-Red Comet of Britannia-
-2006 a.t.b.-
It had been almost two years since the kidnapping of Princesses Cornelia and Euphemia, those involved in the rescue operations were quickly recognized by Britannian High Command for their service to the crown. Jeremiah Gottwald was now at the helm of the 'Purist' faction, arguing that only 'true' Britannians could defend the motherland and that those from the Areas should stick to supporting from the sidelines. Luciano Bradley, surprisingly caught the eye of Bismarck Waldstein, no pun intended, for membership in the Knights of the Round, in the hopes that the Knight of One could whip the sociopath into shape as a true soldier of Britannia. Char Aznable however, found himself in a more delicate situation, one that would doom him if he ever failed. He was dating the Emperor's daughter.
-Flashback-
-2005 a.t.b.-
Little over a year ago, the blonde man who sat outside the cafe was a mere soldier of Britannia, considered an ace but a soldier nonetheless. Since the mission to rescue the princesses, things started to change for the Red Comet. First, a large sum of money was given to him for his service to the crown. Second, he walked into the base one day and learned that he had just been given his own unit. Third, a courier approached him that morning to deliver a letter from Princess Cornelia li Britannia, requesting his presence the very next day.
"You seem to be the talk of the town," General Andreas Darlton chuckled, taking a seat beside the blonde.
"Is this how it all works?" Char sighed, "almost a year making the EU look like children with toy guns and I get promoted because I helped rescue a Britannian princess, one who didn't seem to need rescuing in the end."
"Gets you in the public eye," the scarred man answered, "military understands the importance of such things, helps raise morale too, anyway I'm proud of you, your own unit ."
"Yeah," the Red Comet sipped his coffee, "Axis...named it after a place I used to go to."
"A fort you and your friends named when you were kids?" the General laughed.
"Sort of," Char replied, "more like a nuclear equipped asteroid that I almost sent crashing to Earth."
"So I just heard some interesting news this morning," the annoyingly superior officer grinned, "concerning our Princess Cornelia."
"What do you make of it by the way?" the blonde inquired, unsure of what a royal invitation entailed.
"She'll probably make you a personal knight," Andreas replied, arms crossed, "good position, Waldstein's eye usually starts looking there for Knights of the Round candidates."
"And my unit?" Char asked, taking a bite out of his toast.
"That depends really," Darlton answered, ordering his own cup of coffee, "usually, you'd have to give up the unit, but the princess knows how to fight in and out of a Knightmare so your unit maybe reassigned as her official guard."
"That I remember," the Red Comet reminisced, "you trained her after all."
"Haha," the man laughed heartily, "that's true, but...well you'll figure it out when you see her."
-The Next Day-
Char arrived in the li Britannia's palace early in the afternoon, the chauffeur opened the door for the soldier and escorted him to the waiting room. At the center of the grandiose room sat one Cornelia li Britannia, in an elegant light pink gown that left those present, especially Char Aznable, dumbstruck. However, as one could expect from the future Witch of Britannia, wearing such a thing was not something she found an enjoyable experience.
"You..." the blonde struggled, his tongue tied.
"Er, yes," Cornelia truly felt suffocated in the dress, "I believe the letter was rather vague about why I summoned you here."
In the far corner of the room stood a woman who was a splitting image of Princess Cornelia save for having longer hair that was also a lighter shade of purple. The woman looked up at the Princess and gave a sincere smile that made the girl very uncomfortable.
"So you're that strapping young lad that Andreas talks about all the time," the woman giggled, "he thinks the world of you, his sons are even striving to be more like you."
"I had no idea," Char hummed, ""should I be worried?"
"Just don't embarrass yourself and Darlton will leave you mostly intact," the woman smiled, "Cornelia thinks the world of you as well, since the rescue operation she wouldn't stop talking ab-"
"Mother!" the princess snapped, "That was said in confidence!"
"And I have every confidence that the Red Comet here already has some ideas of his own," Cornelia's mother knew just how to push her daughter's buttons.
"..." the Princess pouted in silence.
"Actually Your Majesty," the blonde feigned ignorance, "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
"Whew," the future Witch of Britannia sighed mentally, "I didn't think it was possible for Mother to be so, so Mother-y."
"The worst possible scenario here..." Char analyzed the situation, "she ends up like Haman and nearly or successfully kills me."
"You two are so quiet!" the Empress clapped her hands, "Trying to read each others' mind? I have to tell Marianne about this, she'd love it."
A little known fact in the circles of the Imperial Family, Marianne Lamperouge, now Marianne vi Britannia was quite close to Cornelia and Euphemia's mother due to a rescue operation during her tenure as Knight of Two. The Emperor's wives have been the closest of friends since, much to the annoyance of the rest of the Imperial Family who didn't quite welcome the commoner born the Empress, now with the attention span of a small child, quickly ordered her chauffeur to take her to Aries Palace.
"So," Cornelia continued, face turning red like a tomato, "I haven't really said anything yet."
"Is the Empress always like that?" the blonde asked, his eyebrow raised.
"She's just that way because apparently men find women on the battlefield intimidating," the purple haired princess sighed, "if Lady Marianne caught Father's attention, then why can't I find a man of my own?"
"You do realize, Your Highness, that I'm standing right in front of you..." the Red Comet mentally facepalmed.
"Eh?" the princess nearly tripped on her own dress, "That, that has nothing to do with it, I saw your skills on the battlefield myself, Darlton is already far too precious to central command, Gottwald is doing this and that with his 'Purist' faction, and Bradley...Bradley is absolutely insane."
"Somehow, Princess Cornelia, I feel even worse with that being said," the soldier groaned.
"I apologize then," the princess said a big *hmph* at the end, "So, will you take the offer, to be my knight?"
"I would be honored to, Your Highness," the blonde answered with a practiced bow, Darlton had to teach him proper court protocol to avoid embarrassing himself.
And so begins the tale of the gallant Knight, clad in deep crimson, and the Lady of War he had sworn to protect.
-Back to 2006 a.t.b.-
Today was going to be a difficult day for the Red Comet of Britannia. Today, he is about to face an adversary that his conventional tactics would be ineffectual against. General Darlton had informed him that this enemy could end his promising military career in an instant, with attacks that could not be evaded nor defended against.
Today, Char Aznable meets the rest of the Royal Family.
Today was the Emperor's Birthday, where the Britannian royals along with their allied nobles would celebrate one of the rare pseudo-public appearances of Emperor Charles zi Britannia.
"I will be honest with you Milady," the blonde said with some reluctance, "I already hate this gathering."
"Your candor would have killed you were you in the service of any other member of the family," Cornelia spoke with mild irritation.
"Which is why I am very content to be your Knight," Char teased, "I find our honesty to be one of the few things that keep me sane in this cutthroat society."
"Hmph," the princess walked ahead of her Knight, "if it's any consolation, I have never really fancied any of these events, even Father's parties."
"And yet one more thing we have in common is revealed," the Red Comet caught up to his date.
Inside the beautifully decorated palace were no less than four hundred people, mostly of noble or royal descent. The Knight and his Lady approached a table to the far corner of the room, sitting on said table were Cornelia's mother, Empress Marianne, Lelouch and Nunally vi Britannia, and Euphemia li Britannia.
"You two finally decided to make it," Cornelia's mother said with a mischievous grin, "why the Emperor has already finished his speech, just what were you two doing?"
"Mother!" the Princess covered her face in shame, "Why does it always have to be about that?"
"That's because your mother is very bored dear," Marianne the Flash said with a straight face, "so this is Britannia's new poster boy eh?"
"I hardly think I qualify for that, Your Majesty," the blonde withheld his hero worship.
"And so polite too," Marianne flashed her fellow Empress a smile, "Cornelia, never let this one go."
"..." the Princess of Britannia could do nothing but grin and bear the shame.
-Meanwhile-
A familiar orange-haired man was walking towards the Red Comet, a big smile pasted on his face.
"Yo Aznable," the man said crassly, "how does it feel getting passed up for the Knights of the Round?"
"I never did congratulate you for that did I, Bradley?" Char replied coolly.
"You actually forgot?" Bradley said smugly, "Your memory must be fading already, man."
"No, I didn't forget," the blonde answered, "I really had no intention of congratulating you."
The exchange seemed to have attracted a lot of attention and Char, noticing this began distancing himself from the new Knight of Ten. Suddenly, the Vampire of Britannia made the biggest mistake of his life.
"Tch, just 'cuz you're getting intimate with the Princess, you think you can do that?" the orange-haired man blinked, not seeing the fist heading for his face.
"Say what you will about me Bradley," the blue-eyed man said with a death glare, "but remember, you're just a dog and your master is coming for you."
"What the-" the scum of the earth wondered as he picked himself up.
"Bradley!" the booming voice of the Knight of One arrived, his gaze set upon the downed Vampire.
"Shit, the man cursed under his breath.
"The Emperor heard every word," Bismark growled, "and in the spirit of Britannian honor, is withholding punishment."
"Thank God," Luciano sighed in relief.
"Instead, you and Aznable are too provide entertainment for today," the giant of a man said, rubbing his chin, "One-on-one Knightmare combat in an hour."
The Red Comet simply turned his back and started heading for his table, the looks of concern given by Cornelia and her mother reaching him, Empress Marianne however, gave a sincere smile.
And Char knew why she did as she did, unconsciously, the blonde smiled in return, the Empress knew he was going to enjoy this.
-End-
If anyone is concerned that Char is too snarky, I'll tone him down when the story gets serious, it's sort of justified that he basically had to grow up again, and people aren't supposed to do that twice, it symbolizes a sort of detachment to the world that treats him much younger than he is accustomed to be.