Silence.
The memory made as if to shift, and in the split-second right before it did, Arin stopped it.
This was an interesting memory.
If he was to keep playing Rin, he wanted to know him better.
He'd apologize to the man for this rude invasion of privacy if they ever met in the future.
…Then again, whatever boundaries there were against such invasions of privacy, they'd all already been breached from the moment he'd first started living in the guy's body day in and day out.
Oh, well.
Back to the show.
'I know,' Rin finally said in a small, defeated voice. Sensing the tears threatening to spill from his eyes again, he swiped at them and gritted his teeth. 'I know that, of course. But now…'
'Hmm. Now…' The white-haired man tapped his chin thoughtfully. 'The emperor might try to force his magic to suffice. In my humble opinion, that would be a sacrifice in vain. He would never last, and the empress would never forgive you. Well, she might already mean to never forgive you.'
A soft growl emanated from the rabbit he was still caressing.
Rin's breathing stuttered.
Arin's jaw would've dropped open if he'd been physically present.
The man, clearly seeing nothing wrong with the things he was saying, continued calmly, 'Ah. They might try for more heirs instead, in the hopes that another child – one who fulfils those requirements, is born. Would that, perhaps, be a more acceptable outcome?'
His red eyes slowly rolled down to meet Rin's again. 'Tell me. If that is what they choose to do, would you still wish to stop them? Or would it be easier for you to accept the sacrifice of some other child – a sibling you've never known – for the safety of everyone else?'
Tarra growled again, but clearly didn't dare to retaliate in any way. Her form melted into a silvery snake that slithered over to Rin and wound itself comfortingly around his arm. The white-haired man silently withdrew his own hand.
Rin's tapped her nose distractedly, almost like it was something he'd done a thousand times until it had become a reflex. His heart clenched tightly in his chest. 'Tell me this, Lord Varyn,' he said suddenly. 'How do you… how do you know… so much, when you are not even –'
'Not a part of your imperial family?' The man raised an elegant brow. 'Indeed, I never was. But we did have an ancestor… that princess from several generations prior, who married into the duchy. You might remember her from your family tree – she was one of a set of triplets, whose youngest… was taken ill, and died tragically in her childhood.'
The man tilted his head to one side. 'Surely, you do not see your family as so hardhearted that you'd think yourself the very first to have had some trouble with these… arrangements.'
Rin stared at him wordlessly.
'In any case, the duke of those times had developed some suspicions based on the way his dear wife seemed to almost fear visiting the palace. And when all she asked for, upon her own deathbed, was forgiveness from the sister she had lost as a child, he began to – rather publicly – investigate things for himself.'
'Naturally, that curious, foolish man did not live for much longer after that. But some of his findings had been carefully sealed away in secret, hidden for generations, until they came into my own hands by a fluke in my youth. I built some of my knowledge upon that. The rest of it, of course, is…'
Rin swallowed.
'Conjecture. Guesswork.' The white-haired man shrugged with a smile. 'But, crown prince, you still haven't answered my question. Since your childish plan of gallantly offering yourself up cannot work anymore, would you now find it acceptable if a new sibling has to take the youngest prince's place?'
'I've asked that you stop calling me that! And, no. No, I could not accept that. That would also be an innocent child. That would also be my sibling, like Ralen! My family! I – I could never -!'
'I see. So, given the choice, you would much rather see your family fail in its duty, and allow that which they have been trying to suppress to ravage the world and destroy countless other families instead. As long as it is not your family…' The man was still smiling gently. 'Though, of course, your family would also not be allowed to escape that calamity unscathed.'
'I did not say that! I – I only meant… I only meant to…'
All of a sudden, a hot, uncomfortable feeling surged up in his body. In the next moment, the boy was hunched over and sobbing uncontrollably. All the pride and control he'd tried to maintain, even while he'd been lying alone on the forest floor, seemed to have shattered all at once.
'I never… I never meant for – for this… to happen… I never wanted this at all!'