Canorous

Five

They climbed the staircase all the way to the top floor, which was the third floor and was the attic.

Erwin opened a trapdoor above him and climbed up, turning back to Levi to aid him to climb out from the small space.

The attic was Martha's room which used to be filthy and covered in dust. Well, everything used to be covered in dust before Martha was Erwin's maid.

There was a small circular window that provided a small beam of moonlight to light up the room.

Erwin had to crouch slightly since the place was only five feet in height. As for Levi, he had to look at the wooden planks every time as he maneuvered his way to the attic which wasn't fun but he figured that Erwin had to suffer more than he does.

The place was very clean and there wasn't a single dust mite that could torment Levi and he was glad for that.

"This is the attic. It's where Martha sleeps." Erwin explained to Levi.

"But she sleeps at the morning. How can she do that when there's a window-"

His doubts were answered as Erwin pointed at a curtain, folded above the small circular window.

"Oh." Was Levi's response.

Erwin smiled and Levi swore under his breath. He was tired of that man smiling. He looked around to distract himself and saw some decorative picture frames that contained nothing at all.

"Master." A small, cold voice called out. "What brings you here?"

The two men turned their backs to see the little Martha, her eyes still infected with dreams and sleep. She blinked and covered her lips as she yawned and looked at them again. She was still at her bed, tucked under her warm covers.

"Well, good morning, Martha." Erwin greeted the smaller female who was frowning. She had a deeper frown than Levi and her thin lips protruded into a pout.

"Whaddya mean 'morning'?" Martha said as she rose from her bed, opposite from the window. She stood and Levi saw that Martha wasn't crouching since she was smaller than he was and the fact made Levi feel a bubble of happiness inside. "It's night, Master." Martha corrected Erwin. "Get your facts straight."

Erwin chuckled lightly and had a soft blush on his cheeks due to embarrassment. "Whatever you say, young lady." He turned to Levi and introduced him to Martha. "This is Levi Ackerman. He's my new squire."

Martha rubbed her eyes and smiled softly. "Hello, Levi. My name's Martha and pleasure to be your acquaintance." She walked to Levi, stretching and offered a hand to Levi to shake.

Levi shook her hand and replied. "I know you're Martha but sure, nice meeting you."

Martha turned her back and harrumphed. Her silver hair gleamed gently in the dark. "Polite but rude, quite intriguing."

Erwin said his farewells to Martha which confused Levi since they live at the same place and the two men went down.

They were both at the halls, the heels of their leather shoes clacking on the marble floors of Erwin's manor.

"Forgive me about Martha." Erwin began as they neared the staircase. "She's hostile towards most people."

"I can see that."

Erwin stopped walking and looked at Levi, straight to the eyes. "I'm glad your senses are pretty keen," A small smile began playing on his lips and the sight took Levi's breath away and he doesn't know why he felt that way. The feeling that he felt so suddenly bothered him but he was grateful he felt it.