Ellie carefully checked the contents of the letter, and after confirming nothing was missed, she leaned close to the edge of the paper and blew on it lightly a few times Waiting until the ink was completely dry, she folded the letter into a small square and carefully tucked it into the inner interlayer of her cloak.
Done!
Ellie nodded with satisfaction, blew out the oil lamp on the table, and sneaked back to the room as if nothing had happened.
She thought Annie would have been asleep long ago, she didn’t expect that after pushing open the door, the small oil lamp by the bedside was still lit and in the afterglow of the oil lamp, Annie was actually still leaning against the head of the bed, holding the book about life inside the walls that she had just opened during the day.
“Not asleep yet, Annie?”
As Ellie hung her cloak on the coat rack, she lowered her voice and teased:
“Staying up late is a girl’s worst enemy, you know.”
Annie couldn’t be bothered to respond to the little loli.
“Someone didn’t sleep in the middle of the night and went who knows where, so I naturally had to wait for her!”
“Oh my, so you haven’t fallen asleep all this time, were you waiting for me to come back?
Annie, you’re so good to me!”
“…Not at all.”
Annie closed the book expressionlessly, slammed it onto the bedside table, conveniently pulled the quilt over, and turned over to lie down, leaving Ellie with only a petite back of the head.
“This oil lamp is too blinding, blow it out quickly.”
“Yes, yes, yes, as you command.”
Ellie blew out the oil lamp and also crawled into the covers.
“Good night, Annie.”
“…Good night.”
…
About fifteen minutes passed.
Although Annie was already a bit tired, she still hadn’t truly fallen asleep, as a Marley warrior, she had long formed the habit of staying vigilant at all times.
So even with her eyes closed, her ears would still subconsciously notice every single sound in the room.
The sound of the wind outside the window, the occasional creaking of the wooden boards, and Ellie’s faint breathing…
Everything sounded normal…
Annie’s tense body relaxed just a little bit.
Suddenly, she felt the bedsheet behind her being tugged!
Immediately following that, a soft arm inexplicably crossed the dividing line in the middle and landed on her shoulder with a pat.
“!?!?!”
Annie opened her eyes vigilantly, slowly turned her face to the side, and only then made out what was resting on her shoulder through the hazy moonlight outside the window.
It was a fair, tender little arm.
The rounded wrist was squishy, and five short fingers were curled up, like a cute little cat paw and following the arm further back, Ellie was lying on her side in bed, half her face buried in the pillow.
Her light golden short hair was scattered messily around her face, her lips slightly parted, fast asleep and completely dead to the world.
Annie wore a cold face as she removed that restless hand and threw it back to the left with disgust.
“What is this, just sleep properly if you’re going to sleep!”
To prevent Ellie from crossing the boundary again, Annie tucked the corner of the quilt tighter around the little loli before turning her back once more.
Outside the window, a few insect chirps occasionally drifted in, and the breathing behind her gradually became steady.
It seemed Ellie had just subconsciously rolled over after falling asleep.
Annie let out a sigh of relief in her heart.
I knew it…
This idiot tossed and turned for so long during the day, and after coming back she sneaked out again; she must have been exhausted and dead to the world by now.
But her sleeping posture was simply atrocious!
Clearly, before falling asleep, she had patted her chest to guarantee she would absolutely not cross the line in the middle…
Annie closed her eyes, deciding not to argue with a sleeping person for the time being.
However, in less than five minutes, there was another rustling movement from the bed behind her.
Annie felt a warm, soft mass slowly approaching…
“…”
How on earth did this guy keep crossing over again and again while asleep?
Is she part sloth or something?!
Ever since she was young, Annie had never seen someone with such a terrible sleeping posture!
Accompanied by the rustling movements, a lock of Ellie’s golden hair brushed against Annie’s neck, making her ticklish, but not only that, the little loli also rolled over like a silkworm cocoon, rolling away more than half of Annie’s quilt in the process.
Annie’s face instantly turned dark, and she unceremoniously pushed Ellie’s leg back, taking the opportunity to forcefully yank her quilt back.
“Bastard…
are you testing me?”
Annie’s gaze suddenly turned sharp.
As a warrior who had undergone rigorous agent training, she couldn’t help but suspect this was a form of psychological game.
Could it be that Ellie had already started doubting her identity and was observing her reaction in the middle of the night?!
Annie held her breath and, aided by the faint moonlight outside the window, carefully scrutinized Ellie’s face.
She could see Ellie with her eyes closed, lips slightly parted, making soft and even breathing sounds, and even unconsciously smacking her lips.
…Fine, it seemed this fellow really was dead asleep.
When it all came down to it, it was purely because the little loli’s sleeping posture was simply too terrible!!
Annie suddenly had the impulse to go headbutt a wall but just as she was preparing to lie back down properly, Ellie seemed to have found a source of warmth, and began climbing right up like a vine.
Not only did she completely trample the safety line, she also grabbed Annie’s arm and buried her entire face into the nook of Annie’s shoulder, she could even smell the faint herbal soap scent lingering among Ellie’s hair.
“Mmm…
Sister Frieda…
( ˘ ω ˘ ) ☆ zzZ”
Annie’s body completely turned to stone.
This idiot not only crossed the dividing line, she actually dared to hug her?
If it were in the Marley training camp, if anyone dared to embrace her this close like this, she guaranteed she would toss the person straight into the dirt with a shoulder throw within half a second but right now, looking at that defenseless sleeping face close at hand, Annie’s high-raised palm lingered and failed to come down.
Moonlight spilled onto Ellie’s face.
At this moment, her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she were having a not-so-pleasant dream.
Frieda…
Who was that?
Was she her family member?
Annie lowered her eyelids, the coldness in the depths of her eyes ultimately softening away.
She suddenly remembered that her purpose in approaching this girl wasn’t because she liked her so much…
It was simply because Ellie had a horse and food, and she and Reiner wanted to use Ellie’s identity to bypass the vetting and find a safe foothold within the walls.
When all was said and done, this didn’t seem any different from when her father adopted her back then
They both first valued the other’s utility before keeping them by their side!
This thought made Annie feel inexplicably uncomfortable in her heart.
But even so, she had promised her father that she would definitely return alive!
Regardless of whether the mission succeeded or not, she had to return alive!
Therefore, she could not die on this island!
In order to return to her father’s side, and also to find the missing Bertholdt, she had to continue staying within the walls.
Bertholdt…
Annie’s gaze dimmed slightly.
Where on earth was that guy right now?
Or had he already successfully entered Wall Rose, only temporarily separated from them?
She didn’t know a single one of these things right now and even if she and Bertholdt couldn’t be considered all that close, the other party was, still, a companion executing the mission together.
That guy had a weak personality and wasn’t good at making decisions on his own; now that he was all alone, she wondered if he could take good care of himself.
“…Every single one of them is a troublesome fellow.”
She shook her head, let Ellie hug her arm, and slowly closed her eyes.
…
Early the next morning, sunlight streamed through the mottled window glass, shining right onto both of their faces.
Annie frowned and opened her eyes dazedly.
As soon as she woke up, she felt heavy all over, as if something was pressing down on her.
What was this?
Annie lowered her head and took a look.
Uh…?
The dividing line drawn in the middle of the bed last night had long since been rubbed away beyond recognition and at this moment Ellie had completely transformed into a humanoid octopus!
Her right leg straddled Annie’s stomach unceremoniously, her two arms hugged Annie’s neck, and their bodies were practically stacked together.
Her fluffy golden head was resting comfortably on Annie’s shoulder, and a drop of drool was even hanging from the corner of her mouth, about to brush against Annie’s collar.
A cross-shaped vein instantly popped up on Annie’s temple.
“Al…
Ellie!”
She rudely reached out and gave a fierce push outward—
Thud!
“Ouch!”
Ellie rolled down the bed with a rumble, landing heavily on the wooden floor.
“It hurts hurts hurts…”
Ellie rubbed her bruised, reddened knees and climbed up from the floor with a grimace.
Her golden hair looked like a messy bird’s nest, and a red mark left by the pillow still remained on half of her small face.
“What happened?”
“This early in the morning, why are you suddenly losing your temper?
Did a Titan break in?”
Annie sat on the bed, her face dark as she adjusted her collar, which had been pulled loose, and looked down at her coldly.
“If there is a next time, the one falling down won’t be you, but your head.”
Ellie shrank her head back, looked at the empty bedsheet, and finally realized what had happened.
She probably treated Annie herself as a body pillow and hugged her to sleep for the entire night!
Wait?
Could that damp patch still be her drool?!
Ellie’s small face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Th…
that thing, the weather is really nice today haha!”
“Nice my ass!
Today should rain, right!
And we’re indoors!”
“Wuwu (つ ﹏ ⊂)~~ Annie is so fierce!”
Reduced to speechlessness by Annie’s scolding, Ellie could only hug her head and assume a defensive squat.
Seeing the little loli’s appearance, Annie was finally so exasperated she laughed.
“I’m leaving you alone, I’m going out to tend to the farm!
Stay by yourself!”