Chapter 11
"Mao... It's been a while."
"I missed you so much, C.C. I'm sure you missed me, too, right?"
C.C. carefully looks at him through the mirror. The crazy smile is perfectly plastered on his face completely matching the malicious glint in his purple eyes. It immediately brings her back to her helpless state when they last saw each other and she tries not to show her fear. She tries not to let him know that her fingers are trembling and her heart is beating fast. Yet, the heat radiating from his hand is a terrible reminder that he is really physically here - that they are inside a room again, only the two of them and no one else.
"How did you know that I am here?" she calmly asks.
The man finally lifts his hand only to clap twice. Yet she feels like she can breathe again with the sudden lightness and coolness on her shoulder.
"You didn't even answer my question, C.C. Did you miss me? I need to hear you say it, love."
Standing up, she turns around and faces him. "That is quite childish of you. Mao, how did you know that I am here?"
"Pffft. Well, if you're really insistent and since I can't bear to see you beg me, I'll give you a clue." The man steps forward which makes her step back. "Ginger hair, green eyes." Another step forward, another step back. C.C. takes note of how far she is from the door and the windows. "Hmmm. Fair skin and tall height." He continues to move towards her like a predator slowly prowling to his prey. C.C. already bumps against the edge of the vanity desk leaving her nowhere else to go. The chair she was sitting on a while ago is the only thing that separates them now. She gulps. "A royalty, actually she's the only princess of a certain kingdom and she loves spitting the name... 'Lulu'. What a disgusting name." Mao spits on the ground as if it can erase the name from his mouth.
"P-Princess Shirley?" C.C. utters in disbelief.
Mao claps again which is accompanied by a manic laughter. "You're correct! That's right, that airhead of a princess was the one who helped me orchestrate my meeting with you. I didn't really expect that she would be able to pull it through, though."
"You're lying. She can't do this."
"Oh dear, she already did. If you'd like, let's call her." While Mao dials her number, C.C. once again studies her surroundings for a possible exit. She needs to think of a plan while he is still distracted.
"I know you're thinking of escaping. Don't tire your pretty head of yours, love. I locked the door from the outside and that blonde boy was stuck in the basement, thanks to the princess's knight. The other security outside however, would only think that this is just a normal peaceful night. That is if they are not yet killed by my men. Oh, hi Princess!"
C.C. is about to scream for help when a large hand quickly shots infront of her and tightly and painfully covers her mouth. So tightly she can feel her cheeks being bitten and her teeth mashing together. Tears start to form in her eyes. She uses her free hands to remove and hit his hand but he is strong and larger and oh God, she is lacking oxygen.
"Mao, is everything okay?" she hears the worried voice of the princess. She tries to shout but only a weak whimper comes out.
"Everything is fine, Princess. I would just like to thank you for helping me with the plan. C.C. and I are having a very nice conversation and I think she is starting to realize that what she is doing is wrong."
What?
"Oh, I'm so glad and relieved to know that. I hope you can convince her to stop lying to Lulu. The prince adores her too much and I don't want him to get hurt upon knowing the truth. Thank you for doing this, Mao."
Huh? She's lying? To Lelouch?
"It's my pleasure, Your Highness. Oh, and good luck to your confession to the prince."
"Thank you, Mao."
"Good bye, Princess."
C.C. immediately and desperately gasps for air as soon as Mao's hand is remove from her mouth. She holds her chest as she tries to inhale air as much as she could. "I..." gasp "... don't understand..." gasp "What is she..." gasp "... talking about?"
"Hmmm? Well, I just told her some little lies about you being my girlfriend and made her believe that you cheated on me with the prince and now you are deceiving him. How easily I manipulated her, that little princess. She is so blinded by her dumb infatuation for him that she believes anything a stranger would tell her as long as it involves his safety."
"You're a monster!" With all her strength, C.C. throws the chair at him but Mao anticipated her attack and quickly grabs it with his both hands and fights her.
He smirks at her. "You're just wasting your strength. If you'll just come with me peacefully, you're not going to be hurt, C.C."
"As if."
Her left hand lets go of the chair and grabs the face powder behind her. She throws it at Mao creating a thick white cloud making the man cough. C.C. takes advantage of the situation and this time grabs the perfume and sprays it on his face specifically aiming at his eyes.
"Aaaaaaaaaarghhhh! DAMN YOU, C.C.!"
She immediately runs to the window and attempts to open it when all of a sudden, a gunshot hits the glass.
Surprised, she stares at the broken glass for a moment before getting her wits and cowers on the floor as Mao continuously fires aimlessly.
Another bullet hits the wall above her then another one hits the vase.
Keep calm, don't panic. Keep calm, don't panic.
"You'll regret this, C.C.! My eyes!"
Standing up, she attempts to get to the window again when heat suddenly spreads on her right shoulder. She glances down and finds blood quickly sipping through her clothes.
Keep calm, don't panic. Keep calm, don't panic.
Mao is still covering his eyes and continues to fire everywhere. A bullet just passes by C.C.'s ear. Okay, she can't even stand up properly without getting shot.
Getting down, she crawls to the bed and hides under it. She needs to wait for him to calm down. At this rate, it seems like he doesn't care if he kills her or not and that makes him more dangerous.
She tests her right shoulder and immediately feels a stinging sensation causing her to bite her lips. The wound is not that deep but she needs to stop the bleeding. Yet how? For now, she covers the wound with her hand even though it's not enough.
Breathing so hard, a mountain of thoughts tries to enter her head but she can't afford to have a mental breakdown right now. She needs to focus, focus, focus to survive. She still needs to go back home and tease Charles and Marianne more. She still needs to be back home to see and gush over the twins. She badly needs to stay alive to finally give Lelouch her answer to his first question. She must stay alive no matter what.
Suddenly, everything is silent.
The firing stops leaving dusts and wreckage on the floor.
C.C. doesn't dare to make a single sound.
Each breathless second feels like the ticking of the clock counting down to a dreadful ending.
"Finally!" she hears Mao rejoiced. She watches as his feet walks slowly to the left as if he is taking a stroll in the park. She slowly crawls to the right. "I know you're still here, C.C. Come out, come out. I promise I won't hurt you."
The girl cannot decide if it's a good thing that the bed is wide providing her a larger hiding place or a hindrance in making a quicker escape.
"Please come out, dear C.C. I've missed you so much. Don't you want to talk to me? I am hurt."
He is crazy. He is madly and insanely crazy.
"They won't let me have a picture of you inside the prison. I missed your green hair, oh you don't know how good it smell. It drove me crazy when you were with me. Please, C.C. let me smell it again."
Disgusting.
She feels a movement above and his feet start swaying in the air. He must have sat on the bed.
"Well then, I guess I'll just do all the talking since I've got a little secret to tell you. A secret of your beloved prince."
C.C. doesn't respond.
"Did you know that Lelouch has a plan to assassinate me? Yes, you heard it right. The prince who everyone thinks as kind and modest is a secret murderer. The prince who everyone admires is a future criminal. Imagine what it would do to his image if that comes out."
C.C. closes her eyes. As much as she doesn't want to believe in his words, she knows what Lelouch is capable of doing for the sake of the important people in his life. Please, don't let that be true.
"He actually hired an assassin to spy on me, tsk. I can't believe he got a hold of Xingke. That bastard Tianzi loyalist. I thought I had disposed of him permanently. Anyway..." She hears metals clicking. "Of course, the brilliant me quickly found out about their plan. Huh, they thought they're being discreet about it but since I was in prison, I've been carefully planning my revenge taking in every possible move he would make. That prince of yours, he is so easy to read especially when he is angry." A manic laugh. "Is that who you chose over me? Someone with problems on anger management? I think you can do better, C.C. Like choosing me."
Suddenly, a phone rings. C.C. holds her breath as she listens to her ringtone. Damn, she left it on the bed.
"Well, well, well, who this might be? Oh look, it's the prince. Hello, Prince Lelouch."
Silence.
"I'm glad C.C. mentioned me to you and that I made an impression to the first prince of Britannia..."
"Hmmm? Oh, unfortunately she can't talk with you at the moment because we're currently playing 'hide and seek' and she's under the bed. Now, now you don't want her to get caught..."
"We're all alone inside her room and now I can do everything I want. Can you imagine all the things that I want to do to her?"
"Right, right. I have no time listening to your useless threats. Good bye, I still have a game to play."
Without any warning, his face appears infront of her causing her to gasp in surprise.
"Hello there, love."
Quickly, she rolls away and goes out of her hiding place. She runs to the broken window but a hand grabs her waist and pulls her back. Her body collides against Mao's. Hot, foul breath invades her ear as he whispers, "Got ya."
Keep calm, don't panic, focus.
Drawing a deep breath, C.C. recalls all the things she had learned from the self-defense classes she had taken after that incident.
With her elbow, she hits his side causing the man to loosen his hold which is enough for her to escape. Then she kicks him on his groin so hard that he doubles over and throws the gun under the bed in the process.
Yet, Mao catches her ankle causing her to stumble on the ground. Pulling her long hair hard, he almost snaps her neck in the process. "You can't get away from me."
She kicks him on the shin and twists his arm then kicks him again harder on his groin making the man scream in agony.
C.C. spends a split second contemplating on whether to stay and get the gun risking the time she had bought or to run ahead and takes advantage of the time to go far away. She chooses the latter and quickly jumps out of the window (silently cursing as she steps on a broken glass) and runs and runs and runs through the dark bushes, blindly guessing her way away from the rest house. She thinks of shouting for help but she remembers Mao mentioning having men around the area.
Where to? Where is the road? Where is help?
Meanwhile, her injured shoulder is starting to hurt from all the fight she did and she knows that a lot of blood had already been lost. This makes oxygen scarce for her that she decides to stop running and hide behind a large tree where she sits on the ground.
This should buy her enough time to rest and think of her next move. She just needs to be silent and attuned with her surroundings. Her left foot is already stinging. Checking it, she finds it bloody with a few glass shards sticking out of her skin.
Oh, this is going to hurt.
She bites her lips as she painstakingly removes each shard, sweat trailing down her forehead. A whimper comes out of her as she successfully removes one. She waits a few seconds, letting the pain subside before doing the same with the next one. The sharp edges painfully slice her skin – slowly and thoroughly – and she couldn't help but swallow her screams. Her soft, tortured whimpers echo in the forest like a lonely cry of a baby wolf left behind by its pack.
Finally, when the last one was out of her skin, C.C. lets out a ragged breath as she leans her head against the tree trunk. She looks around trying to see a path that will take her out of the forest. But with only the moon as her source of light, everything is a big black shadow of what they used to be during the day. And she won't be able to walk that far anyway for she is feeling dizzy... dizzy... dizzy...
C.C. closes her eyes. It must be because of her continuous loss of blood. She is suddenly tired.
Is this going to be it?, she thinks. Won't she be able to see her loved ones for the very last time and say good bye to them?
"Papa, Mama."
A single tear escapes her eye. This isn't happening. She refuses to believe that this is going to be the end. She still has a lot of things that she wanted to do, still has a lot of places she wanted to visit. She still needs to graduate and become a staff in a museum where she can apply all her knowledge in history. She still needs to stay longer and thank the royal family for welcoming her and making her a part of their family. And most importantly, she still has a person to make a promise of a lifetime.
"Lelouch..."
Placing her hand on the trunk, she slowly stands up – legs shaking, arm unsteady. Every step away from the tree is a grueling task to an uncertain destination. But she won't give up. She. Must. Not. Give. Up. She had survived a knifing on her chest, it will be such a cruel joke if a bullet on her shoulder will be the end of her. Step, pant, step, pant. She will survive this, too. She will live and come home to them, she is going to tell Lelouch what she told the princess and more. She will –
Her legs give out.
Her head hits the soft ground.
She couldn't stand anymore.
The ground that was brown is now stained with red.
Clenching her fists, she silently prays for everyone's happiness and safety. She prays for Charles and Marianne's long-lasting relationship, for the twins to grow up into kindhearted and humble royalties, though they already are. She asks for Suzaku's steady rise in the ranks and for his relationship with Euphemia to become stronger and closer. Ah, what if they got married?, C.C. thinks. She would have wanted to see that. Euphemia in her glorious white dress and Suzaku wearing a blinding white knight attire. It would be a sight to behold. She would have liked to be a godmother of their future children.
C.C. tries to smile. That would be nice.
She looks beyond the darkness, not really seeing anything. Is it really that dark? Or is she losing her sight? She doesn't know.
So she closes her eyes.
And most of all… Most of all, she asks for Lelouch's forgiveness for she would break her vow to stay with him. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Please forgive her. She lo –
Before she loses consciousness, she thinks she heard some footsteps from afar.
She didn't find out who they're from.
"Don't leave any tree, bush and ground uninspected. If you needed to climb a tree, do it immediately. Remember, finding C.C. is the top priority! Understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"And if you find Mao, bring him alive to me. Now, start searching!"
The securities scramble away, immediately run and search just as what he issued. He almost follows them when a hand grabs his arm and stops him.
"It is better if you stay inside the car, Lelouch and wait for the results." Suzaku holds his eyes with such fierceness and disagreement but he doesn't heed his advice.
Lelouch shrugs off his hand from his arm. "No. I am going out there and find her." He begins walking again but the knight blocks his way.
"Suzaku," he warns.
"Lelouch. Listen to me this one time, please. There are many risks and dangers that are awaiting you there. I already agree with this crazy mission but I cannot let you put yourself in the middle of danger where you could possibly get hurt or worse, die. "
A gun shot rings in the forest at the same time, Suzaku's radio clicks.
"What is that?"
"An encounter with the enemy's men, sir. We killed one of them."
"Okay, continue your search. Don't come back here empty-handed."
"Yes, sir!"
"See? That's what I'm talking about, Lelouch. People are dying here and YOU. ARE. A. PRINCE. How many times do I have to remind you that a lot of future and lives depend on you? Please, listen to me."
Lelouch grits his teeth and clenches his fists. "But C.C. is also out there."
"And we're going to find her. We will do everything, I assure you that. C.C. is my best friend, too. I won't let anything worse happen to her. So please…"
"Promise me," the prince pleads desperately. "Promise me that you will bring her back alive. Promise me, Suzaku. Because… Because she is your future queen."
Taken aback, Suzaku is speechless for a moment with the sudden revelation. "You mean… Well then, I swear in the holy name of Britannia, we are going to bring C.C. back at all cost."
"Alive."
"Alive."
Another gunshot echoes in the background.
"I'll go in there now. I'll see you later."
"Take care, Kururugi."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Lelouch resignedly gets back in the car and rests his head on his hands. Breathing deeply, he attempts to calm himself because goddammit he should be outside with them looking for her. His heart and mind will not rest as long as there is no assurance that she is safe and away from Mao.
That bastard. He had been trembling in anger since he talked to the disgusting piece of shit. He can still recall the dread and fear that he had felt when he didn't hear C.C.'s voice, but Mao's instead. How his body froze for a second upon confirming that he really did escape their surveillance just like what Xingke had reported and it was a dummy who was in the hotel making them believe that he never left the place. Just a few minutes after their meeting, he received a call from the assassin informing him that Mao could have possibly tricked them.
And when he called C.C.'s phone, his greatest fears were confirmed.
All of their planned attacks were immediately thrown out of the window and now they're operating based on the situation they are currently in.
God just let her be safe. Just have her escape Mao and hide in the forest. He trusts C.C.'s instinct and strength. If there is someone who can rival his intelligence equally, it would be her, but… But this is a different situation. This is a matter of life and death.
He has been trying so hard not to think of anything bad that could have happened to her to keep his sanity. He has been blocking all negative images that tried to invade his mind and make him lose all hope that she is still breathing. The one hour travel to the rented rest house which was originally two was the most frustrating one hour of his life. He just stared blindly at the sceneries they were passing by while Suzaku explained the plan – willing the car to go faster, wishing that he could just teleport himself to the rest house and protect her from everything.
Goddammit, just… please.
Lelouch covers his face in frustration.
If he would be stuck in here for a while, might as well make an important call.
"Lulu?"
"Princess Shirley," he breathes. "Princess, where are you?"
"Oh, uhmmm, I'm actually just getting ready for bed in the rest house. Are you calling to check on C.C.?"
"Yes. How is she?"
"Well, she retired early so she must be sleeping now. Seems like she got tired from all the activities for today but we had fun. I was surprised that she's so good at horseback riding."
"She is. Princess, can you do me a favor?"
"I thought I told you to call me 'Shirley' instead." A giggle. "What is it, Lulu?"
Lelouch unclenches his fist and flexes it. "Shirley… Can you please go to C.C.'s room and wake her up? I need to tell her something very important."
Silence.
"Shirley? Are you still there?"
"Uhhh, uhmmm, yeah. Well, wouldn't she get angry if we disturb her sleep? I mean, she seems too tired earlier."
"She wouldn't. And if she will, she won't be angry at you. I'll take the blame."
"But, w-why don't we just let her rest? She's really exhausted, she couldn't even keep up with our conversation a while ago."
"Are you hiding something, Shirley?"
"What? No! I just… I just think…"
"I understand. I'm sorry for intruding. You're right, we should let her rest."
"I'm really sorry, Lulu…"
Stop calling him that.
"… can we meet some other time? I mean, are you free the day after tomorrow? I want to tell you something."
"I don't know. I might be busy that day.""
"Oh, how about next week?"
"I'll check my schedule first with the secretary. I'll call you back then."
"Okay! I'll look forward to it."
He ends the call without properly saying good bye.
If there is one thing that he couldn't believe in this whole ordeal, it is the involvement of Princess Shirley. The princess who he considers as a good friend and companion was the one who brought C.C. to Mao himself. He vaguely remembers asking Suzaku while they were on their way what had motivated the princess to conspire with Mao and his knight's answer surprised him.
"It must have something to do with you," Suzaku solemnly responded.
"With me?"
Suzaku sighs. "I think you're the only one left who isn't aware that the princess has a huge crush on you. Perhaps, even inlove with you. And you and I both know that she is too good to do something like this unless she doesn't know Mao's real motives and he told her lies to make her trust him."
Lelouch shook his head. "You're already acquitting her of her sins."
"I'm just saying… I just couldn't believe that she will intentionally do this."
Well, Lelouch couldn't believe, too.
A commotion outside catches his attention and he immediately leaves the car.
The first thing he sees is the bruised pale skin that can rival the white surface of the moon. Then the scarlet blood that is running freely down the arm bringing a scarlet tinge against the pale hue. The person's clothes are stained with both blood and soil, and is ripped and crumpled everywhere as if the owner just came out of a battle, neither as the hero nor as the villain.
Just seeing the person's appearance makes Lelouch lose all his hope.
He is frozen. He is shocked.
God, please help him.
Suzaku scans the dark forest for any sign of life. It is quiet and still as if nothing has ever disturbed its peace. Yet, he already heard three more gunshots from afar and his men reported two enemies killed and one of their men wounded.
Good thing, he had convinced Lelouch to stay or else he is another person to worry about. He just hopes that the prince will stand by his words and not go into the forest without his knowledge.
Refocusing his senses, he listens to any soft sound and howl coming from the depths of the forest. It had been minutes since he and his men enter the place but so far they haven't encounter any sign of life, be it an animal or an insect.
The longer that everything remains silent, the bigger his worry and fear become.
Moving further in, he remembers those times he and C.C. would play games that were definitely risky and adventurous, causing the prince to worry about them perpetually. C.C. might be Lelouch's other half, but she is also Suzaku's partner in crime. They may not share the same bond as what she had with the prince, but their connection is close and strong enough that they consider each other as best friends, too. Their age difference is not a hindrance to treat themselves as equal to each other.
They are the unholy trinity after all.
And it would greatly devastate him if three becomes two. Good Lord, he doesn't want that tragedy to happen. Please let her be alive.
He passes by a small stream, yet no one seems to have been there. No traces of footsteps and of blood can be found on the ground though, he badly prays that blood won't be involved in this search.
Another gunshot from afar.
He sweeps the bushes, kneels on the wet grass, climbs the tall rocks but still no C.C. They are running out of time. How long has it been since the start of the search? An hour? Is she still here? Perhaps, she has gotten away. Perhaps, she is already safe and is finding a way to contact them. Perhaps, she is totally unharmed after all.
He wants these wishes to come true. Let them be true.
He shouts her name which is followed by his men but they receive no response.
"C.C.! It's me Suzaku! Are you in here?"
No response.
He walks further more without getting any result.
"Where are you, C.C.?" he mumbles.
Suddenly, his radio clicks.
"Sir, we found her!"
When Suzaku arrives at the site, he almost falls to his knees upon seeing her devastating state.
Lying on the ground, unconscious, bloody and dirty, C.C. looks like a sleeping angel that had been tortured by the devil. Her pale white skin does not even glow in the darkness but quickly reminds Suzaku of death.
Death. No.
He runs to her and immediately carries her in his arms. Shaking her small body, he calls, "C.C. wake up! C.C.!"
Silence.
He puts his ear on her lips and waits for the agonizing seconds. Finally, he feels a faint air.
She's breathing. She's barely breathing.
Oh, God she's still alive.
He looks around the people infront of him, unaware of the tears that are falling down his cheeks.
"We need to save her."
The guards step out of the way as the prince eagerly walks to the person until he is face-to-face with him, the dreadful feeling in his chest just multiplied upon laying his eyes on his terrible condition.
He is being held by Gino and Xingke who also appear very much exhausted and wounded, though Gino looks dustier and a bit disoriented.
"Your Highness," Xingke starts, "We finally capture Mao a few hundred meters away from the rest house. He - "
Without any warning, the prince grabs Mao's collar and brings his face dangerous to his. "Where is C.C., Mao? Where is she?!"
Mao's purple eyes struggle to open amidst the swelling and bleeding. "C.C.? C.C. my love, where are you?" he answers incoherently.
Lelouch pulls his hand away and lands a strong punch on Mao's left cheek which makes the latter stumble back and almost fall to the ground if not for the assassin and the guard holding him.
Fist stinging, the prince flexes his hand itching to punch Mao's face again. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"
Mao's purple eyes finally look at him but they are unfocused and confused. Lelouch grits his teeth. This is useless. The bastard is so badly beaten up he can't even follow his train of questions. It has been what? Thirty minutes? One hour? Since Suzaku went to search for her. And there are a lot of things that could happen in an hour. An hour could be too late.
Suddenly, a silent crazy laugh comes out of Mao until he is full blown laughing and coughing like a mad clown in a bad horror movie.
"So you are the prince of Britannia, huh? The one my C.C. couldn't stop talking about whenever we were together? The one who always stood between us even though you were far, far away? YOU BASTARD! YOU STOLE HER AWAY FROM ME! You wanna know where she is now?" He laughs again. "She is gone! I took her away from you, away from everyone! We will be together when I escape again. Do you really think that you'll be able to lock me up? I got power in the Chinese Federation. I'm going to take what's rightfully mine and go to the farthest place where C.C. and I can live together. Well, that is if she's still alive. I forgot to tell you that I rained gunshots on her a while ago."
"SHUT UP!" All of a sudden, a gun is pointed at the mad man's forehead. Lelouch is trying so hard to control himself from pulling the trigger because he badly, madly wants to blow this bastard's brains up.
"Yes! Pull the trigger, Your Highness! Kill me with your own hands, dirty your hands with my blood and in return, your beloved will hate you for being a cold-blooded murderer. Kill me, Prince Lelouch! Come on!"
This time, it is Lelouch's silent mad laughter that sends shivers to the skin of everyone who is witnessing the dark side of their prince. "Then you never know C.C. well to assume that. I can kill you, I will and C.C. will understand why I did it so there's really not much for me to worry about, isn't it?" He touches the tip of the gun against Mao's forehead.
Realizing that the prince is truly serious with his threats and finding no hesitation or remorse for what he is about to do in his eyes, Mao's eyes widen and fear begins to mirror in them. "P-People will despise you if they find out that their prince is a murderer. Your family will hate you!"
Lelouch looks down at him coldly. "What people? There are just you, me and the guards here. Do you really think that they will announce this to the public? I assure you, they witnessed bloodier scenarios than this and they were all kept under the rug... Now, where is C.C.?! Answer me before I pull the trigger without any regret." He pushes the gun against Mao's forehead harder.
"I-I don't know. She ran away. She must be somewhere out there, losing blood, fighting for her life." Mao laughs crazily again. "That's what she deserves for lying to me, for not choosing me over you. That bitch deserves to die."
"MAO!"
Lelouch's finger pulls the tr -
"Lelouch!"
Lelouch almost drops his gun and quickly forgets the existence of the criminal before him upon hearing Suzaku's distraught voice.
He would never forget how afraid and desperate his best friend is during that moment - how for the first time in their friendship, he sees him crying and shaking so hard, as he carries a mass of red in his arms.
Red. Red. Why red? Lelouch doesn't remember any red. It should be green. There shouldn't be any red on her. And some of those red are already crusty. Lelouch is confused and shocked. He freezes on his place upon laying his eyes on the limp, lifeless form of the girl he loves so much. Eyes closed, arm hanging on her side, looking extremely and dangerously deathly pale.
Deathly pale.
Death.
Dead.
"C.C.?"
Whew, finally got to post chapter 11. This should have been out a little earlier but I suddenly had work in the weekend T_T sorry for the delay.
Anyway, how are you? It's been a while since I made a note. I would like to thank everyone who continuously anticipates and supports not only The Prince and The Witch, but also my other ongoing series. Really, thank you, thank you. I greatly appreciate your reviews and feedbacks. Also thank you for the warm reception for Geass Playlist and the song requests. I'll try my best to deliver you good stories based on your requests. And for the unexpected support for the Cosplay Club, wow I didn't expect that it would be liked so much. My gratitude to everyone. If you haven't noticed, it has a fixed schedule of updating.
Speaking of schedules, so far this is the best schedule that I can handle in terms of updating all of the ongoing series. I have work for almost 10 hours every weekday and is on-call during the weekends, then I also have other extra activities aside from writing. I'm sorry if the time in between the updates are longer than before but as I've said, this is the best schedule I can work with wherein I can update regularly all of the series and still post other one shots, especially that I only got to write during my travel to and from work and during the weekends. I don't like to post rushed stories/chapters so writing them takes longer. I am hoping for your understanding and patience.
Well, that's it. I hope you liked the chapter. And again thank you very much!