The day Euphemia li Britannia died was a chaotic one to say the least. One could only barely wrap their mind around the full scope of events that day. It was supposed to be the day the conflict between Britannia and Area 11 came to an end. With the start of the Special Administrative Zone, the citizens of Area 11 would assume the same rights and privileges as they once did when they were citizens of the free and independent nation of Japan, once more claiming the right to consider and name themselves as Japanese. In doing so, the Black Knights, led by the enigmatic Zero, would lose their cause for fighting against Britannia in Japan. With no other so fertile battlefield for them at the time, this was likely to be the death knell of the Black Knights and their rebellion.
But something happened which the people present had no appreciation for, and Euphemia li Britannia, the sub viceroy of Area 11 and mother of the SAZ, emerged from a closed door meeting with Zero and infamously gave the order for all the Britannia soldiers present to kill anyone calling themselves Japanese. What began was a massacre where masses of Japanese citizens on hand for the ceremony were gunned down, several at least no doubt at the hands of Euphemia herself as she brandished a submachine gun.
The bloodshed of the moment only ended when in the chaos of that scene, while the Black Knights hastily evacuated the Japanese and rebuffed the Britannia assault, Zero found Princess Euphemia and fired a bullet into her chest. Her Knight, Suzaku Kururugi swept onto the battlefield and scooped up her falling body, and rushed her away to an aerial battleship away from the area in the hopes of saving her life. He would hold her hand for the brief few moments that remained of her life as she passed away.
His princess dead, Suzaku was filled with wrath and loathing. So too was her biggest fan, a shy girl about her age whom she'd first met through a reward ceremony as part of a science competition.
That same day of Euphemia's Massacre became the start of the First Battle of the Tokyo Settlement. Riding the wave on animosity towards Britannia that had fermented for so long, and the fresh fury over the betrayal and treachery that lured the Japanese with a promise of freedom only to subject them to slaughter, the Black Knights charged into battle directly with Britannia.
In the midst of the large scale battle, Zero went missing, rumored to have been captured by Britannia. Ashford Academy, which the Black Knights seized as a forward operating base, was the scene of a threatened detonation of a prototype thermonuclear device at the hands of Nina Einstein. If it hadn't been for Lloyd and Rakshata recognizing what was going on, there could have been a lot more death that day.
Nina was taken aboard the aerial battleship, the Avalon. With the Black Knights forced to surrender or retreat once the battle turned against them, and Zero nowhere to be seen to give them orders, Nina became Britannia's problem. At the end of the day she was a Britannian citizen anyway. But more than that, Lloyd was incredibly interested in the fact that a young girl in high school was able to create such a device on her own with only the resources on hand. A device Britannia's best scientists and engineers had been struggling to manifest themselves, she had created on her own. That made her a scientific treasure unlike any other.
For his part, Prince Schneizel was intrigued as well. He understood the value of scientific brilliance. He'd been Lloyd's backer for some time, indulging the eccentric noble's scientific curiosity and passion. The Avalon was just one such product of that relationship. Therefore, he knew that if Lloyd was excited about her potential, there had to be something there worth fostering.
However, as she was, Nina had little interest in any of that. She was depressed and angry and suicidal. The last thing on her mind was the cajoling and sucking up being thrown at her to get her agreement to be a scientific pawn on Britannia's behalf. But then Schneizel found out about her love of Euphemia.
"You know, I'm sure that my sister would have been very touched that someone like you was so fond of her; so willing to put forth such efforts on her behalf. What happened is certainly a tragedy. To be certain, this man Zero must be found and made to atone for his crimes."
"Zero…" Nina seethed. Just hearing his name brought her to the point of furious tears.
"I will promise you this, Ms. Nina Einstein; work with us and you will have a front row seat to the day that Zero is brought to justice for Euphemia's murder."
"I…" she hesitated.
"I'm sure that Euphemia would have wanted someone with your talents to use those talents for the benefit of Britannia's future. It would have made her proud to know that her efforts had not been wasted."
"I… I think… I'll try," she stammered. "I'll try to live up to Princess Euphemia's ideals," she said with a shaky voice.
"Thank you, Ms. Nina. Hmm, I know. Why don't we allow Ms. Nina to spend some time with Princess Euphemia."
"What!?" she reacted, startled with grim joy. She felt it somewhat morbid, but the desire to be with Euphemia, see her one last time, was as great as if they were actually family.
Yet for what goodwill the gesture from Schneizel was meant to convey, the moment had the opposite effect. Nina hadn't known this ship was where Euphemia had been taken. She was excited in spite of her sorrow. But her expectations were initially betrayed.
She could hear the guards murmuring, "what's the point of seeing the Massacre Princess," as they were escorting her. It was infuriating to think that soldiers in service to Britannia would even think something like that of Princess Euphemia. They were only so fortunate not to have been caught by one of the knights, let alone Prince Schneizel, saying something so stupid as to call Euphemia the "Massacre Princess". So what if she had a bunch of filthy 11s killed?
If the nickname was infuriating, the reality of how she was being kept was something beyond maddening. She was expecting she'd be carried to an infirmary or at the very least a private room where Princess Euphemia would be lying in repose, her body cared for with the honor and respect it deserved, least of all for being that of a royal princess. Yet the room they led her to was nothing more than a storeroom that looked like it was merely housing extra or disused equipment. There hadn't even been anything but a single guard at the door, a boy who looked too green to be anything but a fresh recruit, and too bored with the job he was given to notice them approaching until they were a few feet away.
Proclaiming they had better stuff to do, they left her to the room, telling her, "she's near the back," in so off-hand a manner Nina was hardly even certain what they could mean. Surely they didn't mean to say that the princess was in the back, as if she were some disused tool tossed away out of sight? When she did walk into the room and made her way towards the back, that was exactly what they meant.
A simple wooden box was set on the floor. Nina likely didn't know any better, but it was the sort of box dead soldiers were brought back from foreign battlefields in, though they most assuredly weren't treated with such ambivalence normally. She ran to the door to protest the apparent keeping of the deceased royal, reaching the door in time to see the sole guard that was supposed to be there turning a corner as he laughed with the escorts that brought her there.
Nina returned to the room, sniffling, with tears in her eyes. "How could they do this?" she grumbled angrily. "She's the princess for God's sake! To treat her like useless trash… it's unforgivable!"
She returned to the box. Her heartbeat was racing in the combination of so many emotions swirling inside of her. She wondered for a moment if it was okay to do as she was thinking; to open that box and get one last look at the princess. That was supposedly what they brought her there for, her "reward" for her passive agreement to join the science division. But it seemed somehow wrong now to do so absent the onlookers and guards she expected at first would be there.
The lid hadn't even been secured, Nina able to slide the thin plank of wood off the box with no real effort. She looked at Euphemia laying face-up in the box, her eyes closed, her hands folded neatly on her chest. Nina felt a fresh jolt of sorrow, seeing with her own eyes the reality that her dearest princess was really gone.
Nina suddenly jumped back, so startled she couldn't stop herself from yelping. She spun around to look at the door, certain she was being made the butt of someone's cruel joke. Seeing no guard had returned, that no one was at the door or in the room with her, she tried her best to keep her heart from leaping out her mouth. Swallowing hard, she inched her way back to the box, thinking through what she thought she saw.
It had looked, to her teary eyes, with all the emotions swirling through her, that Euphemia took a breath.
Her mind scrambled to think what it could be. She hadn't been with a dead body before, didn't study mortuary sciences. Still, she knew gasses in a decomposing body could make you see all sorts of things about the body that weren't really there.
As she got closer to the box once more, she tried to tell herself that's all it was. That, or she was imagining it. It wasn't that unusual, she'd heard somewhere, for those grieving to imagine or hallucinate seeing loved ones move even days later when they're lying in a coffin, or think they've seen them walking around. Surely that's all it was. Grief and anger were making her imagine things.
Yet, as she looked into the box once again, there was no mistaking it; she… Euphemia… was breathing!
It was shallow to be certain, but there was a rhythmic rise and fall of Euphemia's chest. It truly well did look as though she were merely sleeping.
Unsure what to do, a frantic Nina fumbled as she slid away from the box again. What was going on? Why was Euphemia asleep in a box like this? Surely this had to be some sort of scandalous secret. Why else would they be telling the world that she died? Was this a plan to try to get at the Black Knights? And if she was only playing at being dead, why did it mean she had to be put in a box in a storeroom onboard a ship? It wasn't as if the public had free reign about the ship in the least, so why would she need to do this and not simply stay in one of the suites? Why let Nina in to see her if it was supposed to be a secret?
Nina felt as if her heart would soon burst if she couldn't calm herself down. "Heart," she murmured aloud. Perhaps this was all just a mistake. It didn't make sense that she'd be alive right now. Perhaps that was just what a dead person looked like and she had made a mistake. But you can't well fake a heartbeat. If she could listen to her chest, take her pulse, then it would say for certain if she were alive or not.
Steeling herself again, this time also offering a silent apology for being rude, she eased back to the box. She leaned over, using the side of the box to brace as she raised herself up a little more. She leaned over and laid her ear to Euphemia's chest.
Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. A fresh stream of tears poured out. She sat back down, her hands raised to her mouth to contain her sobbing. "She's alive," Nina cried, "She's really alive."
Panic set in now as she became even more frantic, scrambling around her thoughts to figure out what to do. Her suspicions and her fears began to mix. Her inclination was to tell someone right away. But in this day and age, with a royal princess no less, were they really going to make such an error as pronouncing her dead when she wasn't? The thought that there had to be something wrong with the whole situation was making a mess of her thoughts. Even the anger she had felt towards Zero and the 11s seemed to be confused. If they hadn't really killed Euphemia, why did she even hate them? Was there a point at revenge? Did she need to join Britannia's science division?
"No, not right now," she told herself. Right now she knew something she probably wasn't supposed to, and figuring out the next step would mean figuring out first how to help Princess Euphemia.
Nina looked into the box once more. Even though it seemed Euphemia was alive, she looked a little pale. She wondered what the first thing to do was. If she'd been here since her supposed death, she must have been hungry and thirsty, right?
Settling her mind that she had to somehow get some food and water for her, Nina set about trying to figure out how to do that without anyone knowing. She felt her heart stop when she saw Euphemia's eyes opening slowly. Glazed from sleep as they were, it roused Nina from a pit of sadness to a mountaintop of joy to see Euphemia's beautiful eyes again. There was a glint in Euphemia's eyes, an unusual shimmer that didn't quite seem like the light reflecting off them. But Nina didn't pay it any mind.
Nina leaned into the box a final time and eased Euphemia up. She began to cough and gasp. Nina could only try to ease her by patting her back.
"…Nina…" Euphemia eked out. Her voice was hoarse, every bit as dry as Nina feared she would be after so long.
"Y-Yes, Princess Euphemia!" Nina answered excitedly. "I'm so honored that you remember me."
"Where…" Euphemia started to ask, but she stopped partway, stiffly raising a hand to her head.
"Princess Euphemia, are you in pain? Is there anything you'd like me to get for you? Just tell me what you need, and I'll get it!"
"I… I don't… know…" Euphemia stammered.
"I'll go…"
"No," Euphemia hoarsely called, too hoarse to rise to the level of a shout. She grabbed Nina by the arm to keep her there. "Please… please don't leave."
"Y-yes, of course Princess Euphemia," Nina answered, overjoyed to have Euphemia relying on her.
Nina looked around the room once more. Recalling this seemed to be a storeroom for military supplies, the thought came to her that there might be military rations somewhere in there. If nothing else, there should be bottled water nearby. But she didn't see that either. She spent another moment considering what to do.
"Princess Euphemia, please allow me a few minutes. You must be terribly thirsty. I will go and retrieve some food and water for you. Just wait here for a little while and I'll get something for you."
"Will you really… come back?"
"Y-Yes, of course! I will absolutely not fail you, Princess Euphemia!"
Hesitating, Euphemia released Nina's arm. Her expression looked haggard and scared. Nina trembled at first but she reached out and held Euphemia's hands, offering her a brave smile. It seemed to work as intended, Euphemia's own expression relaxing.
Nina remembered enough about the layout of the ship to know how to make it to the mess hall. She walked quickly with her head down, hoping no one would pay her any mind as she hurried along. She heard murmuring as she passed various members of the crew. One group mentioned something about Princess Cornelia being "out of it". Another group seemed to say something about an official address from Pendragon. At the moment, none of that was important.
Nina made it to the kitchen and grabbed two preheated meals from a grab-and-go hot case, and a couple bottles of water from a cooler not too far away. She had no idea what time it was, but it wasn't mealtime apparently as there was hardly a soul in the mess hall. As she passed by a window, she hardly remembered that she was on a ship, not on the ground. It was worthy of marveling at, but not right now.
On her way back she ran into one of the guards that had originally taken her to the storeroom. He stopped to question her about what she was doing. She had been thinking about what to say if anyone asked her that from the moment she left the storeroom. The best lie she could come up with was that she wanted to stay in there and look at the military equipment; that as a new member of the science team she'd be helping with weapon development, so she wanted to get started familiarizing herself with what they already had. Luckily the guard didn't much care about any of that to question her too much on it. It was close enough to making sense to be believable, and if she was there that meant she wasn't in the way somewhere else. He gave her the passkey to the storeroom, reminding her that it would only work on that storeroom and nowhere else on the ship. Nina thought he must have felt pretty sure of himself to emphasize something like that to her. But she was confident that if it were a problem, she could figure out how to override the electronic locks anyway. Giving her a passkey to one didn't make any difference from giving her a master key if she could make her way to a computer terminal. It also served to reignite her simmering rage that security of the place where the princess was being kept was so utterly nonexistent that a nobody like her was given a key so easily.
When Nina returned, she was almost expecting to find that the box was closed, and that the entire episode was just an incredible delusion. But Euphemia was there, sitting on the floor now, flexing her fingers like you do if you've been out in the dead of winter without gloves. She apparently hadn't even noticed Nina's return immediately, only taking stock of her when she got closer.
"Ms. Nina," Euphie said with a warm smile. "Thank you so much."
There hadn't been a prouder moment to date for Nina. It was a dream come true that she might be able to do anything for Euphemia, let alone to be thanked by her for it.
They sat in silence for several minutes as Euphemia ate the meal Nina brought to her. It was obvious that there was something on Euphemia's mind – how couldn't there be, when she was in a pine box just before.
She ate slowly. Nina thought at first that it must have been the tenseness in her joints she seemed to be suffering when she first sat up. But her dexterity seemed to improve as she ate, even if her pace did not. It was a little mesmerizing to watch. The etiquette that must have been engrained in her since she was old enough to hold a fork seemed so natural to her that even as she tried to maneuver a simple plastic fork it happened with gracefulness. Nina wondered if she should let Euphemia know not to try so hard to be a perfect princess in front of her, and then worried that it would be unbearably rude to suggest that Euphemia was merely putting on an act.
Nina didn't mind it much. Sitting with Euphemia, even if they didn't share another word at all, was enough. Just knowing she wasn't dead was all Nina had wished for.
"Thank you again, Ms. Nina," Euphemia said after she finished the meal.
"Please, you don't need to thank me for something simple like this. I would do anything you asked, Princess Euphemia," Nina urged shyly.
"No, I feel like I would be making a terrible mistake if I didn't properly thank someone who's been kind enough to help me. It's the right thing to do."
"You're so very kind, Princess Euphemia."
"If I may, might I request another favor from you, Ms. Nina?"
"Absolutely! Anything at all!"
"Can you tell me what happened… after I died?"
"N-no, you must be mistaken. There's no way you could have…"
"It's okay. I know that I died. I was shot after doing something very terrible. I know without question that I died. So please, tell me what happened after that?"
"Y-yes," Nina sheepishly agreed. She wasn't sure where to begin. She didn't really know a whole lot. It was odd that Euphemia seemed so certain about dying. It meant she knew something about what was going on. But if that was the case, why ask for more details? Had whatever the plan been gone awry?
As she recounted what she knew to Euphemia, it suddenly struck Nina. There was a plausible explanation. There was a chemical, she didn't remember it was called, that could mimic the effects of death. It was supposed to be able to slow someone's heartbeat so low that you wouldn't know they were alive, but it would wear off soon enough that they wouldn't die. She'd thought it was fantasy, but if it really existed, then something like that would explain things, at least a little.
"I see," Euphemia said with a meek smile. "Then I can assume what will happen next."
"Forgive me if I'm being rude, princess, but maybe I should contact Prince Schneizel, or try to reach Princess Cornelia…"
"No. If I were to show up now, it would create all sorts of problems and confusion. I don't want to cause any more problems for my sister or brother. And if my uncle finds out about me…" Euphemia said, her voice trailing off in an uncharacteristically angry tone.
"I understand. I won't say anything to them. Then is there anyone else I should reach out to?"
"No one I know how to reach," Euphemia sighed. "I thank you again, Ms. Nina. You've been more help than you know. You should leave me and take care of yourself. You'll only end up in far more danger by staying with me."
"I won't leave!" Nina said sternly, almost at the point of tears again.
"Ms. Nina…" Euphemia reacted both shocked and mournful.
"Princess Euphemia, you mean everything to me! I was so devastated and lost when I heard you'd been killed. You are the most precious thing in this entire rotten world to me! It was only knowing that you were out there, the dream that I might do something worthy of your acknowledgement, that I was able to endure living in this world so long! Please, I beg you, Princess Euphemia; I don't need your thanks, or any titles or accolades! Just allow me the honor of being there to support you, no matter what you intend to do!"
Euphemia scooted over on the floor and put her arms around Nina. "Thank you, Nina. To be honest, I'm a little scared right now. I would have wanted to talk to Lelouch, but I probably can't do that now."
"Lelouch? Why would you want to see Lelouch?"
"You see, he's my brother."
"Wh-what do you mean? Lelouch is…"
"That's why I was at the school that day; I wanted to see him and Nunnally," she said, her mind clearly drifting to a not so distant memory. "Things didn't go as I planned, and that's part of the reason things have ended up this way. But if I was with Lelouch now he could help me figure out what to do. I'm sure he's on the run now, though. They think he killed me, so he had to fight sister Cornelia. No, I suppose that's not quite right. He was always going to fight with sister Cornelia…"
"Why would Lelouch…"
No sooner had the question left her lips had Nina put it all together. There were a lot of secrets about the Britannia royal family, so it didn't seem that outrageous to think there was an illegitimate heir or two out there. Charles himself ascended to the throne after an era of bloody infighting with the royal family and claimants to the throne. Thinking about it that way, it made sense that there might be an heir out there that no one knew about.
Of course he'd be on the run. If he was really an illegitimate heir, any other heir would want to get rid of him to keep their claim to the throne secured. And certainly Emperor Charles probably didn't want people finding out about some illegitimate child he'd probably had with some woman too lowly to be married into his harem.
But Zero… did Euphemia know all along he was also Zero? Was that the reason for his whole rebellion; to get back at the royal family for denying him a birthright? Did he try to kill Princess Euphemia for something like that?
"How could you be so forgiving? He tried to kill you!" Nina said angrily.
"Don't be too upset with him, Nina. He really didn't want to. There was just a little mistake, that's all. It's the consequence of keeping secrets for so long."
"But…"
"Nina, do you truly mean it when you say you want to help me? Are you certain that you are willing to do something that will cause you great danger? If I really tell you everything, your life will certainly be in danger if anyone finds out. My family has terrible secrets that have cost many lives, and will likely cost many more. I still believe you should leave before you get involved any further. If you get any more involved, there won't be a chance to turn back."
Nina faced Euphemia, from her knees she bent her head to the floor. "No dream has ever meant as much to me as being able to serve you, Princess Euphemia. I will offer you every part of me, body and soul. Please permit me to be the instrument of your will."
Euphemia held Nina by the shoulders and raised her up. She gave Nina a hug tightly. "Thank you, Nina. Just promise me that you'll never do anything to put yourself at risk. I would hate to lose you."
"I understand, Princess Euphemia!" Nina exuberantly exclaimed.
"You should stop calling me princess though," Euphemia said dryly. "I've lost that title. It was part of the price I had to pay to start the Special Administrative Zone. You can just call me Euphemia, okay?"
"I could never… would… would Lady Euphemia do for now?"
"I suppose," she sighed. "Alright. Then please listen. When I was a child, my uncle used me for an experiment.
"There is a power in this world known as Geass. It allows people to do certain things, but it varies from one person to the next. For example, one might allow a person to give someone an order that they cannot refuse. Or it might give someone else the ability to read another person's mind. My uncle was looking to create a special individual. He thought that there was a special Geass that would allow the person to copy and use other Geass, and that by doing that he could create a single person with an ultimate form of Geass. I was supposed to be a test of whether he could do it or not.
"He thought I was a failure, so when it didn't look like it worked, he moved on. There was a Geass user that worked with him. He had them make me forget about it. He and my father had plans for something else too, so he used that to help cover up what he was doing with me. That was shortly before Lady Marianne was supposed to have died, and Lelouch and Nunnally were sent away to Japan. Not long after the invasion of Japan, and Lelouch and Nunnally were thought to have died, I was sent to boarding school. I think my uncle didn't want anything that might cause my suppressed memories to return. Eventually I think he stopped caring.
"When I died, I think the Geass that was keeping my memories from me was broken. It also seems that the power my uncle thought failed to take root in me has started to awaken."
Nina wasn't sure what to say. Whatever the situation really was, it seemed as though Euphemia's ordeal had made a mess of her mental state. Supernatural powers? Some grand conspiracy involving her father and uncle? Having her memories tampered with? She wanted to believe everything Euphemia told her, but there was a limit to reason. Which made more sense; some manner of confusion and trauma from the reality of what she went through, or some vast conspiracy and infighting centered on supernatural powers?
"You don't believe me," Euphemia said somberly, looking away from Nina.
"Prin… Lady Euphemia, I don't know what to really say. I don't…"
"I can show you."
"What?"
"I can show you this power of mine."
"Lady Euphemia, I…"
"Just let me think for a moment what I can do…"
"Lady Euphemia, this really isn't…"
"I know, I'll just use Lelouch's Geass! Okay, Nina, think very, very, hard to yourself that you don't want to pick up that box," she said, pointing to a relatively small box about six inches square sitting on a shelf set against the side wall. It had black print, an alphanumerical number of E0-C1R-9T, on the side. Nina stood up and walked over to the box and looked at it. She had no idea what it was, or what the code meant.
"This one?" she asked, pointing at it herself.
"Yes."
"And you want me to not pick it up?"
"I want you to think that," Euphemia said with a smile. "Try your hardest, no matter what I say, not to touch that box."
"Okay…" Nina accepted pensively. She was willing to indulge Euphemia's delusion for now since it seemed the fastest way show her that it wasn't real.
"Now, look this way please," Euphemia asked. Nina did as asked. "Now, I, Euphemia li Britannia, order you to pick up that box and bring it to me."
"I wonder how long I should wait before she realizes this is pointless." Nina thought to herself. "It's so terribly distressing that her sanity has been effected this way. I'll have to try to figure this all out on my own now, since I can't be sure how much she tells me is just this bizarre fantasy she's convinced herself of."
Nina suddenly found herself kneeling on the floor in front of Euphemia, head bowed, arms outstretched. In her hands was the box marked E0-C1R-9T. Euphemia reached out and picked the box out of Nina's hands, setting it down on the floor between them. Nina stumbled backwards in a panic. "How? Why? When did it even happen?"
"You see, just as I said," Euphemia said with a melancholic smile. "There's others, but this one is the simplest to demonstrate right here. Well, in truth, I think the one I just used differs from the one Lelouch has. I think it's the one… who was it? Hrmm… it's no good. My memories aren't all completely clear yet…"
"Did I really… just now?"
"Yes. I understand how you feel. It's a very strange feeling to feel yourself obeying an order your heart and mind don't agree with. I believe it was an accident; that Lelouch didn't really mean for it to happen that way. I remember seeing it with my uncle's subjects before. If my memories weren't being suppressed then, I wouldn't have doubted Lelouch. And our timing was very unfortunate."
"Lelouch has been using a power like that all this time? Has he been manipulating us for all this time?" Nina suddenly felt very queasy, unwell. The thought that there may have been chunks of time, pieces of her life, where her thoughts were not her own, was terrifying. Her mind was about the only thing she considered good about herself. If that wasn't anything but some convenient illusion…
"I can't say for sure," Euphemia admitted, looking down as if she were scolded. "I don't think he had his power for very long though. It's not fully evolved, so if he has had it for a long time, he hasn't used it very much. A Geass only reaches its potential through use. In any case, I am going to need your help, Ms. Nina."
"You really are an angel, Lady Euphemia. With that power you could easily order my obedience, yet you humble yourself to ask that I help you. I'm so incredibly honored," Nina glowingly appraised, despite her discomfort still thinking on Lelouch.
"You're far too kind. I'll feel even more guilty if you keep praising me so much," Euphemia replied shyly.
"Y-yes," Nina replied just as shyly.
"Ms. Nina, I need to find a way to escape without anyone knowing that I'm still alive. If my uncle finds out that his experiments were successful on me, it would be very bad."
"I understand," she said resolutely, despite not yet knowing at all how she'd accomplish that feat. The good news was that the leaving part now seemed eminently easier, though the no one knowing part was going to be difficult.
Based on her experience, Nina tried to reason how this power might work. She could ask Euphemia to test it out some more, but that could be risky if they didn't know the potential side effects. It didn't seem to cost anything for Euphemia to use it, but who knew if the effect was cumulative or not? And Nina's own memories said that there was a perceptible gap. It seemed as though the moments after receiving the order until just after the order is given become a lost period. It would be tricky, she reasoned, but the proper wording could probably ensure that any orders given by that power wouldn't be remembered after the fact. Euphemia did suggest that her own memories were locked away for several years. Would it be enough to just tell the person that after they carried out the order to forget they ever received it? Or should it be more specific – forget ever seeing them? Tell the pilot to land the ship somewhere, tell a guard or two to forget what they saw as she walked off the ship, or even pilfer a Knightmare and fly away?
No, the hard part was what would come next. Escaping the ship they could do easily, but eventually someone was sure to notice something was off. When it came time for the funeral, no, even before then when it came time for the royal coroner to check her body and prepare it for lying in state, it would obviously be a problem if there was no body. Prince Clovis' funeral was certainly a major production. There was no way Euphemia's would be any less. Was there a way to just convince every person that would be present for the viewing that an empty coffin really held princess Euphemia? That didn't really seem feasible on any minor scale. It was certainly something that would need a good amount of planning and coordination. The number of people who might come in contact with her, least of all her brothers and sisters, was going to be hard to account for at every turn, especially Princess Cornelia.
"For now, we should probably wait until the ship lands to try to do anything. I should find someplace more comfortable for you, Lady Euphemia. I can't abide you being made to sleep in a box in a supply room. Give me a little time, I should be able to find a room for you."
"Don't push yourself too much for something like that. As long as I can escape without my uncle knowing anything, nothing else really matters."
A bit reluctant, she replied, "As you wish, Lady Euphemia."