Background:
Prior to the start of the main events, the Eleventh Prince of Britannia, Lelouch vi Britannia and his sister, Princess Nunnally vi Britannia lived with their strict father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, and their mother in the capital city of the Holy Britannian Empire, Pendragon. When Lelouch was ten, and Nunnally was six, their mother was mysteriously shot to death. Ultimately, Nunnally was caught in the crossfire and could no longer walk, and was blinded from trauma of seeing her mother murdered. Lelouch became angry that his father did nothing to solve the murder and renounced his anointment to the throne, and he and his sister were thereof placed in the care of the Kururugi Shrine, in Japan. In this time, Suzaku Kururugi became friends with Lelouch, but they were separated from each other because of the Second Pacific War, which, with Britannia's introduction of fighting machines called Knightmare frames into battle, ended Japan's existence in 2010 in the given calendar. The conquered nation's name became "Area 11" as a mocking gesture to the month long defeat of the nation. Later they were taken in by the Ashford Academy, run by the Ashford Foundation of which their mother was a test pilot for. They were given a maid, Sayoko Shinozaki, to assist with the care of Nunnally, and they lived in hiding for years, using the false last name Lamperouge.