In the halls of Ashford Academy, a single accidental discovery sparks chaos in the heart of the Britannian Empire. Princess Euphemia li Britannia, beloved by all for her gentle smile, picks up what she thinks is a study notebook in the student council room—only to find it's the private diary of her secret crush, Kururugi Suzaku.
Before she can stop herself, her eyes land on words that make her heart pound: Suzaku has been in love with her from the very first moment they met. But before she can
Code Geass: The Princess Who Fell for Her Rival - In the name of the princess—I will fight.
The sound of the door closing felt strangely distant.
Lelouch's footsteps faded away down the corridor.
Euphemia remained seated on the floor, unable to move.
(*How unsightly, Euphemia.*)
Her brother's cold voice echoed in the depths of her ears.
No—she knew that without being told. She knew better than anyone just how unsightly she was.
She clutched Suzaku's diary on her lap.
Her fingers trembled.
Gently, she opened the pages.
Wild handwriting. But every stroke was honest, without a single lie.
*"I want Euphemia to keep smiling. If it means that, I don't care what happens to me."*
She traced that single line with her finger.
(*"Keep smiling"—that's what you wrote.*)
A tear fell with a soft plop, blurring the ink just slightly.
She hurriedly wiped it with the back of her hand.
(*But right now... I'm crying.*)
Suzaku had been taken away.
To protect Euphemia, he had accepted the handcuffs willingly.
Even when false evidence was found in the locker she had opened out of goodwill, he never blamed her.
"[angry]...No."
Her voice trembled.
"[crying]No. That's wrong. I can't just keep smiling."
Deep in her chest, something tightened painfully.
Sadness.
Agony.
She wanted to see Suzaku.
But more than that—
Euphemia bit down hard on her lip.
(*I hate myself.*)
The version of herself who just cried, who was protected, who could do nothing.
The version of herself who leaned on her status as a princess and never fought for anything.
"[angry]I hate this version of myself the most."
It was the first time she had ever felt such fierce anger—directed at herself.
She rose to her feet.
Her legs wobbled.
They had gone numb from sitting on the floor for so long.
Still, she braced her hands on the desk and forced her body upright.
The ribbon of her formal princess attire—something she always left to her guards.
Today, she tied it with her own hands.
Her fingers trembled, and she couldn't tie it properly.
She redid it twice. Three times.
(*I can't even do something like this on my own.*)
She felt pathetic.
But that was precisely why—she had to do it now.
On the fourth attempt, the ribbon finally took shape.
It was slightly crooked, but that was fine.
This wasn't clothing meant for being protected.
It was armor for fighting.
She tucked the diary into her breast pocket.
Suzaku's words rested over her heart.
One deep breath.
Then she opened the student council room door and burst into the corridor.
She ran at full speed, not caring that her skirt was in disarray, footsteps thudding loudly.
She rounded a corner.
At that moment—
"Kyaa!"
Her foot slipped on the floor with a slick sound.
The corridor had apparently just been waxed.
Her shoulder slammed into the wall.
"[surprised]Ow ow ow..."
It hurt.
She stopped.
Several students passed in front of her, casting startled glances her way.
(*They're thinking, "The princess is running."*)
Euphemia clenched her teeth.
It was embarrassing.
But she couldn't stop.
She broke into a run again.
More carefully this time. But with undeniable speed.
The end of the corridor was noisy.
A wall of gawking students had formed.
At its center, she could see the uniforms of the military police.
And—Suzaku's unruly dark brown hair.
(*There he is.*)
Her heart gave a jolt.
She pushed through the crowd.
"Excuse me, please let me through," she said, though there was no trace of royal dignity in it.
She just desperately shoved her body forward, determined not to let them take Suzaku away.
At last, she broke through to the front.
She had too much momentum.
Her feet tangled, and she couldn't stop.
She was about to crash straight into the military police captain's chest—
"Whoa!"
The captain stepped back.
Euphemia finally managed to stop herself just a few centimeters from his face.
"[surprised]Hahh... hahh..."
She was out of breath.
Her hair was a mess.
Her shoulder throbbed.
The ribbon was, of course, still crooked.
The surrounding students buzzed with murmurs.
"Her Highness was running...?"
The military police captain's face twisted with displeasure.
"[angry]What business do you have, Your Highness? We are currently carrying out our duties. Please leave."
Euphemia caught her breath and looked up at him directly.
"[serious]Wait, please. That detention is invalid."
Her voice trembled.
But she did not avert her eyes.
The captain sneered.
"[sarcastic]Invalid? On what grounds? The evidence was discovered by Your Highness herself. Kururugi Suzaku was in contact with the Black Knights. As long as that evidence exists—"
That was when it happened.
"If it's evidence you want, I have some right here."
A lighthearted voice rang out from the end of the corridor.
The onlookers parted.
Lloyd walked forward, his white lab coat fluttering as always.
He held a military communication terminal in his hand.
"[serious]Ah, you're the captain, I take it. Let me show you some rather interesting data."
Lloyd stood before the captain and thrust the terminal's screen in front of his face.
"This is the ink composition analysis of the evidence documents your men confiscated earlier. The military's standard document ink contains a special antioxidant derived from Sakuradite... but this ink from the forged documents showed absolutely no trace of it. In other words, it's cheap, commercially available counterfeit ink."
The captain's face stiffened slightly.
"Next, handwriting analysis."
Lloyd swiped the screen with his finger.
"Existing handwriting samples from Private Kururugi Suzaku, and this signature. Pen pressure, slant, the way the characters flick... statistically, the probability that this is a different person's handwriting is 99.8%. There are traces of mechanical imitation. Which means—"
He narrowed his already slender eyes behind his silver-rimmed glasses.
"—this is an exceedingly crude, yet maliciously crafted fabrication."
A stir ran through the corridor.
"The documents are fake...?"
"[angry]Silence! Don't spout nonsense!"
The captain shouted.
But his voice was clearly shaken.
Lloyd paid it no mind whatsoever.
"Ah, and one more thing."
He operated the screen further.
"The crease pattern analysis of the documents is also quite interesting. These creases aren't characteristic of documents stored inside a locker. They perfectly match the folding pattern of an item that was rolled up and shoved in from the outside. In short, someone forced these documents into Suzaku's locker from outside."
"Th-that's nothing but circumstantial evidence!"
The captain's face was turning deathly pale.
At that moment, another voice spoke up.
"There's eyewitness testimony as well."
It was Lelouch.
He was walking over from the opposite side of the corridor, accompanied by two students.
Both of them were looking down awkwardly.
Lelouch came to stand beside Euphemia.
He glanced at her.
The crooked ribbon. The traces of tears. The face enduring the pain in her shoulder.
He said nothing.
But his deep violet eyes seemed to hold just the faintest hint of kindness.
"These two apparently happened to witness Marcus tampering with Suzaku's locker in the hallway during lunch break."
Lelouch continued in a cold, matter-of-fact tone.
"They were reluctant to speak at first, but when I told them Her Highness was in trouble, they agreed to testify."
One of the students timidly opened his mouth.
"[whispers]I-I definitely saw it. Marcus putting something into Suzaku's locker, thinking no one was around..."
The other followed.
"[whispers]Me too. He hurriedly shoved in something like an envelope, then ran off."
The corridor fell silent.
All color drained completely from the captain's face.
Behind the crowd, Marcus took a step backward.
Euphemia looked at Lloyd and Lelouch in turn.
(*Both of them... gathered evidence for my sake...?*)
Her chest grew warm.
But this was no time to be moved.
This wasn't over yet.
Euphemia spurred her trembling legs and took one step forward.
She accepted the communication terminal displaying the analysis data from Lloyd.
She looked firmly, once, at the faces of the witnesses Lelouch had brought.
Then she turned her gaze toward the military police captain, and toward Marcus, who was trying to hide behind the crowd.
Her voice trembled.
She was no longer ashamed.
Because this was her voice.
"[serious]In the name of Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire, I declare."
She had never felt her own name carry such weight.
But she had also never felt so proud of it.
"[serious]These forged documents are a fabrication. This is a complete false accusation."
She held up the communication terminal's screen.
Ink analysis. Handwriting verification. Crease patterns. Eyewitness testimony.
"[angry]And—Marcus, the ringleader who orchestrated this conspiracy! And the military police captain there, who aided in an arrest order without evidence! I hereby detain both of you!"
Euphemia pointed at each of them by name.
"[angry]Wh-what nonsense are you—! I am acting under military orders! A little girl like you has no authority to detain me—"
The captain shouted back.
But his voice was shaking.
Marcus also screamed, his face bright red.
"[angry]Don't screw with me! This is a setup! I didn't do anything! You're a princess and you're siding with a Numbers?! Know your place!"
Euphemia did not back down a single step.
"[cold]I can."
She declared it quietly.
"[cold]A direct order from the Imperial Family takes precedence over any military regulation. That is a fundamental principle of Imperial law. And besides—I am also the Sub-Viceroy, you know? Were you not aware?"
Euphemia took her Sub-Viceroy identification from her skirt pocket and held it up.
"[sarcastic]It is stipulated that an order issued by the Sub-Viceroy upon witnessing a crime on-site and confirming the evidence is to be executed immediately. You didn't know?"
The captain's mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
It was a quiet declaration of victory, completely sealing off any retort.
Marcus tried to cling to a nearby military policeman.
But Lloyd stepped between them.
"Ah, trying to run is pointless. I just took the liberty of looking into your family's bank account, and—there's been some rather interesting movement of funds. There's a record of a suspiciously large sum being transferred into an account under this captain's name. As evidence of bribery, it's quite perfect, wouldn't you say?"
Lloyd, with his usual expressionless face, delivered the decisive blow in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
Marcus looked ready to collapse on the spot.
"[whispers]N-no... I was just... I was only..."
Lelouch spoke coldly.
"'Only' what? Say it."
Marcus could say nothing.
There was no room for rebuttal anywhere.
The surrounding military policemen hesitated, looking back and forth between the captain and the princess who was their commander.
Euphemia looked the captain straight in the eye.
"[serious]I am giving an order. Detain Marcus and the captain there, immediately."
In the quiet corridor, only her voice rang out.
A moment of silence.
The military police captain hesitated for a while.
His gaze wandered between Euphemia, Suzaku, and Marcus.
But—
Eventually, as if resigning himself, he saluted Euphemia.
"[scared]...Understood, Your Highness. I will carry out the order."
He instructed his subordinates to place handcuffs on him.
Then his shoulders slumped in defeat.
As for Marcus, he sank to the floor, just staring blankly at the ground.
He seemed unable to comprehend what had just been done to him.
This time, the military police led Marcus and the captain away.
The gawking students in the corridor held their breath.
Someone let out a small sigh.
As if on cue, one of the military policemen removed the handcuffs from Suzaku.
The metallic click echoed strangely loud.
It was the moment Suzaku's innocence was proven before the public eye.
"Hahh..."
The taut thread of tension suddenly snapped.
The
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