AN: I just got back my exam result last Tuesday and I couldn't say it was what I expected, but I was really satisfied with it! Let's see if this result slip can promise me an exciting future ahead! Here's a little chapter update that I've been typing for a while, and have yet to post it here! Enjoy~!

Disclaimer: It's really not mine.

#MOKONAYI#

A teenage figure strode through the corridors of Aries Palace this morning, boots clicking on the marble floors, alerting the working servants to stop what they were doing at the moment and bow slightly towards him. The sound of him approaching was not a harsh one like those waiting to attract attention to them, yet it was a strong strode that showed his authority and confidence in the royal family. A smile, he flashed, the usual ones that he used to acknowledge the servants whenever they greeted him. He was on an errand today, in his mother's place, to welcome the newest and youngest member of the royal family. It was not particularly a happy occasion in the court to see yet another birth of a new offspring. It only meant that there would be competition towards the next crown. Although in this kind of situations, the elder should be here instead of him, as the second prince of Holy Britannia, Schneizel saw no harm in doing this on behalf of his mother who was recently ill. His mother could care less about the newest heir, he knew. Holding out a palm for the snowflakes to rest on it, before slowly turned into water, the blonde prince couldn't help but to let out a sigh. It was already January by now, as he recalled seeing a new calendar on his study. The new prince would have been about a month year old, Schneizel thought. He turned around and continued to walk to the nursery where Empress Marianne promised to see him.

Without a doubt, Schneizel thought, what await the youngest prince in the court were rivalry, betrayal and tough competition for the crown amongst his own siblings.

"Ah, your highness, the empress has been expecting to see you. This way, please," the head servant of the palace bowed and greeted him, before leading him towards another door.

The second prince again flashed a polite smile, acknowledging the man in his fifties. Sometimes, he could not help but to be amaze by the structure of the building he was in right now. Based on the architecture and design, it had to be standing firm for at least a century by now. Although the interior and furniture were taking a much more modern swing, marble and wooden carvings on the door frames and archway clearly showed the Aries Palace's seniority among the other palace grounds he had been to.

A gloved hand softly knocked on the door, twice it knocked, before finally saying, "Marianne-sama, his highness Prince Schneizel has arrived."

"Please do enter."

His eyebrow twitched in disbelief. Schneizel had heard rumors in the court that the ex-knightmare pilot had always asked her servants to drop all those formalities whenever they were serving her, but never did he heard with his own ears that the servants were merely referring to the probably most powerful empress the empire had ever had with just a suffix of '-sama'. The blonde prince knew many other consorts who would have granted those servants with a red slap across their face for disrespectfulness. Schneizel smirked, impressed by the vastness of one particular woman's heart and mind.

An angelic voice the empress had, the 11-year-old blonde prince thought, apart from that the beauty and kindness she already possessed.

"Pardon the intrusion, Marianne-sama," the old head servant slowly pushed those grand wooden doors apart, before swiftly went to stand as closely to the door frame as possible, allowing the prince to enter the room first. Bowing slightly, the servant bid both the empress and prince farewell and exited the nursery quietly, closing the doors behind him.

"Good day to you, Your Majesty Empress Marianne," the blonde prince said. He walked a few steps closer to the woman sitting on the comfortable armchair in the room. Bowing slightly, Schneizel lifted his head to let his eyes meet those lavender irises from the empress, once again, absorbing the fact that the woman right in front of him was indeed a stunning figure. Dark tresses of the woman's raven hair flowed gracefully around her as she stood, cradling her figure as she slowly made a few steps towards the guest.

"Mother is quite ill this morning, so I'm here to bring her sincere apologies and to congratulate your majesty for the birth of a new prince to the royal family," the blonde prince noticed how said woman continued to gaze into his own eyes. It was not intimidating like how the other women used to look at him whenever he was present with his father. The feeling he received from the other consorts were more to jealousy and envies, unlike the one he was receiving now. A fuzzy feeling was starting to stir from his chest, a warm and inviting feeling that made him feel almost like genuine…

Love.

What happened next was completely out of Schneizel predictions, the one that the emperor himself dubbed as the brightest prince in the empire. Marianne approached him and reached for the smaller hands, before wrapping her own around the former. She chuckled slightly, looking at how stunned the young prince was, showing his utter surprise clearly in those eyes.

"When you are with me, Schneizel dear, it would please me greatly if you would drop those formalities," she continued to stare deep down into the shorter prince.

"Do we have a deal here, Schneizel?"

"Y-Yes, your maj-" caught by the sudden question, the blonde prince relaxed himself before continuing, "Certainly, Marianne-sama."

"Good," the new mother chuckled again, seeing how quickly the young prince slid his poker face back again, recomposing his composure in such a short time. It was inevitable that one day her baby would grow up like that as well, concealing his feelings most of the time, especially to the supposed family. Still securing her hold on the second prince, Marianne was quite surprised herself that those small hands had yet to pull themselves back. The warmth she felt from those petite hands was very different from the look of the owner had to put with almost every day. She let a sigh escaped her lips, pondering on the thought of her own son one day walking the same path as his elder sibling here. Would he be able to laugh when he wanted to or to cry when he was devastated? The answer would be a big NO as the normal childhood would surely be out of his grasp. He would have to put up a strong presence each time, to avoid others targeting him as the weaker candidate towards the crown. It was definitely not what she would wish to see her son to be, but like everyone said, it was inevitable once you were born in the royal family.

"Come, darling, I'll show you the baby," she said again, wanting to lift up the serious demeanor Schneizel carried all the time.

The blonde prince was just as stunned as he was as before upon hearing this, yet he gave no objections when the empress held his hand comfortably within hers, guiding him towards the crib to meet his newest half-sibling. Being one of the first children of the family had given him a lot of experience in this kind of things. Normally, no consorts would allow other prince and princess to meet and approach their own offspring, at least not until they were at the age where they could fend for themselves. Many feared that the children would harm their own under each mother's orders. Just to prevent this kind of things from happening, many of them kept their child safely under their wings at least they were 12 to 14 months. Schneizel sighed. Empress Marianne was no normal consort. In fact, she was the best Knightmare pilot the empire had, the best warrior and Knight of Rounds. It would explain why, the young prince thought, that this mother was so different from the others, such a risk taker he would say.

"Honey, Lulu, your brother is here to see you," the empress motioned for Schneizel to come closer to the crib while she casually toyed with one of the baby's tiny fingers. The young child had dark beautiful raven hair just like his mother's, Schneizel noticed. Small lips parted to produce a half-squeal and laughter, before latching on his mother's offered finger, biting it, it would seemed so, if the baby had teeth. The blonde prince flashed the diplomatic smile he had practiced for so long, all the while keeping a safe distance from the baby. He would not take the blame if something were to happen to the youngest prince of Holy Britannia. What if the infant had a cut on his face? Schneizel would have none of it if it were to happen.

"Are you that happy? You are not even this happy when father came to see you last time, Lulu…" Marianne teased her son. Gently, she slipped a hand to support the baby's rear and neck before raising him up from the crib, tenderly cradling the young prince on her chest. As predicted, the raven haired prince flung his limbs to protest, but he did not really yell or whine, in fact he did not even cry loudly when he was burning with a high fever. Marianne was silently hoping to see her firstborn acting normally like other babies would. Slowly, she made her way back to the couch. She sat down gracefully, asking Schneizel to take a seat beside her on the couch. The blonde prince complied, sitting himself just the right distance from the influential woman. The empress smiled, noticed how young Schneizel was aware to keep a comfortable space between them and yet, not too far away to made her feel awkward that he was purposely distancing himself from her.

"Come, Schneizel, would you like to try and hold dear little Lelouch here?" Marianne offered, holding the baby close to the blonde prince.

"T-thank you for the offer, but I will have to decline that offer for I thin-"

"Oh, it is certainly an easy thing to do. Come, I'll show you."

Evidently stunned by the plan, the young prince tried his best to decline the kind offer from the empress without offending her. Sadly, Marianne cut his reply short and precede to hand the young baby into the latter's hands. She gave no chance for Schneizel to reject as she carefully placed her infant son in his arms, adjusting the smaller hands to support the baby's neck and rear.

"There…" she said gently, guiding the smaller hands around Lelouch's neck, the baby's hip rest comfortably on Schneizel's lap. When it was done, she pulled her own hands out and decided to leave the brothers alone for a while.

"Why don't you help me look after Lulu for a moment," she said. Almost instantly, Schneizel looked up at her with shocked all over his face. "I'll get some hot chocolate for both of us in the mean time, don't worry, honey, it won't be long." she chuckled, before exiting the nursery swiftly, leaving no room of objection for the blonde prince.

Schneizel was shocked, and scared to death with a baby in his hands. He could not imagine what would happen to him if something were to happen to Lelouch in this mean time. What if the vulnerable baby suddenly sneezed? Would he be the one to take the blame for being contagious? Well, not that he was sick at the first place though. Thousands of reasons flooded into his mind, interpreting the empress' meaning behind this. Perhaps she was trying to frame him? The possibility was not high if she was hoping to eliminate other potential candidates of the crown for her own son. Empress Marianne was known for her uncompetitive status. She never really tried to fight for more attention from Emperor Charles nor did she do anything recently to put her newborn son into the spotlight. Perhaps, Schneizel thought, she just left her son with him because she really wanted to get hot chocolate for them both.

Sighing, young Schneizel looked back at the young baby in his arms. At least Lelouch was not squirming and crying like how he heard Euphemia was. The raven haired prince stared silently into his elder brother's eyes, quietly, as if he was accessing and observing how those irises had the same shade of violet as his. The blonde prince noticed those violet eyes were staring at him. A same shade of violet, he thought. Yes, they were their father's eyes; those eyes that belonged to a cold ruler of the empire. A free hand traced from Lelouch's forehead to his nose. Schneizel noticed how the young prince gave no attention to his finger that was now resting on the small nose. Violet eyes continued to gaze deeply into Schneizel's eyes. He let out a genuine chuckle for the first time.

"Looks like we are going to be rivals, are we not, Lelouch?" Schneizel asked.

Young Lelouch looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face before he drooled on his elder brother, saliva seeping through Schneizel's outer coat's sleeves. The elder prince chuckled yet again, wiping the sticky substance from the baby's face with his handkerchief. For so many years he had lived in the court, never once did he encounter someone he had thought to love wholeheartedly. Of course, he could not deny that he enjoyed Cornelia and Clovis' company. Sometimes, if his elder brother Odysseus had time, he would come join them for tea as well, with Guinevere. However, his conversation with them had always come short, not more than 20 sentences each time, he counted.

"I hope you will only drool on me and not bleed out on me, Lelouch," Schneizel said silently, once again wiping saliva from Lelouch's face, unable to hold back the bitterness he felt in his gut as he said this. It was no special news if a member of the royal family were to die suddenly as there were tons of possible scenarios. Massacre was one popular thing, except most of the time; it was often directed by someone of the court. The young blonde prince knew the court had no place for kind-hearted souls. It was either cut, or be cut, especially under their father's realm. Charles zi Britannia had been well-known for his merciless in both war and his own children. If they had not reached his expectations, it would be no surprise to Schneizel that his father would deemed his own children unworthy. Today was the first time he had ever smiled genuinely in the court, Schneizel thought, never in a presence of a stranger. A total stranger, the prince remarked, had made him looked forward to the days in the court.

I would be devastated, if it hadn't. Schneizel hoped the smile could last

#MOKONAYI#

Snowflakes continued to decorate the palace grounds with white, falling silently outside wooden window panes as they landed on them. It would be youngest prince's first snow, a man thought. There was a man standing quietly outside the nursery of Aries Palace, looking inside the scene inside through the small creak left by the not probably closed wooden double doors. He stood there, and said nothing, supporting himself on the beautifully carved door frame, his bulky figure hidden from the view of the ones inside the nursery. The servants were ordered to leave him alone and not to acknowledge his presence in the palace, and they happily followed the order. And for almost 20 minutes, he stood there, looking at the young blonde prince cradling his younger sibling in his arms, whispering words that his strained ears failed to pick up. Not that he was in any place to eavesdrop on others; he thought at least, a man in his opposition ought to know what the prince was saying.

"Shall I say, don't move or kindly move away from the door that I'm trying to use, to Mr. Intruder here?" a sweet voice whispered behind him.

The man turned over slowly, quickly recognizing the owner of the voice. He chuckled at himself who had failed to detect yet another person's presence behind him. If he had to say something to defend himself, he had to say that the woman had special training for this skill and he didn't! Certainly he would have not realized, wouldn't it?

"Technically speaking, this is part of my empire, and this building is mine. So, I'm not really intruding the place, my dear Marianne," the Emperor of Holy Britannia, Charles zi Britannia said. His hands quickly finding their place on his wife's waist, pulling her closer to him, inhaling her sweet scent.

"I can't believe I'll see you peeping at your sons," she teased.

"I can't believe my beautiful empress predicted that I'll be coming and brought me hot chocolate in this cold weather either," Charles countered, eyeing two mugs of hot brimming chocolate in her hands.

"As much as I like you flattering me, Charles, the hot chocolate is not for you," she said with an evil grin on her face. She saw how her supposed cold-hearted and iron-fist ruler husband faked a disappointed expression in front of her. Of course he knew it was not for him, she thought. He would have already guessed she was bringing it for Schneizel. Though, the fact that he already knew still did not stop Charles from acting all childish in front of her.

"No hot chocolate for your loving husband, Marianne?" a dramatic frown etched on his face.

"There's plenty in the kitchen and I think you are old enough to help yourself with a cup of it, my dear," Marianne chuckled, landing a soft kiss on the emperor's cheek. Sometimes she wondered how many people in this world would actually got to see Charles like this, totally normal and flirty. Her husband responded by pulling her into a deeper kiss, engaging her into something that would most probably cost her hot chocolate to be cold to drink later.

She could care less.

#MOKONAYI#

AN: That's it for this time! What scenes would you like to see? I would gladly write them out for you! I usually write a draft of ideas before I proceed to type them out because I mostly got them out of my dreams. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Sorry, it took so long!

MokonaYi