Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a wonderful time.

Now, I would like to say, that I'm going to the rest of the week off. A relative of mine, just passed away, so I am going to travel with family. I will see you all next week!

Chapter 4

Cornelia has no time to waste her time wondering about the next meeting with the higher-ups of area Eleven about dealing with insecurity, the economy, and many mundane things. Cornelia was already preparing for her next attack, and it would lead to the capture of Zero. She was sure of it. Although, Cornelia would lie if she doesn't particularly find entertaining how Euphemia would sometimes whine about the work. It was an amusing sight. Yet, Cornelia wanted her sister to learn the ropes of administrating a large zone. It was the duty of the Royal family. And, Cornelia knew, she wouldn't be always there. Euphemia had to learn how to defend herself. Cornelia, please take care of my daughters. They'll need you. Cornelia stopped remembering the words of empress Marianne. The person she admired the most in the world.

"I'll never fail again."

Cornelia whispered, as she stared at the Knightmare Frames that soon would take part in the operation.

"Your Highness, as I was saying. It's a Seven-generation Knightmare Frame, making its abilities far greater than a normal one. It could be highly useful for you in the upcoming operation. And it could prove useful to us, if we knew more about the limits of such weapon."

Cornelia turned around and saw that strange scientist with blueish hair and round glasses.

"I've heard the Lancelot's pilot is an Eleven," Cornelia said.

"Yes, an honorary Britannian," the man pointed out.

"I've granted him a special promotion from private to warrant officer. It should be enough. I can win without depending on any Numbers. Please do remember that, lord Lloyd Asplund."

Cornelia has no time to argue about an Eleven. She needed to prepare.

"That Eleven will be a reserve unit and nothing more. Unless I say otherwise, understood?"

"Yes... your highness."

"Good, now, if there is nothing more... there is someone I need to capture."

Kallen took a deep breath, as she helped to build their new mascot house. A cat with a strange name that she couldn't quite remember. Yet, while she was doing all of that. The memories of the night prior kept repeating in her mind. Lelouch is a princess. Kallen never thought her life would come to that point, in which she would be dating an exiled princess from a country that was her sworn enemy. It felt out of a movie. Or a bad romance novel. Yet, she was doing just that. There were times where she wonders if she should just stop it all before it's too late. But, when Kallen does think about it. She would remember Lelouch's smile, jokes, and how her lips taste.

Please, don't hate me, Kallen. Please.

Kallen knew she didn't hate her one bit.

You'll never know until you give it a shot.

"Ohgi... I guess I'm taking the shot, eh?" Kallen whispered softly.

"Kallen, did you say something?"

Kallen turned and saw Shirley looking at her, as she was unpacking some boxes. "Eh, sorry, just thinking out loud."

"Hm, I see," Shirley only replied.

Kallen and Shirley only kept on working in silence, but the red-haired girl felt a tension emerging from within the other girl. And it was rather confusing.

"So... you and Lelouch are officially dating?" Shirley asked, seemingly unbothered.

"Yes, we are," Kallen replied wondering, where was the girl going with those questions.

"I see... that's quite fast."

"I guess it is fast."

Shirley's lips quivered a bit, but sighed deeply. "Say, can I ask you something important?"

"Uh, what is it?" Kallen asked.

"Do you truly like her?" Shirley asked suddenly, making Kallen uncomfortable yet a bit annoyed.

"If I didn't like her, I wouldn't be dating her," Kallen said effectively.

"You say, but there is no... I... I know her for a while, and she never," Shirley muttered, as Kallen stared at her, puzzled.

"Wait... do you like Lelouch?" Kallen asked, bewildered by Shirley's reaction. As the green-eyed girl's cheeks turned red.

"I'm not saying that I don't! But...! Lulu...!"

"Lulu?!"

"If I only... if I knew, Lulu liked more direct girls...! I would...!"

"Are you serious?! You're saying this now?" Kallen exclaimed, as she couldn't believe, that her life was now turning into some kind of high school romance drama.

"Besides, if was Lelouch the one who proposed to me!"

"Lulu, did it?!"

"Well, uh, yeah, don't you remember?"

"Ah, yeah, but I thought you two were already talking by then," Shirley whispered. "It's kind of unfair that you only came out of nowhere."

"Unfair? If Lelouch didn't say anything to you, perhaps it was because she didn't like you that way," Kallen said, and she realized she touch a sore point, as Shirley sobbed. Are you kidding me, now? She groaned.

"I understand it! I know... she didn't like me that way! I just... I just thought that perhaps," Shirley then ran out of the while sobbing loudly. Suzaku and Rivalz entered the room. At the same time, they saw Shirley running away. Both of them were incredibly confused by what they saw.

"Uh, what happened to Shirley?" Rivalz asked, confused.

"Ah, Kallen, did something happen?" Suzaku asked nervously. Kallen only sighed deeply while slowly petting the cat.

"Just... girl's thing."

Both of them only stared at each other and without saying a word, they knew it was better to not speak about it more. Women are strange.

Lelouch smirked at the image before her. The design of her own Knightmare Frame was perfect, if she could say so herself. And while she wasn't technically an engineer, Lelouch was still good with numbers and had knowledge about how to build things. Yet, she would need the experienced opinions and hands of those from Tokyo, especially that woman who smoked way too much. Still, she was happy with her little work. It was everything she wanted a Knightmare Frame to be.

Back in her old world, there were mechas of incredible power and very advanced. Yet, they weren't really all aesthetically pleasing. The mechanized robots were really horrible and enormous. If you could see them on the battlefield, you would normally run the other way. That's what they were created in such an asymmetrical way. Their sounds were terrifying. Lelouch recalled the first time she saw one. A behemoth of a beast, making sounds of a demon being ripped apart. And every step it made; it would sound as if children's skulls were being crushed.

"Garnet told me how the reason for those sounds was to create despair in the front lines. It must have been really awful to witness something like that."

Lelouch whispered, remembering the words of one of her friends from Ainz Ooal Gown, who fought in the war and saw the worst of humanity. Garnet was one of the oldest members in the guild, perhaps the oldest. And was a really shy, and calm person. Yet, he was part of the commando's special forces during the war and had a lot of scars not only in his body but his mind about the war. Yet, he would tell her histories about it, when Lelouch asked him. And many warfare strategies. She owned him a lot.

That's why she called her first Knightmare Frame design, Garnet-01. It was everything she wanted from a mecha. A combination of both worlds. Aesthetically pleasing for this world, yet also showing the dark side of her old world. A Knightmare Frame would incite respect and fear.

"Nina, thank you for helping me with numbers," Lelouch smiled.

"You do speak alone a lot?" C.C. asked while she was resting on the bed.

"Yeah, I do, just like you by the way," Lelouch said, as she prepared her costume.

"Are you going to the Saintama ghetto?" C.C. asked.

"Yes, I am. Although, I am disappointed that Cornelia would go there, instead of Shinjuku again. But, well, she surely wants to bait me out. Still, I knew she would do something like that."

"And you're still going there, even thought is a clear ambush?"

"The Yamato Alliance's hideout is there, and while I do not care about that terrorist group at all. They do have a lot of… potential recruits for what I am planning ahead."

"Recruits?" C.C. leaned forward.

"I can't wave a war against Britannia if I only depend of terrorist and rebels. I need my own army. My followers, and train them accordingly. That's why I need people for that. And the Saintama Ghetto, is one of the most populated in that part of Tokyo."

Lelouch said with a smile. "My little game with Cornelia would have to wait. Right now, this is an excellent opportunity to make myself the hero who saved the innocent people from the ruthless army of Cornelia. Don't you think so?"

"So, you're not going to jump into the battle in order to get closer to Cornelia?" C.C. asked mindfully.

"I won't put myself in danger, my dear C.C. I don't have to. I will just humor her, and leave." Lelouch said, as her hair turned white and those golden eyes stared at C.C. The green-haired girl glared at her sharply. But then nodded.

"I can't have you dying without fulfilling the part of the contract," C.C. muttered.

"I know, that's why don't worry about it," Lelouch smirked at the girl, who only seemed to be puffing her cheeks.

"I'll be back soon. Don't worry... also, there is something I would like you to do."

The Ghetto of Saitama was getting crushed by Cornelia forces, and the people were being killed left and right, without compassion, with no sense of justice. Slaughtered like dogs on the street. And soon enough, there was a large group of civilians gathered near a wall. At least 50 people, a small percentage of the entire population of Eleven in that ghetto. Children, old people, and adults were all witnessing the horrible view of dozens of soldiers pointing their weapons at them.

"Why are you doing this?! We even have children here!" One of the poor Eleven said with fury in his voice and despair.

"We have done nothing!" He yelled with tears in his eyes.

"That's exactly why we are doing this!" The soldier yelled in a condescending voice.

"Because the people of this ghetto don't report about the terrorist! You cover for them! Hide them from the justice of Britannia! That is treason against a suzerain state!"

The civilians hold held theirs breathes as the soldiers got ready to fire their guns upon them. The old man tried to calm the children down, trying to not look at what was going to happen. A pregnant woman sobbed on the ground as she held her hands around her belly, praying to any god to forgive her children's lives. And the adults, young men, and women, they could only stare with fury in their eyes. Pure rage. It was not fair what was happening to them. And ironically, not all people of the Saitama ghetto liked the terrorist who live there.

They wanted to just survive and be left alone. But now, whatever doubt, fear, or submissiveness they once held was gone. Britannia was creating new generations of soldiers who would give it all to defeat them. A new generation of rebels.

And before those soldiers could pull the trigger. A strange light came up from the sky. It was like a small meteor fell and destroyed and killed some of the soldiers in a flash. The civilians didn't know what was happening, as the strong wind and smoke block their view.

"Mommy!"

"Everyone, fall back!"

They didn't know what was happening. There was no place to run. They were trapped. However, as they were all scrambling away from the explosion, it stopped. The smoke cleared immediately, and soon; the civilians heard low breathing. A mechanical breathing. And heavy steps approaching them.

"Such a crime... to hurt children."

"Z-Zero!" One of the surviving soldiers gasped, and soon the rest of the ones who could stand up picked their weapons and started to open fire. Yet, none of the bullets hurt Zero. It was surreal and strange. The civilians then saw how from the hand of Zero a strange blade appeared. I made it of pure light. And quickly, Zero started to kill each soldier at the time. But it was so fast, it looked like a dance of death. That strange light sword would simply deflect the bullets. And the civilians were in shock. As the machine before them would move in such an elegant and yet deadly way.

Zero then grabbed the last soldier by the neck, and everyone could see how easy it looked. Like the soldier was nothing but a leaf in the air.

"Wh-what are you?!" the soldier asked, scared.

"Britannia ruins."

And the soldier fell to the ground, dead. Let the rumors begin. Zero thought, smirking under her helmet.

They couldn't believe it, there, before them. One of the most wanted people currently was standing there. They didn't know why was that thing there, but they couldn't deny that if it wasn't for it, they would be dead.

"Zero?!"

"Look, is Zero!"

"Are we safe?"

"What was that?"

Zero stared at them, behind her mechanic mask, and nodded gently at them. "All of you, listen to me... there is a route that will allow all of you to escape this hell. Go to the underground train line 9. There are people there, that will help you."

"Underground line 9? That place is only rumbles!"

"Not anymore. It will lead you to safety."

Zero then turned around all dramatically, as her long cape made sure to create an amazing scene.

"WAIT! Where are you going?!"

"Why did you help us?!"

"Please don't leave us!"

Zero only stared at them, and hearing the sound of explosion and gunshots in the background only make the scene even better.

"Britannia is here... I'm not going anywhere until all the civilians from Saintama ghetto are safe."

Those words were resonating with not only some of the adults but children who stared at Zero with almost devoted eyes. And she left slowly, making sure to look cool while doing so. But, once Lelouch finally found herself away from everyone, and on top of the Sutherland, she recently stole. And inside there, she started to breathe rather rapidly. But she did not use her ability to feel better, but her helmet inhaler.

"[Arcane Sword] [Arcane Explosion I] [Strength Buff] and [Warrior Dance]... simple abilities. And lower tier ones. Yet, I could use them for a while. I don't perceive any heart or lungs problems. But my body did react poorly to my abilities. Still, no to bad... I need to see what my limit is. I have to."

Since Lelouch couldn't see her invetory or stats, she was going blind when using her abilities. Slowly testing the waters. She would try to use more powerful abilities in the future. Only to see how she would react to them.

"Not a problem so far."

Lelouch sighed, feeling glad that she put those inhalers in her helmet. They were rather useful. Now, she knows she could use a variety of skills at once without pushing her body to the limit. And while she lost her breath there. And her body felt rather sore. It was far from something she couldn't deal with. So far, she was testing normal abilities. She would then use more complicated and powerful ones just to see how her body reacted. Also, one of her plans was to create a sort of rumor about her. Zero had to become more than life itself. A mythic figure of sorts. And she wasn't really worried about people believing wholeheartedly about what the civilians she had saved would say.

It was only to start a rumor and only that. Lelouch wasn't ready to show her power to anyone. Yet, the seed was planted.

"Now, I wonder if those terrorists can prove themselves useful before I get rid of them."

Lelouch wanted to gather her army of sorts. Yet, she also knew it would take time for that. And patience. She wanted people who could obey orders. Not imbeciles, who just wanted to kill everything Britannia-related. They would cause more problems for her. That's why the Yamato's Alliance had to go. They were insolent, idiots, and extremely loud.

"Still, I need more experienced while facing a smart opponent. The strategy aspect, I need to master it. Also, I need to cause noise, so the Britannia force won't discover the tunnels until every civilian is gone. Ohgi, don't fail me. I've put a lot of faith in you."

Lelouch muttered, as she has left the job to guide the civilians to safety, to one of the first rebel leaders she had met. So far, he was willing to follow her orders and listen. Not bad.

"Well, will you play with me for a while, my dear sister, Cornelia?" Lelouch muttered as she smirked while looking at the screen.

Cornelia stared at the screen. And so far, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Well, that was, until she was losing troops left and right. They were getting ambushed, and she finally smiled. There was one way for someone to be able to detect enemies in such a way. And it was as if that person could use the operative system of one of the Knightmare Frames. So, Zero must be in one. That was the only explanation Cornelia could think of right now.

Yet, I'm not Clovis.

"Enemy spotted in district G-47!"

"Kaczinski team engaging! They were ambushed! There are no reports of survivors!"

"The enemy seems to be using Sutherlands captured from our own forces!"

"It's just like in Shinjuku," one official said.

"Has Zero appeared?"

So pathetic. Cornelia thought, as she allowed the enemy to take more ground. They even took a bridge down. It was all part of her plan. There was no need for more.

"That's enough. Order all troops to fall back. Any further damage will be meaningless."

"Fall back! I beg your pardon, your highness, but we can still fight them!"

"We can't fight them like this."

Or at least, you can't. But my soldiers, my loyal knights, can. Cornelia smirked. As she was now holding the cards on the table, since with the enemy holding key positions, and their Sutherlands, they would be easy to spot by her loyal forces.

"All the forces are coming back, your highness."

"This is why I win," Cornelia smiled. "Are you ready to go, Guilford, my loyal knight?"

"Yes, your highness. We're at your call Goddess of Victory."

Cornelia saw her knights go, and it took not long enough until one Knightmare unit started to transmit an I.F.F. signal. It was clearly baiting their forces. And Cornelia saw it right away. Only a fool with no expertise would fall into such an obvious trap.

"Destroy it," she told them.

"But, your highness! He may have been taken captive by the enemy!"

These are the same people my brother, Clovis, had on his side to advise him. They are fools.

"Regardless. I ordered them to fall back. I don't need soldiers who can't follow my orders. Soldiers must do their duty even at the cost of their lives. That's common sense to my subordinates."

Cornelia said without remorse. Then, by the way, that unit reacted, it only showed that it was a trap all along.

"He attacks us, your highness. It was as you said."

"Of course."

Cornelia then saw another unit signaling to them. There was another try of them to get them to trap them. And she couldn't but laugh internally, wondering what would be the point to even try at that point. Yet, she must remain calm. That unit was moving fast, deep in the city.

"Mm, that unit... they've set an ambush! Send more Gloucesters and surround them!" Cornelia ordered. And while their units stopped and did what they were told. It seemed that the person she was playing right now saw right through her plan.

"Gloucesters have arrived at the indicated area. No sigh of enemy."

Smart. A very good reaction. Cornelia thought. "That person anticipated my move? We may really be dealing with Zero after all."

Yet what came next was a serious of very awful decision from Zero, or perhaps from the terrorist who did not follow Zero's orders. Cornelia forces were just cleaning the entire area. Then it was all over. No more enemies. No prisoners, no mercy.

"That easy, eh? It didn't work out like it did in Shinjuku, Zero. Or are you pretending to be her? Mm, we'll see who you are shortly," Cornelia smirked.

"To all Knightmare pilots. Open your hatches and show me your face!"

"Let's see if Zero is among the pilots."

Cornelia ordered, as she would finally see, if Zero was using a Sutherland of hers. It was the whole thing she wanted to do. Cornelia has investigated Clovis' death carefully, and took herself to think about how did Zero managed to get close to him. And how she could see the troop's movements. Since no one knew how Zero looked like, it was easy for such a person to sneak through to the enemy lines without being noticed. Well, it won't work this time. Cornelia knew her troops and soldiers. She could easily recall each and one of her knight's ID codes without a problem. And had spent a lot of time memorizing the other pilots' ID codes, names, and faces. So, if she sees a person, she doesn't recognize. It was game over.

Cornelia saw how each of the hatches opened, one by one. She would inspect the faces of the pilots. Yet, nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Mm, nothing, eh?" Cornelia whispered, frowning.

"Your highness, a Sutherland is not responding!"

Cornelia then glared at one of the Knightmare Frames that was not moving at all. She smirked. I got you now! "Open the hatch!" She yelled, and while many were expecting to see Zero there, what they found was nothing. The Knightmare Frame pilot's cabin was empty. Well, not really. There was nothing but a doll.

"A doll?" Cornelia whispered.

Suddenly, the lights of the commander's center turned off, and Cornelia knights wasted no time, putting themselves in front of Cornelia. They were willing to die for her, but that, however, won't be needed, as the main screen suddenly started to distort itself. There was something jamming the signal.

"What is happening?!"

"We have a transmission coming in!"

Cornelia then saw a Zero face on the screen.

"Princess Cornelia, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Zero!" Cornelia hissed, as she stared at the mechanical person before her.

"It was a rather entertaining game, a huge learning experience for me."

"Learning experience, you say? Why don't you show yourself, so I can teach you something else?" Cornelia replied with venom in her voice.

"Threating me? Oh my, and here I thought you were a lady."

Cornelia hissed, as she wanted nothing more than to shoot Zero in the face. However, she was confused by how was she capable of transmitting such a message. Then she had an idea. "Zero must be close! Try to see where the signal is coming from!" Cornelia ordered, but such words only earned a chuckle from Zero.

"You don't need to go that far, my dear Cornelia."

Dear Cornelia?! The princess was fuming by the tone of voice.

"You gave me everything I wanted from today, little... game."

"Uh, what are you talking about? I defeat your terrorist!"

"My dear princess, do you honestly think that I care about winning a chess match with you? No, no. You don't seem to understand. A world of riches and privileges has left you blind to how the world work. I never cared about the Yamato's alliance. No, what I care about was something greater. The people of Saintama."

"The people?" Cornelia whispered, then froze.

"Send the troops back in! I want every building inspected, every bridge, every corner of the ghetto! Find everyone! Don't let them run! I WANT THEM GONE!"

"That's too late, my dear princess. You should have known. That the residence of Saintama highly disliked the Yamato's Alliance. The reason they did not report them was because the group threatened them. They had the residence as hostages most of the times. But instead of going in and giving the innocent civilians a better outlook of Britannia, you showed them exactly what I wanted. Exactly what that fool, Clovis, showed in Shinjuku. That Britannia was not better!"

Cornelia then realized what was Zero talking about.

"Your highness! There are not trails of civilians in the ghetto!"

"They have escaped!"

"Around... 50, no... 100... no! More than 1000 have escaped!"

Zero! She yelled in her mind as she stared at the enemy who just fooled her.

"You have given me people who lost friends at the hand of Britannia. Who have lost fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers... and children. I don't mind losing a battle if I can win a war. But what about you? Goddess of Victory? Do you feel like a winner now?"

"Zero! I'll make you pay for this!" Cornelia yelled, as Zero only shook her head.

"I can't hardly wait, my dear Cornelia... I can't hardly wait."

Then the transmission ended, and Cornelia let out a frustrating scream. And, of course, it wasn't the only scream going around. As currently, Zero, or well, Lelouch was holding her entire body together, as she was now in an old tunnel, trying to move her body. The pain was worse than she thought.

[Arcane Teleportation III] Shit! Shit! This fucking hurts! Lelouch wanted to move her hand in order to use [Rejuvenation] but she wasn't capable of it, so she had to use the injection that was currently on her breastplate. And thankfully, the injection was enough for the time being. Lelouch crawled to the wall. The pain felt surreal, so powerful. It was not only her vital organs that felt like burning or being ripped apart. But as if something was crushing her down. Not allowing her to move.

"Ah, so this is what happen, when I use a Tier III spell, eh? My entire body was shutting down, not good."

She muttered, while breathing painfully.

"You've seen better days."

Lelouch tilted her head and saw C.C. walking to her. Lelouch chuckled painfully. "You took too long."

"Well, I'm sorry. You know how hard it is to pretend to be you? I had to cover my face and imitate your voice while pretending to be sick. You're lucky I am an excellent actress," the green-haired girl said. Lelouch felt a sharp pain in her veins. The feeling of broken glass running in her veins was not pleasant. Yet, she learned a lot today. Perhaps, I can even use a Tier IV spell if I don't use anything else. Or, maybe, if I keep using tier one abilities, my body could get use to it. Yeah... I think that's about right. Lelouch thought.

"Are you alright?" C.C. asked with a surprisingly kind voice.

"I will be... just need to rest a bit."

"Well, sorry to tell you this, but right now is not the right place to do so."

"I know... did you bring it?"

"Yes, I do hope your friend, Rivalz, doesn't mind us stealing his vehicle."

C.C. approached Lelouch and helped her to stand up. "Did you obtain what you were looking for?" She asked as they walked down the tunnel.

"Oh, I did, and more. I know, my beloved sister. Cornelia would remember this for a while," Lelouch smirked.

"Let us go then," C.C. said.

The days went by, and Cornelia wasn't feeling any better. She stared at the map, and the last battle kept ongoing in her mind, no matter the hour. And even though, it was a victory for her, since she defeated the terrorist and destroyed the ghetto, in a paper that was. Cornelia lost the war. The Eleven were saved and were now spreading the news about Zero's achievements throughout all the others Tokyo ghettos. And that was bad since, if the Eleven's joined Zero, then, that woman, or machine whatever she was, would have an army in the making.

Cornelia realized angrily that she was fooled by Zero big time.

"Sister, are you okay?"

Cornelia snapped from her mind as she stared at Euphemia before her. They were having a break, a lunch together. It was something she needed a lot.

"Sorry, I dazed out," Cornelia said. Euphemia looked seriously at her sister, worried about what happened the last days.

"Is Zero?" Euphemia whispered.

Cornelia sighed, as she noticed her knights' faces. "I underestimated Zero. That woman has the mind to wave warfare."

It surprised Euphemia to hear those words. Never in her all life she has seen her older sister with that face. "Is she really that good?" Euphemia asked, to which Cornelia nodded.

"I thought Zero was a person who was only on the theatrical side. A big smoke and mirrors. Another wannabe rebel that I have seen many times before. Yet, she was not. Zero is a meticulous person, who is sure of her abilities to go toe to toe against me."

"But you won, right? The terrorists are no more," Euphemia replied.

"I won, but Zero had no intention of winning in the first place. She knew she would lose. That's what she is dangerous. Zero doesn't mind losing the battle... if she can win the war. The bait I used on her was used against me. Announcing the Saitama ghetto liquidation was a mistake. A gave her a cause belli for her to recruit Elevens. It made us; Britannia looked no better than rabids dogs."

Cornelia said as she stared at her food. Now that she took a good look, she realized how naïve she was during the whole operation. I was too arrogant. She thought.

"I realized, too, that I was very arrogant. Schneizel, would tell me the same thing," Cornelia chuckled.

"Sister... you're still the Goddess of Victory to me!" Euphemia said, as she held Cornelia's hand. The oldest sibling smiled as she kissed it.

"Thank you, sister. But don't worry... I now know what type of person Zero is... next time. I will be prepared, and I will win the war."

Cornelia would not make the same mistake twice. Now, she would show Zero why they named her like that. She would make sure, to show the world, that Britannia would never be defeated again. Euphemia and some of the knights looked at the renowned smile on Cornelia's face. It didn't matter if she stumbled and fell. Cornelia would always stand up, no matter what. However, while the small break went on, as it used to, and Cornelia felt more relaxed than before. That was stopped when some of her knights brought in a woman.

"Mm? What is the meaning of this? I ordered not to be disrupted unless it was an emergency," Cornelia said coldly.

"Forgive us, your highness, but she won't have it other way... she told us it was an urgent matter," the knight said.

"Urgent matter? Who are you? Tell me your rank, and name, now."

"My name is Villetta Nu, your highness... I am part of the Pureblood faction."

Cornelia frowned, as she nodded to both her guards to leave them. "Then, Villetta Nu, tell me why have you come here? And please do be brief, I then to get bad tempered when people waste my time."

Villetta nodded nervously, but she realized that it was a golden opportunity. Perhaps the only opportunity she would ever have. All she has researched, all the information she has gathered. It was with her. She realized the only way for her to know more was if she could convince princess Cornelia to start an open investigation about the whereabouts of the exiled princess. It was risky, since she didn't know how Cornelia would react, and it was rather scary to think about. Yet, Villetta took a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst. This is it, Villetta, I don't know what will happen now.

"Your highness... I have high suspicions that... princess Lelouch and princess Nunnally are still alive."

Those words brought the world to an abrupt halt. Villetta wasn't sure of what to think until they pointed a gun at her head. She let a small squeal as she stared at Cornelia's furious face.

"Sister!" Euphemia exclaimed.

"Choose carefully, the next words... I have no time to joke around, especially about that! You understand, Villetta Nu?!" Cornelia exclaimed, with anger in her eyes.

"Please, your highness, if you would listen to me!" Villetta screamed.

Lelouch and Nunnally's deaths were a sore point in Cornelia's life. It was not something she could just let go of. The deceased empress Marianne was someone bigger than life itself, for Cornelia. It was a woman who she aspired to be, so when Marianne told Cornelia to take care of her daughters, Cornelia swore on her life that she would do whatever she could to protect them. And well, she failed, more than once. She failed to empress Marianne, and she failed to protect the two little sisters, who she loved with all her heart. Lelouch, Nunnally, and Euphemia were the only siblings she ever truly loved. And two were dead because of her. So, hearing that both could be alive was a cruel joke for Cornelia.

"Sister! Cornelia!" Euphemia yelled, as she stood up before her older sister.

"Please, at least listen to her!"

Cornelia's hands were shaking, but she decided to take a deep breath before doing something stupid. It wasn't her way of doing things. Yet, her face was still cold.

"Speak."

Villetta brought up her folder with many documents. "Please, your highness... take a look at this."

Cornelia looked at Sir Guilford, one of Cornelia's most loyal knights. And immediately he knew what he had to do. He carefully took the folder, making sure there was nothing there that could potentially harm his princess. But he found nothing. He gave it to Cornelia, and the princess read the information.

"Your highness, princess Nunnally, and princess Lelouch were taken by the last prime minister of Japan."

"I know that," Cornelia replied sharply, making Villetta flinch.

"Yes, your highness but... did you know that princess Lelouch grew closer to a certain body by the name of Suzaku Kururugi?"

Both Euphemia and Cornelia froze, and Cornelia then saw a picture of Lelouch and Suzaku in a party of sorts.

"Suzaku knew my sister?" Euphemia whispered, wondering why Suzaku didn't tell her such a thing.

"How close where they?" Euphemia asked.

"Only from what the witnesses said there, your highness. They used to play near a village where they would spend a lot of time exploring. Many of the details about the life of the princess there were written by an Eleven maid, your highness. Also, if you see the notes, you'll see the date. It was a year before Britannia's invasion."

Cornelia was reading, and she did find many details that were lost during the war suspicious. At least, to the Britannian forces. Yet, there was something strange.

"The Britannian reports, during the first stages of the war, reported a bombardment near the minister home. The death of my siblings was among them. They found two bodies... under the rubbles of the burned mansion. They were my sisters," Cornelia said with a painful voice.

"Yes, that's the official Britannia record, but if you can see, in the... Eleven record. Those two bodies were of a 13-year-old boy, and a 9-year-old boy. They were the siblings of the already mentioned Eleven maid. And if you see the DNA samples, they share no resemblance to the princess!"

Cornelia was going through the records like a madwoman. Then, she saw something strange, a detail she didn't seen before.

"Wait... the bombardment, and the Britannia expedition force who attacked the Minister's home, should have known about the princess whereabout. Otherwise, why bother attacking the house of the prime minister? When he was already announced death? There is no reason at all for ordering such an attack into a useless civilian outpost. None whatsoever. Unless they knew about it? Or something more." Cornelia muttered those words, and she couldn't fathom what it all could be.

"Sister, what does it mean?" Euphemia asked, wondering what was happening.

"I don't know... while the Eleven records about what happen are in detail. The Britannian ones are all over the place. As if they did it in a hurry, just to fill the blanks, it doesn't make sense... this reminds me...!"

"To the assassination of empress Marianne," Cornelia turned and saw, sir Guilford, and couldn't agree more.

"Exactly."

"Does it mean that someone tried to deliberately kill Lelouch and Nunnally?" Euphemia asked, perplexed.

"Yes, I can't find another way to make sense of this."

"But why? They were already exiled; they pose no threat to no one!"

"There is more going on here... this is just more than a power play by someone wanting to be emperor. This goes beyond the struggle of royalty. Wait! You say, Suzaku Kururugi supposedly was the friend of my sister. How did he manage to survive?" Cornelia asked.

"From the records, he escaped the onslaught... but the last sighting of him was when he asked a nurse for a wheelchair. That was a week after the surrendering of area Eleven."

"A wheelchair... for Nunnally?" Euphemia whispered.

"Your highness, I believed that if we want to know if the princesses are alive, somewhere. The honorific Britannia citizen must know about them, or at least, where was the last time he saw them," Villetta said, and she could see the face of Cornelia, going through different things at the same time.

Could it be? That they are alive? That I still can fulfill my promise to empress Marianne? That I did not fail as a sister? Cornelia thought, but then she recalled how dangerous would be if the people who wanted Lelouch and Nunnally dead find out they could be alive somewhere.

"Is there any person besides you who knows this?" Cornelia asked quickly.

"None, your highness, only me."

Why is she investigating something like this? Cornelia wondered, but shrugged it off.

"Good, listen to me... None can know this! Understood?! Not a soul. My knights, can I trust you with this vital information to not be spread around?"

Both Gilbert Guilford and Andreas Darlton kneeled before Cornelia. "You have our eternal silence, your highness." Cornelia nodded.

"Euphemia, you understand. What could happen if this goes out, don't you?"

Euphemia gave a shaken nod. Lelouch! Nunnally! You are alive!

"Villetta Nu, I will give you full access to our records. Find anything you can and bring it to me. And no one else, understood?"

"Yes, your highness!"

Cornelia clenched her fist, wondering what was going on in the darkness of Britannia. There was a shadow out there, looming over her. And she was prepared to find the truth.

"We need to speak with that Eleven."

Lelouch stood before her new mobile base, if she was honest. It could have been bigger, but it was a mobile commander center, made specifically to move around. She was still looking for a perfect spot to create her HQ, but it was taking longer than she expected. A lot happened since her last confrontation with Cornelia, first of all. She underestimates the following that would cause the Saitama incident. Now, every single ghetto wanted to follow her. Well, it would take a lot of time before she could effectively choose and create her army.

"I need to choose small numbers, officers, captains, intelligence officers, and so much more, if I want to have an effective army."

She whispered, as she read the last email of her contacts in Japan. "Rakshata Chawla will join me soon. She'll bring her entire team, as well, many other gifts. A sad thing, my Knightmare Frame is still under construction, and it would take more time. But well, I can't rush things."

Lelouch then thought about her body, and the reaction she suffered from using many abilities at once. It was not a fun week for her. Yet, it allowed her to move freely for a bit. She called sick and had an entire week for her. Now, she was there, with a sore body that wasn't going away anytime soon. And she wanted to avoid using [Rejuvenation] for now. Lelouch wasn't sure of how her body would react, even if she wanted to heal herself just after using many abilities. Besides, it wasn't really that bad. It was just like the flu. An annoyance at best.

"Well, then, let's see the inside."

Lelouch muttered, and she saw the luxury that was the big truck. Or rather a large mobile house or whatever.

"Mmph, no bad at all. There would need a few modifications, but it is useful," Lelouch said, impressed by how big it was. Then her cellphone rang.

MyRedhairedGf: Hey, Lelouch! How are you feeling this morning? Are you still sick?

Lelouch smiled. "Ain't she a sweetheart?" The fact that both of them were practically messaging each other while being in the same building soon was rather funny and sad. We are both lying right now. Ah, we are perfect for each other. Lelouch thought.

MyThiccGf: Yeah, I'm very sore and I think I have the flu. The doctor told me to just take a lot of fluids and the medicine he gave me. I won't be going anywhere, anytime soon. I'll spend the entire weekend bedridden at best. And you, sweety? Are you still with your father?

MyRedhairedGf: Yeah... my dad wants me to attend a small gathering with some nobles. All very boring. I would like to be with you.

"Mm, my dear, you'll be with me. You just don't know it, yet."

MyThiccGf: Aw, that's sad... but don't worry, once I get better, we should go to the movies, or perhaps, would you like to spend a night with me? 😉 I bought a maid outfit with a very short skirt.

MyRedhairedGf: I-I think I need to leave! M-my father is calling for me!

MyThiccGf: It's that a, no?

MyRedhairedGf: ... alright, you're way out of line, girl! You can't just tease me about it! Especially not now...! But... yeah, I would like to see it.

"Uh, well, how about that! She said yes. I didn't expect for that answer. I guess I need to buy that maid outfit now."

Lelouch said, amused.

MyThiccGf: Okay! Oh, I should go now, Nunnally seems to hear my giggles. She will get mad if I stay out of bed, and play on the PC. Not that I am doing any of that, of course!

MyRedhairedGf: Are you out of bed playing video games? You know, she wouldn't be the only one getting angry at you. Get your ass back to bed! You need to rest!

MyThiccGf: Alright, alright, see you later! Kisses~.

Lelouch coughed as she wondered when Kallen took control of the relationship. "Well, I do like strong women."

Lelouch sighed, and while she wanted to keep on acting like a normal teenage girl with a cute girlfriend. There was no time for that yet. Especially when she received a certain message from one of her new acquire agents.

"Uh, well, look at that. It seems as if dear Euphemia would visit the Sakuradite allocation meeting in disguised. Hm, it seems she is putting some work."

Lelouch muttered, but she decided to ignore it. There wasn't really anything interesting to say or do about such meeting. Not now, at least. Although, there was a strange feeling emerging from her. Suzaku left school fast. An emergency meeting, perhaps? Mm, I wonder.

TheBlondeDictator: Hey, Lelouch! Sorry, you got really sick in the last few days. You would have loved this little gateway I organized.

Lelouch saw Milly's messages and felt strange about them. There was something telling her that soon, something would happen. Yet, she didn't know what would that be. The sixth sense of sorts. But she could only shake it away. They will be fine. It will be just another camping trip of hers. Nothing more. Lelouch thought.

"Yeah, nothing will happen."

Kallen and the rest walked to an enormous garage where a large and quite luxurious car awaited them. The red-haired girl could only stare in wonder at the size of such a truck. And wondered where did Zero obtain it.

"Hey, are you serious about this?" Tamaki whispered.

"Yeah, this is rather strange, don't you think?"

"Now, everyone, I know what you guys think. But joining Zero is our best bet right now. You saw what happened in Saitama. Do you think any one of us, or any other resistance group, could have done what Zero did? Facing Cornelia, and saving more than 1000 lives?" Ohgi said.

"Well, if you put it like that."

"Don't worry, Naomi, everything will be alright," Ohgi whispered.

Kallen took a deep breath, and just like everyone else, entered the truck and to their mesmerized. The insides were incredibly elegant. More than anyone of them expected it to be. There was even a small kitchen and mini-bar. And a large couch in the truck's corner, where they all saw Zero standing. They all felt the strange pressure emanating from Zero, the same one that last time, but then it went away.

"Welcome, this is our new mobile HQ," Zero said.

"Mobile HQ?" Ohgi asked, just as everyone else was inspecting the place.

"Indeed, this vehicle will serve us well for the time being. Britannia will not expect a resistance group to travel in such a fancy car."

"Yeah, but where did you get this?" Naomi, a woman with blue hair, asked.

"A rather licentious nobleman, gave it away. Don't worry, no strings attached."

Zero said, and everyone noticed how their new leader was having problems walking. Or maybe it was something else. They all wonder why there was a need to wear such an outfit. They all came up with a theory of their own. The most extreme thought of a killing robot created by Britannia and going rogue. Others talked about how she was a burn victim who lived in life support and that outfit was the only way she could walk. Well, they were all wrong, kind of. Lelouch was just sore and, well, her costume could get itchy sometimes. I really need my skin to breathe! This can get quite uncomfortable if I used it for long hours. Lelouch groaned, feeling how tight it was in certain places.

"There are some packages coming in from one of our benefactors. As well, your new uniform."

"Uniform?" Kallen asked.

"Why, of course, bunny, you're no longer a resistance group."

"Wait, then what are we?" Ohgi asked.

"We are more than just that... why shouldn't Japanese people have their own knights? People who will care for them and fight for them? Knights of justice."

"Knights?" Kallen whispered.

"Yes, there is a time for everything... cough!" They listened to a very dry and powerful cough. It felt painful even for them. Then they saw how the mask pumped some strange gas. Lelouch groaned, but shrugged it off. However, for the rest of the ones, hearing the machinery going on. They now believed that whatever that person was behind the mask. It was clear Zero was incredible frail, perhaps invalid in some way. Yet, it made all of her doing more impressive. But there was also, there was a rumor going on, that Zero killed a dozen Britannian soldiers by herself. So, if she was really frail, how could she do something like that?

Perhaps she is truly a robot.

"Now, please, we need to prepare things."

Lelouch sighed as she retreated to one of the rooms on the second floor of the truck. She took her helmet off so she could finally breathe some fresh hair. Also, she was getting annoyed with the current pain.

"[Rejuvenation]" Lelouch whispered, feeling the cold breeze in her chest. It was such a feeling of joy that she couldn't help but sigh.

"No side effects, eh? Well, I guess there is a timing of sorts? Should I wait days before I used my tier magic after a used a pretty big spell? Mm, it makes me wonder."

Lelouch then heard a soft knock on the door, and she put on her helmet again.

"Ah, Zero... this is Kallen."

"What can I do for you, bunny?" Zero replied, still not opening the door.

"You need to see something... the news!"

Lelouch frowned as she turned the news on. And she immediately cursed internally.

"The hotel-jackers have identified themselves as the Japan Liberation Front!"

Lelouch stared at the hostages and saw the student council among them. And far away, in the back, a certain pink-haired girl was among them.

"Shit…"