Ch 262: All hail Emperor Lelouch!

"So this is where you perform some of your miracles." nodded Lelouch, seeing the Sanctuary for the first time.

"Some of them." smiled Akeno. "All the Hakens were built there, thanks to Da Vinci and some others, and there is this oh so convenient feature that allows me to accelerate the local flow of time significantly. Very useful when you want to cram two years' worth of martial art training into five weeks in the outside world or build a Haken a day. But we're not using that for this mission... When I bring you out in a few hours or days, you'll have to be ready to act immediately. You may not have time to get over the surprise or examine the surroundings."

"I understand." nodded Lelouch.

"Good. You have free run of the house, except for the basement."

"The place where you convinced the Knights and Valkyries to follow you, I assume?" smiled Lelouch.

"…Well, it's a sex dungeon, as you likely guessed." admitted Akeno. "The nice kind. We are firm believers in the idea that true loyalty is nurtured by pleasure and happiness, not fear and pain."

"You won't shock me with something so trivial." nodded Lelouch. "It's something of an open secret, but every Britannian mansion or palace has one of those rooms to discipline the servants… Or even the young ladies, if they still act unruly past puberty."

"…I see... Anyway, I'll check on you regularly and try to time my attack when you aren't sleeping. You have books in the living room, and food and water in the kitchen."

Lelouch nodded.

"I'll start moving. See you later." smiled Akeno before leaving the sanctuary and putting it in her inventory.

Akeno dressed in her white and red Kyuubi outfit, activated Ghost Walker, and left by an open window. She flew slowly at first, but steadily accelerated as she climbed. When she started crossing the pacific, she stabilized her speed just under the speed of sound. Ghost Walker made her almost impossible to detect, but it wouldn't stop a sonic boom.

"Ai, contact Da Vinci, please."

"Calling… Connection established."

"Akeno?"

"I'm on my way to Britannia with Lelouch."

"Understood. Cécile and I have built a stealth observation drone. It is currently on its way to Cambodia to check on Damocles. And we're working on a weapon that could disrupt Blaze Luminous shields."

"Great. Hopefully, they won't be needed. What about Nina and her attempt at finding a counter?"

"…Not really a workable solution." sighed Da Vinci. "It isn't easy to stop a nuclear fission reaction from a distance. We have something that is technically doable, but requires near superhuman timing and precision, and the one using the counter will have to get well inside the warhead's range. If they miss, it will be over for them."

"No luck, then?"

"Unless you want me to destroy all Sakuradite stocks and deposits worldwide. I could design some self-replicating nanites for this."

"No. Too extreme, and I really don't like the idea of self-replicating nanites. Too much potential for a bug or freak accident resulting in the planet turning into gray goo."

"I have been using them for a while without issue, but I take your point… This aside, I am uploading your flight path into your helmet. You won't have to fumble around to find the Imperial Palace."

"Many thanks." smiled Akeno, seeing an arrow and distance indicator appear on her HUD. She corrected her flight trajectory accordingly.

"How did you do it? Did you hack into the local GPS?"

"No. Connecting to their satellite network would have given them a chance to locate you, however remote. Maybe they have some subroutine triggering for fast objects without proper ID coming toward Britannia at high speed. I am navigating you using your helmet's external cameras and the stars, the old-fashioned way. It is entirely passive."

"How smart of you, Da Vinci." chuckled Akeno. "Wish us luck, we'll try to end the war in a fell swoop."

"I am crossing fingers." grinned Da Vinci before ending the call.

It took hours for Akeno to cross the ocean and reach what was once called Arizona, where Pendragon was located. After hours of flight while maintaining Ghost Walker, Akeno felt somewhat tired and decided to take a short break. She found an office building, almost empty since today was a Saturday, and she had no trouble entering. Choosing an office, she put the sanctuary above a cabinet and entered inside.

Lelouch was sitting in the living room, a book in hand.

"We are about 60 kilometers from Pendragon, and I am taking a short break." said Akeno, sitting on the sofa.

"How are you going to infiltrate the palace? I hope you don't intend to just walk in. Your face is rather well known these days." smiled Lelouch.

"I can make myself invisible and keep it up for hours. I can fly without a sound, so I only have to be wary of thermal sensors, I think. I haven't actually tested it yet. I'll find the Emperor, follow him quietly until he is alone or retire to his bedroom to sleep, restrain him, and that will be where you come in."

"And that will be where I will come in." agreed Lelouch. The two of them remained silent for a while, until Lelouch sighed. "I know I already agreed to let you seduce Shirley and asked you to take in Nunnally, but what will you do to them, exactly?"

"…Are you having second thoughts?"

"Maybe a little. I want them to be safe and happy. And immortal."

"Of course." smiled Akeno. "Maybe I should tell you how I can give immortality to other people exactly. Noah is able to share a big chunk of his abilities, immortality included, to his subordinates via signing a soul contract. And I, as his Emissary, can create such contracts in his name. If the signatory feels enough loyalty toward Noah to satisfy the loyalty threshold, the abilities will be gained."

"And how will you cause them to feel loyalty toward a man they barely know?"

"I think you already know, Lelouch." smiled Akeno. "However, since Nunnally is too young for those things, she will have to wait to be an adult before becoming immortal. Until then, we'll treat her like a cute little sister."

"Fair enough." nodded Lelouch. "How will you and Noah treat Shirley, and later Nunnally?"

"Honestly, I am not completely certain." sighed Akeno. "Taking Shirley's case, if you had asked me a month ago, I would have told you that I would seduce her slowly, then start with a kiss and some gentle fondling, and slowly introduce her to bondage sex and sexual submission over time."

"We have abilities to make sex a lot more pleasant than normal, even for people who do not feel naturally attracted toward girls, and I am confident I can turn anyone into a very willing submissive very quickly. I have done that to dozens of girls already, and with a hundred percent success rate. As for how Shirley and Nunnally will be treated long term…"

"They will have a lot of kind adopted sisters. They will live in luxury, have free access to several worlds they will be able to explore at will, and the only things that will be expected of them will be to spend at least a few hours a week doing humanitarian work. Shirley will also be able to visit her father whenever she wants. Noah has already contacted one of the local governments and arranged for him to get the support needed to start his new life."

"And how would Noah treat them in the bedroom?" asked Lelouch.

"He is mostly into making us wear maid or fetish outfits and tying us up. By his own admission, he is a control freak, not a sadist, and he always make sure we are very satisfied by the time he stops. There isn't a single girl in the harem who isn't eager to be invited into his bed again, and since he is aware that there is only one of him, and that this is a problem, he trained us all to be bisexual so we can all have fun with each other when he is busy."

"I see. But something has changed." nodded Lelouch. "You said you are now uncertain."

"Yes. Sayoko happened." chuckled Akeno.

"Sayoko?" blinked Lelouch.

"We exchanged ideas on how maids should be trained, and her own brand of Discipline, while more than a little bit harsh on the surface, would satisfy a craving we in the harem have for more submission. I believe that the finer details are still being debated between the members of the harem at home, but it looks like we'll adopt a softer version of Britannian-style Discipline in the near future."

"Why are the rules being debated by the members of the harem, and not decided by Noah? Is he not the master of the harem?"

"Because, aside from his duty as a Champion, his priority is for his girls to be happy, just like yours is Nunnally." shrugged Akeno. "Until those changes come into effect, while we are technically his sex slaves, in practice, he treated us like… like kinky girlfriends. He didn't make us feel the weight of our submission to him, aside from some plays in the bedroom. The only real rule he forced us to follow was not having an intimate relationship with any other man. Which left most of us, as it turns out, not entirely satisfied. Like an itch we couldn't really scratch. That is about to change. Anyway, you do not need to worry about them. They will be well cared for, have plenty of big sisters willing to keep them company, and will love everything Noah or I do with them."

"Yes." smiled Lelouch. "I am dubious about Nunnally and Shirley being part of a harem, but from the sounds of it, they will be together, and with Milly as well. It is better than Nunnally being sent off to be the second or third wife of a Britannian Duke or Count."

"Milly, and Kallen, and most likely Sayoko." smiled Akeno. "And Nina, since Da Vinci took her under her wing. And let's not forget CC, who agreed to let me try and convince her that life could still be enjoyable."

"…You really have a bottomless appetite. Still, if Nunnally is surrounded by familiar faces, it is a good thing in my view. I may not have the ability to detect lies like you, but I am good at reading people's faces. You are either a great scam artist, or you were honest with what you told me so far."

"Some people would call me a scam artist, after the way I tricked them into starting their training." chuckled Akeno. "Although they quickly decided they were happy to have been scammed... I have recovered enough, so we're resuming the infiltration."

Lelouch nodded, and Akeno returned outside, retrieved the Sanctuary, and exfiltrated the building.

An hour later, she was flying over the Imperial Palace, an immense building smack in the center of Pendragon, mixing modern utilitarian architecture with Victorian-era buildings and gardens.

She entered easily, snooped around for a while, and learned that the emperor was in the ancient ruins. She had to subdue one officer going to the restroom and hypnotize him to learn the location of said ruins, and made certain to give the soldier fake memories of this moment.

The ruins were only a few kilometers away from Pendragon, in a heavily guarded site. Akeno had no difficulty entering anyway and walked down a set of stone steps until she reached a square stone platform, at the bottom of a square shaft.

Before stepping into the platform, Akeno lifted her eyes. With her night vision ability, she should have been able to see far above, but there was some unnatural darkness that blocked her sight after a few dozen meters.

Shrugging, she stepped into the platform, who started to rise.

The elevator climbed to the darkness, and she lost her sight for a few seconds, then she became able to see again. The stone all around her had disappeared, and it looked like the platform she was on was climbing above the clouds of a sky illuminated by the setting sun.

Akeno could see through the illusion, however. The pleasant-looking sky was a mirage, and the space around her was the inside of a gigantic dome-like structure with an open top, likely over a kilometer in diameter at its base. Jupiter, its famous red eye seemingly staring at her, was visible through the opening, so huge that one would think this place was located on one of Jupiter's moons.

And maybe it actually was. Akeno couldn't say for certain.

Not far above her was the terminal of the Sword of Akasha, a bigger platform where the elevator would stop, connected with a flight of stairs to one bigger still, floating into the air without any visible method.

When the Elevator stopped without a sound, Akeno slowly climbed the stairs, her Ghost Walker ability muting her steps.

When she reached the top, she was surprised to see not only the Emperor, but also VV.

The two were silent, staring at the fake sunset. Maybe pondering about their plans or something.

Akeno didn't care, and wrapped them both with chains made of hardened light before they could react.

She ignored their shouts or surprise and demands as she walked to each of them, took away VV's gun, touched their shoulders, and purged the Geass out of their bodies. They seemed to feel it, as VV started showing actual fear, and the emperor stopped fighting against the chains, instead standing with dignity as he glared at Akeno.

She took the sanctuary out and let out Lelouch.

"Lelouch!" exclaimed the emperor with his deep voice.

"VV was there, a nice bonus." grinned Akeno, handing Lelouch the gun.

"This is indeed a nice bonus." said Lelouch as he glared at VV.

"I purged them both of their Geass. VV isn't immortal anymore." pointed out Akeno.

"…I will not kill him now, however tempting." decided Lelouch, walking to his uncle and pressing fingers on his face, above and below his right eye, forcing the eye wide open.

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you. Be my slave, VV." said Lelouch with a theatrical tone he usually adopted with his Zero persona.

VV went slack for a few seconds, then straightened and looked at Lelouch. "Please command me, master."

"You… You have the Power of Kings?"

"Yes, father." nodded Lelouch. He almost had to rise on his tiptoes to force open the right eyes of the Emperor, as Charles was very tall and well built, but that didn't stop him, and Charles, too, became Lelouch's slave.

Akeno produced two slave contracts and handed them to Lelouch.

"You should use these on them, just in case. Your Geass isn't absolute and can be cancelled. My contracts cannot be."

Lelouch examined the contracts, with their only clause being that the individuals signing it would recognize both Noah and Lelouch as their masters and obey them, then nodded to Akeno.

She nicked the fingers of the new slaves and made them touch the contract. The contracts disappeared, and their fates were sealed.

"There, it is done." nodded Akeno.

"Not quite. Charles, VV, you will not mention to anyone what happened here, or that Akeno and I were present. Charles, when you return to the palace, you will command for Schneizel to visit you as soon as possible… Does he know about this place?"

"He does." nodded Charles. "He visited me a few times while I was there."

"Good. You will ask him to meet you here, then return. VV, you stay there."

"What will you do with him?" asked Akeno, curious, as the Emperor descended the stairs to execute his order.

"I will use him for all he is worth." smiled Lelouch, but his eyes were cold.

"I see." nodded Akeno, not needing to ask what would happen once VV's usefulness ran out. She used her item creation skill to make a table, two padded chairs, then a chess board with its associated pieces.

Lelouch grinned as he sat facing her, accepting the black pieces without a word.

"I am no great chess player, and it has been years since I last played." smiled Akeno. "But we have some time to kill. Let's see if I can defeat you even once by the time Schneizel shows up!"

…

The whole court was assembled in the throne room, with over five hundred nobles dressed to the nines, and the media were present in force as the Emperor had demanded a live coverage. All the Britannian-controlled territories had their public screens set to display the Emperor's address. The last time it happened was during Prince Clovis's funerals.

The nobles respectfully stood when Emperor Charles entered the room from a side door on the throne's left.

However, instead of sitting on his throne and allowing the nobles to sit, he stood beside the throne and turned to face the nobles. Their surprise grew when Prince Schneizel entered by the same door and stood on the other side of the throne.

"I, Charles zi Britannia, 98th Emperor of the Holy Empire of Britannia, have decided to step down from the throne."

A wave of gasps spread through the crowd of nobles, and they all stared at Schneizel, the logical choice for the Emperor's succession. Although the more quick-witted of them deduced that it might be someone else, considering Charles and Schneizel were both flanking the throne.

"The one I selected as my successor is one of my sons, Lelouch vi Britannia."

The crowd suffered an even bigger shock, not sure they had heard correctly. They hadn't heard of that name for years, after the scandal of the prince's exile became too stale to bring up again.

At the mention of his name, Lelouch, dressed in his Ashford Academy uniform, entered by the side door, nodded to his brother and his father as he came close, and sat on the throne, crossing his legs, and looking down at the shocked nobles.

"I am Lelouch vi Britannia, now the 99th Emperor." declared Lelouch with a grand voice.

Some looked like they were about to raise objections, and he didn't waste time, directly using his Geass.

"Acknowledge me."

As one, all the nobles fell to their knees and shouted "All hail Emperor Lelouch! All hail Emperor Lelouch! All hail Emperor Lelouch!"

Satisfied, Lelouch nodded.

"You can rise... My first order is to our armed forces. I declare an immediate halt to all offensive operations. Our diplomats will organize a peace conference shortly to establish a formal end to the conflict against the United Republic of Europia."

"My second order is to propose an international treaty to ban the use of any kind of weapon of mass destruction, which I consider to be any weapon able to kill over a thousand people in a single use. The signatories of that treaty would be legally bound to do anything necessary to kill anyone who designs, builds, buy, holds, or use any such weapon. Teams constituted by experts representing all nations will be allowed to visit any installations all over the world to verify that no one secretly tries to violate this treaty."

"Until very recently, the Holy Empire was pursuing the creation of weapons able to destroy entire cities, and we were at most two months away from making the first of them. However, the world does not need for such weapons to exist. If all nations agree to sign that treaty, the Holy Empire will destroy its research regarding those weapons."

"My third order…"

…

Back at Ashford Academy, the members of the student Council were starting to recover from the shock.

"Am I dreaming?" asked Shirley with a faint voice. "Is Lelouch really the Emperor now?"

"How is that possible?" asked Milly to Da Vinci.

"This was Akeno's idea to settle the matter with the Sakuradite-enhanced weapons. She came to see the Emperor, had a talk with him, maybe threatened him a lot, and this is the result."

"Oh, I… understand. But why Lelouch and not Cornelia, for example? As a former Viceroy, she has more experience ruling."

"You can ask this question to Akeno." shrugged Da Vinci. I expect that she will be on her way back shortly after the end of this announcement."

"If Onii-sama is the Emperor…isn't that going to be dangerous for him? And will I be allowed to remain in Ashford Academy?" asked Nunnally worriedly.

"I think Akeno knows what she is doing." said Da Vinci with a reassuring tone. "She wouldn't put your brother in danger without a few precautions."

…

"Here." smiled Akeno when Lelouch returned from the throne room, putting two silver bangles and a ring in his hands.

"What are those?"

"The silver one is a block for your Geass, when you start losing control of it. The golden one makes you immune to diseases and increases your natural healing abilities. The spatial ring will let you store things inside, enough for a Haken and some room to spare. Not living things, though."

"And no, there's no Haken included." grinned Akeno.

"Thank you very much, Akeno." smiled Lelouch.

"You're welcome. And I'm not quite done with the gifts. If you show me what will be your everyday emperor outfit, I'm making you a self-cleaning, bulletproof version that will fit you perfectly. But you have to do it fast, because I'm about to return to Ashford Academy."

"I will need a bit of time for it. Can I ask you for it next time we see each other?"

"Sure." nodded Akeno. "Try not to get shot until then. I'll be going before someone stumble upon me. It would be inconvenient if I was seen in your company right now. They would assume, correctly, that I had something to do with what happened today."

"Yes." nodded Lelouch, extending his hand, and Akeno shook it.

"And remember to give me my prize! I fought hard for it! See you later, Lelouch." chuckled Akeno, activating Ghost Walker and opening the window to fly away.

"Later." smiled Lelouch as he shook his head. Before he returned to planning his future moves, he thought about Shirley, his sister, and the rest of the student council members.

He would arrange for Suzaku to marry Euphemia. She was Lelouch's first love, but… She and Suzaku clearly loved each other, and he would take good care of her.

As for the others… They would be happy. It was strange and distorted to think that when they were about to be, for all intents and purposes, trained as sex slaves, but he had seen how the former Valkyries and Knights behaved around Akeno and the others, and how the girls who had come with Akeno, Izumi, Kasumi and Da Vinci, were happy, their opinions valued. There was a warmth there that was conspicuously absent in most of Britannia's society.

With immortality and the power to defend themselves from just about anything on top of it, it was clear that this was the best future for them.

…

The afternoon's classes were about to end at Ashford Academy when Akeno landed on the grass behind the Clubhouse. Still maintaining her Ghost Walker ability, she changed back into her school uniform, deactivated her stealth, and walked around the building, entering by the main door.

She found Ayako in the living room, drinking tea as she watched the television.

"Hi, Sayako. I'm back." smiled Akeno.

"Good afternoon, Mistress Akeno." said Sayoko, standing and making a curtsy. "Would you like some tea?"

"Gladly. Flying for hours made me thirsty."

She sat on the chair Ayako pushed for her, and accepted a cup. The tea was still hot.

"I suppose you watched the news this morning."

"Yes, and I know the members of the Student Council did as well." nodded Sayoko, sitting as well. "It was very surprising, and I am worried about Master Lelouch's safety."

"The risk is not as great as appearances would lead you to assume. Some secrets are not for me to tell, but I have bound Emperor Charles and Prince Schneizel with magic contracts, so their loyalty to Lelouch is guaranteed. I also left a few magic items for him."

"I am grateful for your thoughtfulness, Mistress Akeno." nodded Sayoko, relieved. "Mistress Nunnally is worried she might have to leave Ashford Academy."

"Yes and no. Before we left for Britannia, Lelouch asked me to take care of Nunnally and give her immortality. So, I intend to take her with us when we leave this world. Since she is only fifteen, she will live as our little sister until she comes of age."

"I understand, Mistress Akeno."

"On my way back, I also received a call from Noah." grinned Akeno, taking her smartphone from her pocket. "The girls back home are done deliberating. They want to be put under a revised Discipline regimen. Can you take a look at the rules, Sayoko?"

"I would gladly give my opinion on it if you wish, Mistress Akeno."

"I wish so." replied Akeno, opening the list and handing the phone to Sayoko.

The governess took a few minutes to peruse it, finding few alterations. The biggest changes were that anyone managing to be a Good Girl for ten consecutive days would be rewarded by two hours where they would be put in bondage, pleasured, and allowed to cum as much as they wanted.

The other biggest change was that any day being a Good Girl would be rewarded with 1 credit. Every week, they would be able to participate at an auction where Noah, if present, would "sell" a few hours of his time to the highest bidder, or choose amongst the top bidders in case of equal bids.

A few rules had been crossed out, with explanations for the reason they were rejected, and Sayoko nodded to herself. Every Master had different likes and dislikes, so it was only natural.

Overall, Sayoko felt happy with those rules.

"I think this is a great set of rules and punishments, Mistress Akeno." nodded Sayoko as she handed Akeno her phone. "The rewards for the Good Girls are interesting as well."

"It is great that you think so, Sayoko. Because you are going to be involved, both in following them and enforcing them on others." grinned Akeno.

"I haven't quite decided yet, Mistress Akeno." smiled Sayoko. "Or are you going to forcibly bring me back into that basement, and mercilessly torment me until I agree?"

Her tone implied that she wouldn’t resist too hard being brought into said basement.

"Tempting, but unnecessary." replied Akeno as she shook her head, sipping her tea. "You see, Lelouch and I had some time to kill as we were waiting for Schneizel to return to Britannia's mainland, and we played a lot of chess games. At some point, Lelouch decided to motivate me by promising me a favor if I managed to beat him, as long as it was a reasonable one. And I did manage to beat him once. Probably because he was growing tired, I suspect, and certainly not because he took pity on me, but a win is a win!"

"I understand. What reasonable request did he promise you?"

"Emperor Lelouch is going to contact Lord Ruben Ashford and promote him from Baron to Count, jumping over the Viscount rank, and grant him all the trappings that go with the increased rank. Money, territory, the works. In return, he will ask for your employment contract to be transferred to me, cancel Milly's engagement to Count Asplund, and will give me carte blanche to create within the campus a new, very specialized, curriculum intended to prepare a few select individuals, Milly included, to their new life as Agents of the Gods, and as members of Noah's harem. Although the last part won't be mentioned to the new Count."

"Oh… I understand, Mistress Akeno." smiled Sayoko. "It seems that Master Ruben will be imagining some kind of combat training, but in reality, they will be trained to follow those rules."

"Exactly. Do you have any misgivings about me forcing your hand in such a way, Sayoko?"

"Not at all, Mistress Akeno. A two-rank promotion is a great reward for the Ashford family, far more than enough to repay the debt I feel I have toward them. Breaking Miss Milly's engagement to a cold man such as Lord Asplund also makes me very happy. I know she was resenting it, and some of her recent antics were born from a desire to vent her frustrations. And not having to part ways with Mistress Nunnally and Miss Milly is also a great plus in my book."

"I am happy to hear that. So, I want the curriculum to be divided into two parts, although I will count on you to flesh out the details. In the first one, we, or rather, you, will teach the girls how to act in public, be nice and demure and all the etiquette teaching. Those classes will be taught to the girls as a group, and even Nunnally will be able to follow that curriculum. Not that I think she really needs it, but still. In the second part, Nunnally will have physical therapy, while the others will get mostly individual lessons, under the supervision of a chaperone, about the rest of the rules."

"Yes, Mistress Akeno." smiled Sayoko, displaying an eager expression. "I can easily run with such a curriculum. But who will the chaperones and the students be?"

"The students will be Nunnally for the first part only, then Shirley, Milly, CC, Anya and Jean for now.”

“Leila, Nina and the three engineer girls, Ferilli, Chloe and Hilda, can wait until later. They’ll be busy assisting Da Vinci with building Japan’s defense forces and establishing doctrines for their uses. For the same reason, Sakuya and Sakura won’t be students either.”

“For the chaperones, that will be you, me, and some of the girls bound to me by magical contracts. After we are satisfied the students have mastered the curriculum and perform to satisfaction, some of the chaperones can become students. Not me, though. Until our mission is over and we return home, I am not letting anyone put me in bondage and sensory deprivation."

"How splendid." sighed Sayoko in pleasure. "I definitely look forward to teaching Miss CC some Discipline. You have no idea how often I have found greasy stains on bedsheets I had just cleaned up, this pizza-loving Bad Girl. It is so very frustrating."

"Hum, that wouldn't do. Such inconsiderate behavior must be corrected with a firm hand." grinned Akeno.

"A firm hand, and a sturdy paddle." chuckled Sayoko. "Which reminds me, during your absence, Anya has been a good maid. She is helpful and fairly skilled in doing house chores. She should currently be resting in her room. But I regret that I cannot say the same about Miss Jean, and I had to take some measures after she attempted to run away."

"Oh? It looks like I should have a conversation with her."

"Please follow me to my room, Mistress Akeno." nodded Sayoko, standing.

"I would ask what she is doing in your room, but I can already guess. She must be tied up with something." chuckled Akeno.

"You could say that, Mistress Akeno." grinned the governess as she led Akeno down the servant wing. She took a skeleton key to open the door of her room and invited Akeno inside.

"The room was well decorated, if a bit minimalistic to Akeno's tastes, but most of her attention was on the form wriggling on the ground near the bed.

Jean Rowe was there, dressed in a crimson red latex bodysuit of the same hue as her hair, and tied in a very strict hogtie. Her arms were bound by a black leather armbinder, laced to excruciating tightness, forcing the woman's elbows firmly against each other. Black leather straps crisscrossing her chest and going over her elbows insured it wouldn't slip or come loose, and more straps around her wrists, above, and below her elbows reinforced the armbinder's grip on her arms. The woman's latex-covered legs were bound by two strong, black leather straps above and below her knees, forcing them to touch, as well as by black leather cuffs around her ankles, linked together by a single padlock. The tip of the armbinder was connected to the same padlock, forcing Jean to arch her back slightly.

Jean's mouth was stuffed with a gag, although all Akeno saw was a wide leather panel covering her lower face from nose to chin and connected to a web of straps circling her head. The head harness was also tied up to Jean's ankles, increasing the strain and forcing her to stare forward. Not that she was doing any staring at the moment, as a black leather blindfold with a hole for her nose kept her blind. A pair of earmuffs was over the woman's ears, and from Sayoko's previous descriptions on some of the punishments she was used to,  Akeno suspected she would find ear plugs underneath.

A steel collar was snug against Jean's throat, connected by a short chain to the foot of Sayoko's bed. And from the sweat on Jean's forehead and her matted hair, she had been like this for a while.

There were also two pink remotes on the ground near her, whose wires disappeared in the catsuit's crotch.

Jean's feet were bare, and Akeno could see a number of few thin angry lines on her soles. Clearly, Sayoko had punished her with more than just an uncomfortable bondage position.

Jean, despite her sensory deprived state, apparently had felt them coming, as she mewled pitifully into her gag, trying to crawl in their direction.

"I had Miss Marika create the catsuit and those restraints for me, Mistress Akeno. This ability to create items on demand is such a convenience."

"It is." nodded Akeno. "How long has she been like this?"

"Since this morning, Mistress Akeno. She made her attempt in the middle of the night, and Miss Marika and I caught her as she was trying to scale the campus's wall."

"I would like to speak to her." said Akeno, and Sayoko nodded, crouching to remove Jean's earmuffs and ear plugs, the gag harness, and the blindfold.

Jean flinched as she saw Akeno looking down at her.

"Hi, Jean. I hear you have been a very naughty girl while I was away."

Jean lowered her head, wincing in pain as her jaw and neck muscles protested.

"I am sorry. I won't run again." muttered Jean, her willpower exhausted by over eight hours of strict bondage and edging.

"Britannia's Emperor Charles has stepped down, and the new Emperor is a friend of mine. Just like Princess Sakuya is my friend. There is nowhere for you to run to anymore, Jean." said Akeno with a soft smile, and Jean's eyes widened.

"Is that how you will take over the world? Replacing one ruler after another with…"

"I'm not interested in taking over the world." cut in Akeno. "But the new Emperor has proposed peace with Europia, and bringing an end to the war is enough for me. But back to you. I am giving you a choice, Jean. You can accept that your fate is to serve me and my lover, give up on trying to run or resist, and strive to become a good maid, ready to serve us in battle, in the house, or in bed."

"Or you can stubbornly resist, and I will leave you in Sayoko's capable hands until she has decided you learned your lesson, then we will both train you to become not just as a maid, but also as a masochistic sex slave who will get off on pain and humiliation. You will still serve us in the end, but there will be a lot more pain involved… and we will make you endure so much humiliation that you will eventually just stop caring and become willing to do even things like getting naked and masturbating in front of a crowd if given the command."

Akeno could see from her expression that the threat of humiliation was much more effective than the threat of pain, and Jean's eyes were filled with fear and horror.

"Please, I'll be a good maid, I swear!"

Akeno nodded, sensing the honesty in her words. She crouched and drew a random pattern on her nape. The gesture was irrelevant, but as she did, she also used Magecraft to put a tracking mark on Jean.

"I have just put a magic mark on you, Jean. I will always be able to find you, if necessary. Sayoko, I think you can untie her. She will be a good girl from now on, right?"

"Yes! I will be a good girl." hurriedly nodded Jean.

"I am so pleased to hear that, Miss Jean." grinned Sayoko.

"So am I. I will return to the living room to wait for the students to return. It should be very soon."

"Yes, Mistress Akeno." nodded Sayoko.

She didn't know Sayoko for long, but she already felt confident that after untying Jean, Sayoko would order her to first clean up the bodysuit, toys and restraints that had been used on her, send her to a bathroom for shower and grooming, and then attend Akeno in the living room, properly dressed in her maid uniform.

In the living room, she helped herself to another cup of tea and watched the television for a few minutes. The media were furiously speculating about Lelouch's announcements, the upcoming peace treaty, the reasons for Emperor Charles' abdication and his choice of successor, and about what type of superweapon the Holy Empire had been close to building.

There was some significant pushback, however.  Over a third of the Britannian population, according to some initial surveys, wanted the Holy Empire to finish the development of those superweapons to accelerate their conquest of the world.

Akeno typed a message to Sakuya on her smartphone, informing her on her return to Japan, and that Lelouch planned to choose Ashford Academy for the peace conference and treaty on weapons of mass destruction.

Really, the location was an excuse to see his sister and friends while he still could.

Da Vinci and most of the girls in Akeno's faction were working on creating a factory that would create components to build drone-making factories. The little buggers, shaped like a delta-wing jet and weighting just under a ton, would be armed with a beam cannon, four armor-piercing missiles, and protected by a Blaze Luminous shield powerful enough to protect them from a few shots from the average Knightmare rifle before they ran out of power.

According to Da Vinci's calculations, the United States of Japan would have close to two thousands of those drones and twenty factories within three months.

Akeno's plan to use some of her girls as chaperones was going to cause some disruption on the production side, but, since the world would be at peace, it was fine with her.

[Akeno, the last Britannian occupation troops have left Japan. The fourth Quest is complete.]

[That is great.] smiled Akeno, trying to imagine the faces that many of the members of the harem must be making right now, gaining a system interface. She would probably get a call from Noah before long.

A few minutes later, the classes ended, and the members of the student council, informed by a message from Akeno, ditched the usual student council activities and headed directly for the clubhouse.

"Hi, everyone." smiled Akeno as they entered the living room.

"Akeno! what did you do!?" blurted out Shirley.

"I made Lelouch the new Emperor. He'll be a good one." smugly replied Akeno.

"I think so, too." nodded Suzaku. "How did you do it?"

"Well, let's just say that Emperor Charles's security was never intended to stop the infiltration of someone able to make herself invisible, and that I have been very… forceful in my demands. Charles and Schneizel have, however reluctantly, signed magic contracts that will make sure they will support Lelouch and never betray him."

Suzaku nodded, feeling relieved. Milly moved closer to Nunnally and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What about Nunnally? I don't want you to bring her to Pendragon, Akeno."

"Nunnally is staying there." smiled Akeno. "In fact, do you remember Lelouch asking to speak to me in private right before the visit of the Britannian Princesses?"

They all nodded, and Akeno continued.

"Lelouch asked for me to take care of Nunnally long term, to bring her immortality, and make sure she was well taken care of, and I agreed. She will technically be an Agent of the gods, but won't take part in any fighting and won't be put in any dangerous situation, and we'll give her the ability to heal people and send her to tour some hospitals and heal patients. I do not think you would be against doing work like this, right, Nunnally?"

"No, but… wait, that means I will come with you when you leave our world, and I won't be able to see Onii-sama again?"

"I am afraid so, Nunnally." sighed Akeno. "Lelouch will miss you sorely, just like I am sure you will miss him, but he and I are both convinced that this is the best option for you."

"I don't want that!" cried Nunnally, her eyes tearing up. "Onii-sama has no right to send me away like this!"

"If it can make you feel a bit better, you won't be the only one going with us, Nunnally. Shirley and Kallen will, and also Sayoko and Milly. Maybe Nina as well."

"I am going?" exclaimed Milly, surprised.

"Yes. Don't you want to be able to explore many worlds, some of them with angels, devils and supernatural beings? I promise you that if you come, you'll get to see dragons, valkyries, catgirls, and so much more!"

"Catgirls?" asked Milly, her eyes shining for an instant before she shook her head. "That… But I can't go. My family is going to make me marry a Count here."

"Not a problem." shrugged Akeno. "Lelouch owed me a favor over a bet, and I asked for him to promote the Ashford family to the rank of Count, but in return, your grandfather has to transfer to me Sayoko's employment contract and break your engagement with that emotionally-atrophied coghead. I don't think your grandfather will refuse the order of the new Emperor."

"Oh... no, Grandfather will be overjoyed to be made a Count…" blinked Milly. She would need a bit of time to adjust.

"If most of my friends go, I'll have to go as well." muttered Shirley to herself. Previously, she had been torn on whether to follow Akeno or not, having to choose between her friends inside the campus or her father. But now it seemed that aside from Lelouch and Suzaku, they would all go. That made the decision an easy one to make, if not a painless one.

Akeno nodded to her and moved closer to Nunnally, crouching in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Nunnally." said Akeno softly. "This is your brother's dearest wish, and immortality isn't an opportunity that comes often."

"Why can't he come with us?" sobbed Nunnally. "Why did you make him the Emperor, and not Cornelia or Euphemia?"

"There is a reason I can't tell anything about, because it concerns a secret that isn't mine to tell." said Akeno, who proceeded to ignore Kallen's eyes trying to look at her brain. "Also, I was certain Lelouch would pursue peace with the URE. I wasn't sure Cornelia would... How about this, Nunnally? Lelouch told me he wanted for the peace treaty with the URE and the one about the weapons of mass destruction to be signed here, in Ashford Academy. You will have opportunities to speak to him. If you can convince him to cede the throne to Euphemia, I am willing to bring him with us."

Nunnally wiped her tears.

"I will convince him." said Nunnally with determination, and Akeno nodded.

She wouldn't actually mind if Nunnally succeeded.