"I… am Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of our Holy Britannia! By the power vested in me as Acting Viceroy of Area Eleven, I hereby command that all military and Knightpolice forces in the Tokyo area immediately stand down and withdraw! Furthermore, all officers affiliated with the Blood-Purist Faction are to be immediately detained for questioning on the charges of high treason and attempted assassination of royalty!"

Milly Ashford looked on at the developing news story on her private office's TV with wide eyes, even as her personal phone started ringing. Distractedly, the bubbly blonde picked it up. "Joan's Meat Market, you can't beat our meat - but you're more than welcome to try~"

"What the- gah! C'mon Milly, there's a time and a place for that!"

"Yes," Milly agreed as she lightly hopped up to sit on the side of her desk, idly swinging her legs. "The time is now, and the place is here. You catch the news yet, hon? I have to admit it, that Princess is a solid 9/10 right out of the gate."

There was a long-suffering sigh on the other end of the line, before the speaker replied again. "That's… actually what I'm calling about. I know I asked you to arrange a placement test on short notice, but - Suzaku might not be able to make it today, and I'm not sure when he might be free again..."

"Oh Elle," Milly gently chided with a laugh, "you know I'm happy to do it at a moment's notice! Although just to be nosy, am I allowed to ask what happened? Did they have to activate him for security duty in light of the administration change?"

"You're watching the news, right? Then you can pretty much guess what's happening."

Milly pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it, surprised by the sudden bitter frustration in her old friend's tone. Turning her attention back to the news, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald was vouching for Princess Euphemia's identity and had sent for a medic to check on her. In the background of the shot, however, she could see a Japanese male about her own age slowly and awkwardly emerging from the same ejected cockpit block that had held the Princess just moments prior.

The blonde licked her lips. "Mm, he's a hottie too. I guess that's the guy-"

And her eyes went wide as something clicked in her head. Last time we spoke, Elle sounded like she was interested in him. But ever since middle school, the poor girl's always had image issues from trying to compare herself to me… and now he's in close proximity to Princess Euphemia - and judging by the way she's looking at the guy, she's got two eyes on the prize herself.

Bringing the phone back up to resume speaking, Milly knew that the time for teasing had passed. "Elle, I swear to you. Just give me the word, and I'll get him wrapped around your finger or die trying. There's nothing scheduled this week that I can't put off or make my veep deal with instead, so if need be I can pack up the testing materials and make it a house call. As the President of the Student Council, I can even walk out of class and leave campus without warning if it's for official business, and I'd say this qualifies."

"Milly, you don't need to go that far for me-"

Eyes burning with determination, Milly leaned forward on her makeshift seat. "You know what they say, that all's fair in love and war! I'd feel like the worst friend ever if I let you walk right into an unfamiliar battlefield without every possible resource at your disposal - and besides," she added with a grin, "ever since you went and tested your way out of high school and breezed through university, I haven't had a chance to dote on you! Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Milly..."

The blonde stood up and immediately made for her desk, intent on gathering and organizing everything she would need to make her prior offer a reality. "I'm warning you, my mind's made up and I won't take 'no' for an answer!"

"Milly-"

"As a matter of fact, even if you tell me not to bother I'll just have grandfather bug Uncle Leonard for your office address and then come stalk you, pouncing when you least expect it!"

"MILLICENT ASHFORD."

...whoops. Did I get a little too far ahead of myself? "Eheheh… speaking~?"

On the other end of the line, Elle let out a sharp breath which quickly morphed into a chuckle. "Thanks, Milly. Maybe I needed to chat with you more than I realized."

Milly grinned like a shark that had just caught blood in the water. "Then it's a date! Your next night off, we're gonna have a girls' night on the town!"

"Hahaha! Here's hoping, Milly. Let's talk again soon, I need to call Suzaku and… and let him know I don't have a problem with canceling our plans for the night given what just happened."

As the news coverage went back to the anchor's desk, Milly gazed at her phone with a forlorn sigh. "...spoken like someone who absolutely has a problem and knows there's nothing she can do about it."

Euphie lets out a sigh as she stands at a window, gazing at the sights of Tokyo from a commandeered newsroom.

As for me? After that huge mess we just fought our way out of, I'm just happy to hang around in an air-conditioned office while Suzaku stands at parade rest alongside our local Florida man.

"Britannian soldiers died today, Margrave, because someone in your faction wished for my demise, and Sir Kururugi was forced to stain his hands protecting me. Furthermore," the Princess continues, "when I identified myself and ordered combat to cease, a ranking officer in your chain of command decried me as an imposter and redoubled his attempts on my life."

You'd normally expect someone who just went through all that to be pretty justifiably pissed off… but not Euphie. She honestly sounds more saddened than anything.

I genuinely can't understand how she's already gotten over being in danger, but maybe that just shows the difference between her being a Princess and me being a blue-collar ghost in someone's head.

Euphie - no, Princess Euphemia at the moment - turns to face us as she sit down in a swivel chair. "I believe an explanation is in order."

Gottwald nods in shame, but does not flinch nor shy away from the Princess. "At once, Your Highness."

After a moment's thought, he asks, "...with your permission, may I first establish context?"

"Please do so; I would like as thorough an understanding of the situation as our time permits."

"As you may be aware," Gottwald continues, "since Prince Clovis assumed Viceroyship in Area Eleven five years ago, he was careful to keep Purists and Reformists in nobility and Area Parliament in a near-equal balance of power, so that neither faction would be able to achieve anything without his personal support."

Euphemia nods. "The Emperor uses similar tactics on the national level to ensure that the Senate and nobility remain too divided to ever challenge his rule."

"Though His Highness remained generally sympathetic to our cause, recently we Purists had begun slowly losing his favor. I personally attribute the matter to a growing complacency amongst the ranks, taking the Viceroy's approval for granted. Yesterday, a band of Eleven terrorists was found to have infiltrated a secure facility in Shinjuku and stolen classified experimental materials from it, which lead to the battle."

And then Suzaku decides that it's a good time to interject. "Pardon my interruption, but we in the Third Honorary Infantry Division were told that the terrorists had made off with poison gas."

Euphemia's eyes shoot wide open, and she stands up in alarm. "Excuse me?! Just developing chemical weapons is extremely illegal, to say nothing of manufacturing them!"

"It's as you say, Your Highness," Gottwald agrees. "Such are the tools of cowards unwilling to face their enemy in combat; they're difficult to satisfactorily control in comparison to conventional weapons, and they unnecessarily pollute the environment. Any ranking officer worth their salt would agree that our Empire has no need of them."

Euphemia smacks the desk in front of her, a thwack echoing through the room. "Then explain to me what the hell my brother was doing! At once!"

…oh no, she's hot when she's pissed.

...it bothers me a little that I can't disagree with you, Suzaku mutters in the safety of our shared mind.

Jeremiah Gottwald, rightly not having the same reaction as Suzaku and I, solemnly bows his head. "...we don't entirely know for certain, Your Highness. Even I was unaware of the operation in question until its exposure yesterday. Some time after the battle, Prince Clovis was found to have been fatally shot from point-blank range in his command seat."

Euphemia drops back into her chair at the news in shock, almost like she'd been shot herself. "So my brother really is dead..."

"From what we've learned after investigating the G1 base's servers, it seems that General Bartley was overseeing some manner of top-secret human experimentation, ostensibly for medical purposes under the Viceroy's direct command. Apparently, not a soul outside the project knew of its existence, and the late Prince ultimately ordered that Shinjuku be obliterated in an effort to protect that secrecy. We've been unable to contact him, and while I've sent officers to find and retrieve him, in the last twelve hours they haven't reported any leads."

"As to the allegations of poison gas being involved," Jeremiah continues with a glance in our direction, "I have no evidence as yet to lend them any credence, and our investigation hasn't progressed far enough yet to provide any credible theories as to their origin. However, it is concerning that such misinformation was able to spread through our military as far and as quickly as it did; to my mind, it strongly implies that someone treasonous of significant rank and influence is involved."

"You say treasonous," I ask -

Even you should know better than to speak up at a time like this!

Oh buzz off, Euphemia won't let anything happen to us for asking a reasonable question of all things. And there's no guaranteeing that anyone else will bring it up.

And Suzaku fails to shut me up. "Does that mean that whoever spread the poison gas rumor also leaked it to the terrorists?"

"That's utterly preposterous-"

"What makes you think that, Sir Kururugi?"

Gottwald looks like he's swallowed a lemon as Euphemia reminds him of where he stands in the current hierarchy, and I swat Suzaku's metaphorical hands away as he tries to reclaim the mental steering wheel from me. "Well... I'm pretty sure that a lot of Elevens think we're heartless, inhuman scum - especially those who take up arms and join a resistance group. So whether it's illegal or not, if they heard a rumor about the Britannian army developing poison gas, they'd probably just accept it at face value. Because oh, they're evil Britannian scum, it makes perfect sense they'd go around inventing new ways to slaughter us like animals for fun even if it meant breaking their own laws. And if a rumor like that could spread far enough to reach even a lowly Honorary infantryman like myself and still be taken seriously… then doesn't that mean there are factions in our organization that find such a claim believable, to say nothing of the enemies that hate us?"

The more I keep talking, the more Euphemia's face turns white. Hell, even Gottwald's starting to look uncertain, in light of his prior outburst. "Do you understand the implications of what you're saying, E- even in light of the recent circumstances, Kururugi?"

I blink, and finally let Suzaku take over again… and promptly show that in spite of his dissatisfaction with my engaging the conversation, he's struggling to add anything himself. "Er…"

"It means," Euphemia gravely interjects, "that the military and government administration in Area Eleven - perhaps the Purists, perhaps more than that - is not only more corrupt and outright malicious than my late brother led us to believe in the homeland, but also that it's been infiltrated and compromised by unidentified enemies at the very highest levels. A truly wretched hive of potential traitors and - you called them cowards, didn't you Margrave?"

Gottwald bows his head, shame fully evident on his face. "I did, Your Highness... and I have neither excuse nor justification for the complacency and narrow-sightedness on my part that led to this situation. I am prepared for any punishment you deem fit."

The new Acting Viceroy looks from Gottwald, to me, or rather Suzaku... and for about three seconds, Euphemia the Princess steps out as Euphie the overwhelmed teenager comes and takes her place. Her lips move without making a sound, but I can't-

Help me, Suzaku mutters in our mind, his words heavy with a feeling that's hard to qualify. That's what she's asking of us. And… I don't have any idea what to do.

...which means I get stuck having to step in even after you were just complaining about my doing exactly that. And damn it Euphie, don't tear up at me in that tone of voice!

"If I may speak freely, Your Highness?"

Euphie the traumatized girl beams at us, before shaking her head and stepping aside once again for Euphemia the Princess. "You may, Sir Kururugi."

And double damn it Euphie, smiling that much makes me feel like an ass for complaining.

I feel Suzaku grinning at me from the back of my soul. Stop being tsun and get on with it.

Tch! Goddamn punk, sassing me even as I'm trying to bail you out of this mess…! Okay, I've already gone and opened my mouth, lemme think how I should play this…

"If not for Sir Gottwald's… timely intervention in warning me as to the danger you were in," I begin while scratching my chin in thought, "I wouldn't have been able to protect you from the coup d'etat forces."

Gottwald almost jumps in surprise. "What are you-"

Euphemia raises a hand to silence him, eyes trained on me. I can practically hear the gears turning in her mind as she picks up what I'm putting down. "I'm listening."

That's a good enough sign to continue. "Furthermore, this man spent the last few years risking his life to infiltrate and uncover the Purists' nefarious scheme. Knowing all the time that one misstep could see his name… his career…"

Hm, let me drag that out a little more for emphasis. "Indeed, these and his very honor, all torn down to ashes in the wind. If our Empire can't find a place in it for a man of such bravery, such dedication… such loyalty, then what kind of future do we really have?"

"Wretched cur, how dare you try to manipulate her Highness on my behalf?! Do you think I'm so low that I need saving by the likes of you?!"

Gottwald picks me up by our jacket collar, indignant and humiliated. ...and knowing that Suzaku can twist his ass into a pretzel, I answer him by putting on the smuggest, most condescending Y2J smirk I can manage. "Listen up Orange boy, everyone in the room knows that there's a loaded freight train bound for this island - and her name is General Cornelia li Britannia. I'm not dragging you off of the tracks because I want to learn from how cool you are; no, it's because I'm nothing more than a grunt-turned-pilot with hardly any connections or influence, and you've got enough of both to be useful in helping the Princess salvage this clusterfuck."

Gottwald says nothing, but I can see from the look in his eyes that he's re-evaluating his knee-jerk reaction to belly-flop onto his own sword for the crown.

"Sir Kururugi has a point," Euphemia adds after a moment. "But if I elect to go along with this and keep you along, Margrave, it won't be because of what you can do to be useful to me or even the Empire... but because the young man who valiantly risked his life to save mine from your subordinates is vouching for you."

Gottwald glances from my nakedly smug expression to Euphemia's stern one, and closes his eyes for a moment, his face betraying some serious inner conflict… before setting me down, and then kneeling in the Knight's pose before Euphemia. "Your Highness, my name and my honor are worth nothing to me in light of what I've allowed to happen on this day."

And then he chokes out a sob, a tear sliding down his cheek. "But I swear to you, on my Lady's memory, that I had no knowledge of what was taking place in Shibuya today, or of the plot on your life. And for my failures in that ignorance, as I said before, I am prepared to accept whatever fate you may design."

...I can't imagine a Jeremiah Gottwald who'd ever invoke or refer to Marianne and not mean business. But then I remember how I'm in a universe where Elle and Cecile both work at Camelot when it should only be one or the other, and I start doubting myself. Wouldn't it be just my luck to get the one CG universe where Jerry's a conniving Starscream? And is there really that much of a difference between using Clovis's death to further a lie, and invoking Marianne's to advance a different one?

Euphemia tilts her head, probably thinking I know him well enough to know if this act's legit or not. ...and I don't. So I shrug, and then mime flipping a coin. It's a 50-50 chance, but you're the one who's got to place a bet. I can't make the choice for you.

The Princess glances away, but then swallows and nods a second later. "As punishment for your deeds, Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald... I charge you with completely dismantling the Blood-Purist faction in Area Eleven with your own hands. Everything you've worked for and planned to achieve with my brother's murder is to be burned and buried. Your former comrades and subordinates are to be investigated and prosecuted with all expediency, to the harshest extent of Britannian law. You can start with the arrest and interrogation of the assailants whose lives Sir Kururugi spared earlier in Shibuya."

Gottwald slowly raises his head, as if adjusting to a heavy burden. "Then, that means -"

"Yes," Euphemia says with a nod. "We shall be moving forward with Sir Kururugi's proposed narrative. Now leave us, Margrave; I expect to hear of favorable results by the end of the day."

Gottwald stands, and snaps to a crisp salute. "At once, Your Highness."

And then Suzaku and I are left alone with a weary Euphemia, which means I'd better take my leave and let Suzaku do his thing.

"Suzaku," she begins with a smile, "I'd like to start with my sincere gratitude for everything you've done today."

"I'm honored to be of service, Your Highness-"

"Euphie."

Suzaku blinks, and in the split-second of darkness our Princess walks from behind her desk to approach us. "I'm sorry?"

Her smile turns a little fragile. "Please, call me Euphie. At least… at least when we're alone like this, you and I. Or Euphemia, if you truly must."

The world bobs up and down as Suzaku nods. "Of course, Y-Euphie. I'm afraid I may need to beg your forgiveness if it takes me a while to adjust."

"Oh, of course! Take whatever time you need, the last thing I want is to force you…!"

Damn it girl, I'm gonna need sunglasses if you keep shining that megawatt smile at me.

You say that, Suzaku quips, but I can tell you're craving it inside. So much so that it hurts me just thinking about it.

Yeah, yeah…

"In any case," Suzaku says with a shake of his head, "you don't need to thank me for anything. Anyone would've done the same if they could, and I was glad to assist you."

...and now she's frowning. "Suzaku, please don't devalue yourself or your efforts like that."

Oh shit, she saw right through us both.

Stepping up closer to us, she takes our hand in hers - so soft, so warm. "You've done so much for me. Don't you understand? The people who were supposed to protect me this morning, they… they tried to imprison or kill me. They called me a terrorist… an impostor, so that nobody would listen to me or help me!"

"That's-"

Euphie takes another step forward into our personal space, making Suzaku instinctively take a step back - but I think we've both noticed that she took a bigger stride than we did.

"In my hour of greatest need, Suzaku, you took me at face value. You supported me, trusted me… both during the escape from Shibuya and just now, you've even encouraged me to try taking charge. You've been helping me grow closer to the person I'd like to be someday - and that's without even mentioning that you risked your life to protect me, based on…"

Her eyes go wide, and she starts tearing up as a giggle breaks free of her pretty mouth. "All based on nothing more than an assumption that I went along with!"

With a heart-stopping smile as she laughs, crying from probably more emotions than I can immediately guess at, the line between princess and girl starts to blur. "I guess that makes you a real-life Don Quixote, doesn't it?"

Er… Don Quixote? Is that a reference or somethi-

...a delusional fool, oblivious to the world around me and fighting for fake ideals that were never actually real - all while simping for women who don't even know I exist. Mother fucker, Euphie, you really are the Massacre Princess.

Suzaku doesn't answer immediately, but a second later we let out an awkward chuckle, and our hand goes up to gently brush away her tears. "For you, fair Dulcinea, I won't leave a windmill intact anywhere."

Euphie lets out a gasp, and I'm pretty sure we fucked u-

-mph?!

"Mmnn~"

Euphemia absolutely enjoyed the kiss she'd stolen, and didn't at all mind making Suzaku aware of the fact.

So heroic and valiant, she thought. Suzaku Kururugi, I may have never met a truer Knight than you.

Euphemia pulled back after a moment to catch her breath and let Suzaku do the same, absently licking her lips as the young man's dazed expression set something inside her aflame.

Wow, I'd like to show him what else I can do~

Gently backing Suzaku against the office's door, Euphemia placed a dainty hand against the pilot's cheek and was immediately emboldened as he leaned into her touch.

Pressing her body against his, the Princess raised up onto her toes to kiss him again.

She closed her eyes, could almost taste his lips -

- and then her cell phone went off, startling the pair and causing them to hastily separate.

"I'm so sorry, Princess! I have no idea what came over me-"

Euphie paused in the act of fishing around in her blouse pocket for her phone to glance at Suzaku. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Er- well, that's…!"

I wish he wouldn't be so nervous with me, but… it's also kind of cute. "If anyone should apologize, Suzaku, it's me for being reckless and just jumping in without thinking about your feelings. ...although," she added with a smile, "I think you could be a little more confident in yourself."

You certainly have a great deal more to be confident about than I could ever claim, Euphie thought as her phone's caller ID showed that Cornelia was calling.

"...with due respect," Suzaku replied, "I think that's my line."

Euphie let out a soft laugh at her own expense, silencing her phone and quickly tapping out a text instead of answering the call. "I truly appreciate the thought, Suzaku, but if you were to ever meet my sister you'd realize that's not the case."

I'm safe and unhurt, but not free to take calls at the moment. I'll contact you as soon as I can.

Suzaku opened his mouth to argue, but Euphemia shook her head to signal that it wasn't worth it. Without having met Cornelia, he just… he wouldn't understand. If fortune kept smiling on her, then perhaps it could even stay that way.

"Though I dearly wish I could spend the day enjoying your company," she began, "the reality is that by assuming the position of Acting Viceroy, I've given myself quite the to-do list. Suzaku, would…"

No, that phrasing wouldn't do. "May I continue to rely on you, at least for a time?"

Suzaku leaned against the wall and glanced away from her, biting the inside of his cheek. "...I mean. Yeah, I'm happy to help, but - I'm just some guy off the street. I don't really know how much I can do. And aside from that, I had plans later that other people went out of their way to help me out with, and I don't want everything they've done to go up in smoke, y'know?"

...oh. He's not even in uniform, so he must have been off-duty today. Of course Suzaku had his own life going on, before I crashed into it so clumsily. What a fool I've made of myself...

"W-well," Euphemia started in embarrassment, "in a few minutes I'll be relocating to the Viceroy's Palace to hold an initial press conference introducing myself to the public and explaining the circumstances of the earlier skirmish. As far as your role in that is concerned, I'd just like to have you at my side and give you the credit you're due for protecting me. I don't anticipate for this to take more than half an hour, or at least if it does then you could take your leave. Then, over the course of tonight and tomorrow I'll need to work out my agenda as a governor, and I was hoping that you could assist me with that as a reliable source of information and advisor who's familiar with the Area's current situation - in light of my late brother's reports having been proven unreliable, of course..."

Suzaku didn't answer for a long moment, and Euphie was fighting with herself over whether she ought to tell him to forget everything she'd just said, until his phone started ringing and broke the silence.

"You can answer that!" she all but gasped in relief. "I'll just step aside if you need me to..."

"Ah, well–" Suzaku glanced at his phone, and swallowed. "...you really don't mind?"

Euphie smiled, more than happy to show the young man anything other than how embarrassed or awkward she felt. "Not at all! In fact, I need to start making some calls of my own…"

And so saying, Euphie turned mostly away from Suzaku and pretended to dial a number on her phone before holding it up to her head.

"Hey," she heard him say, "yeah, I'm fine. We made it through alright, no injuries or anything. I'm sorry I worried you, Elle."

Could that be his girlfriend? Euphie wondered. An instant later, her eyes shot wide open. …oh no. Did I just make him cheat on her with me?!

"Wow, really? That's a relief, thanks for letting me know. And, ah…" Suzaku's voice dimmed then, and Euphie could easily imagine his expression becoming anxious. "Listen, about tonight… well, no, I don't know how long I might be tied up or on call, but I still - well, I thought maybe if you wanted we could still do something else later… "

As Euphemia heard the earnest disappointment in Suzaku's voice, she steeled her resolve. I'll meet with that other girl and work out how to resolve this in a way that's best for everyone.

Ashford Academy Clubhouse, later that afternoon…

Lelouch stared at the news broadcast in shock, grateful to have enough privacy from his classmates that he could enjoy a few unguarded moments to sit and process everything that had just happened.

"In the hours since her dramatic debut," a handsome news station anchor began, "Her Highness Euphemia li Britannia has been remotely sworn in by the Prime Minister as Acting Viceroy, taken up residence in the Viceroy's Palace, and issued a press briefing to explain the morning's chaos in Shibuya. In summary… our beloved Prince Clovis was found dead at his command shortly after what was allegedly a terrorist suppression operation that took place yesterday in Shinjuku, thought but not known to be an assassination. Forces in our Area's military and government aligned with the Blood-Purist Faction plotted to manipulate coverage of the late Prince's death to their advantage and this morning even attempted to assassinate the sitting Viceroy. Fortunately for us all, Margrave Gottwald's long-term deep cover infiltration and investigation of the treasonous movement allowed him to foil the plot in collaboration with a new pilot and special operative of the Prime Minister's military research and development organization, Camelot – Honorary Britannian Suzaku Kururugi, son of the Elevens' last Prime Minister before their annexation into our Empire. Until further investigations into the conspiracy have been completed, Tokyo has been placed under martial law."

Heaving an exhausted sigh that might well have been genuine, the anchor began introducing a panel of experts to help "analyze" the day's events on behalf of the common people.

Lelouch largely tuned them out, closing his eyes to think and leaning into the back of his chair. When that propagandist says there's a lot to unpack, he thought with a rueful grin, it just may be the most honest thing he's said on air in his career.

"Big brother, is it true?! Is Suzaku really alive and well?!"

At least there's good news worth being excited about.

Nunnally's excitement was almost like a shot of adrenaline, recharging the exiled Prince's energy enough to sit back up again. "Well, Nunnally, they were showing him on the news with Euphemia… and honestly, I doubt the media would be giving that kind of positive coverage to a Japanese person if they had any means or chance to avoid it. If I had to make a guess, then a lot of what they just said is probably true and Euphemia is making them admit it."

Bound in her wheelchair, Nunnally reached out a hand in the direction of Lelouch's voice, and in seconds he was there to hold it. "I'm so glad," she said with a smile. "Do you think there's any chance we can be together with him again?"

An instant later, her smile turned a little fragile. "...do you think he still remembers us?"

The young lady didn't ask about the possibility of a reunion with Euphemia, and Lelouch's heart shook with pride in her growing maturity… and grief that the heartless world they lived in had forced it on her. "I'm positive that he remembers us, Nunnally."

After all, Suzaku had recognized Lelouch the day before, faster than he himself had recognized Suzaku. "And I don't know when or how, but I'm sure we'll all find a way into each other's lives again someday."

Clasping Nunnally's hand in his, Lelouch knelt next to his sister and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I promise you, Nunnally. I'll find a way to make it happen."