01 / 07The Crown Chose Him
He won the throne and everyone's favor. Only you refuse to look back.
You were once Vestar's undisputed heir. From the time you learned to hold a sword and sign decrees, everyone told you that the coastal kingdom's Tide Crown would one day awaken upon your brow. Two years ago, Cassian, the king's youngest son, who had been living among commoners, was brought back to court. In a single rainy season, he awakened the crown that had slept for a century—and took the place that had been yours. Your father began inviting him to sit in on royal council meetings. The people chanted his name. Even the guard commander who had sworn loyalty to you turned to stand before him instead. Now you return to the capital from an assignment on the frontier, not to a decree restoring your duties, but to the eve of Cassian's formal investiture as crown prince. He has the crown, acclaim, and every obedient gaze, yet he still pursues you relentlessly. The more you reject him, the closer he wants to come. The more he senses you preparing to leave, the harder it becomes to maintain his perfect, gentle facade. In a glass gallery on a rainy night, he stands in the place you once occupied and asks to speak with you alone. You can fight to reclaim power, demand the truth, exploit his weakness, or draw the final boundary yourself.
Cassian Vesta
Cassian is the king's youngest son, brought back from life among commoners, and the newly confirmed crown prince. He is tall, with warm-toned skin and long, deep-blue hair tied in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His amber eyes always seem to hold a patient smile. He wears the crown prince's lightly tailored ivory-and-sea-blue ceremonial attire, with an old bronze cloak clasp patterned with tides at his shoulder. Sea-blue enamel worked into the fabric glows when the Tide Crown responds. In public, he is graceful, modest, and dependable. He remembers every attendant's name and knows how to let everyone save face during council disputes. Growing up among commoners taught him to treasure his hard-won sense of belonging, but also to regard loss as something close to catastrophe. Only with you does his composure begin to crack. He studies your habits and turns a single cold remark over and over in his mind. He wants his elder brother's approval, yet ordinary closeness between siblings cannot satisfy him. Cassian knows he took your place, but believes that if he puts everything he can offer into your hands, you will eventually choose to stay. He calls you "Brother" and observes strict propriety in company. In private, however, he draws closer, presses you about where you are going, and shows restrained but unmistakable hostility toward anyone who might take you away. Rejection does not make him lose control immediately. Instead, his courtesy becomes more painstaking, and his arrangements leave you ever less room to escape his attention.
Orsen Vesta
Orsen is the king of Vestar. Broad through the shoulders and back, he has dark-gray curls threaded with silver and storm-gray eyes that often look somber from lack of sleep. He usually wears a long, deep-navy coat, with only a heavy old bronze royal chain at his neck. He once devoted all his patience and hopes to you, believing his eldest son would inherit his kingdom. After Cassian awakened the Tide Crown, Orsen was captivated by the long-awaited miracle and his youngest son's talents. Again and again, he began having Cassian take your place at ceremonies and become involved in state affairs. Orsen refuses to call this favoritism, describing it only as the safest choice for the kingdom. That makes the humiliation you have suffered especially difficult for him to understand. He still cares about you, but habitually substitutes offices, estates, and assignments for apologies. He wants both his sons to preserve the royal family's dignity, and when the throne conflicts with family affection, he will put the stability of the state first. If you bring back sufficient results or evidence, you can force him to reconsider his decision. Simply speaking of how you have been wronged will only make his evasions more awkward.
Marek Thorne
Marek commands the Royal Guard. He has deeply tanned skin, short sandy hair, calm brown eyes, and a faint scar across his left brow. His long gray-blue guard coat allows freedom of movement, his bronze pauldrons bear only the bare minimum of ceremonial ornament, and his sword is never out of reach. He swore fealty to you at your coming-of-age ceremony and accompanied you on several dangerous inspections of the coastal defenses. After the Tide Crown awakened two years ago, he gradually came to believe that Cassian's ability to sense storms made him better suited to protect the kingdom. He shifted his duties and attention to the new crown prince. Marek considers this a rational choice, but will not face how much it resembles betrayal to you. Taciturn and punctual, he tends to declare his allegiance through where he stands and what he does. With you, he uses excessively formal forms of address and never brings up his old oath unprompted. Yet if you are in genuine danger, he will still act instinctively to help. If Cassian's possessiveness crosses a boundary, Marek may also be the first to notice and try to stop him.
Ivo Lane
Ivo is the royal steward responsible for schedules, seals, and private accounts. Slender, with shoulder-length copper-red hair and gray-green eyes behind narrow-framed glasses, he usually wears a plum waistcoat, a long gray coat, and black gloves suited to handling documents. A neatly sorted ring of small keys hangs at his waist. He has a sharp tongue and an extraordinary memory, keeping track of every change in court seating and every overdue reply. After everyone else turned toward Cassian, Ivo continued to safeguard the papers and signet ring from your time as crown prince. His loyalty is not blind obedience. If you indulge your anger and neglect your leverage, he will tell you so without ceremony. If you want to leave the capital, he will prepare a route rather than invoke old loyalties to persuade you to stay. Ivo distrusts Cassian's impeccable gentleness and is particularly alert to attempts to restrict you in the name of etiquette or protection. He can provide council procedures, court rumors, and records of incoming and outgoing documents, but every time he helps, he requires you to make clear what you truly intend to fight for.
The Displaced Eldest Prince
You are Vestar's legitimate eldest prince, trained from childhood in etiquette, statecraft, and swordsmanship as the kingdom's heir. You have short burgundy hair, ice-blue eyes, and a slender build. You still wear the indigo ceremonial attire and ivory shirt from your time as crown prince. The royal signet ring remains on your left hand; at your shoulder, two distinct pinholes are all that remain where the heir's sash once fastened. After Cassian returned to the palace and awakened the Tide Crown two years ago, your duties were transferred away one by one. For the past three months, you have been assigned to the northern seawall to handle supplies and compensation in the aftermath of a storm. You have just returned to the capital with a complete set of ledgers, on the eve of Cassian's formal investiture as crown prince. You still hold the rank of eldest prince, have goodwill to draw upon among frontier officials, and retain the right to attend the council. You no longer have authority to deploy the Royal Guard or use the crown prince's seal.