Flashback

Schneizel stood at the top of the Palace hall with the pride of a nation and, seemingly, four extra feet of height from when Cornelia had last seen him. He just looked so pleased with himself up on that lectern, and he couldn't quite fit the smile back inside his normally moulded wax face.

It has been a week since the man had been named Emperor ahead of her, plenty of time for the Japanese to loophole their way out of the Empire. She was not pleased in the least, but Euphemia, while she had been present, had tried to smooth things over.

Cornelia smirked. Her sister had always known how to manoeuvre around her, and was quite crafty in how she framed herself. She liked to think of it as her own influence, but her earnestly made her points that bit more sonorous, to the point that Cornelia could almost understand her brothers objectives in Japan as being similar to hers in Britannia.

However, as Lelouch was reportedly realising, people had a tendency to throw agenda ridden spanners into your own works, as agenda filled as they themselves might be.

"I thank you all so graciously for your support and trust in granting me the honour, of in this harrowing juncture in our history,allowing me to take the seat of Emperor, and guide us back to our rightful place in the world. In the truest Britannian tradition, the death of the incumbent have way to spirited competition, with the best ideas proving triumphant."

Cornelia's face remained stoic in spite of that unsubtle reference to their rivalling campaigns to take the Emperorship. He had won the support of more nobles by a considerable margin, but it was not by virtue of his ideas, which were incredibly similar to his fathers, with less religion and more nihilism. It was this system, a popularity contest amongst the rich and isolated, that promoted this circular firing squad of feeble eunuchs. As a woman who had served in the Military for years, she knew that these pathetic Lords could not comprehend merit if it invaded their properties and held them hostage. They knew only profit and politics, and would always vote as such.

Smedley Butler had once claimed war was a racket. Whatever this was was leagues beyond that. A Democracy of Monied Interests was as dangerous as any Democracy.

Which was why it puzzled Cornelia as to why Lelouch had leapt headfirst into creating a Democracy, and then a Republic. He had a base of support among Japanese he could have used to wield Japan like a fine blade far better than any other Prince or Princess could, and had achieved this unique status by his merit, by winning the true Hearts and Minds of the people. What with a strong Britannian at the helm of the revolution, handing it back to the weak, indecisive mob seemed like taking a bizarre step backwards.

And, with the rhetoric Schneizel was spouting, steps backwards would be punished severely.

"Charles Zi Britannia oversaw the New Britannian Century, and will forever be heralded as the man who brought that project into reality. However, in his waning years his issues waxed, as much as he retreated into himself, Britannia retreated out of the world. Regions which were once staples of our Empire have been lost to revolutionaries and communards. All of you Lords and Ladies have surely felt the stings of these losses. I promise you that my first action as Emperor will be to restore our place in this world, not the next!"

Cornelia clapped politely with the crowd, eyes held at fixed points in the distance. It was the only way to make the whole affair palatable. Schneizel becoming Emperor was the worst case scenario. Euphemia somehow receiving the honours instead would have actually been a marginally better outcome. The truth was, Schneizel scared her.

Cornelia came from an absolute world of order, the military empire. All rules and orders had clear reasons and objectives. There was not a shred of redundancy, which allowed for a pure understanding of the why that lay within everything they did. It was free of politics and ideology. As far as Cornelia was concerned, the military ruled okay.

Schneizel was a far more opaque being, hidden within layers of subtext and motivations beyond the stated, shrouded in ideology and ambition. Cornelia had met people like him before in her time in the army. They got people under them killed.

The trouble was, military rule could weed out people like him as ineffective. Democracy empowered them, allowing them to talk of both sides of their mouths.

"This drying up of our colonial reach has dried up our supplies of Sakuradite, the resource that rules the world. I promise to each and every one of you that we will see that pink ore back on our shores with no delay!"

Corporate interests were always interested in short term gain. They cared about quarterly returns over the general health of their companies. In this sense, the captains of industry had picked the perfect Emperor. Schneizel had no depth, no subtlety. He would always reach for the largest hammer at his disposal at the mildest of provocations, and had no patience of any kind. If a difficulty arose, he would immediately go to the quickest solution, regardless of the potential losses in the long term.

And he had that single minded, shallow gaze set on the Home Islands. Cornelia could not imagine this ending well. He would burn the place down if the thought occurred to him, and that could have disastrous repercussions for the people of Britannia.

As well, Cornelia could not afford to be nationalistic. During her attempt to stop Schneizel, she had asked Euphemia to help smooth out her abrasive image, who had stressed the importance of empathy and compassion. Cornelia initially rejected these traits as being antithetical to the proper running of a body; time spent weeping was time that could have been spent resolving the issue, but Euphemia insisted that she needed to consider the emotional needs of others, like she would for Euphemia herself.

Because as abrasive and insensitive as Cornelia knew she was, at least she believed in the Geneva Conventions, unlike her brother, who believed in nothing.

URGENT - The Republic of Japan has formally declared war on the Empire of Britannia STOP Significant naval maneuvers are reported in the Philippine Sea, air raid suspected in North Pacific STOP Hawaii is being evacuated STOP Naval bases are to be on full alert until further notice STOP The Pacific Fleet is authorized to engage all ships and Knightmares flying the Japanese insignias or colours on sight STOP Shoot to sink STOP This is not a drill STOP All Hail Britannia STOP

- Radiogram sent to Admiral Lawrence Hugh by Prime Minister Calares announcing the Japanese declaration of war.

Many thanks to MORTheDivineBeing, Patjeeson, SpheresofLonging, TitanFire999, and MMBrowsing, for reviewing this arc!