Lelouch woke up again to that gentle voice that alerted him that he couldn't go on sleeping. It was quite pleasant to listen to it, and thus, all the more difficult to actually wake up. Only six years ago Nunnally had often woken him up and since she no longer lived in the palace, a grumpy old servant had taken over. Said servant had always barged into his room with the food trolley and rudely roused him from his sleep. After only a few weeks, he had replaced her with a simple alarm clock and sent the old woman into retirement.

"Lelouch."

His name was said for the third time already. Lelouch rolled onto his back with a sigh. "What is it?"

"It's seven AM."

"My God." Lelouch rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. The smell of fresh pastry rose to his nostrils and made waking up a little easier, but it still wasn't worth it. However, it was better than being jolted out of sleep by the ringing of the alarm clock.

Suzaku pushed aside the curtain of the bed and placed a fold-out table over Lelouch's thighs. On the table was a silver tray with a varied breakfast, but its great size did not appeal to Lelouch's hunger; on the contrary, a spark of nausea stirred in him. This was by no means uncommon, but he knew better than to start his twelve-hour shift on an empty stomach. "Have you spoken to the staff in the meantime?" he asked as he picked up his fork and knife.

"Yes," Suzaku replied.

"Well?"

"The conversation was long and they didn't like it, but what are they going to do? Stab me?"

He said it so dryly that Lelouch wasn't sure if he meant it or not. But Suzaku didn't seem to notice at all; instead, he went over to the windows and opened them to let in fresh air. Lelouch's gaze followed his every move. Would Suzaku really play by his rules?

After Lelouch had finished eating, Suzaku took the table down and Lelouch went into the bathroom to wash himself. A few minutes later, he left to change in front of his mirror. Suzaku seemed to pay little attention to him the whole time, or even to be mentally absent, but Lelouch kept a strict eye on him. Knight or not, Suzaku's new title made him no less an enemy of the kingdom and, consequently, someone who could be dangerous to Lelouch.

Lelouch adjusted his clothes and took one last look in the mirror, then turned back. "Let's go."

Together they went into the office. Lelouch immediately sat down at his desk and picked out the file he needed to continue where he had left off yesterday. Suzaku walked past him and tilted one of the windows, then stood back in the corner as usual.

Slowly, Lelouch lost himself in his work again. He continued to ignore the pile of letters that had come from the king and instead focused on Japan. Japan had a fine school system and Lelouch toyed with the idea of merging it with Britannia's, but unfortunately, this was not within his remit. Carine, his younger half-sister, was responsible for education within the kingdom, and the Minister of Education was legally subject only to Carine's guidance. Of course, he could raise the idea at the next opportunity, such as the next Royal Circle in July, but he had no intention of attending, just like for the past seven months. The Royal Circle was nothing more than a pretty name for the three-monthly gathering of the royal children in Vienna, Area 22, once 'Austria', where new changes in the kingdom were summarised and compiled by Schneizel for the king and queen. Each royal child was responsible for a sector in the country and thus had the right to issue instructions to those responsible for their sectors, such as Carine to the Minister of Education, school headmasters and any other key figures in the education system. As there were no political parties, Britannian citizens were allowed to elect their ministers and mayors, but this democratic approach was nevertheless worthless in the final analysis, because, in the end, the elected persons had to obey the royal family who would always be in charge of the empire.

During the Royal Circle, each royal child had to report; these reports included completed, ongoing and future projects, ideas, models and current problem situations. Based on the summary that the royal couple then received after each Royal Circle, they sent out feedback and orders that each royal child had to carry out and that kept the kingdom on its stable legs. However, Lelouch was not interested in helping the kingdom, but in helping the people who could not help themselves, and in this case it was the Japanese. A merger of the school systems would be beneficial for them as the changeover would be easier.

The integration was not even complete, yet he was already thinking years ahead. The royal couple had not yet decided what would happen to Japan, but the chances were high that they would just add it as another Area. The conquest operation had had the number 11, which would probably be applied to Japan's new name: Area 11.

Lelouch rubbed his forehead, sighing. He dropped the subject of school for the moment and picked out the folder his older half-brother Hannes had faxed him a few days ago; it contained the details for the budget Lelouch had for integration, and to his chagrin, it wasn't much. The forced integration of important Japanese citizens with high-level degrees would happen soon, as Britannia needed the extra manpower in the big cities, and by then there had to be a ready-made model regarding English courses for the Japanese.

The ideas that came into his head were endless, but never flawless. Lelouch wrote one note after another, but he always crossed them out. He drew up models that he was not satisfied with in the end or that were not compatible with the budget, and threw the notes one after the other into the small bin under his desk. He didn't even notice that the shadows in the background were already slowly stretching out.

By 7 PM, the sun had almost set completely. Lelouch slowly felt a cramp in his hand and he could almost make out nothing in the darkness of the room. He dropped the pen and reached for the table lamp to turn it on. Immediately, all the shadows flitted away and he squinted into the white light, which burned his eyes a little. He glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see that Suzaku didn't look anywhere near as tired as he did. But then again, he was a soldier.

Lelouch moved his chair back and stood up, whereupon he got Suzaku's attention. "It's unlikely, but do you know how to play chess?" he asked.

Suzaku merely shrugged his shoulders. "A little. My lieutenant taught me the basics."

"Is that so?" The thought of holding a game piece in his fingers once again after a long time sent goosebumps down Lelouch's arms. In his childhood, he had played against Schneizel, then he had challenged several other nobles, and later he had taught Nunnally, so that she and he had played a game or two here and there when they had lived in the same palace. Suzaku didn't seem a particularly tough opponent, but it was better than nothing and he could really use the distraction. "Follow me then." He waved Suzaku over and made his way to his private reading room. The room was square and very tall. All the walls were lined with bookshelves except for one, where two windows stretched along the length of it, decorated with dark blue curtains. A silver chandelier hung from the ceiling, its countless little rhinestones glittering in their own white light. The floor was covered with an old carpet that had a knitted pattern of yellow, wine red and dark blue. In the middle of the room stood a round table with a chessboard on it. Next to it were two comfortable chairs. In the far left corner was a reading chair with a footrest and its own floor lamp. Next to it was a long table on which a few books were lined up. The fact that it was already almost pitch dark behind the windows made the room seem even more lonely.

Lelouch led Suzaku to the chessboard and they both sat down. Lelouch pointed to the white pieces. "Now then, I am curious to know how well your lieutenant has taught you. White begins."

Suzaku moved his first pawn without hesitation and Lelouch followed with a well-considered move. Unlike most of the people Lelouch had played against in his life, Suzaku was not tense and did not seem to take it too seriously. Still, the first game didn't last long; Lelouch gave him ten minutes until he flipped his king. He couldn't help grinning. "How long did you play with your lieutenant, usually?" he asked as they set up the pieces again.

"Several hours," Suzaku replied. "Mostly at night. There was a different guy every year who had to do it. For some reason, though, my lieutenant only taught one person per year. We always thought he just picked his favourites, but no one really knew. His wife was a chess champion in Japan and that's why it was a kind of hobby for him, too."

It sounded a bit suspect. Was it actually better to teach someone chess than to compete with a player of equal skill? Lelouch had never thought about such a thing. "How did he teach you?" he asked with interest. "If it was hours, it must have been a lot."

"More or less," Suzaku said. After the pieces had been set up again, he made the first move again. "It went from one strategy and one rule to another. As soon as I learned a strategy, he used it against me and I had to find a new one. And I wasn't allowed to leave until I had one. The truth was that neither of us was really gifted at chess. There was a chess book circulating around that everyone who was selected secretly used. There were countless chess moves and strategies in it. I don't remember most of them, though."

"How old were you when you played with your lieutenant that year?"

"Thirteen."

The way Suzaku told it, it sounded like a normal story, but the more Lelouch thought about it, the more absurd it became. Every year a boy of the same age? Always the same strategies? Hadn't it struck the lieutenant as questionable that his soldiers had always come up with a new strategy because of their secret book? Or had he actually thought he was teaching them? What good had it done him? "Suzaku," Lelouch said after a brief silence, looking in his green eyes with a serious look. "When you played those games with your lieutenant back then, was there something else? What happened if you didn't have a strategy ready after all and he didn't let you go?"

Suzaku frowned. "What are you getting at?"

"It just sounds suspect," Lelouch said. "It's nothing personal. I just want to make sure."

"In what way?"

"That there really was just chess games." They didn't know each other well and Lelouch had no interest in digging into Suzaku's past, especially not regarding such private matters. However, Suzaku was a war veteran and was bound to be traumatised accordingly, and should he have been the victim of abuse or molestation in his childhood in addition, it would be a great burden on his psyche as a whole. Of course, Lelouch was aware that Suzaku had no reason to confide in him, but it would not be difficult to find out for himself, and trauma was something never to be taken lightly. Suzaku would be with him for the rest of his life from now on and Lelouch would accordingly have no problem providing him with therapy to make their shared life easier. They would both only benefit from it.

Instead of answering, Suzaku looked Lelouch urgently in the eyes. He was calm and relaxed. Too calm and too relaxed. Most men reacted emotionally to such an accusation, but not him. Looking at the bigger picture - apart from the fact that they had only known each other for two days - Suzaku seemed generally unaffected by the world aorund him. Or had he merely given up? The possibility was there, and it shone brightly in the face of the given circumstances.

"It was just chess," Suzaku finally said, and it tugged at Lelouch's nerves that he could read nothing at all from that answer. He sat back and his gaze slowly flitted back and forth between Suzaku's eyes. Normally his knowledge of human nature could tell him everything about a person; some people he could read like an open book. Suzaku, on the other hand, was like a hidden book he hadn't even found yet.

"Why do you play chess?" asked Suzaku suddenly. The question was easy to answer, indeed, almost boring, and Lelouch answered with just that level of boredom, "It's a multi-faceted strategy game. That should be enough of a reason."

"And why with me?" Suzaku continued. "Why not with Prince Schneizel or an employee?"

Now it was getting interesting. Suzaku's curiosity elicited a smirk from Lelouch, for it was a legitimate question that he definitely did not want to answer truthfully. "Is it a crime to play one's favourite game with one's knight?" He spoke his words so sweetly it almost hurt, and Suzaku wasn't buying it, but Lelouch merely gave him a grin, for he hadn't enjoyed himself in ages. "Don't you believe me?"

"You could say that."

"Rude."

"I have another question."

"Which is?"

"Who is Nunnally?"

Unexpectedly, Lelouch now found his own oxygen stuck in his throat. He had expected everything but this, and he hated the bitter aftertaste that now spread on his tongue after his pleasure in the conversation had left him, because there was no way he was going to answer that question. How had Suzaku come up with it in the first place? That was the question Lelouch was asking himself when the conversation with Schneizel, in which Nunnally's name had come up, came to mind. That name alone had sparked a heated argument that must have come out of nowhere to an onlooker like Suzaku. Accordingly, Lelouch could understand Suzaku's question, but curiosity gave him no right to be privy.

"No one."

Suzaku frowned slightly. He didn't believe him, obviously. No one would.

"Your turn."

Although Suzaku continued to stare at Lelouch for a few seconds after the command, he ultimately dropped the subject and returned his attention to the board.

When the clock struck ten, they finished their last game and left the reading room. Together, they made their way to the far corridor of the wing, where they parted at their room doors. "Good night," Suzaku said, and this kind form of good-bye caught Lelouch by surprise, but he covered it with a fake smile that he tossed casually over his shoulder, "Good night," before he went on.

Suzaku entered his room and closed the door behind him. Dinner, wrapped on a silver tray, was on the desk next to the pile of Lelouch's books. Suzaku tilted the window, peeled himself out of his uniform, put on a simple pair of trousers and a T-Shirt and sat down at the desk. He was about to remove the tinfoil from the food when there was a knock at the door. Who could want anything from him at this hour? He got up and opened the door, whereupon an unfamiliar face revealed itself to him. It was a man dressed in a noble uniform, his hands clasped behind his back and a blank smile on his thin lips. "Good evening. We haven't been introduced," he said, bringing a hand in front of him to offer it to Suzaku. "Kanon Maldini, advisor to His Highness Prince Schneizel."

An advisor? Suzaku had never heard his name before. But despite his scepticism, he shook Kanon's hand. "Kururugi Suzaku."

"Pleased to meet you." After shaking hands, Kanon took a step back. "I see you have already changed, but His Highness would like to speak with you. I must ask you to come with me."

His Highness? Prince Schneizel? Suzaku could think of no reason why the prince, of all people, would want to talk to him, but it might have been about the argument he had had with Lelouch. Whatever it was, it was not for Suzaku to refuse, so he stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind him. "Where?"

"Follow me." Smiling, Kanon turned. Suzaku followed him out of the west wing and up the gleaming grand staircase. They stopped halfway where the east and west wings separated, and it was only a moment before Suzaku could hear footsteps, echoing off the walls. He turned towards the east wing. In the golden light of the lamps that adorned the walls, the man everyone had seen in the media appeared. He was tall, slim, blond and his confident appearance made him seem more powerful than he already was. Prince Schneizel stepped forward to the first staircase, then stopped. His blue eyes were cool and empty and did not harmonise with the fine smile he gave Suzaku from his elevated position.

Suzaku bowed reflexively. "Good evening, Your Highness."

"Suzaku Kururugi." Schneizel spoke his name without any emotion. The tone of his voice was neither joyful nor cold. It was indescribable. "I see you have already settled in. All the better, because I have an assignment for you."

"An assignment, Your Highness?"

"Kanon."

At Schneizel's unspoken command, Kanon handed Suzaku a folded piece of paper he had taken out of his breast pocket. "This is a ready-made list of the future political and business partner relationships that His Highness and Prince Lelouch will enter into," he explained.

Suzaku took the paper. In the meantime, Schneizel continued: "I want you to support Lelouch in fulfilling his tasks as he should. You will need this list for that, because from now on you will be responsible for weekly plans that Lelouch will follow. These weekly plans are to include events, meetings and, above all, royal orders. In order to get all the information, Lelouch's mail will be forwarded to you from now on. If Lelouch resists, let him know that," Schneizel's smile spread a tiny bit further, "we will allow him two days at the end of the month to visit Nunnally."

So, it was indeed about the topic that had come up during Schneizel and Lelouch's discussion, and once again, Nunnally was mentioned.

"On the back of the list you will find a template for the weekly plans. Use it."

Suzaku nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

"Excellent." Schneizel's smile now fell from his lips. "Implement the plans immediately. I want to see results soon." With those words, he turned. Kanon also threw Suzaku one last smile, "Good night." He then went up the stairs to follow Schneizel, and Suzaku watched them disappear unceremoniously around a corner. Their collective footsteps faded away and silence returned to the great hall, and with it, the great emptiness and breath-taking loneliness of the palace.