Chapter 10.134 A Royal Visit
A lone Gareth was making its way towards the Viceroy's Palace despite the current tense situation. And one Gilbert Guilford happened to be around to notice the arrival. Having been assigned to guard duty by Lady Cornelia—much to his objection, but he wouldn't dare disobey said order—he had to stay behind and protect Princess Nunnally in her steed. In which he didn't really mind it, considering that he'd seen how much Lady Cornelia has cared about the younger one. Considering the loss of Princess Euphemia a few months prior, he knew that his Ladyship would be greatly affected should something happen to yet another sister of hers.
So, he has agreed to stay... despite the fact that there wasn't really much he could do at the Palace compared to how he could do while on the battlefield. Or at least, that's what he thought before one of his subordinates informed him of the incoming Gareth.
So there he was, waiting for it. In case it was an enemy... he shouldn't let down his guard when an attack happens. And then he saw the Knightmare approaching the courtyard. Curiously enough, the Knightmare seemed to be holding something in its arms.
The Gareth landed, and true to his earlier assessment... the Knightmare did seem to be carrying something. Yet Guilford didn't expect it to be a young man. How did the boy manage to stay on those arm-mounted Hadron Cannons without falling—!
He exited his own Knightmare, before heading over to greet the newcomer.
When Guilford reached the other Knightmare, he could see that the said young man was not just any nameless person. Dressed in an official Britannian uniform, he couldn't help noticing the eyepatch that the boy was wearing over his left eye. The young man had also a small metal case that he brought with him.
Guilford eyed the boy silently as the boy opened the case right in front of him. He almost let out a cry of surprise as he thought he caught sight of the royal sceptre inside the case!
But the boy didn't take out the sceptre, but instead, the boy took out something else that appeared to be made of something metal and some other materials. Guilford gasped as it turned out to be a foldable arm crutch; in which he belatedly noticed that the boy had also some sort of brace on his right leg. He hastily went over to help the boy down and on his feet.
"Thank you..." said the boy before glancing up towards him. "... Sir Gilbert. It's amusing for us to meet again like this after so long."
Guilford stared at the young man oddly. "Ah-I'm sorry... have we met before?"
The young man just shrugged at him. "A few times... not that you'd be aware of it. Could you help me carry that case I'm bringing?" Guilford wasted no time to grab the case as the boy turned around towards the Knightmare. "You can go now, Kallen. I'll take care of the things here... so you can go to do what I've told you before,"
"But Lelouch, promise me that you'll be careful!"
Guildford glanced up towards the Gareth. For some reason, he couldn't help feeling that he recognized the voice. The same with the boy too... but he couldn't place it to where he had heard it before. The boy let out a sigh as if this was not something the Gareth pilot had said to him for the first time.
"I know. Just go already. I'll be fine," said the boy again as the Gareth finally straightened up, and preparing to set off again. By now, the rest of the palace's security units have been alerted to the Gareth's arrival. Guilford hastily ordered them to dismiss and let the Gareth leave.
"Thank you, Sir Gilbert." Guilford turned his attention back towards the boy as the boy gave him a neutral look. Suddenly, he couldn't help noticing that the boy's eyes looked somewhat similar to Lady Cornelia's.
Who... exactly was this boy?
"Now... Sir Gilbert, could you escort me to the Viceroy's office since there's something I needed to do there," said the boy again as Guilford snapped himself back to reality.
"Ah, yes. Certainly, my Lord..." he hastily gathered his wits before ushering the young man towards the palace's entrance.