A Journey's Beginning
Encryption was a delicate matter, and even with their new method of encoding messages there was still the glaring weakness of the key, which in their case was the order of the disks. Lelouch wasn't fool enough to use the same order for everything, and in fact he had a few set up for different purposes already. Of course, there was the one he used to communicate with Bonaparte (which now allowed them to discuss the sort of things that really shouldn't be intercepted) and he had gotten Bonaparte's letter back- in code, of course.
Lelouch planned to have a cipher for the military as well, possibly one that they changed semi-regularly. Of course, informing the officers and higher-ups in the military of said change risked a potential leak if the previous code was compromised. He supposed they would have to have some sort of prearranged codebook or the like, which did run the risk of being stolen, but if they didn't change the order they arranged the disks in fairly regularly, then everything would fall apart the moment even one of their disk sets was captured.
Maybe it was possible to make the code sheets impossible to understand without context? The average man would probably be pretty confused by a sheet of paper with a big grid of numbers on it, but at the same time they would know something was up: after all, someone made the effort to print it all out. Give the officers these sheets and then only give them verbal orders to change the order every week by going down the paper? Start with one row, use the next row the week after, etc. They could make it even more confusing by doing something like writing the numbers in reverse order or using columns instead of rows, in the Japanese style?
Cornelia had seemed interested with the encryption methods as well, which was a bit of a bad thing considering that there was a good chance that she would be his enemy if war ever broke out between Britannia and Italy. He supposed that he could take Cornelia hostage, but that would almost certainly mean bloodshed and fighting with her men- Lelouch certainly had numbers, but they were more valuable alive.
The best case scenario was that he could somehow convince her to fight for Italy, which almost certainly require a bit of framing- if Cornelia was going to abandon her country, it would most probably be for the sake of Euphemia, so as cold as it might sound, it was in his best interest to tie Euphemia closely to the Italian state. Euphemia was a sympathetic girl and she had been cooped up for much of her life, so hopefully she would become enamored with Italy once she had seen more of it. Some part of it may have been pride in his country- his in a rather literal sense.
His sisters did make ruling a little better, even if he could have managed his tasks alone. He appreciated other perspectives at the least, and he was sure that once she had learned to speak the language Euphemia would charm the people.
They were discussing some (admittedly) banal matter of state as Lelouch drafted his letter to Bonaparte- he wasn't going to write the letter line by line or something silly like that. He had the decrypted version of Bonaparte's letter as well- no use in pulling out the cylinder every time he wanted to double check. After a bit of silence, where the only sound was the scratching of his pen on paper, and Euphemia spoke up. "Who are you writing to, Lelouch?"
"Bonaparte- the younger one, of course. The Prince of Corsica." Nunnally and Euphemia didn't seem very surprised, but Cornelia eye's widened.
"Why write to Bonaparte?"
"He does rule Corsica, after all. He's no Emperor- at least not anymore, but he's less than ten miles off of Sardinia. Why not foster good relations with him? At least he's not Metternich."
Euphemia giggled. "What did he ever do to you, Lelouch?"
"I suppose it's more like what I did to his Europe. He's happy to take my money, but I don't think he'll ever forgive me for waltzing in and snatching Italy."
Cornelia huffed. "Why pay him? Especially with backing from our father, you could afford to not kowtow to the Habsburgs."
Admittedly, Lelouch's main reason for paying was to build up goodwill with the Danube in case of a war for independence, but there were other reasons. "With good management, we could make back that money with trade- not something we could do if they sanctioned us. Plus, we can never predict what the future has in store. Better to pay the man off than risk the Royal-Imperial army swarming over the Piave before reinforcements get close."
"A fair point… but Bonaparte-" her nose crinkled, "-why him? His father…"
"Well, we're more than our parents, aren't we? I'd like to say Bonaparte and I are… friends. Maybe that's a strong word, but… neither of us have many other people to talk with."
Euphemia frowned. "That poor man- all alone on that island." She reached for some ink and paper. "Can I try using the code disk thing, Lelouch?"
"It's not really that hard, honestly. The real power behind the encryption is the order the disks are organized in… It isn't right to say he's completely alone, but I can't imagine that he's made many friends."
"Wait- is it appropriate to say he's a man? How old is he?"
"Fifteen or sixteen? Not sure about the exact dates, but he seemed a bit younger than me, but older than Nunnally."
Euphemia inhaled. "But wasn't he commanding armies a year ago?"
"I think it would be rather hypocritical of us to judge Bonaparte for that."
It had been more than year since the dissolution of the French Empire and the return of many of its territories to their previous owners. Some states, like the Swiss and the Dutch found themselves in a strange position of having to redefine themselves.
For the Swiss, the Helvetic Republic the French installed meant that there was a central authority that ruled over previously autonomous cantons, but after the French Empire had been dismantled they began to restore to a more traditional Confederacy, where local democracy flourished.
The Low Countries found themselves in a stranger position, especially considering their temporary integration into the French state, and there was something of an interregnum that followed the peace. The Estates general had been bickering for more than year at this point, and unrest had grown to a fever pitch.
Among the Walloons and Flemings, there was tremendous discomfort about a potential Protestant overlord, along with general disarray both political and economic. In addition, there was the issue of their colonies- or rather, the Britannian colonies, because that was what they were now. The Dutch state had long been a trading power with colonies dotted across the world, and now all of those were gone, which certainly wasn't a great thing economically.
Add to that the economic stresses of having to cut off trade with the greatest European economic power- or perhaps the greatest economic power on the planet- without even receiving financial aid, and one of the greatest economic systems on the planet was crushed under the weight of the Continental System.
As winter continued and the Low Countries worked their way towards two entire years of interregnum, the future seemed uncertain- but wasn't that how it always was?
It could be said that the sort of republicanism the French revolution encouraged was different from previous forms of republicanism in Europe. Of course, there were republics before the French, with famed examples like Genoa and Venice, the merchant republics of the Italian peninsula.
In the Holy Roman Empire, larger towns could become free imperial cities, which while they were under rule of the Emperor, they had autonomy and many developed republican governments. City states held power in medieval Italy, in places like Florence and Pisa, and on the coasts of northern Germany the Hanseatic League was composed of mercantile city states.
However, these republics were evidently of a different breed when compared to what the French pushed for- the common man who wasn't a patrician or in a guild still didn't have much sway in his government, and you could certainly call these republics oligarchic.
One such state was born from the rigors of the French Revolution, on a smattering on islands in the Ionian sea, and it was known as the Septinsular Republic. The isles were seized from French control after they had been seized from Venice, and the island's "liberators" were Ottoman and Russian forces. Afterwards, a republic was installed- a republic mostly managed by local nobility and not the common man, but a republic nevertheless. The nobility were very much torn between several masters- Russians, Turks, or in some cases, Britannians.
The islands were surprisingly pro-Britannian, but considering that the only Britannian representative at the Peace of Versailles was focused on defending his Italian holdings and not reaching for more, the republic found itself as an Ottoman protectorate.
And what a state it was. The isles were majority Greek, as one might expect, but before the French had taken them over they were under the rule of the merchant princes of Venice. The urban elite spoke Venetian- and it could be argued if Venetian was a dialect of Italian or something of its own- although the importance of the Hellenic tongue was recognized in the constitution- because yes, there were states other than Italy with a constitution in the Mediterranean.
They had stayed loyal to their Ottoman overlords as the Greek state fought for independence, and while there was a bit of unrest, the upper class kept things under control, even as the Italian Prince fought his way up and down the peninsula and the last of the Greeks were pushed back to defeat in the woods and hills of Arcadia.
There was certainly a bit of curiosity about Lelouch vi Britannia. He was an Italian, which won him some approval from the Venetian upper class, and he had ties with Britannia… after some time they decided that it would be good to talk with the Viceroy of Italy. He had a few revolutionary tendencies, but he was in charge of the largest Britannian settlement in the Mediterranean, which made him an extremely important man, especially for the continued well being of the Republic.
So, they sent an upper class Corfiot (meaning, from the isle of Corfu) Italian to talk with that strange prince of Italy and see if they could reach an amicable agreement. In all honesty, the Corfiot Italians were very much the last of a dying breed- the people under them increasingly thought of themselves as Greeks, part of a greater Greek identity, and no one quite knew about the Viceroy's position on Greece. Even among this small group, their representative was a strange one- unusually liberal for a noble, but of good breeding and education, so he was sent off. Admittedly, there were not too many volunteers.
Lelouch had occasionally considered matters of succession- he was just a man after all, and unless he tremendously bungled things Italy would hopefully outlive him. In complete honesty, he wasn't very interested in marriage at all, but his obligations to the Italian state meant that he needed to do things that he wouldn't necessarily enjoy.
Even if Lelouch was a Catholic, he and Nunnally were still potential claimants to the Britannian throne, and that would inevitably lead to trouble. Hopefully they would manage to weather the storm of his father's passing, and Lelouch could quietly ask whatever sibling had won the bloodbath for permission to marry someone far away from Britannian politics. He supposed he could push for making his station as Viceroy hereditary, considering the special state of Italy, and he wasn't too far from Britannia proper- his support could make him a kingmaker and allow him to demand hereditary rule over Italy in exchange for his support, but there was a lot of potential risk in a path like that.
Complete separation from Britannia wouldn't guarantee a clean break from their dynastic politics either. Until he or the last of his descendants breathed their last, Italy would forever be the home of a pretender to the throne (or perhaps The Pretender if Britannia really laid it on thick), and if his line ever did come to an end Britannia could start sticking their nose into Italian politics. Italy and Britannia would be stuck in a very rocky relationship, and even the end of his not yet existent line could cause trouble: an interregnum could invite all of the great conservative powers of Europe to get involved. Of course, this was all assuming there wouldn't be some sort of major paradigm shift in European politics between now and then- it had happened with the French Revolution, after all.
A potential war with Britannia was another reason to keep a ring off of his finger- he would prefer to marry Italian just for optical reasons, but if Italy became independent he would be a very eligible bachelor, and might be able to marry his way into some sort of non aggression pact, if not a full fledged alliance. He supposed that Nunnally could be married off too, but Lelouch would rather die than make that sort of choice for her. Lelouch probably wasn't getting the sort of loving romance once found in storybooks, but if that was what Nunnally wanted out of life, he would do his best to give it to her.
He wasn't entirely sure about Euphemia and Cornelia, but he could barely imagine the latter marrying at all, much less to some old fashioned noble who would try to force her into the home. Lelouch personally couldn't tolerate the idea marrying some foolish, blushing ingenue- his potential spouse should share some of his ideals at least. They would need to do more than just sit around and spend money. He wanted to show the Italian people their royal family cared- if his potential dynasty was to survive, they would need to serve the people and not just be indolent wastes of space.
Some part of him wondered how many of the great kings and emperors of Europe would survive into the future- for now, the autocrat reigned, but Lelouch suspected that the French Revolution was the beginning of a massive change in European politics. They would need to adapt to changing times, or die out as so many dynasties had before them- and Lelouch was determined to keep himself and his sisters from being mentioned in the same breath as Louis XVI.
Their trip would follow the east coast of Italy, and after stopping in Salento (the heel of the Italian boot, so to speak) they would ride to the Straits of Messina for a quick crossing. Lelouch felt a little bad about neglecting Sicily- it was where he was born and raised after all- and he wanted to keep an eye on it. Plus, Euphemia was more than a little curious about where Nunnally and Lelouch grew up, and while Cornelia didn't make a big deal of it Lelouch suspected that she wanted to pay respects to Empress Marianne.
After Sicily they would stop by Naples on their way to Rome and the Italian parliament. It wouldn't be the fastest trip either- if they wanted to check on the state of the farmers, that did require actually stopping and talking with them. Serving the people (and creating a stronger economy through that) did require actually having an understanding of the people's interests.
If conflict didn't break out in the coming years, he could start pouring money, including the eventual profits of Lord Ashford's expeditions, into projects that would help the people. Railroads for cargo perhaps, or canals and turnpikes to help move freight? As mundane as it sounded, Lelouch was considering a shovel factory just to supply his soldiers with. Big shovels would be a pain to carry (which would probably mean the soldiers just wouldn't) so perhaps they could look into some sort of folding design? Something like a mattock could work for it too, which would be a tidy mix of digging and chopping.
Looking into education would probably be good to- he had sent a letter to the Pope discussing Sunday schools, but he had been too caught up with other things to really investigate how that panned out. Industrialization would only be bolstered by an intelligent population- Lloyd was undoubtedly brilliant, but he wanted to wean the country off of foreign experts. A trade fleet might be another useful investment, especially if Ashford's expedition proved to be a success- more iron ships might be in order.
He also made sure to check up on Lloyd, who was admittedly an important part of the Italian budget- he had sent his letter some time ago, but he found that it was best to let the man be for a while. He was a little eccentric, certainly, but he could be incredibly determined when some striking idea caught his fancy.
Lloyd's current base of operations was on the shores of the Venetian lagoon for the same reason that the glass making quarter of Murano was isolated from Venice proper- to prevent fires or accidents from causing trouble- and it had grown into quite an affair. He wasn't very discriminatory about who worked for him, but it took a certain sort of man to work for him for any length of time: Lloyd could be incredibly exacting about things, and misunderstanding his instructions (which were always in rapidfire English, never Italian) would send the man into fits. That did mean that a lot of his aides had to have considerable knowledge of English, but Lloyd still produced amazing things, even if he did need a translator to explain it all.
When Lelouch met the man again, he was busy with something of a prototype- a ship that wasn't much larger than the average dinghy, although a significant portion of its desk space was taken up by a steam engine. It seemed like they had done some testing already and the propeller had not proven satisfactory- he could see the water still on the hull, and Lloyd struggling with a gleaming metal helix. It seemed like they had pulled the boat out of the water with draft horses- Lelouch could see some Italian workers handling panting horses, their dark coats heaving with every breath.
It seemed like just about everyone else had noticed Lelouch before Lloyd had: Cecile was apologizing for Lloyd's casual nonchalance while the workers talked among themselves. Deciding not to interrupt Lloyd while he was invested in one of his passion projects, Lelouch approached one of the men tending the horses.
"What a horse- how many big is it? Some seventeen hands?" It was quite the horse, with its shoulders nearly reaching Lelouch's height.
The groom seemed a little shocked to see Lelouch, and stumbled over his words. "Ah- your majesty!" He gave a clumsy bow. "You've got good eyes, your majesty. She's almost exactly seventeen hands at the shoulders."
"Tell me, how is she? I've had some experience with riding."
"Just about the most gentle horse you'll lay eyes upon, your majesty." Of course, that didn't guarantee anything: quite a few notable figures in history died thanks to horse accidents- in fact, one of his own esteemed ancestors, William the Conqueror, may have died thanks to a pommel injury when he fell off his mount. Horses were powerful creatures- Lelouch respected the power of the steam engine, but that didn't make a horse any less capable of crippling you in moments- and a horse was a lot more mercurial than any engine would ever be.
However, even the gentlest horse would probably be spooked by someone like Lord Asplund- he jumped to his feet with remarkable agility and greeted Lelouch. "Your highness! Come to see our progress?"
"Indeed. Is the propeller promising?"
"Very much so. I'm working on some designs for larger ships using the screw-"
"You're that confident?"
"Of course. Verily, I believe that in time the propeller will triumph over the paddle wheel- it's just so much more efficient."
"Interesting. Unfortunately we're a bit tight on funding this year-" He could see Lloyd's face sagging in disappointment. "-and while I would like to see those designs of yours, could I get you to focus on the railways for a bit?"
Lelouch could always use more of those- they had some cargo use, but he hoped to one day see rail lines from the Po river in the north to the toe of the boot in Calabria, for cargo and possibly for human transport. It would help the economy, of course, but faster travel would hopefully cement a larger Italian identity by causing intermingling between the people. Pushing for a more standard Italian language would help in when it came to administration, but wouldn't be too good for the countless dialects across the country.
He had some experience with this himself. Lelouch had a bit of an Sicilian lilt, and he had some trouble absorbing Italian papers when he first started reading them thanks to being born and raised Sicilian. He knew English as well, of course, and picked up a few hints of other languages- just enough French to struggle through their newspapers and see if Napoleon still lived and breathed. The country was dotted with dialects, and recording them all would certainly be a historical curiosity, although an impractical way of spending government funds.
Railroads would also have a logistics benefit in case war ever broke out- getting to the battlefield first would be a remarkable advantage, as would moving larger guns around. Of course, some of these things could be accomplished with horses… but horses tired and steam engines did not. Your steamboat or train wasn't going to fall ill, either. At the same time, one couldn't conduct a cavalry charge or move guns around the battlefield with a steam engine.
Muhammad Ali Pasha wasn't under the delusion that he was liked by many of the great European powers, but at the very least he was an autocratic rabble rouser instead of a republican one. However, he was satsified with what he had for now-Egypt, the Sudan, and the Levant combined made a fine domain indeed- and he wanted to focus on securing his gains and strengthening what he already had.
Britannia's massive textile industries were buying up Egyptian cotton as fast as it could be grown, and he could only see demand increasing as the secrets of industrialization spread across Europe. It was something he had invested in as well- he would not be left behind by history.
Of course, he knew that one of his biggest assets was a strip of flat desert a bit short of 80 miles long- the isthmus of Suez, the relatively narrow strip of land separating the Mediterranean from the Red Sea. For now, they were limited to moving cargo across overland (unless he installed some trains and rail lines), but the greatest possible benefit would come from a canal. Being able to trade with India without having to sail all the way around Africa would be a tremendous advantage- but Britannia jealously guarded the jewel in her imperial crown, and they would not like the idea of other European sovereigns having easier access.
He had heard of the great systems of canals in Britannia proper, for moving tremendous amounts of freight much more efficiently than a cart drawn by horses ever could. It was just so much cheaper to move things by water- while the Pasha hadn't heard much news about Britannian holdings in the New World, he had heard rumors that it was cheaper to sail cargoes downriver and around most of the eastern coast of America than going overland.
When the French made their way to Egypt in an attempt to cut Britannia off from her holdings in India, they had done some surveying, and reported a massive height difference between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, which would require all sorts of complicated locks to move ships up and down. However, the Pasha had his own suspicions about those measures- perhaps they were off because of the newfangled metric system the French were using at the time, or simply thanks to an error made in the chaos of an active military campaign- but his own surveys produced different results. Potentially lucrative results.
A canal that long could not be built overnight, of course, but it would make a princely legacy to pass onto his sons- if he could keep European hands far away from it. It would need to be fairly deep as well, especially if they planned on moving large scale ships through there- military ships of the line and mercantile East Indiamen where very different from shallow barges mostly in the depths of their drafts, the part of the ship that was underwater.
Other than the very obvious financial benefits for the town of Suez, which lay on the southern part of the isthmus, it would revolutionize shipping. It would make accessing India and Asia for the European powers, and such a massive improvement in trade would mean a king's ransom in tolls in what could become one of the richest trade routes in the entire world, practically the silk road reborn. Digging it would be no small feat- an 80 mile stretch, nearly 30 feet deep and several times as wide, dug by hand- it would take years and would be practically impossible to keep secret, which would almost certainly evoke Britannia's wrath.
Even without the Suez, his country was in very good shape, with his new holdings in the Levant complementing Egypt and the Sudan. His son, Ibrahim, had even established a new city far up the Nile, called Khartoum, and it had grown from a army station to a trade entrepot, which funneled all the riches (and slaves) of the Sudan downriver. To the east, the Blue Nile stretched down to the land of the Ethiops- where the Emperor of House Solomon ruled as a figurehead- and to the west the While Nile flowed from a massive inland lake.
All those resources could be processed in factories near the mouth of the Nile or simply sold in European markets. The Levant was a happy addition to his holdings, although he knew that the Sultan probably wished for the return of Al-Quds- or as the Europeans might call it, Jerusalem- and the cities of Syria like Damascus and Aleppo, which were key steps in the Hajj. Admittedly, the Janissary situation was a spectacular opportunity, but he needed to shore up his defenses because his suzerain would almost certainly return with a modern military. Plus, he wanted to keep his eyes on Tripoli- going in to "keep the peace" would be a fine opportunity to arrange for someone more agreeable to rule the region of Libya.
Kallen was of the opinion that Italy was a very strange country. Of course, considering that she was raised in Japan, much of Europe was strange. If her father's business turned out well, Italy could become her home for the future, and in the short term that meant a lot of learning Italian.
Her father was busy getting an idea of the Italian markets while her stepmother stifled under the relative lack of a social scene- or at least one she wouldn't see as below her. At the very least, she could give the Italians credit for being a refreshing change of pace- they were, in a strange way, proud of their government and their institutions.
The entire system was rather curious- of course, she couldn't participate because she was a woman- but voting for your government seemed interesting. She supposed that her view of republicanism was different from how her father viewed it- the French Revolution left a tremendous mark on Britannia's cultural memory, and she had learned about it mostly secondhand. Yes, Napoleon still lived and breathed for the majority of her life, but France was as alien as the moon for her.
Not to say things had really changed; instead of being an outcast in Japan and Dejima, she was an outcast in Venice. The Viceroy seemed accepting: he had made deals with those Barbary lords, had a Japanese maid, and he had apparently pushed for universal suffrage in the Italian Senate- truly universal suffrage, for women and not just men. Unsurprisingly, this idea really didn't get off the ground thanks to the Senate, but it meant that Lelouch was either genuinely liberal, he was very good at using such movements for his own gain, or some mix of both.
Understandably, the Viceroy didn't let them stay in the Doge's Palace, but her father did find fine accommodations in the city. The canals were a curiosity, she supposed, and the gondolas were striking, but her father was more interested in the city's merchandise than its people. It was a nice place to live thanks to what funds her father brought with him, although she was curious about their potential enemies across that nearby river- the Piave?
She did have to admit that her father's visits to the Viceroy's palace to discuss economic minutia were made a lot better thanks to Sayoko- her duties as a maid did make conversations a little awkward, but considering how long Lord Stadtfeld spent talking with Lelouch, Kallen and Sayoko managed to get a lot of talking done.
The older woman's respect for Lelouch was obvious, and Kallen wasn't entirely sure what to feel; the parallels between Sayoko and herself were fairly obvious (Sayoko had even left Japan at a similar age to Kallen) but Sayoko had gone on to define herself so completely as a caretaker for Lelouch and Nunnally. It felt almost anticlimactic to Kallen- she had traveled so far and seen so much, just to be satisfied with the role of maidservant? Kallen couldn't imagine doing something like that, devoting your life to someone- or maybe it was something like Kallen's mother, a sort of… parental urge? The princess was a decade Sayoko's junior, after all…
Parenthood wasn't something Kallen particularly liked contemplating, considering the fact that she was expected to carry on the Stadtfeld name disregarding a miraculous pregnancy on her stepmother's part. She did have to admit that the title of Lady Stadtfeld was, in some ways, liberating: until she had children (if she ever did), people would be obligated to treat her with respect, and even now she was heir presumptive.
The rolling fields of the Italian countryside were dusted by a gentle layer of snow when they set out from Venice, heading straight west for the city of Padua. He had stopped by the city on his first mad dash to Venice, but this time he wasn't dashing through with all the urgency of a military campaign.
They had a carriage, but they were largely riding on their horses, with Euphemia and Nunnally riding sidesaddle while Cornelia and Lelouch rode astride the horses- Cornelia was not the sort of woman to wear large skirts after all. All the fresh air was certainly nice, and it was clear his sisters enjoyed it, but some part of him felt… uncomfortable.
Perhaps that sort of instinctual dislike for open spaces should be saved for the battlefield; he remembered Beauharnais' death in battle and wondered: would he have lived through the battle if he chosen to be a bit more subtle? Of course, being in command always meant running some risks, but getting killed unexpectedly by a rifle was a different beast entirely compared to dying due to your own mistakes in battle. It would make a very effective tactic, he did have to admit, but if they were going to start shooting for officers it was only fitting to expect a response in kind, and Lelouch liked his head in one piece.
Sharpshooters would be a major risk, especially considering the fact they were already lacking in officers- he supposed that measures could be taken to make targets less obvious. No saluting or exceedingly flashy uniforms, but the presence of a horse would probably be a giveaway anyways. It would probably be tremendously unhealthy to view every ridge and tree as hiding a potential threat to your life, but once you were deep in enemy territory… well, is it paranoia if they're really out to get you?
He supposed that wouldn't be as big of an issue in a potential war with Britannia as long as none of the other continental powers joined in. If Britannia managed to slip an army past their naval defenses and land on Italy, he would have much bigger issues than a potential sharpshooter, but assassination was also a potential risk. That was something else to get paranoid about- much of the handling of their food was handled by Sayoko, so poisoning wasn't a huge threat, but there were quite a few ways to get assassinated.
Napoleon (the original) had nearly been killed by explosives while on the way to the opera, not to mention the risks of a good old fashioned stabbing or shooting. Jeremiah's watchful eyes were helpful for this, but there was a lot of danger in broadcasting your movements- if people knew where you would be at a certain time in the future, they could plan around that.
The Gunpowder Treason was one example: the assassins knew where King James I was going to be- presiding over ceremonies in Parliament, back when they still had one of those- and if they had planned a little better, they might have managed it. Lelouch certainly hoped he hadn't provoked levels of unrest quite like that- he had converted after all- but of course, the entire point of assassinations was that your victim didn't know at all, or at least until it was far too late.
For rather obvious reasons, Lelouch found the idea of ordering an assassination… unpalatable. He certainly wouldn't be were he was today without his mother's death, and that entire incident had installed a frankly unhealthy amount of paranoia. Lelouch could admit quite easily that he wasn't the most well adjusted of people, considering how he basically had his childhood snatched away from him by an assassin's bullet.
There was also the question of who killed his mother. Learning the specifics behind it would be… satisfying in a way, but it didn't make his mother any less dead and anyone who managed to get away with it wasn't the sort of person he could easily inflict his vengeance onto. Learning who was behind his mother's death would only cause him trouble now, so whatever satisfaction he would derive from solving that mystery wasn't worth risking the fury of someone who could carry out an assassination in the throbbing heart of the Empire.
Sicily, while not quite as far flung as Australia, was still out of the way- before he took Italy it was a backwater more useful as a naval base and citrus farm than anything else. That kept him happily out of the way of whoever killed his mother- if that person even wanted him dead. Sure, it was possible the murder was due to some grudge about his mother's common origins, but if they wanted Nunnally and Lelouch dead, they would have managed to pull it off. So all that left him with was the fact that there was a mysterious schemer in the royal court with enough sway to kill a favored consort, but who apparently decided killing her childrens was beyond the pale.
He was out of the way from court politics, which he was happy about. Perhaps that meant that he would never reach a conclusion about who murdered his mother, but getting passionate about that was dangerous. For now, he would keep his eyes open for potential threats- and plan for the day he could finally cut ties with that wretched empire once and for all.
Wikipedia page of the day: List of horse accidents
The idea of a matrilineal marriage, like in the Crusader Kings games, doesn't really exist, but if someone important like Kallen married some noble of lesser importance, they might stress the Stadtfeld name. If your mom's got the cool title, you'll focus on being descended from your mom over your dad, right? Or I suppose you could pull a Habsburg-Lorraine thing and stick two houses together.
A chapter without an author's note at the beginning? What am I, crazy? As always, I appreciate all of you for reading this. Be sure to tell me what you guys think. Sorry if things seem a little action light, but you all know what we're building towards, yeah?