Imperial Affairs (Levi X Reader) AU

52. Torn Apart

Reader's POV

"It is all my fault, not hers. She was completely innocent-," I tried to defend my dead sister.

"She had someone killed."

"Out of necessity! I abandoned her so she had to do what she could to survive! She knew that it was either the throne or execution since the French Empire had cut ties with her!"

"And why did they cut ties with her?" Annie narrowed her eyes, "Because she decided to break off the usage of the trade route that fell in the territory she managed? Because she didn't want to deal with the work that came with it? Grow up, your sister wasn't innocent. Stop living in a delusion. It wasn't your fault that she died. It is your choice whether or not to resent your father for that but don't think that your sister was completely blameless."

"If I hadn't abandoned her-"

"You abandoned her because you were scared! It was too much for you to deal with! You had to survive too! You went through your own share of shit! But you know what? She never tried to talk to you, not even once. Why do you think that you were responsible for her and that she bore no responsibility towards you whatsoever? Because she was three years younger? Look at this, at the fact that you had known your mother for longer when she died! Why do you think that you had to care for her? She was your sister; not your child! You have your own life and you aren't responsible for her! Just like how she wasn't responsible for you! You do remember what happened when she decided to cut off that trade route and you were the one who lost the most money in that and you had to rent a route that was more than double the price of Christa's route because it was the only one left? You still lose all that money up to this day!"

"She was still a kid...."

"So were you when she broke off that trade route! She knew that the Empress had her eyes on you to kill you and she knew that she wasn't a primary target because she wasn't that big of a threat! She knew how much you would suffer if she did that but that didn't stop her, did it? Stop apologising to her in your head! It doesn't change what happened and you don't owe anything to her in the first place!"

"Alright...," I mumbled out.

"And remove any and all portraits and pictures of her from your palace and transfer them to your storage or get rid of them."

"Annie," I was seething, "Don't you dare go that far. I won't remove them."

"It's either those pictures," Annie gave me an ultimatum, "Or me. Her memory is holding you back and I won't let you go weak for as long as I live."

I turned around and left the balcony. Annie received the message. I was trying to say that I would remove all the pictures and portraits but I didn't want to even look at her right now so she better keep her distance from me for the time being.

I sighed and looked around, the party was going on as normal and Father wasn't in sight. If he had arrived then there would surely be loud blaring of horns to announce his entrance and a lot of commotion and since there was none, I assumed that he either hadn't arrived yet or was altogether not planning to attend.

I saw Kenny in the corner of my eye and decided to see him before he disappeared and I'd much rather talk to him before I was publicly humiliated by Father.

I walked toward the owner of the Ackerman Trading Company who was wearing shabby clothing-for the occasion at least-and greeted him, "Mr. Ackerman. It's been a while."

"Your Highness," Kenny bowed less than a millimetre, wanting to keep up the laws and his pride at the same time and had I had more power, I could do something about his insolence, "Fancy seeing you here. Where's my niece?"

"She's back at the palace. She didn't wish to attend," I lied.

"Your Highness has been courting her?"

"Word spreads fast. And yes, I have."

"I wouldn't have thought that Your Highness would have been the type of person to talk to a relative of the woman you are courting for permission," Kenny narrowed his eyes, "So I would assume that you have some other business with me. Is it about the processing of the ore and gas, Your Highness? If there is an issue then you can simply hand us over the raw materials and we can handle the rest."

You want me to sell you the raw materials for cheap so that you can process them yourself to save money while I lose it?

"It isn't about that. I just wished to have a meeting with you."

"A meeting?"

"Yes," I nodded, "It is a very important topic and can not be discussed in public. It is not a light matter and should be discussed over tea."

"Is the meeting about my niece's hand in marriage?" Kenny joked.

"If I wished to marry Mikasa then I would ask her directly," I frowned, "She's nearly of age."

"I was merely joking. Very well, Your Highness. I shall have a meeting with you but the problem is that my entire schedule is booked for the next three months and I can only have the meeting then."

He then gave me a date.

Son of a bitch.

Fucking liar. I know he isn't busy because he is saying it himself and this guy is always either drunk or high and doesn't know what he ate for breakfast let alone his schedule. He didn't even ask his secretary.

"If that's what you can arrange," I agreed because in a way, this will be profitable for me. I had to win over Levi and Kuchel so that they would favour me more when they would have more power.

And I didn't want Levi gone yet.

I suppose that he's just that good of a guard.

And then the trumpets and trombones blared to announce his entry.

The entry of the man I was dreading to see.

A/N = How does NASA organise a party? They planet.

May 23, 2023

- Heliaxa