Fanfic / Lifting the Veil

When Emperor Charles is informed he's not long for the mortal coil, he decides to name his heir: the 'long-hidden' Prince Lelouch vi Britannia. As Zero now finds himself the heir of a nation he wants destroyed, he struggles within the spotlight as all those who thought they knew him reel from the news.

Lifting the Veil is an Code Geass fanfic written by Amintadefender, deviating from just before the start of the Mao arc.

Tropes in this fic include:

• Adaptation Expansion: Many examples, most involving Ashford Academy.
  • Several students are named and connected to Lelouch's antics at the academy, including some that were jealous of how Lelouch attracts girls without trying.
  • Lelouch apparently arranged the death of one girl at Ashford after she launched a sustained bullying campaign against Nunnally and his prior attempts to get her to back off were ignored.
  • Kallen's father is revealed to be an OSI agent who fell in love with her mom and wanted a peaceful handling of Japan.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Kallen briefly wonders how her father managed to keep her and Naoto from being marked as Elevens. Stephan bluntly admits he begged for it, because his position as an OSI agent only went so far.
• Break the Cutie: Shirley was already reeling from finding out Lelouch was Zero. Finding out Zero is actually a Prince and heir to the country he was fighting against shocks her even more, leaving her questioning if the Emperor was somehow involved in Zero's rebellion. And then she's held hostage by rebellious nobles seeking to kill Lelouch.
• Bullying a Dragon: Despite knowing that Lelouch is now heir apparent of Britannia and having had one of their friends killed by him before he had that power, several nobles think they can manipulate him into relinquishing his place in line for the throne and kidnap Shirley to blackmail him.
• Dramatic Irony: All over the place:
  • Sir Bismarck sees Lelouch as a spoiled brat whose time as Zero was merely a rebellious tantrum. He slowly loses that notion as he realizes what the prince went through and how deep his hatred of Britannia runs.
  • Lelouch is convinced he's merely a sacrificial pawn in the game of his uncaring father. The idea his father might genuinely care about him isn't even considered a possibility.
  • The Black Knights are waiting for word from Zero on how to handle the Britannian heir.
  • Cornelia assumes that Bismarck relieving her of dealing with Zero is the Emperor inflicting You Have Failed Me on her. In reality, Charles just wants to take a personal touch dealing with his newfound heir.
• Forgot Flanders Could Do That: Many Code Geass fanfics tend to have Charles overshadowed by Schneizel as a villain, both due to the latter lasting longer as a villain and, in crossovers, the crossover element having some way of learning about and interfering with Ragnarök. Here, though, Charles is completely in control of the plot because no one knows his true plans — in canon, he only lost because Lelouch got really lucky.
• Hypocrite: Several of Lelouch's classmates view Lelouch as a Karma Houdini for wrecking their lives and getting one of their friends killed. The first chapter of the story had Shirley tell Kallen that these students all lead a concerted bullying campaign on Nunnally and that the girl was planning on throwing Nunnally into a pool.
• I Have Your Wife: Charles has Kallen brought to Pendragon, both because he wants leverage over Lelouch and because he wants to meet his potential daughter-in-law. It's this decision that makes Kallen realize that not only is Lelouch Zero, but he likes her in a romantic sense, as these being true is the only reason she would make good leverage against Lelouch.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite all of the timeline differences from the existence of Britannia, Arthur Miller was still born and still wrote The Crucible (with invokedWord of God implying it was still made because Britannia took it as a critique of the colonies straying from the monarchy and missed the actual morals).
• In Vino Veritas: Shirley is sedated while a bomb squad disables the suicide vest she is strapped with, and inadvertently implies that Lelouch is Zero to them, though they believe it's just her being made delirious because of the sedative. The only one who takes it at face value is Bismarck, who already knows the truth.
• Point of Divergence: Unsurprisingly, the news of Charles' terminal illness changes the plot significantly:
  • Due to the Knight of One's arrival, Shirley is prevented from leaving the Academy after finding out Lelouch is Zero. This keeps her from meeting Mao or losing her memories.
  • The author confirmed that the presence of Britannian forces made Mao decide to take a step back from his plans for the moment. He eventually decides to impersonate Lelouch as Zero for his own ends.
  • Lelouch and C.C.'s burgeoning friendship/romance is torpedoed when Lelouch finds out that, after his secrets were revealed, C.C. rejoined Charles' forces.
• Pretend to Be Brainwashed: Kallen has to pretend to be Geassed by Lelouch, as it's the only way Charles and co. will trust her enough to release her as a hostage.
• Secret-Keeper: Kallen's father, while not knowing the exact details, is aware of Charles' Geass, as he knows that Charles has a way of forcing obedience that isn't quite natural. This is a big part of the reason he tries to convince her to be obedient around him.
• Secretly Dying: As revealed by Bismarck in Chapter 2, Charles was diagnosed with cancer recently and treatment hasn't been helping, which galvanized him to announce Lelouch as his heir.
• Spotting the Thread: Kallen, when wondering if Lelouch really did hate Britannia, realizes he might have been honest after Charles replies to one of her questions by saying “it is uncouth to threaten your own daughter”. Said statement implies he threatened Nunnally to force Lelouch's compliance, since everyone can see that she means the world to her brother.
• Was It All a Lie?: All of Lelouch's friends (excluding Secret-Keeper Milly) feel this way when they learn that Lelouch is a prince, since he never shared this with any of them.
• Why Am I Ticking?: In Chapter 11, Shirley is released by her captors and told to go to Lelouch and hug him, having unknowingly been garbed in a suicide vest. The plan backfires when she panics and shoots one of the terrorists to stop them from potentially killing her mom or Lelouch, and the aftermath keeps everyone confused long enough for the vest to be disarmed and removed.