Chapter 17: "Transgression" III – Bloodstained Euphy

Since Euphemia's announcement, over 200 000 Elevens have applied to join the Special Administrative Zone (SAZ) of Japan. As the stadium for the opening ceremony of the SAZ was near completion, Euphemia and Suzaku were standing on the second floor of the government building processing SAZ applications.

"It's all thanks to you," Euphemia turned to Suzaku, surprising her knight, before she continued, "Because of what you represent to the Japanese, everyone is rallying. They believe in what we're doing here."

"No, It must be due to your proclamation, Princess," Suzaku responded, I'm truly thankful for this. I really am."

"Just as I'm thankful to you," Euphy said as she turned to her knight, "And I hope you're going to help me with everything that's still to come."

"Yes, Your…" Suzaku was about to salute to his liege, but was stopped by a pouty face of the pink princess. Suzaku sighed in understanding and switch to a more natural one, "Yes."

The pink princess smiled.

"By the way, you mentioned that you would like me to meet some people the other day. Who would you like me to meet?" Suzaku asked.

"That's a secret before the opening of the SAZ," the princess answered in a mischievous tone.

Zero stared at the screen and reminiscing his last private conversation with Euphemia before she fell victim to the power of Geass. 'Euphy, you were going to have me met with Lelouch and Nunnally, weren't you?' a drop of tear falls off Zero's eyes as he finally understands what his one true love meant back then. Outwardly, however, he maintains his composure and does not falter, dedicating to playing the role of the faceless masked hero.

"Prin… Princess Euphemia really did fall in love with Suzaku…" Nina is devastated to see that the noble young women fell for an Eleven. Sure, Nina has got over her fear against the Japanese and she no longer holds any grudges against Suzaku already since she is one of those who knows about Zero Requiem, but to see how her goddess actually had her subordinate to address her as equals still hits her quite hard.

The Japanese audience all watches this scene with growing question marks inside their heads. They still vividly remember how the SAZ fell into chaos when Euphemia ruthlessly ordered Britannian troops to kill the Japanese, making the whole thing a blood bath and a symbol of Britannian aggression and slyness against the Japanese; however, as they see how the pink princess actually credited and thanked Suzaku for the success in recruitment of SAZ participants and how she treated Suzaku as her equal instead of subordinate, it becomes increasingly clear to them that Euphemia was not the witch that they have originally perceived her as. In fact, they are now even more convinced by what Zero has said earlier during the screening event: it was Lelouch who was behind the massacre, and the pink princess was merely a victim of his Geass power.

'Damnation… we were all tricked by the Treacherous Emperor!' Tohdoh simmers.

At night, Lelouch was walking back to his house at Ashford. He was apparently displeased by Euphemia's announcement and had a serious expression on his face. However, right before the door opened, he quickly adjusted his facial expression to that of a loving brother. "I am back," he greeted Nunnally and Sayako, who were at the dining table doing some origami. Sayako stood up and bowed slightly and silently.

"Welcome home, Big Brother. Where's Shirley?" the blind and crippled younger sister asked as she noticed it was only her Big Brother who was entering the house.

"Well, she seems to be in a rather bad mood throughout the meal," Lelouch replied as he started to unbutton his school blazer.

"More of her getting back at you, perhaps? Well, you were sort of chilly toward her," Nunnally giggled a bit.

Lelouch responded nonchalantly as he asked Sayako to bring him some tea, sending her away to the kitchen. As Lelouch was getting a cloth hanger for his blazer, the perceptive younger vi Britannia turned to her brother and asked worriedly, "Is there something you are worried about? About Sister Euphy?"

This took Lelouch by a bit of a surprise. How did she sense that?

Nunnally continued. "It'd be selfish to say that I want to see her again. I'd like to, I admit it, but that would simply cause trouble for you both."

"Do you like Euphy?" Lelouch suddenly asked.

"Yes, I do! Just like how you like her so much!" Nunnally responded enthusiastically.

However, Lelouch's eyes suddenly turned harsh and cold. "Yeah… I did like her."

The present day Nunnally watches this and frowns. 'I thought I misheard Big Brother, but he did say he "did" like Sister Euphy. Why, Big Brother, why? Sister Euphy was trying her best to help us and the Japanese to live better lives!'

Cornelia, being the elder imperial sibling who has both looked after Lelouch when he was young and has fought him as an enemy on the battlefield, immediately understands what was wrong with Lelouch. "It's his pride. He must have thought that Euphy was pitying him and handing him alms when he was fighting with all his might to get what he wanted," the elder princess frowns deeply and bellows, "was that it? Lelouch? You geassed your sister into a mass murderer simply because she hurt your pride?"

"No! Lulu would not…" Shirley can't believe what Cornelia has just said, and she was about to rebut before Anya catches her hand and stops her from speaking further by shaking her head silently. Not far away, Milly and Kallen both frown as they realize what Cornelia has just said, coupled with what they have seen on the screen and their own understanding of Lelouch, is likely to be the truth. At that, Kallen's anger starts to simmer. 'Lelouch, you forced your younger sister to kill tons of Japanese just because your pride was hurt? That's even worse than that Vampire of Britannia – at least he did not dirty other people's hands to do his dirty job! How could you?'

The day has finally come for the opening of the SAZ of Japan. The stadium was packed full with Japanese, and those unable to get in gathered outside of the stadium.

On top of the stage, Britannian and Japanese dignitaries, with Euphemia, Darlton and Kirihara among them, were all seated under the two giant flags of Japan and Britannia. However, one seat was notably unoccupied; it was the seat intended for Zero, the masked leader of the Black Knights.

"Your Highness, it's time," Darlton informed Euphemia as the scheduled time for the opening ceremony was approaching. Euphemia nodded and stood up, ready to walk to the podium to declare the opening of the SAZ, thought visibly with some reluctance as the most important invitee was not present. Suddenly, the crowd exclaimed in disbelief: the Gawain was slowly approaching the podium in the air, and Zero was standing on it!

"So you have come after all!" Euphemia said with joy as she saw Zero approaching.

Darlton, on the other hand, stood up and gave a smug smile. "Have you finally come to accept the fact that you've lost?" Kirihara, the head of Kyoto, looked at Zero concernedly, while Lelouch inside his helmet had a calculated look at his younger half-sister.

However, Euphemia was blind to all the behind-the-scene political calculation that her elder sister's trusted general, Kirihara and Zero were doing, and instead rushed to the front of the stage and yelled with excitement, "Welcome to the SAZ, Zero!"

Unlike the excitement Euphemia has, Lelouch did not return the greeting warmly, but made a demand instead. "Euphemia li Britannia," Lelouch called his younger sister's by her full name coldly, "after I have landed, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"With me?" Euphemia was surprised.

"Yes, just you and me," Zero responded.

"I have always thought that all Britannian princes and princesses were as cunning as their father. I stand corrected," Rakshata comments, "what a joke, the naive princess was blind to all the political calculations made by the dirty people around her. Apparently, she thought that it was simply a sibling reunion while rescuing some oppressed people in the process, and everyone would live happily ever after."

"AHA! The White Daisy of Britannia!" Lloyd adds in.

"Lloyd!" Cecile immediately pulls her boss' right ear, stopping Lloyd from saying things further. "Don't be disrespectful to Her Highness!" Nina doesn't say anything, but she bites her lips as well, apparently not happy at how Lloyd and Rakshata describe her goddess.

Guilford is about to voice out and reprimand Rakshata and Lloyd being disrespectful to Euphemia as well, but he is stopped by Cornelia, who catches his right arm as he is about to stand up and shakes her head slightly. Guilford complies with his liege's silent request.

Chiba stares at the screen and scrutinizes every expression and movement of Euphemia, the Britannian woman that she has despised the most since the SAZ massacre. Her emotional side still holds strong grudges against the Britannian princess who was responsible for the deaths of so many of her fellow countrymen, but her rational side keeps suggesting that Euphemia was nothing like what Chiba has perceived her as so far. "Kyoshirou, this is still difficult for me to swallow, but it seems that she…" Chiba says to her husband.

"Yes, Princess Euphemia was highly unlikely to be the culprit behind the SAZ massacre incident," Tohdoh says with a grave expression. The eminent Japanese military leader may have fought against Britannia for a very long time, but that does not diminish the man's sense of honour even if the parties involved were Britannians. The mere possibility that he had been cursing an innocent girl, even if she was a member of the Britannian Imperial Family, has caused a great deal of discomfort in the honourable man's heart and mind.

The Gawain landed next to the G1 as Euphemia had directed, and after Zero had gone through security check, Euphemia showed the way and she was about to turn and walk towards the G1.

However, Suzaku, dressed in a white knight dress for the occasion, was still dissatisfied with the one-on-one meeting arrangement and the risk such an arrangement entailed. "Your Highness, it's too dangerous to be alone with this man. Please, let me accompany you…"

"It'll be alright, please trust me," the pink princess, however, declined her knight's request with a smile, having guessed who exactly was under the mask. Suzaku cannot exactly go against his liege's request, and so he reluctantly acquiesced.

'Euphy, you were too trusting…' the present Zero has his fists tighten and stares at the last image of the girl he has ever loved when she was not under the effect of Geass. 'I should have snuck into the G1 and protect you from the shadow.'

On a mountain far from the stadium, the Black Knights hid in the forest on standby. Some of them, such as Tamaki, were frustrated about the reason of doing so.

"Zero told us to wait here. Do you not trust him?" Kallen scolded a grumbling Tamaki inside her Guren.

"We have to first confirm the true intention of Britannia," Ohgi added.

"Deputy Commander," Tohdoh also jumped into the conversation, "Zero knows their real intentions. Isn't that why he told us to hide and wait in all four directions? He's even got Diethard and Rakshata standing by. Zero is probably planning to assassinate Euphemia…"

"Why? Why would Lelouch want to kill Princess Euphemia?" Tianzi is horrified by what Tohdoh said on screen. How can anyone kill a kind and gentle person such as the pink princess of Britannia?

Kaguya immediately comes to the comfort of her friend. "I think General Tohdoh was merely guessing," the UFN Chairwoman says, although coming from the Sumeragi family, Kaguya herself knows full well how people are being played as pawns for political reasons.

Shirley and Rivalz cringe as they hear what Tohdoh said. "I can't believe it… Lulu was actually planning to kill his younger sister right from the start?" Shirley exclaims and turns to Kallen, "Did Lulu order you to rush in after he had killed Princess Euphemia even before he showed up in the stadium?"

"No, he didn't," Kallen answers, although with a distressing tone when she realizes just now what Lelouch had planned to do, "like I said, we had only been told to wait in the forest for his further orders."

"Kallen, you were too blindly trusting to Lelouch," Gino comments, "I mean, of course it's not wrong to trust your commander, but in this case, you were practically blindfolded into your Guren, not knowing why you were there and what you were to do. I think Mr Tamaki actually asked a legitimate question that one time and should not have been brushed off as 'not trusting Zero enough'."

"Hell yea!" Tamaki exclaims with a smug face for finally having someone to back him up for once, "that Brit's right! You should have listened to me!"

Kallen blushes with frustration: it's frustrating to see how immature she was back then to blindly trust someone she didn't even know; it's even more frustrating to swallow the fact that Tamaki, someone who is considered to be intellectually-challenged, was right to question something so obvious.

"Please don't tease Kallen too much, Lord Weinberg," Villetta comes to Kallen's defence. "Lelouch was a cunning strategist and even without his Geass power, he was good at manipulating people's heart. Kallen was simply being enticed to the dream Lelouch had painted to lure people into accomplishing his own goals." Gino shrugs at Villetta's comment and says nothing more, while Kallen shoots a grateful glance to the wife of the Prime Minister of Japan.

Inside the G1, Lelouch lowered all the curtains, shutting off the lights and disabled all security cameras inside the mobile command centre.

"Even though the cameras are off already, you are still being very careful," Euphemia commented.

"That's because I've been in hiding for a long time due to a certain empire," Zero answered as he took off his helmet, revealing his true identity to the pink princess.

"I was right! It was really you, Lelouch!" Euphemia clapped her hands in excitement, happy to know that the masked vigilante was indeed her long lost half-brother.

Lelouch maintained his cold stare at his favourite half-sister before sighing and switched back to his usual tone, "You're indeed perceptive. That's why I didn't want to meet you."

The pink princess was undeterred by the initial cold stare. "But the fact that you took your mask off means that you will work with me, right?" she smiled.

"No," Lelouch, however, flat out rejected his sister's warm smile, "I am just coming to see you directly before it's too late."

"Huh?" Euphemia is confused, until Lelouch pulled out a gun and pointed at her, "This is a needle gun made from ceramic and bamboo. It can't be picked up on a metal detector."

"Lelouch! You impudent fool!" Cornelia screams with fury and hammers the armrest of her seat hard as the screen shows Lelouch pointing his gun at her darling younger sister. "How dare you!" Her beautiful face has twitched from that of the beautiful and regal Athena to that of the monstrous and furious Gorgon.

"Please, Your Highness!" Guilford immediately tries to calm down the furious warrior princess. "I totally understand your fury right now, and I am as furious as you are seeing this scene, but Princess Euphemia did come out of the G1 afterwards, so she was not shot at that particular instant!"

However, the elder princess is still riled up by the very image of her dearest sister being put at gunpoint by her estranged half-brother, and she stands up with fury oozing out of her. "Where was Lelouch buried? I am going to deliver the justice he deserved for killing his own innocent sister!"

Rivalz, Nina, Shirley and even Milly are all frightened by Cornelia's rage: they always knew the warrior princess is a fearsome military general, but never have they witnessed the enraged state Cornelia is in right now. Kaguya, Gino, Anya, Villetta, the scientists and the Japanese audience all say nothing on the subject, not wanting to attract any firepower from the furious lioness of Britannia. Tianzi has been quick to ostrich herself into Kaguya's chest, also frightened by how angry Cornelia has become.

Zero and Kallen, while not saying anything either, both understand Cornelia's rage. 'Lelouch was the same when it comes to exposing Nunnally to any possible harm,' Zero muses, 'Cornelia and Lelouch are truly siblings.'

Kallen, on the other hand, sees her own elder brother Naoto. 'If I were to be hurt by someone, onii-chan would most likely be as angry as Her Highness is right now too. It seems that elder siblings have much more in common than one may think.'

"Please, Big Sister," suddenly, the enraged lioness feels someone was pulling her right leg tightly. She looks down and sees Nunnally using all her might to hold tight on her leg. "Sister Euphy would not want you to lose yourself to hatred and vengeance," Nunnally pleads in a sobbing tone.

"But, Euphy's soul…" Cornelia calms down a bit, but she still has half a mind to dig up Lelouch's grave and shoot him.

"I don't want to lose another sibling to hatred and vengeance again," Nunnally continues pleading.

The Empress' plead becomes a bucket of cold water dropped on Cornelia head and cools her down completely. 'That's right, I am not becoming yet another Lelouch. the real culprit was Geass!' the elder princess finally regain the coolness needed for her to reason through and recall how she was heartbroken to see the atrocities committed by her favourite younger brother who was consumed by hatred and vengeance. Cornelia got back to her seat and holds Nunnally's hand. "Nunnally, I promise I won't have myself lost to hatred and vengeance like Lelouch did."

"Thank you, Big Sister…" Nunnally is relieved at hearing Cornelia's promise, and the two Britannia sisters hug each other tightly.

Unlike how riled up the present Cornelia is, Euphemia was surprisingly calm at gunpoint. "Lelouch… you would never shoot me, would you?" she asked calmly.

"Correct, I won't shoot. You will be doing the shooting, Euphy," Lelouch responded coldly. Euphemia is confused – what was Lelouch talking about?

Outside the G1, the security detail are having doubts of Euphemia's order, but reluctantly acquiesced to the princess' instructions. Suzaku was standing some distance away from the security detail, staring intently at the G-1. Suddenly, Suzaku is hit by some extrasensory and turned his head to the Gawain: he saw the silhouette of C.C.

"Why… why are you with Zero?" Suzaku asked incredulously.

Inside Gawain's cockpit, C.C. also sensed that Suzaku saw her presence. "It looks like he can see me. Is that because of our indirect contact at Narita?" C.C. narrowed her eyes, "or is it because of him? If that's the case, then…"

'"Him"? Who is "him"?' Kallen frowns in confusion. Who was C.C. talking about?

Meanwhile, the confrontation between Euphemia and Lelouch continued inside the G1. "This ceremony is being broadcast globally, and the world is going to witness you, a Britannian princess, shoot Zero. What do you think will happen next?" Lelouch asked.

"Riots would break out, I imagine," Euphemia responded.

"Right, Zero will become a martyr being tricked into a deathtrap, and your popularity will plummet to the ground instantly," Lelouch continued with an evil smile.

"What kind of nonsense are you saying?" Euphemia questioned with a serious tone. "Please, help me to rebuild Japan…"

"You are forcing this upon me from top down, and that's as bad as Clovis was," Lelouch accused, startling Euphemia. She didn't understand what her brother was trying to say.

However, Lelouch continued with his evil smile on his face. "All tasks at hand have been cleared. After hovering near death, Zero will be met with cheers when he makes a miraculous come-back. That's because people do not treasure reason, they worship miracles." He then handed the needle gun to Euphemia. "Now, take it."

"Huh?" Euphemia was speechless. What was her brother trying to do?

"There can be only one Messiah," Lelouch continued as he spoke more and more like a maniac, "and when the people realize that you're a false one, they'll… ugh!"

Suddenly, great pain hit Lelouch's left eye, and he was forced to stop whatever he was saying and fell down on his one knee.

"Despicable!" Guilford bellows. "Princess Euphemia was genuine in helping the Japanese, and he was planning to trick her into doing something that would completely devastate her goodwill?" The honour-bound knight is disgusted by how underhanded Lelouch was in achieving his goals. It'd be fine to use tactics and trick your opponent on the battlefield, but to trick someone who was actually trying to do good things for the masses?

"I don't understand. So Lelouch was planning to have Princess Euphemia to shoot him at the ceremony instead of killing the Japanese?" Ohgi says incredulously. "Or was he lying about his true intention again?"

"But he didn't have any reason to lie there, it's a secret one-on-one conversation," Villetta reasons, "also, the plan he had just said did make sense: it will cast Princess Euphemia as a hypocrite, ruining her reputation among the Japanese and allow the Black Knights to take advantage of the situation, turning the table around into Zero's favour."

Zero is also shocked at what he has seen. 'Wait, was that Lelouch's original plan? Then why didn't he carry out the plan? It's still a horrendous and despicable plan, but that is nothing compared to forcing Euphy to massacre the Japanese! What happened afterwards?'

Meanwhile, C.C. got out of the cockpit and landed right in front of Suzaku. "I need to know one thing," C.C. asked before Suzaku could say anything. "Do you know V.V… ugh!" Suddenly, great pain hit C.C.'s left eye as well, and she was forced onto her right knee as well, while her Code sigil was glowing on her forehead. "No… he's reached that point…?" C.C. mutters incredulously.

Suzaku rushed to C.C. "Hey, are you alright?" Suzaku asked concernedly as he grabbed C.C.'s shoulder.

"Huh?"

Suzaku was suddenly hit by yet another extrasensory shock wave, just like what he experienced in Narita. Among the few images shown, one stood out to Cornelia and Nunnally: it was the image of Imperial Consort Marianne vi Britannia in a full court dress.

And then Suzaku passed out and fell to the ground, and so as the security detail who rushed to C.C. and got hit by the shock wave as well.

"Mother?" Nunnally realizes who the woman appeared in the shock images was. Was she involved with C.C.?

Cornelia is shocked by what she has just seen and heard as well. 'V.V.? Lady Marianne?' Cornelia then recalls that time when she was at the secret underground Geass facility in the Chinese Federation, attacking V.V. in his Siegfried. 'From what we've seen about the images shown due to the first shock wave among Kururugi, C.C. and Lelouch at Narita, the shock images shown should be related to the recipient's own memory and experience. There is no way Kururugi had ever met Lady Marianne, and Lelouch was not involved in the shock wave this time. Does that mean C.C. actually knew Lady Marianne? And why did she specifically ask whether Kururugi knew V.V.? Is she related to V.V.? Or was it that Lady Marianne was somehow related to V.V.? Was it not a coincidence that Lelouch received the Geass power? These are all getting too confusing!'

Back in the G1, Lelouch was still groaning in pain. Euphemia immediately rushed to her half-brother and knelt down as well, holding his shoulder. "Lelouch!" she exclaimed with great concern.

"Stop it!" Lelouch shouted as he pushed Euphemia away violently, causing the princess to fell onto the floor. "Stop pitying me! I won't accept your charity, I am going to get the things I want all by myself!" Lelouch stood up again and yelled furiously at his sister, who was stunned by the cruelty her favourite half-brother had displayed towards her. "And to achieve that, I shall now stain your hands with blood, Euphemia li Britannia!" He then fired up his Geass as he yelled his half-sister's full name with nothing but hatred and anger.

"Lulu…" Shirley can't believe what she has just seen. Her kind, gentle Lulu was actually going to stain his younger sister's hands in blood and completely ruin her reputation, dignity and honour simply because of being too prideful to accept help from her? Whether to accept help from someone else is of course one's freedom, but to go so far as to wrong someone, especially someone who genuinely wanted to offer help and assistance, in such a devastating and irreversible way just because one's pride being hurt was simply an unforgivable act to do!

Nunnally is shocked as well, and a familiar feeling is surging in her mind, the one when she realized Lelouch had geassed her and took away the Damocles key from her. 'Big Brother, how could you? Sister Euphy was just trying to help us! Not only did you refute her in such a rude manner, you actually went so far as wanting to destroy her completely? How would you feel if I did the same to you because I didn't want you to pity me?'

"Such pettiness," Rakshata comments, catching everyone's attention, "he was just a little boy throwing tantrum at his innocent and caring younger sister. The only problem was that the boy possessed a horrendous power that allowed him to scale up his tantrum to the extreme."

Just as the audience was shocked by how petty Lelouch behaved, Euphemia quickly reacted to her brother's tantrum and said the one thing least expected by everyone. "I have renounced that name already!" the pink princess cried.

"What?" Lelouch was shocked, and the Geass Sigil in his left eye faded.

Euphemia stood back up and regained her composure. "There shall be an announcement made by the Homeland very soon. I have given up my claim to the throne already!"

"What?" Lelouch muttered. He couldn't believe it. Why did Euphemia give up her claim to the throne, or for that matter, her status as a member of the Britannian Imperial Family? What was her objective? What was her ulterior motive in doing that? What could she gain from it? Or was it… "It isn't because you have accepted Zero into the SAZ, is it?" he asked incredulously.

In sharp contrast to how flabbergasted Lelouch was, Euphemia replied calmly and with a smile, "To have the Empire to tolerate my wilfulness, I would have to pay a price for that accordingly, wouldn't I?"

"You threw it away so easily," Lelouch was still flabbergasted and looked away before continuing, "are you saying that you threw away your claim to the throne for my sake?"

"You are still the conceited boy I have known," Euphemia giggled, "but no, I did it for Nunnally." This further shocked Lelouch. Euphemia did so for Nunnally's sake?

Euphemia turned around, her back facing Lelouch and continued. "Nunnally told me herself: 'All I want is to be with my Big Brother, and that's all that matters. I want nothing more.'"

"Just for that?" Lelouch asked unbelievably. Just for that?

Euphemia turned to her brother once more. "Just for that, I have made up my mind. It made me stop and seriously reflect on what was truly important to me in life. That is why, Lelouch, I have not given up anything that has significant meaning or real worth to me," the pink princess continued, "ah, and don't you worry, I won't tell anyone about you being Zero…"

The audience falls silent, absolutely silent. What Euphemia had just said blows their mind, hard.

"She… she was a good girl!" Tamaki bursts into tears. While always being ridiculed to be the most intellectually-challenged member of the Black Knights, that also means that Tamaki is the most expressive and genuine person when it comes to emotional display. "Euphemia was such a good girl!" He continues as he cries. This time, no one ridicules him. In fact, the Japanese audience seem devastated upon discovering the witch they have long condemned to hell was actually a saint, who was even willing to give up her claim to the Britannian throne just to help her long lost siblings and the Japanese.

Nina is touched by what she has seen and starts to sob. 'Princess Euphemia, you were indeed the true goddess I have always seen in you…'

Kallen is also flabbergasted. For the longest of times, she has cursed Euphemia for being a hypocrite who had put on a gentle and innocent mask, lured out the Japanese and killed them all. However, having witnessed the interaction between Euphemia and Lelouch has greatly shaken her belief in things. 'It's just as Rakshata has said: Lelouch was a boy throwing his tantrum in an exponentially disproportionate manner. Princess Euphemia, while being younger than Lelouch, was much more mature and considerate, and she truly cared about the Japanese and all those around her. I…' she then recalls how Lelouch explained to Euphemia earlier that people do not treasure reason but worship miracles instead. 'He's damn right, distressingly right. I was one of those people who blindly worshipped his miracles and wronged the one innocent girl who actually had the Japanese's interest in mind…' she quietly seethes at both Lelouch and herself.

Nunnally is also touched by what Euphemia said. 'Sister Euphy, you actually gave up your claim to the throne just for my small wish…'

Lelouch laughed upon learning what his younger half-sister truly thought, closing his eyes and turned sideways. "What about Cornelia?" he asked.

"It's not like that I won't see her again," Euphemia answered.

"You are a fool, Euphy. A big fool," Lelouch said.

Euphemia looked downcast upon being called a fool by Lelouch. "I know I'm not as smart as you, Lelouch. I've never beaten you at games or studies…"

"However," Lelouch interjected, "with your usual rashness in doing things, you end up winning it all."

"Huh?" Euphemia was puzzled and she looked back up at Lelouch.

"Now I think about it, before being the Sub-Viceroy of Area 11 or an Imperial Princess, you are just the plain, little Euphy," Lelouch continued.

Euphemia extended her right hand to Lelouch. "Then will you join plain little Euphy and help her?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Euphemia, while Euphemia also stared straight into Lelouch's eyes with a serious expression.

"You… you are the worst opponent I have ever faced," Lelouch broke the silence eventually, shaking Euphemia's extended right hand, "you win."

Euphemia raised her eyebrows as Lelouch shook her hand. Does that mean…?

"Let's start to draft up policies that would utilize this SAZ to its maximum capacity," Lelouch continued before emphasizing, "ah, but I do not work as your subordinate, alright?"

Euphy showed a beautiful smile and nodded to Lelouch's suggestion.

Everyone in the audience is surprised by how things turned out. So Lelouch was actually convinced by Euphemia to help with the SAZ?

"Was Lelouch lying again?" Ohgi doubts, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have…"

"No, Big Brother wasn't lying," Nunnally rebuts, "from what have just been shown, Big Brother was genuine in admitting defeat and was ready to help Sister Euphy to work on the SAZ project together." Having said that, Nunnally is actually just as confused as everyone else in the audience, 'What happened after that? Why would Big Brother geass Sister Euphy to kill all the Japanese?' she muses.

"But… that doesn't make any sense!" Chiba exclaims. "If that's the case, why did the massacre happen afterwards? He even told us that Euphemia set a trap to lure out and kill the Japanese!"

Zero also frowns. 'So Lelouch and Euphy actually agreed to work together? But… just what had happened to them?'

Cornelia is aghast at the turn out of events as well. As Lelouch and Euphemia's elder sister, she can tell that Lelouch was being genuine in wanting to help Euphemia's SAZ project, and there was no way that Euphemia was deceiving Lelouch. 'Something else must have taken place right after they had come to an accord that changed things upside down! What happened?'

"Alright!" Euphemia nodded to Lelouch's proposal, relieved that he had finally agreed to help her. However, she was curious about Lelouch's original plan. "Though you haven't got very much faith in me, have you?" she said.

"Hmm?" Lelouch looked puzzled.

"Why would I shoot you just because you threaten me?" Euphemia asked curiously.

"Oh, no, you've got it all wrong," Lelouch chuckled at Euphemia's question, "When I really want people to follow my orders, they will not resist me. 'Shoot me!', 'Fire Suzaku,' or any other orders."

Euphemia giggled. "Oh, now you're being silly. Stop playing with me."

"I am not playing with you," Lelouch replied in a relaxed tone, "For example, if told you to kill all the Japanese, it wouldn't matter how you felt about it…"

And then, something went wrong. A Geass Sigil flew into Euphemia's eyes and rewired her neural system.

"No… no, I…" Euphemia slowly backed off from Lelouch, her pupils surrounded by red rings. "I… don't want to kill them… No!" She hugged herself and slowly fell onto the floor, burying her face into her crossed arms on the floor.

Lelouch noticed something went wrong for Euphemia. 'It can't be…!' On his left eye, the red Geass Sigil was on.

A brief moment later, Euphemia faced up again. "That's right. I have to kill the Japanese," she said not in her usual cheerful tone, but in a monotone. She had been completely taken over by the power of Geass.

Lelouch immediately came before Euphemia. "Forget the order just now, Euphy!" he cried. However, Euphemia ignored him and instead picked up the needle from the floor, rushing back to the podium.

"Wait! Euphy!" Lelouch screamed.

Once again, the audience falls into dead silence. Lelouch indeed geassed Euphemia into massacring the Japanese, however it was clear that Lelouch didn't mean to issue such order, which was made evident by the fact that he actually panicked and tried to cancel the order.

"Did… did he…?" Rivalz finally stutters something out of his mouth as he points his finger at the screen.

"…Lelouch had lost his control of Geass," Anya succinctly points out what happened in her usual poker face.

Cornelia suddenly realizes something. The footages that have been shown so far indicates that Lelouch could turn his Geass on and off at will, and he didn't have to do any dramatic hand movement when casting his Geass on his victims, save for the very first time he did it at Shinjuku. However, when Lelouch proclaimed himself the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire and geassed the whole imperial court to recognize him as such in front of the camera, he swiped his right hand across his eyes to reveal the red Geass Sigils to do so. Back then, she thought it was Lelouch's usual over-the-top move to make the process more dramatic than necessary, but if Lelouch had indeed lost his control over his Geass power, could it be that he was taking off some form of contact lenses from his eyes when he was about to geass the entire Britannian court into recognizing him as their Emperor?

"You are joking…" Cornelia's emotional side still can't believe what her rational side has deduced from all the available information presented to her so far, "you must be joking… you mean to tell me that it was all a bad joke at the wrong time and place that caused Euphy to have blood stained on her hands?"

Zero is aghast as well. 'It was an accident? It almost sounded like an excuse! No! It couldn't be…' and then he recalls that time when Schneizel sent Kanon to follow him to his secret meeting with Lelouch at the Kururugi Shrine right before the start of the Second Assault on Tokyo Settlement, resulting in Lelouch to run berserk and not trusting him anymore. 'How convenient… yet still being true,' Zero tightens his fists upon realizing that the biggest grudge he held against Lelouch was in fact due to a bad joke at a bad time and bad place. 'Damnit!'

Meanwhile, Schneizel was having a conversation with Bartley. Apparently, he had concluded his negotiations with the Chinese Federation and was ready to head back to the Homeland soon.

"Should we keep the experimental subject here then, Your Highness?" Bartley asked inside a secret base in Area 11.

"Hmm… how intelligent is it?" Schneizel asked with a tint of interest.

"Our resources are rather limited in Area 11…" Bartley responded, and behind him, an experimental subject was shown to be in a giant test tube filled with orange liquid, with researchers observing and taking notes.

"I see… let me have a chat with the Rosenberg Institute and see what can be done," Schneizel said, "once that's done, can you have them to send over the experimental subject and the experimental Knightmare Frame together?"

"Understood. As for the ruins on Kamine Island…" Bartley inquired.

"We have to wait until the security situation in Area 11 has been stabilized," Schneizel responded in his almost trademark calm voice, "hence why we give the go ahead to the SAZ. We must be thankful that Euphemia has made things to work out smoothly."

"No wonder Prince Schneizel supported Princess Euphemia's SAZ project," Gino observes. He is as shocked as others in the audience to learn the truth behind Euphemia's order to massacre the Japanese, but thanks to his previous training as a Knight of the Round and his lack of direct involvement in the SAZ events and the subsequent Black Rebellion, he is able to snap out from astonishment and quickly catch some key information from what has just been shown. "His Highness did it not to help push forward the SAZ project because he was supportive of Euphemia's vision, but because Her Highness' project fit into his own project concerning his secret experiment in Area 11."

"In other words, Prince Schneizel used Princess Euphemia to advance his own goals," Guilford summarizes what Gino has just said, annoyed by the conclusion that the seemingly kind-hearted 2nd Prince of Britannia was actually using his liege's most treasured sister to achieve his own objectives.

Ohgi, on the other hand, seems to have some difficulty in accepting that Schneizel was using his sister to achieve his own goals. 'No, that couldn't be the case. Prince Schneizel is a good man, he even told us about Lelouch's Geass despite we were enemies at the time, and helped us to fight against Lelouch when he took all UFN representatives as hostages without asking anything for return. Lord Weinberg and Lord Guilford must have left those important facts out in their consideration… somehow…' Ohgi quietly tries to convince himself that Schneizel is a good man.

Kaguya looks at Ohgi and muses quietly, 'such cunningness and ruthlessness… as expected from someone who served as Prime Minister of Britannia under Emperor Charles. And to think that Ohgi actually believes Schneizel to be a much better person than Lelouch just because of the prince's gentle facade… is Ohgi really the most suitable person to lead Japan?'

Cornelia, on the other hand, is surprisingly silent, and this worries her loyal knight. "Your Highness…" Guilford tries to gain the attention of his liege, "are you…"

"Guilford," Cornelia suddenly begins, "it was Euphy's choice to start the SAZ project. Schneizel may have used her project to further his own goals, but the fact remains that the SAZ project was Euphy's project, and if that was what she wanted, all that mattered was that Schneizel was willing to help her to get her plan approved by father."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Guilford salutes. He is not going to disrespect his liege's resolve.

Euphemia ran through the long, dark corridor inside the G1 and got back to the podium alone. Darlton sensed that something was wrong and stood up. "Sub-Viceroy, where's Zero?" he asked.

However, Euphemia ignored Darlton's question and proceeded to make an announcement. "All those who considered themselves Japanese! I have a favour to ask," the pink princess announced through the microphone, "could you please kindly be dead?"

Unsurprisingly, Euphemia's announcement had caused shock and confusion among the attendees of the SAZ opening ceremony. They must have heard it wrong; why would the princess ask them to die, anyway?

Zero rushed out of the G1 and saw a fainted Suzaku with the fainted security detail. 'He's only unconscious. But why is he unconscious?'

"Uhm… I was hoping you'd all just commit suicide, but you couldn't, could you?" Euphemia continued with her appalling announcement in her sweet voice. "Okay, soldiers, please kill the Japanese! Kill them all!"

"What? Is she serious?" Lord Kirihara stood up, appalled by what Euphemia had just said.

"Cut the mics and cameras now!" Darlton turned around and ordered the TV crew to cut the TV transmission as a damage control measure.

"Stop it, Euphy!" Zero yelled as he ran towards Euphemia, but he was stopped by two Britannian soldiers.

"Get out of my way!" Zero exclaimed. However, the two soldiers did not bulge to the terrorist.

Lelouch was about to geassed the two soldiers to get out of his way, but it was too late: Euphemia smiled and fired her needle gun, killing a Japanese old man sitting on the first row.

"Ahhh!" a Japanese woman screamed in horror.

"Go on, soldiers. Do your duty! Hurry up!" Euphemia continued as if nothing happened.

"Your Highness!" Darlton exclaimed. "What on Earth's come over you? Please stop this at once, Your Highness, this is…"

BANG!

The eminent general fell down upon being shot. It was Euphemia. "Forgive me, General, but I mustn't let anyone stand in my way. I have to kill all the Japanese," Euphemia apologized softly before turning back to the stage and cried through the microphone, "Now, Britannians, kill the Japanese!"

"Tch!" Zero closed his left eye cover, knowing that the situation has got out of control already.

"Such… is the power of Geass," Cecile says in shock, "it forced Her Highness to do something she would never have done."

"Princess Euphemia…" Nina is also shocked at how Euphemia shot down General Darlton just because he was in her way to execute Lelouch's Geass command.

Kallen's mind is having a heavy storm right now. 'Who should take the blame? It's definitely not Princess Euphemia's fault, she was forced to kill the Japanese by the Geass command. Was it Lelouch's fault? Not entirely, he didn't mean to issue the command and actually tried his best to stop Her Highness from killing the Japanese. Should I blame those two idiotic Britannian soldiers who stopped Lelouch from stopping Princess Euphemia? But they were simply doing their job. Or should I blame the princess' curiosity that triggered Lelouch's badly phrased example? But that would be blaming the victim as Lelouch had total control on what example he was going to give to Princess Euphemia. This is such a mess!'

Cornelia grits her teeth. 'The evil power of Geass… it corrupted both of my siblings and hurt my trusted comrade!' Now that she knows what happened behind Lelouch's geassing Euphemia into killing the Japanese, while she still cannot forgive Lelouch for his unforgivable mistake, she can no longer put the full blame on Lelouch, especially seeing how Lelouch tried his best to stop Euphemia from carrying out the heinous order.

Next to a frightened Shirley, Anya quietly muses. 'Only if this had happened a year after, then Jerry would be able to remedy the situation.'

Because General Darlton was shot down and could not order the present military to do otherwise, the Britannian troops all obeyed Euphemia's order and started to exterminate all the Japanese inside the stadium. As the soldiers were shooting down the Japanese, Suzaku slowly regained his conscious. What he saw frightened him: why were the Britannian soldiers killing the Japanese?

"Stop! What are you doing?" Suzaku quickly hid himself behind a wall, shouting at his walkie-talkie, "All forces, this is Suzaku Kururugi, Knight of Honour of Britannia! Cease fire at once!"

However, his orders got ignored. "We've been ordered to kill all the Japanese here. Her Highness Princess Euphemia issued the command herself," one of the soldiers inside a Gloucester responded coldly as he shot at the wall where Suzaku was hiding, forcing Suzaku to run out to the open field and stopped right in front of the Gloucester.

"What, Princess Euphemia did? No, that's absurd!" Suzaku exclaimed in disbelief. There was no way the gentle princess would have ordered a massacre!

All hell broke loose inside the stadium as Euphemia herself picked up a submachine gun and shot randomly at the Japanese. Zero ran across the upper seat rows, trying to stop his half-sister. "Stop it, Euphy!" Zero cried. Sadly, his Geass order was absolute, and Euphy did not pay any attention to his plead and continued to carry out Lelouch's Geass order of killing the Japanese with her submachine gun inside the stadium.

'This thing… my Geass did this?' Lelouch looked at all the dead bodies scattered across the entire stadium. How could things end up like this?

Suddenly, Zero felt a pair of weak hands pulling his cape. He looked down and saw an old Japanese woman on the verge of dying.

"Zero… the saviour… of Japan…" the old woman uttered those words as she stared at Zero's helmet with hope.

"Stop it… I… I am not… your messiah… or saviour…" Zero muttered in utter horror. He was the very reason why the massacre happened!

However, the dying old woman did not seem to hear what Zero had just muttered. "I put… my hope… on you…" she then collapsed while her tears were still falling down her eyes.

"Stop it… don't… don't put all the burden on me…" Lelouch cried out in despair as he realized the sin he had just committed, 'is this the sin I must atone for? The cross that I must bear?'

As he slowly walked backed through the long corridor towards the G1, a weakened Darlton slowly emerged from one of the doors along the corridor.

"Zero… you son of a bitch!" the general bellowed in pain as he slowly raised his gun, pointing at Zero, "What did you do to Princess Euphemia?"

'Andreas Darlton, the closest of Cornelia's inner circle advisors!' Lelouch regained his cool and quickly analyzed the situation, thinking of ways to turn it into his favour.

"This is a tough judgement call," Lloyd, who has remained silent for quite a while until now, speaks up. "It is apparent that His Majesty had never intended to force Her Highness to massacre the Japanese, and he certainly regretted and tried to stop it, only to no avail. That said, he did utilize the situation in his favour and put all the blame onto Princess Euphemia. He had never attempted to clear her name from the bloodshed caused by his own mistakes either." He then scanned through the auditorium, observing the facial expression of everyone in the auditorium.

After a brief pause, Kallen speaks up. "Despite this difficult situation that Dr Asplund has pointed out, one thing is clear and I think we can all agree on it: Princess Euphemia was not the one responsible for the massacre." Everyone, including Chiba and Tamaki, the most anti-Britannian members of the audience, nods to the statement.

"Lelouch should take full responsibility of the massacre," Chiba spats. "Don't forget, he was the Treacherous Emperor, after all."

"No! Lulu didn't mean to force Princess Euphemia to kill the Japanese!" Shirley exclaims, feeling it wrong to blame the whole accident on Lelouch.

"Are you suggesting that Euphemia should be held responsible for the massacre?" Chiba retorts.

"No, of course not! She was a victim as well!" Shirley vehemently denies Chiba's suggestion.

"Then who should take the blame? Or do you think that no one should take responsibility for it?" Chiba presses on.

"Ugh, I…" Shirley feels sad. Lelouch didn't mean to do it. How could Chiba blame the whole thing on him?

Cornelia, however, noticed something different. 'Lelouch, you had just forced Euphy to massacre the Japanese against her will. Just as you were regretting it, you immediately contemplated how to use the same evil power to force Darlton to fight against me?' the warrior princess once again feels the anger against her estranged younger half-brother, but this time it is due to Lelouch's callous and deliberate use of the evil power to manipulate her most trusted comrade and a close friend of hers. She wouldn't mind if Lelouch defeated and killed Darlton fair and square on the battlefield; hell, she wouldn't mind even if Lelouch used some underhanded method to defeat and kill him on the battlefield, for deceiving the enemy on the battlefield is an acceptable act of war. What infuriated her was Lelouch's use of a supernatural mind-twisting power that had forced her dearest sister to commit a heinous crime to once again force one of her closest comrades to fight her against his will and unknowingly. Such heartless way of stomping one's pride, belief, dignity and honour is something Cornelia can never forgive Lelouch for.

In the forest far away from the stadium, the Black Knights were all concerned of what exactly happened at the SAZ opening ceremony. "What happened? What is happening in the stadium?" Kallen asked Tamaki impatiently. Tamaki shouted back even more impatiently, saying that he was still trying to confirm what exactly was happening.

On the other hand, the Britannian TV station was trying to cut the transmission of the live footages about what was happening in the stadium, but to no avail. It turned out to be Diethard interfering with the transmission signals and forced the live footage of Britannian soldiers massacring the Japanese to be aired to the whole world.

"Sir! C.C. has made contact with the Supreme Commander!" a foot soldier reported to Diethard.

"Perfect. That clears up our problem then," Diethard said, before he mused, 'I have no idea how you arranged this situation, but your scheme has gone well beyond what I had expected, Zero!' the renegade Britannian TV producer was exhilarated to see the chaos Zero had caused.

Meanwhile, Lelouch got back onto the Gawain's cockpit, and C.C. started to pilot it onto the air as Lelouch took down his helmet.

"I am surprised," C.C. says in her usual calm voice, "I didn't expect you'd go this far."

However, what Lelouch spoke next was not an answer C.C. had expected to hear. "…it wasn't me," the young boy replied in a grave tone.

"What?" C.C. turned back incredulously, and then noticed that Lelouch's Geass was on.

"I didn't use the power of Geass on her… or should I say, I didn't intend to use the power of Geass on her," Lelouch explained.

'I see. Then what I felt before was…' C.C. realized.

"When we made our contract, I knew how dangerous this power could become," Lelouch continued, before suddenly raising his voice, "Nonetheless…!"

The screen then cut to the strange dimension with an everlasting dusk, where the Emperor stood alone at the edge of a floating structure.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha…" the Emperor laughed hysterically, staring at the sky proudly, "that boy, he did it, didn't he?"

"Father?" Nunnally and Cornelia are both shocked to see their father appearing on the screen once again.

Both Guilford and Gino are shocked at seeing Emperor Charles at this juncture of the events as well. "Did His Majesty just say 'that boy'?" Gino asks incredulously. "Does that mean…" Gino can't finish his sentence, though, for the conclusion of his observation sounds absolutely crazy for him, a Knight of the Round to the 98th Emperor of Britannia, to even contemplate.

However, Guilford, being chiefly loyal to Cornelia, picks up where Gino has left off. "That means His Majesty knew that Lelouch was Zero?"

That drops a bombshell to the auditorium. "What?" Kallen cried out incredulously. "That's impossible! No one except C.C. knew about Zero's real identity until much later! How could the Emperor possibly know who Zero was at that point of time?"

Tohdoh suddenly realizes something. "Princess Cornelia, did you know about Zero's identity and reported it to the Emperor before the SAZ massacre happened?" the Japanese general asks.

Cornelia is still shocked at the fact that her father seemed to have known who Zero was at least before she found out who he was, but reacts to Tohdoh's question nevertheless and shakes her head. "No, I didn't know who Zero was until a bit later than that, and even after I finally got to know who Zero was, I didn't tell anyone else." She paused for a brief moment before adding, "And before you ask, no, father had never told me who Zero was; I figured it out myself later in a battle."

The audience is once again aghast: Not only did Emperor Charles seem to know who Zero was at a fairly early stage of the Black Knights' rebellion, he also didn't tell Cornelia, his daughter and Viceroy of Area 11 who was responsible to defeat Zero and the Black Knights, who Zero really was! The revelation simply doesn't make sense: why would the ruler of the Empire withhold such crucial information from his subordinate responsible for solving the problem?

However, that is still not what shocked and angered Cornelia the most; what shocked and angered the warrior princess the most was how proud her father seemed to be for Lelouch after he had geassed Euphemia into massacring the Japanese. 'I have never seen father laughing like that… could he be really happy to see how his son had forced his daughter into massacring people?' And then the puzzle pieces seem to come together inside Cornelia's head, causing a great deal of fury rushing up her brain. 'The strong devours the weak. I see it now. Father was excited to see how the strong Lelouch devoured the weak Euphy. How dare him!' She hammers the armrest of her chair strongly to dissipate her anger and frustration upon realizing just how her father effectively discarded her beloved younger sister so easily.

Elsewhere, the other Houses of Kyoto aside from Lord Kirihara were discussing the way forward upon the SAZ massacre incident. The older men had decided that they need to flee and continue to live.

"How pathetic…" Kaguya sighed, "Your survival is all that counts in all of this?"

The older men were displeased. "Sumeragi, you shouldn't say that," one of the old men warned.

"We need to survive for the sake of Japan as well," another old man said.

However, Kaguya didn't back down. "What's the point if we're all that's left?" she asked.

"Watch your tongue, Sumeragi!" the third man scolded the young girl. "You, the young girl who are here just because of your family name…"

"What purpose does Kyoto serve if we don't act now?" Kaguya shot back at the selfish old men with a stern look on her face.

"Kaguya, you were brave!" Tianzi praises her friend for standing up to the selfish older men of the Six Houses of Kyoto. Only if she could have stood up against the High Eunuchs like her Japanese friend!

"That's nothing compared to General Tohdoh," Kaguya thanks her friend's compliment while acting modest in deference to the Japanese general who fought with valour for Japan ever since the fall of the old Japan.

"You have humbled me, Kaguya-sama," Tohdoh immediately responds, "I am simply a military man who knows nothing but to use violence on the battlefield. It is you, Kaguya-sama, who excels in politics and helped the Black Knights to stay out of trouble during its darkest days."

Just as Kaguya and Tohdoh's conversation continues, Ohgi looks at them and ponders, 'I could never be as effective a military leader as General Tohdoh, nor could I ever be as proficient in politics as Kaguya-sama. Am I really the suitable person to lead Japan to progress into the future?'

Suzaku got onto his Lancelot and launched it into the air with the newly installed airborne supporting device to search for Euphemia. "I have to… I must find Euphy!" the Honorary Britannian Knight of Honour muttered. At the same time, the Britannian soldiers started to burst out of the stadium to kill the Japanese congregated outside of it.

"Hey, the Britannian forces have begun to move out of the stadium!" C.C. warned Lelouch.

"Right…" Lelouch paused for a moment, and then finally made up his mind on how he would move forward, "in this case, the only available option is to exploit Euphemia to the utmost. This is the least I can do…"

C.C. frowned at Lelouch's decision, but said nothing further. Then, she noticed a group of Britannian air combat units approaching the Gawain.

"Attention, Zero! Return that unit! That's the property of our military…" before the Britannian soldier could finish his sentence, though, Lelouch pressed the button and fired the Hadron Cannons, destroying all the Britannian air combat units within sight.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, and spoke with a grave tone. "This is my order to the Black Knights. Euphemia has become our enemy! The SAZ of Japan is a cowardly trap designed to lure us in! All armoured autonomous battle knight units, advance on the stadium and wage an attack! Wipe out all Britannian forces! Save the Japanese! At once!"

Almost all members of the Black Knights had an angry expression on their face, with the notable exception of Diethard and Rakshata, who smirked at the huge moral high ground Euphemia had just handed to the Black Knights.

"Find her…" Lelouch bellowed as tears started to swell in Lelouch's left eye, before it finally fell out of it, "and kill her!"

"He… lied to us…" Kallen speaks with a weak and shaky voice, unsure what to make about the truth behind that day. She thought everything would have become much clearer after the truth has been revealed by these discs. However, the reality is quite to the contrary: now that she knows the entire truth behind the SAZ massacre, she finds it even more difficult to judge Lelouch's actions as good or evil. Can she really blame Lelouch's decision to exploit Euphemia to the utmost? No, she can't, because there didn't seem to have a better way to go by without sacrificing the Black Knights. Can she not blame Lelouch's decision to exploit Euphemia to the utmost? No, she can't either, because what Lelouch did was at the height of hypocrisy and despicability: causing a pig's breakfast himself, blamed it all on an innocent young girl whose only intention was to do good for the people, and then stepped in to solve the pig's breakfast that would not have existed otherwise and claimed credit for cleaning it up. Even worse, Lelouch told a barefaced lie to the Black Knights about Euphemia setting a trap designed to lure them in, whereas in reality it was him who had forced Euphemia, albeit unintentionally, to kill the Japanese. So, should she blame Lelouch or not? Kallen has no idea at all. And it seems that the rest of the audience, save Chiba and Nina perhaps, can't make up their minds on this matter either.

Milly stares at the screen intently and finally sighs. 'Lelouch, I am not smart enough to comment on whether you were right or wrong in such a complex situation, but what I can say for sure is that your unnecessary pride and indiscretion with your choice of examples had been at least part of the reason for this disaster that made thousands of innocent lives perished.'

At the front row, Nunnally also stares at the screen intently. After a brief moment, she has finally made up her mind on her take on the tragedy. 'Big Brother, I wouldn't say what you have decided to do after Sister Euphy went berserk was entirely wrong; it was indeed the most effective way to make use of the situation,' she muses, 'However, I, and I am sure Big Sister as well, would never forgive you for ruining Sister Euphy's life, reputation and honour because of your pettiness, conceit and unnecessarily large ego. And since you were doing all those horrible things for my sake, I would never forgive myself for the sin committed as well.'