Disclaimer: Code Geass is not mine. I just write in the universe that it exists in.

"Kallen"-Speech

'Lelouch'-Thought/mental communication

"{Die}"-Geass Command

"Halt!"-Loudspeaker

"Roger."-Radio/Walkie-Talkie

Interlude 3: The Stringless Puppet

Area 11 Administration Building

Villetta Nu stood guard outside the Viceroy's Office, her hands crossed behind her and her legs in the stance known to the world as Parade Rest. She had a neutral expression on her face, which encouraged those who knew her to step lightly around her, for Villetta Nu was not a person who suffered fools and incompetents lightly, if at all.

Within her mind however, she was in turmoil, thoughts flashing past faster than she could process them.

'I was a loyal soldier of Britannia! A member of the Purebloods! And now…' She thought as she glared at a passing pair of soldiers, who sped up in order to get away from her line of sight.

The silver haired woman sighed. Had it only been four days since her world had been turned on its head? Four days since she make the conscious decision to betray her homeland?

She thought back to the moment that her path had become unstuck from the course she had set it upon at the start of her military career.

Flashback

Villetta came to in Jeremiah's office, which was odd. The last thing she remembered was searching her office for her Courier Personal Identification Code for…the Courier!

"Welcome back, Villetta Nu." a familiar voice said from her left.

She whipped her head around to see the face of the boy from the warehouse in the Shinjuku Ghetto!

"You!" she growled, "What did you do to me?"

"That is an unimportant question." The boy said as he crossed to Jeremiah's desk and sat down behind it, "What you should be asking is 'how is it that I can remember something that was deeply buried and locked up within my own consciousness?'"

Villetta scowled. "That is unimportant. You are under arrest on suspicion of terrorism against the Holy Empire of Britannia. Surrender peacefully or I will use force to bring you in." she ordered imperiously.

The boy had the nerve to chuckle! "That was said with such aristocratic arrogance that I doubt a member of the 108 Imperial Consorts could match it." he said with a smile, "I doubt it matters much, but for the record, I resist arrest. What now?"

"Now I beat the crap out of you for stealing my Sutherland!" Villetta snarled and made to advance, but was surprised when she could not move so much as a muscle.

"Wh-what the…?" Villetta grunted in shock, "I-I can't move!"

The black haired boy sighed in what seemed to be exasperation. "Didn't it occur to you that if I can freely control your memories, I could also implant commands preventing you from attempting to harm me or call for help? You need to think a few moves in advance, Villetta."

"Who are you?" Villetta hissed as she stood frozen before the desk like a garden statue, "What the hell have you done to me?"

"Ah, a sensible question at last." The boy smiled, "My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, formerly the 11th Prince and 17th in line to the Imperial Throne of the Holy Empire of Britannia. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance properly Villetta. As for what I did to you…well, think back to Shinjuku, as well as not half an hour ago in your office."

The silver-haired woman's mind went blank. Wait, what? A Prince of the Realm? No way. Just…no.

She could remember…telling him the Pureblood's' mission, giving him her Knightmare, him ordering her to be his servant, all in Shinjuku. And not half an hour ago, he had interrogated her about the classified investigation that had been conducted into the Death of Prince Clovis…shit.

"Impossible." Villetta said aloud, "Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally died seven years ago during the invasion. You can't be him!"

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Lelouch replied dryly, "But, as you seem somewhat intransient in this case, why not consult someone you trust? Jeremiah, if you would do the honours?"

A smiling Jeremiah Gottwald strode out from behind Villetta to stand beside Lelouch in a posture that suggested that he deferred to the boy.

"L-Lord Jeremiah?!" Villetta said in shock, "What's going on here?"

"Villetta." Jeremiah inclined his head in greeting, "I would suggest that you calm down. You look as though you're about to hyperventilate."

"Damn it all, tell me what is going on here!" Villetta tried to shout. 'Tried to' being the operative phrase here, as all that came from her mouth was an ordinary speaking tone.

Smirking at the look of frustration on Villetta's face, Lelouch turned his head to look at Jeremiah. "Jeremiah, it seems your subordinate doesn't believe who I am. Would you care to enlighten her?"

"You are His Most Royal Highness Prince Lelouch vi Britannia." Jeremiah said serenely before looking at Villetta, whose jaw had dropped in shock.

"I was stationed at the Aries Villa for an entire year, Villetta." Jeremiah told his subordinate, "I would recognise him anywhere. He is who he says he is."

"But…why? Why let the world believe he is dead?" Villetta asked bewilderedly, "He's a Prince!"

"A Prince who was sacrificed as a tool of diplomacy." Lelouch replied mildly, "A Prince who was cast out from the Royal Family. A Prince who was almost killed by a Britannian SPEC-Ops team a day after the invasion. A Prince, in short, who has absolutely no reason to be loyal to his own country."

Lelouch's voice never rose above a normal speaking volume but as he spoke, the silver-haired woman found herself flinching at the absolute loathing and ice-cold anger the exiled prince had in his voice.

Seeing that Villetta was stunned from his small rant, Lelouch continued, "Jeremiah tells me that you aspire to become true nobility, Villetta. An admirable goal, although you will either not obtain it or wish you hadn't once you get it."

"What?" Villetta's eyes narrowed at the violet eyed boy in suspicion, "How so?"

"I am by far more familiar with the nobility than you are." Lelouch replied, "And they do not like commoners -even Knights- trying to claw their way up to their level, even if their ancestors did the exact same thing. All noble families would move to block a Patent of Nobility sponsored by anyone other than my father, The Emperor. Moreover, even if by some miracle you accomplish a feat that makes the Emperor elevate you to the Nobility, the rank will be low on the scale, such as Baroness, and you will be snubbed, taunted and belittled by all of the other Nobles. Even your descendents, if you manage to attract a Noble husband, will be sneered at as second-class new Nobles, for at least a couple of generations."

Villetta looked stunned at the revelation, but rallied enough to say, "Why should I believe you?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "Because you are just as aware as any citizen of Britannia who has constant contact with Nobles are of exactly how arrogant and self-serving most of them are. Anything that threatens the status quo is ruthlessly stamped out - such as a lowly Knight being made a Noble." he replied pointedly.

"I have to become a Noble!" Villetta fired back, " I have to! I have worked too hard to fail now!"

"The hardest thing for a person to acknowledge is that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, there are some things that are beyond your reach." Lelouch said with a shrug, "I admire your determination, but in the current Britannia, you will not succeed."

The exiled prince let that hang in the air for a moment before continuing, "Villetta, you have two choices before you. The first is that I erase your memory of this entire conversation and instil in you the desire to transfer to the E.U. Front, where you might -might- earn the elevation you seek by distinguishing yourself in battle. You will never return to this Area."

The matter-of-fact way in which he informed her of this option told Villetta, it would not bother him whatsoever to do this to her.

"And…the other 'choice' before me is what them? Becoming your slave?!" Villetta sneered half-heartedly.

"Far from it." Lelouch replied, "The only reason that you are even getting a second option is because of Jeremiah. He has prevailed upon me to release your will from my control and allow you to join my group."

"Join you? To what end?" Villetta asked.

Lelouch leaned forwards to gaze at the woman before him with a small smile on his face. "Why, the destruction of the current Britannian regime of course." he said lightly.

Villetta stared at Lelouch in stupefied fascination, as if he had just made a social faux pas at a high society party and she could not believe he had done it.

"You're mad." she said at last, "Absolutely insane. Britannia controls half of the globe! You can't just destroy that kind of power with a click of your fingers!"

"I have a plan," Lelouch replied, "And it involves the death of my father and the death or imprisonment of all of the Nobles, as well as my brothers and sisters, who supported his regime. For that to happen, Britannia will need to be pushed to its absolute limit -militarily, politically and morally. I will soon have the loyalty of a group of Eleven -Japanese- terrorists and they will be the first nail in the coffin for Britannia. I, by myself, am not a threat -not much of one anyway- but give me a loyal army and I am a force to be reckoned with."

Villetta stared at the boy with wide eyes. The confidence in his voice was not feigned, nor was it arrogance. He honestly believed he could accomplish this feat.

"You'd just lock up the Nobility?" She asked incredulously, "And the rest of the Royal Family? Who'd rule Britannia with the Emperor dead?"

Lelouch raised an eyebrow at her. "The only ones who would not be imprisoned would be those who have no interest or claim to the throne, as well as Nunnally and myself."

The female Knight reeled mentally. "You want to become Emperor!" she accused.

"No, I do not." Lelouch stated emphatically, "I am no-longer a Prince. I discarded my Succession Rights just before I was exiled. Nunnally, on the other hand…" he trailed off leadingly.

"A blind cripple as Empress? Are you touched in the head?" Villetta scoffed. The glare that Lelouch sent at her made her quail slightly.

"With the Emperor dead, most of the Nobility and the Imperial Family locked away and the Military crushed, Britannia will be a serpent without a head." Lelouch continued once he was certain that his glare had suitably cowed Villetta, "In the state the whole empire will be in, they will have no choice but to accede to any demands my side puts forwards."

He leaned forward again, his violet eyes boring into Villetta's own agate orbs. "When all is said and done with, Britannia -and Nunnally- is going to need an entirely new Peerage. Barons, Earls, Dukes…and Duchesses." he said seriously, "Serve me and I will see that the very first new Duchess is Grand Duchess Villetta Nu, with influence second only to the Imperial Family itself."

Villetta gaped at this offer. There had not been a Grand Duke/Duchess in over a century, when the last had been executed for High Treason Against The Empire. A Grand Duke had precedence over almost every other Peer of the Realm other than another Grand Duke.

"Do you really think I can be bought?" she asked archly.

"Villetta, you already have." Lelouch replied with a small smile, "Let's face it, in a tossup between a possible Barony versus a possible Grand Duchy, its obvious which you will choose."

"Your offer is considerably more dangerous than the way of merit." she retorted.

"The greater prize comes with a greater risk." Lelouch replied with a shrug, "Now, your answer?"

"A choice between fight and possibly die to get a low peerage or betray my country for the highest peerage possible in the Empire." Villetta drawled. She looked at Jeremiah, who had remained silent up until now.

"Lord Jeremiah, is his offer sincere?" she asked.

"It is." Jeremiah replied solemnly, "I trust you to make the appropriate decision, Villetta."

"A choice with the options I have can't really be called an equal choice, now can it?" she replied wryly.

"To paraphrase from my father, no choice is equal." Lelouch pointed out helpfully, "This is a one time offer, and I'm afraid I have other things to do tonight, so if you could make your decision I would be most grateful."

Villetta sighed. "I'm yours. Just undo whatever the hell it is that you have done to me already. Standing like a statue isn't exactly comfortable you know."

"Welcome to my service Villetta." Lelouch said before he snapped his fingers and the silver haired woman fell back into unconsciousness.

When she reawakened in her quarters, Lelouch had been gone for a while, but he had kept his word and undid whatever he had done to her -Hypnosis? Subconscious suggestion?- which meant that she still had access to the memories that had been suppressed before her 'interview' and she was free to move and talk as before.

She had considered arresting Jeremiah and tracking down Lelouch only briefly before she discarded the idea. Everything Lelouch had said about her chances at a peerage as Britannia currently was had the unfortunate ring of truth to it.

Besides, she had always been good at spotting good people to attach herself to, and Lelouch vi Britannia was currently showing all the signs that he was such a person. Honourable, charismatic and honest.

She would be a fool to let this chance -the chance of claiming a Grand Duchy- pass her by.

A knock at her door drew her attention. She opened it to find Jeremiah waiting there.

He smiled at her. "Ready for service to His Highness?"

"You aren't under arrest yet, so yes." Villetta shot back as she followed him out the door, slamming it behind her with a crash.

Flashback End

The silver haired woman was brought out of her thoughts by the sounds of footsteps approaching her position.

She looked up to see Cecile Croomey, Earl Lloyd Asplund and Suzaku Kururugi approaching, right on schedule.

Villetta suppressed a smirk. This was going exactly as Lord Lelouch had planned.

What fun!

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