The next day, at an early morning, large planes began to land at the military airport in Tokyo Settlement.
They were a considerable size, big enough to carry multiple Knightmares.
Sadly, half of them were empty, and after changing energy fillers, they were back into the air and flying towards their homeland across the Pacific.
"It would seem the Princess encountered our Lord." Jeremiah overwatched the arrival of the Britannian troops.
"Yes. I checked the amount we are getting. Princess Cornelia lost 38 Sutherlands and 5 Gloucesters." Kewell checked the official documents. The pair were enjoying their last moments of power they had in the colonial government.
The purists were removed from all the high positions, and Cornelia's officers took over.
Thankfully, their lord has prepared good enough 'evidence' that they didn't disgrace themselves to the point that they would lose ranks.
Soon enough, the new Viceroy's private plane landed, and the purists lined up to meet their new Governor.
They expected a stiff, no-nonsense woman, but what they got was a tired-looking woman who didn't get enough sleep.
"So you are my brother's followers." Cornelia looked at the line-up.
Their reaction was… priceless.
"...Viceroy, my Princess, we are at a loss…" Jeremiah tried to explain himself.
*Snort*
"I met your sponsor in Russia." She replied, making the lined-up group pale for a second.
"You all know what this means, but my brother is still Prince. By extension, I should strip rank for abandoning a Viceroy.
But the circumstances are a bit… volatile."
The Princess tried to explain, as she massaged her forehead.
Normally, she would just lock these guys up for abandoning Clovis in the midst of combat. But they abandoned him for another Prince.
Not for outsiders, so it's not outright treason. Another reason is that Marcus could appear with his machine at any moment and lay waste to her diminished troops.
She doesn't want to ask homeland for another 40 Sutherlands! AND 5 Gloucesters! Especially Gloucesters…those are a bit more limited and more expensive.
Instead, she has different ideas.
"Viceroy…"
"I want a meeting with Lelouch… no, what is his public name?" Cornelia looked at her Knight.
"Marcus Goldman, Viceroy." Guilford reminded her.
"Right, him. I want to get back my Sutherlands and Gloucesters." She said with authority.
"...as you wish, Viceroy." Jeremiah nodded.
As she said that, she motioned for them to dismiss.
After saying what she wanted to say, she went inside the Governor's building…
'Where is she?'
"Where is my Sub-Viceroy?" Cornelia asked the governing officials.
"...Umm…she is still asleep, we tried to wake her up, but she kept all the phones turned off." A sweaty-looking middle-aged man replied.
"In that case, I will check on her myself." The new Viceroy sighed as she asked where to find her.
Moments later, they were at the villa on the rooftop.
'Clovis… only he would build a manor on top of the governor's building.' The princess shook her head as she walked around and finally found her sleeping in one of the rooms. The girl was hugging a pillow, and a smile was on her face.
"Princess… you should see this."
Before Cornelia could wake up her little sister, her Knight interrupted her.
"What is it, Guilford?" She sighed, sounding even more tired.
"There are big markings on the grass, it looks like footprints." He explained to her.
"Should be obvious, my little brother was here," Cornelia replied. It was no surprise to her that he could visit the Viceroy's Government building without effort.
"I understand." Her knight understood; he didn't say a thing afterwards.
With that in mind, she was ready to wake her up, but then her eyes ended up on the photos she had on the table.
The new Viceroy's eyebrows went up the moment she realised what it was.
'This is…'
In the photos, there were two people in suits; they were in a rocky, grey area, which was dark, and above them was a blue, round object.
It took her a moment to process such photos.
'He took her to the moon?'
Her mouth twitched as she realised that. It was reckless!
After checking the photos, she walked over to the sleeping girl and began to poke her.
"Wake up, Euphemia!"
The loud voice immediately brought the girl back from the dreamland!
"Ugh…?"
The girl was confused, she turned around… seeing her older sister looking at her with an annoyed face.
"...Cornelia? What are you doing here?" The Princess asked her older sibling.
"What am I doing here? Do you know where you are?" She asked with a sharp, militaristic voice.
Her tone made Euphemia catch up quickly as she looked embarrassed!
"R-Right! I completely forgot!"
She scrambled to get up.
"Fix up and get ready. We have meetings to attend and talk about things."
With that said, she felt the room, making the pinkette sigh in relief.
The princess took a breath before smiling. She walked over and checked the pictures.
"It wasn't a dream."
~~~~~~A Couple Hours Later~~~~~~
The new Viceroy was having her first meeting with the officials who were running the economic site of Area 11.
All she was hearing was… Anaheim this… and Anaheim that…
"So in other words, Anaheim has a monopoly in Electronics, metallurgy, factories… I am hearing it right?" Cornelia massaged her forehead.
She realised that she was not needed here. Her brother is practically running the whole Area 11.
Instead of being an open ruler, he was leading the area through his company.
Outside Area 11, Anaheim is just a contracted company for military support…
But in Area 11, it holds a tight grip on everything…
'I really need to talk to him.'
She was a General; her whole purpose was adding land to Britannia, not dealing with the economy, not that the economy was bad.
Of all Areas under Britannian rule at the moment, Area 11 is swiftly rising through the ranks of revenue that are being sent back to the homeland.
Soon it will become a satellite territory. But all of that is because of Anaheim and NAC.
Two companies that are transforming the whole of Area 11 and allowing secure transportation of Sakuradite.
'Why did you send me here? Father?' The Princess was annoyed at the Emperor. She could be so much more useful in North Africa than in this place!
"Yes…well… Anaheim is offering us the opportunity to deal with Elevens, and all they ask is basic tax deductions; even then, we gain more than we spend in Honorary Britannian assimilations.
Anaheim helps us with that as well!"
'In other words, you do nothing while collecting your money, typical lazy government official.'
Even a moron would see what is going on.
'I am too tired for this.'
"I see."
Her eyes went through other information. The more she read, the more she realised that Anaheim is the middleman between Britannians and Elevens.
Most of the industries that are related to that they deal with it.
This lowers the interactions between Britannians in Tokyo Settlement and Elevens in the Ghettos.
But this means that Britannians are blind to what is happening outside the Settlement.
This could lead to many things… like, for example…creation of advanced military use technology.
'I see… well, well, you played well.'
The more she reads, the more she understands the overall picture.
"This concludes today's meeting. For now I will rest, we will have another meeting two days from now af 0800 sharp."
With that said, the princess ended the meeting with the people she despises the most. However, she was assigned here so that she would bear with it.
For now, she needs to have a true meeting with the person who truly controls the economy of this place.
"Well, did you speak with him?" The Viceroy saw the blue-haired man approaching her in her new office.
Instead, he offered her his phone.
Cornelia rolled her eyes and took it from him.
"I heard you wanted to see me."
"Don't pretend. You took over the entire area 11 and pretend that nothing is going on." She wasn't buying any of his excuses.
"Well, I do need to cover all of my bases."
"Good for you, L,elouch." The new Viceroy replied, again not caring about that. "You still owe me 40 Sutherlands and 5 custom Gloucesters"
"..."
"Since that is the case, why don't you come to see me…let's say tomorrow after you rest."
The Princess scoffed for a second. How kind of him! Letting her rest.
"Very well."
"My knight will take you to my workshop. I will show you some of my toys." He sounded excited. Excited to show her some of his inventions and creations.
"You'd better. If you want to win me over." With that said, she ended the call and gave Jeremiah his phone. The Princess showed him a death glare.
To think that this guy was Lelouch's knight. From the looks of it, everyone in the Palace was Lelouch's follower!
After the call ended, the blue-haired knight scrambled to leave. The Princess didn't look that happy with him.
Once he was gone, it was only her and her Knight.
"...Princess… are you sure?"
"Sure about what, Guilford?" She asked, still contemplating.
"...If I understand correctly, you are planning to rebel against… His Majesty."
"Depends. I don't understand the whole picture, yet. But I am leaning towards it.
I must see for myself how serious my little brother is." Cornelia replied. If it's true that her father is obsessed with supernatural things and is pursuing a form of immortality and eternal youth for the sake of making himself eternal, then she IS willing to switch sides.
But for that, she needs to see her brother's true potential.
Because she won't switch for the sake of switching, she still has her pride and her men to consider.
"I see. Regardless, my princess, I shall follow you either way."
The 'Goddess of Victory' smiled, looking second as she realised that fatigue was finally catching up to her; she was ready to sleep.
Even was early morning…
~~~~~~Next Morning~~~~~~
A black car with tinted windows drove into a road that leads directly under the Ashford Academy.
This road is used by delivery drivers to bring in food and other things children would need for their studies.
"Isn't this Ashford Academy?" Commander Darlton noticed that they were driving towards an Academy.
"Isn't this obvious? Ashfords were Marianne's the Flash retinue; it's not surprising that they would assist Lelouch…"
'Not that I made the connection either.'
The Princess was a bit ashamed that she didn't look into small details instead of looking for a major clue.
Most of the clues appeared to have been erased.
"It does make sense. And they did develop the first functioning Knightmare." The man realised that this was the case.
It makes sense that this is where those absurd machines were being made.
As the black car got underground, they realised that this was some sort of loading bay. Then the car turned towards a wall.
The wall moved, the moment the car was close, making the princess and her group realise that there was a secret entrance of some sort.
'He built his base in the very foundations of the Tokyo Settlement.' A few drops of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Not that she had time to think about the base, as soon enough she found robots, actual robots working at the hidden loading bay.
These mechanical workers were taking refined metal from a truck.
"Impressive, could we get similar robots in logistics?" The Commander asked the Princess.
"For that, you need to ask my little brother," Cornelia replied as she was thinking the same thing.
While she doesn't want engineers and mechanics to be replaced, the heavy lifting, like this, they could take over.
Even if older generation Knightmares are used in similar situations, these things are smaller and more compact.
"Please, Princess, follow me." Jeremiah motioned for them to follow him.
The Princess and two of her officers followed after her.
Though they didn't expect to see such a sight the moment they left the loading bay!
Five alien-like machines are parked right before their eyes!