Sorry! Sorry! And sorry again. Please forgive me for this extremely late update. Important things came up and I wasn't able to update this story. A time truly came when I thought of abandoning this story but thanks to my wonderful reviewers I got the encouragement to continue this story.

Sorry again. I really hope that this chapter is up to your expectations.

Have a good read and I hope you all Enjoy it.

After Lelouch had spoken with the palace staff he was somehow a bit relived. Judging by the whispers that had already started among the staff it was certain that most of them if not all would be joining his cause.

'Things are finally looking positive for Nunnally and me. All I need to do now is to somehow get into contact with Lloyd. If I can't use any of the newly-made knightmares then I'll have to make do with the enhanced conventional weapons and only Lloyd can help me achieve that discreetly in such a small time. Once the weapons are decided I can discuss the strategy with Leon and Lord Daemon.'

"Lelouch, Leon told me that you wanted to talk about something with him and I exclusively. So I was wondering whether or not we should have that meeting now or tomorrow" asked Lord Demon in an overly formal manner. His voice made it seem as though he was hiding something important, something that was worrying him and something that he couldn't share with anyone even if he wanted to. He was followed by Leon going through certain information so ardently that he collided with Lord Daemon with such a force that the sturdy man lost his balance and would have fallen face first to the ground if it hadn't been for the pillar he was standing next to. But before Daemon could voice even a single word of his displeasure, Leon interrupted him.

"Ouch! That hurt. You must see where you stand Lord Daemon."

"What you were the one-"

"Alright that's enough we can discuss about your issues of knowing where to stand later on and if there is time I may also give you some lessons-"

"I have no such issues, it was your fau-"

"-but now, we need to discuss the information I have right away and I can assure you both that you are not going to like it at all. So let's hurry."

"You are right Leon, we must not waste time. Something that's got you so frazzled must be important.", said Lelouch acknowledging the gravity of the situation. And with that they entered the prince's chambers and took their seats facing each other.

"Leon" said Lord Daemon with a displeased frown, "before you start with that information which you have gathered, wouldn't it be wonderful if two of you would share the entire details of what has happened since today morning. Lelouch is still a kid, he is impatient and in a hurry to set things in motion but I expected you to act more professional by briefing the information we individually have to get our facts straight. I can't help but feel that left out on many portions of the information that you both have and thus, I feel that without that knowledge I may not be of much help to the prince."

Daemon had a serious yet condemning tinge to his words and Leon could help but feel embarrassed.

"I know I'm being hasty bu-"

However even before he could say anything more to make the situation even worse Lelouch addressed them.

"Please stop with this pointless argument! I know are also stressed but please cooperate. We are in a dire situation and we need the help of our two greatest minds. So just put aside what is troubling you now and focus on the matter in hand. I have a feeling that much more disturbing things are going to come out", said Lelouch with a firm yet pleading voice.

"Now that, that's settled, I guess I didn't talk with you two about what happened today, did I now?"

With that Lelouch started a detailed account on what had transpired since that morning.

Lord Asplund was such a serious person that it was certainly very rare to see him grumpy and frazzled was both a rare and scary sight, and that was the very sight that he now had. The Earl was never so serious, neither when he was asked to give numerous knightmare blueprints in a week nor when he had to design a battleship in a day. His office too reflected his mood and had a shadow of silence cast over it; the entire staff was on the edge of their seats quietly doing the assigned work to the best of their abilities and thinking when the Earl would finally explode.

As for the Earl, he was in a huge dilemma of not knowing which to follow his heart, instincts of brilliant mind or his gut feeling. His heart had made him restless and made him want to throw a temper tantrum like a small kid right then and there while his mind wanted him to find her or at least a logical reason for what was happening, and as for his instincts, they wer an entirely different matter.

You see, unlike everyone perceived him to be, he wasn't dense in the matters of the heart, for long time a certain doctor had plagued his very thoughts, her sweet yet intelligent talk was something that replayed in his mind every time he was unoccupied. Dr. Annette, the one whom he had the privilege of meeting two years ago was the one who had stolen his heart almost instantly. Her auburn wavy hair, heart shaped face and plump lips were surely an added bonus but what had drawn the Earl towards the doctor was the way she held herself, her confidence in her numerous theories about the working of the human brain and how it could be manipulated, her intellect and most of all, the way that she was able to keep up with him and his absurd ideas with her equally unbelievable ones. She was one among the very few who believed in him and constantly made him feel that he would be able to achieve more and more wonderful things if he tried.

He, certainly, was whipped by this perfection that God had created, and after maintaining friendship since the last two years Lloyd had finally found the courage to confront Lord Edward Ashford, ask for his granddaughter's hand in marriage and even sign-up a marriage contract. He had also pulled some strings and made it certain that Annette would be returning from her military posting today.

But what had him worried was the fact that she wasn't picking up her satellite phone and even the GPS attached to the ring he had given to her on her last birthday was not responding. What didn't help matters was the intuition he had since the last day. He knew something bad was going to happen, just like he knew when his parents would die, he just hoped that everything would turn out to be okay and she would return to him unharmed. God only knew what he would do without her!

"Well I'll start off with what I think is the most important, the war with The European Union. The war which I think laid the foundation of all that has happened in the recent days. Both of you know when it started and that Prince Schneizel was given with the task of leading the Britannian troops against them. Prince Schneizel started the war with a very strategic and basic move of surrounding their entire coastline and disabling their navy and slowly proceeding to target their air-force with the knightmares. This all went well and very slowly the Europeans were pushed into a corner and forced to start negotiations. But what they didn't know was that other than Prince Schneizel's troops, there was another legion under the Emperor's direct command that was sent to infiltrate the European Union and take out their important leaders should Prince Schneizel fail."

"That certainly explains things." Said Lelouch

"What do you mean Lelouch?"

"Well, Leon doesn't it seem fishy that after losing the battle and then entering peace negotiations with Britannia, which as a matter of fact were going on smoothly, why would they attack again? I am sure that it wasn't the European Union that attacked Dr. Annette's troop, it was the other Britannian legion."

"But, why would they do that, Dr. Annette was among the best Britannia had. Other than her numerous theories, she has a perfect medical record and is even very fast with healing wounds. She had also excelled in hand-to-hand combat, thus making her the perfect candidate to be in a war as medical help. Why would she be killed? How would it benefit Britannia's cause?"

"I don't know Leon, but what can you say about that deranged man's mind who doesn't even care about his wife's death. Who knows, what goes on in his chaotic mind?"

"That's true Lelouch. There is no telling what goes on in that mind of his. But are the Ashford's informed about this."

"Don't you know? They are all dead; it was a bloodbath, very much like the one your family went through."

With a nostalgic look and sad expression, Lord Daemon answered, "Yes, I heard about the attack but I didn't know about the details."

"Well I gathered all the information that I could with the C.C.T.V. clippings damaged and almost no eye-witnesses. From that information I found that, the morning was peaceful and went on without any disturbance, it was at only at 2 a.m., when things had quietened down that the first signs of an attack were seen and within mere seconds of getting a visual a full-scale attack was launched. What's even worse is that, all the Ashford family's house, every single one across the entire nation was also destroyed. I was able to only confirm the safety of two members of the Ashford family, Lord Ashford himself and his granddaughter Milly Ashford. Even their escape can be classified as mere chance. A servant who escaped informed me that the Lord had to retrieve some documents and a very important heirloom from their ancestral home. It seems that very mansion was attacked a few minutes after their departure. The car they were using for travel also blew up after some time; fortunately, they had already exited the car by that time. They are now residing in a nearby hotel and I have sent some of the palace guards as extra protection, they shall be arriving here tomorrow. I hope that's alright with you, prince Lelouch."

"Yes, that won't be an issue."

"I don't know about the two of you but I have got a feeling that there is something big that we are obviously missing, something that connects all these events together. Almost everyone can see the relation between the two attacks but why now, they could have attacked much before when the security was much weaker. And if you look closely into this matter you would notice that the attack on the Aries Palace was only intended to kill Lady Marianne while the Ashford massacre was to ensure that no one was left alive."

"Now that you point it out, Lord Daemon, it's clear that both attacks had different intentions, but then again why would they do that?"

"I don't know but I'll find out."

"No, Lelouch we'll find out together. Each of us owe at least that much to all of them.", replied Lord Daemon with a determined smile.

That's all for chapter 10.

The next chapter will portray Lloyd's reaction to Annette's death and the start of their journey to Japan.