Canorous

Ten

It was not very early in the morning. It was nine o'clock but the boys were busy attending to the princess's demands. She may be kind but today, she decided that she will be bratty and order around the poor boys that fawn over her beauty and charisma.

Levi groaned. He was always the one getting picked on aside from the boy named Connie who has a burning passion for football. Maybe Levi was getting picked at for being older than most of the boys or maybe he was getting picked at for being small.

"Guys!" Connie called out to the group of boys. "Let's play football!" He said as he raised his hand that contained a ball made of scrap paper and most probably, a rock in the center of it. "It's gonna be fun!"

Levi's mouth hang open upon seeing the boy's idiocy. Anthony rolled his eyes. Eren slapped his palm to his face and Reiner looked away, praying for the poor soul named Connie.

The sun was rising but it did not dare burn them. It merely shot out some of its gentle rays that were hidden by some thick and plump clouds. It simply gave adequate light to see things clearly. The weather was fair though some days, storms rampage the skies. It was still early spring and this was Levi's third day inside the squire camp.

Historia sat on a log, a makeshift chair. "Football again?" She said in her Transatlantic accent. She did not really speak like this in normal occasions, she just happened to use this certain accent to intimidate the boys (which is probably not working compared to what she anticipated). "And why are you saying such vulgar words such as 'gonna'?" She faked a face of one who is ill. "Learn how to speak properly, you mongrel."

The boys winced in behalf of Connie for mongrel was not really an appreciative word. It was meant to hurt someone but Connie just stood, eyes fixated on Historia and he kept this dumb face as his hand held his makeshift ball.

"What's a mongrel?"

Reiner groaned and Bertholdt just stood, sweating to the ground. Eren shook his head as Jean tried his best to stifle a laugh. Armin, same as Jean, resisted the urge to laugh. Marco's mouth hang open, marveling at the level of nonsense of the boy. Severino snorted. Sure, he might be Connie's friend but he cares only a little. Anthony exhaled in exasperation while Levi simply blinked.

"It's a dog with mixed breeds, hence disgusting." Historia said as she thinned her lips in contempt towards the boy. "And you're a mongrel."

After her explanation, Connie seemed to get what she meant. He stood motionless, probably too shocked and dumbfounded to react against the insult. He blinked and then drops of tears slid down his cheek. Quickly, he slapped his hand to his lips that were about to wail.

He was clearly insulted.

The other boys quickly finished their tasks for the day to avoid any more insults coming from the princess.

•••

Levi, as always, could not sleep. It was one of those days that he loathed and didn't like. In these nights, it was when he had to suffer thoughts that he could not imagine that he could think of.

His eyes were sore and felt like they were peeled and sprinkled with salt. This sensation caused him to blink and blink until a tear slid off from both of his eyes.

He closed his eyes as his brain randomly projected images that would not make any sense at all.

He thought about how many hours will it take for him to fall asleep in peace. He never felt like this when he stayed in Erwin's manor.