Chapter 44
On a Multitude of Providence
There was a stark contrast in the gait of the persons entering Lelouch's office. The cardinal himself moved with driven determination, as if he could barely contain himself. The tightened jaw and seething eyes made clear that impatience was driven not by enthusiasm, but by anger. The grandmaster on the other hand maintained her usual, almost lackadaisical poise. Her movements were a bit faster though, if only to keep pace with her young charge. The remainder also had a hurried, even harried look amongst them, clearly not looking forward to the impending confrontation. A confrontation whose start seemed signaled by the click of the door closing.
"You knew that a significant portion of the Ise priesthood survived the attack on them," Lelouch stated, not asked, not even accused, but stated.
"Of course I did," C.C. responded with striking nonchalance.
"Then why the bloody hell was I not informed beforehand!?" Lelouch slammed a palm upon the desk. Had it been a fist, the surface might well have cracked.
The grandmaster did not quite roll her eyes, she was at least aware enough to refrain from that.
"Arashi is called the Hidden Priestess of Ise for a reason. Much as Eden Vital has an emergency succession protocol in place in case something happens to myself or the cardinals, Arashi represents Ise's fallback in case its core leadership is struck down. Knowledge of her mere existence was something restricted to only a small subset of Ise's own priesthood, and I was told in strict confidence. It certainly was not my place to reveal her existence to you without her explicit consent."
"And yet you decided to take Leila with you when you went to meet her?" Lelouch pointed out.
The cardinal at least did not bring up Kevin or Ries, cognizant as he was that those two accompanied C.C. more or less at his own behest, and of their own volition to keep an eye on Leila of course.
"Preventing Leila from revealing what she saw is not beyond Eden Vital's capacity," C.C. simply stated.
Lelouch took in a deep breath, clearly struggling to keep himself restrained. He was not succeeding.
"You had me try to induce Kaguya to transfer custody of the Kamine Island thought elevator despite knowing full well she lacked the ecclesiastical authority to do so, that in fact if she tried, a schism would erupt between her and devotees of the hidden priestess. How was this not an utterly reckless endangerment of her person?"
C.C. tilted her head. "You seem remarkably invested in Kaguya's well-being."
Lelouch gave a harsh bark of laughter. "I may not regard Kaguya with the same type of affection as Milly or level as my varied sisters, but I am not prepared to brook her coming to harm as a consequence of negligence, mine or Eden Vital's!"
"Seeing as Kaguya remains hale and healthy despite the efforts of those like the rogue JLF splinter, I fail to see how there has been any negligence in seeing after Kaguya's safety," C.C. responded.
"Oh? And what else would you call your own prior inaction, Grandmaster?" Lelouch retorted. "It was clearly entirely within your means to establish contact with Ise's remnants and unite them with Kaguya from the onset. Instead you outright orchestrated a sequence of events wherein one possible outcome would have required me to employ martial force against Kaguya's own people in order to secure her safety, none of which would have been necessary had you just been forthright with the truth to begin with!"
"It is within my capacity to solve quite a few problems," C.C. said with an exasperated sigh. "If I were to do so however, there would be no opportunity for the younger generations to ever learn to stand on their own."
"Setting us up for failure does not teach us independence," Lelouch seethed.
"And if your failures did not have consequence, no lesson is imparted," C.C. countered. "You are not wrong in your assessment of the possible negative outcomes, but risk is inherent in any course of action at this order of magnitude. If Kaguya is to truly become high priestess in fact as well as in name, she must demonstrate proper judgment when it counts. Will she pursue personal satisfaction over her sacred duty? Can she properly assess the value of what she stands to gain versus the cost to acquire it? The only way this can be tested is if she is presented with an earnest choice, one that she too wholeheartedly believes in."
"And because you knew I would never countenance such prevarication, you withheld the information from me as well to make sure I would play my role to perfection," Lelouch said in disgust.
C.C.'s eyes flared, her voice taking on a hard, calculated edge. "Do keep in mind, Cardinal Lamperouge, that I am your ecclesiastical superior. While I may be inclined to explain my rationale to you, I am not obliged to require your agreement or your satisfaction. Is that clear?"
For a moment, it seemed as if Lelouch would protest otherwise. The momentary silence certainly insinuated a grave reluctance to acquiesce. Eventually however the cardinal's sense of discipline won out, even if the nod he gave was a choppy one.
"That is understood, Grandmaster," Lelouch answered in all due formality.
Instead of looking satisfied at Lelouch's concession, C.C. puffed her cheek out slightly.
"And here I thought you were going to show more of that adolescent rebelliousness."
"Is this all a bloody joke to you!?" Lelouch did explode this time.
"A joke?" C.C. shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "Considering how many years of your childhood I have stolen, it would have been reassuring if you at least still possessed a spark of your childish nature."
The anger was diminished, albeit not entirely mollified.
"Is it not mildly hypocritical to seek satisfaction for yourself when you decree yourself free from providing it to others?"
"I suppose it is," C.C. agreed readily enough, clasping her hands behind her back and circling the room a bit. "You are not wrong to accuse me of being capable of resolving many a matter but still staying my hand. My rationale is not simply to test the younger generation, but to make sure there is yet enough space for all of you to grow."
Lelouch cocked his head aside quizzically. "How is this growth distinct from the lessons we learn from your ostensible tests?"
The cardinal's choice of words was not lost upon C.C., considering the smirk on her face.
"Consider what you have achieved here in Japan. The native Japanese are close to revering you for your evenhanded dispensation of justice and your elevation of their status. The Britannians respect you for finally bringing order and setting the area onto a proper path of integration. The loyalty which you have won, is that the faith shown to a cardinal of the cloth, or the fealty to a prince?"
Quizzical turned into outright confused now.
"You were the one that insisted upon inducting my sister and myself into Eden Vital after Mother's passing," Lelouch said. "Why would you be pushing me to gather support outside the Order?"
"Because within the Order, the highest you could ever rise would still be short of my station," C.C. said. "Unless you seek to supplant me as grandmaster?"
To that Lelouch's expression creased into irritation again. "Do not even jest about that."
"Me, jest?" C.C. said entirely unconvincingly, then more seriously. "Eden Vital is merely a cradle. Those gathered within it are nurtured and raised to the utmost standards, but within the Order there is a finite limit to how much space exists to fit the totality of one's growth. At a certain point, there is simply no further room to allow for further growth. This is a limit intentionally imposed by me refraining from expanding the Order's bounds, and my own, too far, so that there exists plenty of space for those ready to take leave of the cradle to grow to the fullest extent of their potential. For Marianne, that was her ascension as a Knight of the Round and then Empress-Consort. For you, the throne itself might not be out of reach."
Lelouch again scowled. "I have no desire for the throne."
"Good," C.C. said. "Those that do tend to be unfit to sit upon it. And if you truly are determined to avoid it, well, whether any of your siblings are able to be seated upon it instead will also be a testament to your capacity, no?"
That Lelouch somehow looked even less happy than when he first entered the room was quite the testament as well.
"Then I presume it is to your satisfaction that I now have cause to want a power base independent of you, in order to possess the means to defend against your actions, or inaction, should the need arise again?" the cardinal said with a scowl.
"I frankly can't think of a greater success than having you grow into a personage capable of handling my inaction," C.C. responded with her usual smirk.
"So what would you then call this heresy?" Lelouch said. "I hope that at least doesn't constitute some sort of success."
The smirk disappeared. "The heresy is a failure on account of an action, Lelouch, and I will trust you to remember that. Had I chosen not to intervene to save Charles and Victor, your father would have likely not survived to adulthood, thus ensuring you would never have been born. Whether your existence, and that of all your siblings, is worth the cost of the heresy, is not merely a matter of your conscience, but also on the concrete good all of you achieve."
"The initial failure may have been due to action," Lelouch said, "but how high has the cost risen on account of inaction? Or is assuring me that you can't just intervene to put down the heresy also not something you are obliged to do?"
"A third of Asia."
Lelouch blinked.
"That is the cost for me to intervene directly and eliminate V.V. without further need to employ conventional means," C.C. elucidated. "Do you believe yourself incapable of keeping the cost of your own means below that? If so, let me know and I can dispense with waiting to see whether all of you will succeed or not."
There were a lot of ways to interpret what the grandmaster meant by a third of Asia. For better or worse, she probably did not mean it rhetorically, and very much meant it literally. And while the Taklamakan region that third was almost certainly centered on was sparsely populated as compared to the other regions, the sheer area would still see countless millions of victims produced, not to mention the other ramifications of scorching that large an area of the Earth. No way the effects would be constrained solely to the designated region, not for something this large. Granted a major war between Britannia and China might also produce fatalities of comparable magnitude, there at least existed a chance that the conflict could be sufficiently contained that the final body count would be much lower. How much lower would depend on just how good a job Lelouch, and his siblings, did in conducting the war to get at the heretics.
"Is aversion to precipitating another failure of this magnitude what drives your inaction?" Lelouch asked, a bit more softly than before.
"Mm, not as such," C.C. answered. "Whether it be action or inaction, there is always a risk that something untoward will happen. As such, the existence of risk hardly factors into my decisions. I act, or do not act, based on the expected gain weighed against the expected cost. Since accounting for the unexpected is neigh impossible to begin with, there is no point in considering it beyond building up a reserve of resources ready to take up the slack in case something does happen."
The cardinal's head dipped slightly as he contemplated everything he heard. It was clear a great deal of deliberation went into all of the grandmaster's decisions, as much in what she chose to disregard as what she paid close attention to. Whether that made the fact she gambled so daringly with so many lives more or less comforting was probably going to be subjective.
"Will that be all then, Cardinal Lamperouge?" C.C. asked formally, after letting the silence linger a moment longer.
Lelouch slowly nodded. "For now. But let me make one thing very clear, Mother. I am no stranger to having to defend one part of my family from another. You are no exception in that regard, whichever side you may end up being on when the time comes."
While the Sumeragi Group was officially based in Kyoto, it did maintain corporate offices in Tokyo to allow for closer proximity to the viceroyalty office. The presence of these offices also provided for a convenient place to hold discussions that were better kept discrete from those authorities, hence why Kaguya was seated within one of the corporate conference rooms today. When the doors opened to let in the other party, Kaguya rose in greeting, a wistful, even hopeful smile on her face.
"Subaru-onii-sama," she said.
The tall, handsome man smiled at the sight of his cousin. "Kaguya-sama. It is good to see you well."
Subaru Sumeragi was, as his name indicated, also of the mainline lineage of the House of Sumeragi. He and Kaguya's mothers were two of four sisters that Kimiko Sumeragi, the former matriarch, birthed, and while Kaguya was still a young child at the time of the Britannian invasion, Subaru had been wrapping up his own training and was preparing to be inducted into the Ise priesthood. When the Ise renegades struck, Subaru's mother and twin sister were amongst their victims, while the young man narrow averted sharing that fate thanks to Arashi and her disciples finding and spiriting him away beforehand. The past six or so years had then been spent in hiding while the survivors tried to determine who could be trusted. Now with Kaguya's nominal appointment as the new high priestess and Eden Vital orthodoxy demonstrating that it did not precipitate the Ise slaughter, it was deemed both safe and necessary enough for Subaru to reemerge and get in touch with his cousin once more.
"How you have grown," Subaru said, giving Kaguya an affectionate pat on the head.
Kaguya puffed her cheeks out slightly. "Suzaku-onii-sama did the same thing."
Subaru chuckled. "I suppose it's an instinctive thing for big brothers to do."
The relation between Subaru and Suzaku was a bit more distance, seeing as Kaguya's own ties to the other youth was through their respective fathers. Still, the overall clan was tightly knit enough that Subaru could recall memories of minding the two as their elder cousin at various family gatherings.
"Things must have been quite difficult for you," Subaru said. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you with your burden."
"It was certainly lonely at times," Kaguya said, "but I did have Kirihara-ojii-sama and other supporting me. And I've also made many new friends along the way."
"So I have heard," Subaru said, "and those new friends are one of the matters that I am here to discuss."
A slightly perturbed look now crossed Kaguya's face.
"Let us take things one step at a time," Subaru said.
To that Kaguya nodded and sat down alongside Subaru.
"My understanding is that there was some discussion amongst Kyoto House about trying to wed you to the Cardinal Lamperouge," Subaru began.
Kaguya nodded. "It was thought that such a union would bind the cardinal more tightly to Japan, which would earn our people a powerful ally in the imperial court."
"A reasonable enough supposition," Subaru said, "and under certain circumstances it would even be the most advantageous one."
"But I take it the present circumstances is not one such instance?" Kaguya quickly surmised.
Subaru clasped his fingers together. "That is so. Tell me, Kaguya, how much do you know about Japan's employment of the Kamine Island thought elevator before the Britannian invasion."
"I have a broad picture," Kaguya answered. "The thought elevator was used to accelerate many of the Sumeragi Group's research and development projects, as well as provide the Japanese government with policy effect simulations. The latter heavily influenced the type of legislature the government would propose, as well as the general direction they tried to push the country in."
"So you grasp just how important the thought elevator is."
Kaguya nodded. "Very much so."
"Then do you also grasp just how, imbalanced, an exchange it would be for Ise to give up the Kamine Island thought elevator for marrying the cardinal?"
Another nod, slower this time. "Lelouch, the cardinal, is but one person. No matter how remarkable a person, he could never match the value of a thought elevator."
The breath that Subaru let out was one of noticeable relief.
"I know this probably isn't the most comfortable way of viewing things for you," Subaru said, "but it's important that you understand the practical aspects."
"I do understand it," Kaguya said. "And I think I also understand what sort of circumstances would make the offer genuinely worthwhile."
Subaru tilted his head. "Oh?"
"If the entirety of the Ise priesthood had genuinely been, wiped out, and my ability to restore it of questionable prospects, then better that something so powerful be entrusted to those capable of properly overseeing it," Kaguya said. "And in so entrusting, that I try to obtain as many advantages for Japan and myself as possible, even if all that combined could only ever fall short of the thought elevator's worth."
"That, is more or less it," Subaru agreed.
"But then," Kaguya said with pursed lips, "I have to question the exact motives when Eden Vital, or rather Cardinal Lamperouge, made his offer. In hindsight, Eden Vital clearly knew about the surviving priesthood, as they were the ones to bring us back in touch. Was the Order trying to trick me back then? Or was it some sort of test?"
Subaru found himself both impressed and a little worried that his cousin had managed to think through all this already. Clearly Kaguya had a clever and insightful mind, one able to discern complex motives and rationales. Though while a degree of skepticism was important for keeping her on her toes, it still ultimately would not do to have her descend into outright paranoia.
"You are right to be concerned with motive," Subaru said, "but in this case I believe the Cardinal Lamperouge's intentions were honest and earnest. Based on what Arashi-sama told me, the cardinal himself had clearly not been informed of the surviving priesthood and only found out when they accompanied the grandmaster to the viceroy's palace. His reaction then made clear he also understood how his prior actions might be construed, and he was not happy about it. The one actually testing you was not His Eminence, but the Grandmaster."
To that it was Kaguya's turn to let out a sigh of relief. "I am glad the cardinal was indeed earnest in his intentions."
Subaru regarded his cousin carefully. "It seems you are quite enamored with the cardinal."
"Is that so surprising? Considering the qualities he has demonstrated, his basic intelligence, his charisma, and of course his dashing good looks, would he not make a fine partner in many a liaison, romantic and otherwise?"
That saw Subaru run a hand through his hair. "You remind me so much of Hokuto when you go on like that…"
To that Kaguya herself gave a wistful smile. She too had fond memories of Subaru's late twin sister, after all.
"As to your point, you are not wrong," Subaru said. "But it is also important that you not forget, Cardinal Lamperouge is still a member of Eden Vital, while you are of Ise. Our two ecclesiastical orders may have possessed a close relationship in the past, but our goals and ambitions are not necessarily always aligned."
"That much I understand," Kaguya said. "Though, am I also to construe that Ise would hold similar reservations as Eden Vital about any further degree of intimacy?"
Despite having had a sister that was more than a little free, and in some regards even too free, in discussing affairs between men, women, and several variations therein, Subaru found he was still prudish enough to feel at least a little awkward talking about such things with his younger cousin. He would have almost preferred Arashi be the one laying it all out for Kaguya. Regrettably, she was absent this day, having returned to Kono Shrine to prepare for her move.
"I have been told the Lamperouge lineage is one Eden Vital has invested a long time into improving," Subaru finally responded. "While efforts to improve the Sumeragi line do not stretch as far back, our family has taken similar special care in which bloodlines are incorporated in an effort to bolster our ability to utilize the thought elevators. In that regard, Ise would be as askance about another ecclesiastical order obtaining the fruits of the Sumeragi lineage as Eden Vital would be of the Lamperouge. As such, you are correct in presuming that, marrying out, is not an option for any of us, especially in light of how few of us there remain."
If the three known survivors, and one of which was marked for death, even warranted the word few.
"It seems there were quite a few considerations I was only barely aware of," Kaguya said thoughtfully, then beamed her cousin a wide smile. "It is indeed fortuitous that I will have you by my side dispensing advice, Subaru-onii-sama."
Subaru chuckled. "I will certainly endeavor to do my best in that regard."
"Then I would like to hear your opinion on a certain something," Kaguya said.
The man blinked. "And what would that something be?"
"It is clear that Ise considers itself on a sound enough footing to assert its ecclesiastical independence from any other order that would try to absorb us," Kaguya stated, holding steady her gaze. "That does not however change the fact that Japan itself, Ise's prior sponsor, is no more as a sovereign state. What place then does Ise envision for itself within the Holy Britannian Empire?"
It was a very astute question, one that Subaru was both impressed and surprised that his cousin would raise it with him.
"The fact that a single polity would be sponsor to multiple ecclesiastical orders is unprecedented," Subaru began, "and it actually opens up several interesting possibilities. In the past, saying a polity only sponsored a single order was equivalent to that order having a monopoly on providing computational services from the thought elevator they managed. By conquering Japan and the Middle East, Britannia has in effect broken Eden Vital's monopoly, depending on the extent to which the Britannian government is willing to trust Ise and Baghdad with certain computational work. If we can convince the Britannian government to see Ise as another avenue by which to run some of their policy modeling simulations, we could position ourselves as an integral component of the Empire, and win a variety of concessions in the process."
"Concessions within the Empire, but not political sovereignty," Kaguya said.
Subaru gave a wry smile. "You know as well as I that Britannia would never countenance giving up a prize like Japan, what with our reserves of sakuradite and the thought elevator. We might be able to get a few exemptions with respect to language and the provincial lordships, but the fact that there are multiple ecclesiastical orders both works for and against us, as we still have to compete against the others for the government's business. If our price is too high, the Empire has other options."
Kaguya nodded and smiled. "It is good your assessment aligns with my own."
"And it is good that you were able to discern all this by yourself," Subaru said. "As High Priestess of Ise, you will be responsible not only for overseeing the priesthood as a whole, but also in negotiating the best possible terms with the Britannian government for granting them access to the Kamine Island thought elevator."
"Oh yes, I've been putting quite a bit of thought into that," Kaguya said, then placed a palm on her cheeks. "How many provincial peerages do you think we could extract from Britannia?"
Subaru gave a rueful chuckle. "I see many of my worries were needless. You are clearly possessed of the necessary ambition, at least."
The girl in question flashed her usual charming smile. "Will you be taking up a position in the conglomerate as well as your ecclesiastical post?"
"Perhaps in the future," Subaru said. "In the interim, Arashi-sama has tasked me with helping Eden Vital bring to heel the culprits responsible for harming our family so gravely."
Kaguya's expression shifted to one of solemn worry. "Will you be alright?"
"Most of my work will be in the viceroy's palace helping Eden Vital interpret the information they gather," Subaru assured his cousin. "And if I need to take to the field, I will be accompanied by both elements of Ise's own souhei and Eden Vital's church militants."
"Souhei?" Kaguya repeated quizzically.
The term translated literally as monk warrior, though in the context of Japanese culture referred to the warriors that made up the standing armies several Buddhist orders maintained historically in Japan. The last of those armies had been disbanded, or destroyed, after Japan's unification by Tokugawa Ieyasu, but smaller sects of these warriors still remained.
"Surely you didn't think Ise was without some martial arms of its own?" Subaru remarked. "We have had a long relationship with several ancient Buddhist orders, and even today their ranks help provide Ise with a contingent of souhei ready to bear arms in our defense."
"I honestly had not known," Kaguya admitted. "It seems there is yet much for me to learn."
"And you will," Subaru assured her. "Arashi-sama seems quite eager to begin your instruction and properly initiate you into the priesthood's rituals. She said you showed promise with the kagura dance as a child, and is looking forward to how much you must have improved since." A small cough sounded. "You have been keeping up with your practice, right?"
To that Kaguya's eyes glazed over. She could actually faintly recall the woman known as Arashi, and what little she did was of a stern, dutiful woman. The prospect of coming under her tutelage filled Kaguya with utterly indescribable feelings, especially in light of how just completely out of practice she was with her kagura dancing.
"Subaru-onii-sama, when might Arashi-sama be intending to get in contact with me?" Kaguya asked, somehow still maintaining a serene smile.
"Hmm? Should be here any minute now."
The sound of the door opening could be heard, and the smile dropped from Kaguya's face.
"We have spent quite a lot of time this semester discussing the House of Lords," Mr. DuBois said, "but we should not forget that there is another part to parliament. Betsy, what can you tell me about the House of Commons?"
"Umm, it's the lower house, composed of elected representatives," the girl responded.
"Correct. Tobias, how long a term do these representatives serve?"
"A single six-year term, with a third of the Commons coming up for election every two years."
"Very good," Mr. DuBois nodded. "Now Milly, can you explain why the Commons is set up the way it is?"
"The single term limit is to prevent the Commons from turning into another defacto Lords," Milly answered. "The rotating elections is to prevent turnover in the Commons from causing too radical a shift in its trajectory when the new parliamentarians take their seats."
"Indeed. We already have a large body of long-serving dinosaurs in the House of Lords, no need to clutter up the Commons with more. At the same time, it's not a good idea to let too many uppity youngsters in all at once, who knows what radical, populist ideals they'll bring along."
There were a few other more colorful epithets for parliament, but seeing as this was a school Mr. DuBois was obliged to limit his vocabulary to what was appropriate.
"It is important to recognize that the Britannian Commons does not serve the same purpose as that of lower chambers in European democratic republics," the teacher stated. "The goal of the Britannian system of government is after all to avoid the inherent factionalism and partisanship that democracy engenders, which would be somewhat undermined if we were to adopt the form of representation that results in European nations being plagued by those very problems. But of course, it's hardly sufficient to merely espouse some political theory. We humans have a habit of upending most predictions of how we behave. Shinjiro, what's a real-world example wherein the elected officials of a democracy failed, rather spectacularly at that, in actually governing?"
A moment passed as the Japanese youth considered his response. "The Belgians failing to form a government for over a year."
"Ah yes, that one," Mr. DuBois said dryly. "Though if one considers the overarching crisis that unfolded, that entire affair spanned somewhere upwards of four years in total. It certainly was a demonstration of democratic excess, wherein elected representatives took to a rather extreme their duty to their individual constituencies over the good of the overall state. It also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of linguistical recognition being codified in law, a process that the Britannian parliament is examining even now as part of the Special Administration Act of Japan."
To that quite a few of the Japanese students seemed to start paying closer attention.
"The Belgian political crisis that Shinjiro mentioned is rooted in the societal divisions between the two main linguistic communities in that country. One portion speaks French, and the other Dutch. The Belgians attempted to accommodate its Dutch speaking citizenry by codifying their right to employ their preferred language into law, a process that started almost two hundred years ago and is still the source of much discord, as demonstrated by their little political kerfuffle a decade ago.
"Contrast this with Britannia, which simply imposed English upon the regions it acquired or conquered from France, Spain, and Portugal. While certainly rough, the transitional period lasted only about a generation or so before English became entrenched, and today one can cross from one end of the continental Empire to the other, both hemispheres at that, and not have any trouble making oneself understood. The advantages this offers to both political cohesion and economic logistics should be readily evident. And if nothing else, our parliament isn't going to be deadlocked for over a year fighting over such linguistic considerations."
As true as that may be, the desire to cling to their linguistic traditions was not driven by economic considerations, it was something more emotional and sentimental.
"It is for this reason that, broadly speaking, Britannia instinctively does not consider concessions regarding language when dealing with newly incorporated regions," Mr. DuBois continued. "On the other hand, the Empire is pragmatic enough to recognize that things have changed considerably since the 1800s when it conducted most of its conquests. Demographic changes, if nothing else, means that today there are far more Japanese speaking people that are faced with a sudden lingual shift, and those sheer numbers drastically amplifies the ensuing trauma and hardship. Even so, I would suggest those of you interested to read carefully the relevant sections in the current proposed bill about what accommodations are to be made for the Japanese language. They are unprecedented in terms of Britannian law, but be discerning as to what the ultimate end is being envisioned."
Surely that was not ominous at all.
"Moving on," Mr. DuBois said, apparently deciding that to be a good stopping point for that particular matter. "The Belgian situation is an example of the relative fitness and competency, or lack thereof, of governmental officials selected by a democratic electorate. The quality of the vote problem, as previously covered. Does anyone have an example of the other problem, the natural inclination to partisanship?" The teacher looked around the room. "Milly?"
Resigned to not being able to escape her instructor's attention, Milly provided a prompt answer.
"Germany."
"Ah yes, the defacto leader of the European project, whatever France's pretensions and Russia's ambitions," Mr. DuBois peppered his statement with his usual sardonic commentary. "Why is Germany representative of increasing democratic polarization?"
Seeing as he was still looking at Milly, the girl was clearly expected to elucidate on her answer.
"Germany's government has been a grand coalition of the center-right and center-left for the past five years," she began, "with the government agenda basically a compromise between the two sides. By and large, that government has been quite successful in guiding Germany through some rather turbulent times, including the aftermath of Britannia's invasion of Japan, and even now the fallout of the Empire's invasion of the Middle East. Despite this, in the elections they held last year, both parties in the coalition saw their proportion of the total vote drop, with voters shifting to parties further on the right and left. By and large, the attempt of the elected representatives to work together in a collaborative manner actually saw them punished at the polls, representing further fragmentation, and polarization, of the overall electorate."
Mr. DuBois nodded. "Good to see someone is doing the supplemental readings I suggested."
At least for Milly, she was motivated to do so because Mr. DuBois had her grandfather's ear, and she did not want Ruben to be chiding her at the dinner table about her coursework.
"What Milly says is broadly correct," Mr. DuBois said. "A major cause for the political shift in Germany is a consequence of voters dissatisfied with the compromises their elected representatives end up making when trying to work with other parties. That the biggest beneficiaries of this dissatisfaction have been the far left and far right parties indicates just how severe that dissatisfaction is, considering the positions espoused by those parties. And since this splintering is being driven by such distaste for compromise, the resulting fragmentation creates an increasingly more difficult environment for the compromise necessary for actual governance to be achieved. All this, in reaction to the prior successful governance that was achieved by compromise. Where else can one find a better example of a system of governance that is so self-sabotaging of the society that birthed it?"
Regardless of whether Mr. DuBois meant that as a rhetorical question, none of the students in his present class had any ideas by which to answer. That was not to say there was no answer, more studious students of history or philosophy could have probably produced one, seeing as history was littered with examples of failed systems of rule.
"Now that we have established what the Britannian Commons is not," Mr. DuBois began anew, "we can examine what it actually is, and what purpose it serves. The Commons, as noted, is indeed composed of elected representatives. But the powers it possesses are very different compared to its democratic counterparts. For one thing, the Commons does not have the authority to propose a bill or a budget, that prerogative lies with the Lords. Its consent however is still required for the two to pass, and in that regard the Commons is supposed to serve a consultative role, to provide an additional perspective that is reflective of the general citizenry in case the Lords missed something in their own deliberations. Groupthink is not something the peerage believes itself immune to after all."
Though how much certain members of the peerage considered that to be a problem was another matter entirely.
"To ensure that there is at least a modicum of technocratic competency in the advice the Commons provides is also the reason why those wishing to stand for election must also have passed the civics course in secondary," Mr. DuBois said, giving a pointed look at his students, "so those of you not in line to inherit titles can be assured there is at least some use for what you learn in this class."
At least for those that intended to pursue a career in politics, regardless of its brevity.
"The other, arguably more important duty of the Commons is to directly police the peerage itself," the teacher continued. "The Commons has the ability to conduct legal inquiries into the affairs of the great peers. With this authority, they can subpoena the administrative records of a fief, summon witnesses to testify under oath, and broadly delve into the conduct of a peer as pertains to his official duties. Should irregularities be discovered, the sanctions can range from fines, requiring central oversight over the peer's administration, all the way up to having a patent of nobility be revoked."
A hand rose.
"Yes Cole?"
"What's stopping MPs from conducting audits maliciously?" the young man asked. "Or as a fishing expedition to try to harass peers?"
An entirely valid question, and one arguably from the perspective of the other side of the social divide, seeing as Cole was of noble lineage himself on his mother's side.
"The budget, for one," Mr. DuBois said. "The Commons has only so much money allocated to conducting its business, and that budget also needs to pay the salaries of the elected MPs themselves. Wasting it on fishing expeditions is liable to anger one's fellow MPs as well as irritate the Lords, and if taken to extremes, due to the nature of the oaths MPs have to take, can even result in charges of sedition. At the same time, the natural question that should occur to all of you is, how does the Commons make sure the peerage can't just stall and stonewall to drain the Commons' budget?"
That had indeed occurred to a few students, though not all of them.
"The answer to that is, the Commons can issue warrants of investigation to imperial auditors, special, crown appointed agents whose sole purpose is to watch out for misconduct by members of the peerage on behalf of the emperor. These auditors are officially part of the Ministry of Finance, hence their titles, and they have access to all of that ministry's resources when it comes to untangling financial chicanery. And because imperial auditors report directly to the emperor, they cannot be easily circumvented by either the Lords or the Commons, or even the sitting government."
That of course did not necessarily mean the emperor himself would be interested in seeing any particular peer's wrongdoings exposed, especially if that peer was an ally at court. Then again, a good and competent emperor should not be relying upon nobles with such checkered backgrounds in the first place, or so went that ideal.
"As deliberate as the concentration of power in the Empire is," Mr. DuBois continued, "that there needs to be some level of checks and balances is also recognized. Both the crown and the common citizenry have a natural common goal of keeping the nobility in check, while the nobility and the crown have no desire to cede too much say to the common citizenry. Finally, both the nobility and the common citizenry want to make sure the crown upholds its own obligations to the former two. This combination of complementary and conflicting interests obliges all the parties to both cooperate while also providing incentive for them to be on the lookout for missteps by the other. Trust, but verify, as the saying goes."
Another hand rose.
"Yes, Naomi?"
"With how circumscribed the authority of the Commons is, does it actually serve as a meaningful check against the powers of the peerage or the crown?"
As sharp a question as ever from the Japanese girl, but what better way to keep a teacher on his toes?
"For carrying out the duty it is actually charged with, the Commons has quite a bit of authority," Mr. DuBois responded. "Defying a Commons summons or subpoena is grounds for being held in custody for contempt, something not even a noble peerage would protect you from. And the organization charged with executing such warrants is the Imperial Gendarmerie, an institution that has rather short shrift with anything smacking of abuse of power. Still, even with that power, the effectiveness of the Commons is dependent to a significant degree on the competency of the elected parliamentarians. If the MPs are not able to make sense of the administrative documents supplied in response to their subpoenas, or are unable to discern attempts at subterfuge, well, even with the qualifications the Empire requires of candidates that want to stand for election, it's still not really possible to stop the electorate from voting in someone genuinely unfit if they are dead set on that candidate. The only thing that can be done is to try to mitigate the damage, which is why multiple imperial institutions exist whose duties overlap with that of the Commons, to provide a backstop in case a particular batch of MPs causes the Commons to go into the weeds. Of course, if the Empire is ever in such a dire state that those backstops also fail, then we would be looking at the prospect of state collapse anyway, at which point what de jure powers any particular organ has tends to be moot."
In other words, back to the whole question of whether voters could actually be trusted to competently perform their civic duty instead of self-sabotaging society at large. The Empire very explicitly leaned towards no, hence why it accorded so limited a set of duties to those that entered government via that route.
"That being said," the teacher continued, "a word of caution. Just because the Commons does not possess a particular power that one would prefer it to have does not make it innately powerless. As should have become evident over the civics course, there is a certain deliberateness in how the Empire has structured its political hierarchy. Each organ of state is given a certain duty, along with the necessary instruments to fulfill that duty. At the same time, certain organs are intentionally precluded from undertaking certain duties, and therefore are restricted from possessing the requisite instruments. As such, do not confuse the lack of power in one regard as lack of power in another, especially when the lack of the former does not interfere or diminish one's ability in the latter."
Or put another way, according to the current political orthodoxy, the Commons' limited role in actual governance was not relevant to its ability to hold the peerage to account. Of course, that was not necessarily a position everyone in the Empire agreed upon. Those of a republican bent insisted strongly that the devolution of political power to properly elected representatives could only be a net positive in keeping the peerage in line. Less power in the latter after all meant less opportunity to commit abuses. On that particular point the peerage did not necessarily disagree, but in its view the associated costs outweighed any possible gains. Indeed, that republicans believed in some innate value that nonetheless still justified from their perspective the paying of those costs was what outright disqualified them from actual governance, as far as the peerage was concerned.
"Britannia is by and large a fairly conservative nation," Mr. DuBois said. "It has multiple safeguards in place to prevent too precipitous a change from occurring. That is not to say the Empire cannot change, but on the whole, it seeks to implement these changes incrementally. The reason for this is not simply to preserve the prerogatives of those already in power. Indeed, if nothing else, the Empire makes no pretense that that isn't one of the objectives. But the pertinent point is, it is only one of the objectives. The other is that too radical a change will leave in its wake dislocations that are extremely difficult to rectify. A debt, of sorts. And like all debts, it can accrue interest, the growth of which further compounds the difficulty of settling it. Consider the effort that it took to dislodge the Emperor Friedrich. Emperor Charles' coup cannot be considered anything short of radical, but even in His Majesty's success, there are issues that linger on to this day that have remained unresolved. Issues that directly impact upon Japan itself, even. That is why it is important not to let one's passions drive one onto too impetuous a path. Let us, then, not make our division as we did before, with a view to all, nor in a hurry, with the idea that we may thus reach political science quickly, for that has already brought us the proverbial penalty. What penalty?" Mr. DuBois' eyes fell upon one student in particular. "Milly?"
"The penalty of having made less speed, because we made too much haste and did not make our division right," Milly quoted in response.
Plato, Statesman, for those so inclined. Or those obliged to take the Britannian Empire's civics course, wherein it was required reading.
A rather substantial number of students were gathered in the auditorium, though seeing as the place was designed to seat the entirety of Ashford's student body, a fair proportion of the seats were also empty, allowing those attending to cluster up close to the stage. Upon that stage was seated two women. On the left, Millicent Ashford, head girl and granddaughter of the school's headmaster and owner. On the right, Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Realm and half-sister to the Cardinal Lamperouge. Kaguya and Kallen were originally also slated to be here, but both suddenly had more pressing matters to attend to, which ironically left the panel bereft of any Japanese representation. Seeing as this was intended as a practice event to give the girls more experience in public speaking, hopefully their absence would not be too problematic.
"The language provisions were actually one of the trickiest bits of the act," Euphemia said. "Britannia actually has English as its official language set in law, so anything done to accommodate another language has to, if not exactly work around that, then not violate it."
As the princess' remarks indicated, she was fielding questions regarding the Special Administration Act of Japan in a mostly informal setting. Euphemia was already an authoritative figure on the bill after all, and no one wanted her responses to be taken as the official word on matters pertaining to it. Still, the young woman had invested enough effort into understanding the bill in its present form, which included long video conferences with the actual legal experts back in Pendragon that drafted it, that she could probably clarify any confusing points raised by the attending students.
"English is still going to be the primary language of business, as far as any governmental interactions are concerned," the princess continued. "What the Britannian government is offering to do however is to provision for dual-language forms in Japan, as well as the necessary personnel to act as translators, both in-person and at the data entry level, so that those unable to or more comfortable with using Japanese can continue to do so. The dual-language provision extends to things like street signs, maps, and other such things as well. Generally, the idea is to allow people to interact with wider society regardless of which language they are comfortable with. The central government is also envisioning providing the necessary funding for these provisions for the next twenty years, after which the provincial authorities will have permission to extend them with their own resources."
A substantial portion of the audience were Japanese, all in Ashford Academy's uniform of course. Considering their greater sentimental investment in their home, that was hardly surprising. There were of course some Britannian students as well, though they tended towards the higher grades, possibly on account of them being on the cusp of adulthood and thrust into the wider world after graduation. The one that asked the specific question on language however was Japanese, a classmate of Milly's civics class in fact.
"In addition," Milly spoke up, "schools will be obliged to offer Japanese language courses, as well as allowing the usage of Japanese in certain liberal arts courses. Literature, for example, could be taught entirely in English, or Japanese, or even a mixture of the two. The natural, physical, social sciences however will still need to be taught in English, along with history."
A slight flash of light flared, though not bright enough to actually cause either of the girls to blink. A bit further aback, a student was moving about taking photos from various angles using a very, very expensive looking camera. As expected of the news club at such a prestigious school, they certainly were not lacking in nice toys. Further up front, another hand rose.
"Yes, Cole?"
"What about private enterprises?" one of the Britannian students asked. "Are there going to be any dual-language requirements on their part?"
"That's one of the things still being negotiated in the Lords," Euphemia answered. "It really comes down to money, since requiring dual-language support is going to substantially increase costs for businesses. That's not going to go over very well unless the government steps up with some sort of financial support, but well, there are elements within the Lords that are really loathe to commit further money than what has already been discussed."
"At the same time, those businesses that offer dual-language support on their own volition might obtain a certain commercial advantage," Milly added. "Considering how many Japanese people live here, how many customers would you end up basically putting off if you insisted on English only?"
How much Milly's supposition would actually stand up in the real world was unknown, but the attending students could at least agree with the principle behind it.
"It sounds like the language provisions are intended as more of a transitionary mechanism, than necessarily something to help preserve the Japanese language," Naomi, the student that first broached the matter, followed up.
"That is certainly true," Euphemia said carefully, "as Britannia's ultimate intent is to fully integrate Japan into the Empire, not have it remain as some sort of outlier special case in perpetuity. At the same time, the imperial government is leaving a great deal of leeway to allow the eventual provincial governments to invest local resources into the preservation of Japanese language and culture. Should the people that actually live in the Japanese provinces actually desire this preservation, well, it would be a poor provincial lord indeed that outright ignores those desires."
While Euphemia might have intended that to be reassuring, considering how little say the general populace would have as to whom would be their future provincial lords, she probably did not achieve the desired effect.
"Is there any indication who those provincial lords will actually be?" Naomi pressed. "Will they be Britannians or ethnic Japanese?"
"The SAAJ bill doesn't deal with that," Milly stated, "so there's nothing on that that we can really comment on at this point."
"It's also been a very long time since Britannia actually had to organize new provinces," Euphemia however added, "so past precedent isn't necessarily very helpful either."
"Past precedence?" another student, a freshman, repeated.
Milly kept the scowl from reaching her face, but before she could try to deflect, Euphemia spoke again.
"In the past, the viceroy responsible for transitioning an administrative area into satellite status would be granted the most prestigious of the provinces that emerged."
So far, nothing Euphemia said was factually inaccurate, and had she stopped there, would have remained so.
"Lelouch-I mean, the Cardinal Lamperouge, is something of a special case though. He was appointed viceroy as something of an emergency measure to stabilize the situation in Japan. If things have actually settled down enough to allow SAAJ to be passed and implemented, well, that technically means his job is done, and he can return home to Pendragon."
An outburst of murmurs immediately swept through the auditorium in response to Euphemia's speculations. For her part, Milly felt the onset of a headache forming.
"The extent of Lelouch's remit," and Milly was just as deliberate in her usage of the cardinal's first name as Euphemia was in belatedly using his title, "is also not something SAAJ deals with. In fact as the duly appointed agent of the emperor, probably no one outside of His Majesty's direct confidence could assert with any authority as to how far that remit extends."
Two contrasting positions being staked here, one by the cardinal's sister, the other by his girlfriend. That there was such a difference of opinion suggested a rather severe gap in communications, at least on this particular matter. That Milly felt it necessary to publicly contravene Euphemia like this was also noteworthy, indicating a degree of spontaneity in the whole thing. None of this helped the audience in deciding who to believe, and the unease that many felt was apparent on their expressions.
It was no exaggeration to say that Lelouch was very popular amongst the residents of Japan, Britannian and Japanese alike. The former appreciated the way he restored order and stability, while the latter was thankful for someone that actually paid attention to their grievances and worked to assuage their fears. The prospect of Lelouch leaving, even ostensibly because his presence was no longer needed, was still rather disconcerting. Even if the amount of work left did not require someone of Lelouch's caliber, his mere presence was still immensely reassuring. It was probably in recognition of this that Milly tried to downplay Euphemia's speculation, but it did not escape the audience's notice that Milly was not asserting that Lelouch would be staying put either. It might well be that she genuinely did not know, but with the possibility of his departure planted in their heads by Euphemia's prior remarks, the sense of doubt was already percolating. Hopefully it would not too badly corrode the sense of hope that had otherwise been building.
A nice, steaming cup of coffee was ready for Lelouch as he entered the lounge of his private quarters. The rich aroma from it helped the cardinal shake off a bit more of his morning lethargy, and a fond appreciation for the flavorful bitterness of the dark roast ensured he was not one to pollute the drink with anything like sugar or milk. That was in stark contrast with Milly, who piled in enough of both to completely bury any of the drink's original flavor. It was a mild wonder she even bothered with the coffee and didn't simply settle for plain milk (full, of course, not that runny water that skim amounted to). For this reason, Lelouch had to be careful about which cup he drank from, lest he accidentally take a sip of the adulteration that Milly insisted upon instead of his own more wholesome brew.
While enjoying his coffee, Lelouch turned on the tablet set next to the cup saucer and perused the collection of news snippets put together to give him a sampling of what was in the public awareness. Sometimes a particular article was even insightful enough to provide Lelouch with a useful new perspective. And journalists, proper ones at least, tended to be as effective as dedicated intelligence agents in ferreting out secrets. As Lelouch brought the cup up to take another sip, it suddenly stopped short of his lips as he saw the headline of the next article in his queue.
"Morning Lelouch," Milly said with a yawn as she came out from the bedroom, wearing a loose robe over her sleepwear.
Lelouch made no response, his eyes still glued to his tablet. As Milly came to his side, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Something wrong?"
The cardinal still said nothing, instead holding the tablet up for Milly to see herself. When the girl likewise read the headline, and saw the photo plastered under it, her own eyes widened.
"What in the!?"
Mission Accomplished: Cardinal Lamperouge to Leave After SAAJ Bill Ratified?
Despite the question mark at the end, the slant of the article was clearly slanted towards a speculative affirmation. That was not the worst of it either, as the photo underlining the headline was not of Lelouch himself, but of Euphemia in her Ashford uniform. Even without the attached analysis, it was pretty clear where the photo had been sourced from, even if the actual attribution was laxer than was professional. Indeed even the general conclusions in the article were clearly drawn from, and only mildly exaggerated, the article put out by Ashford Academy's news club.
"It seems my sister needs a few lessons about the bounds within which she is supposed to stay when engaging in such affairs," the cardinal said dryly.
"And I'm going to have a few choice words with the newspaper club about stooping to tabloid-level speculation in their own articles after I explicitly warned them!" Milly proclaimed.
Amongst which, "budget" and "cut" came to mind as likely choices. Maybe even "editing" and "censor" would crop up. Let it not be said that crossing Ashford Academy's head girl was without consequence.
End of Chapter 44
A bit more worldbuilding this chapter.
The civics lectures always seem to see me go through an iteration or three of drafts as I finetune the prose. The complexity of the matter doesn't make it any easier when trying to convey the relevant points. As a note, keep in mind that everything Mr. DuBois is saying, he's providing Britannia's perspective on. The civics class does have a certain biased slant to it, since one of its goals is to actually engender faith in the imperial system of government. At the same time, the core arguments used are internally consistent with each other, so from a theoretical perspective, it can serve as the basis of a successful system of governance. Whether it is actually successful or not depends very much on the people overseeing it, and in that regard it's not terribly different than a lot of real-world governments. Britannia is at least self-aware enough of this weak link that it invests a lot of resources into its people to produce competent overseers, hence things like the civics class.
Also, yes, the usage of Germany and Belgium as examples is basically my in-narrative response to a review that claimed European parliamentary politics is inherently consensus based. I actually have a list of other European countries from Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula that can serve as further real-world counterpoints to that claim as well. More broadly however, the commonality of coalitions doesn't really indicate a predilection for consensus, it at best demonstrates an ability to achieve compromise while leaving existing differences intact to fester. In the Britannian House of Lords however, the consensus that is sought is one that eliminates those differences. This is not to claim that they always succeed, far from it, but the nature of the compromises struck there is different than the political horse-trading done to create coalitions in democratic parliaments.
To evaluate whether a union between Kaguya and Lelouch would be to the benefit of the former requires fully accounting for what she would gain versus what she would lose. While it might be tempting to claim she would gain a great prize in having Lelouch as a husband, this is only a gain if said prize is not dwarfed by what she would lose. And what Kaguya stood to lose was a thought elevator, a prize several orders of magnitude more valuable than even the most optimistic assessment of Lelouch's worth.
Let's be clear here. Lelouch is a single person, one whom has at most a few decades of productive life in him before old age claims him. A thought elevator's useful lifetime is basically going to be until the sun goes supernova and consumes the Earth. Lelouch, as a skilled administrator, even at his most effective, might be directly responsible for enabling a few percentages of the wealth Britannia generates. Even one of the thought elevators Eden Vital currently manages is responsible for directly enabling a substantial fraction of the entire Britannian economy. Even if one were to take into account his descendants, collectively they still would not be capable of matching the force multiplication factor a thought elevator represents.
This is why, as Subaru noted, offering to let Kaguya marry Lelouch in exchange for the Kamine Island thought elevator can be considered a gross rip-off. That there was no malicious intent behind the offer doesn't make it any less so. Lelouch himself recognizes this, and in combination with the cost that would have been inflicted upon Kaguya if she was forced into a schism against the hidden priestess and her adherents, was why he was so colossally pissed with C.C. for withholding information about Ise's overall survival. Are there conditions that would have made a union between him and Kaguya genuinely mutually beneficial? Yes, but they are all contingent on Ise no longer existing as a vial ecclesiastical order. The moment that was no longer true, the cost-benefit ratio shifts drastically against the union.
Forgot to respond to this last chapter, but with respect to Soren from In Tune, I do not have any plans to explore his background further in any standalone story. I did have a few expanded scenes that I conceptualized for inclusion in a remaster if I ever revisited that story, but that is the extent of it.