After arriving at the hotel and giving instructions to his AI, the girls barged into his room.
"Let's go exploring! The ground floor is full of shops!" Milly grabbed his hand and pressed her assets into him.
"Sure." He smiled at her behaviour. The other three didn't look the happiest that this blonde is hogging him like that!
"Then let's go." Euphemia, all of a sudden, took his other hand.
"I-Isn't he your brother?" Shirley reminded, but the 3rd princess had an answer ready already.
"My half-brother." The Princess reaffirmed.
"..."
'Isn't it the same!?'
Regardless, the orange-haired girl didn't comment, as she felt a certain intensity radiating from the disguised princess.
After leaving the room, the group of five went downstairs.
As they were in the lift, Shirley saw Marcus carrying a case of some sort.
"...Umm, I wanted to ask this for a while, but what is in this case?" the girl asked what was in the case. All she got was him smiling at her.
"You will know soon enough."
When the girls heard that. Milly got serious all of a sudden.
She moved her head to the side, closer to the Prince's head.
"Where is your KK?" the blonde asked, her tone was dead serious.
"At the bottom of the lake."
When she heard that, her breathing hitched.
"Why didn't you say a thing?" Milly hissed into his ear.
"You did want to visit the expo, so who am I to deny you that?" He teased her.
With that said, Milly swiftly pulled out her pink phone and pressed a couple of buttons.
"What is happening?" Shirley asked, confused how swiftly Milly flipped through expressions.
"Nothing. Don't worry, Shirley, our knight is being forgetful." Milly joked.
"...Marcus forgetful?" The fellow council member couldn't connect that at all!
"Not forgetful, just someone who has priorities." He smiled at Shirley as he then looked at Milly, who lost whatever amusement she had for this trip.
Other girls like Nina and even Euphemia realised that something was going on.
After arriving at the ground floor, everyone walked towards the shops. However, the mood was a bit off.
The moment Shirley wandered away, Milly swiftly walked over.
"What is going on!?" She looked at him and then at Euphemia. The Princess looked interested as well.
"JFL remnants should try to take this whole hotel hostage. At least that is what I am thinking. JFL members who didn't join my cause went rogue, according to Major General." Marcus explained to them.
"S-Should we notify Cornelia?" Euphemia immediately replied.
"So you are the 3rd Princess," Nina commented as she wasn't 100% certain.
The girl placed her finger on her lips. Motioning for the nerdy girl to stay quiet.
"Don't worry, I won't say a thing. I just wanted to be sure." Nina nodded slowly.
"Lulu, you can't be that reckless!" Milly hissed as she was nervous now.
"Then summon your Flidais." He shrugged.
"Already did! I won't be risking like that!" She pouted a bit.
"...Flidais?" Euphemia looked curious.
"Milly's machine. She nagged me until she got her model. Though she is barely using it." Marcus, all of a sudden, complained.
"I didn't! And I am using it, from time to time." The blonde got defensive all of a sudden. She was the one who gave long-range cover after all!
"Right, anyway, I already have satellites positioned for coverage of this place, and my Tiranis is on standby at the bottom of the lake.
Even if they want to take us hostage, we will know." He clarified to them.
"...I see… fine. I will be vigilant as well."
The only one who wasn't worried was Nina.
Milly and Euphemia noticed that. Though they didn't comment.
The reason for her behaviour is that she has 100% trust when it comes to Marcus. After all, to her, he was akin to a deity.
For the rest of the trip, it was a bit awkward for Shirley, as the mood change was particularly obvious. Milly was no longer bubbly; instead, she looked as if she were looking for something.
"You do realise that it would be particularly obvious?" Marcus whispered to her.
"JFL is Japanese. And everyone here is Britannian." He reminded her of the obvious.
For a second, she stopped. It made him realise that Milly forgot that other kinds of people exist…
That is wild…
"I-I knew that!"
He nodded at her, but his nod was 'uh-huh, right'... which made her even more annoyed.
Regardless, it made her relax a bit and recover to her more lax character, which in turn made the whole situation less awkward.
For the next couple of hours, the mood recovered considerably to the point that one could say they forgot that there should be a kidnapping situation happening.
Milly even thought that nothing would happen, but then evening arrived.
~~~
[Sir, four military trucks just barged into the hotel's driveway; they are barricading the only exit.]
Marcus slowly nodded as he continued to sip his drink; his gaze went down. He could see people who looked like ants rushing into the building.
"Is my drone carrier fit for drones?"
[Yes, I can send it back.]
"Do it, this time, collaborate with the satellites, use this situation for tests."
[...Understood, but isn't it dangerous?]
"Let me worry about that. You should focus on your end."
[As you wish, sir.]
Marcus placed the cup back on the table and walked over to his luggage. He changed his clothes into a black hoodie and pulled out a full set of vigilante-style clothes.
'Things we do for our private lives.'
After dressing in full black clothes, he then went and pulled out his Katana. Checking the blade for a second before checking the laptop.
He could see that his new global Information centre is woking perfectly.
With this, he can send drones or his mobile suits to any part of the planet.
At this moment, he needs it for the hotel, so the drones were deployed, and soon they will be ready for interception.
As he was doing that, the electricity turned off in the whole building and the JFL guys began to check floor by floor to collect people.
"Marcus!"
Milly and the girls barged into his room.
"Get into an angle where they can't point their guns." He instructed them as he was getting ready.
"Y-You have a sword?" Shirley looked gobsmacked.
"And several black belts." He joked back as he covered his lips with a cloth.
"...B-But it's dangerous!" The girl looked nervous.
"For them. I know." He replied, there was a smirk, but she didn't see it.
Before long, the doors blasted open with a wild kick.
A couple of guys rushed in, but the next second, loud sounds of wind cuts blasted at them, and their rifles got cut up.
"Aghh"
Loud Japanese swearing followed by the next second, guys screamed from pain as someone cut them up.
"Who!?"
The guy who kicked the doors looked confused. But what he saw was a black dressed individual with glowing red eyes.
"I see you." The masked man said with a heavy tone.
Those strange alien eyes horrified the soldier turned terrorist as he panicked and opened fire.
But the way the sword-wielding guy moved was as if he knew how the bullets and the panicked guy would move!
It wasn't fast, or special, it's that he knew the trajectory of bullets before they even shot.
"Hiiii!!!" The ex-soldier squeaked as his rifle was cut in half.
"H-How!?"
"Like my father loves to say… not all metals are created equal." Marcus joked as he kicked the soldier in the balls.
"Oof!!!"
*Wheeze*
Once he collapsed on his knees, the Inventor Prince used the back of the sword handle to knock him out… or even worse, give him a concussion.
Regardless, he was out.
"It's clear." The exiled Prince swirled his sword before sheathing it.
"..."
The four girls poked their heads as they saw the carnage in the room's entrance.
"A-Are they dead?" Shirley asked, and she looked pale.
"I cut their tendons, they should he still alive, for now." He shrugged before taking out his earpiece and putting it in.
"You four should remain here; I shall clean this whole thing up." Marcus clarified, as he looked at the blonde.
"Stay close to the windows, worst case…" The Prince looked at Milly. " Summon your Flidais."
"Are you sure?" The blonde asked, she was a bit concerned.
"It's okay. I am prepared to cause a media blackout." He replied before moving towards the stairs.
As he walked away, Milly sighed. Her breathing was hitched; the girl was nervous.
"W-What was he talking about? W-What is going on!?" Shirley looked confused and terrified. To her, it sounded like Marcus was some sort of agent or something!
Even Milly and…
At that moment, she realised that she was the only one who was freaking out more than she should be!
"W-What is going on!?" She asked again as she looked at them.
"Isn't it obvious by now?" Nina replied as she opened her laptop and checked something.
"Can you check? Nina? You should have access to the Legion overview." Milly asked.
"Yes. That's what I am doing." The nerdy girl checked the laptop and saw that the AI was in combat mode assistance.
The main Legion, not the support ones. It was a test as well.
"He is using this situation to train Legion in combat operations, as expected." Nina nodded as she expected that 100%.
"Of course he did." The 'combat situation' was a 3d model of the hotel, and they could see the combat deployment of the terrorist; it was a live situation.
They could see where Marcus was marked as a green dot on the 24th floor. On other floors, there are red dots.
But what got their attention are other dots.
"The drone carrier has been deployed, and all of the drones surrounded the whole building.
I wasn't expecting to see them." Nina was surprised by hard-line mobilisation.
"That's to be expected. Where are Leila and Kallen?" Milly asked, as she only noticed her Flidais and Tiranis in the area.
"Hmm, I guess…" Nina shrugged, she was thinking he would steamroll everything by himself, considering how great he is and all that stuff in her eyes.
"What is going on, you two!?" Shirley was panicking by this point.
The trio looked at her.
"Simply put, Anaheim is not some simple company, and we are part of it," Milly explained to her. Such an explanation made Nina snort. Her not shy behaviour was making Shirley freak out. This girl used to be shy and barely would talk, but she was feeling like she was in her element.
"They make… well, how should we put this…"
"More advanced versions of Knightmares," Nina said with an eye roll.
"I think there is no need to hide from her, since she will see them anyway." The green-haired girl said to them.
"...Y-You guys are with the Military?" Shirley looked with disbelief. This was something she didn't expect at all!
"Not really, though Marcus' sister is… right, Miss Sub-Viceroy?"
Euphemia nerviously laughed when she heard Milly mention her.
"...S-Sub-Viceroy!?" The orange-haired girl gawked. The Princess waved her hand as if greeting her for the first time.
"...W-Wait… you said sister… t-that means!!!"
"Indeed, Marcus is Lelouch Vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince." The bombshell caused Shirley to sit down as she forgot the current hostage situation.
Euphemia looked at the poor girl. It would seem all life was drained from Shirley.
'It would seem she had a crush on him as well. Learning that he was a prince caused her to lose all hope.' The Princess reasoned from her observations.
It was a bit… crazy how many of them have a crush on her half-brother; it was absurd.
It is making her jealous! If he has this many females, he wouldn't have time for her!
All of a sudden, the Princess began to pout!
"Kallen and Leila have been informed; they are on their way," Nina replied to Milly's previous question, while ignoring the other two.
It would seem they are thinking about unimportant things at such an important time.