All right, I did it.

My randomness just reached new heights. As always, I blame Clovis. I think he secretly ships LuluSuza. Actually, I believe he ships about every pairing involving Lelouch, but he favours LuluSuza. There's just no other explanation for this!

As you might already have guessed, this is a Code Geass version of "The Frog Prince".

A somewhat... different version.

Enjoy!

Chapter Title: Random Prologue of Doom

Rating: T

Pairing: LelouchxSuzaku, SuzakuxLelouch - feel free to change the order to suit your tastes!

Prologue

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Once, in olden times, when wishes still had power, there lived a King.

The King himself was not particularly blessed with pulchritude, but he had one-hundred-seven beautiful wives, all of whom had equally beautiful children. Each of them originated from a long line of nobility and even royalty, and they took pride in the knowledge that the blood flowing through their veins was of the most pure and precious kind, so exquisite that they had been deemed worthy by the King himself.

However, amongst them, there was one exception.

The King's most beloved consort had not a single blue-blooded ancestor – she was a commoner by birth, and in her heart, would never truly belong to the court. But the King did not mind, for she possessed a fire the others did not, and her children were no less extraordinary than herself.

There was a girl, so tender and sweet that only one of her many sisters could rival her innocent kindness. Despite her young age and the abundance all around her, she was modest and conscious of other people's needs, showing compassion towards even the lowliest of her subjects who, in return, loved her as much as a child Princess could be possibly loved by her people.

But maybe even more remarkable than her was her brother. He, also, was kind at heart and adored by many; but where his younger sister was open and often jaunty, he was more reserved and exceedingly prideful. By the time he was nine, he was already known throughout the land for his outstanding intellect that was only rivalled by one of his brothers, a man who had seen many more summers than him.

The young Prince was also beautiful - of delicate built, but graceful rather than frail. It was whispered amongst the servants working at the palace that even the sun, who saw so much, was dazzled by his appearance when it shown upon his face, and it was only a single one of his siblings who possessed both the self-esteem and personality to openly regard himself to be of equal beauty. If one had asked a neutral party, they would have been told that the Prince in question might indeed possess the looks to back up his claim, but was so vain that his younger brother was certainly more lovely than him.

But life is hardly constant.

The beautiful Prince did not cry when his mother disappeared one day, nor did he cry when he was told that none of the King's men had done anything to find her. There were only shock and confusion, and, later on, when his father, who had been thought to love them so dearly, dismissed him like a bothersome fly, anger. He became cold and hateful, and from that day on, he was only admired from afar.

Behind closed doors, the people praised the boy's strong will and perseverance, traits valued very highly in the Kingdom, but they did not dare say anything, for the young Prince had angered his father. Rumour had it that the King had called upon the evil witch that ruled over the forests and lakes to punish his insolent son.

"You are arrogant," the King said half a year later – the witch had been busy eating the national dish in the palace's cuisine until then - in a booming voice that made the Prince freeze in fear, "for even though I have given you food and clothing, and every single one of the riches you possess, you challenge me as if it were your right. You have never achieved a thing on your own, and therefore, you yourself are nothing. You were alive because I wanted you to be, and now that you have lost my favour, you shall be dead – to me and my Kingdom, and to the whole world besides."

And the witch, whose heart was ice, followed the King's command for reasons that she knew no mortal could ever comprehend. However, when she laid hand on the shocked boy's forehead to place the ever-lasting curse upon him, she felt the same melting flames touch her heart that had burned within his mother, and paused in her actions.

Without words, she spoke to him, "I am the feared witch that even the elements bow to, and it has been decided that I shall bring you pain and suffering. But I also shall bestow a gift upon you, if it is your wish to continue living amongst men even though you will no longer be one yourself, and if you promise to fulfil my wish when the time comes."

And because the Prince did not want to die, he accepted her terms.

When the morning came, he was declared dead, taken by the evil witch that lived in the forests. The people could not remember what had transpired between him and the King, and they grieved their monarch's loss.

The boy's gentle sisters cried many nights, and the brother who rivalled his intelligence almost did the same only a few months later out of sheer boredom. Even the most narcissistic of his siblings...-

Well, actually, after five years or so, the vain Prince's all but humble self-esteem caused him to boldly visit the forests his brother had supposedly been killed in, and the dryads found him to be so charming that he soon learned from them what had really happened to his brother. And even though the witch's magic – or rather, her threat to cut off his beautiful hair and turn it into an ingredient for her favourite meal - prevented him from saying anything, the only tears he was crying from there on were those of laughter.