Author's Note: Hello, this is my first story, please enjoy

Chapter 1 – Prologue: The events that altered his future.

Pendragon, 2010 A.T.B.

Violet eyes widened in shock, as the lifeless body of Imperial Consort Marianne vi Britannia, draining out of blood because of bullet holes covering her body. Below her, the Seventeenth Princess, Nunnally vi Britannia is shaking in a result of shock. Bullet holes are seen from her legs, noting that she has been crippled in the attack. The incident happened fast, as the young prince had rushed to assess the situation.

+Flashback, Yesterday+

Ten year old Lelouch vi Britannia, Eleventh Prince and Seventeenth heir to the throne went inside his home, called Aries Villa. He was recently in a foul mood disturbed by the fact that he almost defeated his Brother in chess, but he was caught off guard and he claimed the win. He was praised by his brother anyway, but he wanted to beat him badly. As he went inside, his Mother was there, walking like she knew what he had done.

"Hello Mother, how was your day?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"My day was good Lelouch; I passed by your tutor after I did some errands. She was saying that you skipped lessons again, and I knew you were off somewhere with your Brother Schneizel." She replied smiling.

"Well, I did go out with him to play chess because I'll just get bored again; I promise I won't do it again." He said smiling.

"I doubt that, knowing you Lelouch. Schneizel really dotes on you huh?" She smiled. She was happy that Lelouch was getting along with more of his siblings, well at lease some of them.

"Now run along now, I promised your tutor that I would get you up to your lessons once I found you." She said. Knowing that your own son will skip classes because it bores him and he wants to beat someone in a game he specializes on really makes bad habits. And thus those habits stay with him for as long as he lives.

"Yes Mother." He said. He went upstairs to his tutor's room, mumbling about what strategy he will use against Schneizel when he gets his rematch after he finishes all his lessons and homework.

Marianne looked at her son going up the stairs. He probably might be thinking of a way to get out of tutoring or something along the line. Her thoughts were interrupted when a young girl around the age of 6 tackled her followed by another girl with pink hair giggling.

"Hello Nunnally, hello Euphemia, what can I do for you lovely little girls today?" She smiled. Nunnally, the 6 year old and her own daughter smiled at her. Euphemia, the daughter of Empress Gabrielle was looking really excited.

"Mother, we have something to show you. Euphie, Nellie, and I worked on it together. Please come with us?" She asked nicely.

"Please Lady Marianne? We know you're busy but please, it will just be for a short while." Euphie asked.

"Of course I always have time for my favorite girls. Lead the way." She smiled. A maid was passing by and Marianne asked her a request. "Can I have some tea for us outside please?" "

By your will, your highness." The maid curtsied and went to the kitchen to get some tea.

The outside of Aries Villa was a sight to behold. The place was filled with nature and everything looked so peaceful. At the center of it all was a beautiful patio, a place for refreshing talk with people while enjoying a beautiful scene. When Marianne, Nunnally, and Euphemia were walking about, they met up with another person.

"Hello Lady Marianne, Hello Euphie, Hello Nunnally." She greeted. She was Cornelia li Britannia, Euphie's older sister and Nunnally's half sister.

"Hello Cornelia, I was wondering where you have been hiding, have you been tidying up the mess that they made?" She asked as she observed Cornelia, who had finished up tidying the materials used for making their surprise for Lady Marianne.

"Mommy, here's what we made for you." Nunnally exclaimed. It was a beautiful flower crown made from the flowers plucked from the garden. Seeing this, Marianne was happy. It was a beautiful gift. The colors remind her of all her children's eye colors, or their hair colors, each symbolizing one or more people. She wore it, and the girls all smiled.

"It's beautiful Nunnally, thank you." She smiled, and gave Nunnally and peck on the cheek and a pat for Euphemia.

"Big sister Cornelia agreed to us immediately when we said that we are making it for you mother." Nunnally said and Marianne laughed. Cornelia had always looked up to her as an idol, and she had helped her be a brave woman and soldier of the family.

"Aww, how sweet Nellie, you really are a loving sister, aren't you?" Marianne said playfully.

"A-Anything for you Lady Marianne." Cornelia said, embarrassed.

"Mommy, Euphie and I will be playing hide and seek, and maybe play a prank on Big Brother if we have a chance." Nunnally giggled. The thought of playing a prank on her brother bought a huge smile on her face.

"Be careful Nunnally, and don't get yourself hurt okay? And a prank on Lelouch? That would be funny." She thought playfully.

"We will Lady Marianne." Euphemia reassured. "Come on Nunnally, the sooner we plan our prank, the higher the chance that Lelouch might get caught in it." She giggled, and the two ran off.

With Marianne and Cornelia being left alone, she can talk about a few things that she needed to ask of her. At that moment, the maid that Marianne asked for refreshments came with a cart of assorted pastries and Earl Grey tea in a tea pot with honey and tea cups with dessert plates.

"Cornelia, may I ask you a favor?" She asked while drinking some of her tea.

"What is it Lady Marianne?" She responded.

"I would like you to retreat the guard for tomorrow only." She said. This made Cornelia freeze. The thought of her idol being unprotected, and knowing how many people in Pendragon loathe her for being a commoner born, she could be a target for all assassins.

"But Lady Marianne, the danger to your person." she plea

"I know Cornelia, but please, it will only be one day. Consider it a paid day off, I'll call you when you are needed again okay?" she said putting down her cup.

"B-But you might be…." She trailed off.

"Please Cornelia?" She asked, for a final push.

"If that is your order Lady Marianne, but please call on me as soon as you can." She said. This gives some suspicions to Cornelia about her actions; she doesn't usually do this at all, because Aries Villa is considered the most heavily defended area in Pendragon.

"Thank you Cornelia." She looked at the time on the clock. "Oh lookie dear, it's already 4:15 p.m. time sure does fly fast. I hope Lelouch is doing well on his lessons, knowing him, he might be sleeping already, and didn't notice his tutor is already done teaching for the day." Cornelia laughed at the remark.

"I'll see you later Cornelia, and please do tell Euphie and Nunna to be back inside before nightfall." She said standing up.

"Of course Lady Marianne, take care. And please tell Lelouch to stop with the bad habits. God knows that it might affect Euphie or worse Nunna in a degree." She said.

"I will." And with that, Marianne took off to see how her son is doing with his studies.

Lelouch was by no means an athletic person. He is usually idle, thinking of strategies and ways to get away with his studies as he sees them as trivial matters. Waking up from his slumber, the clock said it was 4:18 p.m. on the table, there was a note addressed to him

Prince Lelouch,

Knowing you, you slept throughout my lecture, this is your assignment. You are to give me a full page essay on how King Arthur had overcome his obstacles with his allies sharing his endeavors, and give me a list of battles he had done throughout his lifetime with major events that have affected him on his road to becoming King of his kingdom. Please note that this will be due on our next meeting, which is next week Friday. I hope you will comply, as you usually do it last minute, which is really impressive your highness, but please don't stress yourself out, you are young and not yet ready to do too much responsibility. If you were to do your work before you would play games with Prince Schneizel, you would be spending all your time however you wish without having to worry about anything. Take care your highness.

Your Tutor,

Ms. Rhode

Lelouch finished reading and groaned. "Another assignment? Why must I have to comply with all of this workload?" He stood up and stretched his body. When he was about to walk to the door, it opened to reveal his brother, Schneizel El Britannia.

"Good afternoon Lelouch how was your tutoring with Ms. Rhode?" He asked.

"Boring as always brother, I end up sleeping throughout the lecture and receive a note by the time I wake up. This time, it's writing a whole summary of Arthur Pendragon's life." He groaned.

"That should be easy enough Lelouch. You're in luck that you don't have to do many assignments from your tutor. Actual schools give out 1 in at lease a few subjects." He replied.

"Yeah I know, but let's cut to the chase. What are you doing here?" He asked after yawning.

"Well, I would like to ask you if you would like to sleep in my place for the night, maybe even teaching you a new game and see if you can beat me in a round of chess would sound nice to you." Lelouch's eyes got wider filled with excitement.

"Can I? I can't wait to go there again. It's fun playing with you and Kanon, and you have a variety of games to choose from. Let's go ask Mother right away." He said as he was tugging his shirt.

"Okay then, let's go ask your mom." He replied.

They went out of the tutor's room to look for Lelouch's mom. They passed by some people who seem to be getting ready for dinner. When they were about to reach the stairs, Lady Marianne was there with Nunnally about to go to Lelouch's room.

"Oh hello Lady Marianne, Nunnally." He greeted. "We were about to talk with you Lady Marianne, how was your day?"

"It was great Brother Schneizel. Euphie and Nelly helped me create a flower crown for mommy." Nunnally beamed.

Schneizel chuckled. "It really does please me that you are happy as always."

"You were about to ask me something Schneizel?" Marianne asked.

"Ah yes. If I may with your permission, I would humbly ask if Lelouch would stay with me for the night, just to play a few games and see how he bodes with his assignment that his tutor had given him." He said politely.

"Sure, but after dinner. I requested the chefs to cook us a meal before you leave. And of course, I expect you to take care of Lulu." She replied.

"Excellent. Lelouch, you can pack your stuff later, for now, we'll eat first, and then we play once we go to my place." He said.

"Okay then. Let's go to the dining room now shall we?" He said.

"Manners Lelouch, remember? Ladies first." Schneizel gestured as he allowed Lady Marianne and Nunnally to take the lead.

When they arrived at the dining room, they each took a seat. They were served drinks while waiting for the meal. Lelouch sat next to Nunnally while Schneizel sat next to Lady Marianne. They talked for a while about different topics. Lelouch and Schneizel were talking about what game he should teach to Lelouch. Nunnally was talking to Lelouch on how Euphie and her were about to go barge into the room after his tutor left to play a prank on him, but his tutor caught them and prevented it from happening. That gave Lelouch a laugh and a pout from Nunnally.

Dinner was given out a few minutes after the conversations with the family. There was steak well done with mashed potatoes from Area 2, fresh baked fish, and with a choice of either white pasta or rice as the main part of the meal. For dessert, Apple Pie and Crème Brule.

"Ne, Lelouch, what do you plan to do with Brother Schneizel at his place?" Nunnally asked

"Well, he'll teach me new things that can help me in life, such as doing finances and maybe even help him do with his paperwork so we can play chess more." He said.

"It's almost 7:30 p.m. Lelouch, we should go now if you want to play more chess games." Schneizel said.

"Sure thing Schneizel, but before we leave, Nunnally no arguing with Euphie while I'm away and please don't make a mess in our room okay?" He said. Knowing Nunnally and Euphie, they would argue who would marry him in the future, and let's just say the outcome is very indescribable for him at the moment.

"I promise Big Brother, just take care okay? I'll miss you." Nunnally said giving her brother a full embrace

"I love you too Nunnally." He said after letting her go.

Afterwards, Lelouch changed into a different set of clothes before he'll leave. He decided to come to his place in sleeping clothes for comfort and to not be bothered once he ends up sleeping late at night. As he went downstairs, Schneizel's aide-de-camp, Kanon Maldini was waiting for him near the door.

"Hello Kanon~" He chirped.

"Good Evening Lelouch how was your day?" Kanon enjoyed having Prince Lelouch as company, he would have the opportunity to see Prince Schneizel enjoy himself, which was a rare sight seeing that no one would give him a decent challenge in chess or in any other game he plays in his past time.

"It was good, thank you for asking. So when will we be going?" He asked.

"The car is here, we were just waiting for your arrival sir." Kanon replied.

"Okay then. Let's get going. I want to play more games with Schneizel." He said going outside.

"And I would love to see how Prince Schneizel would enjoy himself playing with you Prince Lelouch." Kanon said as he followed him and closed the door.

The trip to Prince Schneizel's villa was pretty short. All it took was 10 minutes to get there and they would be starting to play. But for Lelouch, it felt like a decent amount of time to review which strategy will he use to beat Schneizel in chess. Kanon also suggested that they would play card games after they played chess. Then Schneizel had the idea on to teaching him how he could win in it easily, even if his opponent would cheat. Besides, all you need is skill to play a game of chance right?

When they got settled, Lelouch immediately went upstairs to Schneizel's entertainment room. He knew where it was because he was there a few times in the past. Schneizel chuckled at the enthusiasm that his younger brother possessed. He ordered for Lelouch's room to be set up and some refreshments to be sent to the room. By the time Schneizel got to the room, Lelouch was already finished setting up, and checking other stuff that he had, such as the pool table and the deck of cards he had kept.

"Well then Lelouch, have you decided what we should do? Cards or Chess?" Schneizel asked with a bit of anticipation. On one hand if he chose chess, he would see what strategy has Lelouch thought of this time. On the other hand, if he chose to play cards, he can teach Lelouch how to cheat in any card game he wishes to learn and make him unstoppable in case that nobles dare to approach him and make a huge bet, so he would win, and anyone can be in his debt and not get in his way if he ever went into politics.

"Hmm…. I'd say…. Chess, I am getting interested in cards, but I would like to see if you can beat the strategy that I had managed to come up with." He said.

"Very well Lelouch, let's get started. Kanon, can we have some refreshments please?" Schneizel asked his aide-de-camp

"Of course your highness." Kanon excused himself and went to get some snacks and refreshments.

The game went by slowly, each one trying to anticipate the other's next move. Lelouch moved up his rook to support the pawn and knight at the other side while also preventing Schneizel's pawns and knight from advancing any further. Meanwhile Schneizel sent his bishop to counter maneuver Lelouch's rook and provide support to the rook and knight that were flanked by Lelouch's pawns and queen. The match reached endgame when Lelouch was down to his king and knight while Schneizel had his king and rook.

"I'm very proud of you Lelouch; you've been getting better in chess as time goes by." Schneizel praised his younger brother.

"Thank you Schneizel, but among the royal family, you're still superior in this game." Lelouch said.

"But among the royal family, I admit in a few years, you can be a king on your own Lelouch, and have great potential to lead the people and give commands." Schneizel said

"You always say war is like chess, you just have more pieces to work with right?" Lelouch asked

"That is true; you have more pieces to move and time to think of your strategy. But also your opponent, that's why I always seem to be in the front lines on the Avalon. Mind Games are our forte, right Lelouch?" Schneizel said

"I learned from the best of the family." Lelouch beamed.

"Your highnesses." Kanon knocked on the door and opened it. "Here are the refreshments you requested." He said putting down a tray of cookies with tea and wine

"Thank you Kanon, and also you made it just in time. We're going to play cards next. You'll be dealer and I'll teach Lelouch the tricks of the trade." Schneizel said smiling

Schneizel declared the chess match a stalemate. Much to Lelouch's concern, he wanted to win, but at the moment he wanted to learn cards first so he'll let this one slide. Schneizel taught him about the basics of cards and how the suits are addressed. He then showed him how to play card games such as B.S., Texas Hold-Em Poker, and Speed. Apparently Lelouch had more of a chance in beating him in cards than in chess. No scratch that out, he was practically winning everything. Kanon tried to hold back his amusement and Schneizel was happy that he found out that he was a prodigy in cards. .

"I must say Lelouch; you seem to have Lady Luck on your side." Schneizel commented

"You can say that…." Lelouch wandered off at that sentence

"Hmm?" Kanon asked

"It's nothing, I assure you that." Lelouch said in a bit of a rush

"If you say so Lelouch." Schneizel revealed his cards, a king of diamonds and king of hearts

"That's okay Schneizel." Lelouch said, revealing his own, an ace of spades and ace of clubs

"And since the center shows the ace of hearts, ace of diamonds, king of clubs, queen of spades, and jack of clubs, Prince Lelouch wins with a Four of a Kind." Kanon said.

"I win….." Lelouch stifled a yawn

"You must be tired Lelouch. Would you look at the time; it is 11:30 p.m., time for you to sleep now." Schneizel said.

"But…" Lelouch couldn't stay awake any longer; he dozed off and fell into a deep sleep

"Kanon, please clean up the room, I'll take Lelouch to his room." Schneizel said as he picked up his little brother bridal style

"Of course your highness, good night to you and to Lelouch." Kanon said as he started cleaning the table and cleaning the entire refreshment tray.

+Day of the incident+

Lelouch woke up at 8:00 a.m. he went downstairs to see what Schneizel would do today, as he knows that he was always busy during the day running paperwork and making plans that would benefit Britannia's future. As he went downstairs and into the dining room, Kanon was there with some maids setting up the table. Lelouch walked up to Kanon to ask what was going on.

"Oh Lelouch, you're early. Prince Schneizel usually doesn't get up until 8:30 or so. How was your sleep?" Kanon asked

"It was good. What cha guys doing?" The young prince asked rubbing his left eye

"We're preparing breakfast, Prince Schneizel allows the servants to eat with us in the table. It really is nice to talk with others while on the table right? That's what he usually does." Kanon replied

"That does sound nice. Sure, I'll help out. I'll go wake him up now." He said, going out

"Don't you think he'll get mad at us for doing that?" Kanon asked

"If it's me, I doubt he will." He reassured and immediately went upstairs to wake his older brother

Lelouch went from hallway to hallway to get to Schneizel's room. He was really getting impatient as he knew that his room was a bit of a stroll to get to. He still wonders why though. The moment he arrived on the door, he tried to turn the doorknob. It was locked. Lelouch sighed. He checked his pockets if he had anything he can use to open it. He felt a piece of metal on his left one and too it out. It was a bobby pin. He tried to recall when he used one, but no luck. So he then attempted to pick the lock with the pin. With a few attempts, he was finally able to open the door. He slowly opened it, trying not to make a single sound. He approached his brother's bed slowly. His brother was sound asleep. He decided to sit on his bed until his brother wakes up.

'At this rate brother, you might end up being the Prime Minister of the Empire.' He thought

His mind was swarming with things of what would happen to Schneizel in the future. He knew his brother would be the best contender for the throne. Lelouch himself could care less if he were to succeed the throne. His brother would be the best for it. Even his other siblings agreed with him. Odysseus would abdicate and allow Schneizel to be the one to be Emperor of the Empire. His thoughts were cut short when Schneizel moved a bit and opened his eyes.

"Good morning Brother" Lelouch greeted

"Good morning Lelouch, you're quite early I must say. How did you get in here? I doubt Kanon would simply just hand you over the key." Schneizel asked with a hint of tiredness

"I have my ways brother." Lelouch simply replied.

"I don't believe you" He said

"Okay fine, I know how to pick a lock." Lelouch pouted

"I see. Looking at the time, you saw the others preparing breakfast and came to fetch me right?" He asked his younger brother

"Yep, now hurry up, I'm hungry." Lelouch said

"Okay then, since you did the trouble of waking me up. Let me get changed first." Schneizel said as he got up

Lelouch went outside and waited for his brother to get himself ready. He walked back and forth in front of his door waiting for him. When he finally finished, they went downstairs and have their breakfast.

"Ah, Lelouch, Prince Schneizel, you made it just in time sirs. Breakfast is ready for all of us." Kanon said addressing to them and to present them to their feast.

Breakfast went by pleasantly. Schneizel's servants chatted with each other on recent events that have happened. Kanon was simply looking out the window enjoying the beautiful scenery while eating a sandwich. Lelouch was talking to Schneizel on how he might be the future prime minister of the empire. Schneizel chucked at this, and told Lelouch that was his current goal at the moment. Lelouch smiled. After breakfast, Lelouch went upstairs to take a shower and to change into fresh clothing.

"So Schneizel, what are you going to do today?" Lelouch asked him

"I have paperwork to do unfortunately. I would have to postpone your game until a later time." Schneizel sighed

"If I may, can I play chess in your office then? You can just look at me if there are any possible moves I can do while I think of more strategies." Lelouch asked

"I won't mind, I'll ask Kanon if he can transfer the chess table I have on my office table into another separate table." He said

As he promised, the chess set was on another table on the right side of his office table. Lelouch then started playing against himself and Schneizel started with his paperwork. Three hours of playing chess and finishing up paperwork has been all they did today. It was particularly quiet the whole time, with the exception of Lelouch grunting a bit and tapping on the table. While Schneizel simply finished everything while drinking some imported coffee from Area 3. The silence was cut short when Lelouch decided to move the black knight to capture the white queen. Lelouch stood still at the moment and suddenly blurted out.

"Brother! We have to go back to Aries Villa!" He exclaimed in a tone of worry

"Why so Lelouch? Is there something the matter?" Schneizel asked confused

"Just trust me, please! We need to go back, something big will happen! I just know it!" He sounded serious

"Okay then, Kanon, get the car ready, we need to get to Aries Villa as soon as possible." Schneizel asked his aide-de-camp who was giving Schneizel his paperwork.

+Back at Aries Villa+

Lelouch immediately went out of the car the moment they arrived at the front gates. He ran as fast as he can to get to the front doors and opened it. When he opened it, his mother opened it for him, and she looked alright.

"Lelouch, is something the matter?" His mother asked.

"Mother! You're safe." He sighed in relief

"What do you mean Lelouch?" She asked

"I-I just had a bad feeling that something might happen" He admitted

"Well, I am alright Lelouch, no worries" His mother comforted him

"Mother! Who is it at the front door?" A girl's voice can be heard from a distance

"It's your brother Nunnally, he's back." Marianne replied

"Yay! Brother's back!" Nunnally exclaimed as she started running downstairs

At that moment, a series of gunshots were heard. Marianne immediately ran over to Nunnally to protect her. Lelouch stood there horrified when the gunshots were aimed for his sister and mother. In the process, Marianne was killed, and Nunnally was crippled. She looked at her mother's face and was shocked; her mother protected her to save her life. She wanted to scream, but was too terrified to. Lelouch stood there shocked; the nightmare he had predicted has came true in front of his eyes

"Lelouch! What happened, we heard gunshots and ran here as fast as we could and-" Schneizel was cut off when he had saw what just happened in front of Lelouch

"Good lord…" Kanon, who was behind Schneizel, had understand now why he was cut off from the explanation

"Mother has been….." Lelouch fell to his knees, shivering and tears falling down his eyes

"Lelouch, I'm sorry." Schneizel said as he bowed his head, paying his respects to Lady Marianne.

+A Week after the incident+

It was a week ever since the death of Lady Marianne. People in the royal family were shocked once they heard word of it. Cornelia locked herself up in her room, feeling like she miserably failed her idol. Clovis was saddened that his favorite aunt was killed. Odysseus was paying his respects and that she will be remembered. Schneizel arranged the funeral for Lady Marianne and said farewell to his brother's mother. Lelouch holed himself in his room and refused to talk to anyone. Nunnally was in the hospital after the incident because she was crippled in the process

'This is wrong, how could this have happened? Let's think of the possibilities…. I know that Cornelia was in charge of mother's guard, but how come the security was so lax? I doubt Cornelia would ever make it happen, she won't stand for my mother to be killed. I was with Schneizel the whole time so it's not him. Clovis doesn't have the guts to do it, and why would he? He loves mother as much as we do. This is probably someone's work outside of the family, but I still need to keep my suspicions on others in case.' Lelouch's thoughts were racing, trying to figure out who was behind the murder of his mother

His thoughts were cut short when he heard a knock on his door.

"Go away, I need some time alone." Lelouch said

"Lelouch, it's me. I know you're mad but please try not to isolate yourself from us." It was Schneizel behind the door

"…." Lelouch stayed quiet for a moment. "Okay, you can come in."

Schneizel opened the door slowly to check up on his little brother. "I'm sorry for what happened Lelouch…" He said

"I asked you to come to Aries Villa, and you let me come here as fast as I can. The moment it happened was impeccably unpredictable." Lelouch said

"Still, what will you do now Lelouch? I doubt you will just let it slide." Schneizel asked

"I need to request an audience with Father. I will not allow this to be unrecognized by him. I'll stand up to him if I have to." Lelouch said with determination in his eyes

"You're not alone Lelouch, Cornelia and I are also by your side." Schneizel said.

"Tomorrow, I'll confront him." Lelouch said simply

"Careful Lelouch, knowing Father, he might be angered with the audacity you might show him." He warned

"I'll be fine. I got the trait of courage from mother." He said

+The next day+

The day has arrived for Lelouch to confront his Father on why he didn't protect her. He knows that his Father loved his Mother very much and was his favorite Imperial Consort. Not caring about her made Lelouch angry at him for not doing what he was suppose to do. When the Emperor heard of his request for an audience, not only did he accept it, but also had all the nobles to attend it. Lelouch scoffed at this, typical Father of his having to involve nobles that are not part of this. Lelouch took a deep breath and readied himself for the encounter

"Presenting the 11th Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire!" The announcer said

The doors opened and in front of him was his Father on the throne. He walked towards him in a serious matter. He can hear the nobles talking to each other on what is about to happen, as they know his mother was recently killed. Lelouch wondered, if a noble did deliberately decide to kill his mother, what would they gain?

"Hail, your Majesty, my mother, the empress was killed." Lelouch said

"And what of it?" The Emperor said

Lelouch's eyes widened a bit, he expected him to react like this. "Why didn't you do anything to protect her?" He raised his voice

"Silence Child!" The Emperor yelled. "If you dare show that type of audacity to me again, I will have you AND Nunnally sent to Japan for daring to stand up against me." He said "If you decide to continue this, you really mean nothing to me at all."

Lelouch stopped at that moment for a bit and smirked. "Oh really? I never thought the great emperor would use simple threats against a young boy like me." He said coolly, not losing his composure against his Father

Charles was impressed to say the least. His son did not falter against him. Time to push his son more to see how he would react.

"Is that so Lelouch? What if I said that I refuse to have a search party figure out who were the killers of your mother?" He said

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. But sighed a bit, he seems to know his Father a bit more now with this encounter. "Then I would make an independent group for myself and figure it out. So your Majesty, may I ask how long are you planning to toy with me?" Lelouch asked a bit tired

"What is that Lelouch?" Charles asked with eyes narrowed

"You tend to do this to your children, you test the don't you? And you yourself determine if they are deemed worthy or not." Lelouch explained

Charles chucked. He was impressed with his son's insight. Not to mention he was half Schneizel's age. "Very good my son. You really have deemed yourself worthy. As a reward…" He looked to Bismarck "Bismarck Waldstein, I would like it if you would train Lelouch in Knightmare piloting, do you accept this responsibility?" He asked the Knight of One

"It would be an honor, your Majesty." Bismarck responded

"And do you Lelouch vi Britannia, accept as well?" Charles asked his prodigal son

"It would be an honor, your Majesty" Lelouch simply responded

"Dismissed!" Charles stood up and the court was dismissed.

+Outside the Main Palace+

Lelouch walked out of the palace looking a bit tired and frustrated. He had enough, but seeing as that his Father kindly made him do knightmare piloting with the Knight of One himself, his test has not yet been completed and it merely had just begun

"Lelouch, are you okay?" Schneizel asked as he caught up with him followed by Kanon

"Yeah, just a lot in my mind, I think this might be a start of something new. Seeing that Daddy Dearest simply gave me the starting point of his downfall, I would do my best not to waste it." Lelouch responded and Schneizel laughed at this

"It seems that your mind is really set on the future, it would be nice if we can work together right?" Schneizel asked

"You control the political world, and I'll take over the military world in the future, that would be really nice." Lelouch said and Schneizel simply just nodded

"If we can, can we call an alliance? That would benefit us in the future. You can be Prime Minister of the Empire. As for me, I don't know what rank I will be, it may depend on how I will be in my Knightmare piloting skills." Lelouch explained

"That would be nice, and we can pull strings for each other right? I might have the throne and I will leave you in charge of the military." Schneizel said

"So, what do you say Brother. Will you form an alliance with me and look to the future?" Lelouch asked extending his right hand

Schneizel thought about this for a moment, thinking of how many possibilities that would happen in the future. He took a deep breath and made up his mind

"Deal"

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