"Hey kids, how was my cooking today?"
Jeremiah's voice echoed cheerfully from the kitchen. Andrea and Alvin were eating under the watchful eyes of their father, his plum eyes missing nothing as they ate with proper ettique. Just then, a young man emerged from the shadows with a glass of wine on a tray. He had pale blue eyes and his tousled blonde hair was both untidy yet appealing at the same time. He placed the glass of wine in front of Lelouch and arranged a set of napkins and utensils as well. Lelouch averted his gaze from his children to look at the young lad.
"Thank you, Lance."
"It's fine, your Majesty." The young man named Lance answered quietly. Lelouch took a sip of his wine before folding his arms and looking at Lance. "So tell me, when did you start becoming her personal bodyguard?" He asked casually, tilting his chair to look up at the ceilling. Lance remained quiet before answering, "After she became a Knight of Round, she asked me to accompany her to Britannia for the inaugration ceremony. Apparently, she trusted me the most. After that, I began assisting her in various missions. So now, I cook for her with Sayako and also accompany her wherever she goes, except when she doesn't want it..."
Lance's voice trailed off. Lelouch looked to be deep in thought, but he snapped out of his reverie when Lance finished. The twins had finished eating by then and were looking up at him expectantly, waiting for him to dismiss them. "Sayako, Jeremiah," at the sound of his voice, the two of them appeared at the sound of his voice, "Take them to bed and do the 'you-know-whats'." The two of them nodded obediently, understanding that he needed to speak with his Q-1 in private. As the children were ushered upstairs, Kallen walked down, dressed in a simple white collared shirt and black shorts with her now long hair slightly damp from her shower. Lance immediately disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with another set of utensils and some beef stew as well as a bottle of wine. With a flick of her hand, Kallen dismissed Lance and popped open the wine bottle, which was apparently the same one that had supplied Lelouch's wine.
"So, what do you want with me this time?" The Red Lotus's eyes were weary as she poked her spoon into the stew. Lelouch sighed before digging into his own portion. There was silence as the both of them ate quietly for a few minutes before Lelouch took the initiative to start the conversation.
"How are doing so far?" Kallen's mouth dropped open at the question but she closed it immediately. He came down all the way from the mainland just to ask me that? Composing herself, she replied in a neutral tone. "Just fine. The Black Knights are pleased that I am Britannia's ambassador to them. They wouldn't accept anyone else." Lelouch smiled slightly at the answer. "What about you?" she asked. He flipped his hand before taking a sip of wine and answering, "You know, the same. Odysseus is fidgeting and Schenizel and Cornelia are nagging at him. Euphie's pretty trying to help, but the poor girl has no talent with politics. Even Nunnully is doing better as an ambassador to the EU." With that, he finished his meal and looked at the redhead in front of him, whose tired cerulean eyes where reflected in her wineglass.
"What do you want, Lelouch? You wouldn't leave Shirley alone and come here with your children. I know you better than that, don't try to fool me. You're up to something, Lelouch, I can tell." Lelouch didn't answer. Instead, he stared his wineglass for a few minutes before putting his hand over Kallen's on the table. Instinctively, Kallen jerked away but Lelouch met her eyes and said "Don't." so quietly and softly that she didn't know how to react. He pulled her to her feet before leading her to the rose garden behind her house. They stood there in silence before Lelouch looked at Kallen tiredly.
"You left me to lead my own life seven years ago, Kallen. You told me to marry Shirley for appropriate reasons and you continued to fight for the new world that you helped to create. We barely saw each other, only at public events and later, Shirley was pregnant. You were there to congratulate us after their birth, but you left as suddenly as you came." Kallen lowered her eyes, recalling the day that Alvin and Andrea were born. Then, she answered.
" I had my own things to do, Lelouch. I couldn't just be there for my own selfish reasons; Schenizel needed me to endorse a court case and I couldn't refuse..." She tugged her hand from his and wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Lelouch stared at her disbelievingly. Out of all people, she had chosen Schenizel to comply?
"Why was that?" He asked quietly. Kallen stared at the ground and closed her eyes. "You know, besides being a Knight of Round and Britannia's ambassador to the Black Knights, I also work for the Supreme Court of Britannnia." Lelouch's gaze intensified, he knew that she had been accepted after finishing her studies in law after three years but this was going too far. His fists clentched and he swore that Schenizel was going to pay for making Kallen suffer like this when he already knew that she was already busy enough.
"Can't you just..." "Refuse him?" Kallen finished his sentence in a bitter voice. She seated herself on the bench among the roses and smiled bitterly. "He was just so..." Her words trailed off as she stared into the night. Lelouch stared at her, refusing to believe that his Q-1 was actually so soft when it came to his brother, his smug, arrogant brother. "You could have just told me..." "And give you more trouble than you already have?" Kallen finished in a monotone. He stared at her, this was not what she was like, this was not the Q-1 that he knew, the Kallen that could speak up for herself and defend others briliantly at the same time.
"What has Schenizel been doing to you?" This came from the prince in a very tired and quiet voice. Kallen whipped her head around to gaze at him.
"What has he been doing to me? What do you mean by that?" Kallen asked uncomprehensively. Lelouch held her gaze before answering stoutly, "Has he been courting you or something?" At the mention of that sentence, its was Kallen's turn to don the disbelieving look. Just then, raindrops pattered down into the grass before them. The drops drenched both Zero and Q-1, but neither of them made to get up and go to shelter._
The second Chappie is UP! Well? has Schenizel been courting Kallen, or has she been seeing someone else? What does Lelouch plan to do? Will Kallen refuse what he is planning in his scheming mind? I'll update as soon as possible~ xD
-砕け散った夢わそえｒわ私信じての奇跡-