“When I was a child… the world revolved around me.”

“Everyone treated me like a princess.”

In that moment,

a scene lit up in Eren’s mind.

His empathic power had activated.

Unwillingly, he was pulled into his mother’s memories.

---

A vision:

A little girl…

Golden hair, a radiant smile, running through the stone streets of the town.

Women smiled at her and handed her small gifts.

Men took off their hats and greeted her with respect.

And truly,

as a child, everyone had seen her as a princess.

She had been at the center of a world that was bright, beautiful, and full of love.

---

Her voice trembled—yet it carried anger as she went on:

> “When I grew up…

I was supposed to become a queen.”

In Eren’s mind, the scene shifted.

A teenage girl…

Staring at her own reflection in the mirror.

Eyes filled with grand dreams.

Finer dresses. Higher society. More important people...

But then—

She sees Mert’s father's gaze drift toward another woman.

And everything collapses.

Her voice now sharpened, edged with fury:

> “But Mert’s father…”

“He didn’t choose me!”

“He left... for that ugly woman!”

Eren felt the heartbreak explode in his mind.

The young girl’s world falling apart...

Her eyes burning with humiliation and rage.

---

Now, her voice had turned to stone:

> “I had to marry a pathetic man—just like your father!”

“I lived like a servant.”

“I wasted my life!”

Each word pierced Eren’s heart like a knife.

She took one final step.

Now stood directly in front of him.

Her eyes scanned over him.

And then she struck the final blow:

> “And in the end…”

“My child turned out to be... a weak,

useless little failure.”

She let out a mocking laugh.

Eren didn’t look away.

He took in all of his mother’s darkness—

and still struggled to stay standing.

Somewhere deep inside,

a little boy was crying.

But on the outside, only clenched teeth and trembling hands could be seen.

Because he knew:

This woman…

was no longer the mother he had once known.

Eren absorbed every poisoned word.

Yet still, he didn’t look away.

Somewhere in his heart,

he wanted to believe that the woman standing before him…

was still, somehow, his mother.