Author's Note: Okay, first of all, I admit that I did go a bit overboard in the last chapter. I confess that I like making things a little gruesome. And I was trying to make it have as much shock value as possible. So put two and two together and... voila. Apologies if it was shocking to you guys.

Anyway, I see a lot of reviewers commenting that the SoA is going to get demolished after what they have done. Just to clear things up a bit, I will get to that bit soon enough, but this chapter (as implied by its name) and the next is more centered around the aftermath of Joseph's death and the emotional state of the main characters. Hence, it's going to be some time before I get to to the part when the SoA gets actively involved again.

Chapter 19
Lamentation

Lelouch's eyelids fluttered open as he woke up from his slumber. He rose up slightly, rubbing his eyes and running a hand through his disheveled raven hair wearily as he cast a look around the room. It was still in the middle of the night, judging by the dim, dark bluish light, cast by the moon, in his room. He instinctively reached out to his right, where Shirley should be sleeping beside him, but his outstretched fingers found nothing but soft, crumpled sheets. Brows furrowing in surprise, he noted that Shirley was missing instead of sleeping soundly by his side.

Lelouch grimaced. Of course, she wouldn't be having a peaceful sleep tonight. Joseph Fenette has been murdered earlier this morning, and his head was sent to them on her birthday. Shirley has always been close to her father, and her father's death must have shaken her to the core. Little wonder that she was feeling restless tonight. "Perhaps she wanted some fresh air or time to herself," Lelouch mused, recalling his own shock and depression on the morning his mother was killed as well. He had was uncommunicative and inconsolable for many hours, before pulling himself together and seeking an audience with Charles.

The eleventh prince of Britannia sighed. He could not help but feel more than a little culpable at Joseph's death. He was completely innocent, and the murderers, if they were indeed from the Sword of Akasha, merely butchered him just to get to Shirley. "If only I knew returning to Britannia with Shirley would have resulted in this, perhaps I should not have brought her along with me," Lelouch reflected. He recalled her hysterically crying and clutching his arms, sobbing in denial. He knew that his move would entail some negative consequences, but he thought he was well-prepared for such. How wrong he was – and the Fenettes paid the price of his overconfidence.

"If Shirley wants some time to herself, I'll grant her that… but I should check up on her at the very least. There's always a possibility that she might do something silly after her father's death," Lelouch thought to himself as he got to his feet, banishing whatever remained of his sleepiness as he opened the doors and headed out of his bedroom, wandering along a corridor as he searched for Shirley.

The dark-haired prince trod lightly as he approached the main doors of Aries Villa, and he scouted for the orange-haired teenager. He did not have to wait long, as he spotted a familiar slender figure in a nightgown, her hair pale under the moonlight as she rested her head against the banisters of the staircase before the front entrance. He was suddenly reminded that it was the same set of steps which his mother was sprawled on, spread-eagled and bullet-ridden, a decade ago. Nonetheless, he swallowed heavily and walked towards her, trying his best to ensure his light footsteps were nary making a sound on the carpeted ground.

Shirley appeared not to notice Lelouch's quiet approach and seemed to be fixated on something in her hand. Despite Lelouch's best attempts not to make a single noise, it was impossible for her not to hear him stalking towards her, in the dead quietness of the night. Shirley turned her head to stare at him wordlessly, and the prince winced when he saw the lifeless look in her eyes.

"Hey," Lelouch said awkwardly, stopping a few feet behind Shirley. "Is there anything I can help you with?" She did not respond, except for looking back at the item she cradled in her right palm.

"I was just… reminiscing," Shirley finally replied, shifting slightly to regard Lelouch. He caught a glimpse of the object in her hand and realized that it was her cell phone, which was displaying a picture of her family. It appeared to be taken several years in the past, as her parents looked younger and Shirley was much shorter. All three of them were beaming merrily, and he remembered, with a painful pang, that it was not possible for them to look like that again.

"It's the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep. Not after what happened."

"That's natural. I was just concerned when I didn't see you by my side, especially because of today's events."

"I'm not feeling suicidal if that's what you're concerned with," Shirley murmured. "I just wanted to relive my childhood memories with my parents, now that he's gone."

"…I see," Lelouch shifted in his shoes uncomfortably.

Shirley drew her knees to her chest before continuing, "You see this picture?" She extended her hand, dangling the phone in front of Lelouch. The picture of all three family members smiling broadly – the appearance of a perfect, happy-looking family captured in a single photo. "It was taken one day shortly after one of my kindergarten classes. My seven-year-old self told my father that I would marry him one day when I grew up. He-" Her voice cracked and she paused momentarily. Emotion briefly flickered within her eyes – but it was sadness. "He told me that was impossible, and I would find a man whom I would love more than him someday."

"Shirley, are you implying something?" Lelouch inquired uneasily, not liking the direction of the conversation.

"No," Shirley shook her head, her strands of orange hair swaying side to side. "I'm just afraid that some people might see it that way. That I chose you over my father."

"Like your mother and relatives?"

"Yes."

"Surely they wouldn't think that way," Lelouch tried to assure her, but he knew that it was a possibility. He recalled his conversation with Shirley's parents a few days ago, and how her mother disapproved of her relationship with him out of fear. Combined with the fact that she woken next to her husband's decapitated cadaver this morning, it would be more than likely that Mary's dislike of their relationship would only increase by leaps and bounds.

"I don't know. I can only hope," Shirley let out a frustrated sigh. Lelouch wanted to encourage her to think otherwise – but he preferred not to give her false hope, so he said nothing. She turned to face him again. "Lulu, do you know who the culprits are?"

"No," Lelouch admitted. "We are currently investigating as thoroughly as we can, but as of now we have yet to find any clues. However, given the circumstances, there can only be one party involved."

"The Sword of Akasha, right?" Shirley asked bitterly. Lelouch nodded slowly. "Why? What did my father ever do to them? Why would he even be a target? He didn't even do anything to deserve it!"

"The only logical explanation is that they killed him as a taunting gesture to us. Perhaps they were infuriated by their failure to attack us a few weeks ago."

"How can they be so barbaric…" Shirley's voice trailed away. She thought of Mao's assassination attempt on her, the killing of Crown Prince Odysseus, their attack on the villa and finally, the hideous scene of her father's severed head. All of these atrocities committed for fallacious reasons. "I hate them," she whispered fervently, loathing laced in her voice. "I want them gone."

Lelouch studied Shirley for a moment, a sinking sensation spreading throughout his chest as he noticed the abhorrence in her tone. While her hatred was to be expected, he still was disquieted over the fact that this teary-eyed and resentful youth bore no resemblance to her usual cheery and lively self. "This wouldn't happen if you just controlled yourself back then, and rejected her," a small voice in his head reminded him. "So do I. They killed my mother after all," he said, his expression hardening.

"Tell me, Lulu. After your mother was killed… did you want revenge?"

"Shirley… don't think about it. If anyone should go on the path of vengeance, it's me."

"They killed my dad!"

"And I will exact retribution on them on your behalf," Lelouch cut her off firmly. "I… can't let you get involved any longer in this." He crossed his fingers behind his back – silently begging her to agree. He could not bear to see her become obsessed with vengeance.

"Still trying to cosset me, aren't you?" Shirley raised an eyebrow. Her facial features softened slightly. "I don't blame you, you know. You couldn't have known that this would happen."

"Even so, I expected there to be some form of trouble if I brought you back with me, but I let my emotions get ahead of me. And your family paid the price for it," Lelouch thought but did not say. He did not want to make the topic an argument. The royal looked slightly away from her.

"By the way… my father's funeral would be held on next Wednesday," Shirley informed Lelouch, watching his reaction raptly.

A lump formed in Lelouch's throat. "I will work with Darlton to ensure that the venue would be secure."

"Thank you, but that's not what I'm asking and you know it, Lulu," Shirley bit on her lower lip. Peridot green eyes searched amethyst ones. "Would you be coming?"

Lelouch hesitated briefly, and then his shoulders slumped. He thought of giving a half-truth but decided, to be honest instead. "As much as I would like to, I don't think I can face your mother and the rest of your other family members."

"I see," Shirley said in a barely audible voice. Disappointment radiated from her slim frame. "So you do blame yourself…"

"I'm sorry. I know that I should be there by your side but-"

"Don't apologize. I understand," Shirley interjected. Despite her words, she felt a twinge after Lelouch told her that he would not be attending. Regardless of her own feelings, Shirley did not want to pull him along if that meant more turmoil for the prince. She took a deep breath. "Could you sit beside me for a while at the very least? I think I could use some company tonight."

"Sure," Lelouch slowly walked towards the stairway and took a seat next to Shirley. Seeking comfort, she rested her head on his shoulder without a word, and the pair simply sat wordlessly for the rest of the night.

"What did you do with the head of Joseph Fenette?" Rolo suddenly found himself asking Schneizel. The assassin was again in his small bedroom, and he just finished giving a mission report to his master, and the latter usually allowed his subordinate to voice any questions he had.

"Curious again, huh?" Schneizel muttered. Rolo was showing a rather surprising amount of interest in the aftermath of his assassinations. Normally he would not even bother about such. The blond prince remembered that Rolo also questioned his idea of killing Joseph, albeit without much opposition. Nonetheless, it was unexpected of him. "I sent it to the Aries Villa on the next morning. I'm sure that everyone there is now aware of Joseph's death, although I doubt it would be a subject widely discussed in the open."

"You what?" Rolo asked somewhat incredulously. His grip around his green cell phone tightened. "Shirley's not going to be happy about that…"

"Well, she's human, so naturally, she wouldn't be," Schneizel rolled his eyes. "And what a coincidence it was. According to the database of Britannian citizens, it was her birthday too. That goes well for us too."

"Birthday…" Rolo murmured, his pinkish eyes briefly darting to the ivory and gold locket on his phone. He felt chilled inside as he realized that, in a twisted fashion, he indirectly gave her the severed head of her father as her birthday gift. The assassin suddenly felt sick to the stomach – although he had done works which easily surpassed his previous mission in terms of gruesomeness before.

"Agent Haliburton, are you ready for the next step of our plan?" Schneizel's voice brought Rolo out of his reverie. "It is crucial that we start searching for the key as soon as possible."

"Yes, I am," Rolo replied quickly, hoping that his master did not sense his uneasiness.

"Good. I trust that you are capable of accomplishing our objectives," Schneizel ended the call.

Rolo wryly thought of how unjust it was to repay Shirley's genuine kindness through killing her father. While he had little choice in the matter, he was rankled by such unfairness. "Infinity's orders. You must obey," he recited the mantra flatly. In spite of his efforts, he could not help but glance at the locket again, and frown bitterly.

One Week Later….

Shirley, dressed in a flowing dark garb, dragged her feet along as she entered the cemetery. The overcast sky seemed to echo the gloomy atmosphere, dark clouds gathering over the area with the distinct, ominous sound of rumbling thunder. As she walked deeper into the graveyard, she recognized some of the figures ahead of her. Several of her cousins and other members of her extended family, some of whom she had not seen in many years, were milling about, dressed in colors of mourning. Her mother, who was similarly dressed to Shirley, stood among them. As though sensing her daughter's approach, Mary turned to look at her only child, her unkempt curls of tawny hair swaying.

Neither Shirley nor her mother spoke a word as they stared at each other for a prolonged period of time. Several of their relatives cast them slightly curious looks, quietly wondering if the loss of Joseph was so hard on them to even exchange words. "Hi, mom," Shirley finally broke the silence. She tried her best to smile, but for some reason, she couldn't even complete such a simple action. "It's good to see you."

"… Hello, Shirley," Mary slowly replied. "And yes, it is… I just wish we didn't have to meet because of this occasion." Her hands trembled slightly.

"I know."

"Lelouch isn't here with you?"

"No. He has… difficulties in coming here," Shirley hesitated, wondering how her mother would react to that. "Although he has sent his regards and condolences, and provided many guards to ensure that this place is safe."

Mary's eyes darted over to the perimeter of armed soldiers surrounding the cemetery. "On the day your father died, some soldiers came over." She swallowed heavily as she recalled waking up next to Joseph's headless corpse, with some of his lifeblood splattered on her face and body. "They interrogated me and took his body away, but before they did, I asked them about who killed him."

"Mom…"

"They told me that they can't be sure, but it was likely that the killers were the same terrorist organization which attacked the villa. Is that true, Shirley?"

"It is what Lelouch and I think as well," Shirley admitted, seeing no point in lying. "There can't be anyone else responsible but them."

"Then what are they even trying to accomplish?"

"I don't know. We didn't get any clues."

"I see," Mary exhaled. A strong surge of acrimony rose within her. "Even so, it's undeniable that he was killed because of your association with that prince."

Shirley felt a stab of pain at her mother's words. "Mom-"

"I told you to leave him, and now look at what has happened," Mary continued in a low, cold voice. "Let me guess, even now, you wouldn't do so if I told you to, right?"

Shirley stared at her mother for several long seconds. Her heart plummeted after hearing her mother's thoughts – while she had expected such a reaction, it was still unpleasant to learn that the only remaining member of her family was more or less blaming her, partially or otherwise, for her father's death.

Mary took Shirley's lack of reaction as consent, and she looked away from her daughter with a steely look in her eyes. The younger female stepped forward, with the intent to continue speaking, but at that exact moment, a middle-aged priest dressed in a set of dark robes, his graying hair already receding, stepped forward. It was the indication that the funeral speech was about to begin, and Shirley reluctantly backed away and shifted to face the priest, her head bowed.

"We gather here today to celebrate the life of Joseph Fenette, who has now returned to his home with God," the priest began solemnly, addressing the crowd of people in front of him. Some of them were teary-eyed and sniffling; some were outright sobbing while the rest stared somberly at the grave before them. Shirley, belonged in the last group, for she could not summon any more tears for her deceased father, at least for now.

"He was a fair and honest man to everyone. He was a pious man who believed in God. He was a good friend to us all. To his wife, he was an exemplary husband," the priest continued. Mary Fenette sniffled loudly as she gazed at the coffin. "Joseph Fenette, 1972-2019" read the top of the coffin. "To his child, he was a good father." Shirley blinked as moisture came to her eyes. A tear escaped from her eye and slid down her cheeks to her chin.

"Now let him rest in peace," the clergyman concluded, giving a slight nod to the assembly of people. A man in his late twenties, who was standing next to the grave, tiled his head subtly. He grabbed a spade and started shoveling earth into the grave. Thumping sounds of dirt colliding against the elaborate casket repeated continuously while the man went on about his work.

Mary watched, wide-eyed, as her husband's coffin was slowly buried before her. Flashes of the times she had spent with Joseph appeared in her mind – the time when they first met, the moment when they got together, and their wedding. It only seemed to be such a short time ago, and now his life was taken in a horribly violent assault. Something snapped within her, and she lunged forward, alarming the people around her, only to collapse in front of the grave, crying out. "No! Stop! He can't be dead! Don't make him suffer anymore!"

"Mom…" Shirley knelt next to her mother, who continued sobbing, clearly devastated. She could not bear seeing her like this – broken and in denial. "Mom, please… Dad wouldn't want to see you this way." She laid an arm around her mother's shoulders, intending to comfort her.

"Don't touch me!" Mary whipped around and stood up, startling Shirley. Her expression was quite deranged – it was quite clear that she was in an unhinged state from misery and despondency. "You caused your father's death!"

Shirley continued kneeling, her knees rooted to the ground, as her mother's words slammed into her with the impact of a thunderbolt. As much as her mind wanted to insist that there was no way she could be held responsible, it was a partial but ugly truth, regardless of how minuscule it was. The assassins did target Joseph because of his relationship with Shirley, and her affiliation with Lelouch. "Please don't say that, mom…" she mumbled, barely moving her lips, which felt numb from shock. "I couldn't have expected that this would happen."

"Even so, you still wouldn't leave him! What must it take for you to do such a simple thing? Is he really worth more than your family?! If so… get out of my sight!"

"Mary, that's enough," one of Shirley's relatives tried to intervene. The lithe teen, stung by her remaining parent's words, looked up. It was one of her aunts – her mother's younger sister if she recalled correctly. "Joseph wouldn't want to see you two arguing like this. And he would be upset if you continued pressing Shirley to break off her relationship. He did approve of it, after all-"

"And now he's dead!" Mary's scream drowned out all other noises. Shirley's eyes widened and they became wet again, tears pooling around its edges. A bolt of lightning flashed in the dark sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder. "He's dead! He's dead because of it!" The first few droplets of rain descended from the clouds and quickly gathered strength.

Shirley could not bear it any longer. She could sense the piercing gazes her extended family members were giving her – be it sympathetic looks, confused or reproachful ones. She rose to her feet unsteadily and wordlessly turned heel and ran out of the graveyard, her vision blurred by the rain – or was it tears? Her long, toned legs easily carried her away from the cemetery in a matter of seconds and she staggered onto the city streets. The rain evolved into a torrential downpour and she slipped, crashing painfully on the pavement. In some ways, she hoped it hurt more – so, but no such luck.

Shirley buried her face in her hands, which quivered violently as despair flooded her mind. Her father had been murdered, and now her mother renounced her as well. Other passers-by barely paid her an inquisitive glance as they hurried past her to get out of the sudden rain. She could feel her soaked black dress clinging to her skin and orange hair plastered against her face. She slowly stumbled to her aching feet and dug her nails as deep as she could into her own arms, tearing the skin and drawing blood, a futile attempt to it could numb the agony she was currently experiencing. Her legs bruised and bleeding, Shirley began her long, forlorn walk back to the villa.

Unbeknownst to the Fenettes and their extended family, someone was secretly watching the funeral from an uncontentious black sedan, its windows tinted. The lanky male observed as the priest gave his funeral speech, his violet eyes trained on the back of a slender, orange-haired girl.

"I don't understand why we are merely surveying them, Your Highness" Jeremiah voiced his thoughts from the driver's seat. "She needs you to be there with her."

"I know. But if I appear, I might make things worse. I don't think I'm exactly popular after Joseph's death," Lelouch muttered, not bothering to look at his bodyguard – his sight was glued to Shirley's back. "I don't wish to make things more complicated for her."

"Pardon me, Your Highness, but while I think that's a good reason not to appear, it's not the main one."

"… Very astute of you, Margrave Gottwald. I can't face them. Not after what happened."

"You couldn't have been aware that such a thing-"

"Enough," Lelouch curtly cut the noble off, then let out a long sigh. "That's what Shirley said too. However, it doesn't change the fact that it would have been easily avoided if I stuck to my original plan."

"Well-" Jeremiah tried to reply, but he was interrupted again as a loud outburst reached their ears. Mary seemingly turned on her own daughter. Lelouch had stationed several guards around the cemetery, and all of them were bugged – willingly, of course, and the prince and Jeremiah could hear every word Shirley's mother was yelling at the top of her lungs through an earpiece. "That... didn't go well." The nobleman commented lamely.

Lelouch clenched his fist and inhaled deeply. Jeremiah, sensing his liege's emotions, turned to speak. "Blaming yourself doesn't solve anything, Your Highness. You must get into action."

"Let's talk about our investigation of the Sword of Akasha then, Margrave Gottwald," Lelouch replied. "Have we found anything at the murder scene?"

"We couldn't find anything. There is no genetic evidence left behind by the assassin, nor can we find any other leads," Jeremiah slowly reported.

"Nothing? How about my hypothesis that we have a spy since they only targeted Joseph, and spared Mary? That indicates that they knew about his approval, and her displeasure, of my relationship with Shirley, and intended to sow discord by killing him?"

"We looked into the backgrounds of all the staff at the villa, including Cornelia's troops and the servants. Additionally, we searched their rooms as well, but unfortunately, this has yielded no results."

"I suppose we don't have anything at all, do we? Not a shred of evidence? A single clue?" Lelouch ran a hand through his hair, highly exasperated by the lack of progress.

Jeremiah hesitated. "We have nothing on the Sword of Akasha, for now, Your Highness. But that doesn't mean we should give up."

"We have been searching for weeks, since the day after we landed in Pendragon. Both you and I know that we did as much as we could spare over the span of the past two months. We tripled our efforts after Joseph was killed, but nothing came out of it. Tell me, Margrave Gottwald, and tell me truthfully – without any bias or intend to encourage me. What are the chances that we can find any pointers on the Sword of Akasha?"

"It's… very low, Your Highness," Jeremiah admitted. "We have a large amount of resources that we can command, yet we lack clues after each of their attack. That indicates how thorough and efficient they have been so far. Thus, the odds are probably less than three percent." An uncomfortable silence stretched on, and the Margrave decided to take the risk of reminding Lelouch. "Didn't you promise Miss Fenette that you would destroy the Sword of Akasha?"

"I seem to keep making promises which are not within my abilities to keep," Lelouch chuckled humorlessly. He held up his hand, ticking off his fingers. "I swore to keep Shirley safe, and that's not possible with the Sword of Akasha around. I made an oath to her parents to make her happy, and I begin to doubt my ability to do so. I promised her that I would obliterate the terrorists who murdered her father, and I have no clues on them." He watched as Shirley turned and fled from the graveyard, away from her family members, and snorted at himself. "The only thing I have managed to obliterate is a happy family. This whole thing was one mistake after another."

"Are you considering breaking your relationship off with her?" Jeremiah quietly asked. He typed a message to the soldiers around the perimeter, ordering them to follow Shirley while keeping a short distance.

"I don't know. I really don't." Lelouch's hand curled into a fist, and he pounded it on his thigh in irritation.

"You know that such a move would be too late. If you are to do so now, there's no guarantee that she will be safe. They already killed her father just to spite her, and they may easily kill her just to do the same to you."

"I'm quite aware of that," Lelouch said morosely as he threw his head back, leaning against the headrest. "I feel like I'm at a dead end. The walls are closing in on me. There isn't anything I can do."

"Don't lose hope, Your Highness."

Lelouch did not reply and stared at the gray tombstone of Joseph Fenette. He watched as the people attending the funeral slowly dispersed, bringing out their umbrellas to shield against the thunderstorm. "Let's go back, Margrave Gottwald," he finally spoke, deliberately ignoring what Jeremiah said earlier. "I've seen enough."

"If you say so," Jeremiah obeyed as he gripped the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator, bringing them back to the Aries villa. Lelouch glanced out of the window, glaring at the stormy heavens, pondering how he would ever solve this colossal mess of a problem.

Shirley paused before the gates of the villa, her head bowed as she mulled over her mother's words. The words were oh-so-agonizing and she wished she could forget that it was ever said, but now she could not help but wonder whether Mary was right. Oh, it was unquestionable that she could ever expect things to turn out the way it did, but it was irrefutable that her father did die because she was attached to Lelouch.

The gates yawned open, giving Shirley admittance into the house which she had spent the last two months living in. She shook her head vehemently, clearing her mind of such thoughts and berating herself for even having them. Lelouch cannot be held accountable, even if he holds himself blameworthy. She trudged along the winding path to the front door, passing by several soldiers, who were stationed to keep a lookout. A young sentinel opened his mouth to ask a curious question after spotting Shirley's rather depressed state, but an older guard glared him down.

Her head still bowed, Shirley recognized that she was walking up the steps before the front door. She raised a hand in a slow, languid motion to grasp the door handle. However, she did not feel her fingers reaching the cool metal of the handle nor the smooth surface of the ivory wooden door. Instead, her palm was pressing against a heavy fabric, and she looked up, into the face of Jeremiah. The longtime bodyguard of Lelouch towered over her, his face not unkind.

"Hello, Miss Fenette," Jeremiah gave Shirley a weak smile, her hand still on his chest, which promptly slid off. She tried to return the smile, but found that she was unable to do so, and merely blinked instead. "You're drenched. Here," he tossed her a white towel, which landed on the top of her head.

"Thank you, Jeremiah," Shirley murmured as she went about drying her skin and hair. Her dark clothes were still swamped with rainwater, but she felt slightly better after toweling herself. "Where's Lulu?"

"About that…" Jeremiah said uncertainly.

"Is there something wrong?" Shirley questioned. A sense of unease permeated her heart. She had never heard Jeremiah sounding this evasive before.

The Margrave sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "He's in the parlor. But before you go to him, Miss Fenette," He held up a hand to stop Shirley from brushing past him the moment she heard his words. "There is something I need to tell you."

"What is it, Jeremiah?" Shirley turned around wearily. She did not mean to sound impolite, but she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than be next to Lelouch's side.

"I'm aware that you need him right now, but give him some time alone first. As unreasonable as that sound, he needs it. Things are not looking good, especially now that your relationship with your mother has soured-"

"How do you know that?"

"This is the third time I've been interrupted today," Jeremiah muttered under his breath, then continued in a more audible voice, looking slightly guilty. "I was there, with His Highness. We were watching from the car with the tinted windows." Shirley's eyes widened. "And as I was saying, we also recently concluded that the chances of our investigation of the Sword of Akasha yielding any results would be extremely slim at best. Imagine how he feels now. He perceives that things are coming apart, and he needs time to think."

"He's thinking of breaking up with me too, isn't he?" Shirley asked slowly, dreading the answer.

"I'm afraid he is," Jeremiah admitted. A muscle near Shirley's left eye twitched, and something within her snapped. She started giggling to herself, scarcely believing how wretched her day has become in a length of a few hours. Her father's funeral was not easy to sit through, then came her mother's furious renouncement, now this. The Margrave stared at her in mild confusion – laughing was the absolutely last thing as a reaction he had expected from her. Perhaps her emotional state was truly that unbalanced. "I fail to see what's so funny."

"Nothing's funny!" Shirley screamed hysterically, obviously upset by the situation. "After things have come to this, he's thinking of running away?!" She gulped heavily and wiped at her eyes. The floodgates keeping the mounting mass of frustration in her head at bay broke open. "Is he really the same man I promised to love and stay by his side, no matter how difficult it is?!"

The Margrave bridled at Shirley's words, for she might as well have called his liege a coward. He took a deep breath and reigned in his temper. She was the biggest victim of the recent events, and even he did not agree, albeit not quite openly, of Lelouch's current train of thought. "I know you're in distress, and it would be unreasonable for me to ask you to calm down," he said softly. "But I must ask you to give him more time. Facing him now would do neither of you any good. He needs maybe a couple of days to clear his head and think properly. Perhaps you should do the sa-" He never got to complete his sentence, for Shirley tearfully pushed past him and seized the door handle. She opened it forcefully and slammed it resoundingly, leaving Jeremiah staring blankly.

Shirley felt her own legs carry her towards the bedroom while a million thoughts swarmed her mind. The redhead acknowledged that she was terrified that her mother might truly not speak to her again, and at the prospect of Lelouch ending their relationship.

There was another flash of lightning, followed by an ear-splitting thunderclap. Shirley collapsed next to the bed, as another wave of anguish overcame her. She barely registered her scraped knees protesting when they collided on the carpeted ground. "What am I supposed to do, dad?" she whispered aloud. She had never felt this downhearted in her life before. "Help me…" Her voice cracked on the last word, and she broke down completely. As much as she tried to hold her tears back, they came yet again. Shirley could taste the briny liquid and she clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white, sobbing until her throat felt raw. Her heart yearned for blissful oblivion to take her while she wept, alone and miserable.

It was a bad day for rain.

Author's Note: Things are looking rather gloomy here... I've lost count of how many times I made Shirley cry. I know I did make her mother look quite unbalanced, but honestly, I think she should be, given the circumstances. I would say I think it's not too unreasonable for her to snap this way. Of course, she might regret that – she did say it in an emotional moment after all, so… it's not like she has severed ties with Shirley forever.

I hope no one is looking too OOC here. I tried my best to make the two characters seem depressed and emotional without making them seem too different as well... such as triggering Lelouch's guilt complex and his 'push her away to protect her' way of thinking here. Whether the latter really happens is debatable. She won't last long outside the villa, and it would be rather awkward if they have to live under the same roof after their relationship does end.

And an important note for in case no one was reading the above wall of text (this concerns how regularly would this story get updates from now on):Unfortunately, I have to end the chapter with more bad news. On the eleventh of August, I would be entering compulsory military conscription (also known as National Service), which is mandatory for all Singaporean Males once they reach a certain age. The time for me to do so has come, and I don't have any say on when I would be enlisting, thus... sadly I have to put this fanfic on hold. I promise that I would update it as soon as possible since I would be writing whenever I have the chance to. I'll see whether I can squeeze out another chapter before I have to go to the army... Feelsbadman.