Noin turned, abandoning the search for her cufflinks. She bowed politely. "Princess Relena. What brings you here, if I may ask?"
Relena's eyes focused on the wall behind her. "My brother sent me to ask that you join him. We have a visitor."
"Who?" The young princess turned to look at her, dead ice in her eyes.
"Treize Khushrenada of the Federation.*" Noin felt pity for the intentionally blank look in Relena's face. Relena, unlike Milliardo, never had friends. As a child, the elder had Noin as a playmate, and at present as a friend and confidante - Relena hadn't either. When they were younger, Relena would follow them about, a lonely little girl. She had stopped that a year or two prior.
"Thank you." Noin nodded and walked out, concerned. The outside world, at least the militaristic parts of it, tended to leave them alone, had for a good nine years now. She irritably tugged at her sleeve; annoyed that the cuff was loose and gave the impression unkemptness on her part. Milliardo's prominent platinum hair could be seen from the second-floor balcony she was on; Noin hurried down to meet him.
"Noin." He nodded to her, gesturing to the taller Treize in front of him. "This is Treize Khushrenada."
She felt an unexpected surge of protectiveness towards Milliardo when she caught sight of Treize. Certainly, the Khushrenada appeared charismatic and honest enough, but there was something off…
"Treize, this is Lucrezia Noin," Milliardo completed the introductions. She must have missed the more lengthy formalities in her surprise. Worry notwithstanding, Noin stepped forward and shook his hand firmly.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss…Lucrezia, is it?" he queried. She frowned and shook her head, crossing her arms.
"Captain Noin, if you would," she responded, slightly ill at ease. Noin rarely used her title, too reminiscent of the militaries the Cinq Alliance stood against, but she felt it necessary in this situation. Just what was it that was setting her on edge? She had never felt this apprehension before.
"You have my most sincere apologies, Captain," Treize said with a smile. He turned to Milliardo. "Prince, it is nice to see you again. We were but children the last time we stood in this hall." Noin hid her confusion, taking a step backwards but remaining in front of Milliardo. She knew it was most likely paranoia, but she felt she had to protect him from Treize.
To protect him is my duty, she thought. It always has been.
"Yes, it is nice to meet again," Milliardo agreed politely. Noin noticed, somewhat to her chagrin, that while not entirely at ease, he wasn't uncomfortable either. She turned her head as something brown passed in and out of her field of vision, on the second floor balcony she had just left. Her first thought was that it was Relena, but Relena had been wearing a white dress just a few minutes prior.
Treize glanced at Noin sidelong when she dropped her voice and started speaking in another language. He pretended not to hear while he listened, and recognized it in a few moments as an Italian dialect. He struggled to place it by words, but failed. Then a telltale voice-pitch pattern told him. A commoner's dialect, he mused. The Prince's guard is an Italian peasant. Odd, she doesn't carry herself like one at all - more like royalty, and she's being downright rude…
"Treize, may I suggest we go outside?" Milliardo asked, gesturing idly towards the hall's doors. He nodded, mildly confused. Did they catch sight of one of my men…? Fair enough, they were meant to be scouts…
The garden was gorgeous, with several Mediterranean-indigenous flowers scattered about. They were obviously cultivated, yet maintained the appearance of growing on their own. Normally, the beauty of the botanical splendor would have brought him to examine it closer, perhaps comment on it…but Treize had more important matters to discuss.
Noin shook her head at Milliardo's unspoken question of the reason to her linguistically cryptic warning. If the brown figure had been one of Treize's hired hands, then it would be better not to alert him. "I apologize for my rudeness," she said quietly. "I temporarily forgot you did not know the language." She was lying through her teeth, but failed to care as she usually did.
Treize realized it was a lie as well, but politely passed it over. "I assume you wonder why I have come on this…impromptu visit."
Milliardo nodded silently while Noin focused on the gravel path beneath them. Though she rarely observed this rule, she understood it wasn't her place to speak…and with this man, this Khushrenada, she dared not break decorum yet. The final unease explained itself to her - he demanded of royalty, and manipulated as well. Already, it appeared, his demeanor had affected her. It was the undercurrent of possible manipulation that made her wary.
"The reason would be that…the political setup of the Earth Sphere is beginning to destabilize. Heero Yuy's been gone for ten years** now, and the foundations he left behind are crumbling. Anasta Kersey, one of the more prominent politicians, has also fallen ill. Without her, the colony representative, Jonathan Yuy, and another intermediary, Andre Fischer, are having problems."
"What exactly does that have to do with us?" Noin interrupted, waiting to gauge his reaction. It wasn't in her nature to remain silent for too long in those circumstances. "The Cinq Alliance is aware of this. We've been trying to help."
"Cinq can't afford to cause too much noise at the moment." Treize was looking directly at her, and the ice-blue chill of his eyes would have frightened her if she had been of lesser temperament. But Noin wasn't, and she met his look as an equal. Curious thing, her… doesn't act like Milliardo's pet.
"Because of the aborted Federation attacks," Milliardo murmured, head snapping around to give an anxious glance to Noin. She shook her head. "That was something your family set up, Treize…"
"And we never imagined it would come to this." Treize frowned. "The point was for Cinq to outlive the Federation. It will die soon."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because of Objective Zenith," he replied in utmost conviction. "OZ, disguised as the elite of the Federation. My uncle, General Catalonia, is in charge of it now, but he'll have to step down soon."
"And you'll take over," Noin finished for him. "Again, I ask, what does this have to do with us?" She ceased to care about her bluntness. This was beyond intimidation. A question that had nothing to do with either hung in the air. And how are we certain OZ isn't the Federation under different leaders?
"The Earth Sphere needs new intermediaries." Treize glanced at Milliardo. "If I may be so frank, your mother is ill, as you know. She has never been able to do anything because of this setup. Now the setup will be void, and she will still be able to do nothing. Even now, you'll be expected to take over the Cinq Alliance's duties as peacemaker, as your name so colorfully describes."
Noin frowned. As of yet, this was a complex web they had avoided. She had long suspected the Khushrenada family, so closely tied to the Peacecrafts, had something to do with it, and now the suspicion was confirmed.
Milliardo's voice interrupted her dark thoughts. "Even so, this will take a few years at least. What is it you wish us to do now?"
"I want you to come with me, and become more familiar with this. There is a secluded old estate belonging to my family in Austria. It would be easier there to let you become accustomed to what you will have to do. And I fear to say that it will be sooner than you think, that this situation will climax."
Milliardo turned to Noin, watched her nod. Treize waited for an explanation. "We will," she informed him, gently but firmly. "I fear to say we work better as a team." He noted with mild surprise and perhaps irritation her mocking of his speech. No…not his pet as all, although she would appear to be in every other manner…
Only then did he question their status relative to each other.
*For the sake of simplicity, the Alliance of the dub is using the fansub translation of "Federation." The entire point of this is to differentiate from the Cinq Alliance.
**This is, naturally, deviating from the actual story. In the manga, Heero Yuy died in A.C. 175. That assassination has been altered to a permanent disappearance seven years later in A.C. 182.