Family and Trees

Staying inside a castle has been proven interesting, albeit chaotic at times.

The walls are really good at being walls that everyday they drive C.C. mad for being contained, encaged, detained within these hollow and thick barriers that separate her from nature. When the madness is too much to bear that her hair begins to turn into vines, she changes into a small lizard and scales the whole length of the walls as if to prove that they are still beneath her, that she knows where they begin and end. And they would whisper their apologies and C.C. will feel guilty for after all, they were once part of nature. She will then, return to her original form and presses her cheek against the solid surface as if to console them. Once, the king found her pressed against the wall inside his room, with her palms flat against them. Bestowing her look that clearly says, 'I don't understand what you are doing but as long as it isn't some dark ritual magic that will turn me into a rat, then it is fine,' he ignored her afterward and proceeded to attend to his royal duties.

Then, there's the ceiling and roof. The witch hates them as she would a poison. Whoever thought that it would be nice to block the sight of the sky especially at night must have thought that they did a job well done. But in all honesty, they didn't. Who in their right minds would find it beautiful to stare at these blank, spacious canvasses? Not C.C. for sure. She relayed her argument to Lelouch and the latter stared at her as if she's speaking another language which got her worried if she accidentally howled or chirped at him.

"And what happens when it rains?" the king had asked.

"You'll get wet," she answered matter-of-factly.

Lelouch huffed, "Not all of the ceilings here look like this," he said while pointing at the ceiling of his room. "The one at the Grand Hall is painted with flowers."

C.C. nodded solemnly as she saw him under a new light. "Ah, perhaps, it's only your ceiling that is ugly."

Meanwhile, the witch couldn't comprehend the need to go to war. Lelouch talks about it as if he was born in the middle of one, as if a sword was pointed at him as he wailed for his mother's milk. C.C. doesn't like the sound of it – how this short word could leave long-term damage and scars to its innocent victims. Moreover, Lelouch's face always turns dark and cold whenever he tackles the matter causing the blooming flowers on his walls to shy away from him. It will be disheartening if they would completely wilt because her plan to beautify this dull space called his room will collapse.

The food is good.

Err, if she will be completely honest, the food here is the best food she had ever tasted in her entire life, but she wouldn't dare verbalize this thought for the fear of sounding ungrateful to the forest that fed her until now.

But the flavor! The aroma! The texture of the castle's dishes are some things that her unexperienced tongue never thought are possible. How can a meat taste sweet and spicy at the same time? How can berries be more delicious than they already are? Soups that taste so rich they make her mouth water just by catching a whiff of them. They taste so delicious that it feels forbidden to eat them. But it isn't and C.C. always savors them until her last bite.

"You haven't eaten anything cooked in your life?" the king inquired incredulously (and was that a tinge of disgust in his eyes?) one morning while she licked the last remnants of her breakfast in her bowl.

The witch shrugged in nonchalance. "Well, I only eat the meat of dead animals, and no, I don't eat those already infested with worms so don't give me that look, boy king. The forest leads me to where fresh carcasses are and there, I made fire to cook them."

"Aren't witches supposed to have their own cabin where they live, cook, and do their potio – err, 'witch things'?"

C.C. looked at him blankly with a hint of disappointment in her eyes until Lelouch squirmed under her unwavering gaze. "Lelouch, what kind of books have you been reading?"

"But!" the king protested, rising from his chair by the window. "Everyone needed a shelter to stay in."

"If everyone does, then why are there still homeless people in your streets?" she challenged as she recalled the sight she saw while wandering as a dove in the nearby towns.

The king sighed in resignation. "Well, unfortunately, not everyone has the capacity to have one."

"What an interesting reason," answered C.C. and she completely dismissed the king's presence as she went back to the passage she was reading.

The chaotic part of living inside the castle would be, as Lelouch mentioned before, is his relatives. It fascinates C.C. how each member possesses a character far more different than the other that she would never suspect them to be blood-related until verbally stated.

Clovis the Duke is a pompous man who doesn't mean his words. He must have thought that his long golden hair is one of his assets as he regularly combed them with the comb he never parted ways with – during meetings, during conversations, during meals, and he would even wake up in the middle of the night to brush it a hundred times. Not that she was counting as she posed as a spider, but he was! Loudly. But for C.C., his hair only reminds her of hay being fed to farm animals.

On the other hand, Cornelia the General is a woman who feels like she carries the world on her back. She has this strong sense of justice and honor that even the king cannot rival with. Sure, Lelouch may have won most of the wars he had been to but he is not dubbed as the 'Demon King' for nothing. His victories come from the blood and cries and suffering of his opponents. But Cornelia, however, is his compass that wouldn't let him completely astray to the depths of Hell. She's the voice of humanity when Lelouch's plan are deemed too brutal for a mere conquering of a land. How many innocent victims do we expect to suffer from this expedition? How many will lose their homes? Their jobs? The Demon King would then ask his general if a foreigner's future is more important than their people's and this would make Cornelia glare at him until she is dismissed. But she had successfully done her job. She had planted questions that would make the king think twice before his plan's execution.

Then, there's the general's younger sister named, Euphemia, who makes roses bloom wherever she walks (metaphorically). Very much the opposite of her uptight sibling, Euphy, as what she preferred to be called, is the epitome of spring. If C.C. with her hair as green as the fields is the grass, Euphy would be the blooming flowers. She's so soft and open and kind and fragile that the witch is afraid to even touch her and cause the poor noble to wilt under her skin. But it is fun to watch Euphy from afar. Her sweetness often roots from her naivety of pain and hardships that despite her pure intentions to mingle with ordinary people, some of her sentiments come off as insensitive. So, C.C. pities her, especially when the duchess' forehead furrows in confusion when people distanced themselves from her and her thoughtless statements. She would be a good acquaintance in the castle, C.C. thinks, but the witch cannot promise anyone that she wouldn't take advantage of the woman's kindness once in a while.

However, it is a different case with the king's mother who is not a queen. C.C. cannot read her at all for she is always drunk everytime the witch sees her walking along the castle's hallways. A goblet of wine permanently resides in her left hand as she wobbly and rather loudly roams every corner of the castle shouting her undying love for her late husband. Well, that's the only thing that C.C. can clearly read from her. The wine muddles her aura and all C.C. can see are gray clouds and silent lightnings. Once, she asked Lelouch about Marianne's condition but the king immediately shut down any attempt of conversation regarding the woman.

Waldstein and Suzaku, on the other hand, well, how should she put it, hmmm, ahh, Waldstein and Suzaku on the other hand are the only people in the castle that Lelouch trusts completely. A trust that his family members seem unworthy of gaining but these two totally unrelated people to him gain the honor to receive. It's amusing to think that C.C. hasn't caught a glimpse of them since she arrived weeks ago when everytime the king talks about them, it sounds like they are his own arms and legs. But no, C.C. hasn't encounter any one of these distinguished men and it makes the witch's curiosity grow little vines of questions as to whether they truly exist. Well, she cannot blame the king if they are actually imaginary comrades his mind created to stay sane. Wars can do that to a person.

But above all, it is Lelouch the Demon King who is the most interesting person in the castle. Of course, he would be. From his curse, to his alias, to his women, and the other stories that the walls told C.C., indeed Lelouch vi Britannia is a book of horrors and nightly escapades but to the witch's surprise, those weren't the reason why C.C. finds him interesting.

It's the way he gets easily flustered and blushes after she threw offhanded and 'sometimes' teasing comments just to annoy him. Or how he isn't fond of eating hard food as if he is a toddler who just started teething. Lelouch wants everything in his room completely in order. One misplaced item could result to an agonizing time of rearranging his whole room (by himself!) while muttering to himself how he couldn't trust the servants in cleaning his room without losing his things. At first, it was a fascinating scene to watch. Here is the ruler of the land, the Demon King as he is called by his enemies, armed not with a sword nor a gun, but with a broomstick and damp towels, protected not by the most impenetrable armor, but with a white tunic, aggressively wiping his stained-glass windows as if it was dirtied by the blood of his opponent. It was fascinating and entertaining at first – how Lelouch isn't afraid to touch dirt and do chores until he told C.C. to help him out. He would tell her that since she had a lot of time in her hands to watch people, why not use it to become productive?

She could have lied to him for an answer just to watch his eyebrows furrow in frustration, but she would always choose not to. Well, she can't tell him the truth that the reason she spends more time people-watching is because she couldn't find the answer to stop his curse despite reading almost all of the books in his library. So, instead, the witch will silently leave his room and fly to the forest.


The witch had asked him a sensible question that he'd rather not think about.

Cat-like eyes glinting in anticipation, the question hangs before them like a dewdrop at the tip of a leaf. The king closes his eyes as if the thought would disappear if he couldn't see it, yet the darkness behind his eyelids only illuminates its impact to his rather short life.

"Well?" C.C. prods, face focused with genuine curiosity.

"It's too early to discuss such matters of no importance if we haven't tried every possible way available to break the curse."

"Does having a wife really that a burden to you?"

The frown in her voice causes him to open his eyes. Sighing, Lelouch neatly folds the map that he has been studying for a while since none of the coordinates and land masses succeeded to register in his mind. "It just feels like I'm already surrendering to my fate when I haven't exhausted all of the resources yet. You do know that it is my very last resort and defeat is not a choice for me."

From her perch on the window sill, the witch gracefully walks towards his seat and for a moment, the room smells like morning mist and wildflowers. He has been mulling over this fact ever since C.C. came to the castle. The fact that everywhere she goes, she carries the forest with her just like what she stated before. But he didn't expect it to be this… this frequent and hard-hitting. As if he can taste the wild berries on his tongue, or he is walking barefoot on the soft marsh – the water slowly seeping into his skin whenever she is present.

He didn't expect it to be beautiful and terrifying the same time.

"Hmm," C.C. hums as she stops a few feet away from him, arms folded infront of her chest. Ah, that blue dress truly suits her. Lelouch makes a mental note of praising the dressmaker later. "But isn't it better to have an offspring as early as now? Well, you're actually considered late for such decision compared to your ancestors, aren't you?"

"Then, why don't you?" he quips, annoyance beginning to crawl on his veins.

Dropping to a crouch with her palms on her knees, her chin on the back of her hands, C.C. looks up at him innocently. "Me?"

The king leans forward as an act of intimidation, but who is he kidding? The witch is never afraid of him. "Yes. Perhaps, you should worry about your population, or rather, the lack thereof. Should you also be finding someone to help you keep your bloodline alive?"

"But unlike you, I have all the time in the world."

Lelouch doesn't show how her words stung him. He tries hard not to flinch and break eye contact with the witch albeit his breathing stops for a second. Somehow, looking away feels more like a defeat right now more than dying from the curse.

He raises a cool brow despite the brewing irritation in his gut. "Well, that's why you're here. Have you finally found something useful that'll help us understand the curse?"

C.C.'s lips slowly curve into a pout as she obviously chooses the right words. The sunlight reflecting on her green hair makes it seem like he has his own sunset inside his room.

This woman's existence alone is truly magical, Lelouch decides.

She settles for a resigned 'no' after a while of thinking that the king actually expected a long explanation following the word. But there's none. Just her cold breath grazing his knee.

"But that doesn't mean there is none, though," she adds silently.

Lifting his eyes back to her amber ones, he finds an expression that wasn't there before. Or perhaps, it had been there and she was good at hiding it from him.

Pity.

And Lelouch hates that it's directed towards him. A king shouldn't be the one at the mercy of someone's pity. He should be the one deciding who deserves to receive it.

"Don't." The word escapes his mouth before he can stop it. And that makes him feel even weaker, even more vulnerable as those amber eyes soften like the sun rays entering the windows.

For a while, silence sits between the two robbing them of words and thoughts. Time is another person in the room who Lelouch tries to chase after but keeps being out of his reach. And the witch is the answer that leads to more confusing questions.

"Well," C.C. starts, "It's not like the books in your library are the only books in the world, right?" she says then Lelouch watches as a small smile blooms on her lips bringing in the scent of anticipation for whichever could happen next.

Jutting his chin out, Lelouch regains his confidence and quietly reprimands himself for bring transparent for a moment. "Of course. I can buy any book you need. Even that which is in the farthest country, I can get it for you. We still have a lot of time in our hands. Learn everything that you have to. Explore each field of knowledge without any inhibitions. I'll take over all the responsibilities."

"Ah, you are so careless with your words, boy king. You shouldn't be spouting big promises you aren't certain that you can follow through. What if I need to kill someone innocent to fulfill the ritual?"

"Sacrifices are needed for the good of the majority. The life of the king is the utmost priority of this kingdom. And I am certain that whoever you choose to sacrifice, they will treat it as an honor – a heroic act even, to be able to save my life," he finishes with a smug smile on his face.

"You," C.C. squints at him, "are a terrible person and you might actually be better off dead. My offer to be the forest's food still stands."

"Wha – "

The witch suddenly stands up surprising Lelouch. Her golden eyes now look like hot molten rocks bursting out of a volcano. The room temperature suddenly rises. But she remains quiet until Lelouch is left staring at nothing as a white dove exits the window.

What? Is she actually angry with him for what he just said? But his words are true. If he dies, the castle will crumble. There is no one person among his relatives who could live up to his achievements. No one who isn't tainted by greed. Well, of course, Lelouch is greedy, too, but he knows when and where he should not be. Clovis is out of the question for he might spend all of the family fortunes in just a matter of days. Euphy, as much as she possesses the purest heart among the Britannia family, is too naïve and inexperienced in handling political matters. She would be devoured by power-hungry royalties in no time leaving her scathed with their sharp insults and judgment. Well, there is Cornelia who is the sanest among his family members and can at least rule the land decently. But the king worries that the general has a lot of misplaced honor and unnecessary justice under her belt which could possibly lead to their downfall.

Lelouch sighs as he slumps in his seat. What surprises him though was the fact that the witch got angry over such mundane thing. He could have been jesting for all she knew.

And actually, good grief, he cannot believe that he is about to admit it, but he doesn't really like the idea of sacrificing one innocent life for his own.


Lelouch must be thinking that she is angry at him.

No, such words are expected from a ruler no matter who they are. She was just responding with her usual sarcasm. But all of a sudden, something cold and sharp and invading stood outside his room. It was so sudden that she rose from her crouch without any thought and emitted heat before the room froze into a block of ice. She saw how confused the king was when she left with no warning at all but there was no time to explain. She had to immediately check what was on the other side of the door before it could hurt anyone.

But the 'thing' was already gone when she arrived. And it left no trace nor clue to lead C.C. in figuring out what it was.

But it reminded her of something, though. It reminded her of how cold the forest is when the moon is not there to shine.