"Cornelia, I know this must be difficult for you. It's difficult for all of us. Please be patient with us, we only have your best interests at heart."

The girl sat staring firmly out the window at the summer storm that rolled over the grounds of Leo Villa, unable to bring herself to look at her aunt and uncle- still finding it difficult to face the fact that her mother was really dead. It had been four days since that evening at the hospital and Aries Villa afterward- that had been the first thing they'd addressed and something they had not left alone since.

"We can't just let you stay here all alone, Cornelia. You can't raise Euphemia by yourself."

Cornelia's response was weak and shaky, scarcely audible over the pattering rain against the windows. "But… aunt Bernadette… Lady Marianne's already agreed to-"

"Cornelia li Britannia, I will not hear you mention that woman's name in polite company again. You are a princess but that does not mean you may do as you please. You are not merely a child of the Emperor, you are a child of House Stuart and you represent us to the nation and to His Majesty now that your mother is gone." Her mother's elder brother, Edward, a round-faced man with a rusty goatee, would snarl in response to her mention of the Empress's name.

"You must also think of the example you are setting for your sister." Bernadette Stuart, her uncle's wife- her aunt, by marriage- was a willowy blonde with a frail frame but a piercing voice. "She has already grown far too close to that woman's son. I told your mother not to let them play together but she wouldn't listen-"

"Please… don't do this." Cornelia was scarcely able to whimper, hands tightening firmly on the hem of her dress.

"Cornelia, you are a Stuart, and Stuarts are strong and steadfast. This is not negotiable. I've already had the staff pack your things." Her uncle sighed, before moving forward to put a firm hand on his niece's shoulder, a hand which was quickly brushed away by the girl- and followed by a rough slap across Cornelia's cheek, her aunt gasping slightly in response. Cornelia slumped against the window, a hand over her cheek, the young princess cowering as Edward glared down at her in fury, and she just cringed and whimpered.

"Edward!" Bernadette hissed, rising from her chair. "What are you doing?"

"Foolish child! Do you see, Bernadette? That woman has already poisoned Cornelia's mind, filled her with these impudent notions, that a commoner could ever be our equal- could ever be our Empress…"

"Edward, if you leave marks on her and the staff see, His Majesty will have our heads tomorrow morning and she and Euphemia will be right back under that harpy's wing." Bernadette grasped her husband's wrist, and the man slowly calmed.

"I know my own strength, Bernadette, don't insult me. Unlike my sister, I can properly discipline a little girl. Cornelia, you have precisely one minute to compose yourself and meet your sister out front."

Cornelia was unable to look up from her lap as she kept that hand on the stinging flesh of her cheek, her face entirely red and stained with fresh tears as she sniffled them back desperately, unable to comprehend why the weight of the universe had just come crashing down upon her.

Edward would be the first out of the study, with Bernadette lingering momentarily in the doorway, some reassurance dying in her throat before she shook her head at her niece and ducked out as well, closing the door firmly and walking on after her husband.

Alongside a slender umbrella, the suitcases that were waiting for Cornelia at the front door were considerably smaller than she'd expected. As she thought about that a moment, a sick feeling rose in her throat, and she was just about to rush upstairs when she heard a crunching noise from out behind the side door that was nearly lost in the rain and thunder.

No, no, no, no, no

Her feet carried her to the well-concealed dumpsters out back too fast for her to feel them, or to see where she was going, flying there almost by instinct, only to see one of several black garbage bags tied with twine in a pile beneath the shut dumpster, rain pouring down them and pooling in the depressions. One of the butlers, Maurice, in a cap and black overcoat, would jolt at the sight of the princess sprinting out the side door in her white sun-dress, which quickly became soaked in the heavy rain, tears dripping from her eyes as she looked at the bag he'd just thrown onto the pile.

"Your Highness, what are you doing out here? You're soaked! Get back inside before your aunt and uncle have a fit- they're sure to be looking for you."

"Maurice… what's in there?" She gulped.

"… Just some garbage, your Highness." Her stomach fell, her mouth dried.

"Garbage from where?"

"From your Highnesses' bedrooms- Lady Cornelia, please-" Maurice reached forward to stop Cornelia from what she was about to do, but the tear-stained princess would nevertheless yank one of the bags out of the dumpster and spill it all out on the ground with another sickening crunch of shattering porcelain and glass.

"Get away from me! Let go of me!" Cornelia kicked and struggled as she reached into the bag, bursting into a fresh bout of tears as she saw the head of what had once been an elegant swan Marianne had given her mother shattered from its delicate neck. The bags were full of more of the same- everything Marianne had ever given her. The most precious things in the world to Cornelia. The only reminders she would have left of her life with Lady Marianne. "No… no, no, no…"

"Your Highness, you'll cut yourself to ribbons! Someone, please!" Maurice shouted as he grabbed hold of both the princess's wrists, only to be kicked ineffectually in the shin by the little girl.

"That's not garbage, those are mother's things! My things! How dare you!"

"CORNELIA!" Edward bellowed as the man came around the corner, dragging a sobbing, red-faced Euphemia by the wrist and holding a broad umbrella in his other hand, rain pouring off the edges. From behind, the surprisingly strong arms of her aunt looped around Cornelia's waist and yanked, firmly, as blood dripped down the princess's sliced palm and through her fingers, mingling with the rain.

"Cornelia, they're only things, we packed anything of importance, come along and leave that garbage behind before you upset your sister any further!" Bernadette hissed into her niece's ear.

"stop it she's hurting her uncle Eddie make her stop-" Euphemia babbled through her tears, tugging relentlessly on her uncle's sleeve, looking up at him.

Cornelia locked puffy, tear-stained eyes with her three-year-old sister, and then glanced down at her own bloody fists… Looking down at her lap, she'd brush a reddened palm on her dress, spotless and white up until now, before shaking her head. "I'm all right, Euphie. I'm sorry, Uncle Edward."

"Then come along, Cornelia, let's not keep our drivers waiting." Edward tapped his foot, nodding grimly at the girl.

"Edward, she's got to clean herself off first at least-" Bernadette reached for Cornelia's other clenched fist, and Cornelia trembled.

"Absolutely not, Bernadette, she is not spending another minute in this house, and neither is her sister. The healthiest thing for them is for us all to get out of here as soon as possible. Do you need to go to the hospital, Cornelia?" Edward spoke, significantly more moderated in tone than he'd been earlier, seeming to have composed himself some as well.

Momentarily, the memory of her mother amongst all those machines and that horrible, disinfectant smell filled her mind, and she shook her head firmly while closing her eyes. "It's all right. Let's go."

"There… You see? A Stuart. Strong and steadfast. Thank you, Cornelia. In time you will come to understand this is for the best." The man nodded, dragging Euphemia along, even as the pink-haired princess kept jerking her head back over her shoulder to stare at Cornelia, her aunt following the older girl with her open umbrella as well, several steps behind, her other arm slightly spread- as if prepared to snatch Cornelia at any moment if she decided to make another run for it.

Cornelia shuffled solemnly into the backseat of the limousine, with Euphie laying her head in her sister's lap, Cornelia running a soothing hand through Euphie's hair and consoling the young child. Bernadette walked around the front, nodding to the driver and murmuring something through the window, and soon afterward a sudden "thunk" would sound through the back as the child-safety locks engaged on the doors. With no escape left, Cornelia would put the side of her scratched and bloodied hand on the window, watching the rain roll down the pane of safety glass as the limousine drove down the curve of the front driveway, and eventually out the gate.

"Cheer up, girls. You'll be back again soon, I hear." The driver would speak to them over the intercom, with a bright and gentle voice that was obviously intended to console, but did anything but. "Your family just wants to get you two some fresh air out in the country. Won't that be nice?"

Cornelia eventually nodded as she saw the driver looking into the rearview mirror through the pane of glass that separated them, and he would nod in return before making a right turn onto the villa's main access road.

"Is Lelouch coming to play with us, Cornelia?" Euphie murmured with a noisy yawn, nestling into her sister's thigh.

"… I don't know, Euphie, we'll see. We'll see them both again very soon, I promise." Cornelia swallowed, her fist still trembling. "But for now, let's play a game when Aunt Bernie and Uncle Eddie are around, all right? Let's pretend we don't remember Lady Marianne and Lelouch, or they'll get really upset."

"Why would they get upset? That doesn't make any sense."

"I know, it's a really silly game, Euphie, but they take it very seriously."

"I don't like that game." Euphie yawned, shaking her head.

"I don't like it either, but we'll get something great if we win, all right?"

"Okay, I'll try… What have you got in your hand, Cornelia?"

"That's part of the game, Euphie. You can't let them know about that either. No matter what. Promise me, okay?" Cornelia offered her other hand's pinky to the young princess, before letting Euphie lean over her hand- concealing it from the driver- and opening her palm to reveal a simple piece of costume jewelry- a blue glass and black plastic brooch, shaped like a butterfly.

"Ooh, it's so pretty…" Euphie giggled at the sight, and Cornelia managed to eke out a small smile of her own. It had been the first real gift Lady Marianne had ever given her, face to face, in person. In private. The fact that it was glass and plastic instead of sapphire and ebony- that it was common – made it all the more special to her… especially when Marianne told her the story of when she'd first worn that at Cornelia's age, to her first school dance in a homemade dress.

…

"Lelouch, this is just the way things are sometimes. Euphie's aunt and uncle don't want her playing with you anymore, so they took her away. I'm afraid that's going to happen quite a lot to us." Marianne sighed, her eyes heavy as she stroked her son's inky black hair while he sniffled into her chest. "We're not wanted here, but I'm not going to let them tell us we don't belong. Never, ever. Don't let anyone tell you that, understand? This is our home and we're going to fight for it."

"Then why can't we fight for Euphie?" Lelouch sniffled, gazing up at his mother.

"Some fights, we're going to have to wait for. They're not our family, Lelouch, they don't belong with us. They belong with their mother's family. If they want to let Euphie and Cornelia come visit, then maybe they will someday. For now, this is something we just have to accept."

…

"For now, we just have to accept this, Euphie…" Cornelia sighed, looking over at her sleeping sister, then down at the blue butterfly in her palm, as the moonlight illuminated the gloom of their bedroom at Manor Stuart in the countryside. "Lady Marianne… I promise, we'll be back."