Astraea invited them to sit.
She poured the tea herself despite Alice immediately volunteering.
A cup was placed in front of Lelouch.
Beside it sat a small loaf of bread and honey.
“Neze said you were hungry,” Astraea explained.
“When did she tell you?”
“She shouted it from downstairs a moment ago.”
Now that the room was quiet, they could indeed hear Neze’s voice carrying upward.
“Don’t forget to give him something to eat!”
Lyra shouted immediately afterward.
“And ask if he snores!”
Ryu closed her eyes.
Kaguya pressed a hand to her forehead.
Lelouch looked down at the bread.
His stomach chose that exact moment to growl.
He therefore abandoned the pointless dignity of refusing food he clearly needed.
“Before we discuss whether you will join us, there is something I want you to understand,” Astraea said.
“Even if this conversation ends with you deciding not to become one of us, you may eat dinner here tonight, bathe, and use one of our guest rooms.”
She folded her hands.
“Tomorrow, we will help you contact the Guild and investigate your identity.”
Lelouch’s hand stopped midway through tearing the bread.
“Why?”
Astraea tilted her head.
“Why what?”
“Why help a stranger without asking for anything in return?”
“Because you need help.”
“That is not sufficient reason for most people.”
“But it is sufficient for me.”
Simple.
No boastfulness.
No hesitation.
Lelouch searched for hidden motive.
Found none.
“Kindness that first requires certainty of compensation is not really kindness,” Astraea said.
“It is merely an exchange wrapped in prettier words.”
Something inside Lelouch shattered.
Warm sunlight through glass.
Pink hair moving in the breeze.
A young girl smiling at him.
Her eyes were filled with such complete trust that looking at them hurt.
—I want to create a place where everyone can begin again.
Her lips moved.
But the name that should have belonged to that voice vanished into darkness.
The image changed.
White clothes stained crimson.
A gunshot.
His hand holding a weapon.
The pink-haired girl collapsing before him—
Even though moments earlier she had looked at him with the same impossible gentleness now present in Astraea’s eyes.
“Ugh—!”
The teacup slipped from Lelouch’s hand.
Astraea caught it before it struck the floor.
Lelouch himself began trembling.
One hand pressed against his chest.
The other clutched his head as though he could physically stop the memories trying to tear their way through him.
“Lelouch!”
Alice shot to her feet.
Ryu moved as well.
Astraea gently raised one hand.
They stopped.
The goddess set the cup aside.
Then—
She knelt in front of him.
“Look at me, Lelouch.”
He forced his eyes open.
Astraea’s face overlapped with that of the pink-haired girl.
Blood spread across white fabric.
He could barely breathe.
“I…”
His voice shook.
“I hurt someone.”
No one interrupted.
“I can’t remember her name.”
His fingers tightened.
“I can’t even remember her face clearly.”
A terrible pressure closed around his chest.
“But I know it was my fault.”
Nameless guilt carved deeper into his heart.
Something warm ran down his cheek.
Lelouch stared at the tear in confusion.
As though it belonged to someone else.
“If I’ve already forgotten her…”
His voice fell to a whisper.
“Why does it still hurt this much?”
Astraea did not ask what he had done.
She did not rush to reassure him that he had been innocent.
She did not attempt to erase a sin even he could no longer remember with convenient words of absolution.
Instead, she reached forward and gently held his face.
“Because the heart does not forget simply because memory does.”
Her voice was almost unbearably gentle.
“You may no longer remember her name.”
“But the love, the regret, the things you wanted to apologize for…”
Her thumb brushed the tear from his cheek.
“Those remain.”
“You don’t know what I did.”
“You’re right.”
The answer came immediately.
“So I have no right to tell you that you were innocent.”
Lelouch froze.
“But neither do I have the right to decide that you are undeserving of another chance because of a past you cannot remember.”
Astraea’s gaze did not waver.
“When your memories return, if you discover that you truly did something wrong, then face it.”
“Make amends to those who remain.”
“Carry those who are gone with you.”
Her expression softened.
“But until that day comes, you do not need to punish yourself with nameless pain every moment you remain alive.”
A voice emerged from the broken fragments of his memory.
—It’s all right, Brother.
The pink-haired girl’s eyes curved into a gentle smile.
—I will always believe in you.
The image disappeared again.
This time—
It did not leave only pain.
A faint warmth remained.
Lelouch did not know who she was.
He did not know why he had seen her covered in blood.
But he knew she had once been unimaginably important.
Important enough that even after a god had torn her name and face from his memory—
His feelings for her had refused to disappear.
Lelouch slowly brought his breathing under control.
“My apologies.”
Astraea tilted her head.
“For what?”
“For losing composure in front of you.”
“Being in pain is not discourteous.”
Lelouch looked at her.
“And you don’t need to kneel in front of me.”
“I’m not kneeling to you.”
Astraea smiled.
“I lowered myself so that we could see each other at the same level.”
His heart trembled.
Lelouch had once known people who stood above others.
He could not remember their names.
Their faces.
But his body remembered thrones.
Commands.
Authority that demanded the entire world look upward.
The woman before him was a goddess.
She possessed every right, by the customs of this world, to demand devotion from mortals.
She could have remained seated above him.
Allowed him to crawl toward her.
Instead—
She had come down.
Placed herself at his level.
Her kindness seemed irrational.
Perhaps even foolish in a world where the strong exploited the compassionate.
Yet Lelouch could not despise it.
Because somewhere in his forgotten past—
Someone had probably offered him the same kind of hand.
And perhaps he had been the one to destroy it.
Once he had calmed, Astraea returned to her seat.
Ryu silently poured him another cup of tea.
The elf’s expression remained serious, but some of the suspicion had disappeared.
Kaguya offered no sarcastic remark either.
“You asked Alice why a Familia composed entirely of women would consider accepting a man, correct?” Astraea said.
“Yes.”
“The first answer is simple.”
Astraea folded her hands.
“I have never created a rule stating that the Astraea Familia accepts only women.”
Ryu and Kaguya listened quietly.
“Many of my children experienced injustice before they came to me.”
“Some were abandoned.”
“Some were exploited.”
“Some had nowhere left to return.”
Astraea looked toward the members in the room.
“They arrived one by one until this house naturally became a place inhabited only by women.”
Her voice softened.
“Because of that, their sense of safety matters deeply to me.”
“I will not allow a man to enter their shared home without hearing their concerns.”
“Nor will I order anyone to trust him simply because I am their goddess.”
Ryu’s expression visibly softened.
“But at the same time…”
Astraea returned her gaze to Lelouch.
“If a Familia claiming to serve justice shuts its doors to someone solely because he was born male, then we are condemning him for something he has never done.”
She shook her head.
“We would merely replace one form of injustice with another.”
No one argued.
“Alice has the right to recommend anyone she believes possesses the qualities we value.”
“My duty is to listen.”
“But accepting you as family cannot come at the cost of destroying the home my existing children already have.”
“If I am permitted to stay,” Lelouch said, “I am willing to live in a separate building.”
His tone became practical.
“I will not enter private areas without permission, and I will follow any reasonable rules you establish.”
He glanced toward the others.
“It would be irrational to demand that eleven people reorganize their lives for one stranger.”
“I would add one condition.”
Kaguya spoke immediately.
“You are absolutely forbidden from entering the baths during the women’s bathing hours.”
“That should not require clarification.”
“And you are forbidden from using your face to seduce emotionally vulnerable members.”
Lelouch looked at her.
“Please identify precisely which members you consider emotionally vulnerable.”
Kaguya blinked.
“I imagine they would also like to know.”
Alice burst out laughing.
Ryu quickly covered her mouth.
Her shoulders shook.
“Your tongue is far sharper than your appearance suggests,” Kaguya muttered.
“I am merely requesting adequate definition of the rules.”
Astraea watched the exchange with a smile.
“We have a small guest building behind the manor.
It used to serve as a storage house, but one room can easily be converted into living quarters.”
“You may stay there until everyone becomes comfortable.”
“Lady Astraea,” Ryu said.
“Have you already decided to accept him?”
“Not yet.”
Astraea turned toward Lelouch.
“I still haven’t asked the most important question.”
The atmosphere changed.
The goddess’s voice remained gentle.
But Lelouch understood immediately—
His next answer would matter more than everything that came before.
“Lelouch.”
Astraea looked directly into his eyes.
“Do you believe in justice?”
….
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….
I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length.
If you’re following a particular series, please wait your turn a little If there’s a particular novel you’re enjoying on Patron, please give it a ‘like’ so I know to focus on it