"CORNELIA LI BRITANNIA!"

The ten-year-old Lelouch had a surprisingly powerful bellow, one that was obviously going to develop into one to rival his father's one day, especially if he took on the man's broad figure... He stood, a determined but icy scowl on his face, in the doorway. Outside, the plaque on the door that rested halfway open read:

COMMANDING OFFICER

IMPERIAL GUARD

ARIES COMPANY

Cornelia's fingers ceased their clacking on her keyboard, pausing her work- she'd been filling out the official report on the Empress's autopsy. Being present there, and having to observe the autopsy in progress, was a task she found extremely distasteful but one that she would let no other person in the guard perform. All deaths in the Imperial family that were suspected to be homicide required several witnesses present at the autopsy- Cornelia had been satisfying the requirement of an official of the guard, while Schneizel had been satisfying the requirement of a member of the royal family. Although Cornelia was also royalty, one person could not satisfy multiple requirements, for the obvious fact that multiple witnesses were required in case one of the witnesses also happened to be the murderer...

The autopsy had been grim and clinical, as it ought to have been, and the cause of death, though obvious, had eventually been proclaimed to be massive internal hemorrhaging due to multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. Twenty-two, to be precise. Twenty-two entry wounds and sixteen exit wounds- eight 5.7-millimeter hollowpoint slugs remained within her body, while, if the hospital's report was accurate, seven of those that had exited Marianne's body had gone on to strike Nunnally's legs, doing most of their damage above the knee, and a shrapnel ricochet had taken Nunnally's eyesight. The girl would never see or walk again, at best- at worst, it was unsure whether she would ever wake up.

One of Cornelia's most trusted lieutenants, a young nobleman with a spiky teal buzzcut by the name of Jeremiah Gottwald, stood outside the door and just behind Lelouch, ready, with a gesture of his hand asking Cornelia whether this was what she wanted, to snatch the boy by his collar and drag him out. Prince or not, and regardless of his tragedy, one did not barge into the commander's office without permission.

"Shut the door, Lelouch." Cornelia replied, her voice icy and dull. Heartless. Just like her newfound reputation. The past three days, Lelouch had listened in, usually while hiding, on just about every gossiping discussion between the nobles he was convinced were responsible for his mother's death... but now, his suspicions had a new target. Now he knew what Cornelia had done that day. And how she'd been acting afterward...

"Hasn't shed a single tear for her so-called beloved lady Marianne yet..."

"Just gone about her business, as if nothing has changed. It's disgraceful. Everyone knows she had a hand in what happened."

"Well, it looks like she is Charles's daughter after all... neither of them seem broken up about it in the least... wouldn't be surprised if they both did it."

Lelouch slammed Cornelia's door shut, and his lip curled up in a half-sneer, half-snarl- both contempt and fury flared up in him at the same time. She obviously did not want her men to hear this discussion. No doubt because she knew what he was about to accuse her of.

"Why didn't you finish her off, huh? Why'd you leave Nunnally mutilated like that instead of just snuffing her out like you did to Mother? Why didn't you go for the complete set and kill me too!?" Lelouch's eyes were brimming with tears, but his voice, although shaky, was cold and faintly pitying. He truly did pity her, if she felt as though Marianne, a woman who, Lelouch firmly believed, had never- would never- do wrong to anyone, deserved to die.

Cornelia remained silent, but her knuckles turned sheet white as she gripped the arm of the commander's chair. "Lelouch... you are making a mistake." It took every ounce of energy she had to utter those words in the same calm, even tone of voice she'd used before.

"Not as big as the one you made, sister." Lelouch's voice dripped with venom, and he made that word sound like the vilest of insults. "You'll pay. You can kill me now if you like, kill everyone that even smiled in Mother's direction, but you'll never, ever escape justice. You just made the biggest mistake of your life, and you'll live to regret it, I swear it."

Lelouch curled his hand into a triumphant fist as he saw Cornelia finally acknowledge her guilt. Finally look down in shame into her lap! Finally streak her cheeks with... tears?

Finally... start... sobbing?

He'd expected her to flinch back at his assault, but this was...

"You have no idea..." Cornelia gulped back hot tears into her throat, mingled with mucus as she reached up to wipe her nose, "how right you are, Lelouch..."

"So it was you! You admit it, then?" Lelouch slammed his fist upon the desk. "ANSWER ME!" he bellowed.

The door cracked open a bit, as Cornelia's lieutenants prepared to rush to her defense, and the commander would snap her head up and bark, her tears flinging to the side with the ferocity of her motion, "GET OUT! Don't you DARE interrupt us again!"

The door slammed shut, and there was a lingering silence punctuated by Cornelia's sniffles.

"We were getting to your confession." Lelouch added, scowling at his sister after he'd judged that she'd had enough time to compose herself.

"You're absolutely right," Cornelia finally stammered out, taking a long moment to inhale, wipe her nose, and dry her eyes with her gloves. "I made a mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life." She glanced down into her lap again. "I failed her."

"You... You didn't just fail her! You BETRAYED her!" Lelouch roared, sweeping an arm across her desk and sending her pencils and calendar scattering across her carpet.

"No, Lelouch." Cornelia stated, her voice firm and her eyes harsh as she stared back at him.

A thick, repulsive tchuh filled the air, as Lelouch spat harshly into Cornelia's face. She closed her eyes a moment, then opened them again, not even moving to wipe the saliva rolling down her cheek.

"LIAR!" the boy roared, and then jabbed his finger directly toward her eye, which did not blink.

"You betrayed her and all of us! The Empire! Your own blood! Your own family! You sold her out! I know it's true, Cornelia, so stop lying to me! You've already confessed!" Lelouch finally dropped his hand to his side, shuddering in indignation, and inwardly wondering who the hell would let themselves be spit on without retaliation.

"Now let's stop this pathetic game, Cornelia. You and I both know you'll never get what you deserve for what you did, because there isn't punishment enough in this world or the next, so what will it hurt to spill the rest? Out with it, Cornelia! I want answers! Who made you do it? Who made you pull Mother's guard back right when she was most vulnerable!? Who told you to leave her without any protection whatsoever at the one time she needed it most!?" Lelouch was now roaring right into Cornelia's face, his breath hot against her nose as the boy stood on his tiptoes to reach that far.

"You wouldn't believe me." Cornelia replied, quite simply.

"Oh, that's where I think you're wrong, Cornelia. I've suspected him for quite a long time- I knew he was against us even before Mother's death. It only makes sense, after all. He's the one man whose orders you can't refuse. Apparently, even if it means betraying the people you're supposed to protect. What wouldn't you do for that despicable man, I wonder, Cornelia?" Lelouch would growl, crossing his arms. Though he was still a few inches beneath her, he did his best to look down contemptuously upon his elder sister.

"If the Emperor commanded you, would you get down like a dog? Bark and pant and lick his face when he comes home? Grovel and kiss his feet? Wallow in filth for him? Take off all your clothes and-"

Cornelia finally had had enough.

"YES!" she roared back into his face, sending the boy stumbling back and, much to Lelouch's own shame, letting out a pitiable squeak.

"If I could have saved Marianne by doing any of that, I would have done it gladly as many times as he asked, Lelouch. If I could go back in time and change what I did, I would debase myself lower than the most piteous insect. I would drink boiling water and swallow filth. I would allow myself to be tortured, humiliated, destroyed utterly, any of these acts or all of them. I would suffer any of these fates to change what happened to Her Majesty and to Nunnally."

"You're lying." Lelouch stammered, but his heart wasn't so sure anymore.

"I don't care if you believe me or not, Lelouch. As you said. It doesn't matter how I feel. What matters is what happened, and what happened under my watch, under my responsibility, is something that can never be forgiven."

Cornelia tapped a pair of keys on her computer, and soon enough the creaking of rollers inside the printer would fill the air, a single document on official letterhead exiting the print slot. Cornelia would then withdraw her royal signet and plunge it into the pool of hot wax kept on the corner of her desk, affixing her seal to the document and signing it with a fountain pen.

"What are you doing?" Lelouch would growl as he watched Cornelia at work. "What is that?"

"My letter of resignation. I failed in my duty and I no longer deserve to hold this billet."

Lelouch stared at it for a moment, before bursting out in guttural laughter, laughter that sounded far too sinister to be coming from a child.

"Cornelia, if you think that will satisfy me-"

"I never thought it possible, Lelouch, but your arrogance has managed to astound me once again if you think this has anything to do with you." Cornelia replied icily. "I began drafting this the moment I wiped the blood from my uniform. I can't protect anyone anymore, Lelouch. I can't be a bodyguard. Not to you, not to Nunnally, certainly not to Euphemia. I'm joining His Majesty's Royal Panzer Infantry next week- my commission has already gone through. I will lay down my shield and take up a sword." Cornelia lay down the letter on the desk, sliding it into a manila folder and winding the cord shut to seal the envelope.

Lelouch laughed again, though it was more of an inward, sarcastic chuckle this time.

"You make it sound so noble, Cornelia. You also make it far too easy for me to take my revenge. Even royalty is always in grave danger on the battlefield, and the armor of a Knightmare will not save you from my wrath..."

Lelouch would suddenly come face-to-face with the gleaming handle of Cornelia's letter opener.

"If you want your revenge, then take it now." Cornelia replied coolly. Lelouch's fingers curled around the handle, gripped it tightly.

The boy began to imagine how best to dispatch his sister- what would be the quietest way to kill her and escape this office before her guards came in to check on her- whether he had enough strength to plunge the letter-opener directly into Cornelia's heart, or whether it was better to stab it into her windpipe, or slice her throat, or plunge it into one of her cold eyes. Eventually, however, with Cornelia still staring at him, waiting, her arms limp at her sides, seemingly welcoming death, Lelouch would lower the letter-opener and shake his head.

"Not until you tell me everything. Then I'll start from the top down. Work my way down the list. From the bastard responsible, to the lowliest peon who cooperated with him. But first I need to know who to find to get more answers. Who was it who ordered you to withdraw the guard?" Lelouch growled. "It was him, wasn't it? That bastard... Our father...!"

"I told you you wouldn't believe me." Cornelia stated.

"... What..?" Lelouch half-gasped, incredulous, as if the wind had suddenly gone out of his sails. The letter opener hit the carpet with a dull thud. "... It... It wasn't... He was in on it, though, right!?" Lelouch added, sweeping a hand toward Cornelia. "He had to be! How could the assassins even have gotten in here without him opening the door for them!?"

"Lelouch, the Emperor was at the Ivory Gardens, forty miles away from here, the entire morning of Marianne's assassination, observing the military parade. He had at least half a dozen cameras trained on him the entire time, and I've checked, it wasn't one of his body doubles. Even if he was in on it, he could not have assisted the assassins in getting inside. Don't think he wasn't my first suspect, either. But at the very least, he did not actually do the deed, nor did he let them in. Whether he had anything to do with it or not, I cannot tell you."

"You say that as if you don't..." Lelouch started, but as he looked into Cornelia's eyes, and a terrible, awful thought occured to him, his voice trailed off into a croak. "know...?"

What if she wasn't lying?

Cornelia closed her eyes and glanced down again. Hanging her head in shame. Well, Lelouch told himself, she had a lot to be ashamed for! Even if she didn't actually help murder the Empress, there was still the matter of-

"The guard! Why did you withdraw it!? Who was it? Whose order?"

"Hers."

Lelouch's throat squeaked again, as he started to ask who she meant- any number of women in the royal family wanted his mother dead- but as soon as his vocal chords had begun to vibrate his brain resounded with the shock of the sudden, awful, unthinkable realization and his question died before forming on his lips.

Surely she didn't mean...!

"... You... you don't... you can't mean...!" Lelouch stammered, his face going pale.

"She told me..." Cornelia began, slumping down into her chair again. "that she was having a very secret meeting. So secret... that she couldn't risk anyone listening in on it. Absolutely no one. Not even her most trusted bodyguard."

Lelouch's heart plummeted. His throat went dry. His face felt cold and prickly, and he couldn't stop blinking, or curling and uncurling his fingers. At first he knew it had to be a lie. But the more he thought about it, the more he reviewed his sister's actions, her words... all the times he'd seen her and Marianne together... And then an even more terrible memory surfaced in his head.

...

"Lelouch, Mommy's got something very important to do today, so why don't you go over to Clovis's and play a few matches with him?" Marianne would tilt her head, sweetly smiling and ruffling her son's hair. "You could stay with Nunnally and Ms. Alstreim, but they'll be playing lots of girly games and they'll probably try to stick you in a dress again! Of course, if you liked wearing it I can ask them to-"

"No, no, NO! I'll go to Clovis's, Mom, please don't make me play with them again!" Lelouch whined and squirmed to get away from his mother's grasp. He did NOT want to go to another tea party with Nunnally and Anya, dear god, anything but that...!

...

"If only I had gone to that tea party..." Lelouch murmured to himself, blinking back hot tears. Cornelia was... telling the truth. Her mother had wanted him out of the house that morning. And she'd apparently thought Nunnally and Anya would be playing together in the gardens all day... And then her visitor had done something she'd never expected...

Lelouch's face burned with shame. He'd spat on Cornelia...! Called her a traitor...! He'd even been ready to kill her! And she'd just sat there and taken it, when all along, she was just...

Had he ever known Cornelia to lie to anyone, even once?

Eventually he braced himself on the desk. Apologizing was not an option, and it was pointless anyway. He had to know more.

"You mean to say that..."

"She told me I had to keep it a secret even from the Emperor. And my heart swelled with pride... that Lady Marianne was trusting me with keeping a secret from the Emperor himself. I couldn't let her down. I made sure I followed her order... to the letter. Every last guard was removed. Every camera cut, every feed disabled, every bug stripped. I didn't care what she was doing, what she was plotting, who she was plotting with. I wasn't ever going to risk anyone finding out her secret and exposing her to the Emperor. I made sure... that she was unguarded, and unwatched. Just as she requested. ... And just as they'd planned."

"So whoever was..."

"Whoever was meeting with your mother that day, Lelouch, is the one who killed her. Someone your mother trusted more than the Emperor himself, or at least, someone she didn't want him to know she was seeing. I've spent the last three days trying to find out who that person could have been. All I've been able to come up with is the weapon they used."

Cornelia turned her computer monitor, showing Lelouch a few images of a compact, modern-looking submachine gun.

"The Colt Gladius P33k. A personal defense weapon used by tank crews in the New Guinea war. Designed for use in close quarters, it also found popularity with female combat infantry, as well as the smaller males, for its light weight and compact design. The P33 was the standard-issue. This is an even more compact version of the original. It could probably fit in an average-sized handbag or laptop case with no trouble. It has a very unique cartridge, fin-stabilized 5.7-millimeter sabot. No other weapon that went into mass production uses it."

"I don't need the history lesson or the sales pitch, Cornelia. Explain why this means anything." Lelouch demanded. He gritted his teeth. Now he knew it had to be the truth.. or at least, it was what Cornelia believed to be the truth. Or else Cornelia was putting on such a deception for him that she was going against everything he had thought, up to now, to be her nature.

"If they wanted a weapon they could easily conceal, they would have gone with a handgun. This is a weapon that's designed for use by women. I believe it's a very safe bet that Marianne's killer is a woman, and a small one at that- though this is pure conjecture on my part, the bullet pattern I traced in the lobby- a tight grouping followed by a wild swing upward- I believe that whoever shot your mother had some training with firearms, but trouble controlling that weapon's recoil, as if it were overpowering her. Therefore we are looking for a very petite woman with military training." Cornelia stated definitively.

"Or at least, it is a good place to start. It's better than nothing, which is what the official investigation has."

"The official investigation...?" The boy's expression began to twist from shame and impatience into suspicion.

"Has been suspended by His Majesty until after Marianne's funeral. And though I do not believe he helped murder Her Majesty, there is something extremely suspicious about his actions immediately following the murder." Cornelia replied. "He cordoned off the villa, but not as a crime scene. Invoked the Imperial Homeland Security privilege, claiming it was a terrorist attack, and had the area sealed for three hours. When it was unsealed, and became an official crime scene, the bullet holes and bloodstains and the mess- all the usual evidence, you'd think- were still present, but the carpets..." Cornelia trailed off, turning her computer monitor back to face her.

"The carpets? What about them?"

"They were too clean. The maids steam-cleaned the carpets only once a week, and it had been five days. The detectives went through the carpets with a fine-toothed comb and didn't find a single hair, fingernail, footprint- nothing. What was worse was that they also detected traces of an industrial-grade solvent on the rug at the foot of the steps."

"He got rid of the evidence...!"

"It very much seems like it. We can't prove anything, though. And no one in the official investigation would dare pursue- or even look like he was pursuing- the Emperor as a suspect. This case is going to go cold, wither, and die in their hands."

"Then they're going to get away with it." Lelouch snarled, before Cornelia interrupted him.

"No, Lelouch. No, they will not."

Lelouch paused. The boy thought back... the official investigation... "pure conjecture on my part"... "we are looking for"... "All I've been able to come up with"...

"You're... you're conducting your own investigation...?"

"In secret, of course. Now that I know that the Emperor himself is determined that this not come to light, I have to be very careful about where I seek out information and who I trust." Cornelia replied, crossing her arms as she leaned forward.

"You would defy the Emperor, for..."

"For Marianne, I would slay him myself." Cornelia stated. "But killing him now won't bring her back, and it won't be justice, either. You said it yourself. Not until we find and destroy every single person who was involved." Cornelia extended her gloved hand to her brother across the desk.

"Help me, Lelouch."

The boy swallowed a heavy lump in his throat, and faced his sister with a determined scowl.

"... If even one word was a lie, Cornelia, I swear..."

"As do I. I will not resist if you ever think I've betrayed you or lied to you and you wish to end my life. I made a promise to Her Majesty to never let anyone hurt you, and I've already broken it myself. I couldn't go on living if I broke it again."

There was silence for a good while... Eventually, Cornelia closed her eyes mournfully and began to retract her hand, only to feel it seized by an iron grip. A strength in Lelouch's arm that she had never felt before, that she'd never suspected the boy possessed.

"We have a contract, then. See that you uphold it." Lelouch stated with a grim sort of satisfaction.

"And you, Lelouch." Cornelia's voice took on a much sterner tone than before. "You will uphold your end. You will not do anything that will put yourself, Nunnally, or Euphemia in needless danger. You will not do anything risky without telling me first. You will keep this a secret. You will protect them when I am gone. You will pick up your mother's shield and defend this family. You are the man of the house now, Lelouch. They depend on you." Cornelia paused, and added, "... and so do I."

Lelouch's hand closed tighter around Cornelia's, and the boy- no, the man, he was one now, no matter his age- would give a solemn nod.

"This contract... I accept."