What am I doing with another short story? The world has yet to know.

Anyway, this is the new story I will be working on after the ending of A Fashion Disaster - which has one more chapter left - and since most of you picked the word "royals" in the reviews of my other story, this is the story that was to be published if most of you voted on the word "royals" (you'll find out what you were supposed to get with "exes" eventually). This idea came to me when I was, in fact... just thinking about Code Geass and staring at the word empress (because that is strangely one of my favorite words, it holds a lot of power) and looking at a picture of Lelouch and C.C. in this really pretty formal wear from the movie... I won't go on, though, so I will let you all read and please tell me what you think in the reviews once you're done. I always am open to feedback.

Enjoy!

Lelouch was a young prince of the Royal Britannian Family. He was the eleventh prince, seventeenth in line for the throne, and twenty-one years old, leaving him to be one of the younger children within the family and basically having no chance or claim to the throne ever in his life.

As a prince, Lelouch was use to many things that were deemed abnormal from the eye of a regular commoner. For example, his father, the 98th Emperor of the Britannian Empire, Charles zi Britannia, had many wives - He was known to have had the most wives of any Britannian Emperor or Empress in history, which was the result of the many half-siblings Lelouch and his own full-blood siblings had. His father had eight empresses, the youngest of the eight women being his own mother, Marianne vi Britannia, but he had not married since his marriage to her twenty-one years ago.

Strangely enough, but not to be put pass his father, Charles zi Britannia had taken a liking to a young maiden. She was a noble woman, known to be the head of the Knights of Geass; the woman had been a former Knight of Geass herself until his father's sudden interest and interference with her work had forced her to lead but without the position of a knight. He had only seen the woman when she formerly around on guard, but never had he met or spoken with her because she was mostly outside the palace walls rather than within, except on a few occasions.

She was almost similar to his own mother - A former Knight of Round, who was now head of the said highest ranking knights in all of Britannia.

So, with the blessings of the young maiden's parents, she had been quickly married off to the Emperor, officially becoming the ninth and youngest empress of Britannia.

Cecilia lu Britannia.

He was never sure how the woman had felt about the marriage or even his father - unlike many of the empresses who always wanted the attention of the emperor - but she took her role quietly and without fight as the next empress because… His father always got what he wanted.

Cecilia was a beautiful woman with pale skin, glowing golden eyes, and silky green hair. She usually wore a black dress with a long, ruffle skirt and a ribbon tied around her head in a bow. She was a quiet empress, never talking to anyone unless necessary. When she did speak, nothing but snarky and mischievous comments left her mouth that would leave people speechless.

Unlike most of the wives who kept to themselves and out of the public, Empress Cecilia was a very active woman. Not only was she over the Knights of Geass, but she was always out and about feeding the poor and homeless, helped out his own mother with preparing the events that went on in the palace, and always made sure that everything was in order outside the palace walls.

Empress Cecilia did not like discrimination, judgement, or manipulation, which is something most Britannians seemed to have a hand, a result of past colonization.

As he did with most of his family, he was never around her or the other wives, preferring to spend time with his younger siblings, Nunnally and Rolo, in the gardens of the palace or somewhere in the city if they were allowed to. It kept him preoccupied when he wasn't doing any tedious princely duties.

Her formally met her one day in the Exelica Gardens, taking a stroll with a Knight of Geass on guard just a few feet behind on watch. Just as he did, he noticed she seemed to love the roses that grew within the garden the most and admired them with the softest of smiles among her face.

He had been standing near by, admiring them himself when she spoke.

"I like the red ones the most," she spoke in a soft, silky voice. "Because they represent love. It's something I have yet to genuinely experience while being within the walls of this palace. Which ones do you love the most?"

Lelouch didn't hesitate, answering, "I favor the white ones the most, if I must pick. They represent a purity and innocence that I wish the world was."

"Is that so?" the young empress walked over to him and put out her hand. "I am Cecilia lu Britannia, the ninth empress of Britannia."

The raven haired prince took her hand in his, bringing it up to his lips and placing a soft kiss on the back of her knuckles. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear empress. I am Lelouch vi Britannia, son of Empress Marianne vi Britannia."

"Oh, Marianne talks about you very much," Cecilia smiled lightly. "She loves you and your siblings dearly, does she not?"

"I would hope that my mother would," Lelouch replied.

Empress Cecilia removed her hand from Lelouch's hold and turned to walk down a stone path, gesturing for Lelouch to follow her with the black and golden fan in her hand. He followed suit, easily falling into step with her pace.

"You have a knight, no?" Cecilia assumed and Lelouch shook his head, a small look of annoyance appearing on his handsome face.

"I do, in fact. He is the Knight of Seven, Sir Suzaku Kururugi, but he is also the knight to my younger sister, Princess Euphemia li Britannia. She is not in Britannia right now, so he has left with her as an escort," Lelouch told her. "I insisted. Until then, I have a temporary knight."

She smiled in amusement. "Hmm, how funny is it that you two share a knight. I have never heard of such a thing."

"It was a decision made by the emperor, seeing as my sister and I failed to come to an agreement on who Sir Kururugi would serve. He is my best friend after all."

"A Japanese knight? Your best friend?" Cecilia said in curiosity, tilting her head slightly in question.

"He grew up on the palace grounds with us mostly because he was sent from Japan by his father to train to become a knight for disclosed reasons," Lelouch explained to her, but the empress did not miss how he had fisted his hands together behind his back until they turned white. " Enough about me. How did such a young woman as yourself come to be my father's empress?"

"That is a story for another time, Prince Lelouch, but I can say that it is quite strange being among the other empresses who happen to be much older women. We have nothing in common." She chuckled as she tucked a loose string of hair behind her ear.

"How old are you, Lady Cecilia?" Lelouch asked, his curiosity spiking after her small statement.

The woman smirked slightly at him. "Isn't it rude to ask a lady's age, dear prince?"

Lelouch sent her a smirk back. "Well, I do have to assume you are only a few years older than me."

Cecilia's smirk widened. "That's where you are wrong, darling. I am not much younger than you. Twenty years old is quite young for an empress, wouldn't you think?"

It took Lelouch all his manners he had learned as a prince over the years to not do a double take. "You are twenty only?" His eyes did widen slightly.

"I am a year younger than you then, correct?" Cecilia chuckled. "Your father has interesting taste."

"Does he expect you to bear any children?" Lelouch couldn't help but ask.

"I would rather not do so and he has not made a fuss about it, so I only assume it doesn't matter to him whether I do or not. There is enough of you already."

"A few too many," Lelouch chuckled and he had realized they had come to the end of their path, now standing in front of the very lake he and his siblings use to play in front of when they were younger. "Well, Lady Cecilia, I must say it was a pleasure to talk to you," he said, noticing the sun starting to set.

The empress herself took notice of the setting sun herself and hummed lowly. She took a few steps closer to him with a smirk hidden behind her fan. She leaned in close, removing the fan just slightly from her face and whispered in his ear, "It was a pleasure to talk to you as well, Prince Lelouch."

Once she put enough space back between them, Lelouch bowed slightly with a small smirk of his own. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, empress," the prince said with more charm than necessary, causing the young empress to give him a smile.

"As well as to you, dear prince."

The empress disappeared back down the path, her knight following closely behind her and unknowingly having left the young Britannian prince curious and highly amused, and in secret hope that he would be able to meet her once again.

~.~