"Trust me, young customer. This elixir will help with your ailment and boost your mana reserves." The salesperson said in front of Julian. He just simply shook his head and left the stall. That man was obviously scamming him. An elixir with that level of impact would not be sold that easily or at such a cheap price. How the man was able to sell it publicly in the marketplace instead of the underground black market either showed he is either stupid or bold.
Products such as mana boosting, mana growth, and mana building cost a lot and can be painful when taken. Some people don't even react well to it and can even hamper their growth, making them unable to break through to the next level and be stuck on their current one. Sometimes it can damage it. Magical levels determine your ability to conduct spells, the higher your level the higher your capability to produce the magic that requires more mana. However, many magic-user commoners, don't have the resources needed or awareness about how to build their mana reserves so it is very common for them to be stuck at level F.
The more ambitious ones often tried many methods to raise it a little higher so they can get a higher-paying job but this desperation often preys upon these deceptive salespeople. This is illegal and can be damaging to their bodies, but some commoners still tried. Level F is the lowest level and everyone starts there at some point. This is followed by E, D, C, B, A, AA, S, SS, and SSS. Julian before he was going to go to the academy was almost getting a breakthrough for level D but because of his mistreatment and physical ailments, he reverted back to F. His magic is so low he can't even use his own magical space as it would take too much mana and might kill him in the process.
All of the people in the prince's manor, his soldiers, and even the prince himself are not aware of what level they have. This is because they never went to a magical assessment through church baptism which happens when they are 13. The soldiers under the prince only managed to get magic after their event with Berdun. The prince was already 11 when he was sent to the battlefield. But Julian speculated that the prince could be a level S if the stories about him are true.
This is not unusual for royals to have this level of magic. Even the emperor is at double S level. However, the only person in history to have the triple S ranking was the first emperor. None of his descendants seem to have made the same breakthrough as him.
Julian looked at his hands before he walks away from the stall and looked around the different stores. He is very disappointed that he was unable to progress his magical reserves. The healer who looked after him told him that it will take some time for him to even start building his reserves and that it might be slow or painful because he is already 19 years old beyond the 13-year-old mark as most are expected. He was disappointed he never got into the academy even though he was accepted just because the current baron, his father, reasoned that there was no point for him going there and that the tuition is only available for his other siblings.
It is also too late for Julian to enter the academy as well since he is already at the age that most have already graduated. The prince was also the same but he got an exception to take the test to get certification although his magical certification is also halted because no magic teacher seems to want to teach him. He even offered Julian a tutor whenever he is healthy and ready to take in more studies.
Julian still could not believe that he is marrying the prince and that there were not a lot of barriers that are stopping them (for now it seems). He was surprised that the prince is still very accepting of the situation even though this marriage was a forced one between the two. He was just glad that the prince was not deceived into the marriage as that would be more catastrophic for Julian than the prince.
The prince was a nice man, strange, but nice. He did see him as very strict towards his men and even some of them were afraid of him, but he was never unreasonable or arrogant. He even allowed Julian the freedom to explore and walk around the city – something that he really wanted to do after being trapped most of his life in the manor. Of course, the condition was that he was in good health, and he takes some guards and servants with him.
Today, he has Emma, as usual, and two guards from the prince who are all dressed in commoner's clothing to not get attention from the public. His two guards are Hulio and Fel. He was even surprised that Fel is a bio like him. He does not look like it. He is tall with red hair and brown eyes, muscular, and also has the same short hair that many of Prince Victor's soldiers adorn. Hulio is taller, tanned, has a scar on his left cheek, and he looked very intimidating but he never hurt nor bothered Julian and he seemed very close to Fel (too close if Julian were to ask his opinion, he believes they are together).
It turns out most of the men even Rufus and Aiden have their hair very short similar to the prince's style. He once heard the prince say "army cut" before to describe it but he wasn't sure if he heard it correctly. Even Julian was considering cutting it like theirs but he can't imagine a life without long hair. He did trim his hair as it was getting too long and matted at the end. He also liked having long hair as it helped keep his face hidden. As a person who hates attention, especially in the Monet family when some of his sisters seem to always find fault with his face, having long hair is a convenient way to hide himself.
Julian has mainly sought out potions and elixirs stores trying to find potential options that could help him boost this mana safely but he could not find one that is suitable, or too expensive, and some of the salespeople even refused to service him when they found out he was a bio – which is not a surprise for Julian. Emma and Fel even tried to argue with them but Julian didn't want to deal with it and just left. Julian was never confrontational mostly because if he does so at the Monet manor, he gets punished no matter what but he can also choose whether fighting it is worth it or not.
He does occasionally look for new warding, arrays, or sigil-related books and scrolls. Julian loves magical lines and sigils which is why his grandfather has made him inherit those topics of books to him and has wanted him to specialize it in the future. Unfortunately, not all of the books and scrolls were returned to him so the Monets compensate those missing items with money. Julian was more disappointed that he was unable to read some of those books. Those books were taken from his grandfather's personal treasury so he was unable to read them before the family took his inheritance away from him.
Julian was worried that he has to let go of his inheritance once he was married. Bios and women are traditionally required to surrender their inheritances to their husbands even if they are the remaining sole heir to their family line but the prince never indicated any behavior to him about controlling his inheritances or even telling him what to do with it. Prince Victor just simply told him to "use it with how you see fit. It's yours after all."
This still made Julian uneasy who now has the tendency to hide things out of fear of things being taken away. He has experienced being complacent with his family and then having them take away everything he has even by force. Even now, Julian sometimes stores food because he still had that innate fear that he will be starved again even though the prince and the servants were very kind to him. He even placed his jewelry box and all his things in a space ring and carries it everywhere with him.
"Get away from me your little t*rd!" a rough, oversized man yelled and pushed a young boy off the road he was walking. The child was thin, wearing dirty clothing, and yelped as he crashed on the ground.
"Why are those pests here again?" A stall owner mumbled.
"We are losing customers because of them!"
"Those useless wastes should have killed themselves already."
A bunch of people were mumbling and glaring at the child but nobody is even helping him. Some children came out of hiding and helped the boy up.
Julian realized they were bios. Thin, filthy, haggard, and looked starving but still very young. They looked to be about seven years old or could be older and just short due to malnourishment. The child who was pushed away has curly blonde hair and green eyes and he is looking longingly at the food stalls but he could not come near as some store and stall owners are keeping guard of their merchandise. Some even got batons on their hands to look intimidating. The children looked defeated.
"Why are the children here? Shouldn't they be at the orphanage?" Julian asked Emma. Emma felt uncomfortable at the thought to explain to her new master while Fel and Hulio looked at the children with sympathy.
"The church is not a great place for bios, young master," Fel said in a low voice.
"Huh?" Julian looked confused. Although he has never set foot outside for the past few years, he is aware that bio children were often sent to orphanages which are all run by the church. He did hear about a priest who has trafficked children from the orphanages to a noble household but that was recently discovered by Prince Victor and was then removed. Shouldn't the place have improved somewhat?
"The church is not very kind to bios," Fel said and explained to Julian how bios were seen as a burden to the church which runs mostly on limited funds from the government. This is because while the boys and girls can easily get adopted by other families or even find work easier, bios never get adopted nor do they even get better jobs. It is an obligation for orphans who grew up in the orphanage and never got adopted to cut some percentage of their income in support of the church when they are old enough.
This isn't the case for bios. This is why in most cases; the bios were often kicked out of the orphanage as they were hemorrhaging too much money for them and living in the streets. Ironically, the bios were also not a popular commodity in child trafficking either so the church can't even sell them at all even though that is illegal the nobles often turned a blind eye to it until the third prince unraveled it to the public's eyes that the common people almost started to riot.
Most street children are bios. Fel knows because he once was that child. He was kicked out by his parents who sees him as a burden and even tried looking for the orphanage for help only to be berated, abused, and starved by the people who manage it until Fel ran away, hid his gender, and joined the blue rose after he was caught stealing. There were a bunch of houses for bios who are also run by bios who wanted to help but they could only help for a little while and could not really support them in the long run.
Julian felt sorry for the children. Their looks reminded him of the time when he watched his own family eating a very hearty meal while he stood there and watch them while he was starving. His siblings would even tease him about it by looking at him while they eat. He remembers the many times he couldn't really focus because he was exhausted and hungry. It was a miracle he didn't turn into a rabid dog and start fighting them tooth or nail just so he could eat.
"Young master? What are you doing?" Emma looked at her master confused.
Julian immediately went to a stall that sells meat and vegetable skewers. "Fifty, please."
The stall owner probably knew what he is thinking, "You should ignore them, young customer. Helping them is not going to change anything."
Julian even heard someone muttering about how feeding them is only going to encourage them to come back again and again like they are some sort of stray animals. Julian frowned but chose the ignore the comment. He took out a gold coin and slammed it on the table to get the merchant's attention. "Fifty, please." He emphasized the fifty.
The stall owner gulped and stared at the gold coin. He looked behind the young man and saw a worried woman and two intimidating men glaring at him. Even though this is a bio, he obviously is rich and protected so the stall owner cooked the food and gave it to him in a paper bag. Emma, Fel, and Hulio decided not to intervene. The prince has instructed them to let Julian make decisions for himself and only intervene if he is in any danger or they perceive him to be in danger.
While Emma did not think it is appropriate to feed the street children here. Her young master shouldn't just hand out free food like that, she can't say anything. Hulio and Fel were looking the Julian with approving gazes.
"Hi, there." Julian kneeled down to talk to the children. The children scurried away from him but not too far and the blonde child still looked longingly at the skewers. Fel can't blame them for being untrustworthy. Some people who have shown them kindness often wanted to ask for something in return and mostly it was not a good thing.
The blonde boy took a brave face and slowly approached Julian who offered the skewer whom he grabbed and scurried a few feet away. Realizing that Julian didn't mean to harm them the other children also approached him and he offered them the food, even giving the blonde boy another one when he asked for seconds.
"My name is Julian. What's yours?" Julian asked.
"Thomas." The blonde grinned happily as he eats the skewers.
"Hello, Thomas. Where are you and your friends staying?" Julian asked.
"At a house in Oberon Grove," Thomas said without thinking, then looked terrified.
"Don't worry. We won't do anything to you and your friends." Julian asked. "Is there any adult looking after you?"
The children looked at each other and nodded. "Min-min looks after us but he is sick." One of the children piped.
Julian looked at his servant and guards with a trace of wanting to go to their house.
Emma wanted to protest but Hulio suddenly interrupted. "Young master, Oberon Grove is not exactly a very safe place to go to. I don't think we should go there. Your safety is our priority." Oberon Grove is just simply the slums. It's dirty, smelly, and full of suspicious characters.
"Oh." Julian looked sad. "I just wanted to talk to their caretaker."
Emma and Fel looked conflicted as they didn't want to watch their young master sad. Hulio could feel his eyebrows twitching. Everyone in the manor and the army knows how much the prince adored his fiancé and if anything happens to him, he would rip them apart.
Hulio sighed. "It seems this Min-min is also ill. Let me inform the manor about where we are going and arrange for some additional protection. Fel here is a medic, he could help but he didn't bring supplies with him. Are you okay with waiting, young master?"
Julian looked elated and nodded as he and Emma helped the children who also called their friends and shared the food with them.
Meanwhile, a certain dark-haired golden-eyed prince is looking at a large crystal ball the size of a baby elephant. It has a massive crack on it. He was in the palace accompanied by the emperor, some of his brothers, and other members of the ministry.
His eyes are twitching as he glared at the crystal ball while everyone in the room is looking shocked or in disbelief.
He then turned towards the emperor. "I think it's broken."
The ministers glared at him. 'Obviously!' they thought.