Attack on Titan: The Berserk Titan

"Are you ready, Arthur?" I heard my mother call me from outside the room.

"Yes, mother".

I came out together with the maids who dressed me. My parents were waiting outside, looking like high-class. She stared down at me, brushed my shoulders to remove a leftover hair from the maid and then nodded, content.

"You look like a man, Arthur".

"Thanks, father".

He patted my shoulder, "You don't have to be so polite, I am complimenting you".

"... Thanks, father..." 

He sighed.

"We're going to a very important networking party. You can't act without decorum and embarrass us," My mother said. She took my hand and led me out of our mansion and to the carriage.

"I will do my best, mother".

Once in the carriage, she took a bottle of something that smelled really nice. I imagined it was perfume. She sprinkled it on me and explained that the reason for going to this meeting was to finalise a contract. They also wanted to introduce me to the public after a year of waiting.

"You don't have to be too tense. Take this chance to make some friends your age, we're not expecting anything from you other than to give a good impression, leave the rest to us".

"I understand, father".

Even if he said that, making friends my age was going to be difficult. For this party, we went to Sheena, to the capital, Mitras. Although it was not the royal palace, it was a hall just as noble. The royal family was missing, but everybody else important within the walls was there. 

We took a carriage and arrived at what I imagine is the 'red carpet' of this world.

Somehow, I felt proud of myself; the original cast of the show was far from ever reaching these grounds. 

I was dressed in the most uncomfortable clothes I have ever worn, and I couldn't wait for this farce to finish just so I could go to sleep. 

Making friends my age would be difficult because there were no kids around my age... There was next to no point for a seven-year-old child to attend such a meeting. Aside from me, the youngest was like eleven or twelve. So I attracted a lot of gazes. 

People congratulated my parents; they were surprised because my mother had stayed outside of gatherings in order to justify not showing her nonexistent bloated belly. 

"You look so much like your dad, you cutie!" An old lady pinched my cheeks and said. 

I call bullshit on that one. We're both handsome... but we don't look anything alike. In fact, they would have started spreading rumours if I looked like my mother but not like my father... but because I don't look like either... they don't know what to say.

So they can only keep their mouths shut and accept it. 

I tried to talk with some bigger kids, but they evaded me like the plague, either because I was too young or because they were too noble. My family was not noble; it was a merchant family. 

I guess in stories like this, what they do is they start bullying the one 'least noble', but I am too young for them to bully me without repercussions, so they'd rather just evade me.

"Hi!~" 

All of them except for one person. Somebody touched my shoulder, I thought I was tripping for a second, but when I turned around, it was a beautiful teenager. What caught me the most about her was her big pearlescent indigo eyes. 

As a part of my studies with my parents, knowing the identity of some prominent societies was a must. So I knew who she was even before she greeted me. 

"Good evening, Miss Reiss", I saluted her, and she bowed courtly to me as well, after greeting me like a 'noble', she patted my head like a normal girl and smiled.

She's Frieda Reiss, the daughter of Rodd Reiss, the man who owns a lot of land in Orvud. They're a noble family, although not a high-ranking one... they're also the people my mother wants to finalise her contract with... so I can't give a bad impression to this young girl.

"Nice to meet you, Arthur!~ I have always wanted to talk to you!".

"Hmn?".

I was surprised she not only knew who I was, but she was even interested and compelled. Frieda led me to a table, served me an assortment of appetisers as if I couldn't do so myself, and we began talking.

My father showed me a thumbs-up from a distance.

"I have talked to your mom once, that Trigonometry thingy, can you show it to me?" Frieda asked with interest. She pulled something out of her dress, it was a sheet of paper and a pencil.

'She came prepared...' I thought.

"Sure~"

I wanted to give her a good impression, and so I did. Frieda Reiss was the first noble with the willingness to learn from me. The only one who believed I wasn't just blabbering.

And from then on, an inseparable friendship awaited us.

Or was it...? I can't quite remember... no matter how hard I try.