Rin sat in silence, motionless in the dim room where he had awakened days ago. A full month had passed since the final gate, but the weight of that experience had not lifted. The torment he endured, Valen's piercing words, and the unimaginable pain,they lingered like a curse etched into his bones.
And yet… he was still alive.
"Why?" Rin asked himself for the hundredth time.
Why had Valen spared him? He had torn his soul apart, cast him into a cycle of torment and resurrection, only to leave him here,in a clean room, in a hospital bed, with no wounds to show for what he had endured.
Could it be that Valen had grown stronger,so strong that even obliterating Rin didn't feel necessary anymore? Or maybe… maybe Valen had discovered something even more horrifying than Rin's true nature. Something that made the northern invasion look like a mere distraction.
Rin is sure that valen invasion was related to him in some kind of a way.
But these were all just guesses. Speculations. Rin didn't know. And that made him feel powerless all over again.
Then came another problem,the doctor who had tended to him during recovery had referred to him as:
"Your Highness."
That meant Valen hadn't revealed anything. He'd kept Rin's identity hidden, perhaps even protected it. But why? If Valen had truly wanted him dead, it would've been so easy.
"Was I spared to continue acting? To serve some hidden purpose?" Rin clenched his fists. "Or is this just another way to torment me?"
He stood, feeling the weight of the decision pressing down on his shoulders. Should he stay here, exposed and weak? Or go somewhere where he could think, hide, and plan?
He looked east.
That was where his blood came from. The eastern lands were fractured into seven colossal nations, each ruled by a branch of the Solas family. Though bound by name, they were divided by ambition, pride, and secrets.
Rin's father once ruled one of them,the biggest among the seven. The man was the eldest of the four legendary Solas brothers, each given a domain to rule by the former king, who had long dreamt of uniting the world under a single bloodline. But after his father's disappearance, his eldest son,Rin's much older half-brother,had taken control.
Three countries belonged to Valen now. Two were ruled by the current emperor. One was controlled by Rin's uncle. And the final one… Rin's true home, lay in the hands of his much older half brother.
"If I go there, I might be able to disappear, hide, and think."
He took one step toward that planand that was when it came.
System Notification
Commencing emergency directive.
You are forbidden from encountering Valen Solas or any member of the royal family for a duration of sixty days.
Violation of this directive will result in irreversible soul collapse.
Successful evasion will stabilize your existence as the rightful heir of the Solas lineage.
Rin froze.
"The rightful heir…"
He was the son of the first prince. The one who was destined to inherit not just one nation, but all of the east. That was why the late king had distributed power among his four sons,each to rule a region of the east. But his vision was greater: to unite the fractured continents into one empire, under a single bloodline, that is why he decided to have four sons,he wanted each of them to rule a part of world.
Now Rin, hidden, forgotten, and reborn in another's body, stood at the heart of that legacy.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Sixty days. I have no choice but to trust the system, after that time i will have to act like nothing happened. "
He would travel to the eastern capital,not to reclaim, not yet. But to vanish among the ruins of his birthright, and from there… begin again.