"No... you're lying!" Cornelia shouted, though her trembling hands gave her away. "That can't possibly be true! There's your outrageous claim that His Majesty is part of some... apocalyptic cult without anyone knowing, which the Glinda Knights supposedly told you about... Then there's this fictitious mastermind of yours, who you say was behind the deaths of not one but two of the Emperor's wives, including Lady Marianne! And everything that you've said about what happened when Euphy was kidnapped would mean-"
She rose quickly, grasping the edge of the table tightly, and leaned in threateningly over Lelouch.
"Tell me the truth! If you won't cooperate, I won't hesitate to go after your weakness, Zero! There's more than enough circumstantial evidence to bring in your friends at Ashford Academy under suspicion of being Black Knights!" Cornelia began to laugh, her voice uncharacteristically high. "Even if it takes my entire army, I'll make sure that not one of them escapes! I'll lay siege to Ashford Academy, have the Settlement put under lockdown, and raze any ghettos that they might try to hide in!"
"I'm telling you the truth!" Lelouch shouted back. "Listen to yourself, Cornelia! If you deploy the army like that, do you have any idea how many Britannian civilians will die?!" Of course, the death toll among Japanese civilians would be much higher, but he knew that Cornelia wouldn't care about 'Elevens'. "Is it worth butchering your own people, just because I happened to challenge everything you thought you knew about Britannia? Your heart is distorted, Viceroy! Your wrath is targeted at the wrong people! Has it ever occurred to you that Euphy's horrified by what you've become?"
"What?!" Cornelia snarled. "Are you saying that-"
"I know Euphy! She's always loved you, Cornelia, unconditionally, admired you even, in the way only a younger sibling ever could! But she's always had a strong sense of right and wrong! Once she sets her mind to something, she won't ever give up! But because you've always tried to shelter her, you never realized just how powerful her will really is! She'll even stand against you, if it means saving you from yourself!"
"No... I..."
Cornelia's strength seemed to vanish out from under her, and she sank into her chair.
"Euphy... I..." She shook her head, and anger flashed across her features again, though now it seemed half-hearted. "You're trying to trick me, aren't you, Zero? You know that Euphy's my-"
Yes, Euphy was Cornelia's greatest weakness, and right now, she was the only thing keeping him and his friends alive.
Cornelia shook her head again and glared at him as she continued to sulk. "I suppose you're going to tell me that this is Euphy's doing as well."
The Third Princess took something out of one of her files and slid it over to him.
It was a calling card.
"Your most recent target was... myself," Cornelia said. "Obviously, you failed to change my heart. Otherwise, I wouldn't have you, captive before me. I should be glad to have Zero, the Empire's enemy, at my mercy... So why..."
Lelouch shook his head, and in spite of his still dire position, he couldn't help but crack a small smile.
It was all falling into place now.
"You really think that we've failed? There's more than one way to change a heart, you know."
"Do you honestly think that's going to work, Zero?"
"You'll be the judge of that, Cornelia. I entrust our hopes to you."
She looked at him warily. "Why?"
"Come now, Cornelia. We want the same things, don't we?"
"You're delusional, Zero. Or maybe the Refrain is making you think that we're back in Pendragon. That time is long past. What common interest could I possibly have with a traitor?"
"You already know the answer to that, Cornelia. We both want to find the person who was really responsible for my mother's death. And we both want a world where Euphy can be happy. That can't happen if our father is allowed to bring his plans to fruition. So I'm asking for your help."
"Unbelievable," Cornelia sighed. She leaned forward again. "You're going to tell me everything that you know, Zero. If you even think of lying to me, I'm going to make you wish that you had never been born."
"I have no reason to lie now."
"Then let's begin with the events leading up to your final, ill-fated heist." She scowled. "Changing Gao Hai's heart triggered massive riots in the Chinese Federation, just as you had planned. Before long, those riots had turned into a revolution that swept the country. Gao Hai himself was found dead outside of the Consulate not long after he gave his confession."
"It was his own men who killed him," Lelouch said. "The autopsy showed that he had been stabbed in the back, didn't it? Few were ever truly loyal to the High Eunuchs. Most simply followed them out of greed or fear. They knew that he had become an embarrassment and a liability to the other High Eunuchs, and they hoped to be rewarded for disposing of him. Of course, if they hadn't killed him, those loyal to the Empress would have done so themselves."
"So it appears," Cornelia said with a look of disgust on her face. "Most of Gao Hai's soldiers surrendered quickly, or otherwise defected to the rebels, but a few escaped from the Consulate and sought passage on a smuggler's vessel to the Chinese Federation. Their... mangled bodies were discovered floating in the waters off the mainland of China. It seems that they were set upon by a mob shortly after landing, and then they were dumped back into the sea."
"No doubt the same smugglers who used to sell innocent people to be used as test subjects in Cognitive Psience research. I have no sympathy for them," Lelouch replied.
"Luoyang fell to the Chinese Federation rebels soon afterward, who summarily executed the remaining High Eunuchs. Terrorist cells throughout Area 11 were emboldened by what they saw, even as long-held JLF positions collapsed under my forces' relentless might. Then the Chinese Federation's new government formally announced its support for Area 11's independence from Britannia. There's no doubt that the envoy sent by Kyoto played an instrumental role in persuading the Empress to make that declaration, just as you hoped." Her fury returned. "You had brought Britannia and the Chinese Federation to the brink of war, Zero! Or shall I call them the United States of China now?"
Lelouch nodded. "That's all correct."
Cornelia sighed heavily, though Lelouch could tell that her anger continued to smolder just beneath the surface.
"It must have been around this time that you started plotting to change my heart. What exactly transpired in my Palace? And what evidence do you have of the plot that you accuse His Majesty of?"
Lelouch took a deep breath. This was the most important and perilous part of his account. The worst effects of the Refrain seemed to have mostly worn off by now, and his memories were getting clearer by the minute, but in a way, that made his situation all the more treacherous. If he grew careless or overconfident in his recollections, then it would be all too easy to wander off the narrow path that he had to walk, waylaid by false or distorted memories.
Any error now would likely prove fatal.
But he was so much more powerful now than he had ever remembered. Unbreakable friendships, true comrades-in-arms, and even lovers, with all of the lessons he had learned from them along the way... To think that he had almost forgotten so much of it!
They were truly precious to him. As Igor had said, so very long ago, they were from many walks of life, and had been robbed of their places to belong, but through their strong convictions of morals or faith, they had formed a ring of support around him. He had nurtured those bonds over the course of his journey, and they reminded him even now, imprisoned within the bowels of the Government Bureau, he was not alone.
That was the path he had chosen, and at the end of that path laid the truth. He had to believe in it, and his confidants, continuing without faltering.
"Very well," he said, meeting Cornelia's gaze.
He felt Judgement resonating within him, alongside all of his other bonds, the final piece of the puzzle.
"It's time to bring this story to the present."
A/N:
I told you it wouldn't be long until the interrogation was ready.
Cornelia li Britannia is the Black Knight's 6th major target, and the last one before the events of the present. Her Deadly Sin will be revealed in the near future, so I won't say it out loud, but I will say that I have been intentionally foreshadowing (future shadowing?) it for quite some time in several of the other interrogation scenes. There's a certain sin that keeps showing in them in reference to Cornelia...
And yes, I worked in a P4 reference at the end there, just because it fit in with the idea of reaching for the truth, and how much Lelouch has come to depend on his friends (as opposed to his canonical self, who became more isolated with time). What a difference the Wild Card makes!
Until next time...