At the port of the settlement, Britannia's official personnel greeted the arrival of Cornelia and Yang Hui with the highest level of etiquette.
They never dreamed that they, who thought they had been exiled to this tiny country, would one day be able to welcome two powerful princes and princesses at the same time.
Among the current princes and princesses, the one with the highest status was undoubtedly the Crown Prince, Odysseus V Britannia. No one could question this.
Next was Schneizel el Britannia, because he was the Empire's Minister, always at the core of the Empire, possessed outstanding ability, and was deeply shrewd.
After them came Cornelia and Yang Hui. Cornelia always held command over the Imperial army and possessed illustrious military achievements.
Although Yang Hui was once looked down upon and called the "Nanny Prince," no one underestimated him after his glorious deeds in Africa spread. Furthermore, he was currently the only person who had actually taken a portion of power from Charles zi Britannia's hands. Even if it was only a little, it was unprecedented. This led outsiders to speculate whether the Emperor's favor meant he supported Yang Hui, subtly implying an intention for him to become the future Emperor.
As for the others, Guinevere, the perpetual socialite of the royal family, was very famous, but she had fame without real power.
There was also Clovis, a rising Nova. Although his assignment to [Ten] suggested a form of exile, he was still a prince with his own territory and could not be ignored.
After that, there were no princes or princesses worthy of the attention of overseas officials. For instance, when Lelouch and Nunnally arrived in Japan, the top official of the settlement did not even show up; he merely arranged for his secretary to meet them and send them to the Ashford residence before ignoring them entirely.
Therefore, with Cornelia and Yang Hui arriving simultaneously, the head of the settlement did not dare be negligent, wishing he could bring everyone in the settlement to welcome them.
As the flagship carrier docked, Cornelia and Yang Hui disembarked, surrounded by their respective Knight orders. Yang Hui and his Knights followed behind Cornelia and her Knights, an acknowledgement of Cornelia's leading role in this trip.
"Your Highness Cornelia, Your Highness Yang Hui, welcome to the Japanese settlement. I have arranged a welcome banquet for the two of you..."
"Let's not talk about that for now." Cornelia disliked this routine the most—holding a banquet before discussing official business regardless of the situation. "We encountered a pirate interception near the Japanese Territorial Waters."
"Pirates! Those damned Japanese, to allow pirates to obstruct our country's fleet, they truly deserve death!" The anger on the official's face looked as if the Japanese had murdered his entire family. However, in the eyes of Cornelia and Yang Hui, it was merely laughable. "Please rest assured, Your Highnesses. Regarding the fright you suffered, I will issue a protest statement to the Japanese government and demand they give Your Highnesses a satisfactory answer."
"Pfft~" Yang Hui almost couldn't hold back his laughter. Suffered a fright? To think he could come up with such bizarre flattery. Did he even consider who was standing in front of him?
"There's no need." Cornelia also suppressed a smile, but her gaze toward the official was full of coldness. Her first impression was that he was a glib-tongued flatterer, unfit for great responsibility. "Our forces have already captured the pirates. However, according to international law, we captured them within another country's Territorial Waters, so we do not have the authority to dispose of them. Contact the Japanese government and have them send someone to receive them."
"Captured? As expected of Your Highness Cornelia! You are truly..."
"Enough. No more nonsense. Go do what you need to do." Cornelia interrupted the official's brown-nosing. Hearing a sentence or two could be treated as a clown's performance, but hearing too much was simply nauseating.
"Ye... Yes, Your Highness." The official broke into a cold sweat, intimidated by Cornelia's aura. He hadn't expected his flattery to backfire so spectacularly.
He had to execute Cornelia's command. He immediately found the diplomatic official beside him to handle the matter. He couldn't leave yet; he hadn't finished receiving Cornelia and Yang Hui, nor had the fleet been settled.
But he immediately regretted it, wishing he could have gone to handle the matter himself.
"By the way, where are Lelouch and Nunnally? Why didn't they come to welcome us?" Cornelia asked coldly.
By right, when an elder sister and brother arrived, Lelouch and Nunnally, also being a prince and princess, should have been the leaders of the welcoming party. There was no one in the entire settlement with a more noble status than them.
"This... that..." The official's cold sweat poured. He had completely forgotten about the existence of Lelouch and Nunnally. His greatest wish was to curry favor with Cornelia and Yang Hui, find an opportunity to return to the Imperial homeland, and re-enter the Empire's core circle, rather than spending his life as an insignificant official in the settlement of this tiny country.
Since he spent many years away from the Imperial mainland, he didn't know much about the royal family's situation. He naturally assumed that the two Highnesses wouldn't care at all about Lelouch and Nunnally, who had been abandoned by the Empire, and might even dislike them. That was why he hadn't notified them to attend.
"What's wrong?" Not just Cornelia, but even Yang Hui's expression became quite unpleasant. He had always kept track of Lelouch and Nunnally's situation. Although they lacked for nothing and faced no danger, they had indeed become "invisible people."
The official wanted to suck up to them but didn't bother to do any research and could only flatter. This made Yang Hui want to shoot him on the spot.
"No... it's nothing. His Highness Lelouch and Her Highness Nunnally are doing very well. They should be attending classes at Ashford Academy's elementary department..."
"Should be?" Cornelia raised an eyebrow, frightening the official so much he almost knelt. "The Empire's prince and princess took on the heavy burden of being symbols of friendship for the Empire, leaving their homeland to live in a foreign country. As the head of this settlement, you actually don't know their living conditions. Where do you put the majesty of the Empire?! Where do you put the dignity of the royal family?!"
"Mercy... Mercy... Your Highness Cornelia, I was just... just... just momentarily negligent. Because of the arrival of both Your Highnesses, I have been busy with reception matters, so..."
"Any reason is just an excuse! Since you are welcoming us, why are my younger brother and sister not present?"
"This... I only..."
"I will report this matter truthfully to the Cabinet meeting. Wait for the Empire's judgment."
Even though Cornelia was a general with real power, she did not have the authority to arbitrarily dispose of the top official of a settlement. Thus, she couldn't immediately strip him of his post and arrest him; she had to report to the Cabinet for a decision.
But even so, the official's fate was just the difference between dying sooner or later. Cornelia's words carried great weight in the Cabinet meeting.
However, while Cornelia couldn't do it, Yang Hui could. He only needed to pin some crimes on him and produce evidence to take him down directly.
"No need, Royal Sister. Just order the military police to arrest him," Yang Hui said.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Cornelia frowned and looked at Yang Hui.
"No! Your Highness Yang Hui! Even you cannot do this!" the official shouted. "The removal of the settlement's top official must be decided by the Imperial Cabinet! Even if you are a prince, you have no right to interfere!"
"I indeed have no right to interfere." Yang Hui sneered. There were plenty of ways to deal with someone like this. "And I indeed do not have the power to directly dismiss you. However... a member of the royal family traveling to any settlement is automatically granted supervisory power. In other words, I have the power to supervise whether you follow regulations or violate them. You... committed treason, didn't you?"
"This! This is impossible! I am a noble of the Holy Britannian Empire! How could I commit treason?! Your Highness, you cannot slander me!"
"Is that so? Then can you tell me what happened with your secret dealings with Akamatsu?"
"Wh... what Akamatsu? I don't know him at all!" Hearing the name Akamatsu, the official trembled all over, but he quickly forced himself to remain calm and denied it.
"Don't know him? That's very strange." Yang Hui feigned confusion, but the disdain at the corner of his mouth never faded. "As the top official of the Japanese settlement, you don't even know the most famous general of the Japanese young officer faction? That counts as a professional failure, doesn't it?"
"So what? As a noble of the Empire, there is no problem with me not knowing a general of this tiny country!" As long as he denied it to the death, it would at most be a failure of duty. He dared not admit to the capital crime of treason.
"Is that so? Rejeta."
"Your Highness, according to the intelligence report, at 10 PM five nights ago, he accepted Akamatsu's invitation to a banquet in Tokyo. The location was..."
Rejeta spoke the intelligence in front of everyone. It was extremely detailed, even down to what dishes he ate that night, how much he ate, how much wine he drank, and which girls he sought out.
"You... you... how... how is it possible..." The official knew he was finished. Although he hadn't seen the physical evidence yet, it was described so clearly, and since it was all true, there was certainly physical evidence that would leave him no room for excuses.
Cornelia glanced at Yang Hui and saw that this was all true. She immediately ordered the military police to arrest and detain him pending interrogation. As for his work, it would temporarily be handed over to his deputy.
"Your Highnesses, do you need me to invite His Highness Lelouch and Her Highness Nunnally..." The deputy was also terrified at this moment, fearing he would follow his superior's path. However, he was also good at reading the room. Everything that had happened was because they had ignored the existence of Lelouch and Nunnally, wasn't it?
"Where are they?" Cornelia asked.
"It has been confirmed that both Highnesses are currently in class at school."
"I see. Then we will go to Ashford Academy. Notify them in advance that everything at the academy should remain as usual. No reception ceremonies are to be arranged, especially for the elementary department's classes; they must not be affected in any way." Cornelia thought of something and looked at Yang Hui, finding that Yang Hui's expression was identical to hers—a bit mischievous, a bit expectant.
"Yes, Your Highness."