𝙎𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙧 |AotxMaleOc

Deception

It had been three weeks and all was in place. It had been learned that Marley had managed to get together a coalition of nations for their war against Paradies. However, it was nowhere near the global alliance that Marley had hoped for. Marley's image of power being shattered and their lies being exposed very much hurt their prestige on the global stage. Now Marley desperately needed a win in their war to restore their image. In fact, they were only able to build their current coalition by promising its members that they would all get a piece of Paradies's abundant resources. However, due to the total slaughter of Marley's high command during the Liberio raid, it was expected that an offensive could not be materialized very quickly. At least that was the expectation.

Ari knew that earlier in the day Eren had been freed, but no one else knew that, not yet at least, they soon would though. At the moment Ari was currently riding with Hange, Andrew, Katelynn, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Conny, Mike, Nanaba, Gelger, Sasha, and even Falco and Gabby. Ari had argued that they should come along to what they were doing since they were technically guests.

Normally Hange would have said no but over the past few weeks, Gabby and Falco had shown themselves to be well-behaved. So Ari suggested that they take them out and after a little back and forth Hange agreed, but they were still under guard and were never to be out of sight. They were all headed to a grand building at the moment. A restaurant frequented by higher-ups of MPs and some Garrison officers.

It was a restaurant that was run by mostly Marlyen volunteers or prisoners, including the head chef Niccolo. Niccolo had a good working relationship with the Scouts, especially with Sasha who loved his food almost as much as life itself. It was for that reason that they had been offered a free meal from Niccolo. At least that was the official reason, in actuality it was due to Zeke's instructions. As they all hitched their horses outside and went in they were greeted by Niccolo and some of his fellow chefs. They all greeted each other quite warmly and Sasha immediately made her way up front and hugged Niccolo tightly.

Niccolo: Sasha! So good to see you!

Sasha: You too, Niccolo! What have you got for us today!?

The two separated and Niccolo appreciated that Sasha got right to the point.

Niccolo: Lobster, along with some fresh mashed potatoes.

Jean: Damn that sounds good!

Gelger: Let's go gorge ourselves!

Niccolo: Well it's not quite ready yet. But for now, follow me and I'll show you to your seats.

They all followed Niccolo to a great dining room, it had grand windows, fancy silverware, crystal wine glasses, a silk tablecloth, and sleek wooden floors. This level of luxury was something the Scouts were absolutely not used to, apart from Ari who lived in the palace at times.

Katelynn: Damn, I haven't eaten in a place this fancy since.....

Andrew: Ever.

The two smiled at each other and exchanged a quick kiss after Andrew finished her sentence. Everyone found a seat, Gabby and Falco went over to speak to Niccolo. They were both surprised to see another Marlyen, one that was actually enjoying his stay and had apparently even made friends with them. It was during this conversation that Jean, Andrew, and Katelynn went over to a nearby cupboard in the dining room that had shelves of Marlyen wine. The stuff that the upper MPs got. Jean opened the cupboard and took out a bottle and the three examined it.

Andrew: This is the stuff only the higher-ups get. I heard from a friend that to them this stuff is magical.

Katelynn: I can imagine, it looks really good. Way better than anything we've got.