.

"The pile that was stacked to the fucking ceiling. I had to have someone fetch a ladder to get the paperwork down!"

"The one you asked to fetch the ladder was literally me!"

"Oh."

"What?" Reiner was even more upset now, "You don't even remember me? Ugh. Why do I even bother with you anymore?"

"Because I write your paychecks." I answered.

"Wrong. Mr. Smith writes my paychecks," Reiner frowned.