Chapter 1: Always there

It was March of 2019 and the war that had shaken Britannia to its very core and liberated Japan as a free nation once more had been over for roughly a year. The 100th empress of the Holy Britannian Empire, Nunnally vi Britannia, had held the domain once ruled over by her corrupt father and older brother ever since the end of that terrible conflict.

Other residents of the rebuilt royal palace included Nunnally's older sister Cornelia li Britannia, and her knight Gilbert G.P. Guilford. There were other inhabitants, but they mattered little in the grand scheme of things.

As a knight of the second princess, Cornelia li Britannia, Guilford was in charge of protecting her. He took his job seriously and never did it just because he was ordered to do so. It didn't matter that he was just a knight to other people. This was a job he did because he loved her.

Guilford was still very tall and slender with long black hair reaching his mid-back. He wasn't blind but still wear special sunglasses to protect his eyes. After the F.L.I.E.J.A incident, he remained hypersensitive to light leading to him wearing sunglasses so that it didn't bother him.

Cornelia was still in her private bathroom getting ready to take a shower. She had a lot of things planned that still needed her attention. The empress, Nunnally vi Britannia was holding a meeting to discuss matters that still needed to be fixed for a better nation.

Guilford was laying on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling. It was very dark in his room with no windows. There was something that still remained in his mind after his accident.

Why did I survive that F.L.I.E.J.A blast? I remember when it occurred I could have sworn I knew death was calling my name. It just seemed like after, something else drew me away from that and… here I am. He thought to himself.

Guilford realized the only person he could think of was the second princess of the Britannian empire. That woman was known as none other but Cornelia li Britannia and he had been her knight for quite sometime.

After the war, the two of them had become quite close. Neither of them ever shared secrets and no longer worried about the agonizing stress brought on by the battling events. This was a time of peace not just for them, but for all of the nations that were finally free of the dreadful battles and constant killing.

"Guilford, would you quit daydreaming already?" A woman's voice snapped as she opened the doors connecting their room.

Cornelia and Guilford's rooms both connected since this way he was close if something were to happen to her. Guilford still risked his life for her even after the war was finally over.

"My apologies, your highness." His cheeks turned red as he sat up on his bed. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind still about what's happened."

"How do you think I should have my hair?" She placed her long purple hair up on different styles with continuous frowns. "I want to do something different but nothing is coming to mind."

"Why not try braiding it?" He suggested to her. "I mean, not all of your hair but you could braid part of it down and have the rest of your hair flowing around you."

"That's not a bad idea, Guilford." She wasn't sure she could do it on her own. "Do you know how to do a braid like that though? I could only do it if it was on someone else's hair."

"I could try it, milady." He climbed off his bed and entered her room. "This is the first time I've seen you take an interest in beauty."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She scowled as she looked at him through her large vanity mirror. "Is it such a bad thing for me to have interest in such things? I'm a woman of good looks so I must prepare myself as such."

"Well, I mean it in a good way… it just seems like you've taken interest in more things than you have when the war was still going." He explained to her. "You always seemed so stressed out and you never smiled unless it was with…" Guilford stopped before he said her name.

Cornelia had always gotten upset with anyone who said her sister's name. Euphemia li Britannia was a very important person to her. It still made her heartache whenever she thought about her sister's death.

"I just think that we should try to enjoy all the different pleasures. Things that we couldn't enjoy when we were stationed to fight during the war. There is a lot I have always wanted to do ever since I was a little girl." She started to chuckle a bit to herself.

"Oh? What kind of things would those be?" He grabbed the hair tie from her vanity dresser and placed it between the small loose ends of hair and the long braided part.

"I've always wanted to see the ocean. Ever since I was a little girl, I used to always here how nobles would take picnic lunches to the beach. Sometimes they would wade through the icy water and splash around." She explained to him. "These people always went on about how nice the cool sea breeze smelled."

"I never knew you had such an interest in the ocean, princess." He looked down at her and smiled. "There is still so much that remains a mystery about you. You haven't really told me much about stuff like this."

"Maybe its because of the Zero Requiem. It just feels so peaceful without dealing with all this stress with war and close relatives dying all the time. I was never bothered by my crimes before but… now I wonder if it was even worth it in the beginning." She shrugged.

"There were a lot of things that remain really unanswered." He had said. "Anyway, I finished with braiding. I apologize if its not very good, I haven't braided hair in such a long time."

Cornelia looked at it from the back with a mirror and smiled. Her knight still had the same calm gentle hands as he always had. Guilford was much kinder and open towards people.

It seemed that after the war, even he had taken a huge personality change. Cornelia always thought of him as just being loyal to her. Never once had he gained much reason to show the finer qualities of his kind and gentle personality. Guilford was an amazing person and it was something that made her smile everyday.

Guilford's cheeks filled with a light crimson when she smiled at him. Cornelia had also gone through a personality change herself. She was no longer the careless war-driven woman with no purpose but putting Zero's life to an end.

Cornelia was a very strong and passionate woman. The strong adoration she had towards both her knight and her younger half-sister, Nunnally had been the main reason. It made him see a brighter side to this beautiful young woman who used to show no mercy to those that didn't obey her orders.

"You know, I've realized that a lot really has changed after the war. It's not so much the world but us as in, you and I." He looked away before his cheeks turned red again.

"Guilford, do we really have to discuss this? If we don't hurry, we are going to miss the meeting Nunnally is holding." She stood up and searched through her closet.

Guilford blushed as he closed both their doors, giving her the privacy she needed. He was still very loyal to her and respected her every right for privacy. As her knight, he was very strong-willed and still following her orders.

Cornelia shifted through each outfit she had in her closet. There wasn't much there except for her battle uniform, her knightmare suit, a few ball gowns and things she never wore in her life. Her dresser was filled with clothes closely fitting to that of a commoner's like of clothing.

Most of the clothing she had bought now was fancy commoner's clothing. It was still widely expensive but at the same time, pleased her every need for beauty and elegance in which she desired. Cornelia wasn't the type of person who would toss money around during her shopping travels. Nor was she the type of woman with any need to pamper herself with tons of pleasantries that really were unnecessary.

In fact, Cornelia was her own individual person who still couldn't care about what other people thought of her. It was the one thing that still remained a part of her personality.

Cornelia finally pulled out a purple skirt that reached her mid-thigh. The sleeveless white blouse had also served well with the skirt she chose. Her arms slid through the purple sleeves of dark purple overcoat. The nylons she wore covered her white legs with a darker complexion.

Guilford followed after the princess whom he was assigned to protect. The two had entered the conference room. Nunnally was at the far end of the long table. Cornelia sat in the seat to the left of her little sister as her knight has sat down beside his princess.

"Now, what is the meaning of this, Nunnally?" Cornelia looked at her. "We can't keep having meetings like this unless it's completely mandatory."

"Yes and I have already apologized about the last ones. This is a meeting that will discuss all of the things that still need our attention. One of those things are our the children who live in all parts of the country. These children are orphans of war whose parents were lost right before their eyes." She had explained. "They live on the streets and have no place to go and some of them die before they even get a chance. This is a matter I wish to fix so that we can save these children and maybe give them an opportunity to find new families who are looking to adopt and make up for children they lost."

"Alright but… how do you intend to do that? Think about how long it's going to take for an orphanage or two just to be built." She replied.

"Nunnally, you shouldn't worry so much about the people." The shaggy blond haired man sitting across from Cornelia replied. "I know you want to do your best to bring happiness but…"

"Schneizel! Don't you dare fill my our sister's mind with your twisted thoughts." She sat up and stood over the table with rage. "I will not have you crushing her spirits for what she plans to do. Her intentions to bring happiness are probably far better than anything you can come up with."

"Dear Cornelia, you mustn't lose that little temper of yours. It's not good for your health one bit." He laughed deviously at his sister. "Nunnally needs to use her power for something everyone can make use of. We don't need any little things that would only make a bigger mess."

"Damn it, Schneizel… when are you going to realize that you aren't in control? You know that she has every right to make her own decisions." She snapped.

"Hm, is that so? You never thought that of little Euphy, now did you? Always protecting her and never letting her explore the world? Yet you believe that Nunnally has that right as of now?" He knew that Euphemia was a touchy subject towards her. "If only you would have let go of her, I bet she would still be here."

Cornelia's angry tears had mixed with her sadness to her sister. They trickled down her rosy red cheeks as she glared at her twisted brother. The two of them had always picked fights toward each other ever since he had shot her and almost killed her.

Guilford got up as quickly as she did while she stormed up to her bedroom. Cornelia slammed the door and sobbed quietly but hard into her pillow. Schneizel was always the same twisted bastard he had been and that would never change at all.

Cornelia heard a light knock against her door. She knew it was just her knight but when she tried to speak, all that came out were harder sobs. Guilford peeked inside her bedroom and saw her crying.

"You know you shouldn't take what he says seriously. He says those things to you because he knows that it will anger you. That's he wants, princess. I know it's hard to ignore what he says but…" He could tell she wasn't ready to talk yet but this still caused a sharp pain in his chest.

"It wasn't what he said to Nunnally." She sat up and continued to sob. "Schneizel had no right talk about Euphy that way. I admit that I always had a desire to always protect her but I never objected to her opinions."

Guilford hesitated at first until he finally placed his arms around her. Much to his surprise, she had actually place her head onto his broad chest and sobbed. Cornelia really had changed into a better person.

"But you should know that Schneizel doesn't see that. He's a selfish man that only cares about what is best for his own judgments." He blushed madly as his hand rubbed her back. "It doesn't matter if people are thriving because of hunger or lack of shelter. The empress is too naive and independent to follow his orders. She sees the little things that he wants to ignore."

"I know your right but… he still had no right talking about Euphy that way." She gripped his shirt while burying her head against his chest. "That bastard of a man never cared about my sister."

Guilford continued to rub her back, seeing that it calmed her down. His cheeks were still bright red as she hadn't once objected to this. Cornelia was probably so upset that she didn't realize this was unlike her.

"What do you plan on doing now?" He looked down at her. "After all, I think it's best if you avoided him for a while. You can always discuss these matters to her majesty in private."

"Who do you think was right about Euphy?" She finally said as she sat up to face him. "I want an honest answer as to why you think that."

"You… because I believe that you had every right to protect her. Anything can happen when there is a war. You really can't be sure of what smaller dangers could have caused her to be kidnapped or captured as a hostage." He explained to her. "I think in that respect, it was only natural for you to protect her from that."

"Guilford…" She said his name as her cheeks filled with a light pink. "…you're such a good listener and the only person I know that rushes to my aid whenever I shed even when tear."

Guilford's cheeks turned a bright red when she said that. It was obvious her personality had changed for the better. Cornelia no longer saw him as just a pawn for her battles just because of his skills. He was a very dear and close friend to her, whom she loved more than she believed.

"P—Princess… your words are… t—too k—k—kind for… for me to… a—accept." He looked away with disbelief. "After all I'm just your knight, aren't I? I'm only doing what I was chosen to do."

"You're more than that to me. Haven't you learned by now that this isn't just a knight and his princess?" She scowled as her finger poked his muscular stomach. "You shouldn't say things like that when you know we are always going to be the best of friends."

Cornelia placed her head on his broad chest. Her arms wrapped slowly around his back as his cheeks turned red again. Guilford smiled as he held her tightly in his protective embrace.

"Princess, you deserve so much more than you believe." His hand gently rubbed her back until she had fallen asleep. "It's just a matter of time before you really find the reason you still keep living."

Guilford frowned at those words while thinking of the accident. It wasn't so much as to why he had a reason to live but more of how he had survived such a deadly blast. His eyes would never be able to see light the same way again.

To be continued…