Chapter 118: Chapter 116 ~ The Announcement
Mordred and Karen came to the second warehouse and immediately saw a crowd of the black knight members forming around a tv to the far corner of the space.
They approached the crowd and made their way through the people until they finally reached where Ohgi, Tamaki, Inoue, and all the members of the previous rebel group Karen's brother led, were standing. Ainz, Silver, Tohdoh, and Nagisa were also amongst them.
Their arrival caught the attention of several, despite most of their attention being fully spent on the tv screen.
Ohgi, being one of them who noticed, and immediately turned towards them.
"Mordred, Karen, you're here…!"
"What happened?"
"That's… You can see it for yourself…"
Karen looked at Ohgi with confusion clear in her eyes. Just what in the world happened all of a sudden that could cause such an uproar within the base?
And when she turned her gaze towards the screen, a clear gasp escaped her lips.
"No way… This is…"
Yuuji narrowed his eyes as he looked at the tv screen.
As expected…
Displayed on the screen was Euphemia li Britannia, the third princess of the Holy Britannian Empire, making her speech during the Inauguration Ceremony of Clovis' Memorial Art Museum.
But instead of a normal speech, she made two announcements that caused widespread shock, confusion, and disbelief.
Her first announcement was Suzaku Kururugi's appointment as her Knight of Honor.
A knight of honor was an extremely prestigious and high position full of honor, as they were personal bodyguards chosen by a princess personally. And, by nature of the position, politics were heavily involved in the choosing of a knight of honor for a princess.
A long set of lists had been given to her previously, listing eligible knight of honor candidates for Euphemia. They were all pure blooded britannia soldiers with either prestigious bloodline, exemplary achievements, or both.
However, Euphemia had never chosen any, despite many urges from her subordinates, advisors, and her own dear sister, Cornelia.
Many had been speculating on who the third princess would choose as her knight, and many more had been looking forward to the beautiful princess of the Britannian Empire finally choosing her knight.
However, no one expected her to choose a full blooded Japanese man to be her knight.
The moment she brought Suzaku onto the stage with her had caused shock to spread across the entire crowd present for her speech, and many more watching the televised broadcast of her speech.
Then… the revelation of her second announcement caused even more shock and disbelief.
The establishment of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan for the Japanese people.
"That's crazy! What's this b*tch talking about?! Is she seriously saying this?!"
"I can't believe it… A princess of Britannia…"
"Could this be a trap…?"
"It could be… But she made a Japanese person into her knight. There's a chance that she might be… Serious?"
Tamaki, Ohgi, Inoue, and many others voiced their concerns as Karen simply stared at the screen speechlessly.
"This must be a trap. A special administrative zone… Heh, they're just pretty words to conceal the fact that they're making a puppet state to control the Japanese people since they know they're not at a disadvantage against us."
"..."
Nagisa scowled at the screen as she looked at the pink-haired Britannian princess with disdain, while Tohdoh simply stared at the screen wordlessly.
"Mordred…"
Karen turned towards Mordred, her eyes trembling in confusion, shock, and disbelief.
Yuuji looked at her and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it ever so gently as to reassure her.
"I'll talk with Zero."
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While the announcement was something they've expected, the reality of it actually happening was still shocking.
The establishment of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan was unlike any other events that had happened previously.
This was something that would greatly shake the very foundation that the already delicate balance in the current unofficial "truce" between Japan and Britannia caused by heavy damages both sides had sustained during their recent engagements stood on.
It was an event that could very well reignite the war all over.
Euphemia presented the establishment of the special administrative zone as a way for the Japanese to regain their rights to rule themselves, their identity, and their culture. And she tried to show her sincerity and her non-discriminatory behavior by appointing Suzaku, a full-blooded Japanese and an honorary Britannian, as her knight.
However… Despite her efforts, things would not go entirely as she hoped for.
The conflict between Britannia and Japan had gone off long enough. Too much Japanese blood had been spilled on Japanese soil, and the humiliation, suffering, and death that came with their defeat would not be forgotten so easily.
Although Euphemia had shown nothing but kindness and sincerity, no Japanese could simply believe the words of a "Britannian" anymore.
To many Japanese citizens the special administrative zone sounded more like a death trap the Britannians created to gather them in one place and kill them in one feel swoop. While the wiser presumed it to be a ploy of the Britannians to create a puppet state within Japan, controlling the government from the shadow while making it appear as if the Japanese ruled themselves.
And they were right.
Yuuji and the others knew that this was the reason why the Britannians decided to support Euphemia's idealistic, absurd idea. Or more specifically, Schneizel.
In the anime, Schneizel supported Euphie's plan and even convinced Cornelia to support it as well, and made it happen. All so he could gain control of Japan not by force, but through politics by creating a puppet state with the label her naive little sister had so beautifully painted and presented to the Japanese.
And now, they believed the same thing to be happening. While Cornelia might've been more inclined to agree with Euphemia's plan after their previous encounters, Yuuji and the others still believed it was Schneizel who put the nail in the coffin and used his authority to support her plan.
This was the reason why they were quite nervous.
Knowing Schneizel's intelligence, his influence, and his character, they knew it would be a fight more difficult than their previous ones.
They can't let the Britannians turn the Special Administrative Zone into a puppet state, or war would simply repeat itself soon enough and the cycle of hatred, war, and death will start all over.
Yuuji let out a sigh and dazedly made his way out of the warehouse where they've parked Black Knight's command vehicle, his mind still full with the discussion he just had with Lelouch, Tatsuya, and Satoru.
Although he could directly feel the crisp, night wind hit his skin, he could still take in the refreshing air into his lungs, and let it all out in one big sigh.
Just then, he noticed another person leaning onto a railing in the distance, overlooking the port and sea.
The gentle night breeze blew her beautiful crimson-red hair softly as her glimmering sapphire eyes looked so melancholically at the sea.
Even from a distance, Yuuji could see the clear distress, confusion, worry, and anxiousness in her eyes, and decided to approach her.
He did not silenced his steps and let the tapping of his footsteps be heard. And sure enough, Karen turned to see who was approaching, and her eyes widened slightly upon seeing his figure.
"Mordred… Are you done with the meeting…?"
Yuuji felt a sting in his heart when he heard the clear lack of energy and anxiousness in her voice. But, he masked his own worry and kept up his normal demeanor.
"Yeah, we just finished. What are you doing here? Aren't you cold?"
Karen nodded softly with a small smile.
"No. I'm just here to get some fresh air."
"I see…"
Yuuji approached her and stood by her side, resting his elbow on the railings as well. The two shared a comfortable silence as they stared at the dark sea, lit solely by the few lights from the port and the moonlight, as the sound of waves striking the stone barrier filled the quiet port.
Although no words had been exchanged between them, just his presence alone was enough to calm the undulating waves of anxiety within her heart.
She felt calmer and safer, just by being by his side.
"Don't worry."
Karen snapped out of her daze and turned to her side, and saw Mordred looking at her.
"Everything will be fine. I won't let them hurt us, the Japanese, in any way."
"Mordred…"
Although he wore a devilish mask that covered his mysterious countenance, Karen could just imagine him with a warm, gentle smile from his reassuring voice alone.
His words had touched her heart deeply and washed away all her anxiety and worry for the upcoming upheaval that would soon come along with the establishment of the special administrative zone.
"Mm. I won't let them either."
She nodded resolutely, her eyes burning with determination, as her luscious pink lips curled into a beautiful smile.
"Let's work hard together."
"Yeah. Let's do our best."
They did a fist bump, and began talking about less serious topics.
And before they knew it, Karen began talking about her school life in Ashford Academy.
"I've been quite busy with the student council recently… We've been slumped with a lot of work. You know, since the school festival is coming soon.
"Mm…"
"I've been doing my best to do my work… But there's this one guy who'd always finish first."
Yuuji flinched ever so slightly when he heard Karen's words and slowly turned towards her.
"Do you remember him? It's the guy I've talked about before…! The one who'd always mess with me whenever he gets the chance. He's a real jerk…! Hah… Just thinking about him riles me up. "
"..."
"But well… He's really reliable. He did all his work perfectly and even helped the others a lot. He's actually very smart. And… Well, he's very popular with the girls in our school, thanks to his annoyingly g-good looking face."
Yuuji's eyes widened in shock within his mask when he heard her opinion about him.
"He's also really good at everything. And he's apparently rich too… I don't know about his family, but he actually makes a lot of money himself. He's actually super good with investments and stock trading. And, we only got to know it recently since he never really talks about it. It seems like when he's playing with his laptop after finishing his work, he's actually doing some stock trading..."
Karen began to trial off her words and turned towards Mordred.
"Hey… come to think of it, that's pretty similar to you, huh? Ahahaha…"
"..."
Karen laughed half heartedly and shook her head with a sigh.
"Well, there's no way you're the same person. That guy's a privileged Britannian, while you're here, fighting for the Japanese people and our freedom."
The sound of waves filled the silence that quickly fell between the two of them as Karen looked off into the see, fallen into her own thoughts once more.
A lot of things had been happening recently with her work at the student council and her work with the Black Knights with Rakshata's arrival and the upcoming preparations for the Special Administrative Zone of Japan. And she had forgotten about the similarities she had noticed between Alexander and Mordred.
Or perhaps… she didn't want to think about it on purpose.
No no. That's just absurd. There's just no way…
She shook her head and turned towards Mordred.
"Hey, Mordred. Let's go ba-"
The words got stuck in her throat when she saw Mordred looking towards her with an air of graveness that she'd never normally see from him out of battle.
"What's wrong…?"
Yuuji looked at her for a moment, took a deep breath, and finally made his decision.
"...Karen, there's something I need to tell you."
"Hm?"
Karen turned to him with a questioning look on her face. But, that expression soon changed into shock and disbelief as she heard the words that would come from Yuuji's mouth afterwards and saw, for the first time, the face hidden beneath the devil's mask.
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