Arin decided he'd go through the rest of the memories after a short break.
After directing the Mirror of Record to get him out of there, he gasped as he felt himself emerge from the mirror's surface like he was being launched out of a swimming pool. The moment he was completely out, he felt the toes of his footwear clack against the glass.
The tool had gone back to being solid, like a real mirror, and he knew it would remain so until the next time he looked into it and met his reflection's eyes.
He lay silently on the floor of Alma's room for a minute, eyes shut as he thought over everything he'd just seen. A sudden, warm feeling by his arm made him look up, and he saw a silver-gray mouse pushing into it. With a small laugh, he scratched between the creature's ears, and then pushed himself to sit up.
'You've been with this guy for a long time, huh?' he said. 'And your mother is his father's familiar, so he's pretty much family for ya. I get it now.'
With a small sigh, he then shifted and shuffled until his back was against a wall. He tilted his head back, and shut his eyes again. He needed some time to think.
Not only was Rin a prince in the direct line of the royal family of these lands, but also the crown prince. Or at least, he had been the crown prince, until he'd used his magic that day.
Arin didn't know what, exactly, the secret being hidden by the family was, of course. Whatever ancestor had cast their absolute proclamation magic however long ago had ensured that no outsider could ever learn of it.
Even those in the know couldn't speak of it directly, beyond making vague references here and there. But thankfully, the things Rin had heard and experienced had been plenty for Arin to piece together enough stuff to paint a picture.
Whatever the secret was, had been related to Ralen also being born with absolute proclamation magic. Unlike the effervescent joy when Rin's soulglass had formed that symbol, Ralen's results had been something the emperor and empress had feared even before he'd been born, and it had caused them despair upon its confirmation.
And whatever the reason may be, it had made them neglect the youngest prince, to the point that he'd spent his earliest years locked away under the pretense of his being too weak and sickly to participate. Moreover, once Rin had dealt with that, and pushed to have him join them, the child had still been ignored and disregarded, to the point that he had developed… personality issues, to put it kindly.
It had only taken a couple of memories for Arin to realize why that was; they had no expectations of Ralen, because they knew he would never get to grow and develop as a prince in the future. They'd probably hoped to keep him hidden away, and distanced from even his own siblings, until he could quietly disappear, or be disposed of, when the situation called for it.
Whatever the situation was.
That, he still didn't know.
Of course, that the emperor and empress could do something so cruel, especially considering how much they seemed to have dreaded it at the very beginning, meant that this had to happen for something they considered greater than their own child. Something that even Sera, who had been angry and distraught at first, would eventually come to accept. Some kind of greater good pertaining to the Empire, or…
…to Rin, the crown prince.
And the last memory had confirmed that, if Ralen didn't 'serve' the secret of the ancestral hall, then the task would fall upon Rin instead.
So, going by the only thing they shared besides blood, Arin guessed it had something to do with their magic.
Obviously, the condition wasn't about multiple people in the royal family being born with that type of sovereign talent. After all, the emperor himself also had it. Therefore, it must've had to do with more than one member from the same generation, or more than one sibling in the direct line, being born with it.
In such a case, while one would be conferred the title of crown prince or princess, the other would live as a ghost with no future in the court, or on the throne.
Or maybe, no future at all.
But… did that explain why Rin was here, living in a remote magic tower far from the capital?
It didn't.
Because if the condition had simply been about the other having to renounce their rights to the throne, or leave the capital for good, surely there would've been better ways to go about it than trying to wipe away the very existence of the target, as had been done with Ralen at first. Surely the parents wouldn't have been that stupid, and casually cruel, when they could've simply arranged for a better life for their other offspring while still meeting the conditions.
'Yeah, buddy, your brother got here first, so he gets to be king, and we have a rule that you can't be around to, uh… avoid competition or something. So, we're gifting you an estate and a bunch of fancy equipment, and companions, and money, and stuff. As long as you stay away from the capital, the world is your oyster! Go have fun, champ!'
Yeah, no. Arin was pretty sure it had to be something far more serious.
Which, again, raised the question of why Rin was here.
'Argh, dammit!' Arin knocked his head against the wall on which he was leaning. Once, twice…
He heard a low growl.
'Sorry, sorry, not my body,' he held up his hands in a placating gesture, eyes still shut.
He exhaled.
With every answer he got, came twice as many new questions. It was like he was stuck in a nightmare, writing a cursed test that went on and on, until his hands were cramping, and his brain hurt, and he still couldn't stop, and he hadn't even studied for it.
'Dammit,' he muttered again. He didn't knock his head against the wall this time.
Sure. Whatever.
He was here for answers. He was getting them. Even if it took some time, he'd get them, and he'd be better off for it.
It wasn't even that bad.
Definitely better than pulling all-nighters at work.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
In all of this, the one thing he knew for certain was that – irrespective of whatever his current feelings were – there had, at least, been a time when Rin had genuinely loved and cared for his younger brother, even to the point of giving up everything for his sake.
And Ralen would never learn the complete truth. He couldn't. That had been part of the magic Rin had cast. And perhaps because of that, whatever childish resentment he'd held for his brother had bloomed into the kind of twisted hatred where he'd even tried to kill him.
In his mind, the young face of the pale-haired boy morphed into the older, bitter face – the first face he'd seen in this world – back at that clearing in the forest.
Then, those features shifted into a face that was completely different, yet far more familiar to him.
Arin sighed again.
'I wonder how that idiot's doing…'