Rin leaned back in the high-backed chair,Arkan's old seat,and crossed one leg over the other. His voice was calm, almost bored.
"Tell me everything. From the beginning to the end. Your plan. The Emperor's orders. Your dealings with the Crown Prince and the Second Prince. I want to hear it all."
Arkan flinched. His face twitched with barely contained frustration.
"What about Kaelion, Your Highness?"
Rin narrowed his eyes.
"Why bring up Kaelion out of nowhere?"
The silence stretched. Then Rin exhaled through his nose and stood. He was acting careful right now.
"He is my brother. Since I have your full support now, I'll put him in prison,alive. That should be enough. Now talk."
Arkan hesitated, but Rin's soul-binding had teeth. He could feel it. His mouth moved almost on its own, words spilling out with grim reluctance.
"It began twenty years ago..."
He recited the Emperor's order almost verbatim, voice hollow:
> "Protect my sons. Do not meddle. If they split, host a test. Support the one who unites the land. If he forgives his brother, serve him. If he kills him, end him."
Rin listened in silence. When Arkan finished, Rin's face was unreadable.
"So that's why you kept asking about Kaelion. Until the end, you wanted to see if I'd kill him. You conspired to have me killed, multiple times. If you weren't still useful, I'd have hanged you by your own intestines."
As he spoke, he rose slowly, walked toward Arkan, and pressed his boot against the man's face,smearing dirt and dust into the floor.
Arkan didn't resist.
Rin dragged the sole across Arkan's cheek, then wiped the grime from it with Arkan's robes.
Then he spat.
"Pathetic. A low-life slave."
He turned, sitting again.
"When I reach the soul realm, I will use your soul to ascend. But until then, you belong to me. Speak. What was your deal with the princes?"
Arkan's eyes were dull now. The fight in him had died.
"There was no direct deal. Your father's orders forbade it. I only gave them hints. Subtle nudges. It still cost me dearly. But they understood. They saw you as a threat. They feared you or Kaelion would take control of the region. And... they knew the Emperor was dead."
Rin's gaze sharpened.
"He's dead?"
Arkan nodded. "Yes. But he didn't name a successor. Instead, he left behind a test: the first of his sons to reach the Soul Stage becomes Emperor."
Rin tapped the armrest, deep in thought.
"Does it have to be one of his sons?"
"Yes. But..." Arkan hesitated. "If all of his sons die, there's a small chance the throne will accept someone with Solas blood."
Rin's lips curled slightly.
"And the others?"
"They're in the capital. The throne protects them now. No assassination, no coup, nothing will touch them. Not until someone reaches the Soul Stage. They're invincible in the empirecapital."
"Convenient," Rin muttered. Then louder, "So to win the throne, I have to reach the peak of soul stage, that is ridiculous."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"And how does one reach the Soul Stage?"
Arkan looked away.
"There are methods. Old rituals. Forbidden arts. But the quickest way... is killing. A vast, unspeakable number of deaths."
Rin's voice dropped to a whisper.
"I knew it,he wanted us to tear each other apart."
Arkan said nothing.
"He didn't want a successor. He wanted a warlord. Someone who would burn everything just to sit on a throne of bones."
Rin stood, walking to the window. The horizon was quiet, but not peaceful. Something was always coming.
"He wanted us to drag the world into hell. To kill everyone"
And now Rin had a choice to make.
End the game.
Or win it.