Arin sighed to himself.
Everything he'd seen thus far had only confirmed just how close and loving Rin's family seemed to have been.
Whatever melodramatic plot he'd been imagining, full of power-hungry tyrants, competing mistresses, evil stepmothers, or illegitimate children, seemed to belong to an entirely different world than the life he had seen.
Then again, all of that was from when Rin had been very young. There was still plenty of time for the tone to shift. It was very possible that some, or all of those things, might still show up.
Still, Arin found it hard to reconcile the Rin he knew with the soft-spoken child in these memories.
Well not that he'd ever actually known the current Rin.
…
In any case, he could not understand how a crown prince so beloved and cherished had come to hide his identity and live under the care of an outcast - only to end up being 'killed' by his own younger brother in that forgotten corner of this world.
Speaking of, hadn't Rin spoken fondly of that same brother, back in the first memory he'd seen?
What was going on with him and Ralen?
The Mirror of Record seemed to have interpreted his scattered thoughts as another command, and Arin suddenly saw the room around him shift and speed into a blur of color and light.
Since he wasn't really in a hurry, he didn't rescind his words, and remained at ease as a different memory took shape before his eyes.
'-cannot understand why they will not let us see!' hissed a sharp voice in his ear, and Rin looked up to meet the narrowed eyes of his still-very-young sister.
The two of them were standing outside a large set of tightly-shut doors, with Sera still whispering to him, her face tight with displeasure.
'They had allowed me to be present for the testing of your magic, and I'd only been glad for learning of it -'
'Sister!' Rin had exclaimed softly, eyes wide with worry as they darted around.
'Oh, there is no one else here! No one else would dare flout mother's command as we are doing right now. But still, why must we now be kept in the dark about -'
This time, her words were interrupted by a soft creak, and the two children looked up in unison to meet the emperor's gray eyes through a gap in the door.
Even as Rin gaped back in silence, she put herself in front of him and said, 'I made him come. The idea was mine, father.'
Still, the man only looked at them in silence.
'I-I wanted to know, too,' Rin declared in a barely-audible voice.
The man remained quiet.
Rin swallowed. Sera reached to hold his hand, and said, 'Well, I believe it is time we took our leave. Goodbye father.' She then started pulling Rin away from the door.
As he hurried to comply, the two of them heard a soft sigh.
'Stay. Come in.'
There was a sound of protest from deeper within the room, but their father only shook his head and pushed the door open wider. 'It is not as though it will remain a secret, my love. Not from them,' he said. He then gestured towards the two children, who were now rooted to the spot, and repeated, 'Come in.'
The siblings exchanged a glance before turning around and doing as they'd been told. Still, they did not let go of each other's hand.
Arin braced himself.
This was it. The conniving mistress. The illegitimate child. The –
The empress?
Inside the room was still that same, familiar face, bending over a crib with a soulglass, as she had done with Rin. There was no one else besides them.
The empress looked beautiful as ever, her dark hair pulled to the back to reveal more of her lovely face. Upon that face, however, she wore a small frown as she beheld her husband.
The man stepped toward her and gently caressed her cheek. 'This cannot be hidden from them, my love. And though they are still young, they will come to understand someday.'
'They will have to.'