Chapter 1048: Cage
Anthony fell into his thoughts for a moment, his mind drifting through various things before he turned to Bryan and asked, "Do you really want to be the Crowned Prince?" He wanted to hear Bryan’s side, although he had read his fair share of kingdom-based novels that worked just like the Dragon Empire, Anthony still wanted to hear Bryan’s side, to hear it directly from someone living within such a position rather than relying on fictional interpretations.
After all, not all princes wanted to be the Crowned Prince, but they all had no right to refuse; the position of power and advantages they were born into inevitably ended up being the shackles of their own dreams and future, binding them in ways they could neither escape nor defy without consequence.
"I really don’t," he replied with a sigh. He turned and walked towards another couch within his room, sitting down in a relaxed yet burdened manner, he asked, "Why do you ask?"
Anthony, hearing Bryan’s question, simply ignored it as he asked another question, "Why don’t you want to be the Crowned Prince or even like it?" He stared at the Royal Dragon before him calmly.
Bryan stayed silent for a moment before he spoke, "Because of my father," he answered calmly, though there was an underlying weight behind his tone that made his simple response carry far more meaning than the words alone suggested.
But his reply only made Anthony more confused, his brows knitting slightly in subtle curiosity, but before he could speak further or question him again, Bryan explained his reasoning in a composed yet reflective manner.
"Although my father always wears an expressionless mask on his face, I can tell the boredom of the Crown weighs heavily on him. He doesn’t need to say it; I can tell he longs for the adventure and freedom he once had, the kind of life where he could act without restraint. I know he probably wants to go and explore, and I also know he uses whatever free time he has to go fighting random demons on various planets, only to return like nothing happened, as though fulfilling a silent craving he cannot openly indulge in. But at the end of the day, he can’t truly do what he longs for and wants because he is the Emperor of the Dragon Domain," Bryan paused briefly, his voice steady yet layered with understanding.
"I can see the expectations in his eyes; he is waiting for me to get to the Planetary level. The moment I break through, he would probably vanish on that same day, disappearing without hesitation, and I would never see him again. He probably looks forward to this Angel invasion more than anyone else, as the battle would give him an excuse to leave the Domain and go fight without care, without responsibility chaining him down," Bryan continued. After becoming the Crowned Prince, he had spent so much time with Iserios to understand what kind of man he truly was beneath the title.
"And I too long to explore not just the world, but the Galaxy as a whole. Although I don’t fully understand it, the fragments I’ve heard and read about make me far too curious to ignore, but as the Crowned Prince, I barely even leave the Dragon Domain, and that’s maybe only for official meetings, perhaps to the Elven Domain or the Human Domain and such," he sighed as he spoke, pouring out the dilemma that came with his position, a dilemma that had clearly been building within him for quite some time.
Anthony stared at Bryan; he had thought that maybe Bryan enjoyed his position, but it seemed the guy... or rather, the Dragon, didn’t enjoy it at all, not even in the slightest, and perhaps even resented it to a certain degree.
"But my elder brother, Heinz, he is different, he wants to be the Dragon Emperor; he has been training and talking about it since we were little, dedicating himself entirely to that singular goal, just to have his own dreams shattered because of a limitation of his that he can’t control," Bryan continued with a sigh, the mention of his brother carrying a faint trace of regret.
When he had first been made the Crown Prince, he had thought that maybe the title would cause a divide between him and his brother, that it would fracture their relationship and create tension between them, but shockingly, Heinz was cool with it. Not that he wasn’t sad or angry, those emotions had existed, but he simply understood the futility and his own limits, accepting reality in a way that few could.
Anthony nodded, then spoke, "Aren’t there talent pills or elixirs that can increase talent? Surely, if such a thing were available, Heinz could use it to increase his talent and become the Crowned Prince, overcoming the very limitation that binds him."
Bryan shook his head, "If such a miraculous thing existed, surely you don’t think the other Domains would not wage war for it, right?" He asked, his tone turning slightly rhetorical, "Besides, why would anyone even keep it? They would immediately use it on themselves. If such a thing existed, my father would have used it on himself without hesitation. After all, everyone wants to ascend higher and walk further on their paths, no matter who they are," Bryan concluded with quiet certainty.
If such a miraculous pill or elixir existed, one might think parents might leave it for their children or descendants out of love and hope for their future, but such was not the reality of a world like Blue Planet. Yes, parents loved their children, but still, some things did not need to be given to them; they could carve their own paths.
And in fact, no talent-raising pill or potion exists within the Blue Planet or really anywhere within any known place in the Acarnis Galaxy. If it existed, clans, bloodlines, and ancient families would have used them without hesitation, consolidating their strength to unimaginable levels rather than leaving anything to chance.
Only Anthony had access to such a thing; even Lucian, a reincarnator and a system holder who spent all his time touring the Galaxy in search of unique talents to copy, didn’t have one he could give to his girlfriend, Veronica. Hence, if such a thing was made known, war would inevitably follow, and the only way to even attempt to stop such a war was for whoever possessed it to use it on themselves immediately, removing the possibility of others obtaining it.
But still, that wouldn’t stop it entirely; it would only turn it into a far more dangerous and concealed form of conflict, a secret war fought in the shadows, as people would simply want to refine whoever consumed such a miraculous pill or elixir into another type of pill for their own good and benefit, turning even individuals into resources.
Anthony kind of agreed with Bryan’s words; while being a prince was glamorous and all that from an outsider’s perspective, for someone like Anthony, it was simply a shackle, a gilded cage disguised as privilege. Imagine having the power to explore the world, the power to explore the Galaxy, yet being unable to because you are caged by some ancient law of the olden ages, laws that no longer served the desires of those bound by them.
If Anthony were in their shoes, he would probably have changed the stupid law years ago without hesitation, reshaping the system entirely to suit freedom rather than restriction. But he wouldn’t suggest such a thing to Bryan; besides, who knew, maybe the old laws of the Dragon Domain didn’t allow current Emperors to change laws on their whims, binding even the highest authority to rules established long before their time.
Anthony could only sigh in pity for Bryan; the boy was simply in a big and fancy prison, one lined with power, luxury, and expectation. In the future, he would have to become like Iserios, waiting for his own son or daughter to become an Emperor before he could finally escape, passing on the same burden just to attain the freedom he desired.