21th of September, before the meeting with Zero

Government Administration, Tokyo Settlement

Euphemia made her way to her sister's wing. She needed to have a quick word with her sister. She'd heard that Cornelia was pretty upset after hearing the news on the media. It was helpful that her older sister and Suzaku were not close. Even Euphemia could see how badly it would end.

But she still had to speak with Cornelia. It wasn't right for two people to fight over a simple choice. Euphemia had to gather her courage before making her way to Viceroy, letting out a sigh of confidence.

She reached her sister's cabinet, seeing Guilford already standing near her. He could recognise her easily even by hearing a few steps, as they were so close. He nodded to her, wishing her the best of luck.

Euphemia reached for the door handle and opened the doors slowly. What she saw was… not exactly a pretty sight. The smell of alcohol, a bunch of empty bottles of exotic drinks from her previous campaigns in Area 18 lined up by the desk, papers strewn all over the floor – it was clear Cornelia was in a bad place mentally.

"Guilford, as you can see, I'm not in the mood to deal with whatever it is". Cornelia spoke up. She was looking down, but stopped when she saw a light pink dress on the floor. Cornelia looked up, surprised. "Euphy? If you're not going to apologise, I'm not interested."

Euphemia looked at her sister. She'd never seen her looking so upset and couldn't work out why. "Why, sister? You look pretty down in the dumps. Is it really all down to my marriage?"

Cornelia tugged at her tatty uniform, trying to make it look a bit more presentable. "Euphy, I know you like him, but I can't let him anywhere near you. He's a Number, not your equal. Our national policy is to discriminate against them. This marriage is a bad idea for you. You'll come to regret it."

Euphemia looked at the wooden chair and took it, placing it right in front of Cornelia at the same side of her desk. "But Schneizel is on board, and there's not much the emperor can do. You told me once that I can't help Elevens until I become Empress, but maybe now is the chance?"

She got up close to her, taking her arms in her own. Cornelia was torn between wanting to hold on to her sister and letting her go. In the end, her love for her sister got the better of her, and they hugged.

"But Euphy –" Cornelia said quietly, trying to make her sister see reason. However, Euphemia wanted to get everything out in the open herself.

"I'm not going to change my mind and break off." Euphemia loosened her hug. She loved Suzaku, but she didn't want to lose her sister over it. Euphemia took a moment to think, trying to see things from Cornelia's point of view. "Suzaku has shown himself to be a worthy knight, protecting me from all threats. He fought bravely all the time and never went against us, even when he had the chance. So why can't we be together? What's stopping us? Who's stopping us? Listen to me, sister. I want us to be happy!"

Cornelia was taken aback by her words. When was the last time she listened to her younger sister? When had she ever thanked her for all her help by actually taking her advice?

Despite what many people think, Euphy is actually quite clever, even if she does get carried away emotionally. While Cornelia was the best person for the job when it came to conquering an Area, it was Euphy who kept everything together. She helped the locals and made sure her sister didn't treat them too harshly. That was different in Area 11. Given how many lives this Area has taken from the Royal Family, it's understandable that they're not showing much remorse. Even though Euphy later found out that Lelouch and Nunnally were still alive, she was the only one who knew.

"You always had a way of convincing me. I'll always value you, Euphy. If you really want to marry him, I'm not going to stand in your way." Euphemia relaxed and gave her sister another hug. "I'd still advise him not to get too close for now. I'm still annoyed with him."

At last, they were able to relax without the weight of the world on their shoulders. They'd been growing together since early childhood, and they felt the pressure every day without seeing each other. At last, Euphemia got up, as cheerful as ever, feeling like she'd done a good job. However, as she reached for the door handle, she heard her sister speaking again.

"Before you go, Euphy," Cornelia called out to her, her words carrying a hint of curiosity, "was it you who suggested Guilford make chamomile tea?" "I'm sure he didn't learn it himself."

Euphemia let out a little laugh. "I'm not sure." Who can say for sure? With that, she left her sister to sit alone in her cabinet once again, but now feeling happy and with her negative thoughts off her mind.

Perhaps now was the time for Euphemia to move on from her protective stance.

After all, maybe now was the time for Euphemia to grow past her sister's protection.

23rd of September,

Ashford Academy

Lelouch walked slowly in his school uniform, trying to structure his memories of the previous days. Finally, he allowed himself to be completely swept away by the memories.

He vividly recalled everything Euphemia had told him. He wasn't surprised that his younger sister had managed to calm Cornelia down. Her kindness and ability to talk to anyone did her a favour. He was thankful that his identity had been kept secret, as it would make things worse in the future.

Still, he felt a bit shaken after meeting her. First of all, she wanted to meet Nunnally together with Suzaku. They had never spoken after their forced exile to what was once Japan. Lelouch tried to object, saying it wouldn't be safe for all of them. Not only Area 11, but the whole world watched the couple closely, trying to look for cracks in Britannia. He even banned Suzaku a few times, since he saw a few agents and reporters following his old friend whenever he was on the academy grounds.

But Euphemia? They would be recognised immediately! Lelouch tried to talk her out of it. She just shrugged her shoulders. "I'll find a way to avoid that," she said, "One day we'll be able to meet again, all of us, so why wait for that day?"

The second was a carefully placed letter in his inside pocket. She invited him to her wedding as Zero. He was sure his subordinates would object, but he couldn't allow himself to miss this. It was an important step for Euphy, and he was her older brother. If it would help her, how could he ignore it?

With his mind full of thoughts and a feeling of anticipation, he entered a student council room to see another ridiculous scene unfold before him, surely orchestrated by Milly. Kallen was standing in the middle of the room, covered only by a red curtain, and a small support team, if one could call it that in view of Milly's presence, was trying to help her.

"Psst, Kallen, don't move, I can't measure you properly." Milly moved around her with a tape measure in her hand, pressing it firmly against her body.

A proud ace stood there, her face flushed, her indignation and anger even worse than in the bathroom incident. "But you've only been measuring my bust for the last 2 minutes!"

"And you want your gorgeous dress to be too small for that part of your body? Jeez, relax and let me help you!" Milly replied much more eagerly than she should have, but she didn't care. Shirley stood a few metres away, helping Kallen whenever she could. But she didn't get too close to her, just in case Milly came after her. Lelouch looked around, trying to see Rivalz. He was clearly absent, probably it wasn't by his own choice.

He entered the room slowly, watching the situation until he finally asked.

"What's going on?"

Back in Hokkaido

Kallen and Suzaku were chatting about little things from the Academy. Mostly about how Milly was pranking some of the other students and how to live with her. Tired of talking about meaningless things that brought them a little happiness, they took a break. Suddenly, Suzaku remembered something Euphemia had ordered him to do.

"Oh, I completely forgot. Her Highne- Euphy wanted me to give you this." Kallen looked surprised by the news. She couldn't remember meeting the Third Princess before. Suzaku held out his arm to her, holding a small envelope. "This is only for you. You can open it now."

Carefully, Kallen took it, noting the royal seal on the letter, signalling that it was indeed from Euphemia. She was surprised to find several papers inside. Finally, she took the first one and saw a pleasantly written letter addressed to her.

"To: Kallen Kozuki-Stadtfeld,

I hope this letter finds you well. As you know, Japan is very unstable these days. I understand the grief and hardship your people are suffering, which is driving them to fight. However, my duties limit what I can do to help. The event that Suzaku and I are planning will be a new beginning for our nations.

My wish is to invite Zero to my wedding. Without him, no amount of words or deeds will convince the Japanese as a whole, but his direct presence. I am well aware of how dangerous it is for a man of his calibre to be in the vicinity of the British military. His capture and trial is of paramount importance to my sister, Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia.

However, it is my wish that this joyous event does not turn into another page of strife, but into something worthy of fond remembrance. Of reconciliation, not another brutal war. Therefore, I wish to see Zero as one of my guests at the wedding ceremony.

I guarantee that no orders will be issued against him on our side, but even without that, someone needs to be around, just in case. To ensure his safety, I also present you with the following two invitations: one to an heiress of the Stadtfield family, Kallen Stadtfield, and one to Kozuki Kallen, Captain of the Zero Squad of the Black Knights. Either one will be enough to get you through. You can get anyone you want with a spare one, the guards won't pay any attention.

Suzaku told me that you're a kind of Knight of his, so I trust you with Zero's safety. Zero will receive his invitation from me personally.

With my respects,

Third Princess of the Imperial Realm, Euphemia li Britannia of Holy Britannian Empire"

Suzaku looked at her while she read. "I have never revealed your identity to anyone except Euphy. She wanted to know who she could send this letter to. I hope you won't hate me for telling her. Euphy can learn a lot about people, I just couldn't resist her questions."

Kallen looked inside the envelope, and true to the princess' words, there were two invitations for her. She appreciated Euphemia for not revealing her true identity to anyone else.

"Thank you, but I don't think I could completely protect Zero on my own. I doubt I will be allowed to bring Gurren, and Cornelia will surely bring at least a dozen Sutherlands, making my presence not that significant."

"I... think it is a matter for discussion between Zero and Euphy."

She tucked the invitations back into the envelope and hid it in her coat. Now she had to deal with that as well.

The girls turned around, each surprised to see Lelouch inside. From his perspective, he could see that Shirley wanted to ask him politely to leave, Kallen was beyond humiliated and divided between killing him and running away. Only Milly brightened up and spoke first, which was not good for him.

"Kallen has received an invitation to Princess Euphemia's wedding." Milly replied. She tightened her measuring tape around Kallen and fixed it, causing her to let out a painful and embarrassed moan. "She's usually too ill to attend such a public event, so she needs a new dress. The old one is too tight in some places".

Lelouch paid no attention to the matter, concentrating on the fact that Kallen had been invited. "Strange, this is the first I've heard of it. You were invited?"

"I was surprised too. Maybe she decided we were important enough to be invited to the wedding."

"Or she saw your form and decided to call you," Milly spoke up, her eyes fixed on a dress to be. "Stop moving Kallen, we are finished," she moved her tape measure to measure her waist, earning Milly another series of squeaks and light insults from Kallen.

As everyone else's attention turned to Kallen, Lelouch took the opportunity to take out his mobile phone to discreetly text Euphemia. She had left him her number after they had met on Hokkaido, but even then he had received one of them through the Black Knights' intelligence network.

"You gave Kallen an invitation?"

On her side, Euphemia lay in her room, with no administrative business for another hour. Smiling, she started typing.

"He-he, and not only to her."

Lelouch sighed, already knowing the answer to his as yet unanswered question: "Don't tell me you sent one to Milly.

As on que, Milly herself mentioned that she had received an invitation for her and her grandfather Reuben. Other students cheered her on, while she smiled a little mischievously.

"Hee-hee"

"You could've just sent one to Reuben, you know how much I 'love' her antics," Lelouch wrote with a hint of sarcasm. Although he did not like being the subject of her antics, he was getting used to her attitude. Euphemia's reply came almost immediately.

"100% aware. Have you forgotten that she was with me back then?"

"Never dreamed of forgetting"

Great, now she was toying with him. Seriously, how could he combine being with Milly and being Zero? The only time these two personas had met was in Kawaguchi, but a hostage rescue was nothing like a wedding!

"By the way, aren't you supposed to bring someone to the wedding?" Shirley asked curiously.

"I don't think you should, unless you're in a relationship with someone who counts as a plus-one," Milly wondered, pressing her thumb to her chin. "But again, going to a place like that alone is not a good idea, there are a lot of outraged pigs there. Kallen, do you have anyone in mind to go with you?"

"Wouldn't you be enough, Madam President?" Shirley asked again. She was from a commoner's family, which made her much less aware of all the etiquette and traditions surrounding anything to do with nobility.

"No, I will be around my grandfather most of the time. Besides, it wouldn't be so good to be accompanied by a person of the same sex, unless you were close to them or served with them in the military."

Kallen didn't want her to be there, as she would always be close to Zero wherever he appeared. "My father had an invitation too, but he can't make it. Some business in Pendragon."

Milly tugged on her curtain, flattening it a little. "Oh, I get it! Bring Lelouch with you!"

She didn't try to hide her contempt. Kallen still remembered his pathetic talk about being docile to the Empire, even if he could rebel against it. But even then, she saw some merit in the idea. "I had someone else in mind, but he already has an invitation of his own." She looked at Lelouch. "If you get lost at some point, I can agree to that."

He just shrugged. "I have business to attend to before the ceremony. I could escort you to the event itself, be with you for half an hour and discreetly take my leave afterwards." Kallen could only nod slightly, her eyes completely fixed on the blonde pervert.

"So we have decided, now back to the dress." Milly pulled away from Kallen, looking all over her. She frowned, noting a few challenges for herself. "That won't do. I need your opinion. What do you need in the dress? Maybe more on the shoulders or more cleavage?" Milly

"Ye-no, wait!" Kallen continued to blush, mostly from all the touching, which almost made her want to flee as soon as possible. After a short pause, she came to her senses and looked around. "Hm. I need to be able to move freely, not have too much of my muscles tensed. Not too much cleavage. No, I'm going to say no cleavage, because you're going to make some."

Milly looked as if she was considering all this with unexpected seriousness. "Anything else?"

Kallen wondered for a while. She was Zero's right hand, so she needed to look presentable. Besides, if anything went wrong, she'd want to be in something more manoeuvrable than the early Glasgows.

"Make it breathtaking and make it easy to move around in. I would need to make a good impression on some people there. Try to balance it with something more modest, so I wouldn't stand out too much and not look like a typical noble girl."

"That does it!" Milly exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. "I'll find you a good tailor. He'll take your measurements and make something fantastic just for you. I will do the same myself. Also, if you have somebody in mind to be with at the ceremony, you should be aware of how they will dress as well."

"But why did you take the measurements for..." Kallen's face turned red from the humiliation she had suffered at Milly's hands, and now she learns that it wasn't necessary? Kallen clenched her fists, wishing she had her knife with her, as she rushed to Milly. She let the curtain fall in anger. She realised immediately what a mistake she had made, but it was too late to cover herself completely. Kallen crouched down and tried to hide behind another curtain. She didn't care that Lelouch looked away or that Shirley closed her eyes.

What Kallen saw was an overjoyed Milly, her eyes wide and noting everithing they saw, and it was enough to make her scream and hide completely behind a piece of cloth.

"MILLY!"

Military Training Area, Tokyo Air Base

Suzaku moved the controls of his Lancelot swiftly. Faster than most of the pilots, but not enough to make him tired. After all, his opponent was a bunch of green pilots.

A large artillery shell missed his frame. He couldn't get too comfortable even knowing how poorly trained were enemy pilots. The sheer number of them made the fight more and more tiring. He dashed to the right, his MVS's slicing through a few of the enemy Gun-Ru's. They were ill-suited for close combat, so the only way they could counter him was to run away from his deadly blades.

Suffice it to say, the attempts weren't successful enough.

"Enemy commander located," Cecille spoke into the communicator. True to her words, his map was updated with a tactical symbol: large red rhombus with a small vertical line to the left, three wheels at the inner bottom of it. A crown at the top made it clear - this was the enemy's headquarters.

'A mobile fortress,' Suzaku thought. Longdan deserved this title. It was somewhat similar to the Britannian G-1 module - it was also a command module for military command, but it excelled in firepower. Two paired large cannons of unknown calibre and half a dozen smaller ones. It was capable of traversing land and sea, and could deploy dozens of additional Gun-Ru's. All in all, a fearsome machine to behold.

A frightening and easy target, if one was to take a closer look.

Without a moment's hesitation, Suzaku charged straight ahead at full throttle. In less than 4 seconds, he was already crushing the Chinese centre, carving his way through dozens of eliminated frames. And all they could do was watch, completely defenceless against such an enemy.

In less than a minute, most of the Gun-Ru's were destroyed, and all that remained tried to retreat and regroup around Longdan's command module. He couldn't let that happen.

Lancelot blasted beneath him with a harken and was high in the sky again. From there, he grabbed his VARIS rifle and focused it between the muzzles. Suzaku fired, creating a great cloud of dust. Using his harkens, he landed on the platform just below the large turret.

As the dust blew away, he was surprised to see that his shot had only fried a few layers of armour, leaving the larger structure undamaged. Smaller cannons became active and fired rapid shots in his direction. Suzaku dashed to his right, dodging most of them and deflecting the rest with his shield. He fired again at the cannon that seemed to be lightly armoured. It burst into flames.

While he was destroying other defences, a small weakness in Longdan's structure was detected by his factospheres. Some of its service tunnels were lightly armoured, or not armoured at all. A by-product of their corruption, both military and industrial.

He jumped straight into them, slashing through them with landspinners. In less than a minute, he was standing in the middle of their HQ, aiming his VARIS at the officers inside. "Gao Hai, you've lost!" Suzaku said, his speakers reinforcing his voice. His screen flickered and turned green. The doors outside his cockpit opened, letting fresh air in. It was all too easy, just like any other simulation. But real life was very different.

"Suzaku, you've set a new record - 2:21 minutes! I'm going to give you a day off, I found something interesting to investigate! Do whatever you want."

Those were his days, but the amount of time he spent with Lloyd was diminishing. Most of the time, Suzaku focused on training in melee combat or spending time with the etiquette teachers Euphemia brought him. Apparently, he was not "educated" enough for the Britannians in such matters. He didn't object. After all, it wasn't as if he hadn't had the opportunity to learn after the war. His experience with Britannian noble etiquette was limited to a few lessons from Lelouch at the Kururugi Shrine.

Mentioning him, Suzaku felt that all the preparations for the wedding distanced him from Nunnally and Lelouch. Moreover, Lelouch had once rejected his attempt, claiming that it was 'too unsafe' for all of them, as it would risk them being recognised as members of the royal family.

But now he had no one to talk to. Euphemia was busy talking to Cornelia, whom he did not wish to interrupt. The school was too eager to see him and was beginning to feel more painful than pleasant. That left Miss Cecille, but even she was busy - apparently Lloyd was disappointed that VARIS was not powerful enough to pierce Longdan's frontal armour.

'Maybe I should relax and think about... something. Anything.' He thought to himself before venturing into the interior of a military base. On his way to his personal quarters, he bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I hope I didn't hurt you," he apologised, but his eyes immediately went wide. Suzaku recognised his older colleague instantly. "Guilford? What are you doing here? I thought you were with Her Highness in the administration!"

"My fault, I wasn't looking where I was going." He adjusted his glasses. "Their Highnesses definitely need some time alone. And since there's not much to do, I came here to practise. I saw your simulation, by the way. As good as ever, Kururugi."

"Thank you." He smiled. "How small the world is, huh."

"True. Hm, now that I think about it, we haven't spoken much. And yet our lieges are Imperial siblings."

"Would you like a drink?" Suzaku suggested, "Non-alcoholic, of course."

"Yes, why not." Guilford happily obliged.

They sat in the mechanical bay, near their respective Knightframes, and watched the engineers at work. Guilford brought a thermos of black tea, while Suzaku did the same, but chose the less popular mugicha tea. They poured their drinks into cups.

"Frankly, I never thought I'd be sitting with 'Lance of the Empire'. But here I am." Suzaku smiled and sipped his tea. "That reputation is hard to achieve."

"Not too hard. You make a name for yourself through bravery and discipline, which you already have to have when you join the army and survive the first few months of training." Guilford grinned. His eyes wandered to the open door of the facility that overlooked Tokyo Bay. "Your story is more interesting. In fact, there are quite a few Numbers talking about you, Kururugi, even outside Area 11. First you were the first Number to become a Warrant Officer, then a Knight of Honour. Now, in less than a month, you will become a member of a royal family. Some would call it a miracle that you lasted as long as you did in the Infantry Corps.

Suzaku looked forward. "I just want all these wars to end, so that your Gloucester and my Lancelot are no longer needed as weapons of conflict. That gives me enough determination to go on."

"A noble cause. Rarely found these days." Guilford smiled. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

Guilford took a small sip from his cup and looked into it. "How much of your story with Her Highness Euphemia is true? Is it all some kind of scriptwriter's fantasy or was it really all like that?"

"Surprisingly no. I really met Euphemia just like that, by chance. It was only later that I realised who she was." He laughed, blushing at the memory. "I was really embarrassed to understand that this cheerful girl was a member of royalty. Especially a sister of such a fearsome general as Cornelia."

"When I hear how many rumours are spread about Her Highness in these conquests, I can understand that. She is called the Witch of Britannia for a reason." The two laughed, remembering her life story.

"Now, my turn to ask. Why is Her Highness called that anyway? I always thought it was because of her ruthlessness, or because she won victory after victory. Was it really like that?"

Guilford thought for a moment. "Yes and no. Today, people call him by that name because of what you said, or out of pure spite, but the story of the nickname goes deeper than that." Suzaku moved to listen more comfortably and poured himself another cup of tea.

"The Middle Eastern Federation tried to embargo us after the Oriental Crisis, an insult we haven't forgotten. We invaded them a few years later. One day we were fighting in Egypt, crushing Arab outposts one by one along the Nile. We were essentially a lance that cut their forces in half. Countless battles we waged against them, all of them they lost. However, our luck ended when some of our officers were bribed with a very large sum of money to withdraw from our rearguard in a critical moment. In the middle of the night, near Assam, we were encircled, with their tanks and some large Bamides targeting us from all sides. It was the bloodiest battle of the campaign.

"Her Highness immediately ordered all our tanks to be sent to the coast to provide a coastal bombardment against the weaker Arab troops on that side of the river. Their crews were later ordered to take part in a fight on foot in an urban environment, holding back hundreds and thousands of Arab infantrymen. I fired on instinct, because it was impossible to fire accurately in that pitch black".

"We were really saved by these things," he said, pointing to the sandboards, now just lying in boxes, no longer needed in Japan. "Basically, it's a surfboard split in half to manoeuvre through the wastes of African deserts. We have never tested how well they perform on water."

"Her Highness later told us that she was inspired by some of Lady Marianne's battles with some unworthy opponents who tried every dirty trick in the book against her." Oh, but of course! Suzaku kept reminding himself, that Lelouch's mother was very respected for her prowess. It conflicted with the fact that her murder was still yet to be investigated even 8 years later. "Princess Cornelia ordered our infantrymen to ride on the shoulders of our Sutherlands and Gloucesters, before charging full speed towards the Nile. I was right behind her, and it was surprising to find that sandboards could help us stay on the water for a few seconds before Frame inevitably drowned. But a few seconds was exactly what we needed to reach another bank. The enemy was very weakened by the bombardment from our tanks."

"That speaks for her creativity, really," Suzaku commented, suddenly remembering how Zero had used some of these tactics against Britannia later. Did he really pay that much attention to her?

"But the most important thing - we only realised later that she was bleeding for half the battle." Guilford stiffened, remembering vividly how he had carried her to the infirmary, despite her reluctance to accept help with carrying her inside. "The traitors got a small opening for the enemy Bamide to fire right at her position. Her left arm was badly wounded from the shock and the small pieces of shrapnel that found their way into the cockpit. Our casualties were extremely light and the Arabs still remember this engagement as they lost about 70% of their offensive forces."

"And the traitors?" Suzaku answered, already guessing that their fates were not that great.

"Tried to cross the Suez after we took Cairo. Half of them we gunned down, another we questioned for a few weeks. It was strange, really. They were adamant that they took no bribes and were trying to convince us that they had no recollection of that battle. After they tried to call themselves Britannian officers, Princess Cornelia ended their lives."

Suzaku was impressed. He wondered how much Euphemia was resembling Cornelia, but decided against thinking about it too much. She was not meant for war, and he would do everything to keep her away from it.

As their conversation ended, Suzaku remembered a certain event from a few days ago. He heard only rumours, but later he learned that Cornelia really tried to get in her Gloucester to kill him, only stopped by her Knight.

"I forgot to thank you."

Guilford looked at him in confusion. "Oh, you mean for not letting her near you back then? Don't worry, I did what I had to do to protect her. She would regret that decision, for Princess Cornelia has always cared for her sister's welfare. It would destroy them both."

Suzaku sighed and finally relaxed. "Who knew that Princess Cornelia really likes camomile tea..."

Older knight stiffed a laugh, "Keep this fact it quiet, though. I found out about it during our exploits during the 2011-2013 Asian campaign. Princess Cornelia accidentally found a small supply of it in an enemy palace. I still had a small batch of it after we and Darlton had to keep her away from it, thinking she was drugged."

Suzaku looked stunned. "Wait, so it wasn't Euphemia who told you about it?"

Guilford just smiled back. "She confirmed what I have learned from these tiny details. Shall this knowledge remain a little secret?"

"Of course"

AN: ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!

I rose again from the ashes! The ashes of my desktop display, smashed in half! Who knew iron thermos, falling from a high place, can crush something as fragile as a tiny computer, huh?

Updates will come sooner; I can promise you that. Until then, goodbye!