I had just finished a quiet dinner with Nunnally and was in my room, mentally outlining the stratagems for my next moves, when it happened.
CRASH! THUD!
From the first-floor living room, the jarring cacophony of shattering glass and heavy impacts tore through the evening silence.
"What on earth...?"
Reflexively, I threw open my door and sprinted toward the hall. Nunnally, startled by the sudden violence, had already steered her wheelchair out into the corridor, her expression clouded with alarm.
"Big brother? What's happening?"
"Stay in your room, Nunnally! Don't come out!"
After giving her a quick word of reassurance, I vaulted over the stair railing to gaze down at the first floor. The living room had been transformed into a chaotic battlefield; two shadows were locked in a fierce, high-speed exchange of blows in the center of the wreckage.
"Who are you? Reveal your identity!"
A man with a deep, booming voice threw a heavy-handed punch.
"It is the intruder who should surrender."
A woman's voice—calm, yet laced with a lethal, icy intent—responded as she deftly slipped past the strike and delivered a punishing roundhouse kick. It was Sayoko Shinozaki and Jeremiah Gottwald.
Sayoko was utilizing her specialized kunoichi martial arts, fluidly parrying Jeremiah's attacks and letting his momentum dissipate into the air. Jeremiah was attempting to overwhelm her with raw military combat techniques, but he was clearly struggling against her erratic, serpentine movements.
"What kind of monstrous woman are you...?" Jeremiah spat.
"A fool who possesses nothing but strength, it seems," Sayoko countered coolly.
SHATTER!
Jeremiah's follow-up kick missed its mark, obliterating an innocent decorative vase instead. Just as Sayoko reached into the folds of her uniform to retrieve a hidden shuriken—
"Enough! Both of you, stop!"
I shouted as I practically flew down the remaining stairs.
"Master Lelouch."
"Prince Lelouch?"
The two of them froze instantly, their eyes snapping toward me. Jeremiah stood with his uniform slightly disheveled, while Sayoko maintained a perfectly poised, battle-ready stance without a hint of exhaustion.
"Sayoko, stand down. He is not an enemy."
"But Master Lelouch, this man bypassed all security and broke in through the window in the dead of night."
"The window...?"
I looked at Jeremiah with a mixture of bafflement and incredulity. He cleared his throat awkwardly, his gaze shifting away in embarrassment.
"My deepest apologies, Your Highness... There were too many prying eyes at the main gate. I felt it necessary to scale the wall to avoid detection."
"Even so, acting like a common thief is hardly fitting for a knight of your stature, Lord Jeremiah."
I exhaled a long sigh and turned back to Sayoko.
"He is my guest, however crude his entry might have been. Would you please prepare some tea? We shall move to the drawing room."
Sayoko scrutinized Jeremiah for a moment longer with a lingering shred of suspicion before finally bowing her head.
"I understand. Pray forgive my discourtesy."
Once seated on the sofa in the drawing room, the tension radiating from Jeremiah was palpable. Even with a cup of tea placed before him, he made no move to drink, his eyes constantly searching mine for any sign of my temperament.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. To visit at such an hour, and in such a disgraceful manner..."
"Forget it. I understand the urgency of your heart. More importantly... did you finish your little investigation into my background?"
Jeremiah flinched at the question.
"T-That..."
"It's fine. It was only natural. When a Prince believed dead for eight years suddenly reappears, only a fool would accept it blindly. To doubt, to verify—that is the fundamental duty of a knight, is it not?"
I raised my teacup, a composed, aristocratic smile playing on my lips.
"So, what were the results?"
Jeremiah nodded, his expression weighted with guilt.
"Yes... I confirmed your sponsorship by the Ashford family, your school enrollment records, and... I cross-referenced everything with the historical archives. There is no room for doubt. Please, forgive my wretched disloyalty."
He moved to bow his head deeply once more.
"I've heard enough apologies. More importantly, are you injured?"
I asked with a playful lilt. Jeremiah grimaced, rubbing his shoulder as if the phantom pain of the earlier scuffle had just caught up to him.
"I must admit, I was caught off guard. Those were not the movements of a mere maid. Just what is her identity?"
"She is Nunnally's bodyguard as well as our maid. She was assigned by the Ashford family—someone I can trust implicitly."
"A bodyguard... indeed, her prowess was exceptional. She seems more than capable of safeguarding Your Highness and Lady Nunnally."
Jeremiah nodded in understanding, and I leaned forward, steering the conversation toward the core issue.
"Now, let us discuss the reason for this visit. Why come here before I summoned you? It shouldn't have been time for us to make contact yet."
At my query, Jeremiah's face instantly hardened into a mask of grim gravity.
"Initially, I intended to wait for your word... however, I stumbled upon information that had to be delivered immediately, regardless of the breach in etiquette."
"Information?"
"Yes. Someone within the military hierarchy is conducting a clandestine investigation into Your Highness... specifically, into a student named Lelouch Lamperouge."
My hand paused as I was about to set down my teacup.
"Who? Is it the Emperor?"
Has Charles zi Britannia already set his sights on me? If so, the complexity of this game had just increased exponentially.
"No, it isn't an official decree. It is a secret mission carried out as a personal request from a member of the Imperial Family."
"The Imperial Family?"
"Euphemia li Britannia. The investigation is being conducted in the name of the Third Princess."
"...Euphemia?"
I was momentarily speechless. Euphemia? Why her? Why now?
In the original sequence of events, Euphemia only arrives in Area 11 as the Sub-Viceroy after Clovis's death. It was only after a chance meeting with Suzaku that she even entertained the possibility of Lelouch being alive.
But currently, Clovis is still very much alive, and she should still be in the homeland.
'Is this... the Butterfly Effect?'
Had my interference caused a ripple in the timeline? Or had she been searching for me all along? I had too little data to calculate her motives.
"I cannot yet confirm if she herself is searching for you, or if someone is using her name to track you down. Regardless, I felt you must know to prepare for any contingency."
Jeremiah looked at me with genuine concern etched into his features.
"For your safety, and the safety of Lady Nunnally... you had to be aware. And..."
Jeremiah hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a resolve that brooked no retreat.
"I wish to know the true intent behind the question you asked me in that hangar... your question about whether I could stand against Britannia itself."
He locked his eyes onto mine.
"Your Highness... what is it that you intend to do?"
I remained silent for a beat.
How much should I reveal? Since I had already brought him into my fold, a half-hearted lie would only corrode the foundation of his trust. In that case, the only solution was to bury the doubt beneath a grander truth.
"Jeremiah."
I rose slowly from my seat. I walked to the window, gazing up at the starlit canopy as I spoke.
"I... am going to create a world where Nunnally can live in happiness."
"If it is for Lady Nunnally..."
"Yes. But for that to happen, the current Britannia cannot be allowed to exist. An Empire that tramples the powerless and ravages the weak... can never be a safe haven for my sister."
I turned back, pinning Jeremiah with a gaze that didn't waver for a single second.
"Therefore, I have reached a decision. I will overthrow the Emperor—my own father, Charles zi Britannia—and rewrite this world with my own hands."
"...!"
Jeremiah's eyes widened. Overthrowing the Emperor... it was the ultimate treason.
"I will not shy away from staining my hands with blood. If I must become a demon to walk this path, I will. I have already begun placing my pawns upon the board."
"Pawns...?"
"Lord Jeremiah, are you familiar with the military's recent operational failure in the Shinjuku Ghetto?"
"Yes, I am well aware. A humiliating report... Britannian Knightmares falling to terrorists, and soldiers suffering losses bordering on total annihilation."
Jeremiah clenched his fists, his voice thick with indignation.
"Wait... could it be?"
"Exactly. That was my masterpiece."
As I confessed with cold composure, Jeremiah's jaw dropped in sheer shock.
"You... Your Highness... you did that?"
In truth, I had been swept into it by chance and fumbled my way through, but there was no tactical benefit in admitting that. I allowed a meaningful, cryptic smile to grace my lips as I continued.
"Do not be so surprised. They are merely one of the many chess pieces required to realize my grand design."
"But Your Highness... they are Elevens. They aren't even Honorary Britannians. Can you truly trust such subjects?"
Jeremiah still looked like he was struggling to process the revelation. To a member of the Purebloods, the Japanese were nothing more than things to be ruled. I shook my head firmly.
"Do not misunderstand, Jeremiah. On the path of sovereignty I walk, race and nationality are irrelevant trivialities."
"Your Highness..."
"Whether Britannian or Japanese, all I require is competence and loyalty. In the new world Nunnally will inherit, all shall be equal. That is my justice."
Jeremiah shivered. The frail boy of his memories was gone. In his place stood a monarch possessed of an ambition large enough to swallow the world whole. It was a radical ideology that shattered every convention he knew, yet it hummed with an irresistible, terrifying charisma.
"Indeed. They shall be the sharp blade that carves open the road ahead, and you... you must become the most impenetrable shield that guards my back."
I stepped toward Jeremiah and extended my hand.
"Jeremiah Gottwald. Will you walk this path of kings with me?"
Slowly, with agonizing deliberation, he sank to one knee. He took my hand, kissing the back of it, and made his vow in a voice that trembled with newfound purpose.
"With all my heart... I will. I, Jeremiah, will follow Your Highness even to the very gates of Hell. Yes, Your Highness!"
Having secured his oath, I pulled him back to his feet.
"For the time being, serve as my eyes and ears within the military. And there is one person in particular I need you to find."
"Speak your command. Who is it?"
"Suzaku Kururugi."
Jeremiah's brow furrowed in confusion once more at the name.
"Kururugi... Genbu's son? There are rumors he has enlisted in the military as an Honorary Britannian."
"Correct. Find out his current assignment and his exact status in detail."
"Consider it done. I shall confirm it immediately."
"Good. You should depart for tonight. If you stay too long, Sayoko will grow suspicious."
I gestured toward the window with a smirk. Jeremiah offered a wry smile and bowed deeply once more.
"I shall see you again soon, Your Highness."
With a grace that matched his martial prowess, he vaulted out the window and vanished into the ink-black night.
I stared at the darkness where he had disappeared for a moment before heading back upstairs.
"Big brother?"
As I opened the door, Nunnally, who had been sitting anxiously on her bed, called out to me.
"Forgive me, Nunnally. I didn't mean to frighten you."
"It's alright. What happened? I heard such a loud noise..."
"Ah, it was nothing. An old acquaintance happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by to say hello, but he accidentally knocked over a vase. Sayoko just... overreacted a bit."
I took Nunnally's hands, projecting an aura of perfect calm to soothe her worries.
"An acquaintance? Who was it?"
"I'll... introduce you when the time is right. He's a very dependable man, so you have nothing to fear."
I stroked Nunnally's hair with a gentle smile.
'Indeed, I've secured a very dependable knight.'
Now, my plans would truly begin to gain momentum.