Kieran Wynter stared at the food that was in front of him, with a blank look on his face.
He was currently in his room, sitting on his bed, but the expression on his face made it clear that his mind was somewhere else.
Kieran's room was luxurious, painted with a fine gold paint. Velvet curtains in a deep blue hue draped the windows, matching the plush carpet underfoot.
A grand four-poster bed, adorned with golden accents, stood in the center of the room, and that was where Kieran was currently sitting.
With just a single look, anyone would be able to tell that this room belonged to a noble.
As Kieran remembered how it all started, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
He was born seventeen years ago, and apparently, his father was the king, and he was married to his mother, so that could only mean one thing....
He was the prince.
Yes, he was also the only child, and a male child at that, so there was nothing more the king could ask for.
In the world of Tariona, Magic reigned supreme, and it was one of the major factors used to create the hierarchy in the world.
Magic could be wielded in the form of the Elements, and an individual could only use one Element throughout their life.
Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Light, and Darkness.
These eight Elements were the foundation of the world of Tariona, and an individual was born naturally to control only one of them.
Well, this was the start of Kieran's problems. He was born without a mana core.... A core that was used to store the Energy required to use Magic.
And that meant that.....he couldn't use... Magic.
The moment the King, his father, found out about this, his inital joy disappeared, and was instantly replaced with fury.
He blamed his mother for giving birth to a failure, and bringing him shame.
What made it even worse was the fact that there had never been a recorded case like that in the entire history of Tariona, or perhaps it was a phenomenon so rare that it had gone unreported.
Because of this, the King's attitude towards them took a complete 180 degrees turn.
The other nobles in the kingdom like the Barons, Viscounts, and Dukes also found out.
As time passed, Kieran kept growing up, but he didn't have a normal childhood.
He was constantly bullied by the children of the other nobles, and even when he went to report to his father, he would get another round of insults.
His father saw him as an insignificant being.... Something not worth spending time on.
The other nobles and even his father didn't acknowledge him as a prince, so they could do anything to him and get away scot-free.
At least, while all these were happening, his mother never left him for once.
Though, she couldn't say anything about the bullying, because she was also deemed insignificant for giving birth to a failure like him.
That was why the only person he cherished was his mother, at least, he could smile a bit when he was around her.
Though, he could never forget how she was frequently insulted by most of the nobles, but what could he do? Absolutely nothing!!
They knew that it would be pointless if he told the King, after all, he didn't care about them again, but at least, they didn't do it in front of the King.
Now, Kieran was just someone who was living.... without any purpose.
He stared at his food which he couldn't eat due to his sudden loss of appetite.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening.
*Creak*
Instantly, he raised his head to look at the person who just entered.
"As usual, they just enter without knocking," Kieran muttered as he stared at the maid who entered the room.
"The King has sent for you, and he wants you to be in the throne room in an instant," the maid said with an indifferent expression before leaving.
Immediately Kieran heard what she said, he squinted his eyes.
'I don't remember doing anything, why does he want to see me?' He thought, but he could only get that answer when he gets to the throne room.
Kieran stood up, and walked towards the mirror that was beside his bed.
He stared at himself with a blank look on his face. Short brown hair, and black eyes. He was absolutely average.
Since he was already dressed decently, there was no need to change his clothes, so he left the room, with the throne room as his destination.
SECONDS LATER...
Kieran was trembling as he stared at his mother who was kneeling on the floor in front of the King.
Meanwhile, he was standing in the middle of the throne room, not too far from his mother.
There were chairs at the left and right side of the throne room, and they were all occupied by all the nobles in Wynter Kingdom, his father's Kingdom.
Well, Kieran was trembling because of the Aura his father was exuding at the moment.
With his long brown hair, and black eyes, the King was seated on his throne as he stared at Kieran.
Lyra, Kieran's mother, was kneeling in front of the King, and she was also trembling, clearly afraid.
She had long black hair, and light green eyes, making her beautiful, but the look on her face was something else.
Kieran didn't fail to notice the smirk on the faces of some of the nobles, and he knew that something was definitely wrong.
'This feeling.... it's suffocating....' Kieran thought as he couldn't take his eyes off his mother.
"Kieran...." Rowan Wynter, the King, called in a stern voice, making Kieran bow his head immediately.
"Y....yes, Father," Kieran stammered.
He didn't know why, but he was having a bad feeling about this, and he also noticed that his mother was crying silently, increasing the disturbing feeling he was having.
Well, that bad feeling was actually real, because the words Kieran heard next were like huge fireballs that exploded.
"I sentence you to.....Death!"