101. Golden Cage

After chitchatting for another hour, the two decided to move on. Gab carried a torch made out of some fabric that got soaked in a bit of alcohol before getting wrapped around a rod, which a goblin used as his weapon.

The dungeon floor was weird. Some cave passages had a natural illumination or even got illuminated from moonshine falling into the depth where they are. There were also other passages like the one which they planned on crossing that had no illumination, forcing them to improvise with self-made torches.

The small cave in which they had been resting for a few hours had a few entrances. But in the end, they opted out for the one from which they felt a breeze of wind coming.

"If there is an end to the dungeon floor or cave system, our ‚afest bet is to follow the wind," commented Enota reaching her hand towards Gab's torch.

By now, her face had a calm expression and acted as if she had already forgotten the scene that happened a few hours ago, reassuring Gab.

"Well, could I maybe lead the way?" asked Gab, who was hesitating with giving up the torch since he has been enjoying the heat coming from it.

But as expected, the latter merely shook her head while still holding her hand, and Gab gave in with a sigh.

"Well, are you interested in hearing my story as we continue to move through these endless cave passages till we find another human soul?" asked Enota as the two began leaving the big cave.

"Of course. I'm especially interested in how you ended up here since this isn't really the place where I would expect the children of wealthy people to end up," admitted Gab.

"Well, the reasons for it are quite simple. I'm just the child of many I have many siblings.-" But before Enota continued, Gab interjected by asking: "how many do you have? I mean, I've got like four siblings, but our parents never treated any of us siblings unjust."

"Well, could you please let me finish my sentence before interjecting," cursed Enota with a sigh before continuing with her narration: "I think it may be too complicated to explain you the political system, especially since you are probably ignorant to the matters, but we aren't an absolute monarch. But to keep it short, after a few civil wars and reforms, we ended up with a system with three governing bodies representing everyone.

As you may already know, I belong to the royal family, and the next family head doesn't get picked by the former one. Although he still has an influence in the matter. But we princes gotta appeal to the three camps who will be the one deciding the next head."

Gab nodded as he continued throttling around through the dungeon floors while enjoying the stories he heard from her. At least it didn't feel that lonesome.

"Well, that may sound stupid, but the three camps were aristocrats, peasants, and magicians, right?" asked Gab while scratching his head, and Enota replied with: "Well, at least they thought you that. Anyway, let's continue.

I have at least 19 siblings. If I'm being honest, the number of people eligible to become the family head is probably higher. Most of them have no interest in the throne and want to stay out of the conflicts. But if they have any interest in the throne, they opted out to keep a low profile while making their moves in the shadow."

"Interesting. But why did these siblings of you opt to remain low-profile when they could enjoy their lives with the things that come with their status as nobles?" asked Gab curiously.

Enota chuckled at his naivety. "Well, I wish I could enjoy a leisurely life of gluttony and excess, but unfortunally almost all of us get forced into doing the devil's bidding. There are a few ways to escape the rat race. Or maybe there isn't even an escape. I don't know, and I haven't yet found any way to escape it."

There was a brief moment of silence as the princess took a deep breath while closing her eyes, as she relived the moments of the naive choice she made before entering the dungeon. By now, one could only hear the echoes coming from the monotone splashing of water every second. But that was probably better than being left alone with complete silence.

After Enota got her thoughts together, she continued with her narration.

"I'm not sure if there is an escape from the rat race, where one can still have their freedom without ending up living in a golden cage. It took me way too long to find out the truth. Only one of us can become the master. The rest only has the choice of choosing our masters, and if they fail, then we don't even have that choice," Enota chuckled painfully, and Gab felt pity for the girl.

"One can either become a political tool for the courts and the king, resulting in getting married to someone to make political alliances. Or one can also promise every prince that one has no interest in joining. But that's just delaying the inevitable. Since one will end up as the political tool for the next ruler or as the tool of everyone.

Some opt-out to flee the country. But that choice rarely ends up going well since if the authorities find out about your identity, you will be locked in a different cage. If you are lucky, you will be groomed by the other country to become their tool. However, if you are unlucky, they'll be sending your home to either become a tool again or end up getting executed for treason.

Some of my siblings were wiser than me and immediately realized their predicament. These guys either chose a faction or joined other siblings after swearing loyalty to them. These ones will have more freedom than the siblings who promised not to participate in the first place. But they will either help others gain the throne or die trying.

For people who want nothing more than freedom, there is no escape from the rat race. Either one fights for glory and for one's freedom, or one dies trying. We don't have any other choice."