Chapter 41

The Allotment of Succession

It was with a noticeable wince that Lelouch straightened in his office chair, one that caused Kallen herself to grimace slightly, considering she was the one at fault for the cardinal's travails. That it only took a few days for Lelouch to recover well enough to resume his duties, albeit of a slightly lightened workload, was quite the feat by the grandmaster. Exactly what that was would remain a mystery, to Kallen at least, C.C. having pointblank refused to explain when the Japanese girl made an indirect inquiry. Whatever the case, the important bit was that Lelouch was back on his feet, mostly, and that Kallen had a chance to convey a few words directly.

"Your Eminence," she began. "My sincerest apologies for having abused your integrity in such a manner. It was never my intention to ask you to commit yourself so wholly, and at such cost. Your word, that you gave, you have never foresworn it. So, I am sorry." Kallen bowed deeply. "And thank you."

Thanks to the prevalence of its aristocracy, the act of bowing was, if not commonplace, then at least not uncommon within Britannian society. Still, the underlying nuance behind the motion differed between Japanese and Britannian society, such that the bow Kallen now performed did not quite conform to any Britannian convention, marking hers to be a Japanese bow, one meant to emphasize the sincerity of her apology.

"Your apology is accepted," Lelouch said, "and your thanks is welcomed. Raise your head, I would have us speak on eye-to-eye."

Kallen did so, meeting the cardinal's gaze with her own.

"Ultimately the decision that day was mine and mine alone to make," Lelouch said, "as was the risk to take. As reckless as it might have been, considering the circumstances, I doubt I would have been able to do nothing, even had you not been so distraught. I, dislike, the notion of anyone losing their mother because of the callousness of others."

To that Kallen felt her guilt stir anew, at both how far Lelouch had ended up going for her sake, and for having accused the cardinal of breaking his word. She after all still had a mother awaiting her back home, while Lelouch, for all the surrogates that arose to provide him succor, was still bereft of the one that gave birth to him.

"Your Eminence," Kallen began again, then visibly struggled with her next words. "I'm, not very good at this sort of thing. And I know you have a lot of people already that'll be there when you need them. But, even so, I just want to say, you can count on me too."

Despite still being in some mild discomfort, Lelouch's expression softened.

"I've lived long enough, Kallen, to know that it is never a bad thing to have even one more person that one can count on."

Kallen nodded and even smiled slightly, letting Lelouch know she shared that sentiment wholeheartedly. After the verbal reaming she had gotten from the grandmaster, Lelouch's demeanor was genuinely reassuring. The cardinal was not soft, Kallen had witnessed firsthand just how hard and sharp an edge Lelouch could turn against those he deemed enemies. For his friends however, for his family, he could show a tenderness that would make hearts throb. Not hers, at least not in that sense. But Kallen did find herself greatly appreciating still being counted amongst Lelouch's expanded cohort. She would have missed all of them if the grandmaster's displeasure with her had resulted a permanent severance.

"Regarding the recent unpleasantness," Lelouch continued. "While I wish I could say the matter has been wholly resolved, there are still a few loose ends that need to be dealt with, some of which involve you, or at least your family."

Kallen nodded, grimacing again. "I take it you mean my stepmother, Your Eminence?"

"Yes. While Ms. Stadtfeld has been cleared from knowingly partaking in Refrain, it has also been determined that she was a longtime customer of some of Babel's other elicit services. Namely, the provisioning of sexual partners that legally cannot provide consent."

Kallen felt a strong urge to strangle her stepmother, not that she would have acted upon it even were the woman present. The Japanese girl had never particularly liked her stepmother, and it was a feeling not helped by Yvette's own obvious disgruntlement with Kallen's presence. That this never erupted into some sort of public schism was simply due to the two giving each other a wide berth. Knowing what she did now, Kallen was not sure if she could have restrained her past self had she been similarly so informed. Probably not, in all honesty.

"My understanding is that that's a capital offense," Kallen said flatly.

"So it is," Lelouch nodded. "Am I to take it that you do not hold enough sentimentality for Ms. Stadtfeld to plead her case?"

To that Kallen slowly shook her head. "I didn't get along with her, but that has nothing to do with this. What she did to those, kids, was abhorrent. I can't in good conscience ask any sort of clemency for her."

"And your father?"

Kallen's face contorted unhappily. "I don't know. He might, I'm starting to learn that he has a very particular sense of responsibility, and despite everything, Yvette is still his wife."

"I see." Lelouch tapped his temple. "If Lord Stadtfeld does make the plea, can I expect that he'll already be prepared to pay the requisite price?"

Kallen blinked. "Umm, maybe? But, are you saying there is a way for Yvette to avoid punishment?"

"Avoid the death sentence, yes," Lelouch said. "Avoid punishment, hardly. It is within my authority as a direct agent of the crown to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Anything more than that would require a direct appeal to His Majesty."

"I see," Kallen said softly, then grimaced a bit. "And are you actually willing to commute her sentence?"

Not that Yvette had actually been convicted yet, but with the weight of evidence against her, that was a forgone conclusion.

"If Lord Stadtfeld is prepared to give me what I want, then yes, I'm prepared to expend the political capital that the commutation would cost me."

"And what exactly is it that you want?" Kallen asked warily.

"That he abdicates his title in your favor."

Kallen blinked. She blinked again.

"WHAT!?"

"For better or worse, the mere fact that your father would ask for Ms. Stadtfeld's sentence to be commuted despite the severity of her crimes makes him, ethically suspect, and thus unsuitable, for the responsibility that I and the Crown need borne out by whomever bears the title of viscount," Lelouch stated, with far greater composure than Kallen was managing at the moment. "Yes, the Lady Yvette is his wife. There are however some deeds that cannot and should not be defended or excused, not even for family. Making exceptions to this was how the Empire ended up needing a coup to unseat the Emperor Fredrich. Better that the title of viscount be vacated for one who won't succumb to such temptation."

Put that way, Kallen could understand the rationale behind Lelouch's decision. She even agreed with them to an extent. Still.

"I would have no idea how to be a viscountess."

"You seem to be doing well enough in your civics class," Lelouch said. "And whatever your father's other shortcomings, the deputies that he's appointed to oversee your family's lands seem competent enough. You will likely have time to ease into your role as you complete more of your formal education."

While that might all be true, there was still one caveat here.

"Are you, fully aware of the accommodation I reached with the grandmaster?" Kallen asked.

Lelouch pursed his lips. "Evidently not."

The girl took a deep breath. "For, reasons, I expect my service to Eden Vital to be a lifetime commitment."

That saw Lelouch massage his temple.

"I see. Well, while that does complicate matters a bit, the challenges are not insurmountable." The cardinal flashed a slight smile. "Rest assured, Kallen, that whatever troubles might arise, you will have my help, and Eden Vital's as a whole, if that is of any comfort."

Kallen returned one of her own. "I think that it actually is, Your Eminence. Your help, definitely. And over time, Eden Vital's as well."

Even just a few days ago, Kallen would not have thought so. Remarkable how quickly things could change. The price might have been higher than Kallen would have been ready to pay had she known beforehand, but all in all, she did feel more assured of her place and whom she was amongst.

A knock sounded and a very apologetic looking Lucretia actually stuck her head in.

"Your pardon, Your Eminence, Sister Kallen," she said formally, "but Lady Millicent is here and is insisting on seeing you."

"She's early," Lelouch said, glancing over at the clock. "Very well, let her in. Assuming she's not standing right behind you already."

Pushing the door aside revealed Lelouch to have been fairly prophetic. After an appreciative nod to the other blond-haired girl, Milly entered with purposeful steps.

"Kallen," she greeted.

"Milly," Kallen said. "Umm, sorry about the whole fiasco."

That seemed to catch Milly short as she blinked blankly at Kallen.

"What do you have to apologize for?"

"Oh, umm, I guess you weren't told," Kallen said, not sure how to further broach the matter.

Milly sighed. "Apparently not. And don't worry about it, Kallen. I know you well enough that whatever you think you're at fault for, you didn't mean it to happen."

"Umm, maybe it'd be better if you at least wait until-"

The older girl gave a wave of her hand. "I'll decide what's better for me, Kallen. If it'll make you feel better, you and I can have a heart-to-heart of our own once I've finished grilling Lelouch. Fair?"

Kallen smiled slightly. "Fair enough, Milly." And then cast a sympathetic look at Lelouch as she bowed slightly. "I'll take my leave then, Your Eminence."

Lelouch bade Kallen permission to retreat by way of a nod, which the girl was all too happy to do, closing the door behind her. Lelouch rose, his motion noticeably stiff, enough so that Milly was by his side immediately to offer her support.

"Are you sure you're actually alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Tolerably," Lelouch said. "I presume you still want me to take the rest of the day off?"

"And tomorrow too. Don't think I didn't notice you intentionally scheduled me for the evening," Milly said. "I trust you've wrapped all of the truly pressing matters for the day?"

Lelouch chuckled as he settled down onto the sofa with Milly.

"You know me so well. The matter with Kallen was last of the day's affairs, so I am free to be coddled, or admonished, by you as you please."

Milly rustled Lelouch's hair. "Don't get too ahead of yourself. Sancia might have kept me in the overall loop, but she said it was on you to explain to me exactly what happened to put you in the hospital."

Lelouch ran a hand through his hair to smooth out the strands Milly had disturbed.

"I presume you have a general understanding of what was discovered at Babel?"

"The human and drug trafficking?" Milly made a disgusted face. "Yes."

"Yes, well, one of the victims we found there was Kallen's mother."

Milly's eyes widened as her breath caught. "Is she?"

"Her condition was, precarious," Lelouch said. "Kallen herself was extremely distraught. In light of what happened to my own mother, well, I could hardly leave them be, so I performed an act that while stabilized Ms. Kouzuki, resulted in a significant physical backlash upon my own person."

"Not sure that entirely makes sense," Milly said, "but I presume some of that Eden Vital supersecret is involved."

"More or less," Lelouch did not entirely confirm.

"I can see why Kallen felt the need to apologize," Milly said with a sigh. "Well, I'm not going to hold her being distraught over her own mother against her. And you seem to be on the road to recovery, so I'll leave it at that."

"That would be appreciated."

"Though," Milly said, regarding Lelouch with beady eyes, "you have a troubling tendency to dive headfirst into danger at the behest of various ladies. First Kaguya, and now Kallen."

"I hope you aren't looking to add yourself to that list," Lelouch said wryly.

"I would bloody well hope not," Milly said a bit more sharply. "I'm not one to nag or stew about the way your responsibilities keep putting you in the crosshairs, Lelouch, but I'm certainly not looking to add to the times I'm left wondering whether you'll be coming back to me."

That saw Lelouch's lips thin. He reached out to caress Milly's face.

"My apologies, I should not have been so flippant."

Milly sighed, pressing her own palm over Lelouch's hand. "You don't need to apologize, Lelouch, for things that you need to do. And I'll settle for you not doing things that you need to apologize for."

"Hrmm, that's a rather high standard," Lelouch remarked.

"You've lived up to the ones set by everyone else," Milly said. "Are you really going to fall short of mine?"

The cardinal chuckled. "I was never one to back away from a challenge. I will certainly endeavor to live up to your expectations, milady."

"Still," Milly said as she snuggled up against Lelouch, "I wouldn't mind a token gesture from time to time, to help reassure me that you at least feel some mild regret for the putting me through such harrowing distress."

"Well, if milady would accompany me, I can see about remedying that need now," Lelouch said as he rose, pulling Milly up with him.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You did show up a bit early," Lelouch said, "but fortunately preparations were already complete."

The two made their way out of the office, Lelouch leaning a bit on Milly. That elicited a slight look of concern, but the cardinal gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. The distance they walked was not inconsiderable, but seeing as Lelouch did not appear overly winded, Milly was willing to indulge her boyfriend, especially since he was trying to do something nice for her. And that something, apparently had something to do with food.

"A kitchen?" Milly remarked as they entered the room. "I didn't know the palace had ones as small as this one."

"A side kitchen, though amply equipped nonetheless," Lelouch said. "And quite often used as well, I had to make reservations to make sure no one else would be in here."

No one else aside from the two of them plus Lelouch's attendants, at least. The cardinal was accompanied by them even within the relative safety of the palace.

"So you're going to make something for me?" Milly said with an inquisitive smile.

"You did express interest in sampling my culinary works to the grandmaster," Lelouch said. "A cake would take too long, but my skills extend beyond confectionary."

A growing smile was creeping over Milly's face. "So we're to have a handmade dinner by you?"

"By us," Lelouch said, flashing a slight smirk. "You do know your way around the kitchen, do you not, Lady Ashford?"

"Enough to pass home econ," Milly said, rolling up her sleeves. "Gotta say though, wasn't expecting you to put me to work for my own dinner tonight."

"Sometimes a change of pace is warranted," Lelouch said, putting on an apron and holding one out to Milly.

The girl gave a slight chuckle as she hooked the strap over her head. "So, what're we cooking up?"

"Thon Basquaise," Lelouch said, and when Milly tilted her head quizzically, further elucidated. "Tuna steak with sauteed vegetables."

"Huh, and where did you learn how to make it?"

"The Citadel being located where it was, supplies of fresh meat tended to be rather constrained," Lelouch said, opening the fridge and taking out the stored ingredients, including a very large slab of tuna. "Fish on the other hand was always usually available, and the chefs there did what they could to keep meals with them from becoming too monotonous. Still, they were constrained by the fact that they needed to cook for a large number of people, so there was a limit to how fancy they could make any particular meal. If you wanted something tastier, you needed to cook it yourself. The cooks themselves were more than happy to teach anyone interested."

"I suppose that's as good a motive as any," Milly said, looking down at the vegetables Lelouch and put in front of her. "So what do you want me to do with these?"

"Cut the peppers open and remove the seeds and pith," Lelouch instructed, "then dice them. Once you're done with that, also dice the tomatoes."

The cardinal himself was already getting to work on the shallots and garlic, peeling away the outer skin with practiced ease. At the rate he was going, Milly would be way behind, so the girl hurried to catch up.

"The dish's name sounds French," Milly remarked as she worked.

"The grandmaster traces her lineage back to southern France," Lelouch said, "and often enjoys a taste of nostalgia. Offering her good food is usually an effective means of plying favors out of her."

"And yet her favorite dish actually seems to be Italian," Milly said. "Pizza, no?"

Lelouch gave a snort. "That you offer to her if you need to beg forgiveness."

"Really? Sounds like something Kallen would appreciate knowing."

"And if you want to beg forgiveness using pizza, you'll need to be an absolute master chef to make a pizza good enough to assuage her, as if you offer her something she considers subpar, you'll only further rile her anger."

"Ah, so the grandmaster is an all-in sort of person," Milly said.

"Quite."

A sizzling sound could be heard as the raw, seasoned tuna hit the pan. In another one, Lelouch was heating up some more oil. When he looked over at Milly, the girl promptly put the prepped peppers before him with a smile. Looking them over, Lelouch gave a satisfied nod. Not a single seed or bit of pith remained, just the diced skin. He dumped them, alongside the shallots and garlic, into the second pan. While that simmered, Lelouch flipped the tuna steaks to seer the other side.

"How much longer will she be here in Japan?" Milly inquired as proceeded with the tomatoes.

"Another few weeks at least," Lelouch said with a shrug. "She has a business trip out to Kyoto, and after that will be accompanying the inspection to the Kamine Island thought elevator. After that, I expect she will leave for the homelands, or perhaps the Citadel."

"You know, I've been getting a few inquires about the grandmaster," Milly said. "People asking if they could get a meeting with her and whatnot."

"Those that warrant a face-to-face with her have already been scheduled for," Lelouch said.

"Maybe so, but the fact that she so rarely shows that face makes her feel rather mysterious," Milly said. "Almost, suspicious, even. Combined with how she so rarely makes a public appearance, and there are basically no photos of her, well, people wonder."

In an earlier age, C.C. had actually made many personal appearances, with her making use of one retainer or another's power to manipulate others' perception of her so that their impression could be muddied to prevent this. These days however, with the proliferation of cellphones and their attached cameras, it was all too easy for the public to end up with enough photographic evidence to realize that C.C. did not age, and that each of the aliases were just that, different names for one woman. It actually annoyed the grandmaster to an extent that she had to restrict her appearances, but at the same time she was possessed of an anonymity that, if she chose to exercise it, functionally allowed her to just disappear into the masses with a change of clothes, compared to her more public subordinates. It was something C.C. did on an annoyingly regular basis, one of several reasons Lelouch was so wary of the grandmaster's presence in Japan. If he was not careful, she would be giving him the slip, for which he would catch all sorts of merry hell from his colleagues. Not that they would blame him, per se, but being the last person who was supposed to keep tabs on the grandmaster meant Lelouch naturally ended up being the one everyone went to when they needed something from C.C., which was distressingly often.

"People will always wonder," Lelouch said. "Fortunately I am not in charge of the order responsible for satiating that curiosity."

"Oh, I don't know, I'm sure being cardinal of the Order Dialogus could be fun in its own way."

"Who said anything about Dialogus? It's the Sabine researchers that demonstrate just how unending human curiosity is."

Milly chuckled. "I suppose so, though the Sabine representatives I've spoken with haven't been too kooky."

Lelouch took the tomatoes Milly put in front of him and added them to the toppings. He then proceeded to flip the tuna steaks again.

"That is because you have the good fortune of not being a subject of inquiry for them," Lelouch said.

That elicited a slightly louder bark of laughter from Milly. "Shouldn't you be flattered others find you so fascinating?"

"Not all of us are as blessed with energy as you, Milly," Lelouch retorted.

"Could've fooled me, what with all the pies you seem to have your hand in," was Milly's not unjustified response.

Perhaps recognizing his girlfriend had a point, Lelouch made no response and instead concentrated on the cooking. Satisfied with the progress of the steaks, he topped them with the sautéed vegetables before covering them up.

"Will that be enough for all three of us?" Milly asked.

"It should be, based on how much you and Euphemia tend to eat at the dinners I previously attended."

That saw an eyebrow arch upwards on Milly's face.

"What?" Lelouch asked blankly.

"You were actually paying attention to how much we ate?"

"Of course not, I was paying attention to my own food," Lelouch said. "Sancia and Lucretia however were able to give me a precise measurement."

Milly glanced over at Sancia, whom was standing guard, though the girl's expression remained blandly attentive.

"That almost feels like an abuse of your attendants' abilities," Milly said.

"You would be surprised at how many mundane applications we've discovered over the years," Lelouch said. "Say a recipe calls for three kilos of baking chocolate, or a liter of flour. There's no need to bother measuring things over and over, I simply ask Sancia and Lucretia to prepare the requisite amount, and they can provide me them down to the gram."

"Is it my imagination, or were all the applications you found related to food?" Milly asked, clearly amused.

Lelouch seemed to take a moment to formulate a response.

"Once Nunnally was cleared for solid food again, I wanted to make sure she would be eating right, so I started cooking meals for her. We were never short of food at the Citadel, but there were certain things that were rationed because they could only be shipped in. That meant I had to be efficient in my cooking, and if we were short on something, be able to adapt the recipe basically on the fly. My cohort helped with my experiments, and it got to the point where we basically cooked our own meals for a few years, only using the cafeteria when things became too busy."

That told Milly everything she needed to know about the intimacy that Lelouch inviting her to cook with him represented. This was something he did for family, and something he did with family. Family by choice, as much as family by blood. That it was something so mundane was by itself reassuring.

"And I can imagine just how much more delicious it was to eat something all of you worked together to make," Milly said, though her smile lessened slightly with her next words. "Still, it feels like you were in a giant rush to grow up and become independent."

"I probably was," Lelouch agreed. "But at a certain point, I was able to see how, everything I achieved, it was with the support of all the people around me. That for all of my personal, individual efforts, none of it would ever be able to match what I could do together with others like my cohort. And that what successes I did achieve, much credit is owed to those that helped me along the way."

"Good for you," Milly said, the smile back, wider and approving. "Way too many people never make that realization, they always think they got to where they were by their efforts alone."

"That seems a very lonely sentiment to hold," Lelouch said, picking up the cover and inspecting the steak and toppings as he did so.

With a satisfied nod, he scooped it all out onto three plates already readied, then opened up a rice cooker that had been humming along keeping its contents warm.

"Rice?" Milly said. "I thought you said this was a French dish."

"While rice has long been more commonly associated with Asiatic cuisine, it does have a long history of cultivation in Europe as well," Lelouch said. "All the way back to the classical era, for that matter."

"Huh. Guess you learn something every day."

"The Japanese tend to prefer short grain, stickier rice," the cardinal continued his explanation. "My own is the more aromatic, long grain variants. Here."

Milly leaned over to get a whiff of the steaming hot rice in the cooker. "That smells, almost sweet."

"And goes well with grilled or fried food like tuna steak," Lelouch said.

"Always mindful of the details, I see," Milly said with a smile.

"They can make all the difference, after all," Lelouch said, picking up a plate. "Shall we?"

Milly followed suit, while Sancia took up the third one, and they proceeded to a small dining room. Seated inside already was Euphemia, who broke off her chatter with Lucretia and stared wide-eyed as Lelouch and company entered. She continued staring even after Sancia put the steaming plate of food in front of her and withdrew.

"Lelouch?" Euphemia finally managed, then looked over at the girl seating herself. "Milly? What's going on?"

"Lelouch decided, on account of everything that's happened, he would cook a little something up himself for us," Milly explained.

Euphemia looked down at the meal. "You made this?"

The cardinal tilted his head aside. "Is that so unbelievable?"

"Well, no, I'm just trying to think when was the last time I ate something cooked by someone in the family," Euphemia said.

An eyebrow now also rose. "No one cooks in the family?"

"Mother is, culinarily challenged," Euphemia said with a delicate smile.

"As is your sister?" Lelouch said lightly.

Euphemia pointedly averted her eyes while Milly tried, but failed, to stifle a giggle.

"Still, may I take it then that you being healthy enough to cook means you have recovered from your, incident?" Euphemia asked.

"That I have," Lelouch answered. "I apologize for worrying you."

The princess let out a slight sigh. "I suppose it's too much to ask just how you got hurt?"

"At this point in time, yes," Lelouch responded frankly.

"Don't worry, Euphie, I've already guilted him a fair bit about this," Milly said.

While the older girl certainly meant that to be reassuring, it also was further evidence of the relative distance of the two women with Lelouch. Namely, whatever distance Euphemia was at that obliged Lelouch to keep certain things secret from her, Milly was just closer enough to share in those secrets.

"I suppose that will have to do," Euphemia said with a weak smile. "And I presume this hand cooked meal also serves as part of your apology?"

"You presume correctly."

"I see." Euphemia took a bite of the tuna steak and spent a moment or so chewing before swallowing. "Well, it is certainly a fine apology."

"And I'm going to be enjoying it on a fairly regular basis for the rest of my life," Milly said with an almost smug smile.

"So you can also be bribed by food," Lelouch was not without some wit of his own. "Good to know."

Which of course in turn earned him Milly's almost trademark raspberry. Watching the antics, Euphemia giggled.

"You must know quite a few recipes," the princess said. "What made you pick this one?"

"I recalled you were quite partial to fish when younger," Lelouch said. "I was betting that your tastes had not changed too drastically since then."

For the second time this evening Euphemia's eyes widened.

"You, remembered that?"

"Of course," Lelouch again answered with mild nonchalance. "I also remember the time when both you and Cornelia were over for dinner and the two of you couldn't agree on whether the main course should be grilled fish or pork chops." The cardinal cast a sideways glance at his girlfriend. "Cornelia did always prefer red meat more."

The wide grin on Milly's face was just shy of her bursting out into open laughter.

"How did the disagreement get settled?" she asked.

"It fell upon me, the most mature of the lot, to make the suggestion that we could have both," Lelouch said with feigned weariness.

That was enough to set Milly off, while Euphemia puffed her cheeks out in a slight pout. It quickly shifted over to a nostalgic smile however.

"Once Nunnally joined us for such meals, she would always side with me however," the girl said. "And she also grew to have a preference for fish."

"It is a preference she has maintained," Lelouch said. "Fortunately, fresh fish is perhaps the one type of meat the Citadel is able to keep in stock with relative ease, of the saltwater variety at least."

"Might I one day be able to visit this Citadel?" Euphemia asked. "Considering how many years you spent there growing up, I'd like to see what sort of place it is."

Lelouch made a slightly odd expression, not one of disapproval but certainly not one of enthusiasm.

"If you want to convince Victoria and Cornelia to let you traipse down to the Antarctic, you can convince them yourself," Lelouch said. "Just don't use me as the reason you want to go, I've had quite the earful as it is from them."

"Shall I broach it as me visiting Nunnally, then?"

Lelouch pursed his lips before shrugging. "She would likely get off more lightly than I, so I am more than happy to let her draw some of Cornelia and Victoria's attention."

"Well, who knows?" Euphemia said. "Perhaps Mother and Cornelia would want to visit as well."

That saw Lelouch stare off into the distance with a seemingly forlorn look. Just what sort of outcome he was imagining to elicit such a reaction the cardinal did not share, leaving it up to the imagination of the two girls. That only made them more determined to one day see this place that Lelouch had called home for so long.


The process of flushing Refrain out of one's system was, while not exactly a routine procedure, at least not a particularly complicated one either. Patients who underwent this procedure were usually kept for observation afterwards to make sure their body did not suffer from too great a shock from being detoxified, as was the case for the woman currently resting in this particular ward. The only major difference was that this ward also doubled as a prison cell, insomuch as the doors could be locked from the outside and cameras kept an eye on the occupant inside to make sure she did not try anything untoward. Such measures were probably unwarranted, but there was no harm in being on the safe side.

One additional such precaution was that no visitors could enter the room unaccompanied, so Albrecht was followed in by a largish man wearing an orderly uniform. That this accompaniment resulted in a certain lack of privacy was a moot point, considering the other means of surveillance present. If this lack at all disturbed Albrecht however, the man did not show it. It was with a steady, composed expression that he took a seat next to the bed.

"Yvette."

The woman flinched slightly at being addressed but at least deigned to look over at her husband. There had not been much joy in their encounters for quite some time now, but this one promised to be even less pleasant. That tended to be the case when one side had been stabbed by the other, after all. While Albrecht was mending well enough from the wound, that he had suffered one at all probably played its own part in why the orderly accompanying him was so bulky with muscle.

"I have been approached by representatives of His Eminence, and spoken with my own lawyers," Albrecht began without further preamble. "The charge against you is a serious one, and frankly with the weight of evidence, an acquittal is unlikely. And if you are convicted, well, the automatic sentence for that particular crime is capital."

One might be able to accuse Albrecht of a certain insensitivity with how frank he was in discussing his wife's prospective death with her. That he had been stabbed by her might see the viscount extended some leeway, but Albrecht was not one to mince words at the best of times. After all, the truth was the truth, one's personal disbelief did not oblige reality to entertain one's delusions in any way, shape, or form.

"I have directed my lawyers to defend you as best they can, but it would behoove you to make arrangements," Albrecht continued. "Once you are discharged, the authorities expect to move you to a minimum-security penitentiary, after which most of your interactions will have to go through legal representatives."

At that Albrecht stopped speaking, waiting for Yvette to start responding. The woman's jaw tightened in clear frustration.

"Is that really all you have to say?"

"What else would there be for me to say?" Albrecht retorted.

Yvette gave a scoff. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything more. You never did make any secret of your discontent with me, not since the day we were betrothed."

Albrecht's eyes narrowed. "My own recollection of those events is very different. If you however persist in believing the delusions you suffered on account of your Refrain poisoning, at this point there's clearly nothing I can say to dissuade you."

"How convenient," Yvette said snidely, "that you get to blame any such discrepancies on a drug."

The viscount's expression visibly hardened. "According to the doctors, your use of Refrain is a recent affair. Whatever decisions that led you to partake in sexual activity with underage adolescents, those were made without any undue external influences."

"So you're saying it's all my fault!?" Yvette exclaimed. "That your actions, taking in your ex-wife as a mistress, naming your daughter by her your heir, none of that played any part in ruining my life!?"

Albrecht pinched his brow in exasperation. "I have not laid a hand on Kohaku since my betrothal to you, but you are clearly not going to believe me on that count, so I'll just say, yes, me taking her in played no part in ruining your life. Your actions at Babel alone have done far more to contribute to that than quite frankly anything I have done or could have done."

"And what need would I have had to seek out comfort elsewhere had you not been so unfaithful?" Yvette persisted.

"Comfort?" Albrecht began with a low hiss, but his voice did not stay that way for long. "You committed rape, Yvette! On children! You might as well have signed your own death warrant the moment you engaged in such debauchery! There is absolutely nothing that can be done to save you now, nothing that I, or your own family, could do to spare you your fate, nor at this point are any of us under any obligation to even try. As I am still your husband, I am prepared to have my lawyers represent you in court, but that is as far as my assistance will go."

Yvette flinched, but the same stubbornness that saw her stick to her path of self-destruction asserted itself quickly.

"How convenient for you then, that I'll soon be out of the way and you can just get on with the life you always wanted."

"In more ways than one you are entirely correct," Albrecht however shot back without hesitation. "I will no longer have to put up with, or cover for, your selfish acting out. You have also ensured Kallen's ascension Viscountess Stadtfeld, instead of merely being a spare for a child of ours."

While Yvette had been taken slightly aback by the initial bit, the latter part was enough to rile her up again.

"Spare me that song and dance, Albrecht. You never intended for your daughter to merely be a spare, you were always going to use my infertility as an excuse to make sure she inherited."

"If that was my intention, why would I have bothered assisting you in trying to find a treatment for your condition?" Albrecht replied acidly. "The irony here, Yvette, is that if you had not gone on this self-destructive rampage, you might have actually gotten your wish."

"What are you talking about?" Yvette said incredulously.

"Whose hospital are you in right now, Yvette?" Albrecht responded, but he did not wait for an answer. "It's always been something of an open secret that Eden Vital has access to certain technologies, medical and otherwise, that have yet to be disseminated to the general public. Not surprising, considering Eden Vital's Order Sabine is openly acknowledged as a major research and development institution. It was not until Kallen joined Eden Vital, however, that our family had any connections that would let us even make inquiries about if they had anything that might help you. Well, it turns out that they did. In fact, they have a procedure specifically for helping women that are physically incapable of carrying children to term still have them, and it was one they were willing to grant our family access to on account of Kallen."

At this point Yvette was finally stunned speechless, her mouth agape but no words leaving it.

"Kallen was never interested in becoming viscountess," Albrecht continued, "and was perfectly fine with any other child of mine inheriting. Now however, thanks to the ungodly mess you've caused, her ascension is all but guaranteed. Indeed, by this time next month she'll be Viscountess Stadtfeld after I complete the abdication process."

Somehow Yvette's eyes widened even further, causing Albrecht to snort.

"For all your vindictive venom, you aren't entirely wrong to claim I hold some responsibility in this ungodly mess. While I am certainly not guilty of any crime under the letter of the law, my mere association with you makes certain of my positions untenable, one of which is my position as head of the House of Stadtfeld. If nothing else, my poor judgment that allowed you to perpetuate such crimes for so long renders me unqualified to hold that title. Fortunately, I did have a spare prepared, and so Kallen will be stuck with the title that she never wanted in the first place."

The man rose, placing a hand over the bandage that still covered the stitched wound.

"I could have kept these developments from you, so that you didn't have to face the noose aware of just how narrowly missed the chance was for you to get everything you ever wanted. At this point though, I think I'm warranted the satisfaction after everything you've done. I have also spoken to your father and have managed to convince him to not disown you over your indiscretions, so that you will at least have next of kin to be notified to receive your body. That is however the last service I will render as your husband, ever."


News of the depraved affairs happening at Babel had leaked long before Lelouch's condition stabilized, shocking not only the general populace of Administrative Area 11, but the wider world at large. That the cardinal was the one to act so decisively in unearthing and bring to account those criminals responsible was enough to earn him some respite from having allowed the abuse to continue even after he became viceroy, though even his critics were willing to concede that Lelouch wasn't omniscient. Still, there was a growing disquiet that the cardinal had yet to make any formal statements, or to even show himself in public, since the conclusion of the raid on Babel. Such an absence was highly unusual, as in the past whenever a crisis erupted, Lelouch could be seen front and center handling the matter while also reassuring the populace. The announcement that the cardinal would finally be making a broadcasted statement was then met with some relief, as well as a not inconsiderable amount of curiosity as to why it had taken this long.

The image of Lelouch that appeared on television screens across not just Japan but the world depicted the now well-familiar visage of a handsome young man in the black and red of Eden Vital. One difference from previous such appearances however was a subtle, albeit noticeable scowl visible on his face. The cardinal was clearly unhappy. One might say he was even angry. That served as a rather big hint as to why it took so long for the statement to be arranged.

"Subjects of the Holy Britannian Empire," Lelouch began, his voice clear but also stern. "I am before you today to clarify the recent revelations regarding the Babel resort. The most salient point is that the resort's involvement in human and drug trafficking are substantially true, but there are innumerable details that cast the entire affair under a far more complex facet."

The cardinal was not wasting any time with pleasantries, he was jumping right to the heart of the matter.

"From records seized at Babel, we have ascertained that the overall scheme began operation approximately five years ago, when construction of the resort proper was completed. The number of victims is estimated to number in the hundreds, though the obfuscation attempted by Babel's management means we have needed to extrapolate from a range of sources to arrive at that count. The one count we do have with certitude however is the number of victims rescued from confinement." The cardinal's eyes seemed to almost flare. "Sixty-nine men, women, and children were discovered in Babel's depths, all of them with visible signs of abuse."

Anger. That was the barely hidden emotion seething beneath the cardinal's composed demeanor. And it was clearly also something Lelouch did not have fully under control. More than one viewer was starting to suspect that much of the delay in conducting the statement was due to the cardinal needing that time to get his anger enough under control to not have it roil further in so public a manner.

"The victims were subdued by Babel's management by a combination of physical threats and narcotics, and according to testimonies gathered it was not uncommon for overdoses to happen. Those victims that were so injured were not given any medical aid, and were instead murdered for no longer being of use to the resort. Efforts are underway to try to locate the bodies disposed of, and several sites are being searched even now. It is from these preliminary excavations that we have established a lower bound for how many victims Babel has inflicted these horrors on."

This was just getting worse and worse, and it was clearly not the end either.

"Furthermore, it has become clear that not only did Babel provide such victims for their clients to make use of at the resort, but that several were sold outright to these clients. Once this was realized, on my orders, the Gendarmerie conducted a sweep of all suspected clients of Babel's illicit services to take into protective custody all those that are suspected of being victims of the trafficking."

Again, Lelouch demonstrated just where his priorities lay. While the culprits would certainly be brought to justice, the cardinal's clear emphasis on saving as many of the victims as possible did not go unnoticed by those watching his speech, Japanese and Britannians alike.

"That Babel was able to continue operating in such a manner even after my appointment as viceroy speaks of an unconscionable failure on the part of my administration," Lelouch stated unflinchingly. "It is therefore all the more important that recognition be paid to those whose diligence resulted in the discovery and rescue of Babel's victims. The courage demonstrated by the men and women of the Imperial Gendarmerie, who were the first to enter Babel's grounds to investigate the illicit activities. The soldiers of the 597th infantry regiment, who arrived to relieve the Gendarmerie when they were ambushed by the criminal mercenaries guarding Babel's secret. And finally, the Japanese resistance movements, who upon noticing the drug trafficking trail that led back to Babel, took a risk in entrusting that information to the viceroyalty instead of enacting their own vigilante justice against those preying upon their people."

That last bit took quite a few people by surprise, for both the act itself but also its implication. If Lelouch was telling the truth, that represented a level of détente and cooperation utterly unheard of since the start of the Empire's occupation. Then again, there had never been a viceroy quite like Lelouch before either, so it was only slightly less unbelievable that the Japanese resistance might actually trust him.

"The trust that was so demonstrated, I can but claim the barest of qualifications to warranting. Not with the harm done to those whose care I have been charged with. That we were able to rescue so many victims from Babel's premises does not begin to serve as restitution for all the harm that befell them on my watch. For that, nothing short of returning to these people the opportunities, the very life, that was stolen from them, will suffice. To the limit of my authority and power as Viceroy of Japan, I do swear will be done." A sharp gleam actually shone in Lelouch's eyes. "And to those that perpetrated such depraved crimes upon their fellow humans, know that you will be held to the fullest account for your actions, this, I swear, as Cardinal of the Order Militant of Eden Vital."

End of Chapter 41

A demonstration that even if the shooting has stopped, the cleanup afterward can be extraordinarily messy and complicated.

Not too much to comment on, readership has been rather quite of late with few questions being raised. Anyway, this more or less wraps up the Refrain arc. Next few parts are going to be setup and exposition, in preparation for the grand finale of the R1 arc. There's going to be a somewhat tricky bit that's going to take some effort to make coherent and cohesive relative to the rest of the narrative. We'll see if I can pull it off.

Oh, and just a forewarning, next update is going to be another snippet, so don't get too excited if you see a notification or something.