Rod couldn't figure it out — just who exactly was this man?
Could it be that the Tybur family from Marley had leaked information?
If this person had come from Marley and the Tyburs had broken their agreement to reveal secrets, then, at least, things would make some sense.
After all, the Dr. Yeager, who wielded the power of the Attack Titan, had obviously come from Marley. Back then, aside from the Founding Titan, the other eight Titan powers had been handed over to Marley by the 145th King Fritz, including the Attack Titan.
But even that Dr. Yeager clearly didn't know nearly as much as this white-haired young man in front of him.
"That's all I wanted to say. I hope you'll handle things quickly,"
Byakuya said lightly, turning to leave.
Rod didn't dare to defy him. He immediately began making preparations to accelerate the acceptance of refugees and to arrange for the operation to reclaim Wall Maria.
...
Meanwhile, Byakuya and Eto had already left the Reiss family's territory. Using kamui, they returned directly to Trost District.
Coincidentally, Grisha had just arrived in Trost by carriage.
Following the instructions Byakuya had given him, he quickly found Eren, Mikasa, and Carla in one of the emergency shelters.
"Carla!"
Seeing all three of them safe and sound, Grisha's eyes filled with tears of joy as he rushed forward to hug them tightly. "Eren, Mikasa, you're both safe! Thank goodness!"
"Dad..."Eren's mind flashed back to last year — to the day when he and Mikasa had killed the kidnappers at her house.
Grisha's reaction then had been similar... but this time, it felt even stronger.
Mikasa smiled softly, relieved. She had already come to think of Grisha and Carla as her true parents. She didn't want to go through the pain of losing her family ever again...
"We're fine" Carla said warmly.
At that moment, Grisha noticed the bandaged wound on Carla's leg and immediately asked, "Carla, your leg—?"
"It's alright now," she reassured him. "It's healing well. A few more days of rest and it'll be good as new."
She then smiled and added, "Honestly, if it weren't for two young people who saved me, I probably would've been eaten by that Titan back then."
Grisha fell silent.
That Titan Carla mentioned — it had to have been Dina...
He couldn't believe it. After all these years, their fates had crossed again in such a tragic way.
Wait...Two young people?
Grisha's heart skipped a beat.
He immediately recalled the white-haired young man and the small green-haired girl he had met at the Reiss estate. They fit the description exactly — two young people.
And they had been the ones to tell him where to find Eren and the others.
"Was it a young man with white hair and a small girl with green hair?" Grisha asked urgently.
"Yes! How did you know?" Carla replied, confused.
After all, Grisha shouldn't have met their rescuers, right?
"They saved you... and me as well" Grisha said, his voice low.
According to Carla and Byakuya, it was that white-haired youth who had rescued Carla from being devoured by Dina.
If Carla had died back then... Grisha didn't even want to imagine the outcome.
He didn't hate Dina. His hatred was for the Marley Empire — especially the Marleyans who had oppressed them for generations.
If Carla had been lost that day, Grisha likely would have passed the Titan power to Eren immediately, choosing to be devoured by his own son out of despair.
Byakuya and Eto hadn't just saved Carla — they had saved him, too.
"Really? You met them too?" Carla asked, amazed.
Grisha just nodded, not elaborating.
Neither Carla nor the children needed to know the full, terrible truth behind everything.
But just then — Byakuya and Eto suddenly appeared behind Grisha, stepping out of Kamui's rift.
Eren spotted them first and called out excitedly, "Byakuya! Eto! You're back!"
Grisha froze.
The two figures who had been occupying his thoughts appeared right before him.
"My husband said you saved him too. Was he attacked by a Titan as well?" Carla asked the two newcomers.
"Something like that" Byakuya answered calmly.
Technically, it wasn't wrong — after all, the titan he fought was the Founding Titan itself.
"I see..."Carla smiled gratefully. "I don't even know how to thank you properly. Our whole family owes you our lives."
"It was nothing," Byakuya said indifferently.
Faced with the two who had saved not just him but his entire family, Grisha found himself at a loss for words.
After a long silence, he finally said softly, "Thank you."
...
After that, Byakuya and Eto stayed with the Yeager family in the shelter for a while.
Since he was waiting for Rod to finish arranging the plans he had ordered, Byakuya had nothing urgent to do — so he casually spent time chatting with the Yeagers.
Grisha couldn't help but feel how surreal it was.
These two — mysterious, powerful beyond measure — were sitting there laughing and chatting with Eren and Mikasa like ordinary people. And it didn't seem fake at all.
Besides, with the kind of strength they possessed, there was no need for them to pretend to be approachable...
"Wait, you guys know about the Scout Regiment too?" Eren suddenly lit up during the conversation.
"Then you understand, right? The Scouts are the coolest! They risk their lives for humanity's freedom!"
"Eren, not this again..."Carla sighed, clearly getting a headache.
She always tried to dissuade Eren from dreaming about joining the Scouts.Their mortality rate was horrifying — it wasn't rare for less than half of the members to survive any given expedition.
Carla knew firsthand how dangerous it was... and she didn't want to see Eren throw his life away.