The Prodigious Son

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Aries Villa

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When Lelouch finally arrived at the Aries Villa it was already midnight. The prince yawned as he stepped out of the armoured limousine. He enjoyed his time with his father, but for the emperor to keep him until midnight, and keep him for six hours, he dreaded trying to wake up.

Lelouch stopped stepping out of the limo when he felt a pair of eyes on him. The prince looked up to see his mother in front of him. He then remembered what he thought would happen once he arrived at the Villa. But how she appeared out of nowhere frightened him.

Slowly getting out of the car, Lelouch gave a small and tired smile. "Mother." He said towards her.

Within seconds Lelouch found himself stripped of his clothes, leaving only his boxers and his mother's eyes roaming his body checking for any cuts or possible wounds.

Marianne was relieved when her son returned, and in all honesty, was starting to freak out when he didn't return. But when she was given notice from the security gate that he returned, she couldn't hold back the worry and rushed out of her home.

And as she checked him for any wounds, she came back with a smile as not a smudge of dirt or blood was on him. Marianne then embraced the boy, smiling into his shoulder as he returned it.

She could tell that he was tired, and broke the hug. "Lelouch, what took you so long, you missed the chance to meet Milly, and Nunnally has been worried sick for you?" Marianne asked with noticeable worry for him in her voice.

Lelouch slowly puts his clothes back on, and once he was dressed the prince answered his mother's question. "Father, wanted me to stay back for longer."

The prince watched as the woman nodded, and got to her feet. "Well, you must be hungry as well as tired." She smiled, taking his hand as they made their way into the Villa. "Will you be joining your father tomorrow as well?"

Lelouch nodded. "Yes. Father wants me to be with him until I turn twelve, where I will enroll at a military academy." He closed his eyes and continued. "Which means no more chess games with Schneizel, or enjoy time with Nunna, Euphie, and Milly." He dreaded how much his new schedule is.

Marianne laughed at the painful look on her son's face. 'You will never change, my son.' She said to herself as they entered their home. "Well, it couldn't be that bad, Lelouch."

She watched as he nodded but remained quiet. Together they made for the dining room where they found spots ready for them, and when the empress saw what was waiting for them, she sighed to find boxes of pizza and one of those boxes already half empty.

'It seems, C.C. is here.' She said to herself as both vi Britannia's made for their spot, and she watched as Lelouch grabbed a slice of the late-night meal. Which honestly surprised her, pizza wasn't one of her son's favourites, and he barely ate any when it was made. 'It seems Lelouch is too tired to think about what he is eating.'

Marianne soon joined her son and grabbed one of the more cheesy slices, her favourite to be honest, and started eating it. The two remained quiet as they ate, not speaking a word, and not starting up a conversation.

That was until Marianne remembered something that happened earlier today, involving the cute girl that Lelouch took as a hostage. "Lelouch." She called out to her son, who looked at her with a slice of pizza in hand. "Can you explain to me why you had Jeremiah bring a political hostage here, a cute girl nonetheless?"

Lelouch's eyes flew open at that, and he looked directly at his grinning mother. "Uhhhhh?" He said dropping the pizza from his hand and onto the plate. "Uhmmmm…"

Lelouch was absolutely speechless. First of all, he was too tired to deal with this, and he wasn't ready for her question. He was honestly expecting it but he thought it would happen tomorrow, not at 12:23 in the morning.

The prince was brought back to reality by his mother's laughter. "Ohh, Lelouch please don't change. Don't change my son." She said, calming herself down, once she was calm enough to be serious, his mother continued. "I was just having fun, my prince." The empress said getting up, finished with her slice of pizza. "But I do want to know why she's here, Lelouch. But that is for a later day." She approached him and leaned forward grabbing his head, and placing a kiss onto his head. "Now I must see what I can do about you having free time." She stood straight and placed a hand on his head. "Now behave and go to bed when you're done with the pizza."

Lelouch slowly nodded, and when his mother lifted her hand from his head, the prince went back to eating. He really needs to get some sleep for tomorrow, his first day with his father and his council.

So as Empress Marianne left for the Imperial Palace, Prince Lelouch finished his dinner and gladly went to bed where he would sleep for seven hours.

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Imperial Palace

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Charles zi Britannia, the Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, was unusually happy today. Not an hour ago Lelouch, his favourite and only true son was here, and the emperor was able to learn a little bit more about him. But that wasn't all, for he wasn't alone in his office.

Across from him was the woman he loved most, and the empress that gave him his true children. The emperor sighed as he took a sip of his tea, and closed his eyes. Today has been one very long and happy day for the most powerful man in the world.

"Charles." The voice of his love brought him back. Charles looked to Marianne, and she continued. "When our son returned to the Villa he was exhausted. I know that you want to make him your heir but at least give him a few days off and don't keep him so late." She said with complete seriousness in her voice.

The man smiled. "That will be the only time I'll have him here that late. From now on he'll be home at four. I promise." That placed a smile on her face, so he continued. "As for him coming here every day, I want him to learn how to play the game. He'll need to know for the future."

Marianne nodded, agreeing with her husband. "But you don't need him here every day of every month. At least give him the weekends off, so that he can be with his friends and family." She said, looking towards him. Marianne knew that he was most likely wanting to spend more time with Lelouch, but he can't be claiming him every day.

Charles thought about it and it did make sense. Lelouch is still young and will need allies and friends for the future. So giving a nod towards the women he loved, Charles spoke. "Okay. Our son will have the weekends off."

Marianne smiled. "Thank you, Charles." The man nodded his head as they both took a sip of tea.

The two then remained quiet as they enjoyed the other's company. Charles smiled as he thought over what happened today, and the amount of time he had with Lelouch, and how much he learned about him. Marianne was enjoying the time she was having with her husband, and happy that Lelouch was finally home.

However, that all stopped when Charles decided on a change of topic. "How is our daughter, Nunnally?" He asked, looking towards his wife. In all honesty, he was disappointed in himself, for never really spending time with his innocent daughter.

He watched as Marianne smiled. "'Nunna' is doing wonderfully." Charles watched as his true wife looked at him with a warm loving smile. "She'd enjoy it if you came by Charles."

The man smiled imagining seeing Nunnally. She was the innocent neither Marianne, nor he will ever have. He even remembered first holding her, the girl was a burning ball of joy, so unlike her brother.

However, Charles feared that if he ever saw her, he'd ruin the innocents she carried with her. "I know what you are thinking Charles." He looked to his wife and saw a small smile dawn on her face. "You won't ruin anything if you come by." Marianne reached across and took his hand. "You will most likely make her happy if you come by." She squeezed his hand. "Please Charles."

The emperor looked into her eyes, and saw the honesty and hopefully look they held. Not being able to fight it off the man once again broke under the pressure of his most loved wife. "I will do that."

Marianne nodded with a massive smile. That was everything she planned for this visit. She squeezed the man's hand. "Thank you, Charles." The Empress said, watching the man nod. After a few seconds, Marianne found that it was 1:28 in the morning. The lady stood up finishing her tea. "Love, I'm sorry but I must leave. It's already late and we both have a busy day tomorrow."

She went to remove her hand however was stopped when the man grabbed it. "Stay," Charles said, looking at her. "Join me in bed, Marianne." He finished.

The empress smiled but it wasn't a confident one. "C.C. is at the Villa, and we both know she isn't the best of babysitters." She responded, but Charles responded by squeezing her hand. Marianne's smile faltered but nodded. "Fine but if I return to the Villa and it's in chaos, you are being blamed for it." He nodded with a smile. "Also we aren't going to do 'that' today. I'd rather not get pregnant any time soon." That made the man falter with his smile but nodded anyway. As they went to his room Marianne told herself. 'Why is it that I fell in love with a rabbit?'

—

Aries Villa-The Next Day

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Kaguya looked out the window of the room she was given. It wasn't much of a room to her, and more of a prison cell to the young Japanese. Yes the room was spacious but she was in a closed space with four walls around her, in a foreign land, full of foreign people, and speaking a language she didn't know. So this was a true and honest prison.

However there was one thing she liked about this place, and that was the view she had from her window. Kaguya has found herself looking outside of her window and down to the beautiful garden below since she got here. And the garden was exactly how she said it was, beautiful.

It was filled with flowers she didn't recognize, but some she did, and further away she saw trees with their branches and leaves blown in the find. Not further away was a well where she could always find a bird relaxing in.

Kaguya knew one thing though, that seeing it from a distance was completely different from actually seeing it up from. She sighed as she leaned into her hands watching as birds fly through the sky.

The political hostage was taken from her staring by a knock on the door followed by a familiar male voice. She obviously didn't understand a thing, and Kaguya watched as the door opened to show the teal-haired man from the plane. The man, who was holding a rectangular device, was followed by two others, one being the beautiful but tall woman she met yesterday, and the other was a young girl with sandy-brown hair and violet eyes.

Immediately Kaguya wanted to gush at the girl's appearance. She was adorable! Innocent, joy, happiness, and interest ran across her face and eyes. 'She must be Nunnally. Lelouch did like talking about her.' However, Kaguya was able to withstand her wish, for if the japanese princess was right about the taller woman, she was in the presence of the lady of this villa, and the mother of Lelouch and this adorable little thing. Which meant she was one of the empresses. 'Marianne vi Britannia, the Flash, and the Commoner Empress.'

To be honest Kaguya kinda respected the tall lady. She is pretty much proof that commoners and lowborns could rise high in society, and prove Britannia's saying, 'Strong over the Weak', is false. But that wasn't all she respected the empress for. She was also the one who piloted the first Knightmare frame… which she will forever hate for they were the fall of her country.

The japanese youth then saw an angered look took over the man's face, and as he went to shout. But thankfully for her, the empress stopped the man. Kaguya heard the woman speak, making the guard back off.

Marianne looked at the cute girl, as she held out her hand. "Jeremiah, hand me the tablet I asked you to bring." Margrave nodded and handed her the tablet he was carrying. The empress then quickly found the app she was looking for. Marianne opened the app and started typing in. 'Would you like to see the garden,' and across from it, she watched as it translated to Japanese/Eleven.

The empress then held it out towards the 'little princess', Lelouch's nickname for the girl, and she watched as she looked it over. Marianne didn't want to do this, but until Lelouch can possibly teach her Britannian, this would have to do for now.

The response took a bit, which is understandable for the girl didn't trust them, so she didn't know if this was a trap. However, Kaguya, remembering Lelouch telling her the little princess' name, nodded in the end. Marianne nodded and held the tablet towards the Margrave, asking him to take it.

She wasn't the only one for besides the empress, her innocent angel of a daughter's smile grew. The empress turned around motioning for the japanese youth to follow, which she quickly did. As Marianne was making her way downstairs, she felt Nunna taking her hand. The mother looked at her daughter and saw that Nunna was looking towards Kaguya, who was looking around at the pictures on the wall.

"Mother. What is it that she's wearing? It's not a dress, nor does it look like everyday clothes." Her daughter asked innocently with pure curiosity flowing in her eyes.

Marianne also looked back at the cutie. "I honestly don't know, My Angel." She answered, with curiosity in her voice as well. Whatever it was, it was definitely cute, which would explain why Nunnally took an interest in it. Marianne squeezed her daughter's smaller hand. "Maybe I could ask her later, or maybe Lelouch could tell us what it is."

Immediately once she said the last part, she watched as Nunna's eyes glowed. "Lelouch is coming back! When!" Her daughter shouted with excitement in her voice.

Marianne laughed but answered her. "Yes, your brother is coming back, and he should be here anytime now." She said with a smile. Which was true, it was already past four and she knew that Charles would keep his promise.

The empress then found herself and everyone else in the garden. Marianne looked back towards the political hostage, and waved her hand towards the garden, hoping that she would understand the meaning.

Kaguya watched as the taller woman waved towards the scenery around them. Taking it as the sign to do as she wished, the japanese hostage slowly moved towards the open area. She still didn't know if this was a trap or not, so Kaguya took it with caution, always keeping at least an eye on the teal haired man.

As she got closer to the flower bushes, Kaguya's attention was now solely on the garden. The smell of the flowers, open-air, and just being able to breathe was a great experience.

Kaguya's guard immediately went up when she heard the foreign language, and turned to see the young princess beside her smiling, and she spoke. The hostage tilted her head not understanding what the girl was saying. But that didn't seem to stop the sandy-brown-haired princess, for Kaguya soon found herself being dragged towards the well.

Jeremiah watched as Princess Nunnally dragged the Eleven towards the well. He didn't like it, and the Margrave also didn't understand why Lady Marianne was allowing this. The girl should've stayed in her room, and shouldn't have been allowed to leave it.

"Margrave Gottwald." The Empress called out to him, making him come to her side, and bowed. "Do you know what that dress is called?"

Jeremiah looked to the Eleven, and at the dress, she was wearing. "I believe it's called a kimono, my Lady. It's a traditional eleven garment, used for weddings, festivals and funerals. But those from noble families also wear them."

He watched as the empress nodded. "Thank you, Jeremiah. Before you leave, can I get the tablet once more?" She said, staring at the two girls.

"Of course, Your Highness." The Margrave responded, giving her the tablet he was holding and went back to his position standing by the door. Jeremiah then went back to watching the two, making sure the eleven didn't plan anything stupid.

—

Hour Later

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"Mother." Marianne heard behind her, and she smiled at who it was before even looking. The empress turned around and found her son standing there wearing the same things he was before he left this morning, black pants, a white button-up shirt, and a purple and silver shoulder cape.

Marianne stood from the chair she was sitting on and moved towards him. "Lelouch." She said, grabbing his head, and leaned down to him, planting a kiss onto his forehead. "Why did it take you so long to return my son. I was expecting you to be home by four." She looked at him, noticing that it was five, and a box in one of his hands.

Lelouch sighed sometimes his mother was a little too protective of him and Nunna. "I asked the driver to go by a custom game shop, and ordered a game to be made." The prince held out the box he brought with him. He watched as his mother opened it, to show a 9x9 square board. "Shoji. The japanese variant of chess. A game I grew fond of during my time in Japan."

His mother nodded slowly, as she lifted the board to show twenty small wooden pieces. "Okay… why did you have it made?" She picked up one of the pieces to show a king's crown.

Lelouch looked over to where he saw his sister trying to talk to the japanese princess. "I was hoping it could be a start with the little princess." He looked back to his mother and saw her grinning. "Not like that Mother." He rolled his eyes towards her.

"Of course, my son." She said not losing the grin. Lelouch again rolled his eyes, moving away from the empress, and towards the two girls sitting on the grass.

Lelouch cleared his throat, getting both girls' attention, and immediately he took notice as the smile on Nunnally's face grew at the sight of him. "Lelouch!" She shouted as the six-year-old got to her feet, and jumped towards him. He caught her with one of his arms.

"Nunna!" He said with a smile as he squeezed her with his free arm in a one-armed hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you this morning. Father wanted me with him this morning."

His sister nodded into the hug. "I understand, mother told me that you will be busy." Nunna broke the embrace. "I've been keeping your friend busy for you." She said pointing towards Kaguya who was glaring at him.

Lelouch nodded. "Thank you for that Nunnally." He then looked back at the japanese princess. Where he was just a few seconds ago was speaking fluent Britannian, he changed to Japanese with his heavy Britannian accent. "Kaguya. Would you like to play a game of shogi(Kaguya anata wa shōgi no gēmu o purei shitaidesu ka)? "

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TBC

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And that is all! I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think about in the reviews. But first I have a few things I want to clear up.

First, it involves the Harem. I know I said I'll let you guess, and I'm keeping with that. But because I don't want to break anyone's heart, I'm just going to say only one of the members of the royal family will be in his harem, and that isn't Euphie. I'm sorry but I don't ship her with Lelouch, and this story is already breaking my comfort zone, with being a slower-paced story over my usual fast-paced stories, and I'd like to be as comfortable as I can. So I apologize for that.

Second, this is up to you. Would you like to see what Charles and Lelouch are doing and what Charles is teaching Lelouch? And another thing would you like to see more Charles and Marianne scenes?

Third, Japan/Area 11. This story isn't going to be focused there, and in all honesty, I might not have it return. So those ladies from Japan and are still there, they can all be kicked from the possible harem members. I apologize for this but I'm trying to do something different.

Fourth, editor, and reader. I'm still looking for an editor, and if you are interested please pm/dm me. I'm not picky so you don't need proof or any of that, I'm just looking for someone who I can trust, and is willing to work with me.

Last but not least, updates. The schedule-wise for this story, and I'll try my best, will be weekly, and if not then bi-weekly or maybe monthly. I'm also writing this story as I'm writing for another one of my stories, so my mind is split between two, and my work is split as well. Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday though.

Now with that done, stay safe, and I'll get to you next week hopefully.