Year 4580, Day 129, Five Element Calendar. A day after the awakening test of Jago and Hening.
Jago woke up on his room. He felt something wrong after he woke up.
"I think something is missing."
He looked around the room and tried to think harder, but he could not get any answer. Jago sat up on his bed and put his foot on the floor. He kept the posture as it is. After some times, Jago jolted awake.
"I know what is missing, it is Semok."
Normally, the beautiful servant girl would wake him up and served him in the morning. The servant girl had also normally put his shoes and clothes. Today, he could not see the servant girl shadow.
"It is starting huh?"
Yes it was, Jago knew the answer already. The competition between legitimate king inheritor started when the prince completed their awakening ceremony. The gamble itself was not only involved the royal family and their mother's family, even sometimes the caretaker of royal castle and army involved in these struggles.
Semok's incident was the best example. All servants on the royal castle worked under the Head Butler. His name was Jancuk. This 52 years old men was the one responsible to arrange all menial works on the castle.
Although Jancuk didn't have any cultivation in Warrior or Mage path, but due to his position of Head Butler of the Royal Castle, he had quit a status in the nobility circle. Because of that, the old man was a always become a cunning pig.
Before Jago conducted his awakening ceremony, Jancuk gave the most beautiful servant to serve him. Although Jancuk knew that Kemaki also interested in Semok, he kept steadfast on this and assigned Semok to become Jago's maid.
But now, when the result of the awakening ceremony was out and Jago known to be a normal level 4 wood affinity, he directly instructed Semok to served Kemaki instead. This incident was normal inside Royal Castle. Not to mention a high level caretaker such as the head butler, even some servants and guards might not obliged to Jago's request anymore.
They knew that it was unlikely for Jago to inherit the throne, thus it was no need to pay any heed to him whatsoever starting from now. Jago knew it would happen to him sooner or later, but these 5 years old boy not taking any of it to the heart. He had commoner background and would always think that he is one of them.
"Young Lord, Princess Bening is waiting on the guest room." a soft voice could be heard from the door. It was Jago's another maid, the more 'ordinary' one. No matter how bad Jancuk wanted to disregard Jago, he still needed to provide maids to served Jago. Thus from the previous 4 maids, with Semok as the leader, Jancuk kept 2 maids on Jago's courtyard.
"Okay, please tell her to wait me up a bit." Jago replied.
After that, Jago changed his clothes and washed his face. He came out from his room and walked to the guest room where Bening and Anteng were already waiting for him.
"Jago are you just waking up?" Bening's voices came right away once Jago entered the guest room.
Jago did not answer her question, he smiled to her instead and bowed his head to Anteng which sat near Bening.
"Did you put your clothes on by yourself?" Bening asked with frown on her eyebrows when she saw how messy Jago was.
Jago replied, "Yes."
"Where is Semok?"
"Maybe Jancuk assign her with another task."
"That fat pig is starting again, just wait until I find him." Bening waved her small fist with angry look on her face.
"It's okay Sis, I still have two other maids anyway."
Anteng took a deep breath when he saw his little brother face. He knew that it wasn't easy for Jago.
The three of them then went to the Royal Castle together using Bening's carriage. They had breakfast with the rest of Rivermountain family member as usual. During the breakfast, Alash did not speak at all. The breakfast finished with silences.
After the breakfast, Jago went outsides the Royal Castle building. The Royal Palace complex was rectangular fortress with around 225 km square area. The complex surrounded by 5 m wall on the four sides. On each corner of the wall a tower with 20 m are erected for sentry purposes.
The Palace Complex only had 3 gates on the wall, west gate, south gate and east gate. South gate was main gate with biggest size. This gate led directly to open square in front of inner wall.
Jago came out from the Royal Castle and waited Bening and Anteng on the Castle's side door. Bening's carriage was parked there. Along the way, he found out that the maid and guard on Royal Castle sent him pitying looks and some even showed hint of mockery.
Jago knew that by seeing their attitudes, yesterday test result should be leaked out to the whole Palace. Although the test itself was conducted in private and attended only by main Royal family members and the Academy's senior teachers, he knew that the news must had been spread by either Queen or Concubine's faction.
Jago remained standing calmly and waited for two of his siblings came out from the main castle. Once both of them came out from the castle, Jago hastily went inside Bening's carriage. He kept his eyes closed once he was inside.
"What happen to you Brother?" Bening asked.
"Nothing." Jago smiled to his sister and looked outsides carriage's window. The carriage moved slowly to the prince's quarter north side of the main castle. Once the carriage arrived in front of Jago's courtyard, Jago bowed his head to Bening and Anteng and ran back to his own courtyard.
"Something is wrong." the usually quiet, Anteng, commented.
"Hmm." Bening hummed and nodded her head.
Only two maids remained on Jago's courtyard. Semok and another two maids were allocated to different placed by Jancuk. Jago knew that Jancuk should assigned Semok to become Kemaki's maid. But he didn't even care about that.