A/N: Inspiration hit me again lol. Hope you enjoy this one.
Set some time after the first chapter. Also, I decided to elevate the royalty from kingdom to empire.
Being a child of the emperor afforded them many luxuries, Lelouch knew this well. But it didn't stop him from finding it quite barbaric and out of place for Carine to stage a boxing match during her birthday ball of all occasions. Then again, he didn't put it past his half-sister to do such a thing; she was the sort to derive amusement from pointless violence. In the same vein, he didn't put it past his father to allow a distasteful display at an official celebration; he was the sort to not care for his children's affairs unless they directly impacted his rule.
To Carine's credit, guests seemed to be enjoying the spectacle in varying degrees. Milly, Rivalz, and Kallen were cheering on their bets loudly. Euphy, Suzaku, Shirley, and Nunnally were watching with animated interest. Even Nina was having fun analyzing the match to try and predict who would win. He supposed it was a decent party; guests were entertained. All but one, that is.
As he walked his way around the ring, Lelouch caught sight of long green hair swaying out of the massive ballroom just as the doors were silently closing behind it. In a split second, he decided he grew uninterested in the fight himself and went after the owner of those distinctive locks.
The corridor wasn't as well lit as the party venue but it was enough for him to conclude that she wasn't very interested in the festivity to begin with by what she wore. Off-the-shoulder dress in a subdued tone of red that fell just past her knees. Truly, it could pass off as a casual outfit if not for the intricate lace and beadwork at the waist.
"Thought you would enjoy that exhibition more," he said as soon as he came near her.
C.C. spun around, surprise evident in her face. "Clearly you thought wrong." She resumed going her way before even finishing that sentence.
"Clearly," he agreed, picking up his speed to walk alongside her. "It's a bit early to leave a party though, isn't it?"
"Not for parties that are too brutish for my liking." The two rounded a corner and she stopped to take her heels off, the prince automatically holding her hand to steady her as she bent down. "The question is, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be celebrating with your family?"
"Carine is hardly family." Her hand in his was suddenly replaced with her shoes and he couldn't help but pull a face. "We share a last name and half our DNA but that's about it." She only hummed in response.
Lelouch looked at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be out of it. Maybe something happened with Suzaku. That or she didn't have any pizza today. Normally, they might have kept the conversation going. It might turn into a playful argument. He likes to think he'd win. Maybe she would. Maybe he'd let her.
Instead of all that, a comfortable silence settled between them as they walked together. It wasn't too bad. He found being quiet with the witch to be an odd pleasure for some reason.
They walked side by side hallway after hallway, corner after corner until their little stroll brought them to the Blue Room. The place where he and C.C. first met many years ago.
He settled on one of the couches while she remained standing by a massive window, the gentle moonlight bouncing off of her features. After the silence of their journey, he now had to satisfy the curiosity that had been brewing ever since he realized their destination. "Any particular reason as to why we're here?"
"None at all," she replied. "I was going to the greenhouse then retire to bed but you showed up, so."
He smirked at the response. "Are you feeling nostalgic somehow? The stoic Lady C.C. reminiscing… now that's new."
It took her a minute before smirking and speaking again. "Do you remember it at all? When we were introduced?"
"Of course I do." He rolled his eyes and scowled at the memory…
"Lelouch, this is Lady C.C. of France. Britannia will be taking care of her from now on."
The prince bowed before the girl. "Your Highness," she said softly as she curtsied. "I hope you don't find my presence here an intrusion."
"Not at all, Lady C.C.," he tried her name. A very curious one. He wondered if she had a real one, wondered why his mother wouldn't introduce her with it as was formal. Moreover, he wondered why their empire would take on the upbringing of a highborn foreigner.
It was a bit frustrating as he couldn't determine much from appraising her looks. She didn't seem much younger than him. She was dressed fashionably, although pink wasn't really her color. It clashed with her green hair and golden eyes. She was pretty. But apart from her slight accent, nothing about her screamed particularly French.
"I entrust her to you, my darling," Marianne told her son. "Do show her around the palace, help her feel at home."
He wanted to protest and have someone else do it. He had to go back and finish the game with Nunnally and Suzaku. He soon decided, however, that it wasn't very princely of him to refuse a task that involved a lady. Besides, he wanted to do some investigation on this C.C. as well. "Alright, Mother."
Marianne ruffled his hair while smiling at the girl. "Good. I'll be going then." The youngsters' eyes followed the black-haired woman as she departed, leaving both in a silence that was surprisingly not awkward.
"Shall we go for a walk?" he asked cordially.
"The trip wore me out. If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here awhile, Your Highness," she replied as her eyes lazily scanned the room. This girl looked incredibly bored by what she saw, a reaction he didn't understand. The Blue Room is used almost exclusively to receive very particular guests that his parents wanted to impress.
"Lelouch is fine. May I call you plainly as well?" Better to even out the playing field with this stranger now than later.
"Fine by me," she shrugged. "So what do you do for fun around here, Lelouch?"
"I'm the wrong person to ask. I don't enjoy the same things kids our age do," he informed.
She made an amused face, eyes glittering with interest. Really pretty, he thought. "That's alright. I asked you didn't I?"
Hmm. A bit blunt for a noble speaking to a royal. "Chess. I like chess." He let it slide; maybe that was just how the French spoke.
She raised a brow at him before sitting herself down at the table with the wooden chess set. "Are you any good?"
Good? Now he couldn't help but scoff. "Extremely good. Only big brother Schneizel can beat me." This girl was irreverent and she clearly didn't know who she was speaking to. It was time to show her exactly who. He positioned himself opposite her, the slightest scowl forming on his lips. "I call black."
"Suit yourself," she said flatly. "And don't hold back."
She played well, so much so that Lelouch forgot he needed to find out more about her. She was very clever and found ways to counter his moves. He was glad for it at first. It was refreshing to play against someone who could give him an actual challenge. As the game went on, however, his frown was deepening as he slowly found out just how good she was.
Hands moved across the board. Pawns and knights and other pieces were taken by either side here and there. He couldn't tell anymore who was going easy on whom. Meanwhile, she didn't seem nearly as unnerved as he was.
"Checkmate." He couldn't believe it. "Good game."
He had just lost. To someone other than his big brother.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze from the chess board to his opponent's perfectly blank face. And with raised brows she stated, "I should like to meet your brother Schneizel."
C.C. grabbed the black king and threw it to Lelouch. He easily caught the piece in his hand and twirled it between his fingers. "Thing haven't changed much, have they, fair prince?"
"In some ways," he replied. "You're still an annoying show-off."
She chuckled. "And you're still a sore loser with a stick up your ass."
He smiled and stood to return the king to its place on the board. He then took off his coat and offered it as he stood in front of her. "Take it. It's chilly tonight."
She only stared at it, keeping her hands clasped behind her. "I have a bin full of jackets that aren't mine. It's getting out of hand, I'd rather not take this one."
"Then throw those out and take this. You'll get cold dressed like that."
Her face lit up in an instant at his instructions. "Didn't you know that when you're alone with a girl, your goal should be to get her to take her clothes off, not put on more?"
Ah, he should've seen that one coming. He sighed and dropped his hand with the coat while the other came up to massage his forehead. He would've thrown it onto the sofa had she not turned around and looked at him expectantly. "Well?"
He put the jacket on her, hands lingering on her shoulder a touch longer than it needed to. His breath hitched for a second when she turned around and lifted her hair. She always did look lovely in his clothes, and the night sky glinting off of her hair as she fiddled with it made the sight so much better.
She stopped and smirked at him when she realized he was staring. "Like what you see?"
"Yes. I like that coat, as I do all the perfectly good ones I wasted on you." A harsh statement yet he was smiling as he said it. He came closer, stopping just a foot away from her and depositing his hands in his pockets. "That's from Nunnally you know. I'll want it back."
"I'll see what I can do." Her smirk was gradually relaxing to a real smile the longer she held his gaze. "Your eyes gleam silver under the moonlight. Did you know that?" She almost reached up to sweep his bangs away to get a better look.
Consequently, his hands on his pockets were a good insurance policy. He would have tucked stray hairs behind her ear too. "So do yours."
They kept their stares locked for however long. She didn't dare to move and he found it increasingly hard to breathe. There had always been a pull in her eyes. They drew him in, deeper and deeper each time. They made him want to confess. Although for the life of him, he could never figure out what. She already knew his sins anyways.
Except maybe one. A confession that could cost him both C.C. and Suzaku. A confession that was best handled with a swift toss to oblivion.
In a flash, she tore her gaze from him and settled on the chess set. "We have to play again sometime. I want to know if you've improved."
He chuckled and looked away. "Arrogance is no trait for a lady."
"Deflecting a challenge, I see. Same old timid Lelouch," she commented, amusement coloring her voice.
"I was only ever timid with you."
The tower bell suddenly rang signaling midnight; Carine was finally 18. It was Lelouch who spoke first when the clanging finally stopped. "I have to go back to the ball. You?"
"God, no. I'd rather eat pizza in my room."
"Typical," he stated with a tinge of disappointment.
The pair left the room and wished each other a good night before going their separate ways. Lelouch gave her one last look, noting the way she held her shoes by the straps and how she pulled his jacket closer around her slender frame as she went. He came back to the ballroom just a little bit cold but with a small smile on his face.
C.C., on the other hand, was impassive as she approached her room when one of her maids rushed over and presented her with a letter she didn't wish to read at the moment. However, when she was told that it had come from her father, she immediately snatched it from the servant's hands. "You will tell no one about this," she said to the maid right before shutting her door.
Lelouch sat quietly at the lavish gazebo as he observed Nunnally in the garden where she painted the landscape. Euphemia poured tea for the two of them, squinting just a bit at the afternoon sun as it hit the silverware.
"Is she feeling better? She might have had too much punch at Carine's ball," she began when she finished pouring. "Cake?"
Lelouch waved his refusal with a smile. "I think those boxers had the worst of it." Euphy was one of those half-siblings he actually liked enough to joke around with. And she laughed quite heartily, the innocent and good-natured girl that she is.
"You're right," she giggled before helping herself with a sandwich. "I'm only glad it wasn't big sister Cornelia up there. She would've made those sorry folks even sorrier."
"And Guilford would have decapitated them for so much as breathing the same air as her." He sipped from his cup and enjoyed the flavor and aroma of the tea. "Where is she anyway? I haven't seen her around since the ball."
"Oh, she fled. Our mother has been hounding her to entertain suitors ever since I got engaged," Euphy replied, a smile playing on her lips as she stared at her ring. Lelouch eyed it as well. The white gold band was snug around her delicate finger and the diamonds that adorned it were fitting of a royal yet not over-the-top in size and design. It suited her perfectly. Suzaku did the right thing by asking him to come with to consult the jeweler.
"How goes the wedding planning?" He smiled at her and took another sip of tea.
"Not too bad since I have so much help. It's actually a lot of fun," she responded enthusiastically and continued listing off the things she had been doing in preparation. To most people, she would've seemed impeccably happy. But since Lelouch is not most people, he noticed the restrained dejection in her eyes and how her fiancé's name was barely mentioned.
So Suzaku wasn't being too involved with wedding arrangements. Maybe that was for the better. He could never make up his mind about a few things after all.
"I do have something I could use some help with, Lelouch. It's about the guests."
His eyes focused. "Oh, no. Please don't make me have to greet people at your wedding, Euphy."
"It's not that, silly," she chuckled. "Well, there's one particular person… a-and I'm not sure whether or not inviting them would be the um, the respectful thing to do."
Lelouch looked back to where Nunnally was and took in a breath. "Is it C.C.?"
"Yeah," Euphy said with a small voice and kept her hands tightly folded on her lap.
A minute of silence went by before he spoke. "Why don't you ask Suzaku?"
"Well, he doesn't talk about her much. And when he does, he has this look on his face… like he goes somewhere and I can't follow." She trailed off momentarily but recovered quicker than Lelouch expected. "I—I know he loved her deeply, but I don't despise her for it. Truth be told, she strikes me as someone who would be a dependable friend," she breathed out.
"You're too good for this world, Euphy." A praise worthy of a saint, and he did think of her as such. Gracious and pure.
She smiled gently at him. "So do you think it's possible? Lady C.C. and I becoming friends?"
But she was perhaps a little too naïve. He faked a smile to return hers. "Of course."
"I thought that meeting would never end," Suzaku commented as he walked out of a conference hall with Lelouch.
"Tell me about it," his friend said. "Actually don't. They might have us discuss further."
The two men laughed as their comrades spilled out of the room in multitudes, coming together by the corridor to talk about one matter or another. The council was called in and had discussed several topics about Britannia's colonies. As a prince and a knight primarily stationed at the capital, Lelouch and Suzaku didn't really need to attend but they decided to go anyway for kicks. They appeared to have chosen poorly as the discourse proved boring and unnecessarily long.
"Did you try the refreshment? Hard drinks would have been more appropriate for a meeting that tedious," Suzaku commented with a laugh.
"And the snacks they served, how ridiculous!" Lelouch added. "I mean, pizza? C.C. must be really exercising her influence these days." They laughed again but it seemed somewhat measured now.
"How is she?" Suzaku's question came out just a tad sheepish. "I saw you two leave Carine's party before midnight."
"Ah, yes. She was bored, I was bored. We took a walk about the castle." Lelouch tried to make it as casual yet respectful as possible. Suzaku still couldn't help the stab of jealousy in his chest, though he fought it as best he could. "Haven't you spoken to her?"
"Uh, no. Not really." It was a lie that tasted bitter on Suzaku's tongue. The memory of the moment he and C.C. shared in the music room was still fresh on his mind. He would tell Lelouch of it, although not only would it be pointless but also unkind. He was set to marry his best friend's sister after all. Not to mention he suspected that Lelouch had a certain devotion for C.C. too, but that was a conversation for a different time and place. Something he hoped would never come. How does one go about that conversation anyway? "I haven't since the engagement."
"I suppose it would be difficult to start a conversation," Lelouch chuckled dryly. "She left for Versailles a few days ago."
"Yes, I heard. Do you know what that's about?" Suzaku asked things about her discreetly these days.
"Nothing other than her fickleness and impulsivity," the prince replied. "She said was bored of these parts too and wanted a change in scenery."
Suzaku nodded. "That's C.C. alright, just coming and going as she pleases."
"You would be delighted to know that your lady friend never ceases to surprise," interrupted a small deadpan voice. "She left for a different reason."
"V.V.?" The intonation in Lelouch's voice spelled suspicion, though Suzaku couldn't tell if it was because the tiny blonde man appeared suddenly or that C.C. might have lied. "What do you mean," Lelouch demanded, now all royal and in charge.
"While our Lady C.C. does have a tendency to only engage her own will, she does bow to authority from time to time," he said expressionlessly. "She did not return to France on a whim, it appears she wasn't being truthful with you."
Lelouch stiffened, faintly remembering how her eyes shone honesty underneath the moonlight and his own gaze just a few weeks ago. While he was eager to know why she really left, Suzaku was more impatiently so. "Then whose authority did she bow to and for what purpose?" the knight frowningly asked.
In the end, it didn't matter which of them showed more want to know about her unexpected departure from Britannia. They both ended up equally shell-shocked at V.V.'s revelation.
"Her father summoned her. Apparently, he is extremely keen on introducing her to this Chinese gentleman."
A/N: I can't believe I wrote another one lol. This just wouldn't leave my head so I went ahead and finished it. I don't think this will be a regular series, I'll just write sporadically as inspiration hits me so no promises.
I also changed the relationship tag to Lelouch x C.C because this chapter leans more to that pairing but there were still hints unholy trinity chaos muddled in there (I didn't put this one in the note before the fic because spoilers.)
