Chapter 7: Dungeons and Daughters

Lelouch smiled thinly at the man in front of him. The sun was hidden behind clouds, barely any rays escaping through the white sheet in the sky. Muted colors greeted him wherever he glanced, giving the mansion he could see in the distance a rather eerie appearance.

The bald knight in front of him was dressed in rather simple clothes rather than an armor. A sword, lazily strapped to his hip, swung widely at every small movement. It hadn't taken Lelouch very long to find his way here, Ferris' giving him the directions helped immensely. The large compound, surrounded by thick walls of stone and a wooden gate with a guard in front of it looked more 'classy' than the Astraea's place.

Where the Astraea family had a fence and a gate, it was a simple iron fence. And the area on which the Barielle mansion stood was possibly four times as large as his new friend's gardens.

A powerful family who have decided to become knights rather than deal with the politics of nobles. Their way of living reflected it. Rich, but not pompous. Strong, but not arrogant. Kind, but not overbearing.

Just by taking a look at the two homes, Lelouch knew that he liked the Astraea mansion a lot more.

"This seems to be in order," the knight said, handing the invitation Lelouch had received this morning back to him. "Are you capable of magic?"

Lelouch nodded. There was no sense in hiding it. The nobles should be capable of magic too, after all.

"There are guards all around the compound," the bald knight eventually said. "Use magic at your own leisure after clearing it with Lord Tristan if you wish, but don't do anything stupid."

"Of course," Lelouch said, keeping the smile on his face. "Is Lady Priscilla here today?"

"No." The man shook his head. "It's doubtful that you would have been invited if she was."

The man's tone was respectful while mentioning it, and Lelouch could hear a twinge of fear. Taking a deep breath, Lelouch breathed out through his nose and stepped in, walking through over the way of stone that has been paved towards the entrance of the large mansion. The gardens here were not 'barren'. But Lelouch wouldn't call them well kept. While there were no weeds visible, the plants were not separated by color or arranged in any way.

Instead, they were blooming however they wished. Tulips and roses sitting next to each other and in a myriad of colors like a mosaic that a child had painted.

In architecture, the whole place was not different from the Astraea mansion, but larger. Not by much, but Lelouch assumed it was simply natural for a rich family with more children. Besides Priscilla Barielle and Tristan, who had a daughter, there were at least five other cousins with children of their own, he had heard.

Knocking on the door, Lelouch could feel something from the thick wooden doors. Magic of some kind. Protection, he assumed. Possibly something that would make it hard for thieves to break in.

A young man, maybe six years his junior, opened the door. He was dressed in a servant's suit. The young man's dark brown hair shone slightly under the lights that were brightening up the main foyer inside, and combined with his soft smile, gave off a rather serene impression.

"Hello," Lelouch said, smiling back at the boy. "Lord Tristan invited me today."

The servant boy didn't say anything, nodding at Lelouch before stepping to the side, letting Lelouch in. The first thing Lelouch saw was Priscilla's face staring back at him. A portrait of the young lady was hanging on a wall. It took him a second glance to be sure that it was only a painting.

"Follow me," the servant said. His voice was soft, and almost not audible. Lelouch walked behind him until they reached a door to the right of the main foyer. Opening the door and stepping to the side to hold it open for Lelouch, the servant gave a slight bow. "The upper floors are off limits for guests. Lord Tristan does not have the permission to grant you entry there."

Lelouch nodded. Wonderful. Priscilla, as head of the house, was obviously not someone that the rest of her family wished to disrespect in any way. If she declared something, it was unlikely that the family, and especially the servants, would go against it. Someone who had such a tight control of her house was someone he could respect, but also someone who could be dangerous.

And nothing is without flaws. The animosity that Tristan had shown yesterday helped to paint a clear picture of where the weakest link in this family was.

Stepping into the room, Lelouch was greeted with the smell of tea and Tristan, sitting at a table and speaking with an elderly man. The man's short hair was gray, and his clothes made it obvious that he wasn't a servant. When both of them turned towards him, Lelouch also saw the blue eyes of the other guest. Not a Barielle.

"Welcome," Tristan said, standing up. The other man followed suit and both of them walked up to him. Giving a courteous bow, Lelouch spoke up.

"Thank you for having me, sir," Lelouch said. Turning his eyes to the old man, Lelouch smiled.

"This is Lord Miload," Tristan introduced him. The man gave a small nod towards Lelouch. "He is the head of the Miload family, and an avid chess player. When I had told him I had been beaten, he was interested in joining us."

"I would rather skip the pleasantries, Tristan," Miload said. Tristan's face twitched, the hint of a scowl making itself visible there. "I have heard that you would are a fan of bets, hm?"

Miload. Lelouch hadn't heard of the family a lot. All he knew was that the Miload house was a very family who employed demi-humans after an event known as the 'demi-human war' fought between the human and demi-human kingdoms. The cheap labor allowed him to make profit, and despite having no reason to, he improved the lives of his workers afterwards, financing villages for them to live in.

The face that Lelouch was staring at was not the face of such a kind man. Or perhaps the books had been written by a biased author. The information on other families had seemed very accurate, at least.

"Yes," Lelouch answered. "You as well, sir?"

"Very much so," Miload said. He moved through the furnished room towards a chess table, sitting down in one of the chairs. Tristan looked nervous, his weight shifting from one leg to the other and his eyes moved around the room as if looking for something. "Say, Lelouch Lamperouge…"

Lelouch sat down across the man, taking the bag of coins out of his clothes, putting it on the table. "Yes, sir?"

"You're a foreigner, yes?"

Lelouch nodded. The old man took a bag of his own, throwing three silver coins forward onto the board, knocking one of the pawns over. Lelouch did the same. No high stakes at the start? A pity, but Lelouch had more than enough gold to live comfortably for a while now. This game could allow him to make more contacts with other nobles.

"Indeed," Lelouch answered. Tristan took the coins off the board and let Miload put his pawn back in place.

"Yet," Miload said, watching as Lelouch moved a pawn forward. "You have become a friend with the Astraea family after being in the capital for barely a week. Perhaps less."

Lelouch frowned. Of course. He wasn't the only one fishing for information.

"Are you going to go somewhere with this line of inquiry, sir?" Lelouch asked. There was no way he would just let the questioning go unchallenged like Tristan had. Miload grinned, showing teeth.

"I'm simply wondering what you think of our beautiful capital," Miload said. Lelouch grimaced. If that's how he wanted to play. Responding to the man's own pawn moving forward, Lelouch mirrored his action.

"It's peaceful," Lelouch said. "Beautiful, even. I've yet to meet a person who looked unhappy."

"Of course, Lugnica is the finest kingdom of them all," Miload boasted. "But it wasn't always peaceful, of course. You're young, you don't know the horrors of war."

Lelouch held back the chuckle that was bubbling up at the back of his throat. Of course he doesn't. The man coughed twice. Tristan had taken a third chair and sat next to the table.

"People like Tristan here were born into nobility, and stripped of their power when more competent people came around," Miload continued. Tristan looked sour at the words, but did not rise to challenge the slight against his person. "People like me made their power, it would be hard to take it from us."

Lelouch nodded. It was simple for someone who probably bought himself into nobility.

"This is the reason I don't support the Karsten and Barielle house," Miload said. "I am, as of yet, undecided on who to support of the other three. Lady Hoshin is a person like me. Someone who earned their power through hard work and dedication."

Or on the labor of others. Still, if he had actually helped the demi-humans, even with ulterior motives, Lelouch could see the man go uncontested in claiming it was his work. As the investor, all the profit would eventually go back to him.

"And Lady Emilia?" Lelouch asked. "A half-elf, as you might know."

"I don't know her plans," Miload answered. "And Lady Felt seems like quite the spitfire. Someone born without power, who has so quickly gathered the support of the Astraea family's Sword Saint, it's quite incredible."

"But the Sword Devil Wilhelm supports Lady Karsten," Lelouch said. The divide in the house was clear.

"Sword Devil, hmph." Miload looked down at the board. It was in Lelouch's favor after the few minutes of play. "I admit, that title was something that frightened me quite a lot all these years ago, the man who mercilessly slaughtered hundreds of demi-humans, breaking sword after sword…"

Lelouch frowned again. The man was either simply this whimsical, or maybe purposefully going off tangents to provoke something from him.

"Say, sir Lelouch, as the latest resident of this country and its capital, what do you think would be best?"

"I'm not sure why you are asking a commoner like me something like this," Lelouch said, grinning at the man. "It is the nobles who make the decisions for the country, after all."

"Hogwash," Miload said. "The country is its people. Thirty years ago, I was nothing more than a commoner with a bag of gold. Now, there are people like Tristan here who owe me money, despite coming from higher families."

Lelouch glanced at the man. He was sweating bullets, grimacing at the blatant way that Miload had given Lelouch this information.

"If you defeat me, his debt is cleared," Miload said. "If not, it will double."

"I suppose I'm pressured to help the esteemed sir Barielle, then?" Lelouch asked. Miload laughed loudly.

"Of course not, feel free to dismiss that bet between two men and focus on our bet," Miload said. Miload moved his king away from where it stood after Lelouch moved his own king forward. "So, Lelouch, what kind of country would you wish to live in?"

"As I have said," Lelouch began, smiling at the man. "Everything in this country gives me the impression of peace. If possible, I would prefer for that to continue. Whichever queen is more likely to achieve that will be the one I shall support."

The man's grin turned almost feral.

"Kid," Miload said. "Tristan wasn't wrong. You don't cower in front of nobility, you have a good head on your shoulders. How about we increase our wager?"

By all means, the man had no reason to ask that of him. Lelouch was winning, and the result was already very clear.

"How so?" Lelouch asked. Two turns to victory.

"If you lose, you'll work for me," he declared. Lelouch raised an eyebrow.

"And if I win?" Lelouch asked.

"You can marry my daughter, Annerose," he said. That would increase his social standing, but it might put him at odds with the Barielle and Karsten family considering Miload's stance. Lelouch's eyebrow almost reached his hairline when Tristan began to splutter.

"But Henry!" Tristan said. "She's barely nine!"

"They don't have to marry right now," Miload, no, Henry, said. Lelouch shook his head.

"I apologize," Lelouch said. "But I believe that an arranged marriage would not really be something I'm interested in."

Becoming that man's future son in law would probably also lead to helping the man out. It wasn't really an equal wager.

"I see," Henry said, nodding. "How unfortunate. Wouldn't you like to meet her first before making that decision?"

"I have to refuse," Lelouch said, more firmly. The hardness in his voice was more annoyance than anything else, but Henry simply sighed.

"My daughter is so undesirable," Henry said, sounding like a child with his whining. Tristan coughed, trying to regain his composure. "Ah, it seems I have lost."

"So it seems," Lelouch said, taking the coins he won from Tristan, who looked ready to jump in joy. "Care for another round?"

"Of course," Henry said. The sound of shattering glass drew their attention, and Lelouch stared towards the window. It was still whole.

Then, the lights went off. The magical lighting vanishing without a trace made Lelouch grimace. They had no electricity, no power outages should be possible. He heard a thud, then another. A squelching sound echoed.

Snapping with his fingers, Lelouch whispered the incantation for the first spell he had learned, creating small lights that illuminated everything around him.

There was blood on his feet. Lelouch held the light down, towards the ground. Swallowing hard, he took a few steps back. Tristan and Henry lay there, their throats cut open. This was no good.

Running towards the door, Lelouch tried to open it. Summoning a dagger, he stabbed the lock, but it didn't budge. The squelching sound returned, and Lelouch turned around. Throwing the sparks of light at whoever was standing behind him, Lelouch caught a flash of black hair in his vision before a knife entered his head under his chin. The person was grabbing their eyes, trying to shield them from the light, and Lelouch fell to the ground like a puppet without strings.

Holding his throat, unable to speak, Lelouch spat blood. A foot smashed into his face, and everything went black.

-#-

"Sir Lelouch?"

Lelouch opened his eyes, his hand immediately going to his throat as he took a deep breath, trying to take a step back. His legs gave out under him as he fell onto his bed inside the guest room that Reinhard had offered him. Swallowing heavily, Lelouch looked cleared his mind. A servant stood in front of him, a letter in hand.

"Are you alright, sir?"

Lelouch swallowed again, taking the letter with a shaking hand. Again. He died again, and he didn't end up next to Kadomon.

"Yes," Lelouch said. "I apologize, I've been awake for too long into the night."

"I understand," the man said, bowing to him. "Have a nice day. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thank you."

Lelouch stood right up as the servant opened the door to his room again, stepping out before shutting the door quickly. New information. Things he couldn't write down.

The loop moved 'forward'. If he died again, he didn't have to be afraid to move back to the point before he met Emilia and Reinhard. As much as he would like to compile all the information and try to find out everything he could, there was a twinge of worry. If he tried to write it down, would the witch's scent return? Would he have to kill himself multiple times to get rid of it? He could wait it out, see if something changes. Right now, he could be a bit more reckless again.

But this also meant he had to be careful at the same time. If he didn't know about the 'point' that the loop went back to before it happened, he might inevitably do something that leads to a permanent detrimental effect. Until he could determine what factor moved the loop forward, the maximum on the loop right now was one game of chess with Henry Miload and the subsequent assassination.

Lelouch clicked with this his tongue, the phantom pain of the dagger leaving slowly. He couldn't be sure that the assassination was meant for him. He might have been collateral, and to get more information, Lelouch would have to prepare himself to die again in case he was wrong. Common sense wanted him to simply stay here today, let them die and be done with it, but...

Just like Emilia and Felt, these two were with him when he died. Which meant that if he managed to save them, the rich Miload head and a member of the powerful Barielle family owed him something.

Unable to keep the smile off his face, Lelouch grabbed the bag of coins next to him and pocketed it. Incredibly light, the few coins he had at the moment would be enough to sustain a normal family for a few years at the very least. Amassing wealth with confident nobles was a wonderful thing.

Lelouch stepped out of his room.

-#-

This time, he simply skipped the conversation he had with Ferris about his magic. Instead, he ate a quick breakfast before going on his merry way, hearing Felt sigh in glee as Ferris' healing magic was taking care of her every pain.

By the time Lelouch reached the Barielle mansion again, the world was full of muted colors, the sun hidden behind clouds like last time. Handing the bald knight his invitation, Lelouch smiled thinly, unable to keep the unfortunate dread of knowingly walking into a possible death trap down.

"Everything seems to be in order," the man said, staring at the invitation. "You alright?"

"I've been feeling a bit under the weather, nothing more," Lelouch said. Taking the invitation back, Lelouch gave the man one last smile before entering. Useless guardsman, can't even keep assassins out.

"Oi, wait," he said. Lelouch did. "Gotta ask you a question first, you know any magic?"

"Yes," Lelouch said. "I'm a novice. It's been going slow."

"Alright, don't use any magic unless you get permission, lots of guards get twitchy when mana flares up."

"Of course," Lelouch said. They had a way to detect? Mage guards, perhaps. "Good day to you, sir."

"Good luck," the man said, nodding towards Lelouch.

Walking the path of the myriad colors, Lelouch arrived at the door and knocked. The young man opened the door.

"Lord Tristan invited me today," he said. The young man nodded, moving out of the way for Lelouch to move in. Step after step, Lelouch followed in until he was let into the room. Looking around, Lelouch was sure nobody but those two were inside. There were also no guards here.

Presumably so they won't hear about that wager to get rid of the debt. In context of that information, Lelouch wished he could call out that stupidity. No matter how safe you feel in your home, you are never completely away from danger.

"Hello Lord Tristan, Lord Miload," Lelouch greeted them. They turned to him, standing up.

-#-

Nothing changed. Lelouch made sure nothing changed. Giving the man the same answers, making the same moves, ending up in the same situation, only a few turns to victory.

"Ah," Lelouch said. "I apologize, could we delay for a bit, I'm afraid I'll have to visit the bathroom."

"Of course," Tristan said, looking rather confident at the board in Lelouch's favor. "Take the door here out and take the second door to the right down the hall."

"Thank you."

Lelouch stood up. If anyone was here, he couldn't be reckless. Slowly leaving the room and walking down the hall, Lelouch found only a lone guard patrolling the upper floor. Walking out of sight, Lelouch's way did not lead him to the bathroom. No, if anyone was listening in, they might know.

He took the second door to the left instead. It was a bedroom, empty, the bed looking disheveled and used just recently. Stepping into the room and closing the door slowly to make no sound, Lelouch began to count the seconds.

If he was right, then the lights should be going out any minute now.

"Oh my," he heard. Blinking, Lelouch turned his head towards the voice. A young woman stood there, wet blonde hair hanging down to her shoulders. The fact that she was half naked, dressed only in a towel, made the situation more awkward. Rather than letting him spin a lie of why exactly he was in her room, Lelouch was met with a rather strange stare. "Did a prince from a distant nation come to my room to ravage me, dear sir? Whatever is a poor maiden to do?"

The way she took step after step towards him as she spoke told him a lot. When he tried to open the door, Lelouch found his hand sizzling as he grabbed the knob. She grabbed him by the collar as he hissed in pain, shaking his hand around to cool it down. Throwing him on the bed, she straddled him.

The lights should be going out any minute now. He couldn't just fight her off with magic without opening a can of worms, and despite her rather lithe appearance, she was physically strong enough that struggling would mean hurting her.

"I apologize," Lelouch said quickly. He had to get to the room, check if they were dead. If the lights didn't go out here, it's possible that they were only shut down inside the room. "I was looking for the bathroom-"

"I have my private one here," she said. Lelouch twitched at the purr she made. "If you want to play in the water, I'm willing to indulge you."

The 'maiden' as she had called herself didn't seem inclined to let him go.

His shirt was already open, and her towel had fallen off. Not seeing much of a choice here, Lelouch threw her off him, onto the other side of the bed and tried to roll out. Her grip was like iron, and he ended up the one above her, buttons falling off and ripping the shirt he had bought just recently open.

When the door opened with a large bang, Lelouch and the young woman could only stare at the, fortunate in Lelouch's eyes, interruption.

Unfortunately, the miscalculation of the room led to the worst case scenario. Fortunately, he knew that the target of the assassin wasn't these two, but him.

"CLARISSA?!" Tristan roared. Miload was standing behind him, a slight grin on his face. "GUARDS!"

"Sir, I know exactly what this looks like," Lelouch said, out of breath. "And I can assure you, there is a very good explanation."

Miload broke into giggles that turned into full blown laughter. Guards stormed the room and grabbed Lelouch before he could resist, dragging him off Clarissa. The girl pouted like a child whose toy was taken from her.

"Into the dungeons with him!" Tristan ordered. Lelouch thought about using magic, resist and have them kill him, but they held his arms tight and dragged him away.

"Are you not overreacting, Tristan?" Miload asked. Tristan glared at Lelouch with a ferocity unmatched.

"He defiled my daughter-"

"Daaad-"

Lelouch wanted to smash his head against the wall.

-#-

Unfortunately for him, Lelouch was sitting in the dungeons with shackles that prevented him from using mana. This meant that just summoning a dagger to kill himself was impossible. It also meant that Lelouch was about to take punishment.

If he was simply executed, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Instead, Tristan had decided to spare his life because his daughter has asked him to.

So his punishment would be a hundred lashes. Twenty every day for the next five days, before he would be released. Miload did not have the authority to stop Tristan on the Barielle property, and apparently even the chance of losing his debt didn't help.

Lelouch didn't know why Henry felt so inclined to do that much for him, but it was something to consider the next time he talked to the man.

The first lash was not weak. Lelouch grit his teeth, the whip cutting into the skin of his back. Maybe he was lucky and Reinhard would notice his disappearance and get him tomorrow.

The second lash cut over the other direction, again cutting into his skin. Corporal punishment was so medieval. Lelouch tried to concentrate on something else, but he wasn't able to. The third lash hurt worse than the other two.

Maybe paying Ferris to heal this and relieve him of the pain wouldn't be a bad idea. The fourth and fifth lash came quickly after another. Every time Tristan shouted a number, Lelouch counted down from twenty.

That's it. He wasn't petty, but he would have to refuse Henry's challenge unless the bet between Henry and Tristan is off. That asshole can go pay his debt back on his own. Considering how much money he already threw around, it was unlikely to be a small sum.

The tenth lash finally made him cry out.

Right after that, he heard a squelching sound and a thud. His heart pounding, his back throbbing and his entire body hurting, Lelouch tried to turn his head, unable to do so due to the pain.

"Hey, assassin," Lelouch croaked out. The steps towards him halted. "Can you at least tell me who hired you?"

A dumb gamble. But people loved to gloat, Lelouch had to admit that it wasn't really a horrible feeling to stand over someone and do so. Reacting to his words, the assassin began to giggle. It was a man, but the voice wasn't very deep.

"You," the assassin said. "You hurt mama Elsa, I'll hurt you…"

The knife that the assassin used traced over the wounds on his back. Lelouch tried to twist his body forward, get away from the pain. Rather than just kill him, the assassin further cut into one of the wounds, making Lelouch scream.

"Assassin!" Lelouch shouted. "Your mother must be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, but at least she has the dignity to go for the kill immediately!"

The assassin shouted in rage, his knife digging deep into Lelouch's back. Instead of a quick death, the assassin continued. He stabbed the knife again and again as Lelouch screamed, the pain leaving him conscious as he rapidly bled to death, until he gargled up blood.

Lelouch's eyes rolled up as he collapsed in front of the servant giving him Tristan's letter. Forget those two. Unable to keep his consciousness through the pain, Lelouch had one last thought.

Fuck Tristan. He would stay at the Astraea mansion today, where it's safe.

-#-

When Lelouch woke up, it was to the soft hum of a feminine voice. Warmth was spreading through his body as someone sat on his legs. Opening his eyes, Lelouch found Reinhard and Felt looking at him, the former looking worried.

"Lelouch," Reinhard said. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," Lelouch admitted. He felt weak, even as the vitalizing effect of the water magic he felt took over.

"What does he have?" Reinhard asked. The feminine hum echoed again.

"I don't know," Ferris repeated his words. "The wounds inside him are phantom in nature. They're not actually there, but hurt just as much. The pain must be unbearable."

"Wounds?" Reinhard asked, his eyes narrowed. "Who could have wounded him? He was here the whole time-"

"Maybe that servant who got you?" Felt inquired. Reinhard looked towards the door, but Lelouch spoke up.

"No," Lelouch said. Ferris made an affirmative sound.

"Mhm," Ferris said. "This looks like the effect of a painful curse. It's leaving as quick as I'm healing it, the effects would've held twice as long without my help."

"I see," Lelouch said. "Thank you, Ferris."

"No problem, I'm just doing what Reinhard is paying me to do~" Ferris said. Lelouch grinned. Money, of course. "Still, you seem to know what happened, can you explain?"

"Ah," Lelouch said. "I suppose saying 'I can't' would not be enough to sate your curiosity?"

At this, even Reinhard shook his head. Lelouch grimaced. If it failed, he could die again, maybe get rid of the pain in the process.

"I have a curse on me," Lelouch lied. No pain. "If I try to speak about it-"

There it was.

The world turned white, and instead of allowing him to elaborate why he can't explain, it lashed out. Two black hands came and grabbed his heart, holding it tight, not letting it beat. When he came to, bathed in sweat, his eyes widened as he fell out of the bed. He heard hissing behind him, and turning to Ferris, he could see his hands smoking, burned.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Felt shouted. Lelouch held his chest. Something in his mana changed, but he was able to hold it down, keep it locked. The disgust he started to feel towards himself as he reflexively managed to grasp for it and prevent it from leaking out.

The Witch's scent. The Witch's mana. Without ever having 'smelled' it before, Lelouch could tell this most vile presence that touched him would spill trouble.

"Ahaha…" Ferris laughed slightly, blue energy moving around his hands. Lelouch gave him a look of pity. "It seems that you weren't lying about the curse. Unable to speak about it?"

Lelouch didn't even nod. His entire body was rigid, the witch's scent wasn't allowed to leak out. If he could, he would like to avoid dying right now, both to find out about the scent and what Ferris might have been able to learn about the curse.

"I'm sorry," Lelouch said, his fingernails digging into his shirt. "It seems I made a mistake in attempting to say anything-"

"No," Reinhard said. "I strongly disagree. If we know about this curse, we can do something about it."

"I would rather not," Lelouch said. He had to choose his words carefully, if he talked about it, it might lash out again. "Let me just rest."

"But that pain that knocked you out earlier!" Reinhard said. Lelouch could see the wounds vanish, but scar tissue replaced the burned off skin. The pristine, feminine hands of the androgynous healer were looking downright disgusting. Ferris grimaced hiding his hands behind his back and smiled. Lelouch shook his head at Reinhard, standing up with shaky feet and bowing to Ferris.

"Please, let me-"

He couldn't even speak out before Ferris just grabbed his nose with his fingers.

"If your first reaction is worrying about someone else despite a curse like that," Ferris said, his voice hard. "Then don't be angry at yourself if I'm not."

Lelouch couldn't help the guilt that crept up inside him. Even though he knew that the scars would be gone the next time he died, it was still a visible sign of how he messed up. Besides all political agenda and what friction this might cause between Reinhard and Crusch Karsten, or even his grandfather Wilhelm, Lelouch felt simple guilt.

Contrary to how he presented himself, Lelouch didn't think of himself as infallible. One would be hard pressed to see him ask for forgiveness, but that didn't mean he couldn't do it.

"You might want to pray that the Sage is still alive if you want to lift a curse like that," Ferris continued. "Now, excuse me, I feel like I should be buying gloves for the near future."

Reinhard sighed. "I apologize, Ferris, Lelouch."

"Don't worry about it~" Ferris said, his cheerful voice returning. "Just be sure not to tell Wilhelm before I do."

The red-haired knight nodded.