You're not wrong- I am Prince Ingway of Valentine. Though... 'tis a dead kingdom now. And I never spent much time in what you would call a normal court.
No. There was a--coup, of sorts. And most of my citizens are dead, or exanimate shades in service of a tyrant.
[ She's gotten to tell Corrin and Jakob the entire story by now, but after bottling it up for so many years, even telling bits and pieces of the Valla's fall feels...freeing. ]
You? Did it have anything to do with that cursed beast?
I wish I could blame that beast... it would be easier. But this was years before the Darkova. You see, my mother was the princess of Valentine... but my father was king of an enemy nation.
When my grandfather found out who the father was- when Velvet and I were children- he went mad. Mother.... she did not survive the truth.
[He's staring down at their hands, eyes misty with pain]
Grandfather never recovered his sanity and took it out on us- mostly Velvet, as she looked like Mother more than I do. He would force her to dance and whip her when she didn't please him.
While... while I hid.
[Ah, so what he said before about Velvet suffering because of him made sense]
[ what was that saying, again? "birds of a feather flock together"?
She was alienated and had terrible things said about her when the concubines and the maids thought she wasn't listening, but no one had ever laid their hands on her, and she was taken from Castle Krakenburg long before Garon became a tyrant over his own children. She feels like she got the luckier deal, out of the two of them. ]
...I'm so sorry, Ingway. [ whispered ] But you were a child, weren't you? Young, at the very least.
[ She hesitates. Her instinct is to hug (thanks Saki), but he said he wasn't much of a hugger. So she turns to face him head-on, and untangles one of her hands to put on his shoulder and leans in a little.
[He's not trustworthy. Hasn't been sinc ethe day he was born. But her saying she trusts him... makes him want to try.]
There was a battle. My father, Odin, was marching on Grandfather. I knew Odin would lose and die.
I... I wanted to save him. I didn't even know him- he knew about us but he never attempted to come for us. Yet... in my childish mind I thought if I saved him he would take Velvet and I away.
So I sabotaged a weapon Grandfather was using in the war. It... it exploded.
Aye. And those that were not killed were cursed into the form of beasts. The Cauldron pulled the very life from the land! Even if the Pooka, our cursed people, had returned the land would never support a nation again.
Take my words with a grain of salt--I'm hearing your story through you, and I'll never truly know what the situation was like first hand.
But it's like I said, you blame yourself far too much.
Had you done this out of malice, or had you known what the scope of the destruction would be, I could not assuage you. But from what you're telling me, you didn't.
I can't say that you were an innocent party in this, no. And accidents don't lessen the pain dealt just because they were accidents. But...you're still worthy of being forgiven in time, even if it's by yourself.
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A dead kingdom?
[ hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ]
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My kingdom was ravaged- the people still lived, but were cursed. And now the entire land, our nation, and others, are sunk into the sea.
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Another commonality between us.
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[He squeezes her hand]
Though I can not see you being the cause of said ravaging as I was.
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[ She's gotten to tell Corrin and Jakob the entire story by now, but after bottling it up for so many years, even telling bits and pieces of the Valla's fall feels...freeing. ]
You? Did it have anything to do with that cursed beast?
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Azura nods. She's listening! ]
cw: child abuse
[He's staring down at their hands, eyes misty with pain]
Grandfather never recovered his sanity and took it out on us- mostly Velvet, as she looked like Mother more than I do. He would force her to dance and whip her when she didn't please him.
While... while I hid.
[Ah, so what he said before about Velvet suffering because of him made sense]
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She was alienated and had terrible things said about her when the concubines and the maids thought she wasn't listening, but no one had ever laid their hands on her, and she was taken from Castle Krakenburg long before Garon became a tyrant over his own children. She feels like she got the luckier deal, out of the two of them. ]
...I'm so sorry, Ingway. [ whispered ] But you were a child, weren't you? Young, at the very least.
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[Not all, he tries to finish. But he can't. The only time he had spoken about what happened had been to Velvet and Odin as he cast the Darkova curse.
Saying it to someone who just wanted to know about him, not him screaming at the man that ruined his life? It's too much, and he starts to cry]
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Take your time. She's here, and she's patient. ]
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You don't have to continue if it troubles you too much.
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[ he's a bit of a shitlord, and he's shifty, but he seems to have a good heart
that's good enough for her. ]
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[He's not trustworthy. Hasn't been sinc ethe day he was born. But her saying she trusts him... makes him want to try.]
There was a battle. My father, Odin, was marching on Grandfather. I knew Odin would lose and die.
I... I wanted to save him. I didn't even know him- he knew about us but he never attempted to come for us. Yet... in my childish mind I thought if I saved him he would take Velvet and I away.
So I sabotaged a weapon Grandfather was using in the war. It... it exploded.
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[ she guesses that's where this is going ]
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Take my words with a grain of salt--I'm hearing your story through you, and I'll never truly know what the situation was like first hand.
But it's like I said, you blame yourself far too much.
Had you done this out of malice, or had you known what the scope of the destruction would be, I could not assuage you. But from what you're telling me, you didn't.
I can't say that you were an innocent party in this, no. And accidents don't lessen the pain dealt just because they were accidents. But...you're still worthy of being forgiven in time, even if it's by yourself.
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You are... too kind, Azura. Too kind for someone like me.
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