After being captured by Nazelbart on the battlefield, Rivage had his mana sealed and was transported to the royal capital of Polpystan over the course of several days. The capital was a city located right in the middle of the country. Rivage had been brought here from the desert through meadows, and the capital had abundant trees and a tropical climate.
I held His Majesty...my brother back. How could I have done such a thing?!
Rivage had acquired Robin’s magic and used it in combination with his own to throw the enemy into disarray. He’d prepared plenty of mountbeasts suitable for the desert, and even gathered talented magic users. He’d launched an invasion Polpystan only because he’d met all those conditions. He’d also considered the possibility of Desnim interfering, but he’d still believed he could succeed.
But Desnim—and especially Sutrena—had been abnormal. Desnimer reinforcements had suddenly appeared out of thin air. No weapons had worked against their soldiers. Rivage’s magic had been nullified. Hordes of strange manabeasts had rallied against him. It had just been a series of incomprehensible events. Who could have predicted all that? Not even the careful Rivage could have imagined all those things.
I wonder if I’ll be able to return to Myzahn. Myzahn was a strict meritocracy. Especially in the capital, there was no place for useless people, even if they were royalty. That was why Rivage had gone to such great lengths for his brother up to now. He was keenly aware of the danger he currently faced. If he were the one making the decision, he’d immediately cast away a subordinate who’d made such a grave error, just like he’d done with Defi, a man who had served him closely.
During the incident surrounding Robin’s escape, Rivage had caused losses to his country because of all the reparations they’d had to pay. That mistake had been forgiven because gaining Robin’s magic had created the possibility for Rivage to defeat Polpystan and turn things around. But if he lost that too...
What should I do? I need to achieve some kind of feat, anything at all. Otherwise Rivage would lose the place he called home.
As he was filled with anxiety and fear, Valen, the second prince of Polpystan, appeared before him. He had been in charge of the enemy army in the recent battle. Rivage was currently held captive in a building somewhere in the capital, and although he wasn’t physically restrained, he was confined to his room. His weapons had been taken away, so he couldn’t even resist.
Valen stepped into the room surrounded by guards. He was a lukewarm prince from a lukewarm country, driven by emotion. Just like Rivage, he would one day become the king’s brother, but Rivage could find nothing to relate to in this man.
“Hello, Prince Rivage. I haven’t seen you since the battlefield.”
Rivage remained silent.
“We’re planning on returning you to Myzahn. We will do everything in our power to ensure you have no discomfort in your time here.”
“I wish those words could remain true forever...”
Valen couldn’t fully comprehend—or even imagine—the severity of Rivage’s situation. That was why Rivage felt extremely irritated when he saw Valen. The Polpystani prince had definitely not experienced an environment where failure wasn’t permitted, faced the threat posed by younger siblings, or dealt with the existence of subjects who eagerly waited for the opportunity to overthrow the royal family.
Rivage focused on a nearby flower vase.
If I at least retaliate here...will the situation change? With zero hesitation, Rivage knocked the vase to the floor to shatter it, snatched up one of its broken pieces, and aimed for Valen’s neck. The guards frantically tried to stop Rivage, but he still reached Valen’s throat. However...
“Wha—” The shard in Rivage’s hand shattered, while Valen’s neck remained unharmed. Even as the guards rushed to subdue Rivage, all he could do was stare dumbfounded at the uninjured Valen.
“Yeah... This is convenient, so I negotiated to keep my body like this,” Valen said.
“Is that magic?!” Then Rivage remembered. Nazelbart and his soldiers had similarly been impervious to weapons.
“I can’t tell you the details.” Valen was evasive and left the chaotic room.
The next day, Polpystan received a reply regarding Rivage’s treatment from his older brother, the king. Unsurprisingly, he’d refused to take Rivage back. As the intermediary, Valen delivered the news to Rivage, who was greatly shaken even though he had kind of expected this. Rivage’s brother was one of the few relatives he was close to, and he’d believed that they’d always cooperate hand in hand, so this farewell was shockingly abrupt.
“I also have this for you.” Valen handed Rivage a separate letter his brother had sent. It stated that the invasion of Polpystan would be abandoned for now, and that one of Rivage’s younger brothers would be promoted to replace him.
No...
The King of Myzahn had other half brothers besides Rivage. Rivage was the oldest and had proven very useful, so he’d been allowed to serve directly under the king for a long time. But Rivage’s brother had plenty of potential replacements for him.
I don’t know which of my younger brothers has inherited my position, but I’m no longer necessary. Frustration, resignation, and a bit of anxiety overtook Rivage.
Will His Majesty be okay from now on? Whichever younger brother had succeeded Rivage definitely wouldn’t care about their older brother as much as Rivage did. His other siblings felt no affection for the king and acted out of pure self-interest—even more so than Rivage. Still, Rivage could do nothing after his brother had rejected him.
Valen looked at Rivage with sympathy, but this was none of his business. He doesn’t understand a thing.
Even after the Polpystanis left the room, Rivage remained agitated.
But several days later, some unexpected news arrived. When Valen came and told Rivage, the Myzahni prince reflexively lost his cool and started shouting.
“That isn’t possible! Civil war broke out in Myzahn?!”
“Well, I had the same thought and confirmed it over and over again, but it looks like your older brother and younger brother really are fighting, Prince Rivage. Apparently, the brother who succeeded you as the king’s right-hand man harbors ambitions for the throne. The king is being cornered.”
Rivage was astonished. His worries had become reality.
“If I was there, I would have prevented it.” Rivage could have acted like a bulwark, but his older brother had cast him away himself.
“This is a problem we can do nothing about. Polpystan was just invaded, and we can’t involve our precious citizens in another country’s civil war. We mustn’t carelessly poke our nose into Myzahn’s affairs.”
“Prince Valen, no one has asked you to mediate.”
“I see. That’s what your expression was telling me, so I just assumed.” Valen’s words left Rivage confused—just what kind of expression had he been making? “Well, since all that happened, a final resolution to your status has been put on hold. We’ll have you stay here for a while.”
“Haaah...” Polpystan was probably also having trouble deciding what to do with Rivage. If they carelessly had him executed, it would give Myzahn an excuse to invade. Although Polpystan had captured him as the leader of the recent conflict, the country seemed intent to emphasize that he was being treated humanely.
After that, Rivage continued being imprisoned in Polpystan. The eccentric Valen dropped by from time to time to discuss all sorts of topics. His friendliness must have been proof that he had been raised properly and with care. That would never happen in the royal palace of Myzahn, where backstabbings were an everyday occurrence.
“Polpystan seems to lack the kind of conflict among family you’d find in Myzahn.”
“Yes, we all get along well.”
“How enviable.” When Rivage realized what had casually come out of his mouth, he froze. I get it now; I was jealous of Prince Valen. He has no problems in his familial relationships, has people he can reliably trust, and can act free from worry.
But Rivage had no right to think that way. Just like his older brother, he’d abandoned countless allies in the past, merely because they hadn’t been able to act like he’d wanted them to. It had always been that way; that had been his normal environment. This time, Rivage’s older brother had abandoned him. And Rivage’s younger brother had forsaken their older brother the king and begun fighting against him. It was a never-ending vicious cycle that Rivage had ultimately been unable to stop.
“A coup d’état seems unlikely to happen in Polpystan,” Rivage said.
“That’s true. If someone tried to pull one for no reason, they would probably be taken down by their family and the citizens. However, even in our country, if the king was a tyrant, I believe there would be people willing to stage a coup. But looking back at history, someone has always acted before things got that serious, putting a stop to the misgovernment.”
Polpystan was a country with flourishing education. The Duchy of Masroono had large research institutions. Myzahn had similar institutions, but they kept pulling each other down. Even if someone achieved results, if they didn’t align with the wishes of the higher-ups, they were shut down.
Our two countries are polar opposites in every single aspect. They didn’t see eye to eye.
“Come to think of it, you were researching magic, right, Prince Rivage? Even I have heard rumors that you’re quite enthusiastic about your research.”
“I studied various kinds of magic to exploit for my own magic.”
“Would you feel like continuing your research in this room? We’ve also started putting effort into researching magic.”
“Why...would you save your enemy when they’re down on their luck? And since my mana is sealed, I have no intention of researching magic I can’t even use. It would only irritate me.”
“Yeah, I figured.” This prince was endlessly lukewarm.
Rivage might one day be handed back to Myzahn, but that day also might never come—the latter was far more likely. Yet he felt surprisingly at ease in this place, no longer constantly bound by stress like he’d been in Myzahn. This was true even though he was a captive limited to a single room.