A/N: Happy New Year everybody, this will be my first new story of 2010! I hope you like it.
**
In Carline's mind, she didn't need a reason to hate Nunnally. The fact that the girl even existed was reason enough for her. There wasn't any particular aspect of Nunnally that made Carline hate her either. Everything she did, the way she smiled, the way she spoke, the way she walked; it was as if she were put on Earth for the sole purpose of making Carline miserable.
It had been this way ever since their childhood. They were born only months apart and, quite ironically, Carline's mother and Lady Marianne were good… well, friends might not be the right word for it, more like friendly acquaintances. So, when the two girls were born, their mothers got it in their heads that they would grow up to be good friends.
One of Carline's earliest memories was of her mother dragging her to Nunnally's third birthday party. She remembered seeing the sandy haired little girl sitting at the center of the table. Her mother and her older brother Lelouch on either side of her. Some of their other siblings attended as well. The li Britannia sisters, Cornelia and Euphemia sat side by side a few seats away along with Schneizel, Clovis and Odysseus. A mountain of gifts sat on the far right side and an enormous cake on the left. Nunnally herself had a happy smile on her face the whole time. She opened her gifts, blew out her candles (or tried to anyway, Lelouch quickly blew out the ones she'd missed before she could open her eyes), played with their siblings, and all the while, she just kept smiling.
That was the moment that Carline le Britannia began to hate Nunnally vi Britannia.
It was because her own birthday party several months prior had consisted of her mother Andromeda le Britannia, her only full blooded brother Cassius, and a few assorted noblemen and their families. Most of whom Carline didn't even know and whom had been invited by Andromeda for her own selfish reasons. They brought presents of course, and Andromeda showered gifts on her only daughter, but it wasn't the same. For one thing, the noble's gifts were mainly clothes and jewelry. Just the standard gift you'd give to someone not because you cared about them but because you felt obligated to. There was no love for Carline in their eyes.
Andromeda gave Carline plenty of the things she'd been wanting, but only because it kept the girl quiet. It didn't take Carline long to realize that while Andromeda cared somewhat for her children, she was too wrapped up in her own wants and needs to really bother with them. Cassius hadn't gotten her a present. Instead he pushed Carline's face into the cake after she blew out the candles.
And it was this incident along with Nunnally's party that made Carline hate her so much. She didn't make that hatred secret either. Every time Carline was in Nunnally's presence after that, she would pull at the girl's pigtails, throw her toys in the mud, stomp her drawings into the dirt, anything that would make Nunnally cry. Eventually, Andromeda took the hint and stopped bringing Carline to Aries Villa after the girl threw Nunnally's favorite porcelain doll out the window causing Nunnally to burst into tears and a furious Lelouch to push Carline to the ground.
Even then, Carline's hatred for Nunnally remained, and if anything grew stronger. She couldn't understand why everyone loved her so much. The stupid girl was nothing special, not to mention the fact that she was 87th in line for the throne. 87th! While Carline herself was the fifth princess, surely then she should be more important. But no, Nunnally was almost everyone's favorite. Even some of the noble's who hated Marianne couldn't help but be charmed by her young daughter. She just seemed to have a way about her, a kind and gentle nature that one doesn't see very often if ever.
Then there was her brother. Carline had never seen a brother so completely devoted to his sister as Lelouch was to Nunnally. He was practically at her beck and call. Carline couldn't help but laugh at the thought that someday one or possibly both would be married off to some noble or foreign royal for political gain. She was sure Lelouch would go through Hell and back to keep Nunnally from such a fate. Even at a young age Lelouch proved time and time again that Nunnally was the most important person in his life, perhaps even more so than his mother. The only time Cassius ever acknowledged Carline was when he wanted to borrow some of her allowance.
All these things infuriated Carline.
Why was Nunnally so special and loved?
Why did she have such a caring brother?
Why did she have a mother that loved her?
Why did she have almost all their half siblings wrapped around her little finger?
Why the hell was she so damn sweet all the time to everybody?
WHY DIDN'T CARLINE HAVE ANY OF THOSE THINGS?!?!
**
When Marianne vi Britannia was assassinated, Carline didn't care. When she was told Lelouch and Nunnally were being sent to Japan, she could only say 'Good Riddance'. When the vi Britannia siblings were declared dead during the occupation of Japan, she was ecstatic. Finally she was gone, that repulsive Princess Nunnally was dead and gone for good.
She attended the funeral alone. Cassius didn't care and Andromeda was 'busy'. The sight that greeted the fifth princess could only be described with one word: depressing. Everyone was in tears except the Emperor himself who presided over the funeral. Euphemia was noticeably absent. Apparently she was completely distraught and refusing to come out of her room. Cornelia's face was covered in tear stains but she kept her composure. Occasionally she, Clovis, and even Schneizel threw dirty looks at the Emperor when he wasn't looking. They blamed him for this, that much was obvious.
As Carline stood amongst the sympathetic princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies, she heard two of them speaking amongst themselves, and their words made her blood run cold.
"Those poor children, especially the princess, she was always such a sweet little girl."
"Yes, I know. In spite of her…questionable heritage, she really was quite lovely."
That night, Carline went home, shooed the maids out of her room, locked the door, and completely trashed her bedroom while screaming at the top of her lungs. No one came to stop her. Not her mother, and not Cassius whom she knew could hear her as his room was right next to hers. When she was done, Carline collapsed on the bed and cried herself to sleep.
They still loved her.
The little bitch was dead and THEY STILL LOVED HER MORE!!
Carline le Britannia would destroy her room again seven years later when Nunnally vi Britannia was revealed to be alive and reinstated into the royal family. This time however, she didn't cry. She screamed her lungs out, swore in every language she knew, cursed the name Nunnally to the farthest fiery pits of Hell, but she didn't cry. When she finally let herself fall on the bed, she just stared vacantly at the wall. On her lips was a sigh of defeat.