Sayoko POV
She was ready and more than willing to put a kunai right between his eyes, she obviously knew who Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald was, the Leader of the faction who most of all hated and brought violence on the Japanese people, but despite her personal feelings, the safety of Miss Nunnally was her priority, and probably Master Lelouch would be disappointed if he discovered that in his absence his sister witnessed a murder, she will make him go away, bring Nunnally inside and then she will do her job.
But to her surprise, Miss Nunnally preceded her.
Nunnally asked in a cautious tone "Jeremiah Gottwald, I already know who you are, you worked under my mother, I'm right?".
Jeremiah was still bowed "Yes my Princess, Lady Marianne took me under her wing when I graduated from the Imperial Colchester Institute, she gave me a job and was so kind to teach me, my failure to protect her is still my greatest shame".
Nunnally waited a few seconds before asking (to Sayoko's displeasure) "Rise Jeremiah Gottwald, would you like a cup of tea?".
Diethard POV
Saying that the last months have been interesting is an understatement, when Diethard became a Journalist he did it for the thrill and to be the one to give people a great story, unfortunately, life can be disappointing, for years his life was to narrate something designed by others to provide the feeling that everything was perfect in Britannia, despite his personal feeling he has done it, it was his work after all, but then everything changed, a new piece was added to the cheeseboard, it didn't matter if in a big battle or just in a little operation Zero always managed to outsmart his enemy, he was the perfect Villain of Britannia story, he was a little disappointed when Zero joined the JLF, he would've preferred him to create his own group, but it was just a little detail that he could ignore in front of what he is doing.
Villetta Nu "I Villetta Nu, on behalf of the Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, proclaim that the purist faction will take control and administrate Area 11 until the end of this emergency, I want to make clear that this choice has been made with a heavy heart, but was necessary to ensure the safety of Prince Clovis and protect Britannia empire, All Hail Britannia!".
Pendragon, Council Chamber
Odysseus POV
Most of the royal family and some members of high rank in the army met to discuss the situation in Japan, it was not going how Odysseus expected, the last hours had been a continued back and forth between many different argumentations, the result? None; the announcement Villetta made only, brought more chaos.
'If only Schneizel and Cornelia were here, they would know what to do'.
But Cornelia was fighting in Russia, and Schneizel was in Praga to avoid an intervention of the whole Europia.
Guinevere de Britannia "We should simply let the purist do the work for us, they will make all the Japanese pay for the death of our Brother".
Odysseus "He was captured, not killed".
Carine ne Britannia looked at him with coldness "The Japanese are just a bunch of savages, and this is Clovis's failure, let him deal with it by himself".
Odysseus couldn't believe his ears "HE IS OUR BROTHER, do you really want to leave him to his fate!?".
Guinevere seemed to show at least a little remorse, but even she stayed silent supporting her sister's decision, Odysseus then looked around the room, and he met silence, no one dared to look him in the eyes, and then he realized "All of you agree...".
"After all he is only our half-brother", he didn't know who said it, but that was the final straw, Odysseus stood up and started walking toward the exit.
Guinevere tried to stop him pulling him by the shoulder "Ody where are you going".
Odysseus stopped, but didn't turn to look at her "I am going to be with the mother who is about to lose her child."
He will never know the expression that Guinevere made, all he knows is that he stopped holding his shoulder, allowing him to go away.
Lelouch POV
He was in the room with Todoh, they were watching the Conference of Villetta, when he received a call but decided to ignore it due to his company.
Todoh "So the purists have won in the end, this will make things harder, what do you think Zero?".
Lelouch "They will probably try to concentrate their man to defend their largest industrial plants and the building used to administrate Japan, retiring a big portion of their force from the smaller city, we could take advantage of that, but they still have an army two, maybe three times bigger than ours, and sooner or later will receive support from Pendragon when this happens their retaliation will cost many life".
He received another call, but once again he refused it.
Todoh "It's true, but they have to defend the whole island, maybe we could march south and occupy Shikoku and Kyushu".
Lelouch "Maybe we could... But I fear that only taking Tokyo will make them collapse and us finally win this war".
Todoh "Don't be impatient Zero, I'm tired of this war as everyone else, but being reckless will not make us obtain the liberation of Japan, but our death".
'But doing nothing will not help us either'.
Nunnally POV
Sayoko served them tea, and Nunnally Took a sip to relieve tension, she understood why her brother kept them hidden even after the end of the war, but despite the risk Milly and her family had been loyal to them and to their secret, maybe Jeremiah could do the same "Margrave Gottwald, can I call you Jeremiah?".
Jeremiah "Of course my Princess".
Nunnally wanted to make Jeremiah speak, and understand who he really is before anything else "Jeremiah I imagine you have a lot of questions, but before could you talk to me about my mother? I was very young when her... I feel like I never had the chance to really know her".
Jeremiah "Of course, Lady Marianne was pretty unique, She generally was kind, always positive, I rarely saw her smile fade, But she was not stupid, always a step in front of his enemy, both on the battlefield and in the royal court" Jeremiah took a sip of his tea "She also loved to make fun of pretty much everyone" Jeremiah remembered something "One time the Knight of Twelve pissed her off, so while he was training some cadets, she stole the Knightmare of one of them and proceeded to defeat the Knight of Twelve, they discovered she was in the Knightmare only a day later, you can imagine in the meantime how he must have felt".
That made Nunnaly smile, it seemed like he once cared a lot about her, maybe he was really searching for her children with good intentions, to protect them.
A part of her wanted to continue asking questions, despite everything that happened she still cared for her family, she wondered if he would have a similar story about his father, but probably is better not to know, and there were more important matters "Thank you Jeremiah, if you have any questions I will answer as I can".
Jeremiah "I... I have to know, can you confirm to me what happened to Prince Lelouch, he really lives here with you?".
Nunnally took his hand between hers, she wanted to know his reaction, his heart was beating as if he just finished a race "Right now he is not here, but I assure you my brother is safe" Nunnally felt a tear from the man wet her hand, which almost made her cry too.
Jeremiah "I'm so happy" he lost a few seconds wiping his tears "If you agree I will organize immediately your immediate return to Pendragon".
Nunnally panicked a bit "W-Wait, we actually like to live here, there is no need for you to act in any way".
Jeremiah "Nonsense, You two are the sons of the emperor of Britannia, you should live in a palace as your rank allows you, not in this little house, and Area 11 is becoming more dangerous day by day, look at what happened to Clovis, I don't want to think what could happen to you two if they should attack this place".
Nunnally really believed in the goodwill of Jeremiah but... she had to buy time somehow "Please, at least give me time to talk about it with Lelouch, until then don't talk about us to anybody".
Jeremiah "I... It is an order my Princess?".
Nunnally really didn't want to do this "I Nunnally Vi Britannia 87th in line to the imperial throne order you to keep our identity a secret".
Jeremiah "Yes my Princess".
Jeremiah was about to leave the house, but he told her "I will come back in a few days, I can't wait to meet Prince Lelouch".
Jeremiah POV
Jeremiah was heading to his car when he heard a step behind him, he pulled out his gun pointing it at the potential aggressor, he managed to point his gun at her heart, but at the same time she was holding a Kunai at his throat, as he suspected it was the Japanese Maid, he noticed how she didn't trust him in the slightest.
Jeremiah "I have no desire to kill a woman if I don't need to".
Sayoko looked at him with complete distrust "I to prefer avoid unnecessary killing, but you are putting at risk the Principles".
Jeremiah's hand was shaking "One of them ordered you to do it".
Sayoko "What would you do if the answer was yes?".
Jeremiah "Then I would let you realize their will".
They looked at each other for interminable seconds "Lelouch ordered me to do it".
'That hurt', but he was a man of honor, he failed to honor his oath once, so he lowered his weapon "So be it".
Jeremiah closed his eyes, ready to meet his destiny, but Sayoko didn't move.
She then lowered her weapon "Don't make me regret this".
Jeremiah was now 99% sure of it but he had to ask "So Prince Lelouch didn't give you the order?".
Sayoko talking with him, this time without any hostility replied "I'm sorry for the lie Margrave, it is my duty to protect them".
Maybe they could find a way to get along "Our duty, Miss Sayoko".