Chapter 5: By Royal Decree

Lelouch awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling. His body felt light, and looking down, he found himself dressed in something entirely new. Preferring not to think about who exactly had stripped him to put the comfortable and yet rather expensive looking shirt and pants on him, Lelouch sat up, looking around.

It was a rather plain room, all things considered. Hardwood walls haven't been anything new since he arrived here, and the only thing impressive was the sheer amount of beds here. Rom sat on a bed next to him, the hulking man bending it with his weight.

"You awake, kid?" Rom inquired. Lelouch nodded, rubbing his eyes. "That's good. You were like dead weight when I carried you here."

The old man grinned widely, and Lelouch couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Where is here exactly?" Lelouch asked. Rom grunted in response, standing up. The bed made a loud creaking noise.

"The Royal Guard barracks, I think," Rom said. "That van Astraea kid told me to put you here, and I was kinda drunk, so I laid down as well."

"I see. And where is Lady Felt?" Lelouch noted her absence rather quickly. He had thought she might have been on the bed behind Rom, but none of the other beds had been occupied. All of them were in pristine condition, as if nobody had ever slept in them.

"Don't call her that to her face," Rom warned. Lelouch could imagine why that would go wrong. "The knight's trying to convince her to participate. You kinda brought that on upon us."

"I… apologize," Lelouch said, not sounding sorry at all. "I had been worried and might have called for Reinhard too quickly."

"If it wasn't for him, we'd be dead," Rom said. The man walked around the bed, towards the door that looked way too small for him to fit through. "So I'll forgive you this once. Still, I'm worried."

"About what?" Lelouch asked. He reckoned it was about Felt, of course, but if he could spin it right and alleviate those concerns, he might be able to win himself a well-meaning acquaintance.

"The whole royal election thing, the nobles," the old man answered. "Their political games and machinations. Felt isn't ready for something like that."

"Maybe not," Lelouch said. "But she does have Reinhard on her side. There's two likely scenarios here, no doubt."

Rom turned to him, looking ready to walk out of the door.

"Scenario one, Felt wins the election and can do whatever she pleases as the monarch without equal," Lelouch said. "She would have the Dragon on her side after all."

"That's true," Rom said, nodding along. Lelouch stood, pushing the sheets off him as he did and turned to make the bed look slightly less disheveled. "And the second?"

"She doesn't win, and if no noble family claims relations with her, she'll just go back to the slums with you."

He couldn't see Rom's face, but the way the large man hunched made it seem as if he was in thought. Rom's hand came up to his bald head, scratching it. "You think she'd be happy here?"

"I don't know why you're asking me of all people," Lelouch said. "But I admit, I don't have a very high opinion of nobility in general. I can't say if Lugnica's nobility is anything like the one I'm familiar with, however."

"You seem like the person who can give me the straightest answer," Rom responded, turning around. He stood not far, of course, but with his size, Lelouch still felt as if he was right next to him. "Where are you from anyway. Kararagi?"

Lelouch knew the name from the books he had read. Unfortunately, besides a few sparse descriptions about its leaders and the general direction from Lugnica, it wasn't a very good book about foreign entities. The most he knew about Kararagi was that it was the origin of a trading company called Hoshin, the same name that came up as one of the royal candidates.

"Somewhere around that," Lelouch lied. "I am sure that Reinhard will be more than enough to shield Lady Felt from the influence of the nobles."

"Why'd he do that?"

"I think there was something that caught his fancy," Lelouch said. Admittedly, it might have been the tiredness in the marrow of his bones that made it look like Reinhard had been simply fascinated by Felt's presence. There was the distinct possibility that Reinhard was more than he seemed, and in the face of a possible queen jumped on the chance to become her pillar in a strange new world where people were moved around as much as money.

Lelouch knew all about false appearances, after all, and yet Reinhard, for all his strength, seemed simpler than any man he had ever met.

It was refreshing. The word cropped up in Lelouch's mind whenever he thought about the red-haired knight.

Rom nodded at Lelouch's explanation, grinning as his thoughts probably moved to Felt.

"You were right by the way," Rom said. By this point, he had sat down on another bed and Lelouch had already finished straightening out the sheets on the one he had laid in. When Lelouch turned towards Rom with a quizzical look on his face, the man just nodded. "That Elsa chick, Reinhard mentioned they call her 'Bowel Hunter'. One of the world's most wanted criminals."

"How… apt," Lelouch said, thinking back to her rather rude introduction to his guts not too long ago. "I knew she was a murderer, but that nickname truly takes the crown."

"Aye. Fucking monsters."

Lelouch couldn't help but nod at the name he had called Elsa before. They sat in silence for a while before Rom began to tap his foot, crossing his arms over his hairy chest and growling.

Felt seemed to have gotten it from somewhere.

"I don't think we should just explore," Lelouch intoned. "Perhaps we should wait for someone to get us?"

"Idea's sound, but I don't have to like it," Rom said, irritated. "Felt's probably ready to cut everyone open by now to get to me."

"She seems like quite the volatile child," Lelouch noted. Rom grinned, taking it as a compliment. "You two are close?"

"I raised her," Rom said. That explained the trust between them. "Found her lying there in the slums, took her in. We're thieves, not heartless bastards."

"I never implied you were," Lelouch said. "I find that the people society looks down upon quite often have more depth than the superficial observations of the masses."

"Can't say I know what to make of you," Rom said. "But I owe you something for getting our asses out alive, so I suppose I'll have to be friendly."

Lelouch grinned wryly, his eyes half-lidded as he stared towards the door.

"Say, old man Rom," Lelouch said, using Felt's title for him. Rom raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't know where I could find a place to gamble myself a bit of money, do you?"

"You sure you want to end up losing everything you own?" Rom said, grinning back at Lelouch. "Criminals don't have much of an honor to keep up their end of the bargain."

"Yes, that's true," he said. But he had access to the castle right now, all he needed was a small starting capital. Maybe the two gems he still had… somewhere, would be enough. He would have to ask Reinhard where his robes went. "But I might need to warm up again, it has been a while since I scammed nobles out of their easy-earned money."

Rom's grin split his face even more.

"Kinda had the feeling we'd get along, kid," he said. Lelouch smiled. Appeal to the inherent hatred most poor people felt towards the rich and everything was said and done.

"But I do admit, I'm not very familiar with the games played here," he said. "As you said, I'm a foreigner."

"Well, there's some," he said. "Dragon poker is very popular in the gambling halls. Chess'd be another-"

"Ah," Lelouch said. "Chess I'm familiar with."

No matter the world, it seemed, no matter the magic, Lelouch could depend on chess. It seemed that no matter where nobility set its root, a game like chess would exist.

"Yeah, but none of the dirtbags in the gambling halls play it," he said. "It's a game for the big casinos you only get access to with a huge first-time entry fee."

"I see."

Lelouch pursed his lips. Something to consider in his plans to amass a sizeable sum of money. Before they could continue their conversation about the matter, the door opened, and Felt walked in, her face twisted in an incredibly painful looking grimace. Lelouch doubted that she could even see clearly through the narrowed eyes.

"Felt!" Rom said, standing up. He was next to the door, of course, and Felt didn't seem to have a clear vision of what was around her until she crashed to the floor as Rom accidentally knocked her over. She opened her eyes, staring at the hulk, and instead of getting angry jumped up to his neck, throwing her hands around him.

"Old man Rom!" she shouted. Lelouch wondered if that was a hug or an attempt to choke the man. "These people are the worst!"

"What happened?" Lelouch asked. She turned towards him, still hanging off Rom's neck.

"Oh, it's you," she said, ignoring his question. "You messed up my deal."

"Eh?" Lelouch asked, pointing at himself. "I did? I'm sorry, I thought I was saving your life."

"You did, but you still messed up my deal!" she said pointing one finger at him. The other arm was still holding onto the old man. Lelouch chuckled.

"I apologize," he said. "How about I pay you back for the deal and you consider that slight against you forgotten?"

"You can do that?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Not now, I admit," Lelouch said. "But it won't take too long. Give me a week. How much was the deal for?"

"Ten sacred gold," she said, her eyes sparkling. Rom grabbed her by the scarf and set her down.

"Alright," Lelouch said. "So, what happened? You seemed rather upset."

"All those nobles were a bunch of pig-fucking degenerate assholes that's what," she said. Lelouch's eyebrows twitched. She seemed to grow in vulgarity the more upset she got. What a quaint individual. "One half was all 'We can't have a kid from the slums take the throne!' and the other half was shouting 'What a horrible event, whoever kidnapped the child must be executed!' and Reinhard just shut them all down."

"And?" Lelouch asked, glancing towards Rom. The old man grimaced, but said nothing. "I doubt you would just let them get to Rom like that."

"Of course not," Felt said, shaking her head vehemently. "The only way they'd listen to anything I say was if I agreed to join that dumb election of theirs. Reinhard called it fate."

The corners of Lelouch's lips twitched up. Fate, or perhaps just the intelligent manipulation of events to his favor. It seemed that Reinhard knew what it would mean to bring Rom in together with Felt and report the circumstances he had found her in.

"I suppose you're 'Lady' Felt now?" Lelouch asked. She jumped forward, kicking him in the stomach. Lelouch became aware that he hadn't eaten in a long time, and fell onto the bed behind him, holding an arm over his belly as he keeled over. "Urgh…"

"Told you not to call her that," Rom said, laughing at his misery. "Cut him some slack, we owe him a debt, Felt."

"That doesn't mean I have to be happy about owing some noble fucker," Felt muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm not a noble," Lelouch managed to get out through the sharp pain. Coughing slightly, he regained his composure. His hair swayed slightly as he shook his head. "I apologize, how about we start again. I'm Lelouch Lamperouge."

He tried to stand up and bow, and was met with a large hand slapping his back. Lelouch winced slightly, and looked up, finding Rom standing next to him.

"Don't worry too much," Rom said. "That's just how she is when she's nervous."

"I'm not nervous," Felt said, indignantly. "I'm just thinking. A lot. Reinhard isn't too bad, but I don't know if I really want to participate."

"I think you should," Rom said, surprising Lelouch. "I can just flee quickly if they come after me and you really don't want to play their games, but I think you should have a fair chance."

"What chance? I'm not some stinking noble," Felt said, crossing her arms.

"Well, you technically are," Lelouch said. She glared at him, and he simply smiled placatingly. "If the emblem recognized you, you're eligible to become the queen of this country."

"And why would I want that?" she asked.

"Because you can make life better for people like you and Rom," Lelouch said. "Rebuild the ghetto into something better for the poor, help kids like you."

"I like being a thief, though," Felt said, grinning. It had a slightly feral look to it. Her red eyes were shining with a greedy glint. "It's exciting. It pays well."

"Ah, do they do, though?" he asked. Felt hesitated. "People like you and Rom get around pretty well. But what about kids who aren't quite that fortunate? The starving youth of today?"

She grimaced, and Rom too had a rather contemplating look on his face. Lelouch wondered if Rom had grown up there or simply arrived in the slums when he was older.

"Shit," Felt said simply. "You're right."

Lelouch smiled. Felt scowled.

"Alright, I'll participate for real," she said, throwing herself on one of the beds. The one that Rom had laid in earlier. "I'd make you my knight if you weren't so weak. You seem smart."

Lelouch laughed. He'd have to refuse even if she had decided that, considering his plans. He couldn't support anyone over the other, right now, not before he knew all the candidates. While he was steering Felt's idea of what she could do as monarch, and Lelouch felt like it would be a good choice to help the poor, he still didn't know what Emilia's plan was.

Nor did he know about Lady Karsten, Lady Barielle or Lady Hoshin. It wasn't very relevant at the moment, however, what he needed was a base. Both power, which his practice in magic would lead him towards, and finance.

Someone knocked on the door. Rom, Felt and Lelouch stared at it, waiting for the person to walk in. They didn't. After a few seconds of silence, they called out.

"Can I come in?"

It was Reinhard, his voice sounding slightly worried. Lelouch sighed, of course he wouldn't come in unless someone allowed to, even though these barracks were where the Royal Guard stayed.

"Yes, come in," Lelouch said. The door opened with a click, and Reinhard walked in, still dressed in the Royal Guard uniform. "Hello, Reinhard."

"Sup," Reinhard said, a soft smile on his face. "I see the clothes fit you. You're just a bit smaller than me, so it was the closest thing we could find."

"Ah," Lelouch intoned, looking down at the white shirt and black pants. "Yes, though I had wondered where my actual clothes were, I had some valuables in them."

"We removed everything inside and put them into that drawer," Reinhard said. Lelouch nodded, moving around the bed towards the wooden drawer that Reinhard had pointed at and opened it. The two gems sat inside. "They'll be cleaned and returned to you. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh no, that's no problem," Lelouch said. "I'm not very attached to them anyway and wanted to buy new clothes after finding a place to stay."

"You're homeless?" Felt asked. "What were you doing with expensive clothes like that?"

"I'm not from around here," Lelouch said, balling a fist over the emeralds to hide them from the kleptomaniac's sight and pocketing them. "And I had no money when I arrived. The clothes were given to me."

"I see," Reinhard said. "If you still need a place to stay, I'd be happy to keep invite you to the Astraea Mansion as a guest."

"I wouldn't wish to intrude," Lelouch said, trying not to smile too wide on the fortunate offer. "I'm sure I can find another place to stay."

"I insist," Reinhard said. "I admit, some of the other nobles might want to speak to you too after your rather heroic find of the lost royal candidate."

"Is that so?" Lelouch asked. "Then I will be in your care. Thank you very much for the generous offer, sir Reinhard."

"Just Reinhard is okay, nothing changes between us," Reinhard smiled back at him.

"Are they gonna fuck?" Felt asked. Making Lelouch and Reinhard stare at her. Rom exploded in laughter. Even Reinhard couldn't help but snort at the rather obvious frown on Lelouch's face at Felt's question. Ignoring her, Lelouch turned back towards Reinhard.

The nobles wouldn't constantly be at the castle, and Lelouch doubted that he could easily enter without Reinhard. So staying at his mansion and having caught the interest of some nobles would help him make some ties. Sighing, Lelouch turned back to Reinhard, ignoring Felt's teasing grin.

"Where is Lady Emilia?" Lelouch asked.

"She returned to the Mathers Mansion," Reinhard said. "Lord Mathers will probably also be interested in speaking with you if Lady Emilia is honest about the events, so I would be careful."

"Careful?" Lelouch asked. Rom coughed, drawing attention to him.

"They say he's rather… eccentric," Rom explained. "Very eccentric."

"That's pretty much it," Reinhard said. "But other than that, he's a polite and nice man, the people on his land are very happy."

Felt scoffed, as if the concept of a nice noble was something she couldn't fathom at all.

"I'm wondering how you know about that," Lelouch asked Rom. The man chuckled.

"I knew a man who tried to steal from Mathers once," Rom answered.

"Oh dear," Reinhard said. Rom's chuckle grew louder.

"He cried," Rom said. "A lot."

"Wasn't that Ziggy?" Felt asked. "I think I still hear him some nights."

Lelouch chuckled nervously. It seemed that books weren't enough to explain what he had to expect from most noble families.

"I guess that's it?" Rom asked eventually. "She participates in your election and then she's free to go?"

"Of course," Reinhard said. "But you seem to be under the assumption that Lady Felt is not going to win."

She tried to kick him. He grabbed her leg instead and softly set it down on the ground.

"I don't know," Rom said. "I know her, but she seems a bit too happy to beat her opposition with her fists rather than her mouth."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "I am sure that she will win."

"Feh," Felt said, scoffing at his words. "'Course I'll win, and I'll show those nobles that they have to bow down to the slums before I'll allow them to say another word to me."

Reinhard smiled, bowing to Felt as if to do exactly what she had just said. While the symbolism was probably lost on her, Lelouch couldn't help but smile. A loyal knight like that, Felt really hit the jackpot.

Or he was just using her for his own agenda. But considering these people put a lot of faith into some kind of prophecy, Lelouch doubted that Reinhard could, or would want to rein in someone like Felt to simply have her take a place as puppet ruler.

And Lelouch couldn't help but feel even more excited. Exciting was a wonderful description of the circumstances. He would never describe himself as adrenaline junkie, but the way his heart pounded when faced with danger has always been something that helped him focus and cleared his mind.

Lelouch wanted to see that whoever takes the throne would be someone good.

It wouldn't do well to end up having someone like his father reign in the country that he would live in for a foreseeable future, after all. And even if she skipped to Kararagi, or one of the other kingdoms, he'd have to deal with that queen as a neighbor.

"Say, Reinhard," Lelouch said. "I'm a big fan of chess. Do you think one of the nobles might be interested to play with me?"

Reinhard blinked at the sudden request. Shrugging, he scratched the back of his head. "I suppose there's a lot of those, but I don't know if they want to play with, uh."

"A commoner, I understand," Lelouch said. "I suppose if you can find one to play with me, the others will get interested fast. I'm quite good at it, you see."

"A lot of people claim that," Reinhard said, grinning. "It always ends with two of those meeting and one realizing they're not that good at all."

"We'll see," Lelouch said.

"Definitely gay," Felt muttered under her breath. Lelouch narrowed his eyes at the girl.

###

Eventually, Reinhard revealed that Felt and Rom would be staying at the Astraea mansion as well. Due to Reinhard becoming Felt's knight by not giving her much choice in the matter, and her respecting his strength far more than she respected Lelouch, they would be stuck together for a while longer.

Lelouch, however, was not quite ready to leave the castle yet. Not before he had some contact with the nobles and made himself known to them. While he was nothing but a commoner to them, the fact that Reinhard had thrown his name into the report of how he found Felt gave him a little bit of recognition.

It did, eventually, end up with him sitting across a blonde man with red eyes, a distant cousin of the Barielle family.

Suddenly, the similarity between Priscilla, Felt and this man in front of him made more sense. Considering the sheer amount of hair colors without any color being more common than the next, it did take a while for Lelouch to make the connection.

Perhaps Felt was related to them. That would make her a noble in the normal sense, and not similar to Emilia who came from a forest of elves. The people the emblems reacted to seemed rather specific, and not clearly related to Lugnica's nobility. One of them was a foreigner from Kararagi, after all.

The man who had accepted the offer, Tristan Barielle looked confident.

"Say," Lelouch said, moving one of the center pawns forward and leaving the king wide open. An amateurish move. The man across him scoffed slightly. "Why did you agree to play with me, sir?"

"I was curious," he said. "Sir Reinhard seemed to have a high opinion of you."

"Ah," Lelouch said. He would have to thank the knight later. "You are related to the royal candidate Priscilla, are you not?"

The man scowled. "Yes, our esteemed princess, the Blood-Stained Bride."

To his credit, Lelouch hesitated only slightly at the title. "Blood-Stained?"

"She's not even twenty," Tristan said. "And has already led eight husbands to an early grave."

That gave Lelouch more of a reason to pause. He doubted nobles could simply get away with murder.

"I assume that quite a few rumors fly around the house of Barielle about that," Lelouch said. The man nodded. Nobles loved their gossip.

"And people still try to court her," he said. "Fools, the lot of them, that child is nothing but misfortune for our family."

"You seem rather… open with your hostility, sir," Lelouch said.

"We're nothing more than dirt in her eyes," the man said. Lelouch messed up on purpose, letting the noble get the upperhand. "And any claim by you would simply be dismissed as commoner's trying to defame the nobility."

"I can appreciate the honesty," Lelouch admitted. "Very well, I have an offer for you, sir Barielle."

"Oh?"

"How about we make this a bit more exciting?"

"Exciting?" the man asked, moving one of his own pawns forward.

"Yes, a bet," Lelouch said, smiling. "I love the gamble, you see, and I have these."

He pulled the emeralds out of his pocket. The room was empty, Lelouch would have to wait until this afternoon before Reinhard would lead them to his mansion, and he had some time to kill.

"Oh?" the man intoned. Lelouch could see a greedy grin on his face. "I see, I suppose you know their worth, then?"

"Of course," Lelouch said. "2 sacred gold, I've been told by the jeweler near the market."

That was the value he would get there. The man would probably sell them for more, and the noble knew that.

"I see."

The man pulled a bag from his hip and opened it. White coins sparkled. Putting two coins on the table and closing the bag, the man grinned at Lelouch. Lelouch grinned back.

"In that case I will have to accept," he said. "I love exciting games, after all, and a gamble always spices things up."

"I'm glad you see it my way, sir Barielle."

"Me too, sir Lamperouge."

A servant walked in with food. Lelouch's stomach growled loudly. It has been a long time since he had eaten.

Tristan laughed, and Lelouch picked up the pace, ready to turn the game into his favor again.

"Say, sir Barielle, what did you hear about the other candidates?" Lelouch asked.

"The Karsten house's candidate, Crusch," the man said, narrowing his eyes at the board. "A rival house of the Barielle. She's competent, I think. A queen I wouldn't mind serving under."

"Rivals?" Lelouch said. He really didn't know why the man was so open, he didn't seem to be lying.

"Both house Barielle and Karsten are descendants of the first royal family," he said. Lelouch couldn't quite remember if such a detail was inside the the books. "We have inherited the looks, the golden hair and red eyes, while they inherited the 'spirit', some say. Born with Divine Protections that were seen in ancestors of the past."

"Fascinating," Lelouch said, taking a bite of the prepared food. "So you would prefer Lady Karsten instead of Lady Barielle?"

"I would prefer a Lugnica on the throne," he said simply. Lelouch nodded. Kadomon had been very adamant about that as well.

"What about the foreigner," Lelouch said. "Lady Anastasia Hoshin, I think?"

The man scowled. "A very great businesswoman, but if she has the capability to be a ruler, I cannot say."

"The fact that she's a foreigner probably doesn't sit well with most of the nobles, does it?"

"If she brings the Hoshin trading company's main seat to Lugnica, they'll lick her feet," he said. "Hoshin is more nobility than some of Kararagi's other nobles."

"I know how most nobles reacted about Lady Felt," Lelouch said, noting that the man's scowl increased in intensity. "But what about Lady Emilia?"

"There's rumors," he said, leaning in. "An elf on the throne might mean trouble, but they say Lady Emilia looks like the Witch of Envy."

"So nobody would support her," Lelouch said.

"Quite the opposite," Tristan noted. "She has the most influential noble besides Lady Priscilla and Lady Crusch on her side. Roswaal L. Mathers, the head of the Mathers house, with him, she stands on equal grounds as the other three."

"Three," Lelouch repeated. "So you don't think Lady Felt has a chance?"

"The Astraea house is a house of knights, people who fight for the country, not work inside of it," he said. "With their support, she has a base, but it's not quite the same as the endorsement of the Mathers family. And even then, it's only Reinhard who supports her."

"What about the rest of his family?" Lelouch asked. The man grinned slightly.

"I have heard that his grandfather Wilhelm is supporting Lady Karsten. His father has decided to remain impartial."

"The world of nobles seems to be a complicated and twisted web, doesn't it?" Lelouch asked. The man grinned in a condescending way, even as the game started to look bad for him.

"That's why commoners are commoners," he said. "And nobles take care of nobles. You wouldn't understand."

"I think," Lelouch said, smiling. "That I don't want to."

###

By the time afternoon came, and Reinhard came to pick Lelouch up, the size of the sum had already increased.

While his only opponent remained the esteemed sir Barielle, the man repeatedly tried to make up for his loss by doubling on the bet after each game. While Lelouch took it easy, holding back against the admittedly adept man, he couldn't help but be disappointed.

By the time he had twelve sacred gold from the man, fourteen if he counted the emeralds he could sell, Reinhard entered the small large room they've sat in. Sir Barielle was sweating, looking worried as the man walked in.

"Ah, Reinhard," Lelouch said. "Do you have a bag to spare for my coins? I'm afraid I have only my pockets."

"Sure," Reinhard said, apparently holding back a smile at the coins on the table next to the emeralds.

"Just one more game, sir Reinhard," the noble said, slightly red in the face.

"I apologize, sir Barielle," he said. "But I'm afraid that I cannot let my host wait for much longer. It has been a pleasure."

"Yes, yes, quite," he said. "I will have to ask for a rematch one day."

"Of course, you can find me at the Astraea mansion for the time being," Lelouch said, standing up and pocketing the coins until Reinhard could give him a bag.

As Lelouch and Reinhard walked out of the room, the red-haired knight's grin grew wider.

"I suppose you are good," Reinhard said.

"Maybe I am," Lelouch said, smiling back. "But he was just bad."

Reinhard laughed. They met up with Felt and Rom and eventually left the castle in a carriage.

Lelouch would pay her back later, as soon as he had enough money to keep betting without concern. He would need the money to buy books and possible teachers. Instead of traveling to the Yang master, he might be able to persuade them to come to him.

There were other possibilities too, of course, everything had to be tried once.

"Reinhard," Lelouch spoke up. Felt was sitting next to the red-haired knight, her head on the man's arm while snoring loudly. Rom was seated next to Lelouch, hunched over to avoid hitting his head against the ceiling and pressing Lelouch into the side of the carriage.

"Yes?"

"You know I'm studying to be a mage," Lelouch said. "And my affinity is rather rare, I have heard."

"Yang, right?" Reinhard asked. Lelouch nodded. "Do you want to join the mage corps?"

"No, I don't," Lelouch said. War on a large scale would be wearing him down, and while he didn't hear anything about conflicts, joining the military force would be detrimental to his plans. "I just wondered if there were any nobles with the same affinity, so I could ask them for advice."

"Hmm," Reinhard said, crossing his arms and looking up. "I think I know one."

"Oh?" Lelouch said. They wouldn't be a master that could teach him with great detail, but a bit of help could be useful. Books were wonderful to convey knowledge of spells, but the actual practical knowledge he needed about using mana properly and training to use more spells before passing out would take less time if he actually received some help.

"Yes, Priscilla Barielle," Reinhard said. Lelouch sighed. Of course. "I don't think she'll help you, though."

"Yes, I understand," Lelouch said. Why did it have to be her of all people? "That is rather unfortunate. How knowledgeable are you about magic?"

"I use magic in my attacks," Reinhard said. "But I don't think I can help you. I'm using it very similar to spirit users."

"So you use magic from the atmosphere?"

"Yes," Reinhard nodded. "It's part of the Sword Saint's power. The Blessing of the Sword Saint is passed down as soon as the last one dies. My grandmother held the title before me."

"I suppose I'm left to wander alone and learn as much as I can," Lelouch said. "Oh dear, what misfortune."

"But you're making quick progress," Reinhard said. Lelouch knew the man would compliment a flea for its ability to jump, but felt happy that someone with strength like that was still humble enough to actually give a compliment to someone else. "It's impressive for someone who's so clueless about a lot of things."

Lelouch clicked with his tongue, a wry smile on his lips. "When did I ever give you that impression?"

"Whenever you ask a question," Reinhard answered, grinning. Lelouch observed the people outside for a moment, their stares towards the carriage filled with awe and jealousy. The stares that people would give Felt now.

"Of course," Lelouch said. "So, Reinhard van Astraea, could you enlighten this clueless commoner?"

Reinhard gave Lelouch an amused look after nodding.

"What about?"

"Why do you support Lady Felt?"

Her leg lashed out in her sleep, hitting Rom's shin. The large man ignored the sudden assault and turned to Reinhard, paying attention to the conversation for once.

"She is the candidate I want to see on the throne," Reinhard said, his voice earnest as he gave Lelouch a rather quizzical look.

"But why?" Lelouch asked. Reinhard blinked, furrowing his brow.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Between the heads of two families, a businesswoman without equal and a mighty elven mage with the support of the Mathers house, why a girl from the street?"

"I suppose it's fate," Reinhard said. Lelouch tried not to scowl. "You led me of all people to her, the royal candidate that was mentioned in the prophecy but never found."

"So you're saying any other knight would have done the same?" Lelouch asked.

"I doubt it, but that's what makes this so exciting, doesn't it?"

The absolute jackpot. Felt probably wasn't aware just how lucky she was.

The carriage stopped, and Felt flew forward, caught by Reinhard before she could hit her head against Rom and lifted her back to her seat. Opening her eyes slowly, the girl yawned loudly. Lelouch could see what she had eaten with how far she had opened her mouth.

"Are we there yet?" she asked, stretching.

"Yes," Lelouch said, staring at the pristine mansion outside. A man in butler uniform opened the door, letting Lelouch and Rom take the first step out. After a few seconds, Reinhard stepped out and bowed in front of the carriage, ready to take Felt's hand and help her out.

She just jumped over him, using his shoulders as springboard.

"Well shit," she said. "This looks like it's cozy, is this how rich people live?"

Lelouch couldn't help but be amused by the bewildered stares that the servants outside gave Felt. Reinhard simply chuckled, standing up and walking towards her. Truly the most unlady like lady this mansion had ever seen.

"I suppose that even among the rich nobles, we are a bit above the average," Reinhard admitted. "Welcome to the home of the Astraea family, my lady."

"You don't think I'm the long lost child of a noble too, eh, Lelouch?" Rom asked, staring at the home and maids.

"I doubt it," Lelouch said. Rom sighed. Giving the large man a smile, Lelouch spoke up again. "Don't worry, old man Rom, I'm not a noble either. We can be poor together."

The man laughed, slapping Lelouch on the back as they followed behind Reinhard and Felt.